A Room To Call My Own

Another major milestone is complete! My room is done. No, I don't mean my/our bedroom. I mean my room. I'm entitled to my very own room, right?? Well maybe not, but my awesome hubby lets me get away with it. This is my place to write, my place to read, my place to sit and go through the mail with Twilight on the TV while he watches the news and other far more sophisticated programming elsewhere. This is my place to be me and do me things. This room, as it turns out, is also my favorite.  

Oddly enough, this now favorite room of mine started off as the worst in the apartment. But for those of you who know me, you know I enjoy a good challenge! This is how it all began, in June...

"My" room in June, when we first saw the apartment

Right from the beginning, it was not a pretty sight.  But it got even worse when we closed in September.  We had a bookcase torn out, and had an interesting brown patch of wall waiting behind it. We also finally got to see what was hiding under the rug! The radiator cover was missing a panel, and apparently an entire leg, as one side was at least two inches higher than the other.  It was beyond a mess, it was terrifying. I think this room alone was enough to scare my hubby out of the sale. 

My room when we closed in September...

But not me! I knew this room was going to be beautiful. You see, I get visions. I'm not talking the psychic, see the future kind of visions. I get decorating visions. I can look at the above room, for example, and instantly see in my mind exactly what I am going to make it look like. My visions are the only thing that sold my husband on this apartment. He thought it was horrible, and couldn't see it any other way. But, he trusts me. And he trusts my visions.

And now today, just two months after the above picture, this room has been transformed into my very own happy place. The very same corner of the room that you see above now looks like this!

My room today, November 2011...

The room, officially our combination office/guest room, is colorful and fun and just feels like home. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we had the floors sanded and stained in Minwax Special Walnut stain, followed by high gloss polyurethane. All the molding was painted in a bright white high gloss paint, and the ceilings and everything above the picture molding was done in a bright white ceiling paint. The beams on the ceiling look so beautiful, and really stand out in the bright white. The walls are Shore by Restoration Hardware. I had previously used this color in Connecticut in my dining room and half bathroom. My inspiration for this room, however, was Carrie Bradshaw's remodel in Sex and the City, the movie. As for the radiator covers, although the parts are apparently very old and valuable, and although I did just find the missing panel the other day on the floor of my closet, we decided that it just looked better without it. Although the radiator itself was in pretty sorry shape, our painters did a beautiful job restoring it.

As for the decor, the room is a combination of several other rooms from my past. The white desk is from Crate and Barrel, and was originally bought for my bedroom in Hartford. The black ladders from Pottery Barn originally sat on either side of my living room couch. The black chairs are a part of my Pottery Barn dining room set, and are probably just temporary until I find something more permanent. The day bed was from my guest room in Hartford, and came from Pier One Imports. The black and white rug, from Overstock.com, was bought for our living room in our last New York apartment. The Diane Von Furstenberg duvet cover is the only new item in the whole room, besides the still wrinkled, fresh from the package curtains we just hung from Bed Bath and Beyond. 

I couldn't be more excited about my new room, not just because I love it and it feels so cozy, but because this is exactly the vision I had when I looked at this sad little room for the first time less than five months ago. It feels so great to turn that vision into a reality! 

Here is another before and after shot...

Before, what you first saw when you looked in the room...

And after, your first view of the room!

And finally, just a few more "after" shots...

My guest bed/personal lounge couch!

The beautiful ceiling...

A nice "after" shot...

There is still some work to be done... I have to decorate the walls, for one thing. (One very empty wall is conspicuously absent from the pictures.) But it's so close to completion that I decided it was worthy of being called an "after." Also, a special thanks goes out to my hubby, of course, for mounting our TV on the wall (and for giving up this TV, which used to be in our bedroom!), for hanging the curtains, and for understanding that I'm the kind of girl who needs to have a place to call her very own!

Tiny Room, Big Accomplishment. (Not Really. But at Least it's a Start!)

Hello friends, readers, and people who ended up here quite by accident! Now that my new hubby and I are done saying our "I do"s and honeymooning in Hawaii, we are back in New York and getting back down to business! Tonight we finished making one whole room in our apartment livable.  It was, of course, the smallest room... the bathroom. It might not look like much, but it was a nice little accomplishment for two people who have been living in utter chaos for six weeks. For starters, our bath towels will no longer end up on the floor, and we finally have a place to hang our toilet paper roll! And best of all, we got rid of the ribbed wallpaper on the ceiling. That's right, I said ceiling!





My textured wallpapered bathroom ceiling. The picture doesn't do it justice!

Ok so maybe the wallpaper wasn't technically ribbed. But close enough. It definitely had a texture to it, and it definitely reminded me of a condom ad. Needless to say, it had to go. So we started our project by saying goodbye to our bumpy brown wall/ceiling paper and never looked back. The results, at first, were not pretty. But after our painter was done tearing down the paper, and repairing the old plaster walls underneath (this tiny room was a tad expensive in that regard), he painted the walls with Restoration Hardware's Gravel in a low gloss finish. He also painted the ceiling a glossy white. The result? A greatly improved bathroom without actually doing any true renovations! Here are a few before and after shots...

 


Before...

After...



And a few more....

  

Before...























After the wallpaper, before the paint...

  


After...

















And a few more still....


Before...



After...

 We used some wedding gift cards to fill the room with Lacoste towels and floor mats from the Crocod'il Collection in Nile and True Navy. (Based on the name of the collection, I have only now just realized that my friends are not, in fact, 'gators!) We added a simple white window shade from Bed Bath and Beyond and a few towel bars and a toilet paper holder from Home Depot's Palladium collection. (Oh what fun we had, both crammed in that tiny room all night, anchoring screws and leveling towel bars!) And did you notice the big lily pads from Crate and Barrel? My husband loves our shower, which he calls "the Fishbowl." Always one step ahead of him, I strategically decorated with three large faux-lily pads, which conveniently double as Fishbowl-Blockers!

This bathroom is certainly nothing special, and I hope to do much more with it (i.e. rip it all out and start from scratch) down the road. But for now, we have a cozy little bathroom filled with lots of Crocod'illy friends and the occasional nice bright color accent to liven things up!

In Case You've Been Wondering...

Perhaps some of you (my three readers!) have been wondering where my blog and I have been lately. For those who know me well, you already know that, with me, there's always something.  

First here's the good news. Our painters finished a seemingly impossible job beautifully, and on time. That never happens! We were officially moved in on October 6 after a 13.5 hour grueling move (ok it looked grueling anyway, for the four large men we paid to carry my grand piano and other belongings using the city's smallest service elevator). Naturally, like the dedicated blogger that I am, I documented the whole thing with countless pictures. I photographed every single wall before the first box was moved in, shooting every angle to ensure that I could recreate each "before" shot with a mirroring "after" shot. Then, just to be dramatic, I shot the aftermath of each room, filled almost to the ceiling with boxes.... So many boxes in fact that the professional movers, who do this for a living, asked "what is in all these boxes??"

Then, as my fiance and I like to say, something bad happened.

Just 39 hours after the movers left, my bridal shower/bachelorette party began. Somewhere around hour number 12, I apparently "misplaced" my camera while riding in an Acura MDX driven by a purported "driver" named Pauly.  Although I did notice the first time my camera went crashing to the floor, and the second, I apparently did not notice the third. I wonder if Pauly has discovered my little pink camera and the interesting picture combination of walls, boxes, and girls holding up new bridal lingerie and wearing inappropriate candy necklaces.  

Needless to say, my blog suffered an unexpected setback. But, not to worry, I bought a nice little camera tonight at the Best Buy in the new neighborhood. Even though I'm getting married in just four and a half days, here is a good faith showing of my commitment to my blog! Before I get buried in an avalanche of place cards and seating charts, here is the first preview of the newly painted walls. This corner of our living room may very well be the only corner of the entire apartment not still covered in boxes (and only because it houses a baby grand piano!)

The formerly dingy ceiling, trim, and baseboards now pop in a very bright white. I can't tell you how in love I am with the squares, which one painter (who did not get the job) recommended we tear out. Even my own painter, who believed they could be saved, recommended that we not use a high gloss paint on the trim because we risked showing more imperfections. I went against his advice, having faith in him and my molding, and wow, it all looks amazing!! The squares really pop up against the blue-grey walls, which were painted the color Pumice by Restoration Hardware (subtle velvet finish). This is the second home I have had painted entirely in Restoration Hardware paint, and once again I could not be more thrilled with the results.

Of course, no "after" picture would be complete without showing the "before." Here is the same corner of the living room just two weeks ago, before the paint and floors were done.  

What a wonderful improvement already!! More to come soon, as long as I don't lose my camera again!

Project #1: Refinishing Our Floors. I Hope I Look This Good When I'm 87!

For our very first project, we tackled our 87 year old oak floors. To their credit, they weren't too bad considering their age. Sort of. Most of the rooms were a little warn out, and pretty orangey, but overall, not so bad.

And then there was the guest room.

Yikes!!  We're pretty sure that the guest room was covered by carpet the last time the floors were refinished.  (Either that or it was used to house wild animals.)  In either case, our floors needed a serious face lift!

After much debate over the perfect color, I finally convinced my hubby-to-be to go with Minwax Special Walnut wood stain with high-gloss polyurethane.  We couldn't be happier with the result.  The floors are absolutely gorgeous now! 

Although I picked the color, Al found the fabulous contractors who did a beautiful job and were very reasonably priced. If anyone needs a referral in NYC, let me know. 

Although this is what the floors looked like at just 8AM, by the time I stopped by after work the place looked like a war zone. 

The painters have moved in (and kindly covered every inch of our beautiful new floors with paper), so it's going to be awhile before we see that gorgeous wood again!  Well done gentlemen...  I hope someone can make me look this good when I'm 87!

Closing Time!



My fiance being cute with paint samples...

Yesterday I spent a very boring afternoon sitting in a conference room full of lawyers. Seeing as how I am a lawyer, this was not an unusual occurrence for me. However, unlike all those other boring days I've spent in conference rooms full of lawyers, yesterday was different. For one thing, I am usually getting paid, and this time I was paying at least three of them. This time was different, because I was the client. This time was different because it was the happiest day of my life. I bought a home. I bought my dream home. I bought an Upper East Side pre-war classic five in Carnegie Hill. And I bought it with the man that I am about to marry.



Our floor plan, which I adore...

This dream home is not what most people think of when they picture their "dream home." For starters, most dream homes are larger than 1100 square feet. More importantly, most dream homes are not quite as... how should I say it... pre-loved as this one. In fact, this apartment needs so much love that I'm a little scared that my heart (i.e. my wallet) is not quite big enough. Even in these hard economic times, Manhattan real estate is almost as inflated as ever, and two bedrooms in the heart of the Upper East Side cost almost as much as both of our homes in Connecticut put together. Times two. So, because buying a fixer-upper was the only way to afford the space and zip code that I preferred, and because I like to believe that I missed my calling as an interior designer, I am about to set out on an amazing journey to restore this 1924 pre-war apartment to its former glory.

From the moment I walked into the building, I immediately fell in love. The double french doors open up into a stunning lobby, which in turn leads to the most charming old fashioned elevator which opens like an actual door with an actual door knob. (Admittedly, the first time I rode up it, I didn't know how to get out!) And the apartment itself, even with its worn down oak floors, chipping paint, and damaged plaster walls, was unquestionably, immediately, my new home. I saw a vision of the future, of the home I will create. I saw my family eating Christmas dinner in the formal dining room (which I had previously believed was an urban legend in Manhattan). I saw my friends gathered for cocktail parties in the spacious living room. I saw my black and white office with blue walls that I have created in my head, which will someday become my hypothetical future daughter's room (until we can buy the C unit next door and knock down the wall, which I am already plotting.) I saw the life I have always pictured. I saw myself turning right out my front door and crossing Park Avenue on my way to run in Central Park, my sanctuary, just two and a half short blocks away. I saw my dream, unfolding, inside this absolutely perfect, imperfect apartment.

The building's beautiful lobby...

Before I get to the point of this blog, where I will track our progress restoring our new home, and hopefully show amazing before and after pictures worthy of a spread in Better Homes and Gardens, I want to acknowledge a few people who are no longer here to read it. My dream was made possible because two lives ended. The prior owner of the apartment recently died. My heart shattered when I walked through the apartment, still filled with her belongings, and saw the evidence of her age and presumably declining health. To Mrs. Silverman, your home is in good hands; it will be loved and cared for and will be the cherished home of a new family now. And to my own mom, who made this dream possible with the gift she left behind for me when she left this world four years ago, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I'd also give it all up in a New York minute to have you back again.

My fiance, welcoming you to the building!

And finally, I would like to acknowledge my fiance, who I kidnapped from Connecticut a year and a half ago and dragged to New York kicking and screaming. I know we have a wedding in twenty-four days, and I know I can think of nothing but paint samples and floor stains and French doors. I may be the worst bride ever, but to make up for that, I promise to create for you a beautiful home!

At last here we are, almost three months after I fell in love with the apartment and just one day after the closing that took forever to arrive. Renovations started today. I hope that on Friday I will have some beautiful new pictures of our soon-to-be gleaming hardwood floors!