Nature's colors and tranquil views turn this beach house into the ultimate chill space

• Homeowners: An NYC couple posted their project to renovate a 2,000-square-foot Amagansett beach house on Sweeten
• Where: Long Island, New York
• Primary renovation: A complete redo of the kitchen and bathrooms, floor refinishing, and wall resurfacing and painting throughout
• Sweeten general contractor in the Hamptons area
• Sweeten’s role: Sweeten matches home renovation projects with vetted general contractors, offering guidance, tools, and support—for free.

“After” photos by Lena Yaremenko

Gathering the renovation team

When the homeowners of this wood-shingled house in the Hamptons began their renovation journey, their main goals were to update the kitchen and bathrooms, along with an overall aesthetic modernization, including some minor changes to the existing floor plan.

To start, they hired designers, Charlotte Sylvain and Shikhar Thakur of Studio Fauve in Brooklyn. The couple then hired a general contractor to turn their vision into reality, and “help maximize the impact of dollars spent,” their Sweeten post read.

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Charlotte took charge of the interior design for the four-bedroom, two-bathroom Amagansett House, which had been purchased as a summer home. In addition to a more modern feel from room to room, they wanted to update the home’s color palette.

A minimal interior with natural materials would connect with the property the home sits on, which is wildly populated by maple, oak, beech, and sycamore trees. The designer’s goal was to create a neutral, light-filled space with a subtle beachy feel where the homeowners could watch the seasons change outside.

Natural wood kitchen cabinets, regionally sourced

To accomplish this, she looked to design wide, open spaces in the Amagansett beach house. Beginning in the living room, with its spacious layout and high ceilings, Charlotte used inspiration from the Hamptons’ oceanside.

White textures and blonde plank-wood detailing combined with soft, comfortable furniture in quiet colors. Designs were kept minimal; its warmth would come from different materials in natural tones. The designer chose and sourced the materials regionally when possible, and chose small furniture designers and builders.

The kitchen has an airy feel but is solid with its Douglas fir joinery and cabinetry, and matte-finish white countertops. A stain-proof quartz was a perfect work-surface choice to top the natural wood kitchen cabinets; the homeowners wanted a durable kitchen for entertaining.

The home needed to be a relaxing place, a weekend and summer-season escape from the owners’ primary residence in New York City. To this goal, Charlotte painted the natural-wood window framings white to make them disappear.

Installation of additional new windows as well as vertical columns of glass at the top and bottom of the enclosed staircase offer views-as-art glass framings throughout the house.

Waterproof bathroom materials

The centerpiece of the upstairs is in the master bathroom—a giant picture window that overlooks the house’s rear woods and flanks a giant soaking tub. Waterproof tadelakt plaster walls and teakwood planking allowed use of the same surfaces in the bathroom’s wet and dry areas.

The designer pulled more tadelakt plaster into the guest bathroom for the vanity, pairing it with handmade zellige tile. Accoya wood plays a key role in this bathroom as well. 

Throughout the home, hints of black connect with the white canvas for a modern feel. Original oak floorboards received a color-corrective refinishing to lessen the honey tones. Additional teak and Accoya wood accents round out the natural wood hues in various interior spaces.

The biggest challenge of this renovation was working on it remotely. Despite this, Amagansett House was completed giving the homeowners the serenity they were looking for.

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When you’re ready to get started on your kitchen or home remodel, work with Sweeten to renovate with the best contractors.

Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, scope, and style. Follow the blog, Sweeten Stories, for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation with Sweeten.

Renovation Materials

KITCHEN: Douglas fir cabinets: Reform. Flooring: Dinesen. Bertazzoni professional induction cooktop and electric oven in Bianco: Appliances Connection. Puccio 712 stool: Billiani.

MASTER BATHROOM: ​​Natural large wicker ball lamp: HKliving. Vivid slimline fixtures: Phoenix Tapware. Wheat Fields flooring: Royal Oak Flooring. 

LIVING AREAS: Vertigo suspension lamp: Constance Guisset. Mags soft sofa: HAY. Sand, natural, and black rug: Pampa Paloma.

The post Natural Wood Throughout in an Amagansett Beach House appeared first on Sweeten.

As someone who works for a real estate investment company, Kasey has an innate appreciation for New York City’s grand architectural history. So it was no surprise when he purchased a prewar apartment along Park Avenue within the Murray Hill Historic District, which boasts landmarks such as JP Morgan’s mansion and the Union League Club. “When I moved to New York, I was fascinated by the prewar architecture,” he said. “It makes New York real estate what it is.”

During his search, he specifically set his sights on a prewar building with original oak herringbone floors. Even though the space he was considering appeared to be stripped of any ornate details, Kasey had seen other apartments in the building with the original patterned wood floors. He suspected—and hoped—that underneath the carpeting of what could potentially be his home, he might find the same wooden floors that he could refinish to their original condition. On his final inspection before closing, he lifted up a corner piece of the sad floor covering, and sure enough, herringbone wood floors in near perfect condition peered back. It remains one of his favorite aspects of the prewar apartment.

That discovery was the beginning of a rather long process. Initially, Kasey planned to renovate in stages, starting with a kitchen makeover along with unveiling, sanding, and refinishing the floors. It quickly became clear that doing the whole apartment, including expanding a dressing closet into a small bedroom and renovating the bathroom, would best be accomplished all at once. The building’s co-op board, known for being strict, took six months to approve Kasey’s purchase. He anticipated that gaining their approval for the renovation would also take months and he only wanted to go through that process once. When he posted his project on Sweeten, his matchmaker helped find a contractor who had experience navigating co-op boards. From those he interviewed (including non-Sweeten contractors), he ultimately chose a Sweeten team because of their knowledge working with tough boards and their track record renovating similar prewar apartments. “They came with the experience of what is allowed in a prewar building and what isn’t,” he said. Other historic building details included cement walls throughout the home, which made demolition an involved process but ended up benefiting as sound insulation from neighboring units.

As the board waded through his renovation plans—it ended up taking four months to approve, the same amount of time as the entire renovation—Kasey rarely stayed in the apartment. “It was in such bad shape,” he said. He opted for hotels and couches of generous friends. The studio was an estate sale and it looked like it. A boxy kitchen, cheap and tired cabinets, a grimy bathroom and carpeted floors throughout made for a dreary atmosphere.

Kasey’s aesthetic goal with the renovation was “to be mindful of the prewar nature and reflect the traditional design of the building and block.” For the clunky kitchen with a cramped layout, he basically started fresh. “I wanted to open it up and make it seem as large as possible,” he said. He got rid of the wall that separated kitchen and living room; not only did this merge the two spaces, it allowed the small window in the kitchen space to spill light into the living room. That is also why he envisioned a mostly-white kitchen—to reflect more light into the living room.

Even though Kasey doesn’t cook much, he specifically wanted a Bertazzoni range after noticing its distinct and refined design during a trip to Italy and felt it fit well with the understated classic style of his kitchen. The range threatened to delay the project when the wrong model was delivered, but Kasey’s Sweeten contractors quickly replaced it with the correct model. He also wanted a kitchen island that ended up morphing into a peninsula. “It actually comes into the living room and overlaps with the wood floor to combine the two spaces,” he explained.

In the bathroom, he let his Sweeten contractor, a design/build firm, guide his design choice that would best suit a building from the 1940s like his. After sifting through 100-plus subway tiles that differed in color, gloss, and size, Kasey felt a white gloss subway tile was the classic way to go. Delicate hexagonal marble tiles on the floor and a light marble on the sink provide an understated detail. “There are no windows, so I was trying to use light shades of paint and reflective tiles to brighten it up as much as possible,” he said. Kasey’s Sweeten contractor encouraged him to keep the bathroom layout the same to avoid unnecessary permits from the Department of Buildings. He contemplated a walk-in glass shower but eventually went with a tub for resale purposes.

There were practical things to consider, such as storage lost when the dressing room turned into a small bedroom. While a door leading into a private elevator entrance was no longer in use, it helped provide space for a closet. It also remained a nice historical detail in the prewar apartment. Kasey also used furniture as a repository for more items—a living room coffee table doubles as storage.

While Kasey loves his new renovation—the classic look, the bright space, and those herringbone wood floors—he has a new appreciation for the involved process of renovating in Manhattan. However, he learned one important lesson. “It is much more rewarding to live in an apartment that you spent a bunch of time renovating,” he said. “It feels a lot more like it’s yours.”

KITCHEN RESOURCES:  Professional Series range and hood: Appliances Connection. Kitchen cabinets: Custom. Cabinet hardware: Appliances Connection. Viatera countertops in Willow White: Appliances Connection.  Atom tile backsplash: Nemo Tile. Refrigerator, #CS1350BB: Liebherr. Dishwasher: Appliances Connection. Sink: Kraus. Sonoma faucet: Appliances Connection. Paint, Misty Gray (walls), Decorator’s White (ceiling): Benjamin Moore. Microwave: Breville.

BATHROOM RESOURCES: Bancroft shower system: Appliances Connection. Shower rod: Signature Hardware.

Thank you, Kasey, for sharing your new home with us, and we hope you enjoy your much-awaited prewar apartment.

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Emily’s prewar studio received a classic renovation with patterned floor tile, marble accents, and a cozy office nook.

Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, and scope, helping until project completion. Follow the blog for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation on Sweeten.

The post A Love of Historic Buildings Transforms a Studio appeared first on Sweeten.

Guest post by Tina in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn

Last week in part 1, we visited architect Tina and her husband Fletcher’s duplex in Cobble Hill. She gave us the tour of the kitchen and powder room on the upper parlor level. Now we’re back to view their bedrooms and master bath on the garden level. Here’s how the couple and their contractor transformed a level with lower ceilings and semi-subterranean location into a cozy and very chic space.

Working with our Sweeten contractor, we decided to refinish the dark wood floors throughout our duplex apartment to brighten the living space. It was especially needed in the bedrooms on the lower level. We ran into our first delay after work began on the floors. Initially, we selected a weathered oak finish, but our mistake was not testing it before moving forward. It wasn’t until after the entire lower level had been sanded and re-stained that we learned the red oak floors didn’t take the color as we had expected. To complicate things, we discovered the wood on the stairs was white oak, while the upper level floor was maple. The renovation timeline was delayed a week as we tested combinations of stains to find a neutralizing color that worked on all three wood types. Fletcher made the ultimate selection of Bona Grey, and we could not be happier with how it turned out!

The new floors immediately brightened the lower level of the duplex, which was key in disguising its semi-subterranean status. In addition to a lighter floor stain, we painted the bedroom walls with light colors—a cool gray in the baby’s nursery and a calming off-white in the master bedroom. White bedroom furniture, accents, and linens maintained the bright palette. To give the impression of larger windows, we added floor-to-ceiling sheer curtains.

The lower level had no base molding or traditional casing around the windows, and the interior doors styles were flat with concealed hinges, creating a sterile look. To introduce more character, we added base trim throughout the bedrooms and shaker-style panel doors. Our contractor helped us realize how cost-effective this strategy was. It was a low-cost improvement that made a huge impact. The garden level feels as comfortable and inviting as the upper living area.

We were already very pleased with the layout of the main bath, and found it was efficiently designed. Within a small space, it contained a tub—essential for our growing family—a large walk-in shower, and even a washing machine and dryer that already existed! It may have been more convenient to have them in a room where we could fold laundry, but we were happy to not give up significant apartment real estate. We just avoid running the ventless dryer while taking a shower. The amount of moisture in the room can become overwhelming!

Like the powder room upstairs, we kept the original Duravit fixtures, and were conscious of choosing materials that would make the space feel larger and brighter. This was especially important because we decided to tear out the existing back-lit vanity mirror that spanned the entire length of the main bath wall. And it was actually effective in making the room feel larger but we replaced it with a more traditional vanity mirror and sconce lighting. We continued the marble mosaic into the shower to avoid visually dividing the space, and kept the walls bright with the same Nemo white 2×8 subway tile used for the kitchen backsplash.

Thanks to our Sweeten contractor and his crew, the renovation process was relatively quick and painless. By having the design decisions completed before work began, we eliminated on-the-go decision-making and were able to work with the team and budget effectively. We were happy to have a contractor with a calm disposition, who was extremely sensitive to our schedule and accommodating to hiccups in the process.

Although the work moved quickly, it wasn’t completed on schedule due to minor delays. Working with a tight timeline, there was little room for contingency. Our scheduled move-in landed just a week before our baby’s due date. As luck would have it, I went into labor early, on moving day!  

Because our kitchen cabinets had been delayed a few weeks, we returned from the hospital as they were being installed. We introduced our newborn to a home with appliances stacked in the living room and unpacked boxes occupying the rest of the apartment. We camped out as a family in the nursery (equipped with my college dorm mini-fridge) for a week while major work was being completed.

Two weeks after our move and into parenthood, the renovation was 95% complete. We unpacked boxes while the baby slept. Talk about exhausting! Looking back, transitioning was certainly hectic, but we couldn’t be happier with our new home. It is the perfect environment for our growing family.

Thank you, Tina and Fletcher, for sharing your story. We love seeing your personal stamp on the design of your home.

FULL BATH RESOURCES: Fluid Basketweave Mosaic marble floor tile; white gloss subway 2×8 wall tile: Nemo Tile. Sconce: Dot & Bo. Vintage recessed medicine cabinet/mirror: Pottery Barn. Moen S6320 Velocity showerhead: Amazon.com.  Washer/dryer: Appliances Connection.

MASTER BEDROOM: “Gray” wood floor finish: Bona. Bed: San Francisco Design via Gilt. “Grove” dressers in walnut: Room & Board. Wall paint in “Calm”: Benjamin Moore.

NURSERY: Safavieh “Montauk” rug: Overstock. Wall paint in “Gray Cloud”: Benjamin Moore. Brimnes daybed: IKEA. Langley Street “Parocela” dresser: Wayfair.

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In Chelsea, a duplex transforms into a bright and modern space, complete with a magical—yet practical—nursery.

Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, scope, and style. Follow the blog for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation on Sweeten.

The post A Blueprint Comes to Life for a Family Duplex (Part 2) appeared first on Sweeten.