• Homeowners: Laura and Walter posted their Park Slope gut renovation project on Sweeten
• Where: Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York
• Primary renovation: A 700-square-foot co-op reveals built-in cabinets in each room including the living room, den, dining area, kitchen, 2 bedrooms, and bathroom
• Sweeten general contractor
• Homeowner’s quote: “My best tip for future renovators is to have all the fixtures with long lead times and finishes ordered before the work begins.”
• Sweeten’s role: Sweeten matches home renovation projects with vetted general contractors, offering advice, support, and secure deposits—for free

Written in partnership with Sweeten homeowner Walter. “After” photos by Kate Glicksberg for Sweeten.

Changing the entire floor plan

Our apartment, which was built in 1912, had almost all of the original details still intact. It was important for us to keep this character while adding a more usable kitchen and bathroom. The first objective was to get rid of the long hallway, which was tying up roughly 10% of the apartment. An added bonus: opening up the floor plan would bring more light in.

A new angle for the kitchen

Next, we wanted to expand the footprint of the kitchen. ­The existing layout was not working: it was impossible to open the oven door without running into the sink. It was also difficult for more than one person to be in the space at a time. Everyone wound up standing in the doorway to the kitchen. We posted our Park Slope apartment gut renovation on Sweeten and got to work with our contractor.

Above the foyer, we dropped the ceiling by 18” for built-in cabinets. The result is nearly 30 square feet of additional storage space.

First, the original kitchen and center bedroom were swapped. The apartment layout included a small angled section of wall in the center bedroom—now our kitchen. Enter our Sweeten contractor, who had this idea when he came to our apartment for the initial meeting. It was one of the primary reasons we decided to work with him. His instinct was to embrace this angle and open up the new kitchen more than the traditional 90-degree corner would allow. We lost a bit of floor space in our bedroom as a result, but the tradeoff was worth it.

We were able to include both a peninsula and a dining nook in the new spacious layout. A bookshelf fits at the end of the peninsula closest to the living room.

Custom built-in cabinets are key

Given that we wanted to squeeze five rooms and a bathroom out of our apartment, it was important that every room was laid out as efficiently as possible. The various built­-ins we added allowed us to accomplish just that.

The built-in cabinets around the dining nook and drawers under the seating bench hide a ton of additional storage. Coming from our narrow galley kitchen, we were really excited to have a space big enough for us and our friends to hang out and cook in.

Above the foyer, we dropped the ceiling by 18” for built-in cabinets. The result is nearly 30 square feet of additional storage space. Lowering the ceiling had the added benefit of the apartment drawing you in. It made the rest of the apartment feel spacious by comparison—a design trick inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright.

The den’s millwork could fit a full-size bed for the future. In our bedroom, the closets around the bed double as nightstands with­ the upper drawers on each side containing a hidden outlet.

Choosing materials

The footprint of our bathroom couldn’t be enlarged because of the location of the windows and the building plumbing. In order to maximize the space, we opted for a shorter tub to fit under the window, a wall-mounted toilet to free up floor space, and a wall-mounted faucet, which gives more counters space around the sink.

Our goal was to use natural materials as much as possible. The oak floors were a tribute to the original parquet floors (we tried to save them, but they were too thin for another sanding). We designed and cast our own concrete sink (in a small rented workshop in Industry City) to fit perfectly. The subway tiles in the kitchen and bathroom were handmade, as were the dining nook pendants—all adding subtle character and texture to the spaces. We opted for a marbled quartz countertop and think it will last much better than the real thing.

Renovation tip: Order materials early

A lot of unexpected situations arose: an old dumbwaiter shaft ran through our proposed kitchen, the floor joists needed replacing, and the gas pipe had to be re­run from the basement passing through three other apartments. In retrospect, none of these things should have been surprising in an old building. Our Sweeten contractor was with us every step of the way to modify our plans to deal with the unexpected.

My best tip for future renovators is to have all the fixtures with long lead times and finishes ordered before the work begins. Nothing pushes back a project deadline like waiting for materials or having all work stop because the tiles are still on the truck.

In the end, we were able to keep the things we loved most about our original apartment while making significant improvements to our home for now and in the future. There are so many things we can enjoy now. The kitchen has become the center of our apartment, with friends able to hang out in the dining nook or living room while still being part of the conversation.

The glass partition helps bring a ton of light into the apartment. The bathroom has gone from tight-for­-one to comfortable-­for­-two. We were very lucky to find a partner in our Sweeten contractor. After living in the completed apartment, we’ve yet to find anything we’d change.

Thanks for sharing your Park Slope gut renovation story with us, Laura and Walter!

Renovation Materials

KITCHEN RESOURCES: Cabinet hardware: Emtek. Paint color in Lucerne on cabinets: Benjamin Moore. Countertops: Silestone. Backsplash: Country Floors. Kohler faucet: Appliances Connection. Elkay sink: Appliances Connection. Sub-Zero refrigerator and stove: Appliances Connection. Miele dishwasher: Appliances Connection. Lighting: AspectLED.

KITCHEN/DINING NOOK RESOURCES: Pendant lights: Kaufmann Mercantile. Built-ins/cabinetry: Custom by Sweeten contractor.

BATHROOM RESOURCES: Carrara Venato bathroom floor tile: The Builder Depot. Bathroom wall tile: Country Floors. Moen Weymouth faucet: Appliances Connection. Toto toilet: Appliances Connection. Kohler Seaforth tub: Appliances Connection. Lighting: Pottery Barn. Paint color in Raccoon Fur: Benjamin Moore.

LIVING ROOM RESOURCES: Glass Partition: Serett. Paint colors: Benjamin Moore.

DEN RESOURCES: Built-­ins/cabinetry and wall paint color in Gray Owl: Benjamin Moore.

BEDROOM: Parisian pendant ceiling light: Restoration Hardware. Built-­ins/cabinets: Custom by Sweeten contractor.

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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 Park Slope Gut Renovation Moves the Kitchen, Bets on Built-Ins appeared first on Sweeten.

Project: Combine multiple closets for more efficient storage

Before: When Melissa Young first set eyes on her new apartment, she was thrilled. It was a sunlit studio space on the corner of a beautiful prewar building with plenty of windows and charm. But she knew there was a lot to be done, given that the last renovation had occurred sometime in the ‘70s. Every surface was caked with paint a quarter-inch thick (including light switches!), and the floors were badly damaged. Melissa laid out a multi-step plan as soon as she closed. Feeling overwhelmed with the number of issues, she decided to tackle a relatively simple project first—the dearth of storage—and reached out to Sweeten to be matched with contractors. There were three tiny closets off the entry hall with low doorways preventing her from maximizing the vertical space available inside.

After: With the help of her Sweeten contractor, Melissa designed the largest closet doors that would fit in the space, working with California Closets to outfit the interior to create a functional, beautiful design with a mix of hanging and open shelving space. Her Sweeten contractor knocked down the wall separating two closets but left a third intact to use as a pantry space, since it was directly across from the galley kitchen. He also wired it so that her microwave and toaster oven could sit within the pantry. And although the project was intended to just focus on the closets, discussion with her contractor resulted in updates to the flooring, doors, walls, and radiators as well. In the end, Melissa’s studio had beautiful new herringbone wood floors in the hallway, refinished parquet in the main room, new baseboards, and molding.

Bonus: In the process of scraping the front door, the contractor discovered that underneath a hundred years’ worth of paint was “this gorgeous metal with amazing character.” They scraped all the door frames throughout the apartment as well, uncovering the same beautiful metal patina.

Style finds: Custom closets: California Closets.

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A walk-through custom closet in Michael and Chenta’s loft transformed their bedroom storage.

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 Small Studio Gets Big Storage appeared first on Sweeten.

Michael and Chenta had been looking for a new place for about six months when they visited a duplex apartment in the former home of the Ridgewood Times, a local newspaper of record in the area. They fell in love with the space and saw a lot of potential in it. The creatives—Michael designs sweaters and Chenta is a director in web design—were drawn to a warm but minimalist look, and knew immediately how they could alter the apartment to achieve their desired surroundings. The prewar industrial building was situated in Ridgewood, Queens, right on the border of Brooklyn, and dated back to 1932. It also briefly housed a school, and then was converted to condos in 2009. The structure’s original industrial elements, including steel beams and wood materials, concrete floors, high ceilings, and great expanses of windows, were preserved in the conversion. The space was everything that Michael and Chenta were looking for, with an interesting history to boot.

While they were in contract on the property, Michael and Chenta began reaching out to general contractors independently, but felt overwhelmed. They would call contractors and hear nothing back. Michael then posted his project to Sweeten’s site, explaining they wanted to reveal the concrete floors under beaten-up hardwood planks, and to create a new closet system for the master suite. The couple was matched with several experts, and ultimately decided on their Sweeten general contractor. The contractor and her team worked with the duo to achieve the right combination of concrete, wood, metal, and paint colors to produce what Michael called a “modern Scandi style, but without the Boho elements.” They wanted “clean and simple lines, but we’re also trying to not make it look too cold or sterile.”

In terms of the biggest changes, the contractor’s team first ripped up the wood flooring to expose the concrete floors underneath on both levels of the duplex. They next applied an Italian product called Wall2Floor, a concrete-based mineral coating that had to be applied by hand to the existing substrate. The application creates a seamless surface and is usually used in luxury spaces. It gave the apartment floor a polished, sleek texture and paired nicely with the wooden banister and kitchen cabinets.

To continue the streamlined effect, Michael and Chenta asked their Sweeten contractor to remove baseboard moldings and door frames. This accentuated the gallery-like feel of the loft space: walls were floated—meaning that the drywall stops short of the floor, and is not covered with base moldings, and when closed, doors were completely flush with the walls that surrounded them. Their choices of warm white paint in the living area and dusty pink in the living room provided a warm contrast against wood, metal, and concrete.

(The new wall behind the TV separates the clothes closets from the bed area creating a “walk-in” closet feel.)

For the master suite, they made layout changes to accommodate a walk-through (rather than walk-in) closet. The existing closets on the left wall were demolished, and a floating wall was created to section off the closet area without closing it completely. “It’s all very open with a lot of natural light,” Michael explained. New custom closets were designed with metal framed interiors and floor-to-ceiling oak doors and placed to face the new wall. They also opted to paint the walls inside the closets dark gray for more depth. All the hardware was finished in a matte black. “We didn’t like any of the standard finishes, so our contractor made the changes to help us achieve the clean lines and simplicity that we were looking for,” said Michael.

Throughout the process, Michael and Chenta worked with their Sweeten team to ensure that each step was smooth. But like many renovations, there were some hiccups: they had to move in before the renovation was finished since they didn’t want to continue paying rent when they had started paying their mortgage. They waited until the concrete floors were finished (and protected with a plastic sheet), and then lived through the rest of the work. “All our moving boxes were stacked in the middle of the living room, and we were sleeping on an airbed in a construction site,” describes Michael. Despite this, the couple felt that their contractor “was great from the beginning. She understood our vision and always had great ideas. She was the kindest person and talked us thoroughly through the process, even when Chenta and I had meltdowns.”

Michael’s advice to would-be renovators? “Stay calm and put some money aside. It will work out in the end, but you will be over budget. It was a system that we weren’t familiar with, and although I understand how to create a product, I didn’t realize just how complex it would be to renovate an apartment. It takes so many steps to even properly paint a wall! And all these little things need to be done to create a great end result, although they seem unnecessary when you are not familiar with the process.”

Thanks to Michael, Chenta, and their cat Taiger for sharing their showcase apartment with us!

RESOURCES. Concrete floors: Wall2Floor. Oak closet doors: custom. Berenson black closet hardware: Berenson.

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One way to stay on budget is to make sure you receive accurate bids from contractors. Here’s what you need to know to do just that!

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 Two Designers Make Upgrades to Their Loft Apartment appeared first on Sweeten.