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Welcome to my 5th Avenue renovation in Park Slope. I am absolutely delighted to post my story on Brownstoner, not only because I am an avid “brownstoner” but because I thought that perhaps someone who is starting a renovation project may learn from my good and bad experiences. So where do we begin? I say let’s start from the beginning!

 
My hubby and I bought a three-story townhouse in Park Slope about ten years ago. We live on the top-floor apartment and rent out the other two apartments. After ten years, two kids and a 14-year-old Rottweiler, we both agreed that we may be outgrowing our three-bedroom, one-bath apartment. We wanted to live in a bigger space so that we all could stretch out a bit more and use the bathroom without lining up to do so. Seriously. The question then became: Move to a bigger space or build on top of our existing property?

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The second installment of the Astoria Renovation Blog is up. This week it’s all about establishing the scope of work and paring back the unfortunate accretions of later years, such as faux stone veneer and crazy patterned carpets. “Although my parents now live outside Baltimore, I side with John Waters, who called formstone ‘the polyester of brick,’” he writes. “Other houses of our model in the area have charming half-timbered details on this gable, or we might try to continue the brick façade up so the gable doesn’t look quite so tacked on (but it is, Blanche, but it is).”

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It’s been something of a dry spell around here in terms of renovation blogs. That’s why we are particularly excited to announce the launch of two new members of this elite family. Already up and running for a few days (anyone noticed?), the Astoria Renovation Blog will detail one couple’s trials and tribulation renovating a modest and not-particularly-architecturally-significant house in Ditmars. “In Astoria we could get a 2,400 sq ft two-family row house for about half the price of brownstone Brooklyn,” he writes. “We knew from the beginning we would have to put the detailing in ourselves.” Check out the inaugural post and stay tuned for a second renovation blog debut later this week.