Brownstoner Reno: Monthly Archives: July 2005

The rental kitchen is all finished–though we are waiting to see what size fridge the tenant wants before buying it.

Here’s an update on our kitchen, with the Bluestar range installed. Here’s a reminder of how this Second Floor is laid out.

We’re using an oil-based Benjamin Moore Superwhite paint to do the doors and trim. It creates a very strong contrast and gives the wall colors and little extra pop in our view.

The dishwasher is installed in the rental kitchen along with the sink and counter. There wasn’t enough of the marble we purchased to construct the rental sink, so the fabricators actually gave us this granite. It’s not our favorite in terms of aesthetics, but it’s pretty good quality for a rental. BTW, the marble place we used is called West Side Stone and Marble at 212-222-4999. Ask for Ari.

We wanted to have a place in the TV room to stash DVDs, remotes, etc., so we carved out this little shelf/nook in the corner.

The floors on the guest room (on the top floor, front) got a coat of sealer on Friday. Lookin’ good.

Our kitchen is coming together nicely. The counter we had made from the slabs of salvaged marble have such an incredible rich and warm tone despite their light color. We know some people have expressed reservations about how they will stand the test of time, but for now at least, we’re in love. We also like the contrast with the dark wood veneer on the Ikea cabinets, though we’ve already had our first small chip–at least it’s on the inside of one of the cabinets and not really visible even when the door is open. Cheap stuff, though, for sure.

The floors on the second floor were tougher than the garden floor (remember how we’re labeling floors: garden, parlor, second, third, fourth). First of all, the area in the middle of the floor (the “music” room) was originally four large closets, so the floors were just rough wood, while the rooms at either end had parquet. So we salvaged some old parquet from the Olde Good Things warehouse in Scranton and laid that in the music area, You’ll notice a difference in the woods, but overall we think worked much better than laying strip there! We also used some of this parquet to patch the many missing pieces around the rest of the floor. The nook under the arch at the front of the house also was a real bear because it had some very tough-to-remove linoleum on it, but our contractor ultimately was able to get it off.