Huntington Reno

So many details end up changing along the fun and bumpy road to renovation completion. Our front stoop and fence metal work is one of them. Our initial preference was to go with some salvaged pieces and do our best to replicate the original look of the house. Then we realized that our stoop gets quite steep at the bottom as though whomever built it started to run out of room and jammed the last five steps in. This minor detail made salvage yard shopping quite difficult and since we don’t have the extra 20k to re-build the entire stoop we went with some pieces that match the rest of the interior and back-porch metal work. Some effort is still needed to get the height and details just right but its damn close.

I’m not sure how else to put it, they are big, really big. At first we picked walnut, then switched to paint-grade to match the rest of the millwork and save some cash. They showed up walnut. Super.

It was not love at first sight with our new mantel but a simple fix made a world of difference. As suggested by Brendan the top piece was made a lot thicker and we are very pleased with the results. Yes, I still refer to it as the franken-mantel as it was brought back to life using pieces not original to itself but I no longer use that term in the pejorative sense, just as a fun moniker.

before

after, cheeks still to be added

No recessed lights! This was a major stipulation and while Brendan wasn’t a huge fan of our demand he obliged. Okay, so we have three recessed lights, but they are in the bathrooms above the showers and bathtubs respectively. Otherwise, it’s all sconces and pendants. I grew up in an old house and love brownstones that have no choice but to go this route so while ours is quite modern in many facets the lighting was something that we went a bit retro with, at least in concept. This past weekend we walked into a room full of our overhead goodies and couldn’t help but take a couple for a test-drive. I’m either old, weird or both. I just never thought I would see the day that I would be so ecstatic to get my hands on a Nelson Bubble Lamp.

the goodies

front parlor

office

master bedroom

front hall

Though neither my wife nor I have ever lived in a place with dark floors it was something we immediately agreed upon. The top two floors have been stained (garden floor is marmoleum) in a half black, half brown mix. We are very pleased with the results.

My lovely wife is very passionate about a few particular details of the house, the front door color is one of those details. She may have even noted in our initial meeting with Brendan that an eggplant door was a must. Wish granted. Great call Beautiful.

I know I’ve said this before but it really is the little things that get one through the ups and downs of a gut renovation. Being able to flush our toilets for the first time was awesome, being able to see the shower head in action was equally as impressive. In short, esthetic details aside, running water in the house is prodigious.

It seems the finishing touches are creating the most reckoning amongst commenters; and the owners too for that matter. It makes sense if you think about it, the bones can be debated in regards to function and flow but esthetics, which don’t come to fruition until the end, becomes the face of the home’s interior which renders strong opinion and pressure to boot. It can keep an owner up at night contemplating decisions, not so much wavering on what to do next but the anxiety over whether or not the full vision will come together and make sense in the end. When the paint goes up it’s easy to stare at nothing but the walls and come to your own conclusion but keeping in mind that it is simply one part of the larger esthetic scale can prosper consternation. Of course we are getting great direction and constant support from our architect’s team and the GC but I think it is worth admitting that this part of the process is extremely rewarding and nerve racking at the same time.
With the above in mind a couple new pieces have fallen into place since last week. No surprise that progress continues to hum-along as we counted about thirteen heads working on our place last time we were there.
First, the new radiators have been installed in the living room. This is one of the few places we are went with new pieces instead of what we salvaged from the old abode. As this room is the most susceptible to being cold, going with two smaller units under the windows was the right move for us.

The other hot box to mention is the mantel which has been cleaned, patched and re-installed. To be honest we are on the fence about this in its current form, it’s not what we envisioned but we are willing to give it a shot for the time being to grow on us. Once this space is completed we may revisit and try to get it closer to its original form.

Three words that only go together in specific circumstances and as luck may have it this is one of those special occasions. Lots o’ details coming together nicely and it seems as though we are in the home stretch of this crazy trip.
The wallpaper is up and not to toot my own horn but it is looking pretty snazzy. When I mentioned Flavor Paper in a past missive it was not an attempt to put a fun spin on a wallpaper reference but rather a call-out to the company we used for said materials. One of the perks of being a Brownstoner content consumer is that you come across things like this that points you in a direction that one may have otherwise never been privy to. The Flavor Paper showroom is kick ass, the strudel was delicious and a good bloke named Blake was super helpful in getting us pointed in the right direction. After little debate we chose “Chinatown Toile” for the dining room and “Fishnets” for the powder room. There was so much wallpaper in the house pre-construction (in fact, some still lives on behind the drywall…) that we thought it would not only be a nice touch to the overall esthetics but also a tribute of sorts to the home’s past.

The appliances are also in the house. Details to be discussed at a later date.

And last but never least is the millwork. Most of the pantry is in along with the parlor floor closets that connect the bridge to the front parlor. Simple white on everything and very clean hardware that will be installed shortly. Call me crazy but I’m pretty pumped about the broom closet.