Shutters or Shades?

Splenda,

Really? Away from the "culture?" I think you are likely to find way more "culture" in a diverse neighborhood like Bay Ridge, than you will in Brooklyn Heights or Park Slope. Definitely more "culture" in Bay Ridge than in Westchester.

If you're referring to "cultural events", like the theater, or the ballet or opera, it takes me 15 minutes more to get to Lincoln Center than it did when I was in Carroll Gardens. I definitely don't feel that I lack access to cultural events since I moved to Bay Ridge.

Again, it's a personal decision. For me, I wanted my children to be from an urban area instead of from an identityless town.

Posted by: bkoriginal at September 17, 2009 3:40 PM in response to House of the Day: 7543 Shore Road

Splenda, first, disclaimer -- I went to high school in Bay Ridge (well, Dyker), so I'm actually very comfortable in the area. I recently moved here from Carroll Gardens. I loved living in CG, but it wasn't affordable as our family started to grow and required more space. For me, personally, having grown up in Brooklyn, there was no way I was heading out to the suburbs. To me it IS a totally different lifestyle. In Bay Ridge, I'm still able to roll out of my house and run down the block to the bank, coffee, grocery shopping, pharmacy, dinner, take my kids for ice cream, etc. I have a million restaurants -- greek, middle eastern, italian, spanish, diner, thai, mexican, vietnamese -- all within walking distance. It takes me about 40 minutes to get to work in the am, and it takes my husband just under an hour. On the weekends, we're in Manhattan with our car in 20 minutes (we also have parking at our house here). At the end of the day, it's a lifestyle choice. For us, since the nabes closer to the city have gotten insanely insanely expensive for a family that would like 1500+ square feet and more than 2 bedrooms, we preferred staying in brooklyn and moving a bit further out, than living in a community that was, well, mostly houses and golf courses.

Posted by: bkoriginal at September 17, 2009 3:08 PM in response to House of the Day: 7543 Shore Road

This house is insanely expensive. We're not talking the Malibu coast here.

That being said, I don't think you can compare Bay Ridge with Westchester. From the location of this house, if one has a car, they can get into the city quite easily (and much more quickly than once could travel from Westchester). Sure, the rush hour commute or subway ride would be longer, but we're not talking about a serious hike from Manhattan.

Also, note that, while some people may prefer to move out to the suburbs and are ok with a bedroom community lifestyle, others might want to stay in Brooklyn to maintain an urban lifestyle. Bay Ridge is no bedroom community, but it will get you more space for your family without having to compromise being in a vibrant city community.

Interesting that someone would comment that this neighborhood far from what Brooklyn has to offer. Bay Ridge has some of the best restaurants and parks in all of Brooklyn. It may not be "hip" like Smith Street, but Smith Street was far from cool just 8 years ago. I'd take a good restaurant in Bay Ridge and put it up against a good resto in Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn Heights or Park Slope any day of the week. Just saying...

Posted by: bkoriginal at September 17, 2009 2:27 PM in response to House of the Day: 7543 Shore Road

Thank you all!

Our condo is new construction, very traditional, brick, three story building. I initially thought shutters was the way to go because I personally think they're very clean, classic and beautiful. I typically hate blinds. Then I saw the silhouettes in a Hunter Douglas showroom and thought they actually looked very soft, filtered light quite beautifully, and are very versatile (i.e., offer the versatility of blinds, but softened by gauze and the fact that the slats are fabric and not wood/metal). I also love that they can be either completely sheer or have a complete blackout option. Anyway... I just enjoy hearing everyone's opinion. We're not going to stay in our place for more than 5 years or so, and we'd love to choose a product that potential buyers may also enjoy.

Posted by: bkoriginal at September 16, 2009 2:52 PM in response to Shutters or Shades?

http://www.hunterdouglas.com/our-products-detail.jsp?id=1

Posted by: bkoriginal at September 16, 2009 11:44 AM in response to Shutters or Shades?

Ok, Kensingtonian, if you grew up in Brooklyn, I can accept your point of view (it's your opinion). If you're not from here, you're the one who is making idiotic statements. When I was growing up, until very recently, actually, Kensington was NOT the safest area around. My parents grew up near there, and it definitely was not the best neighborhood. I would agree that Kensington is on the upswing, but, really, get real. Bay Ridge has always been quite safe.

Posted by: bkoriginal at August 28, 2009 1:06 PM in response to From Boston to Brooklyn by 11/1

I too highly recommend Bay Ridge -- especially if you're a young single girl. It is a little further to Manhattan, but just jump on the R train and you'll be there in 35 - 50 minutes (depending on where you're going). It's a very safe neighborhood (I think safter than Kensington), with many restaurants, bars, etc. It's really a neighborhood that is on the rise. I just moved there from Carroll Gardens and, while I was very reluctant to leave my previous neighborhood, I ultimately couldn't be happier with my decision. Definitely consider it. Good luck!

Posted by: bkoriginal at August 28, 2009 11:23 AM in response to From Boston to Brooklyn by 11/1

We have a dining room extension table/6 chairs set that we would like to sell. It's by Pottery Barn and is from the Conrad Collection. We purchased it back in 2007 and love it, but it won't fit in our new space. The entire set cost us $3200 and we were hoping to sell it for $2000 since it's in great condition, but we would definitely entertain other offers. Please let me know if you would like me to send you pictures.

Posted by: bkoriginal at July 14, 2009 2:28 PM in response to Furniture Stores in Brooklyn?

We had the EXACT same problem for a while ... and then it just stopped. Every day we would kill a huge horsefly and then three more would suddenly appear. We definitely didn't have mice (or dead bodies for that matter). I do, however, think they were coming from our kitchen sink.

Posted by: bkoriginal at June 26, 2009 11:26 PM in response to Flies in the house

I'm surprised that some people would even consider neighborhoods like Bed Stuy, Crown Heights, PLG, etc. (OR QUEENS, FOR HEAVENSAKE!) before going to Bay Ridge. There's honestly no comparison. As someone who has lived in Brooklyn her entire life -- trust me -- you do not want to be in any of those neighborhoods instead of Bay Ridge.

Bay Ridge is really on the rise. It's always been a safe, family friendly neighborhood with great schools and AMAZING restaurants. It's just a further commute into midtown (about an hour) than Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens. But Bay Ridge is totally affordable and those neighborhoods just aren't anymore. Since the neighborhoods closer to the city are becoming insanely expensive, there's definitely a flight deeper into Brooklyn. For the quality of life (without sacrificing being in walking distance of a million restaurants and parks and the water), Bay Ridge is the way to go.

Posted by: bkoriginal at June 25, 2009 2:49 PM in response to Townhouse for $600k?

I'm surprised that some people would even consider neighborhoods like Bed Stuy, Crown Heights, PLG, etc. (OR QUEENS, FOR HEAVENSAKE!) before going to Bay Ridge. There's honestly no comparison. As someone who has lived in Brooklyn her entire life -- trust me -- you do not want to be in any of those neighborhoods instead of Bay Ridge.

Bay Ridge is really on the rise. It's always been a safe, family friendly neighborhood with great schools and AMAZING restaurants. It's just a further commute into midtown (about an hour) than Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens. But Bay Ridge is totally affordable and those neighborhoods just aren't anymore. Since the neighborhoods closer to the city are becoming insanely expensive, there's definitely a flight deeper into Brooklyn. For the quality of life (without sacrificing being in walking distance of a million restaurants and parks and the water), Bay Ridge is the way to go.

Posted by: bkoriginal at June 25, 2009 2:45 PM in response to Townhouse for $600k?

northsloperenter -- hilarious and 100% on point. we do it now with 50 steps (fourth floor) and it ain't fun at all. anyone with a kid or two knows to stay away from the "multiple trips" resolution. that's not "problem solved"; that's problem magnified.

Posted by: bkoriginal at June 10, 2009 7:36 PM in response to Condos of the Day: 707 Carroll Street

I for one much prefer brownstone condos than the big conversions.

Posted by: bkoriginal at June 10, 2009 2:29 PM in response to Browstone Condos

I saw these apartments when they first hit the market a couple of months back. At first, we thought they sounded like a great deal -- in the heart of the true Park Slope, right next to Berkley Carroll St. School -- and with outdoor space and the potential to build out the bottom level. Sweet! Then we went to see them -- not sweet AT ALL. The kitchen is in the back of the apartment and is DISGUSTING. The bedrooms are teeny tiny dark rooms that look out onto air shafts. The worst part -- you could almost touch both walls at the same time with outstretched arms. This apartment was about as narrow as a bowling alley. So, for all of the money you would have to put into it to make it livable (thought you can never undo the lack of width), it's a ridiculous price. It needs at least $100-150K. I knew these would still be on the market months later. They're totally not worth it after inspection.

Posted by: bkoriginal at June 10, 2009 2:02 PM in response to Condos of the Day: 707 Carroll Street

I also fully agree with the suggestion regarding Bay Ridge. It's definitely not as close to Manhattan, but you can find nice space there and have access to tons of great restaurants and bars. It's very accessible to good transportation into Manhattan (the subway and the express bus into midtown are easy to get to). Also, if you want a car, you could probably find an apartment in your price range that will come with a parking space (it's possible). And now that Park Slope has been bleeding into what used to be Gowanus and Sunset Park, you can easily get there by just driving down fourth avenue for 15 minutes. It might not have the cache of carroll gardens, cobble hill or fort greene, but none of those neighborhoods had any game 10 years ago either. Bay Ridge is on the rise.

Posted by: bkoriginal at May 27, 2009 1:15 PM in response to Neighborhoods for Great Deals?

JLo, totally with you on using shutters in the front, if it is a brownstoner. But I am not sure the OP is.

We were darn lucky our shutters were original and still in good condition. They had been (ugh) nailed nastily into the pocket sides and had been painted with layer upon layer of paint. It was a bear when the pain stripping team came to remove them.

But when they came back from being stripped, they were just awesome. With the TLC of our contractor (which included actually rebuilding or making from scratch a couple of panels, plus cleaning up the pockets, they have added what is really a special element back to this old house.

Sadly the garden floor does not have the shutters in - not sure but suspect the folks who renovated years ago when they bought before us knocked them out. Too bad, but we saved the top three floors.

For a brownstone I definitely recommend renovating existing shutters but if not there, then considering trying to recreate. Just beautiful.

Sure, honeycomb or other shades are more useful, but not as elegant.

Posted by: sunspot19 at September 18, 2009 7:59 PM in response to Shutters or Shades?

Yllebdael said: "Nova Zembla sucks. Bought a custom made piece from them. It was delivered damaged. A big chunk came out from one of the legs. The owner would not give a discount. He's a stupid man. Zero idea how to treat customers and a complete moron. Buyer beware."

I went to Nova Zembla for the first time as a result of this thread and am compelled to offset this. We saw great stuff, bought several right then and there, special ordered another (with legs moved to accommodate our vents) and had a first class experience. Delivery (that day) was inexpensive, especially considering it was three large HEAVY rosewood pieces up three flights, and done with extreme care and professionalism. Everything is high quality but not expensive. We are thrilled to have been able to get so much stuff made for urban spaces rather than suburban houses. We spent an inordinate amount of time in the store making decisions and were treated extremely well the entire time. I especially appreciated that the owner gave us all information and zero sales shtick. I know that if we hit an issue he'll deal with it to our satisfaction. I've hit countless furniture places this month and the only two that spoke to me were Sterling Place and Nova Zembla.

I will return and recommend highly.

Posted by: jland at September 19, 2009 10:45 PM in response to Furniture Stores in Brooklyn?

I can recommend The Shutter Store a new wood shutters company if you need diy plantation shutters shutters and I think they look great with brownstone buildings being classic whether cafe style or contemporary with no push rods they give a great clean line...

Posted by: nickshutters at November 18, 2009 10:54 AM in response to Shutters or Shades?

Good News!! HIP&HUMBLE HOME has opened on Atlantic Avenue...this store has te most eclectic collection from Indonesia and Morocco that I have ever seen! their prices are VERY fair, and these guys really know the product, they even take custom orders(if you dont mind te wait, its coming from far away places)...what a great find!!
387 Atlantic Ave

Posted by: designfreak at January 11, 2010 4:39 PM in response to Furniture Stores in Brooklyn?

Good News!! HIP&HUMBLE HOME has opened on Atlantic Avenue...this store has te most eclectic collection from Indonesia and Morocco that I have ever seen! their prices are VERY fair, and these guys really know the product, they even take custom orders(if you dont mind te wait, its coming from far away places)...what a great find!!
387 Atlantic Ave

Posted by: designfreak at January 11, 2010 4:39 PM in response to Furniture Stores in Brooklyn?