Artisanal Home Goods Get a Tryout at Assembly Line in Boerum Hill
With furniture, lighting, accessories and expert advice, the store is intended for locals who want to do small, targeted renovations to transform their living spaces.
The Insider: In Total Redo, Awkward Brooklyn Heights Garret Becomes Airy, Inviting Home
A couple who purchased a run-down apartment measuring barely 800 square feet wanted to maximize the use of the space and make it a pleasant environment to come home to.
The Insider: Film Duo Combines Vinegar Hill Condos Into Expansive Industrial-Inspired Home
“A massive reorganization” is how Sarah Zames of Brooklyn-based design firm General Assembly described this recent project, joining two one-bedroom apartments to create a spacious, 1,400-square-foot home for a couple — one a filmmaker, the other an actor. The California transplants had bought adjacent top-floor apartments in a brand-new build, as well as the public hallway between the two.
The Insider: Speedy Reno in Williamsburg
Join us here every Thursday at 11:30AM for The Insider, Brownstoner’s weekly in-depth look at interior design and renovation in the borough of Brooklyn. It’s written and produced by Cara Greenberg, who blogs at casaCARA: Old Houses for Fun & Profit.
THERE’S A NEW ONLINE MATCH-UP SERVICE in town, but this one is strictly business. Instead of potential romantic partners, theSweeten.com helps homeowners find architects, designers, and contractors for their home-improvement projects, from large (whole-house renovations) to small (a wall of bookshelves).
Launched last year by Jean Brownhill Lauer, a Bed-Stuy resident who trained as an architect, theSweeten vets and pre-approves all professionals, thoroughly checking their references and quality of work so you don’t have to. She conducts face-to-face interviews, checks licensing and certificates, and monitors client feedback before inviting them to join the network. Design professionals pay for membership; homeowners pay nothing.
One such member is Sarah Zames of General Assembly, an architect who’s just wrapping up a Brooklyn Heights studio renovation she contracted through theSweeten. Her previous project, the subject of this post, was her calling card: a little bit of suburbia in Williamsburg. The home is a 1950s brick single-family across from Cooper Park, with front and rear yards and a parking alley, as well as air rights to build upwards in the future.
The current homeowners, a couple in the arts with a small daughter, hired General Assembly in January 2011, shortly after they bought the house. It had been unoccupied for three years. “It was a disaster,” recalls Zames. “It would definitely have scared most people off. The entire thing had to be completely gutted, re-plumbed, and re-wired, and the HVAC system replaced.” After a lightning-quick four-month renovation, the new owners had a completely remodeled home with a newly efficient floor plan, and were able to move in by Memorial Day.
The house is essentially a split-level, with a ground-floor living room/dining area/kitchen measuring just 300 square feet. Steps lead down to a guest room/art studio on the lower level. There are two bedrooms and a bath on the second floor.
The general contractor was Trevo Contracting, with millwork by Tribeca Design Build. Total cost of the job: under $250K. The house was staged for photography by Sarah Zames.
See lots more photos and read all about it after the jump.
Photos: Joe Fletcher (1st and 2nd floors); Paul Clemence (studio)