DIY & Remodeling With Margot Guralnick
Looking to buy a home in the city? It's often clear when a place is all wrong. But what about that hazy middle ground, when a listing seems to have potential, the price is within striking distance, and you're prepared to do some remodeling?
There are crucial if not-so-obvious details to take into consideration, says Elizabeth Roberts of Ensemble Architecture, DPC in New York City. Here are her top five deal-breakers.
1. Brick wall views.
Exposure is extremely important for so many reasons: Does the house get enough light? Do the rooms feel airy or closed off? When you're purchasing a house (versus building a structure from the ground up), existing factors that affect exposure, such as the skyscraper next door, are often something architects and designers can't do anything about.
The best exposure in North America is south-facing, and is especially important in cold climates. Personally, if a house doesn't get enough natural light, I find myself wanting to leave and get outside all the time.
Above: A less-than-ideal lookout. Photograph via Sheila's Wanderings.
2. Low ceilings.
Grand spaces can't be made out of foxholes. True, ceilings can sometimes be raised—on several projects, we've removed ceilings altogether to expose joists and create some architectural interest, and, yes, height. But it's complicated: You have to first look into city codes, and if you have a neighbor above you, in NYC your ceiling will need to provide a fire separation between the lower and upper unit, and its wooden structure usually can't be exposed. Also, if you're on the top level of a building, it's not legal to expose the roof structure. Additionally, the sheetrock and insulation between joists help prevent sound transmission between neighbors (or your own kids in the room above) and also keep out the cold. All of which is why it's very nice to begin with soaring ceilings.
Above: In a Brooklyn townhouse with a low-ceilinged garden-level kitchen, Roberts gained height by exposing the kitchen's rustic rafters. Tour the project in Indoor/Outdoor Living, Brooklyn Style and Steal This Look: The Ultimate Chef's Kitchen. Photograph by Dustin Aksland.
3. Lack of greenery.
I'm talking about the building's surroundings, and yes, this is true even in an urban setting. I focus on street-front trees and look for mature specimens in particular. Leafy branches lend a lot to a neighborhood: They can mask eyesores and create good privacy in a congested environment. Blocks without trees feel pretty hard and exposed.
Above: A tree with a shady canopy grows in front of a brownstone on New York's Upper West Side. Read about O'Neill Rose Architects' rebuilding of the townhouse—that stoop, new—in A Brownstone for the 21st Century.
4. No sign of a past life.
It's nice to have some historic details, such as doors and moldings, to contrast with new additions and transformations. Inserting historic detail into a building that is clearly newer than the era the client is hoping for just doesn't work. But re-creating historic detail doesn't have to be expensive or complicated; adding to what's already there is often possible.
As for white boxes devoid of detail, I think the most successful treatment of these spaces is to make them modern and minimalist. To me, it's important that the exterior of the building have some influence on the interior, so if you're working in a standard New York City high-rise, I would not recommend filling the apartment with prewar-style plaster detailing.
Above: Before and After views of the Chaplin Townhouse, a 19th-century Brooklyn dwelling that had much of its original detailing covered or stripped. In the remodel, Roberts revealed pine floors under the linoleum and highlighted the entry and stair rail in black.
5. Bad neighbors.
Bad can mean a lot of things: Noisy is the most obvious. It would be so nice if we could test-drive apartments by camping out in them for a night or two, but short of that, it's important to close the door and listen. And to visit at different times of day and night. My firm has clients who were assured that the extremely expensive loft they were purchasing was sound tight, but after it was theirs, they came by one day and could hear the neighbor practicing on a keyboard loud and clear.
Development plans for surrounding properties are also worth sussing out. Check with your local building department—many larger cities have websites where you can look up projects that are pending. This is a good way to find out if your neighbor is hoping to put up a big addition abutting your backyard.
Lastly, oftentimes there are problematic neighbors who are well-known to the community. Why is the seller selling? Ask around before you close the deal—and while you're waiting to hear, keep hunting.
Above: A Noho loft for a musician by Studio MDA.
Take a look at some properties, including Roberts's own brownstone, that passed muster and received the Elizabeth Roberts Design/Ensemble Architecture treatment:
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Outdoor Spaces With Remodelista Team
No pumpkins or scarecrows required. The Gardenista crew is getting prepped for the Halloween season with a week of black porch lights, rusty metal, dark leaf decorations, and poisonous plants.
Above: This way to the Poison Garden at Alnwick Castle in the north of England, designed by Jacques and Peter Wirtz.
Above: DIY Decor: Justine's Spooky-Elegant Halloween Table Setting.
Above: 10 Genius Garden Hacks with Rusted Metal.
Above: 10 Easy Pieces: Black Porch Ceiling Lights.
Above: Five DIY Fall Arrangements for Gardenista Readers by David Stark. Shown here: Drumstick alliums and passion vine in a Cécile Daladier vase.
Above: Required Reading: A Day at Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte.
Find the best fall foliage shrubs, curb appeal ideas to steal from Brooklyn for Halloween, dark door knockers, and more at Gardenista.
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DIY & Remodeling With Meredith Swinehart
Our resident Halloween expert Justine Hand says: "I like to honor All Hallows' Eve with a subtle, grown-up approach—something that is only vaguely sinister or decayed." We couldn't agree more. In the spirit of the indirectly eerie, here are 10 of our favorite Halloween setups of all time.
Above: The ingredients for re-creating Justine's subtly spooky tablescape are simple: bone white china and floating black leaves overhead. For more, see Falling Leaves: Justine's Spooky-Elegant DIY Table Setting.
Above: Justine created five Halloween-appropriate flower arrangements using only yard clippings and vases she had on hand. Here, Virginia creeper in an absinthe-colored antique vase. See the rest at 5 Favorites: Foraged Halloween Bouquets.
Above: Skip the face painting and paint the flowers instead: Gardenista used black acrylic paint on blue thistle stems for this kooky arrangement. For instructions, see DIY: A Black Thistle Bouquet for Halloween.
Above: When we asked Halloween hostess extraordinaire Claudia Schwartz for late-October decor ideas, she arranged dried green moss in antique French rose vases with vintage bone gaming pieces on top. For more tips (plus a party playlist), see Expert Advice: Halloween Decor Tips from a Master of the Dark Arts.
Above: Not one to be hindered by a small budget, Justine turned her house into a haunted hall for a total cost of $0. For this arrangement, she placed her wedding veil on a black rocking chair and set it in "that archetypal scary spot under the stairs." See the rest of her ethereal setups in DIY: Justine's Haunted Hall.
Above: At Remodelista, we use black taper candles year-round, but they're an obvious choice for Halloween. Justine made these tapers herself for about $3 per pair. Read how she did it in DIY Project: Black Beeswax Tapers for the Holiday Table.
Above: This unruly bouquet combines wild grapevine and tillandsia with leucadendron and amsonia. Learn how to do it yourself in Bouquet of the Week: Celebrating Decay for Halloween on Gardenista.
Above: These creepy-cute kitties are truly simple to make—chances are good you have paper, scissors, and string lights at home. For details, see DIY: Instant Black Cat Halloween Lights.
Above: For readers who love saving time and celebrating holidays in equal measure, try this all-purpose holiday table arrangement that will last from Halloween through New Year's with just a few tweaks along the way: see Steal This Look: A Versatile Holiday Table Arrangement.
Above: When Remodelista collaborated with Rue Magazine on a holiday table setting back in 2010, we applied the 100-mile rule: Everything from plates to persimmons were sourced from our neighborhood or our closets. See how we did it in Steal This Look: Remodelista's Holiday Table for Rue Magazine.
Spend some time in the dark:
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Architecture & Interiors With Meredith Swinehart
Two tiny cabins owned by two friends in New Zealand offer an important reminder: a retreat need not be massive to offer a peaceful hideaway.
Designed by firm principal Nat Cheshire of Aukland-based Cheshire Architects, the cabins are two projects for two clients: friends who pooled their money to buy a plot of land on a moody, remote estuary in northern New Zealand. They built their own shed cabin atop it, and took turns sharing it before deciding that two tiny, but very special, homes would better suit their needs.
The result is a pair of structures full of dichotomies: They have small footprints but stick out jarringly from the landscape. They're basic plywood buildings, but with luxurious details inside. And one is black, the other light.
Spotted on ArchDaily; interview info via New Zealand's Home Magazine.
Above: The cabins' charred wood exteriors make them contrast with the landscape, but their lack of conventional "house" details—like a pathway from the road or a front door—make them look like objects that might always have been there. Says designer Nat Cheshire, "In that big, long grass it feels more like these were boats tied up at moorings in a slow-motion ocean." Photograph by Jeremy Toth.
Above: Each cabin has two openings: one serves as an entrance, the other as a window. But the entrance is not a door—instead, visitors step up onto a boulder to climb inside the large opening. "We hoped that in subverting the shorthand language of building, these little constructions might feel like something other than—and more than—houses." Cheshire's office spent days figuring out how to lock the openings without any visible hardware. Photograph by Jeremy Toth.
Above: The light cabin's interior is plain builder's plywood. Here, an occupant enjoys the water view from the open "window." Photograph by Jeremy Toth.
Ostentatious second homes were not in the budget for this project but weren't wanted, anyway. The petite cabins were created in part as a reaction to overly large, little-used vacation houses. "Holiday homes have become this country's decadence," says Cheshire. "We wanted a different vision for New Zealand's coastal future."
The cabins are entirely off the grid, and each has a bathroom, kitchen, living room, lofted sleeping space, and outdoor shower. For ventilation, wood hatches open in the bathroom and sleeping lofts.
Above: The entryway of each cabin looks inward toward the land. Photograph by Jeremy Toth.
The estuary-side plot was zoned for a single 1,500-square-meter (16,145-square-foot) house. Since this plan called for two separate dwellings—albeit at 29 square meters (312 square feet) each—Cheshire and his clients had to argue their case for special permission to build. In total, the two cabins required just over eight sheets of plywood.
Above: The designer and owners liked the idea of adding luxurious details inside and wanted each interior to be distinct, one bright, the other moody. Says Cheshire, "There's a responsibility with objects of that scale that someone who is bold enough to commission it deserves to be delighted in every junction." Furnishings in the light cabin include an Ercol sofa and AJ floor lamp by Arne Jacobsen. Photograph by Jeremy Toth.
Above: Each kitchen has a small sink, refrigerator, gas stove, and dishwasher drawer. In the light cabin, the kitchen nook is lined in oiled jarrah eucalyptus wood. At left, the small closet bathroom. Photograph by Darryl Ward.
Above: The black cabin's view of the mangrove inlet. Rather than adding walls of glass to immerse the cabins' occupants in the landscape, the architect actively avoided an indoor/outdoor experience. "The cabins are a retreat from the landscape rather than a saturation in it," he says. Photograph by Jeremy Toth.
Above: The black cabin is lined in form ply—low-cost panels covered in polished black coating—which creates a deep, inky space. Says the owner: "At night, if there's just a couple of candles going, the panels have a sheen that's quite disconcerting; it's like you're sitting in a void, or outside." Furnishings in the black cabin include a daybed by Donald Judd and an Eleanor Cooper twig mobile overhead. Photograph by Darryl Ward.
Above: The black cabin's kitchen has the same appliances as the light cabin but is lined in glamorous brass paneling. Photograph by Darryl Ward.
Above: The dark cabin's sleeping loft, with a skylight overhead for viewing stars. Photograph by Darryl Ward.
Above L: Both cabins' showers are outdoors, facing the water. R: The entrance opening of each cabin doubles in function as a small deck. Photograph by Darryl Ward.
Above: Cheshire wanted the cabins to exist boldly in the landscape, to "invoke the kind of dislocation that might stop you in your tracks, and help you see anew." Photograph by Darryl Ward.
More dream cabins await:
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