A couple aims to find a vetted contractor for their East Village kitchen renovationâfinally
Wear-and-tear of a well-used kitchen showsIn the 23 years since Susan and Carl bought a one-bedroom East Village co-op, theyâve made a lot of changes. âThe history is long in this space,â said Susan, including withstanding 16 years of kids and dogs. She isnât exaggerating. This couple bought the neighboring studio apartment in 1997, bumping up their square footage to 1,400. They hired someone to do the bare minimum to connect the two apartments and did everything else themselves. A few years later, while an âineptâ contractor did a poor job of fixing up the bathroom, the couple went on to do a DIY job with the kitchen. A leaky dishwasher eventually ruined the flooring. SWEETEN_Susan Horwitz_Kitchen_Before04 SWEETEN_Susan Horwitz_Kitchen_Before06 SWEETEN_Susan Horwitz_Kitchen_During08
With low interest rates, they decided to refinance their mortgage and renovate, which brings this story to the present day. Despite those DIY fixes, the kitchen wasnât at its full potential. A dropped ceiling in certain areas eliminated what could be very useful storage space. The recessed canned lights hanging from the ceiling also made the kitchen feel small. Even with a cutout in the wall toward the living room, the layout didnât suit entertaining. âWhenever we had company,â said Susan, âeveryone would squeeze into the end of the kitchen while I cooked and doled out snacks.â Finding the right expertise to get the job doneWith the disaster of the bathroom contractor etched in their minds, Susan and Carl promised themselves to scrutinize the next person they worked with. They found Sweeten and posted their project, a choice that paid off many times over. For example, they discovered a beam that they feared would force them to shorten the cabinets and give up storage space. But the Sweeten contractor they chose âknew exactly how to notch out the back of the taller cabinets to accommodate the beam,â said Susan. The couple spent hours on Pinterest and decided against uniformity in the long, narrow space, opting for family- and pet-friendly materials and layout instead. âWe wanted to eliminate the bowling alley feel,â she said. This was achieved by mixing cabinets and shelves, as well as glass and solid doors, and horizontal and vertical lines. Moving the window gate from the inside to outside was another simple fix that made a big difference. That change now enables them to open the bottom half of the gate. They opted for a painted backsplash rather than tile. âIt leaves open the possibility of changing colors when you get tired of it,â she said. Lessons learned from this East Village renovationThe job went smoothly with no issues with her contractorâeven though the âconstruction dust was hard to live withââthe couple still has tips for other renovators: 1. Triple your timeline estimate to get a realistic sense of how long a renovation will take, and 2. When your kitchen is out of order, thereâs a lot you can do in a slow cooker and rice cooker, including pasta! Bonus: This East Village renovation was full of pleasant surprises along the way. When their Sweeten contractor ripped out the dropped ceiling, Susan and Carl had expected to find something that would slow the project down. Instead, no wires, pipes or anything structural was found inside. âCompared to any other [renovation] jobs, nothing significant held us back with this one,â said Susan. Renovation Materials:Stone Studio floor tiles: Verde 1999. Grimslov and Hittarp kitchen cabinets: Ikea. Cabinet hardware: Rusticware Hardware Company. Countertops: European Granite and Marble. Island countertop: Country Mouldings. Sink: Ikea. Grohe faucet: Faucet.com. Refrigerator: Samsung. Dishwasher: Bosch. Dacor stove and hood: eBay. Ceiling lights: Schoolhouse Electric & Supply. Pendant lights: Ikea. Paint color in Sea Star, #2123-30: Benjamin Moore. Stools: Target. â Removing a difficult-to-access loft space and raising the ceiling allowed Emily and Trey to install taller kitchen cabinets for greater storage. Refer your renovating friends to Sweeten and youâll both receive a $250 Visa gift card when they sign a contract with a Sweeten general contractor. Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each projectâs location, budget, and scope, helping until project completion. Follow the blog for renovation ideas and inspiration and when youâre ready to renovate, start your renovation on Sweeten. Via https://civilco.construction/in-this-east-village-renovation-a-diy-jumble-gets-fixed/
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
ABOUT USCIVILCO Construction and Interior is a quality-oriented construction company that was founded in 2004 by its Chief Executive, Engineer Mujeeb Ur Rehman. He continues the construction family tradition while maintaining its outstanding reputation with an uncompromising commitment to quality and safety. With a strong reputation as an industry leader in Design-Build construction, CIVILCO construction provides excellence in a full spectrum of pre-construction, program management, construction, interior management, inspection, and quality control services. ArchivesNo Archives Categories |