With a $50,000 budget, custom cabinets maximize a cooking kitchen’s potential—and gets organized

• Homeowners: A condo-dweller and her husband, in need of a more functional, storage-efficient kitchen, posted their kitchen remodeling project for a small space on Sweeten
• Where: Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, New York
• Primary renovation: A rip-and-replace of the kitchen, which, after years of feeding the family of three, looked worn and felt ever more disorganized
• With: Sweeten general contractor
• Homeowner quote: “I asked to be matched to women- or Black-owned contracting companies only, and I liked that Sweeten offered that option.”

Written in partnership with homeowner Ina. “After” photos by Kate Glicksberg.

Busy kitchen, big jumble

The main goal for our kitchen renovation was not only to brighten and modernize the look of the space, but to make it more efficient. We wanted to increase storage, for pots and pans, pantry supplies, and spices. After years of feeling like we had outgrown the kitchen, I wanted it to look and feel super organized.

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I purchased the condo in 2005, when I was single, through Brooklyn’s Bridge Street Development Corporation, which renovated brownstones in Bed-Stuy and sold them to first-time homebuyers at a cost below market value. The building was the first condominium project, and the building and units were gut renovated. Everything was beautifully done, brand new, and high quality.

My husband is a fantastic cook and uses the kitchen a lot. He and I got married in 2012, and he and his son, who was then 14, moved in. Later, when our son was in college, he moved back home for a period of time during the pandemic. The three of us prepared nine meals a day—breakfast, lunch, and dinner for three people.

High-traffic hotspot

At that point, the kitchen cabinets couldn’t hold the amount of food we needed to sustain our family. The room configuration allowed only one upper cabinet in the corner for storing non-perishable food. One base cabinet held a jumble of pots and pans and another blind-corner base cabinet stored everything from cooking oils to the waffle maker to serving trays and plastic containers. There was so much stuff that we basically had to empty the whole cabinet to find one item.

Time to rethink and redo

After more than 17 years and much use, the kitchen’s cabinetry and appliances began to wear and look dated. The beige-tiled floors held onto the dirt and never looked clean. We decided to redo the kitchen with a rip-and-replace renovation. After hearing about Sweeten, we thought we would list the project there to find a contractor in the Brooklyn area.

Mindful choices, best results

Initially, I asked to be matched to women- or Black-owned contracting companies only, and I liked that Sweeten offered that option. I am a first-time renovator, so I also wanted to understand the process and what to expect. Sweeten was prompt to respond to emails and answer my questions. They also seemed to understand my other concerns, too, the biggest of which was hiring a contractor who did top-notch work. I wanted someone who could match the great quality of the original kitchen. They led me to the woman-owned company I ultimately chose.

I had no idea where to start, but our contractor was very helpful in sourcing materials. She recommended showrooms to look at prefabricated kitchen options and helped me explore materials that had the level of quality I sought. I appreciated working with her because I didn’t feel pressured to purchase cabinetry or hardware from one company. My contractor understood my vision; she was open to helping me reach it while staying within my budget—or trying to. 

"I had no idea where to start, but our Sweeten contractor was very helpful in sourcing materials."

Custom cabinets—worth the cost

I wanted dedicated places for items—pots and pans, baking supplies, spices and oils, as well as small appliances we don’t use everyday. I wanted open shelving, too, to showcase cookbooks and decorative items. As our Sweeten contractor and I talked, it became clear to her that I was looking for custom features. She recommended a local cabinet maker who I hired to design and build the cabinets. 

I am attracted to darker colors, and the south-facing kitchen window brings in a lot of natural light, so I wasn’t worried about the kitchen looking dark or small. I settled on walnut-stained base cabinets with white uppers, as I liked the contrast. Throughout the kitchen, I chose durable materials that would stand the test of time. I went with natural wood floors instead of tile. I like the look of marble but decided to go with more durable quartz for the countertops and backsplash.

Every inch put to work

We doubled the kitchen’s storage space by removing a soffit and adding a high row of cabinets that reach up to the ceiling. We built a pantry around the refrigerator. We installed drawers for pots and pans, and added a custom shelving system to the blind corner, providing organization to that cabinet space. We moved the dishwasher’s location from the right side to the left side of the sink.

I wasn’t prepared for living in the condo while it was undergoing renovation. We scheduled a vacation for the first two weeks, so we weren’t there for the demolition and the job’s initial phases. But when we returned, even though we were only renovating the kitchen, the entire space felt like a construction zone. The process took about four weeks.

Budget blown, but not disappointed

In the end, I spent about $20,000 more than I’d planned on the job because I chose to go with custom cabinets. The total cost was around $50,000. What about our finished kitchen made it worth that? Everything! It’s beautiful, and efficient because everything has a place. I actually enjoy cooking, cleaning and just being in the kitchen so much more now than I did before. I also have more time in the evenings to enjoy with my family.

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Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, scope, and style. Follow the blog, Sweeten Stories, for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation with Sweeten.

Renovation Materials

• Rivers Edge white oak smooth solid flooring: Floor and Decor
• Custom kitchen cabinets: Starwood Cabinet
• Quartz countertops and backsplash in Calacatta Blanco, #LK5003: Hicksville Surfaces
• Low-Divide Double Bowl 33” Sink – RVH7419: Ruvati
• Faucet: Home Depot
• Refrigerator, dishwasher, and stove: Bosch
• Kela Brushed Brass cabinet hardware: CB2
• Lighting: Lamps Plus

The post A Small Kitchen Remodel in Bed-Stuy Doubles Its Storage appeared first on Sweeten.

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• Homeowners: Courtney + Jim gave their home one more chance and posted their full home renovation in Clinton Hill on Sweeten
• Where: Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, New York
• Primary renovation: Reconfiguring, more storage, and even a peninsula made 800 square feet work better
• With: Sweeten general contractor
• Homeowner’s quote: “Working with Sweeten made us wonder what we had waited for.”

Written in partnership with homeowner Courtney. “After” photos by Kate Glicksberg.

Wrestling with the idea of renovating

We moved to Clinton Hill over a decade ago, and always loved the neighborhood with its history of housing for returning servicemen who worked in the Navy Yard. On a total whim, we went to an open house in the Clinton Hill Co-ops and made an offer on the first apartment we saw: an 800-square-foot, one-bedroom that had been converted into a junior two-bedroom.

Finding our general contractor

We headed straight to Sweeten, were matched with three general contractors right away, and within a week picked our contractor. He was incredibly responsive and patient with us as we walked through our apartment over and over again, thinking about the best way to open our kitchen, update the bathroom, reconfigure our bedroom, shore up our pockmarked walls and ceiling, refinish our floors, and add storage everywhere.

We were absolutely giddy with the concept of overhead lighting! We were wired for several fixtures in the living room and kitchen, as well as recessed lights in the hallways and bathroom. Because our apartment had been dark and crowded for so long, we gravitated toward a simple, minimalist design with white and gray paint to brighten the space and give it a clean look.

Personalizing the kitchen

Jim grew up with visions of a kitchen island where everyone could gather to eat and socialize–that became our only non-negotiable. It helped us focus our planning on the kitchen first. We knew we wanted custom cabinets, so our contractor brought in his cabinet maker to meet with us and walk through the layout.

Within a week, they had sent us a 3D rendering of our new kitchen, with Jim’s dream island, plus an extended butcher block counter ideal for our boys to sit and finish homework while we cook. Our contractor suggested the chalkboard paint—now a huge hit with the kids. He created a lot of extra storage under the island, including drawers for our pots and pans, plus a pantry along the extended counter. We have a dishwasher for the first time ever and love the kitchen tile.

Storage reimagined

Our Sweeten contractor had the genius idea to extend our bedroom two feet into the living room, which allowed him to build a closet (we used to store our clothes in the boys’ room). It was worth the minimal loss of space to gain more storage. We also hired a closet company to build a shoe closet for us. Since our room has two windows, we decided on an opaque glass door to maintain some privacy, but also take advantage of the natural light.

Our contractor came through on the extra storage front and found a way to build a second closet in their room…

For the boys’ bedroom, our only directive was storage, storage, storage. We wanted to find a way to keep all of their things in the bedroom, instead of spilling out into our common living areas. Once again, our contractor came through on the extra storage front and found a way to build a second closet in their room, ensuring we lost very little floor space. We’re not falling all over stuff anymore!

In the bathroom, we needed to keep a bathtub because we have young boys, and I insisted on a large piece of custom glass as our partial shower door. He warned me it might be difficult to reach around for the water control, but I insisted. It looks lovely, but he was right—it’s a bit of a struggle to help with bathtime.

Moving out during the renovation

Our biggest challenge was realizing that, because we were renovating the entire space, we would have to move out for an extended period of time. We didn’t initially budget to live somewhere else, so the added cost was a bit of a shock. After three months, we were scheduled to move back in and had left the rental, when our contractor told us he was about a week behind. Much of this delay was due to some delayed deliveries of things I had ordered.

We had no place to go and had to live in the apartment while there were still tools and supplies everywhere, with no appliances or kitchen counters. It was a bit uncomfortable, but not unmanageable. In hindsight, we probably should have just booked the rental for an extra week as insurance.

Working with Sweeten made us wonder what we had waited for. We were matched so quickly with a contractor, we were able to use the website to see examples of his work, we could reach out with questions and concerns. Another upside was the Sweeten blog, a huge source of inspiration! Our new apartment is exactly what we had hoped for: simple, comfortable, bright, and uncluttered. It feels like home.

Thank you, Jim and Courtney, for sharing your Clinton Hill full home renovation with us!

Renovation Materials

KITCHEN RESOURCES: Floor tiles and backsplash: Tiles by Kia. Kitchen cabinets: Custom by Sweeten contractor. Upper cabinet paint in Simply White and lower cabinet paint in Gull Wing Gray: Benjamin Moore. Wayfair Basics cabinet hardware, pendant lighting: Wayfair. Countertops: Custom by Sweeten contractor. Sink and faucet: Build.com. 36″ 800 Series, #B21CL81SNS refrigerator, dishwasher, and stove: Bosch. 24″ wine fridge, #CWB1760FD: Edgestar. Mobile chandelier: West Elm. Chalkboard paint: Benjamin Moore. Vapor acrylic bar stools: CB2.

BATHROOM RESOURCES: Bathroom floor and wall tiles: Tiles by Kia. Shower fixtures: Grohe. Sink, vanity, lighting, mirror: Build.com. Toto toilet: Toto. Acrylic storage shelf: CB2.

LIVING ROOM RESOURCES: Sphere + Stem 3-light brass chandelier: West Elm.

MASTER BEDROOM RESOURCES: Closets: Smart Closet Solutions. Flooring: Build.com. Böja ceiling light fixture: Ikea. Wall paint in Smoke Embers: Benjamin Moore. Sinnerlig light fixture by Ilse Crawford: Ikea.

KIDS’ BEDROOM RESOURCES: Wall paint in Amherst Gray: Benjamin Moore. Closets: Smart Closet Solutions.

Updated on May 23, 2023

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Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, and scope, helping until project completion. Follow the blog for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation on Sweeten.

The post A Clinton Hill Full Home Renovation Scores Storage & Style appeared first on Sweeten.

The post How to Choose Kitchen Cabinets for Your Renovation appeared first on Sweeten.

Project: Refresh a kitchen in Jersey City, NJ

Before: Kate and Matt loved their Jersey City neighborhood with the park across the street from their 1870s building. Nevertheless, after seven years of marriage, they knew what did and didn’t work in their kitchen floor plan, and decided it was high time for a makeover. Cheap ‘80s-era cabinets were showing their age, and storage was bursting at the seams, creating a chaotic pileup on every surface. While the kitchen is indisputably the heart of the home, when it literally falls in the middle of a living space (often referred to as railroad-style), it takes some serious planning to make the space fully functional.

The cook space was serviceable but worn. Kate had lived in the condo since 2000 and was more than weary of the laminate-clad cabinets and counters and the 30-year-old appliances. The kitchen’s location, in the middle of the apartment, dictated the galley setup. A massive soffit further encroached on the wall space, limiting storage.

After: Kate’s primary objective, besides a completely new look, was the addition of a breakfast bar. “I spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking,” she said, “so I really craved a little spot in which to sit.” She posted her project on Sweeten, a free service matching renovators with vetted general contractors, and chose her Sweeten contractor.

Kate knew she wanted gray cabinets but worried the kitchen, which had no windows, might still be dark. So she countered with lighter materials for all the other surfaces—white quartz countertops, a white subway tile backsplash, and a pale wood breakfast bar. Her budget didn’t include money for new light fixtures, so she found brighter LED bulbs for the recessed ceiling lights. “That made a big difference.”

Her contractor saw an opportunity to move the refrigerator a few feet over from its original corner location, to allow storage on either side, while breaking up the monotony of a long run of cabinets. In addition, he moved the placement of the new dishwasher (an 18-inch version that Kate scored from Craigslist) from the left of the sink to the right, permitting roomier, deeper drawers to the right of the range, where they were needed.

As for Kate’s breakfast bar, the galley layout proved less of an obstacle than she thought. After discussing several scenarios, she and her Sweeten contractor settled on a location at the far end of the kitchen, above the stairs. Matt and Kate wondered about things falling off the ledge to the floor below, particularly from the swipe of a paw from their tabby, George. A raised back to the bar was added at her contractor’s recommendation to inhibit the antics of a capricious cat. He also inserted a diagonal base cabinet between the range and the cabinet abutting the breakfast bar. “I worried I’d be constantly bumping into sharp corners,” said Kate, “but the diagonal unit made everything flow together.”

Another concern was whether her budget was enough for everything she wanted. Her contractor advised her on which materials to choose so she wouldn’t overspend. Now, with plenty of cabinets to store cooking gear, and loads of counter space, there’s a place for everything and everyone, including George, who also likes to sit at the breakfast bar.

Bonus: When the time came to gut the kitchen, her Sweeten general contractor made a marvelous discovery. The soffits, which consumed so much upper wall space, were empty. This meant they could be removed, and taller upper cabinets installed, greatly increasing storage capacity. “It just opened up the room,” said Kate. “It feels more spacious and brighter at the same time.”

Style finds: Cabinets: Custom. Cabinet hardware: Home Depot. Refrigerator: LG. Range, microwave: GE. Dishwasher: Bosch (found on Craigslist). Sink, faucet: Kohler.

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Learn more about the steps involved in renovating your kitchen—and how long the overall process will take—in our guide.

Refer your renovating friends to Sweeten and you’ll 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 project’s location, budget, and scope, helping until project completion. Follow the blog for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation on Sweeten.

The post A New Jersey Kitchen Embraces a Narrow Footprint appeared first on Sweeten.

Kim and Ian were both far from home when a chance encounter in Spain brought them together. When the couple decided to close the distance between them—10,000 miles!—they found a studio apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The previous tenant had lived in the home for nearly half a century, and during a walk-through, Kim and Ian discovered that the original plumbing and wiring were in need of an overhaul. Challenges aside, the space was just the right size for the two of them and full of good vibes—not to mention a fortuitous discovery in one of the walls. Ready to make it their home, the couple embraced a gut renovation of the entire apartment. Read on for Ian’s take on their remodeling journey.

Guest blog post by Upper West Side homeowner Ian

The story begins in northern Spain along the Camino de Santiago, where an aging Aussie trial lawyer met and fell in love with a not-so-aging American nurse who just happened to be working in Manhattan and living in Bayonne, New Jersey. Many cross-Pacific flights later, plans were made for a wedding in Hawaii and the purchase of an apartment somewhere on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where we could live together when I was able to escape court commitments in Sydney. With both of us having been married before with adult children, there was no need for a large apartment, but there was a definite need for the best use of a small space.

Sweeten homeowners Kim and Ian

The search for an affordable apartment was challenging to say the least. But thanks to the StreetEasy website and FaceTime (for my wife in Bayonne and myself in Sydney), a studio apartment in a 1915 co-op was located and purchased. The 450-square-foot space was previously owned by a retired nun who had lived in it for some 45 years (long enough ago to remember John and Yoko walking down the street from the Dakota apartments). The old girl (the apartment!) required a total renovation but had a good vibe about it.

(During) Laying down pipe for the island

Given that I am from Sydney and my wife is from Bayonne, locating a suitable contractor was also challenging. After much Googling, I located the Sweeten website and was immediately fascinated by the Sweeten concept. So much so, that more out of interest than any real expectation, I posted a quick job description on the website and a hopeful (very hopeful!) budget.

With hindsight, I understated the renovation work required to a significant extent. While awaiting responses from Sweeten, I also contacted contractors I had identified from various magazines and other websites. Immediate ballpark quotes of $150k upwards from these folks sent shivers through my bones. Then interviews with potential contractors were arranged by Sweeten with the search ending in a coin toss between the two final contractors. After deciding on the Sweeten contractor, who won out largely because he was both a qualified architect and builder, the renovating process began. The detailed quoted price was more than reasonable and way under $150k quoted by others.

(Right) Hidden window discovered

I suppose it’s axiomatic that the design stage of any renovation is not ideal when one of the players lives mainly overseas. But as luck would have it, a trial in Sydney collapsed and I was able to fly to New York for a thorough “walk through” with my wife Kim and our contractor after the building contract was signed. I had two absolute requirements—a new soaking tub and new solid oak flooring throughout. Kim also had absolute requirements: a nice cooking area and island, and new everything else! After weeks of to-and-froing, preparing and amending the plans, work was ready to commence!

It’s no exaggeration to say that what was required was, in effect, a gut renovation of the whole apartment. Laying new oak flooring was going to require the removal of two layers of old parquetry flooring. Hidden in the wall adjacent to the neighboring building (a contemporary high-rise) were two old large windows from a time when the building next door was an old brownstone. Our contractor’s eyes lit up at the sight, explaining how he could remove the windows and use the cavity space for storage cabinets and counter space, both considered premiums in NYC studio apartments. I am a lover of wood, and the contractor proposed the cabinets and doors be made of American walnut and mahogany veneer. The final look and function of both pieces of furniture—a matching clothes cabinet hangs at the foot of the bed—are terrific and make excellent use of an otherwise wasted wall.

Plans for the main space involved splitting the studio into a cooking/dining/working area and a living/sleeping area. With the kitchen island as the primary divider, the plans were fine-tuned, including a design for a reconfigured bathroom. To be effective, a complete rewiring and re-plumbing of the whole apartment was required. This also involved breaking into the ceiling of the apartment below ours to put in new pipes and ball joints as required by the co-op management. Our Sweeten contractor did all the arranging with the downstairs apartment owner and diplomatically handled inevitable noise complaints. The guts were ripped out of the apartment and walls replaced.

The price quoted by the contractor to do the building work did not include the appliances, bath fixtures and other items such as tile, lighting, and flooring. We made use of various websites and sourced mainly high-end products, all of which when installed look fabulous and add value to the overall project. The sourcing and purchasing of items over the Internet was a real boon, seamlessly saving both shoe leather and thousands of dollars in cost.

Timing became an issue. Our contractor’s hope at the outset was for the project to be completed within three to four months. But with the unforeseen need for the gut renovation, including rewiring and re-plumbing, the project did blow out substantially in timing. Waiting for the soaking tub (Kaldewei) to come from Germany, the kitchen feature light (Vistosi) to come from Italy, and the kitchen faucet (Franke) to come from Switzerland also prolonged the completion date by months. Luckily, we both had other homes in which to live while the work took place. Now that the work’s done, the angst with the delay seems trivial.

We finally moved into the apartment in early December 2017 when I arrived from Sydney for an extended stay with Kim in New York. Living here has been terrific. And I’ve put the tub to good use throughout the very cold winter! The layout, feel, and livability of the apartment has exceeded my expectations. We’ve had some teething issues with bits and pieces (cracked tile, cabinetry needing adjusting, painting touch-ups) but our contractor has been most attentive to fixing any problem that has arisen. I must say though, as a Sydney-sider, the street noise in NYC coming into the apartment is a bit louder than I had expected. But as one of Kim’s friends said to me, “Soak it up mate, it’s all part of the New York experience.” Let the good times continue!

Thank you, Kim and Ian, for sharing your renovation journey with us.

KITCHEN RESOURCES: Cabinets: Custom. Hardware: Lowe’s. Steel Gray granite countertops: Quartz Master. Navy Blue Towne backsplash tile: Nemo Tile. 20” stainless steel sink: Franke. Faucet: Franke. Refrigerator: GE. Cooktop: Bertazzoni. Stove: Bosch. Range hood: Proline Range Hoods. Overhead lighting: Vistosi. Norman Counter Stools: Inmod.

BATHROOM RESOURCES: White Pulse Pop wall tile and Volcano Nero Natural floor tile: Nemo Tile. Sink vanity: Luxier. Faucet: Isenberg. Fixtures: Hansgrohe. Soaker tub (55″ x 29″ x 19″): Kaldewei. Toilet: Toto. Lighting: Lowe’s. 42” Medicine cabinet: Kohler.

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Frans and Dalal transformed their Gramercy studio into a flexible living space with movable walls and custom storage.

Refer your renovating friends to Sweeten and you’ll 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 project’s location, budget, and scope, helping until project completion. Follow the blog for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation on Sweeten.

The post A Studio Co-op Renovated for Two appeared first on Sweeten.

After Roxy, a rescued Rhodesian ridgeback, joined their household, Alicia and Ed realized “a little more space in a laid-back neighborhood” would be a better fit for the family of three than Manhattan, where they were currently living. They set their sights on a 1,400-square-foot garden duplex in a Park Slope brownstone. They fell in love with the building, which had been converted to condos by a developer about a decade ago. Despite the high-end finishes that were chosen at that time, there were issues that had developed in the interim. The couple also wanted to bring the renovations in line with their tastes, and in a style more befitting a building dating from the turn of the last century. As Alicia put it, “We really just wanted to make the place something we loved coming home to at the end of each day. What we had wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t terribly practical either—we had mismatched countertops, cracked tiles in the bathroom, a lack of counter space in the master bath, and most importantly, no space in the fridge to store our wine. The place just lacked the ‘wow’ you would expect from a building this pretty.”

They reached out to Sweeten—a free service matching renovating homeowners with vetted general contractors—for their contractor. For the couple’s custom kitchen renovation, Christina, their Sweeten Planner, was present at regular site visits and contractor meetings, providing detailed progress reports. Initially, the couple intended to focus their time and money on the kitchen. Instead, they also updated the guest and master bathrooms executing an overall vision—“a muted, classic design with a modern twist.”

In the kitchen, this meant replacing the mismatched countertops as well as the cabinet fronts, and creatively finding space for a built-in wine fridge. Ed and Alicia knew that when the kitchen was renovated a decade ago the developer had used top-of-the-line materials, from custom Italian cabinetry to Viking, Miele, and Liebherr appliances; the space didn’t need a gut, simply a refresh. The downside of the custom Italian kitchen, however, was that none of the cabinetry was standard-sized. Refacing was a custom job, pushing out timelines, but it meant they could keep all the existing built-in shelving and customized organization that would have been extremely expensive to replace. Countertops resembling marble from Caesarstone unified the space and were chosen for their hardiness and durability. Ed had always wanted waterfall-edge countertops, which completed the look perfectly.

They had hoped to replace a smaller-than-usual refrigerator, as well as add a wine fridge. But the floor plan wouldn’t afford them the space for a larger unit, so they focused on adding a wine fridge instead. Working with their Sweeten contractor, Ed and Alicia poked exploratory holes in the drywall underneath their stairs. Happily, they discovered that a 36-bottle dual zone wine fridge would fit in the space without making any structural changes. “It’s a luxury you would never think you could have in New York. We painted the surrounding wall with chalkboard paint—it’s a great way to leave notes for each other, plan out our grocery list, and try out some amateur artwork,” they said. “As a bonus, we found the current kitchen fridge is more than large enough for our needs.”

The downstairs bathroom was next on the list—it already had a great soaking tub, but the vanity and medicine cabinet were outdated. The tiles, too, were showing their age. Alicia had always loved the feel of a traditional New York City bathroom—penny tile floors, subway tile, and a classic black-and-white color palette. They replaced the sink with a trough style: “There was debate whether the sink would be too large, but after lots of measuring and imagining how close it would be to someone using the shower or toilet, we decided to do it. We are so glad we did. It is a perfect fit. We also went for the matching faucets and soap dish.” Having forgone storage under the new sink, they added a small shelf and a 1940s American Red Cross medicine cabinet (found online in Bulgaria!). The large closet just outside of the bathroom made up for the limited storage. Lastly, a wall-hung toilet was a lot of trouble to install, but ultimately worth the effort, since it’s incredibly easy to keep clean and makes the room feel larger.

During the renovation of the downstairs bath, the contractor discovered that there was preserved exposed brick along one wall. They hoped that the brick was in the same condition a few feet away in the living room, and asked the contractor to rip down the sheetrock where their dining table would sit. “It turns out we were in luck. The brick looked wonderful, and though we had to unexpectedly reroute some electrical cables and find matching oak to patch up the flooring, it was worth all of the expense and impact on the timeline.”

Finally, the couple also decided to renovate the master bathroom upstairs. (One of the pluses of living through your renovation is that you can figure out what else needs work while the contractor is on-site!) Since Alicia and Ed moved in while the renovation was still ongoing, they lived with the space for a while and found the bath to be unsuitable in many ways. “The overhead lighting was terrible, and the illuminated mirror died the day after we closed on the apartment. There was the complete lack of shelf space for us to set things down while getting ready, and the leaking pipework rendered the vanity useless for storage. The space really felt unloved.” To give the room a facelift without breaking the budget, they kept the large soaking tub (same as the one downstairs), the flooring, and toilet. A new white shaker vanity with a marble countertop provided ample storage while an illuminated medicine cabinet and built-in LED lights lit up the room. Adding a glass panel in place of the old shower curtain opened the space up. Lastly, a herringbone wallpaper from Ferm Living took the master bath to the next level.

They made the home “smarter,” by adding outlets in convenient locations for their Sonos sound system, converting regular to USB outlets where appropriate, adding a video intercom, and installing a full Nest thermostat and smoke detector system. Now, they can control the temperature via Amazon Echo (thanks, Alexa!) and ensure that the apartment is a comfortable temperature for Roxy while they are away.

Although they’d hoped to finish the renovations prior to their move-in date, they ended up living through the entire renovation, which lasted four weeks from beginning to end. The toughest part, according to Alicia and Ed, was keeping Roxy out of trouble. (See above.) Their advice to future renovators? “Find a contractor you trust, and take their advice on what things would work well and what to avoid. We used tools like Pinterest, the Sweeten blog, and other online tools to get ideas. Also, if you have space, try to keep some spare materials once you have completed your renovation. We spent a long time trying to find a flooring that matched our current style to patch in around the exposed brick wall. We decided to buy an extra pack this time and store it in our basement in case of emergency. The same thing with all the tile. You never know what could happen in the future—for a few hundred dollars, it is worth the investment and peace of mind!”

Thanks, Alicia and Ed, for sharing your gorgeous new garden duplex apartment! We hope you and Roxy enjoying living there for many years to come.

KITCHEN RESOURCES: Flooring: original. Cabinet fronts: custom. Statuario Nuvo Countertops: Caesarstone. Marble herringbone backsplash tile: Home Depot. Art: Ryan Duggan.

GUEST BATH RESOURCES: Glossy white penny tile flooring: Home Depot. White subway wall tile: Home Depot. Shower fixtures: Kohler. Brockway sink/vanity: Kohler. Cannock faucet: Kohler. Wall-hung toilet: Toto. WWII Red Cross cabinet: Etsy. Mirror: Houzz. Art: Ryan Duggan. Shower curtain: Pottery Barn.

MASTER BATH RESOURCES: Vanity: Home Depot. Verdana lighted medicine cabinet: Kohler. Glass panel: Houzz. Herringbone wallpaper: Ferm Living.

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Tina, an architect, drew up plans to renovate a Cobble Hill garden duplex for her family—focusing on each and every room from the kitchen to the bedrooms.

Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, and scope, helping until project completion. Follow the blog for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation on Sweeten.

The post A Retro-Modern Update for a Brooklyn Duplex appeared first on Sweeten.

Project: Brighten up a long, thin kitchen in Brooklyn

Before: When Sarah and her husband bought their two-bedroom co-op in Prospect Heights, the plan was to renovate the kitchen soon after. Unfortunately, it turned out a coat closet shaped like a column that stood in the middle of the living room was built into the floor and worse, had all the electrical wiring for the home running through it (the building was built in 1907). Removing that and redoing the floors took priority. After three years, a DIY bathroom renovation, and a baby, the family felt ready to tackle the long, thin, and grim kitchen and reached out to Sweeten, which matched them with vetted contractors. The floors were cracked and the cabinets covered in grunge, despite Sarah’s best bleaching efforts. The very-average oven couldn’t keep up with the growing family.

After: The main goal of the renovation was a brighter kitchen, but there was only a small window to work with. That meant relying on a color scheme to do the job. “I think we would have gone more rustic if we had more light,” said Sarah. Rather than going with all white “that seemed a little much,” she said, they picked out a light gray for the cabinets. They pondered using Ikea for the cabinets, but in the end, their Sweeten contractor built them custom. The tall units that reached the ceiling made the kitchen feel bigger while adding storage space. The cabinet that allows the microwave to float provided storage without taking up floor space. It was an ideal spot since they opted for a quality range hood rather than a microwave/hood combo. For a family with two cooks, the kitchen is in operation most nights. The previous design had about a foot of usable counter space because of an awkwardly placed sink. There was some too-small-to-be-useful counter space to the left between sink and fridge, so their Sweeten contractor suggested shifting the sink. “It’s not centered, but it means we have over two feet of counter space,” said Sarah. “For us, it has just changed everything.”

Bonus: Surviving with a microwave and takeout for most of the renovation turned out to be “kind of nice,” said Sarah. “It wasn’t as expensive as we thought it was going to be.”

Style finds: Custom cabinets: Sweeten contractor. Cabinet hardware: Cosmas. Sink: Miseno. Faucet: Kohler. Stove: GE. Dishwasher: Frigidaire. Microwave: GE.

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Need to brighten up a small kitchen, but don’t want an all-white space? Pair upper white cabinets with lower wood tone cabinets to add some contrast like in this Upper West Side kitchen.

Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, and scope, helping until project completion. Follow the blog for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation on Sweeten.

The post A “Closet-Like” Kitchen Finally Gets Its Day appeared first on Sweeten.

The post It’s All in the Details in a Prewar Home Renovation appeared first on Sweeten.

As someone who works for a real estate investment company, Kasey has an innate appreciation for New York City’s grand architectural history. So it was no surprise when he purchased a prewar apartment along Park Avenue within the Murray Hill Historic District, which boasts landmarks such as JP Morgan’s mansion and the Union League Club. “When I moved to New York, I was fascinated by the prewar architecture,” he said. “It makes New York real estate what it is.”

During his search, he specifically set his sights on a prewar building with original oak herringbone floors. Even though the space he was considering appeared to be stripped of any ornate details, Kasey had seen other apartments in the building with the original patterned wood floors. He suspected—and hoped—that underneath the carpeting of what could potentially be his home, he might find the same wooden floors that he could refinish to their original condition. On his final inspection before closing, he lifted up a corner piece of the sad floor covering, and sure enough, herringbone wood floors in near perfect condition peered back. It remains one of his favorite aspects of the prewar apartment.

That discovery was the beginning of a rather long process. Initially, Kasey planned to renovate in stages, starting with a kitchen makeover along with unveiling, sanding, and refinishing the floors. It quickly became clear that doing the whole apartment, including expanding a dressing closet into a small bedroom and renovating the bathroom, would best be accomplished all at once. The building’s co-op board, known for being strict, took six months to approve Kasey’s purchase. He anticipated that gaining their approval for the renovation would also take months and he only wanted to go through that process once. When he posted his project on Sweeten, his matchmaker helped find a contractor who had experience navigating co-op boards. From those he interviewed (including non-Sweeten contractors), he ultimately chose a Sweeten team because of their knowledge working with tough boards and their track record renovating similar prewar apartments. “They came with the experience of what is allowed in a prewar building and what isn’t,” he said. Other historic building details included cement walls throughout the home, which made demolition an involved process but ended up benefiting as sound insulation from neighboring units.

As the board waded through his renovation plans—it ended up taking four months to approve, the same amount of time as the entire renovation—Kasey rarely stayed in the apartment. “It was in such bad shape,” he said. He opted for hotels and couches of generous friends. The studio was an estate sale and it looked like it. A boxy kitchen, cheap and tired cabinets, a grimy bathroom and carpeted floors throughout made for a dreary atmosphere.

Kasey’s aesthetic goal with the renovation was “to be mindful of the prewar nature and reflect the traditional design of the building and block.” For the clunky kitchen with a cramped layout, he basically started fresh. “I wanted to open it up and make it seem as large as possible,” he said. He got rid of the wall that separated kitchen and living room; not only did this merge the two spaces, it allowed the small window in the kitchen space to spill light into the living room. That is also why he envisioned a mostly-white kitchen—to reflect more light into the living room.

Even though Kasey doesn’t cook much, he specifically wanted a Bertazzoni range after noticing its distinct and refined design during a trip to Italy and felt it fit well with the understated classic style of his kitchen. The range threatened to delay the project when the wrong model was delivered, but Kasey’s Sweeten contractors quickly replaced it with the correct model. He also wanted a kitchen island that ended up morphing into a peninsula. “It actually comes into the living room and overlaps with the wood floor to combine the two spaces,” he explained.

In the bathroom, he let his Sweeten contractor, a design/build firm, guide his design choice that would best suit a building from the 1940s like his. After sifting through 100-plus subway tiles that differed in color, gloss, and size, Kasey felt a white gloss subway tile was the classic way to go. Delicate hexagonal marble tiles on the floor and a light marble on the sink provide an understated detail. “There are no windows, so I was trying to use light shades of paint and reflective tiles to brighten it up as much as possible,” he said. Kasey’s Sweeten contractor encouraged him to keep the bathroom layout the same to avoid unnecessary permits from the Department of Buildings. He contemplated a walk-in glass shower but eventually went with a tub for resale purposes.

There were practical things to consider, such as storage lost when the dressing room turned into a small bedroom. While a door leading into a private elevator entrance was no longer in use, it helped provide space for a closet. It also remained a nice historical detail in the prewar apartment. Kasey also used furniture as a repository for more items—a living room coffee table doubles as storage.

While Kasey loves his new renovation—the classic look, the bright space, and those herringbone wood floors—he has a new appreciation for the involved process of renovating in Manhattan. However, he learned one important lesson. “It is much more rewarding to live in an apartment that you spent a bunch of time renovating,” he said. “It feels a lot more like it’s yours.”

KITCHEN RESOURCES:  Professional Series range and hood: Bertazzoni. Kitchen cabinets: Custom. Cabinet hardware: Hickory Hardware Studio. Viatera countertops in Willow White: LG.  Atom tile backsplash: Nemo Tile. Refrigerator, #CS1350BB: Liebherr. Dishwasher: Bosch. Sink: Kraus. Sonoma faucet: Blanco. Paint, Misty Gray (walls), Decorator’s White (ceiling): Benjamin Moore. Microwave: Breville.

BATHROOM RESOURCES: Bancroft shower system: Kohler. Shower rod: Signature Hardware.

Thank you, Kasey, for sharing your new home with us, and we hope you enjoy your much-awaited prewar apartment.

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Emily’s prewar studio received a classic renovation with patterned floor tile, marble accents, and a cozy office nook.

Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, and scope, helping until project completion. Follow the blog for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation on Sweeten.

The post A Love of Historic Buildings Transforms a Studio appeared first on Sweeten.

In most homes, the kitchen is in constant use. If yours is on the small side, keeping it organized is crucial to maintaining an enjoyable, efficient cook space. The key is to make sure that everything has a home and lives in a spot that is easily accessible. Since it’s not always possible to add extra square footage to your kitchen, you’ll have to get inventive with the space you do have. In order to inspire you to do just that, we’ve rounded up seven of the best kitchen storage solutions within Sweeten renovations that make use of every (and we mean every) nook and cranny.

Emily’s kitchen in downtown Brooklyn

Use the height of your ceilings to extend your cabinets and boost kitchen storage. The lower cabinets can be used for everyday items while those higher up can store items you reach for less frequently, like that fondue pot. You can even store non-kitchen stuff up there, like winter clothes or camping gear.

Giovanni’s kitchen in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn

When you live in a studio apartment, closet space is scarce. Rather than adding a washer or dryer to a closet, and thereby losing precious real estate, tuck one or two laundry units under your kitchen peninsula. Now you can use some of that closet space for kitchen essentials—like pantry goods and servingware for special occasions.

Cybele’s kitchen in Park Slope, Brooklyn

A corner usually means the end of the line for a row of cabinets—that is, unless you go custom. Take advantage of an awkward corner spot with a custom-built cabinet, maximizing every available inch.

Upper West Side kitchen

There are pros and cons to having more than one window in the kitchen. More windows mean more natural light, which is a definite plus, but it can also mean limiting the number of upper cabinets you can fit in the space. Adding custom shelves to your exhaust hood is one smart way to make use of dead space. Another is building cabinets beneath the windows.

Ron’s kitchen on the Upper East Side

Like corner cabinets, custom drawers can take advantage of tight corners where cabinets or drawers placed side-by-side would ordinarily block one another when opened.

Claudia’s kitchen on the Upper East Side

If you have a few inches of space between your range and your cabinets, or in this case, your fridge, maximize your kitchen storage with a pull-out rack. It can be a handy spot for storing cutting boards, trays, spices—you name it.

Casey and Kumar’s kitchen in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn

In a small kitchen, your work space can be fairly limited. A pull-out cutting board among cabinetry or placed below the countertop moves prep off the counter, making more room for the many other tasks that take place while cooking.

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If you’re working with limited square footage, appliances designed for small spaces will let you make the most of your kitchen.

Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, and scope, helping until project completion. Follow the blog for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation on Sweeten.

The post 7 Storage Solutions To Keep Your Small Kitchen Organized appeared first on Sweeten.

Project: Refresh a 20-year-old studio kitchen with an updated feel

Before: In 1998, when Jill first purchased her co-op studio apartment in Yorkville on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, she made a few changes that she thought would improve the small kitchen design. In the 56-square-foot kitchen, she swapped a 20-inch stove (that had to be lit with a match!) for a 24-inch model and changed out the shelving for stock cabinets that boosted storage capacity. “I’m only 4’11” so I couldn’t reach most of the previous shelves,” Jill explained. It was perfectly adequate for nearly 20 years, but in 2016, she decided it was time for a refresh. The small kitchen had become outdated and Jill realized that she could customize it to better suit her lifestyle. She wanted to maintain some elements while changing others: the footprint would stay, as would the dimensions of the cabinetry. Almost everything else would receive a facelift—the floors, the countertops, the tile, all the appliances and fixtures, and the cabinetry itself.

After: Jill found Sweeten’s blog through Apartment Therapy’s Renovation Diary series. She decided to post her project after a few failed attempts at finding a contractor on her own and was matched with a Sweeten contractor. Looking through other kitchen reno projects sparked a desire to add a custom pull-out spice rack, but when her mother exclaimed: “How many spices do you even really have?” Jill reflected on this question (“…about 3 or 4?”) and concluded it would not be a good use of her limited space. Similarly, she had been advised by friends to choose a deep sink—something that seems to be universally desirable. But she realized, after using one in another apartment, that it wasn’t ideal for her shorter frame since she had to reach further in for the pots and dishes. Jill points out, “With renovations, you have to design for the reality of your life, rather than how you imagine it can be.” Jill took her own advice for the rest of the choices: clean, flat-front custom cabinetry in Wickham Gray by Benjamin Moore, a classic subway tile in glass for a modern twist, and a dark quartz countertop that paired well with the gray, wood-grain porcelain floor tile. Pots and pans, as well as a knife rack, went on the wall opposite the cabinets. For appliances, she went with stainless steel models that were slightly smaller than her originals. With the stove, she went back to a 20-inch model. “You wouldn’t think that four inches of counter space would make such a big difference, but it does!” Jill also removed a shelf above the stove and added a circulating exhaust vent. Forgoing a dishwasher was a no-brainer since she was happy to hand-wash and preferred the storage space instead. Lastly, for her refrigerator, she chose a stainless steel counter-depth model so that it wouldn’t jut out into the entrance to her kitchen. All the elements came together for a classic but understated look that Jill will be happy with for years to come.

Bonus: Even though the footprint of the small kitchen design stayed the same, Jill gained a lot of extra storage with custom cabinets that made use of previously “dead” corners. She chose glass-front upper cabinets in the corner, which are fully accessible (with the help of a step stool), as well as bi-level Lazy Susan in the lower corner cabinet. Above her fridge, her Sweeten contractor added a custom shelf for her baking pans. And below the not-too-deep sink, the contractor installed a partition that is a perfect fit for her step stool.

Style finds: Gray wood-grain floor tile: Artistic Tile. Custom cabinets: Interiors Palace. Cabinet paint color: Benjamin Moore Wickham Gray. Quartz countertops: Stone Masters, LIC, NY. Glass subway tile backsplash: Artistic Tile. Stainless steel 20-inch gas range, #GR2013CSS: Avanti. Stainless steel counter-depth refrigerator, #BRFB1822SSLN: Blomberg.

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We love seeing our homeowners get creative with small kitchen design, like working with a galley layout for maximum efficiency and organization.

Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, and scope, helping until project completion. Follow the blog for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation on Sweeten.

The post At 56 Square Feet, A Small NYC Kitchen Proves It’s More Than Enough appeared first on Sweeten.

Ana and Leo survived the complex process of selling their old apartment and buying a new one simultaneously—no easy feat!—but were nearly taken by an unscrupulous contractor when it came time to renovate. They realized that they needed someone they could trust to facilitate the search for general contractors and Sweeten—a free service matching renovating homeowners with vetted general contractors—turned out to be exactly what they were looking for. (Their words, not ours!) Their Sweeten contractor helped them make layout changes and took on the challenge of creating an oversized sliding door system that allowed the conversion of an open office space into a private guest suite. Here’s how the couple transformed their Tribeca apartment from an awkward warren of rooms into an open, flexible space that is both comfortable and refined, including redoing the living room, office/guest room, dining space, bedroom, and of course the kitchen and two bathrooms.

Guest post by Tribeca homeowner and architect Ana

Every real estate agent told us it could not be done. That, in New York, it was nearly impossible to coordinate the sale of our current apartment with the purchase of a new one. But my husband, Leo, was determined, so that is what we set out to do.

After a long search and many disappointments, including lost bid wars and a contract that fell through, fate brought us an amazing real estate broker who made it all possible. Kristi Ambrosetti was not fazed by the sell-buy challenge and helped us find our new home and sell our old one.

The apartment met all of our requirements—a 1,000-square-foot, 2-bed, 2-bath in a doorman building in Tribeca, with great light and plenty of storage space. The interior, however, was still in its original condition from the ’80s; it needed a complete renovation to update finishes and fix layout issues that made the space feel choppy and awkward—the exact opposite of the contemporary open space we had hoped for.

(Above) Living room
(Above) Dining area with living room to the right and office/guest room on the left; bar and TV unit niche straight ahead with TV behind folding panels

Being an architect, I developed the initial plans for the renovation and met with several general contractors that claimed to be available for the job. After comparing multiple bids, we were close to signing with one of them but decided to do some background checking first. I was shocked to find that the address listed in their documents was actually an empty storefront in Queens. The thought that we were very close to making a substantial down payment with someone that might not show up for the job really scared us.

At that point, we took the search for general contractors online and came across Sweeten. We read about their screening process to find qualified professionals, and it sounded exactly like what we were looking for, so we decided to post our project. From the beginning, the experience was surprisingly straightforward. Posting on the website was easy and we were soon matched with a few professionals. When we started interviewing potential general contractors, we were contacted by Miranda from Sweeten and she helped us through the whole process.

In the weeks we had spent interviewing general contractors, we also focused on finalizing the layout and decisions on finishes and fixtures. By the time we signed with our chosen Sweeten contractor, we were ready to begin demolition.

Leo and I had been a little apprehensive about some of our design choices, especially when it came to the changes in the layout, which were intended to make the space more open and flexible. But when demolition began, it became clear that we were on the right track.

By opening up the kitchen, the contractor also eliminated a narrow wall that partially blocked the entryway and made for a very awkward hallway. Squaring off the angled wall between the living room and the master bedroom made both spaces a lot more pleasant.

The change that made the most impact, though, was opening the office (which would double as a guest suite) into the living room. Oversized sliding panels would allow the room to be closed off and provide privacy for overnight guests. However, most of the professionals we spoke to thought the panels would be too heavy and could not be done. The Sweeten contracting team accepted the challenge and executed them beautifully.

(Above) Dining table looking into office with sliding partition

(Above) Office/guest room
(Above) Office/guest room looking into the living room

The one setback we had during demolition was an unexpected electrical conduit found in one of the living room walls we had planned to demolish. The conduit ran down to the apartment below ours and, therefore, could not be moved. After conversations with the contractor, Leo and I decided to take down the rest of the wall as originally planned and leave only the section that had the conduit, creating a corner niche that was perfect for a bookshelf. Once the renovation was complete, this turned out to be one of our favorite features in the apartment.

One aspect that had drawn us to the apartment was a nook next to the living room that seemed perfect for a small bar. Early in the project, we pulled inspiration photos online and it seemed like designing the bar would be fairly easy. That was until we decided the bar should also house a concealed 40-inch TV, which then led to weeks of research and multiple drawing iterations until we landed on a design that met all of our functional requirements for both the bar and the TV.

The dining room pendants were another big challenge. The position of the existing light did not align with the center of the dining table, and we were not able to move the light because of the concrete ceiling. I had almost given up on having pendants over the table when Leo came across the Swell String fixture, which allowed for the pendants to be installed in any position, independent of the canopy.

The finishes for the bathrooms and kitchen were also much debated. We knew from the beginning we wanted marble tile in the bathrooms but looked at a wide range of patterns, sizes, and prices. Narrowing down the search to neutral tones and classic patterns, I eventually chose an Asian statuary from TileBar for the master bathroom and a Bardiglio herringbone mosaic for the guest bathroom floor, with the same Asian statuary in the shower. As a contrast to the traditional tile, I selected modern Duravit fixtures and Grohe faucets. The towel warmers had been at the top of our wishlist and after much research, we were able to find a small hardwired option that worked well in both bathrooms.

For our small galley kitchen, we chose the same low-maintenance quartz countertops we had in our previous apartment, paired with white custom cabinets and integrated Bosch appliances. The cabinets were finished with black linear pulls with accent walnut shelves added on the back wall for some extra storage. The backsplash was probably one of the toughest decisions—with so many interesting materials and patterns to choose from, we considered all sorts of options, from large back-painted glass panels to intricate mosaics. As a way to balance the modern cabinets and countertops, we decided on marble subway tile from TileBar.

Our main goals for the master bedroom were to maximize storage and improve circulation. So the swing bedroom door was replaced with a pocket door, improving access to a long wall of closets that ended in a small custom-made vanity at the corner of the room.

In the end, Leo and I found that all the time spent obsessing over the small details really paid off—it all came together as we had hoped and we were very happy, not only with our choices but with the quality of execution and expertise the Sweeten contractor and his team brought to the project. Most importantly, knowing Sweeten was following the project, and touching base with us periodically gave us peace of mind through the whole process.

Thanks to Ana and Leo for sharing their impeccable renovation—we’re so glad you found Sweeten!

KITCHEN RESOURCES: Hardwood cabinets: custom. Matte Black Classico pulls: Schaub and Company. White Zeus quartz countertops: Silestone. Marble subway tile backsplash: TileBar. Starlight Chrome faucet, #31312001: Grohe. Stainless Steel Vault 25” single basin sink, #K-3822-4: Kohler. Integrated refrigerator 800 Series: Bosch. Range 800 Series: Bosch. Integrated dishwasher 800 Series: Bosch. Boop! wall/ceiling light: Lumens.

MASTER BATH RESOURCES: Asian statuary floor and wall tile: TileBar. HSB Jeeves 20″w hardwired straight stainless steel towel warmer: Amba. White Architec 66” acrylic tub, #700408: Duravit. Euphoria shower system 26177000 Starlight Chrome, #26177000: Grohe. DuraStyle one-piece toilet: Duravit. Vanity: custom. Vanity top: Silestone. Stark 3 sink, #030549: Duravit. Essence chrome faucet: Grohe. Modern Metro hardware, #TK277ALU: Top Knobs. Verdana Series medicine cabinet, #K-99003: Kohler. Anodized brushed nickel Choreograph shower wall hook, #K-97624: Kohler. Tubo Slim 33″ LED bath bar: Lumens.

SECOND BATH RESOURCES: Bardiglio herringbone mosaic floor tile: The Builder Depot. Asian statuary floor and wall tile: TileBar. HSB Jeeves 20″w hardwired straight stainless steel towel warmer: Amba. Euphoria shower system 26177000 Starlight Chrome: Grohe. DuraStyle one-piece toilet: Duravit. DuraStyle wall-mounted vanity base single drawer oak vanity: Duravit. DuraStyle furniture washbasin: Duravit. Starlight Chrome Concetto bathroom faucet, #32138001: Grohe. Verdana Series medicine cabinet, #K-99003: Kohler. Bright Polished Silver Choreograph 21″ floating shower shelf, #K-97623: Kohler. Tubo Slim 19″ LED bath bar: Lumens.

LIVING ROOM/ENTRY/BEDROOM RESOURCES: Maple hardwood flooring, Select & Better: Lauzon. Extra Long black flush pull: Doorware. Swell String pendant: Lumens. Casita outlets and switches: Lutron. Serena shades: Lutron. ecobee3 Smart Thermostat with room sensors: ecobee. Dabria White Geometric wallpaper: Brewster Wall Covering.

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Sliding doors allow you to define spaces in your home while still keeping things flexible—truly, the best of both worlds. Lauren and Ross added a pocket door to separate the dining area from their bedroom.

Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, and scope, helping until project completion. Follow the blog for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation on Sweeten.

The post After A Close Call, A Dream Apartment Comes True appeared first on Sweeten.

Project: Reorganize an awkward space in this kitchen renovation

Before: Meredith and Jason’s apartment building in Chelsea was comprised of four townhouses that had been combined. The result was a kitchen with plenty of issues: Dark mahogany cabinets obscured the only window, blocking precious natural light. The kitchen island in a too-small space meant you could only walk around it if you brushed yourself up against a wall. A slightly raised floor made for regular toe-stubbing if you weren’t paying attention. A kitchen renovation was definitely in order.

After: The couple took some time getting an idea of what they wanted. Meredith took ownership of the aesthetics and Jason, the family cook, focused on creating a functional space. Despite the awkward island, Meredith still liked the idea of having one. After wrestling with the design, their Sweeten contractor suggested a wide peninsula. “As soon as I saw the drawing, I was on board with it,” said Meredith. This helped double the counter space and gives her a place to sit and work while Jason prepares dinner. The new wood floor was lowered an inch, eliminating the risk to toes, and now matches the rest of the apartment, making the kitchen feel “bigger, brighter and cleaner,” she said. Custom cabinetry freed the window for maximum natural light. The microwave was placed under the peninsula rather than above the range so Jason could install his dream hood.

Bonus: The ceiling dropped about a foot in the old kitchen and a previous contractor said it could not be lifted. When their Sweeten contractor came in and found a way to lift it about seven inches, it was a big relief for the couple.   

Style finds: Custom cabinets by the Sweeten contractor. Pendant lights and cabinet hardware: Schoolhouse Electric. Countertop and backsplash in Statuario Maximus: Caesarstone. Faucet: Delta. Sink: Elkay. Range hood: Bosch. Microwave: Thermador. Green cabinet paint in Pigeon: Farrow and Ball. White cabinet paint: Benjamin Moore.

Thank you Meredith and Jason for sharing your new kitchen. Stay tuned next week to see how their bath renovation made a 180-degree turn!

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When designing your dream kitchen, it’s good to know how much everything will cost and where that money goes. Check out our post on kitchen renovation costs and start planning today.

Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, scope, and style. Follow the blog for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation on Sweeten. 

The post A Nonsensical Kitchen is Set Straight appeared first on Sweeten.

Gall was living in a Hell’s Kitchen one-bedroom with his wife Ingrid, a Brazilian-born speech pathologist. They initially discovered Sweeten when they began thinking about a renovation for that apartment. The makeover wasn’t to be, however, and they switched gears in anticipation of expanding their family. For the better part of a year, the couple shopped for a larger apartment in the competitive market along Broadway on the Upper West Side. It was only after widening their search across Central Park that they stumbled onto an affordable Upper East Side building “right on top of the subway,” he notes.

The high-rise building was originally developed as a rental in the 1980’s, and Gall liked the way its bay windows amplified the view. The 1,280-square-foot unit had received mainly cosmetic renovations since going condo in the early 2000’s, so floors were a deep brown that showed dust and failed to bounce natural light around the space. The original kitchen measured 100 square feet, but felt cramped and closed-off, with a shortage of counter space. Gall, who is the family chef, recalls the well-used beige plastic laminate kitchen cabinets as being very small, and they didn’t go all the way to the ceiling. There was also insufficient storage in the bedrooms. “I don’t know where they fit their clothes,” he says.

This time, it was a real estate broker’s recommendation which reminded Gall of Sweeten. He posted their remodel, along with a wish list of some elements to add and others to subtract. After signing with a Sweeten contractor that offered design and build services in April, demolition began in June. Their contractor worked with the couple for months, strategically updating the apartment while enhancing the expanses of space that had attracted them in the first place.

One early target was a wide bank of awkwardly placed built-in bookcases right at the entrance. “It had tons of little compartments and really felt cluttered right there in the middle of the house,” Gall explains. They removed it and worked with their team to fill the same space with closed storage. A penthouse they saw while apartment shopping served as the couple’s design inspiration for cool mirror doors—on both their new pantry cabinet and the neighboring linen closet—that are decorated with a retro raised-panel design.

One unexpected (and technically challenging) concern was mentioned by the building architect. For the spot where they planned to open up the kitchen by demolishing a wall, the architect asked about a much discussed but often ignored code requirement for a drop soffit to channel smoke dividing the ceiling between the kitchen and living area. A reworked soffit satisfied the requirement and tied into the other new ones around the living room. To unify the apartment throughout, their contractor suggested they see an example of 5-inch-wide white oak floors in another project the team had completed; Gall and Ingrid instantly fell in love. The wood was glued down to the concrete subfloor throughout the living areas, and even in the kitchen. 

The new kitchen has synthetic quartz for the countertops, as well as on the new island where the wall once stood. “By opening up the wall we lost a lot of upper cabinet space,” he explains, which made new full-height cabinets a necessity. The cabinets are white-painted maple, and the backsplash mosaic is a herringbone composed of glass and marble tiles. The couple skipped a range in favor of the flexibility of having a wall oven and separate cooktop. The refrigerator, though not a pricey panel-ready model, is neatly integrated into a tall wall of white cabinetry. The cookspace was one of their favorite spaces. “The craftsmanship was amazing,” said Gall. “The huge countertop makes working in the kitchen a pleasant experience,” including enough space for him and his wife to cook together.

In the master bathroom, a tub was replaced with a new stand-up shower with marble from Porcelanosa. Gall praises the three-dimensional renderings created by his Sweeten contractor, which were a great help for imagining the look of the kitchen. “We’re not visual people, and that made the process much smoother and easier.”

The closet organization in the master bedroom was built to the homeowners’ exact requests, not only providing more than adequate storage, but the cabinet doors matched the rest found in the apartment. For the nursery, the initial placement allowed the rest of the room to be furnished around it. “The closet was planned to accommodate two children at different ages,” says Gall.

In spite of the inconveniences, Sweeten clearly contributed immeasurably to the couple’s renovation. “We had been very nervous about getting the right contractor, one who wouldn’t walk out on us,” he recalls. He advises renovators to expect a longer period of construction than originally quoted, and to spend as much of your own energy on it as possible. Once you find an expert you can count on, he says, “trust your contractor’s opinion.” Mid-construction, they found out they were expecting a child, and the job was finished before the birth. Today, one of those spectacular bay windows in the living room, with its classic New York view, makes an ideal playpen for the luckiest of big-city babies.

Thank you, Gall and Ingrid, for sharing how you organized and made your home work for you.

KITCHEN RESOURCES: Color Strip wood flooring in Natural White Oak: Somerset. Kitchen cabinets: Custom fabricated by Sweeten contractor. Satin Nickel Meis cabinet hardware: Stanley Home Designs. Minuet Countertops: LG Viatera. Monarch Sands of Time Backsplash: TileBar. Stainless steel single basin undermount sink, #VG3019BK1: Vigo. Faucet: Hansgrohe. French door fridge: Fisher Paykel. 30” 5-Burner gas cooktop, #KCGS350ESS. 24” dishwasher: KitchenAid. 27” Electric wall oven, #WOS51EC7AS: Whirlpool.

MASTER BATH RESOURCES: Persian White Classico floor and wall tile, #L112995691-100142837: Porcelanosa. Faucet, #SLS-3610-1.5: Symmons. 30” Wall-hung vanity; 5-Light Bath Bar light fixture: Wayfair. Comfort height toilet #K-5172-RA-0; shower fixtures; medicine cabinet: Kohler.

HALLWAY RESOURCES: Doors: Custom fabricated by Sweeten contractor.

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While you’re in the neighborhood, be sure to stop by our renovation of an apartment that hadn’t been touched in three decades; uncovering a 1929 Upper East Side gem.

Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, scope, and style. Follow the blog for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation on Sweeten.

The post A Home Improves the View, Inside and Out appeared first on Sweeten.

Although Amanda’s initial intention was to stay in Windsor Terrace, the direction of her apartment search changed when she and her husband visited some friends at their new home in the Clinton Hill Co-ops (CHC). They loved the feel of the complex and the apartment space itself, and realized that this was where they wanted to be. After a few months of checking out CHC listings as they came on the market, the couple landed a two-bedroom, one-bath apartment. Coincidentally, it was the mirror image of the one their friends owned!

As writers who both work from home, Amanda and her husband appreciated that the two bedrooms were equally sized; one could be used as a roomy home office as well as guest quarters for out-of-town visitors.  At around 1,000 square feet, the unit also had southern exposures that provided the lovely, warm light they had been in search of. The only issue was the kitchen: it was dark and closed off, and connected to a strange pass-through pantry that housed a bar counter. Although it had been recently renovated, the craftsmanship was poor, as there were already cracks and scratches in the cabinetry and flooring. At first sight, Amanda thought it would be a deal-breaker. She was eager for a simple move, and very hesitant to embark on a renovation of any kind. But slowly, she and her husband talked themselves into it—after all, the apartment was ideal in every other way.

So as they began the process of closing on the apartment, Amanda posted their kitchen renovation to Sweeten. As a first-time renovator, she wasn’t sure how to decide between the various bids. Our in-house team came to the rescue: a call with one of Sweeten’s project advisors proved to be useful. The chat gave Amanda the chance to think out loud and consider the pros and cons of each bid, and she selected her 

They began by knocking down the walls that separated the kitchen and pantry from the living room and dining nook. (This is a common theme in the CHC kitchens! For more inspiration, check out Laura and Matthew’s kitchen, as well as Mario and Joe’s project.) One of the doorways from the kitchen to the hallway was closed off to extend the kitchen space across the entire wall. In a brilliant move, their Sweeten contractor turned the unused space next to the refrigerator into diagonal built-in shelving, now the perfect spot to display photos and items from their travels.

Once the space was opened up, the couple turned their attention to the details. Early on, Amanda fell in love with a Mediterranean-inspired patterned tile in black, grey and white, and built the entire kitchen design to complement it. Although she had originally considered the tile as a backsplash, it made more sense as flooring—a wise suggestion from her mom. For the millwork, their Sweeten contractor sourced custom cabinetry with simple lines in a white shaker style. A single set of glass doors was installed to break the solid run of uppers. A rich walnut countertop was chosen for an added layer of drama—they had first considered using a lighter wood, but the darker wood coordinated better with the floors, a decision supported by their contractor. Although the work surface requires some upkeep, Amanda reports that she “adores them!” Brass knobs and pulls for the cabinets were next, along with a vintage-inspired metal light fixture for the ceiling. While they kept their fairly new appliances from the apartment’s previous renovation, they added a wine fridge next to the dishwasher.

Throughout the process, Amanda worked with her Sweeten contractor to resolve issues as they arose. In one incident, the cabinetmaker realized that the measurements had been off, and that a cabinet would have been essentially unusable because of an immovable obstruction. He worked with the contractor to revise the layout overnight, and went into production with very little delay. Aside from this challenge, things went mostly according to plan, not to mention the shortest wait time for board approval that we’ve ever heard—about two weeks! (Could it be because Sweeten has done dozens of renovations in her building?)

Now that they’re done, Amanda has words of wisdom for aspiring renovators: “Don’t rush the process. We were impatient and moved all our things in right after the demolition stage. This meant that all of our belongings went into one bedroom, stacked and wrapped in plastic. We went to stay with our in-laws for the duration of the project. Our contractor was very understanding and worked quickly, but didn’t cut corners and finished on schedule—it took about a month in the end. Although this didn’t happen with us, a hurried contractor might be tempted to be less detailed-oriented. Trust the contractor! He knows what he’s doing and how long it’ll take to do it.”

As a book lover, Amanda’s one regret is that they didn’t think to carve out space in the wall shared between the kitchen and the hallway for built-in bookshelves. Still, as a first-time renovator, we think she did an amazing job, and like other Sweeten clients, she can always return for another renovation someday!

Thank you, Amanda, for sharing this lovely space. We hope that you and your husband enjoy cooking up your next literary masterpieces.

KITCHEN RESOURCES: EliteTile Artea Porcelain Tile floor tile: Wayfair. White shaker cabinets: custom. Mushroom knobs and Arendal pull cabinet hardware: Top Knobs. Faucet: Wayfair (similar). Walnut wood counters: custom. Arabesque white backsplash tile: Tiles by Kia, Astoria, NY. FlexCount wine fridge: Allavino. Capiz Scalloped chandelier: Serena & Lily.

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The New York Times featured three of Sweeten’s renovation projects highlighting one kitchen layout designed three different ways.

Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, scope, and style. Follow the blog for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation on Sweeten.

The post Newlywed writers turn a dark kitchen into a bestseller appeared first on Sweeten.

With prices in her Fort Greene co-op building surging upward, film editor Mollie Goldstein faced a dilemma: she could cash out (but deal with the colossal hassle of moving) or remain in a building and neighborhood she loved (albeit in an outdated “starter” studio apartment). Some smart home equity math helped her see that the pros of her current place outweighed the cons, so she came to Sweeten to upgrade (inventively and colorfully!) rather than start again elsewhere.

Guest post by Fort Greene homeowner Mollie Goldstein

About a year ago, I started noticing that prices for apartments in my Fort Greene co-op building had skyrocketed. I live in a studio, so the question of upgrading to a true one-bedroom was always on my mind. It had also been ten years since I bought my 500 square foot “starter apartment,” so I was starting to wonder if it might be time for a more “grown-up” dwelling. In short: Was now the time to cash out and buy something bigger elsewhere?

Upon consideration, though, I realized that 1) I love my building, 2) I love my neighborhood, and 3) my apartment is the exact right size for one person and one dog. The increasing market value, however, meant that I had equity I could borrow against, and so I decided to renovate the kitchen and bathroom and make myself a new apartment without having to uproot.

That decision turned out to be the easy part. When it came to planning a renovation—or even finding someone to help me plan a renovation—I had no idea what I was doing and no clue how to get started. After some time on the Internet, I thought a design/build firm might make the most sense for me, since I had no confidence in my ability to either design a proper space or supervise a contractor. But when I talked to the reps for several Manhattan firms, they laughed at my budget and sent me packing. Google eventually led me to Sweeten, where I posted my project. The kind staff there double-checked my budget, but at least they didn’t laugh—and neither did the Sweeten general contractor I was eventually paired up with.

She was amazing, and I felt an instant rapport with her. I’d had no experience in construction, but I do collaborate for a living (I’m a film editor), and I immediately recognized that she was a gem. The design process was so much fun. Because I was renovating in order to stay put, I wanted to design spaces purely for myself. Both rooms had always been serviceable, but the hasty repairs made before I moved in ten years earlier were showing their age, and I knew there had to be better ways to take advantage of the space I had available (especially in the surprisingly large-for-NYC kitchen). It drove me crazy that the kitchen cabinets didn’t reach the ceiling (so much wasted space!) and I hated stacking my spices on top of the stove. I also had a random hole in my kitchen wall where a neighbor’s contractor had drilled through and then disappeared. The bathroom was grungy in its off-white color scheme and constantly sprouting various leaks and cracks. I also love pattern and color, and I knew I wanted to create a personalized kitchen and something other than a standard white bathroom.

The kitchen design came together very quickly. I gave my contractor a few wallpaper swatches and a random list of priorities: I wanted a dishwasher, but it had to be less obtrusive than the current model; I needed a place for cookbooks; I was desperate for more storage; and could she please include a cute little spice drawer? Within a few days she sent me a rendering that was very similar to the final product. The Hygge & West wallpaper (which I’d had my eye on for a while), set the tone for our color scheme and she designed a clever built-in with a hidden-drawer dishwasher by Fisher & Paykel that I loved right away.

The basic layout of the bathroom was pretty easy, too, but we struggled a little more with the design. I knew I wanted something special, but I didn’t exactly know what it was. I sent my contractor a list of tiles I liked, none of which were appropriate, but she looked at them all and distilled the essence of what I was looking for, sending back the chevron marble from TileBar that we eventually went with around the tub (with its hexagon cousin for the floor). And as it happened, one of those other rejected bathroom tiles ended up as the kitchen floor — when we were looking at all our samples together, I slid that Bestile Moderna sample over to the kitchen pile, and, while neither of us had seen it coming, we both loved the black & white pattern against the blue cabinetry. The floor has since become one of my absolute favorite things about the kitchen.

Thanks to my contactor and her team, construction went pretty smoothly (for me). I moved out for five weeks while they dealt with all the problems of a crumbling kitchen ceiling, hauling debris out through a co-op lobby, and having to send back tile that arrived scratched. I’m sure there were a hundred other stumbling blocks that I never heard about, and I remain deeply grateful for the opportunity to work with trustworthy contractors whose standards were even higher than I expected.

Now that Maggie (my dog) and I have moved back in, I’m in love with my new space. Showering in my beautiful marble shower every morning is a treat, and I cook much more—and much more enjoyably—now that I have all the counter space I need. Both the kitchen and the bathroom are neater and less cluttered than ever before now that there is a place to put everything. I’m incredibly happy that I took the renovation plunge.

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Kitchen selects >> cabinets: custom / cabinet knobs: Home Depot / counters: LG Viatera: Cirrus / sink: Vigo / faucet: Hansgrohe / fridge: Summit Appliance / range: Blomberg / dishwasher: Fisher & Paykel / microwave: Bosch / floor tile: TileBar: Bestile Modena Blanco Nero porcelain tile / wallpaper: Hygge & West: Daydream (Indigo)

Bathroom selects >> floors: TileBar: Milan Gray Hexagon Marble tile / vanity sink, #JS-50324-PL-PRTSET1: Virtu / faucet, #552LF-MPU: Delta / tub: Kohler: Archer / toilet: Kohler: Wellworth / wall tile: TileBar: Milan Gray Chevron Marble tile / white wall tile: TileBar: ceramic tile / wallpaper: Walnut Wallpaper: Baby Elephant Walk

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Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, scope, and style. Follow the blog for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation on Sweeten.

The post A Film Editor Revitalizes Her Starter Apartment appeared first on Sweeten.

The advantages of this couple’s new place were very clear: beamed ceilings and big windows in every room brought lovely natural light throughout the unit, and original hardwood floors lent a relaxed look to the space. The kitchen, visible from the foyer, dining room, and living room, had two gracious windows but was outfitted with miniature appliances, isolated blocks of cabinets, and dark finishes. And while the kitchen and both bathrooms had been treated to some relatively recent updates, this couple saw potential for modern features and additions that would help them get settled. With the closing officially on the books, the couple posted their project on Sweeten, calling for a designer and builder who could help them make the most of the square footage in the kitchen and bathrooms before moving in.

We matched them with a Sweeten design-build firm. Together, they devised a plan to create a more spacious and bright kitchen and newly updated baths with elegant finishes.

The contractors began with the kitchen, gutting the space entirely. The apartment’s oak floors were worn, but the telltale parquet plank details and inlaid borders were enough to convince the team to leave them in place, restore them, and extend them into the kitchen, replacing the section of pine flooring that had made its way in during a previous renovation.

This design-build firm specializes in custom millwork and brought a signature white shaker look to this couple’s kitchen. They went minimal in the most visible places, limiting full cabinet lines to one wall, adding a bit of open shelving to the windowed wall, and significantly extending base cabinets around the back wall of the dining nook. These design decisions aimed for maximum light and an open feel. They tore out the windowsill just to the left of the dining nook to make way for that additional counter and cabinet space, and finished the full set with contrasting black knobs and sturdy pulls. The old black stone counters were replaced with white and soft gray quartz, blending the new white and black combo seamlessly.

The homeowners were keen on replacing their compact oven and dishwasher with full-size versions, so the pair gained a sleek new Verona gas range with an exhaust hood fashioned with custom oak shelves on either side, stained to match the new floors. A full size Bosch dishwasher took the place of the old, just to the left of the stove and concealed behind coordinating cabinetry panels. The couple chose a large white Kohler farmhouse sink and chrome Moen faucet, situated nicely under the far window.

A new stainless steel double-door fridge is now flanked by custom pantry storage, and the Sweeten contractor pulled the entire update together with a simple beveled white marble backsplash.

Much like the kitchen, the homeowners wanted cosmetic changes to both bathrooms to reveal more of their personal style and taste, favoring neutral colors and patterns and aiming for a brighter, cleaner feel. Nothing too extravagant, too old, or too contemporary.

They decided on simple geometric shapes and a natural palette in both. The master bath received a full gut without changing the footprint. Cloudy square floor tiles were tossed and delicate carrara marble pieces in soft bluish grays went down. The old shower/tub combo was of average height and size and contained very basic hardware. The couple chose a deep cast-iron Soissons Kohler bath with multiple Rohl hardware fixtures in a gorgeous muted polished nickel. A dark wood vanity sink originally stood to the left of the tub but was replaced with a much lighter wood finish with twice the storage space. A chic square mirror with an antiqued bevel stands over it, and new Kohler toilets were added in both bathrooms.

In the powder room, the same cloudy square floor tiles were replaced with a herringbone tile in soft gray and white, while the same square wall tiles were swapped for a subway style in white marble. The homeowners selected a slender dark wood vanity and square white porcelain sink, along with a silhouette mirror trimmed in wood to match.

The general contractors sanded and stained the oak wood floors throughout the rest of the apartment, and in doing so they replaced all of the white shoe molding as well. The walls were stripped and repainted, mostly white or the palest gray-blue found in the new powder room.

Kitchen selects >> cabinets: custom / counters: LG Quartz / backsplash: Tile Bar: Beveled Marble / gas range: Verona / dishwasher: Bosch / fridge: Fisher & Paykel / sink: Kohler / faucet: Moen

Powder room selects >> floors and walls: Tile Bar / toilet: Kohler

Master bath selects >> floors and walls: Tile Bar / tub: Soissons Kohler: Cast Iron / shower hardware: Rohl / toilet: Kohler

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Sweeten handpicks the best general contractors to match each project’s location, budget, scope, and style. Follow the blog for renovation ideas and inspiration and when you’re ready to renovate, start your renovation on Sweeten.

The post White Walls and Black Hardware in a Windowed, Pre-War Kitchen appeared first on Sweeten.