(The initial inspiration for the entire reno - italian marble, hardwood, dark & moody hues & lots of light.)
Social media will have us all believe that renovating or designing a home is a breeze and that turning your home into something Architectural Digest worthy happens regularly and overnight. The truth of the matter is that it does not.
It's not a stretch to say that this home reno has been years in the making. Anyone who knows me well, knows how long I've been dreaming of moving things around and making them as beautiful in reality as they've been in my head. Social media will have us all believe that renovating or designing a home is a breeze and that turning your home into something Architectural Digest worthy happens regularly and overnight. The truth of the matter is that it does not and that's why this project has been in the works for so long.
What social doesn't show is all of the people that need to be involved, the city's (or community's) rules and regulations for what you can and can't do to your home, the paper filing and processing, the time it takes to actually get things done properly, the unexpected surprises associated with renovating and most importantly, the cost...my goodness, the cost associated with renovating - especially in New York City.
(This photo by: Suzanne Spellen / Vintage black/white brownstone photos: photographer unkown)
I've mentioned before that our home is about 122 yrs old. It's a quintessential Brooklyn Italiante-style Brownstone built in 1899. Quick history: Brooklyn row house brownstones are usually characterized by floor to ceiling windows, large doorways, grand entryways and tall stoops with ornate decoration. There are different styles of brownstones throughout Brooklyn (Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Neo Grec) but Italiante-style brownstones were fashioned after Italian palazzi and became popular in the mid to late 1800's. This was the inspiration for my project - the modern Italian Palazzo.
With the year that we've all had, making our homes as safe, comfortable, functional and as beautiful as possible seems to be top of everyone's mind. For me, that means giving the most used spaces in the house - kitchens and bathrooms face-lifts, replacing windows and flooring, stripping doorways and hardware, creating an open feeling without blowing out walls to improve the flow of the home and gaining more space for the girls to grow into.
Creating and cultivating a peaceful, beautiful home is such a personal thing to me that I will be designing and managing the project, drawing from my years of design & logistical experience, as well as my personal style & intuition instead of working with an interior designer. I'll of course be collaborating with my contractor, which, I'm sure will not be a walk in the park for him because I'm a Libra and well, let's just say that decision making is a "process" for me. I'll also be renovating on a budget and with a lot of creativity and imagination. I'll share as much of the process as I can with you guys in the hopes inspiring you to set aside social media's pie-in-the-sky ideals of renovating or home design and instead create the spaces that you want, your way and within your budget realizing that it can all be beautiful no matter how you do it. Full disclosure: I'm FREAKING OUT but also really excited to see this through, so, let's do this!
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