Blank Canvas

Written by Jaqui Lividini

Commencement is a word that is usually used in the context of graduating, it means the beginning, and that's where we were with the apartment, after all the demo – we were now looking at the proverbial “blank canvas.”

Every apartment needs to have a vision behind it – a theme – for this apartment the chosen theme is outside/in – having a flow that effortlessly moves from the back patio through the apartment. My new building is a mansion built in 1850 as a single-family home with similar mansions populating the entire block.  Similar to all townhouses and mansions the light comes into the apartment from the front or back, which means there are rooms i.e. the kitchen and bathrooms that have no natural light. My goal was to maximize every beam of light available.

When choosing colors, I selected the color of no color – white. I painted every room the same shade of white (which I usually don’t do). I chose Benjamin Moore's bright white, which was the right white for this apartment.  The ubiquitous black marble floors were replaced by traditional narrow board wood, to match the existing wood floors —  All were then stripped and stained a special white stain that we hand mixed.  Unfortunately, after all of this work, these floors did not remain, but that’s another story for another post. 

I then added as much glass as I could. I replaced all 18 doors in the apartment —  most with glass or mirror paned doors, same with the kitchen cabinets to allow the light to flow through or reflect. When completed it was amazing how transformative the results were, the apartment was now airier with reflected light everywhere.  It was now the true blank slate we needed to begin the reinvention.