Out of the seaside garden and back to NYC for an update on the “quick” (NOT) renovation project! Now that we had our blank canvas, it was time to make some actual decorating decisions. Decision #1 — Begin with the lower level because I felt it would be a quick win — self-contained, easy and fast. Well of course that brings us right to lesson #1: nothing is easy and fast in the world of DOAMR projects.
With all white walls my focus was now on the icky carpeted cement floors. My inspiration tear sheets — and my desire for maximum light, all pointed to a bleached white wooden floor for the lower level. I envisioned this space as a modern white box, spa like in its vibe. A sanctuary for... well actually me, my sanctuary, although I had not shared this revelation with the rest of my family yet.
I couldn’t understand why the previous owner covered the cement floors with carpet instead of wood, I thought perhaps it was cost efficiency. Which brings me to lesson #2: whenever something seems off center, there is always a good reason -- just under the surface — and in this case, literally under the surface! When the floor expert came to inspect the space and propose the “right” wood floor — he had an immediate negative reaction. Even though the lower level is not underground, the floor expert felt the cement floor wood be too unpredictable in this environment and suggested a laminated wood floor. ICK! No way would that work for me. I had used a tile floor with the look of wood plank in my master bath at the beach house. I was reticent at the time about the “faux” look, but my designer Charles Riley talked me into trying it. I loved the way it turned out. Lesson #3: experimentation is key to good design. With that in mind I called Ann Sachs to try to get the same tile for my lower lever, and unfortunately it was discontinued. Another road block. Arthur, my contractor, came up with an alternative tile that was actually perfect (and as the story continues it became more perfect, but more about that later). More bad news was on the horizon though, the LL foyer and family room were all set, but the LL office which was now going to be my closet, had a cement floor that was cracked and uneven. In order to tile it I would have to take the current cement floor out and pour a new floor. That was definitely not in my existing budget, so like the previous owner, I decided to re-carpet my closet. Lesson #4: the inexpensive option is not always the inexpensive option. In this case it actually ended up costing me more to take this route — again, more about that in the future ….
The carpet I choose for the closet was an ivory snow leopard print. Perfection I thought, just enough zip to be impactful, but not too much to compete with the wardrobe. From just about the first day the carpet was installed the problems began. I’m not sure if it was the uneven floor or the dampness of the cement, but the carpet actually erupted in waves, so much so that I would actually get seasick in there on some days — not a great start to for my lower level sanctuary. I had the carpet company come back twice to fix it, it would be ok for a week, a month or two -- then the waves would erupt again.
To Review:
Lesson #1 — Renovations are never quick and easy.
Lesson #2 — There is always a “good" reason for quirky.
Lesson #3 — Experimentation is the key to good design.
Lesson #4 — The inexpensive solution is not always the inexpensive solution.
We will continue the journey of the lower level in the coming week’s blog…
