There will always be surprise costs during a renovation once floors and walls are open Budget planning is one of the most important parts of a renovation, at least for most of us! Costs can easily get out of control. Even if you get your contractor quote set and finishes all spec-ed, many renovators go…
Read More
Trim and moulding isn’t just the icing on the cake it’s an important architectural feature of your home and can serve to protect the walls from damage. Mouldings can bring an unfinished renovation to an almost complete space. They can also do an important job of covering the guts of doors and windows after they…
Read More
We’re taking you inside a Harlem Brownstone we recently visited! Some parts are available for sale before the home is listed and we have first dibs! Take a first look and if interested in a piece let us know which item in comments . We will follow-up shortly with additional information once we have pricing,…
Read More
Our stoop makeover has begun and we are already seeing some new life to our old stairs and railing. The paint was peeling off the railing and rust was showing through. Our stairs were chipping and cracks could be seen in the layer below. We needed to not only make everything look a lot better…
Read More
We’re about to embark on another project at our house. We’re making over our cellar (aka basement) as a laundry room and storage area. Often the cellar is overlooked as an entire additional floor of living space in a Brooklyn Brownstone. While you might not want to sleep in a subterranean room, it’s a great…
Read More
Winter will be here sooner than we want and we’re getting ready for a season inside. We need something to hang the Christmas stockings on! Even though our house had a lot of original features, all of the fireplaces have been removed and we are left with the bricked up and useless bump outs on…
Read More
Replacing all of the plumbing is usually on the agenda for many people renovating an old home. If you’re moving around kitchens and bathrooms or if the pipes are deteriorating it’s often best to replace it all. If your pipes are old enough there is also a chance that they could be introducing lead into…
Read More
Labor day is coming up and we can’t believe that fall is already approaching! It’s been quite the year already with a global pandemic affecting millions of people. This Labor Day we want to pay it forward with something that means everything to us, community. We’re working with Lowes this Labor Day to,, #BuildThanks and…
Read More
Some of the most iconic features of Brownstone design are the front stoop, iron railing, and newel posts. Without that it just wouldn’t be the same. The week we closed on our house, now almost 2 years ago, on one of our first visits we were shocked to discover that one of our 2 front…
Read More
One thing is for certain in an un-renovated historic Brooklyn home, it’s leaky. And we’re not talking about the roof. Most modern forms of energy weren’t even invented when they were built so energy efficiency had no bearing on the building process. A common goal of Brooklyn renovators is to improve it but many wonder…
Read More
