Rehab and Revamp . . . Chicago Basement Becomes "Lower Level"

Below are photos of Phase 1 of my basement's transformation into functional living space. The stairs and office are complete, but the master bedroom and bathroom are still on the docket.

This is my project, but frankly, I'm bored of it and much more interested in your project. What did you rehab and revamp? Was it worth the effort? What would you have done differently? Send your photos in to Strange Closets.


Basement stairways before (a hall closet)


Basement Stairs After


Basement.


Stairs forming.


The finished product - Photo taken from my desk.


Office Before


Office After.


I love pocket doors.

Rehab and Revamp . . . Frangines Kitchen Renovation

Flickr member Frangines has done a great job with her kitchen renovation. The space has a much better layout and the white cabinets make a big difference in helping the space feel light and open. What do you think?

Send in your home rehab photos or tag them as strangeclosets in Flickr.

Rehab & Revamp . . . Chicago Kitchen

Kitchen Before. It wasn't very functional with very little counter space. The fridge took up valuable space.


Kitchen After installing new cabinets, marble floor, recessed lights and appliances.

My favorite part of design websites is seeing the before and after photos. I like the suspense, the questioning of every decision, the doubt, the furrowed brows and then the climax, the light and joy of a new room.

I take pleasure in the narrative structure, which is why although I love Sarah Richardson's show, Design Inc., it irritates me that they show both before and after photos at the very beginning of each episode. I lose interest in her problems when I know the room turns out great.

Anyway, I'll show you mine (again) if you show me yours. Here's my Kitchen, before and after. Send in yours or tag your flickr photos, and I'll feature yours.


Kitchen Before (This had already been modified. It was a double pantry. I sunk the fridge into the wall and gave the remaining pantry to the bedroom closet (on the other side of the wall).


Kitchen After.

In Defense of the Accent Wall

Giving credit where credit is due, the inspiration wall from Apartment Therapy.

For years, I confess to a mild disdain for the accent wall. It seemed like everybody had one, and they almost never looked good. Recently, I've had a change of heart (or been brainwashed by a trend?), thanks to one photo I found on my favorite design blog, Apartment Therapy.

The apartment (shown above) has wall moldings, which the owner brilliantly used to define where the color goes. This photo inspired me to tap my creative energies and to almost exactly copy her idea for my boring boudoir . (Did I just admit to that in print? Good thing I can't be arrested for design plagiarism.)


My bedroom before. The room feels dull and flat.


My bedroom after applying molding, color and adding custom silk lampshades.

While my apartment originally had a molding deficiency, I found that for virtually no money (or skill), I could add a similar molding (7 inches from edge). This prevents the wall colors from bleeding together and sharpens focus on the accent color; it gives the wall a little something extra that is particularly special.


Accent wall in a pretty awesome room. I ripped this page from Metropolitan Home.

Armed with my inspiration and a particularly boring bedroom, I set to work. The result added the necessary color and drama that the room was missing, all for the price of a can of paint.

Accent walls can be more than a different color; I have ideas for wood paneling (different woods create different effects), stone, brick and corrugated steel. And with the resurgence of bold wallpaper patterns, accent walls provide a way to enjoy the patterns without being overwhelmed by them.

What do you think? Are accent walls the most? Or are they just gauche?

Wasted Energy . . . The Lighting Design Dilemma

Left/Top: GE Reveal incandescent lightbulb

Right/Bottom: Philips Halogena Energy Savers lightbulb (30% energy savings)

Lighting dramatically contributes to the look and more importantly, the feel of a space. Watch home design shows, and you'll see how often they block out daylight and turn on lamps when showcasing a newly designed room.

That's because lighting is integral to most design schemes. There's nothing that makes a bigger impact than the right lighting solution to address a dark corner or wall. A really badly decorated room will look great if lit the right way. On the other hand, bad lighting is a decorating downer.

But if you're watching the news . . . scratch that, if you're watching the news, you're seeing Brittany Spears. If you're reading anything of substance (in other words, not this), you'll quickly figure out that we are in VERY deep trouble if we don't put figure out how to reduce our carbon emmissions. Reducing electricity from incandescent lightbulbs is one way to do that, and environmentalists are promoting CFL's. So here's my problem, I HATE them.

Lit by CFL?

I've tried, seriously. By all means, please email me your product suggestions, but I've done research and tried a lot of them, and I still get the harsh, cold light. So I was pleased to learn that Philips is making a new Energy Savers line of halogen bulbs (Look for the Halogena Energy Savers Line).

I went out and bought replacements for all my standard bulbs and attached the before and after pictures. The Halogena casts a slightly more yellow light than the GE Reveal, but I got used to it within minutes. I also have everything (and I mean everything) on dimmers (a great design trick, which also saves energy).

What are your energy saving design suggestions?

Rehab & Revamp . . . Chicago Brick 2 Flat

Long story short, we bought a 2 flat that needed major work. First up, we threw caution to the wind and blew out 2 feet of supporting brick wall between the living room and sun porch. Here's the porch before, all 136 square feet of pink painted brick:






And here is the result:
























My mother, who strenuously objected to altering the original structure has calmed down considerably.

What do you think? Is it sacrilegious to physically alter an old building in this way? Or is updating a building necessary to maintain its relevance and usability? Where do we draw the line?

Will "Save the Cinderblock" neighborhood groups be popping up in 2090? Send in your before and after features to have them spotlighted on Strange Closets.

Rehab and Revamp . . . Chicago 2 Flat

While not a gut rehab, rehabbing this building has consumed the past two years of my life. I've learned a lot (about listening to my gut mostly), but it's coming together, and I have a sense of satisfaction that we brought an old building back to life while (mostly) preserving its floor plan and character.

Although this is obvious to many people, it's amazing what a can of paint will accomplish. Here's the living room fireplace area before we moved in. The walls and moldings are painted the same color and its a cluttered mess.











And here it is now.











The room basically needed a coat of paint, just paint and merciless editing. Taking down unnecessary window treatments also helped to brighten up the space.

Email me your own before and after photo projects, and I'll post them online. Or, tag your Flickr photos to "strange closets".