Jane Street apartment, 2019

This apartment had not been renovated since the building was finished in the 1960s, but it had windows on three sides, lovely light, and well-proportioned rooms. The client asked that in addition to turning the second bedroom into a dining room, we add lots of storage, hide the radiators and through-wall air conditioners, enlarge the bathroom, and give the postwar space some prewar appeal.

Enlarging the bathroom meant halving the hall closet, so we reclaimed storage space by adding closets or shelving wherever we could - including in the new millwork that encloses the radiators and A/C units below the windows; behind the bedroom door; as living room built-ins; and in the bathroom plumbing wall. Relocating the closets in the entry and the bedroom added storage space, but more importantly allowed for views through windows and not of walls as you enter each space.

We went through multiple iterations of the bathroom layout, and then adjusted the design once we opened up the plumbing wall and realized we could borrow storage space from the existing chase. Niches for shampoo are hidden in the shower wing wall, the controls for the heated floor and heated towel rack are hidden in the custom medicine cabinet, and a slightly lowered ceiling allows for a low-profile recessed light fixture over the shower.

We gutted the kitchen but kept the double galley layout, which has generous clearance between the counters. In order to move the sink in front of the larger window we created a 4” gap behind the lower cabinets to conceal the plumbing, giving us a deeper counter. A new counter-depth fridge meant we could reclaim space behind the fridge for the living room built-in, and barn doors on either end of the kitchen allow the client to control the views and light to and from the kitchen.

We replaced the damaged wood parquet floor with new 5” wide wood planks; replaced the clamshell baseboards and door casings with prewar moldings; replaced the slab doors with paneled doors; and added soffits and crown molding to define separate spaces in the large living area. These changes added traditional elements while making the apartment feel clean and updated.

Contractor: Tatras Construction

Photographer: Kate Glicksberg

Views of the apartment before the renovation