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 Today, Part 2 of David's downtown loft remodel by guest blogger David Kean, a Realtor in the Beverly Hills office of Prudential California Realty. His previous condo remodel was featured in Pardon Our Dust several years ago. In his new place, he once again created a beautiful urban space.
In my new downtown loft, the hall into the bedroom is visible from the main living space. When I bought the place, the master closet in that hall had no door. You could literally stand in the kitchen and look into the closet, which is odd, to say the least.
For the closet, I wanted something more than just a basic door. After perusing a stack of interior design magazines, I decided to panel the entire wall with a large grid pattern of birch squares with walnut spacers, hiding the push-latch door within the pattern. This was not a difficult or terribly expensive addition. In fact, what was a liability is now an asset. The “secret door” is the feature that always gets a "wow." From the living area, all you now see is a beautifully paneled wall.
Another issue of loft living is the lack of storage. As I have a good-size collection of books, some bookshelves were in order. Once again, I decided to have the shelves custom built to fit the wall of the second bedroom/den perfectly. The bookcase measures 10 feet high and 11 feet wide, with cabinets below, shelves above and a center shelf for a flat-screen TV.
The finish is espresso and the cabinet door pulls are nickel. I used the same furniture maker that built the kitchen island. In my opinion, if you are happy with someone’s work, it’s wise to use the same craftsmen on multiple home projects. It creates goodwill.
The existing caramel-colored bamboo floors in my unit were not installed properly, so the developer offered me a cash credit to replace them. And that was good, as I never cared for the color of the flooring anyway. Armed with an excuse and the developer’s money, I promptly bought a dark walnut, pre-finished floor. A co-worker’s husband installed the floors. He was not the lowest bid but came highly recommended. He finished on time and on budget.
Of course, there are more touches I would like to put on my unit. I’m sure there will be even more I have not thought of yet. But currently, I plan to reface the boring white laminate kitchen cabinets, install recessed lighting throughout and perhaps add a Venetian plaster accent wall. It seems that no matter how much I do, I can always find another project.
Thanks, David. Comments? Questions for David?
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Click to see the latest on Kathy's Remodeling Blog
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 Today's blogger is David Kean, a Realtor in the Beverly Hills office of Prudential California Realty. His previous condo remodel was featured in Pardon Our Dust several years ago. In his new place, he once again created a beautiful urban space.
"From the window of my previous townhouse, I watched a vacant 38-story Downtown L.A. office building being converted into residential lofts. I’d always liked the building’s triangular shape and location on Wilshire Boulevard, so when the units went on the market I jumped head-first into a purchase . . . and another home renovation project.
The 19th-floor corner unit I bought had a great layout, but almost everything was "builder standard." In other words, nothing special. I set out to add character to the bland space.
The architecture of this space leaned more toward modern. With me being more traditional (as evidenced by my previous condo remodel), I went midway to modern, opting for what I call a 'transitional' design style, or "Cosmopolitan Chic.” Transitional décor allows you to mix new and old by bridging the gap with a few modern renditions of classic forms.
Before moving in, I started selling pieces of furniture that I knew would not fit into the space or mix well with modern. I also started scouring consignment shops and EBay for a new dining table and chairs, sofa, cocktail table and other needed items. Also on my list: paint, custom bookcase, kitchen island, lighting and flooring.
The first thing I did was paint the entire unit a light mocha color, which gave the loft a warmer feel than the bright white, but I kept things things neutral. I resisted the urge to add crown molding to keep the background clean and simple.
I replaced the nondescript dining room chandelier with a neoclassic silver leafed iron chandelier. The contrast of the traditional chandelier against the clean lines and wall of glass helped set the tone for the new décor. I lucked out on EBay by finding a rectangular Parsons-style dining table of Macassar ebony (an exotic hardwood from India) that seats up to 10. Another EBay find was a set of 10 22-karat gilded J. Robert Scott armchairs covered in a French Chinoiserie silk fabric. The over-the-top dining chairs juxtapose well against the sharp modern lines of the table.
The main living area is completely open, so I decided to break the space between the kitchen and the living/dining area with an island 7 feet long and 2 feet deep. The island provides storage on the kitchen side, and room for three barstools on the other side.
Because I could not find a stock island of the size I wanted, I sketched out a design and had it custom made. The base of the island is maple, with a medium brown stained finish. The top is 2-inch-thick Italian Calacatta marble. I added modern polished nickel cabinet pulls and finished it off with chrome and leather barstools. Adding the island provided a clearer division of the rooms and their functions. Actually, it “made” the space.
Next: Part 2: The hall closet conundrum
Comments? Questions for David?
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 Today's guest blogger is Peggy Olearczuk, who shares her experiences retaining the vintage flavor of her Burbank cottage. She writes:
I always wanted an old, Spanish-style house, because I fondly remember my grandmother’s home. I got my wish, but our 1920s-era Burbank house, although potentially charming, had so many problems that we didn’t know where to begin.
For instance, we knew we needed to replace our leaking windows, and knew we didn’t want cheap vinyl, but beyond that, we had no idea what to do. We were considering Pella windows until we found Mark Bethanis, a general contractor in Burbank who specializes in restoring vintage homes.
Mark told us that we could make the windows look just like they did when the house was new (for much less than Pella) and make them energy-saving as well. He also taught us the importance of things like preserving the bullnosing on both interior and exterior (the thicker Pella windows, he said, would have meant using flat frames on the interior) and how a triple window we were told to rip out might actually be holding up the roof!
Bethanis Inc. replaced the sashes (using dual-pane glass), re-used the old hardware, added weather stripping and even more amazingly, was able to restore the old sills, which we thought were completely unsalvageable.
The window project took about five weeks and cost $15,000. Staining and painting of the windows was included in exterior painting of the house (cost: $12,000) and interior painting of the living room, dining room and bathroom (cost: $4,425) and took place during the same five weeks.
The exterior paint may seem expensive, but consider this: Our house and freestanding garage hadn't been painted in over 20 years, so the job required extensive prep work, including water blasting to get rid of loose stucco and paint, stucco patching (matching the old-fashioned pattern of the existing stucco), and repairing and restaining our existing front door.
Also, all of the window frames and sills were in terrible condition and needed to be cleaned, stripped, sanded and repaired before two coats of primer and two coats of paint were applied. The stucco also required two coats of primer and two coats of paint.
There was lots of detail work, like painting the little round vents on the sides of the house red to match the tile roof and removing and painting existing hardware (window latches, "speakeasy" door, mailbox) to restore the original wrought-iron look. The $12,000 also included interior staining of living room and dining room windows and interior priming of all other windows.
Also, since we replaced all 30 window sashes at the same time, the painters had to follow the carpenter as he worked, painting the exterior and priming or staining the interior of each sash (to keep the new wood from warping).
The four other bids we got ran anywhere from $4,900 to $11,500, but because they were painting companies, none of them seemed able to handle such a complicated job; they could do the painting but were vague about the prep work and wanted us to find someone else to do other parts of the project (like staining the living room and dining room windows and patching the stucco). We really liked the idea of having one company take care of everything for us.
We’ll paint the rest of the window interiors when we remodel our kitchen and add a master suite early next year.
Tomorrow: Part 2: Peggy takes on the bathroom
Your comments? Questions for Peggy?
 In response to our lively discussion about the pros and cons of pedestal sinks (I've pretty much decided against it for my bathroom, thank you all), L.A. designer Enid Harris sent in before-and-after photos of her own recently remodeled guest bathroom.
Here's the story, in Enid's own words:
I recently remodeled my Westwood townhouse and couldn't wait to get rid of the pedestal sinks!
I deem them useless because although they might create the look of having more space, they don't function which is more important (to me).
 I have a tiny powder room in which the previous owners tore out a great wall-to-wall cabinet and put in a pedestal sink. Since it's used primarily for guests, there was nowhere to put a guest towel, much less extra toilet paper.
I ended up designing a wall-to-wall cabinet, putting a vessel sink on it with a very cool wall-mount faucet and then I wallpapered the entire tiny room, even the ceiling. It's not only functional (guests don't have to yell for toilet paper), but it's a little jewel of a room which everyone comments on.
See more baths • • See more real remodels
 Can a kitchen be really tiny and really cool? Like it's so cool I feel envy? Designer Enid Harris accomplished that very thing when she remodeled the kitchen in her Westwood townhouse. And here's her story:
(But first, a word from me. Do you want to show off your remodel on this blog? Study what Enid did here. She provided before and after photos, then told the story of how the remodel happened — what she started with, how she made her selections, and the costs for everything. Yes! She has been reading my mind. This is what I love. Read Enid's story and then submit your own remodeling story to podblog@aol.com.)
And now, in her own words, here is the story of Enid's kitchen remodel:
 The original kitchen was typical ‘70s — florescent lights in the ceiling, shallow cabinets that didn't hold much and a small over-mount sink which is the bane of anyone who wants a clean counter. And did I mention the kitchen was also really small?
I always loved the look of those tiny galley kitchens in some New York apartments, and so those became my inspiration.
I felt the best approach would be to gut the kitchen. There was absolutely nothing worth saving and I could see that just by removing the soffit, which enabled me to raise the ceiling, it would add lots of cabinet space.
I added reed glass on the upper glass cabinets but only on either side of the sink. I love the idea of glass — as well as open — shelves. But I had to be honest about how much time I wanted to spend keeping everything neat and clean. By adding glass to just a few cabinets it opened up the kitchen.
Read the rest of the story and see more photos
See more kitchens
Read on »
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Today, Part 2 of David's downtown loft remodel by guest blogger David Kean, a Realtor in the Beverly Hills office of Prudential California Realty. His previous condo remodel was featured in Pardon Our Dust several years ago. In his new place, he once again created a beautiful urban space.
