Renovate Brooklyn! Day Nineteen: The Mother Arrives!

Today's the day!

In just nine short hours, my mom touches down at La Guardia airport and we really put the apartment to the test. Will all of our hard work be able to stand up to the brutal scrutiny of one Lynda Salway? Only time will tell.

(My mom is actually rather nice, so please excuse the hyperbole. I'm just trying to make this sound as intense as possible for the sake of "The Internet".) 

Here is what we have to show for our last few days of servitude. You know you're really under-the-gun when you seriously consider calling off your Valentine's Day plans in favor of painting a room. Deee-pressing.*

In the photos at right, you can see the wall where there was once a storage loft, and then below, the same wall once the loft and small support were removed. Taking these two partitions down completely transformed the room-- it made the ceilings feel higher and made the foot-print of the room much less constricted. I can't believe we have lived in this apartment for seven years, and it took about two hours to make this room 100% more habitable. We are idiots.

The new wall color, by the way, is called Healing Aloe by Benjamin Moore (#1562). I'm pretty sure it is the most beautiful paint color I have ever encountered. Seriously. There is a glass-like quality to it, almost as though it is the very color of light. I know I sound like I am going to ask someone to pass the joint now, but if you could see it, you'd know exactly what I meant.

We're pretty thrilled with the outcome of our new bedroom. It is marvelously bright and sunny, and really feels very "whole". I think a problem that people our age frequently encounter is that everything looks and feels a little cobbled together. You've got this crummy furniture from college, probably some odds-and-ends that your parents gave you, and very little money to replace those things with anything new or even remotely coordinated. It sucks to come home to a place that feels like you're living in the Salvation Army's furniture department.

In our bedroom, I tried to unify our furniture by painting it the same color. The two mismatched night-stands are both painted Decorator's White (Benjamin Moore) and then linked together again by the pair of matching bedside lamps. Our dressers were also mismatched and my first temptation was to paint them Decorator's White as well. But then I remembered that John lives in our apartment too and that uber "Shabby-Chic-Cottage" just isn't the most male-friendly aesthetic, so I decided to live-it-up a little and paint both dressers that insane fiery orange. Literally, I think the paint color is called "Flame." When I did it, it seemed totally out of left field, but I've actually grown accustomed to the color and think it creates an awesome contrast with the cool, glassy tones of the wall color and bed linens.

And considering the room looked like the photo below on Saturday afternoon, we've made a lot of head-way. I'll include photos of the guest room later today, so you guys can see where the guest of honor will be bunking up this week.

 

*For those of you who are concerned for our love-life during this grueling renovation, fear not. We didn't actually cancel our Valentine's Day plans-- praise be! We went to see True Grit at the charming Cobble Hill Cinema and then had a smashing meal at Prime Meats in Carroll Gardens. If you haven't been there, definitely check it out. They have a lovely, mellow ambiance that is très romantique, and the menu is tremendous. We ordered the Roasted Bone Marrow, a Farm Salad with Bacon Salad and Bacon Dressing, and a Steak Frites to split. Delish!