nile13

As some of you know, we've bought an 1832 built condo in Boston and are now in process of a gut renovation. It dawned on me that many here have similar tastes and are architects, designers, potential buyer with somewhat similar tastes to mine. So I've decided to pick some collective brains.

I'm looking for all and any input. Don't hesitate to throw your ideas on layout, materials, places to purchase, any thoughts. Do not be afraid to offend me by calling me an idiot - I've never some this before so I'm a bit of an idiot by definition.

So... what we have here is space of about 25' by 59'. We are trying to make it into a 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom condo. Please see the preliminary floor plan here: http://www.mikest.com/Condo/floor_plan2.pdf

We have a pretty good contractor already. This drawing was produced by his architect and we are OK with it. Namely, since it's a long and fairly dark unit with windows only on the short sides, we want the bedrooms to be parked where we they are. The top of the picture will have two desks - mine and my GF's offices - by the windows.

the deviations so far - we can not have laundry in the "pantry". Initial thought - laundry in the master closet in its own enclosure. But people seem to object to it. How bad is this idea? Alternative - laundry in the middle guest bathroom.

The one big problem with the unit is that it has 16" tall beams hanging off the ceiling every 14-16". Because of that the height to the bottom of the beams is only 7.5" or so. Very low. That means that we'll need some fancy lighting. My problem is that i don;t like tracks/wires all that much, nor do I like the heat and spot-shining of MR16 lights. They also get really expensive really fast. So if someone has any lighting ideas... The beams will be stripped to natural wood, but forget trying to reflect the light - you'll simply get interference pattern.

Flooring... we will want something light, but with a slight reddish hue as we'll have exposed brick, hopefully. Not oak, I'm not a big fan. It's also right on the water, so humidity is a consideration. I like wider planks, 4-5", so any suggestions?

Kitchen. Arrrgh. Why me? We're looking at not very traditional, but not very contemporary stuff, I'd call it modern. No slab fronts. "shaker style" is the only thing we've come up with. Possibly with some glass incerts, possibly with a lot of glass. We are looking at Millenium, Omega, KitchenCraft, HomeCrest. We don;t really use teh kitchen much, but would like it to look nice for us and for some future resell value. Timing is an issue too as kitchens are at least 4-6 weeks orders, so we need to ddeide quick - we'll be homeless as of September.

So, here are your chance to get creative and tell me anything I should know.

Help!! I'm drowning in this!

matt777

Laundry areas near the bedrooms only makes sense to me. If I had it my way there would be a large laundry/drying/ironing/closet area on our main floor next to our bedroom. In our last house I had an 18x15 room like this. It was in the basement next to a bathroom and was great to have.

Deadeye

Hi Mike, I'm a GC/ builder here in SE MA for over 25 years. I like your floor plan and the laundry/ pantry room is a very good idea, even better right next to your master suite. Suggest extra attention to sound proofing between the bedroom and laundry. Look at Schrock line of cabinets. They have multiple levels of quality (cost) and are a good bang for the buck. Have you thought about inexpensive rope lights behind a tray in the areas between the beams for an indirect general lighting? with wall sconces or floor lamps for specific task lighting?
P.S. are you going to autocross at Devens this weekend?

tjangi

...and i thought my swingset question was wayyy OT ...

Congrats and good luck on the construction. Its going to be well worth it. Send us pics...

nile13

Dennis, thanks!

The problem we are having is that the wall where the laundry/pantry was initially planned (that .pdf file you see) is a dry wall. So we will have to put a pump to drain the sink and dishwasher. The plumber is really resisting the idea of having a pump for the washer as well. I'm not sure why. But that would mean moving the laundry elsewhere, which I'm trying to figure out.

Schrock cabinets - could you tell me who sells them locally?

Rope lights - what are those? Do you mean two-wire low voltage system? If you have any pics, I'd love to see them. Alone with any other suggestions.

PS. No autocross for me till September - I'm currently in NYC with bi-weekly visits to Boston to view the ruins... errr... the construction site. But I'll definitely get back in September and will be out there in Devens.

nile13

Hey, guys, I'm really hoping for some input here. I know a lot of you have built your own places. Help me chose teh right hardwoods, cabinets. Any advise is appreciated as well, anything. Dennis, thanks, keep things coming :-)

Here's a possible layout as we see it now. Commnts?

Deadeye

You'll get much mileage from the separate closets in the master suite (or you'll have to fight for every sq. inch of space) and the laundry move should eliminate some of your plumbing issues.

nile13

Dennis, this, essentially was a "design by plumber". In other words the layout of the right side of the condo is completely dictated by plumbing issues.

Rinty

Good luck with your project, Nile. I'm stressed enough, just building a 12' addition to my garage.

Got my permit yesterday, though, in just 3 hours flat!

MrRoboto

You know, I think i'd swap the locations of the living and the kitchen. It's nice to have a window in the kitchen for ventilation purposes. Or move the bedroom 2 down to where the living is (it looks like that wall is longer, perhaps allowing you keep the size of the room while eliminating the odd curved wall), move the kitchen to where bedroom 2 is, and the living to where the kitchen is.

Just my 2 cents.

DJF1

I'd swap the bedroom with the kitchen. Bedroom will be interior, but it will save space, closer to the bathroom and you create a "front of the house" and a back of the house that is larger, brighter and more private for the occupants.
My 2 cents as well....

DFC4S

Check out www.henrybuilt.com for cabinetry. We used them, can't be more pleased and seems to fit your style. There's even a showroom in NYC now.

CamsPorsche

Looking at that latest layout I'd move the kitchen adjacent to the living room and move bedroom 2 towards the middle of the condo. The guests or family staying in that bedroom would need to walk across the kitchen and living room to use the bathroom...not ideal. Plus noise issues from the living areas.

Having the kitchen when you enter allows ease of unloading stuff and making the living area an open concept.

993inNC

I'll third the motion to swap the front bed with the kitchen (unless whats now kitchen can have a window and we just don't see it. Code requires egress from a bedroom, which may explain why its up front. You sida condo, is this a "row" house?). In that last plan, you'll want to rethink that laundry location. It needs to be isolated a lot more. With all that current open area, it'll be an echo chamber for whatever noise your laundry machines make (and even the quiet ones aren't quiet enough). Make sure to go with thicker walls around it (laundry) as well as insulate all the interior walls well (this will cut down on noise). I insulated everything when I did my addition/remodel (including ceilings between floors) and its amazing how much noise it cuts even with a lack of carpet in the big areas.

As for do's and don'ts.....don't follow fads, follow needs and pay attention to how you use/abuse things when picking finishes. Things that may look great, may not work in your world, and won't look great for long, so be aware.

nile13

OK, guys, valid concerns, all. Thank you for mentioning them!

The second bedroom is, basically mu GF's office (she's doing her Ph.D and needs study space). She wants a window and that's what she'll get. that's not really negotiable. We also decided to make this into a second bedroom for resale purposes. The guests are kind of an afterthought in this case, her having an office window is much more of a priority. We've seen the second bedroom in the middle of the condo in another unit in the building and did not see ourselves with that layout at all.

I personally don't like open concept where living room and kitchen are almost combined. We had it in one of our previous houses, but there was an eating area in between and there was 2700+ square feet, so we could get away with it. While it's definitely nice to unload groceries right by the door, as Danny mentioned, the kitchen in the middle by the back wall is only 20 feet from the entry door as well, so I don't think we'd be getting much of an advantage. And if there's a kitchen isle, it'll be only about 10-12 feet from the entry door.

We looked at the kitchen cabinets again today. I don't happen to like anything we've seen. That's a bad feeling as they need 6-8 weeks to make them, in general, and I can't chose. We want something modern, but not contemporary. Not slab fronts, though. Can anyone give me any ideas? Derek, I've looked at the link on Henrybuilt - I think they are much more contemporary than what we're looking for. But we're in NYC now so I'll definitely swing by their showroom on Monday and have a look-see. Thanks!

Also, flooring. Found pretty cool distressed birch: http://www.lumberliquidators.com/cat...roductId=3689& , but it's prefinished and has pretty good rounding on the corners, so there's sizable visible slot between the planks. Not feeling it in the kitchen where things spill and drop. What would an alternative be in something beat-up looking, but light.

Chris, I hear you on laundry room issues. I think we'll ask the contractor for thicker walls and someone mentioned insulating with R-13. Is that right?

The condo is in the old granite wharf/warehouse building on Boston's waterfront. Imagine the loooong narrow building with condos cut as 25 x 60 boxes across the building itself. So the windows are only on the short side of the box and there's absolutely no other light entering.

Which begs the question of how lo light the place. We are thinking track lighting between the beams plus some side scones. But tracks are fairly ugly, even monorails or wires. Plus they get very hot and shine in your face, having small concentrated beam. Is there anything else to consider? I'm a retrograde, I like incandescent light, don't like fluorescent in the house. Halogen is OK, but for the issues above.

So, again, thanks, guys and keep the suggestions coming!