brianmason's Profile

A couple of other visually pleasing things that might be a real challenge: the open shower near the open shelving with towels stored there, and the single bed that is pushed under a shelf about a foot above it. The ground space does not seem to have a way to access the upper floors. Stairs can really kill these sort of structures/projects conceptually, but...

Designers whose vision includes a lot of high concept, difficult-to-live-with elements depress me. A long time ago, I read about a Soho loft renovation being done by a couple whose previous designer had talked them into building a tower in the loft with a darkroom underneath and a bed on top that was accessible by ladder. They even called it "the concept." Five years later they had it demolished.

I'd like to know how those living in this featured space feel about the catwalk and lack of first floor access after a few years.

I HATE living alone. I live in Manhattan and had my own apartment and I cycled from enjoying the freedom, to wanting to share my life and space with someone to total despair when relationships didn't work out and I continued to come home to my highly desirable East Village apartment by myself. I kept trying to convince myself it was so great, but I wanted to relax with someone around, not always have to go out for company I finally moved in a significant other and love having someone to come home to. I would never live by myself again if I had a choice.

Totally understandable about ease of use. I was just wondering if the notion that the carriages can't be used for their intended purpose comes from their now being considered unsafe or made of toxic materials.

I wish it were a requirement of a before-and-after post that there must be pictures from the same vantage point before and after.

I suspect one of the reasons we're not being shown a whole "after" shot and instead artfully cropped vignettes is that perhaps this doesn't come together as triumphantly as hoped.

I posted my own pictures a while ago on AT and I was hurt and felt embarrassed by negative comments. Many people have the admirable notion that you should always say something nice. But at the same time, sometimes one does have a quibble or an opinion.

Unless there is some genius HVAC going on here that should be mentioned, this is going to conduct cold like crazy. While I am a huge fan of eliminating clutter and opening up spaces, I've seen more than one minimalist abode where every drawer and closet was stuffed beyond use and sight because there was no place to put things!

AT, can we have some post dedicated to a discussion of what defines cozy, or, can people consider banning it altogether as a word that has no intrinsic meaning?

I have to agree that this doesn't rate as a makeover. I do think "re-styling" could make a great new AT category, restyling can transform a room and solve problems and deserves consideration as its own thing.

Love the pictures, but I've got an increasing bone to pick, if that makes sense, about the way we sling around the word "cozy." I quite liked everything I see here, that's not the problem, I'm just feeling as if I see certain words pop up that don't describe the space and feel like mindless verbiage for someone trying to tone up a post.

Yeah, this $102 headline really bothers me. The bed, bedding, lamps (the before picture had wooden bases) are new, and this did not cost $102. It's not honest.

Basu=my hero!

I still maintain that going the route of proposing doing significant work on a rental unit to a landlord is dicey business.

I see Dewey's point about tossing money away, but there's thousands of dollars of difference and years of saving between buying a home and a modest investment to make your rental nice, especially if you're planning on staying a few years. For me, putting a wooden floor over nasty rental carpeting would save me thousands in talk therapy.

Unfortunately, it looks as if the photograph hasn't been color corrected for the lighting (the white walls have a yellow tinge) so it's hard to get a real sense of this color.

Having said that, exploring alternate yet still dramatic takes on the black wall trend is a thumbs up!