Top O'The Town (117)First, visit New York City, where Margaret and Michael Keppler found a penthouse that needed significant renovations since no work had been done on it in 60 years. The Kepplers hired an architect and an interior designer simultaneously to bring their new family dream home to life.
Then it's on to Cleveland, Ohio, where Joe Tegreene bought a townhouse-style condominium downtown, where he could enjoy his busy single life. Tegreene combines eclectic furniture, bright color choices, and memorabilia from his childhood to create an environment that suits him perfectly.
Next, meet Paul Watson, who gutted his 11th floor unit in Long Beach, Calif., to create a spacious (1,600-square-foot) one-bedroom apartment. Watson believes in using all the space available, and he's filled it with antiques, reproductions and heirlooms that have been a part of his life since childhood.
Finally, it's back to New York, where Noel Jeffrey and his wife found a home that appealed more to the interior designer in Noel. The place was a wreck, but Noel saw its potential. Using an eclectic mix of furniture and artwork from different periods, he produced a relaxed atmosphere in the home. Despite his job as an interior designer, Noel doesn't like to redo his work entirely, so he used a style that would allow the rooms to evolve and included elements that were easy to remove and replace.
Penthouse Suite Facts:
- The average cost of an apartment in Manhattan is $825,000; the average cost for a 6-or 7-room apartment on park avenue is $1.8 million
- Limestone typically costs about $5 to $12 per square foot.
- Rice paper is used in Japanese shoji screens, which are used to divide interior spaces.
- The rich, reddish-brown color of cherry wood darkens with age and exposure to sunlight.
Resources:
Shoji: How to Design, Build, and Install Japanese Screens
by Jay Van Arsdale
Manhattan Condo Book
by Yale Robbins Inc.
The Grownup's Guide to Living with Kids in Manhattan
by Diane Chernoff-Rosen, Lisa Levinson
Downtown Condo Facts:
- The color in a room can change its perceived size.
- Paint colors look different depending on the light. Before you buy a lot of paint, you can test colors by painting small sections in differently lit areas to see how they'll look.
- If you're buying new kitchen cabinets, look for the seal of the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Assn. (KCMA).
- The average cost of a home in Cleveland is $165,000.
Resources:
Interiors in Color: An Inspirational Guidebook for Color at Home
The Cleveland Area Board of Realtors
www.cabor.com
The Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association
www.kcma.org
Long Beach Apartment Facts:
- An all-white look can make a room seem like it's "floating." Add darker items to "ground" the room.
- People were smaller 250 years ago, so reproduction furniture is made 10% larger to fit modern folks.
- An authentic 18th-century British armchair can cost as much as $14,000.
- A Chippendale-style canopy bed typically costs between $3,000 and $4,000.
Resources"
Making Classic Chairs : A Craftsman's Chippendale Reference
by Ron Clarkson, Leigh Keno
Society of American Period Furniture Makers
www.sapfm.org
The Furniture Society
www.furnituresociety.org
Manhattan Apartment Facts:
- Based on Neo-Classical styles, the Art Deco style uses exotic motifs arranged in geometric patterns.
- Birds-eye maple should be given a high polish; good finishes are clear oil and wax.
- Faux painting involves such techniques as color washing, ragging, sponging, dragging, and bagging.
Resources:
Art Deco Interiors : Decoration and Design Classics of the 1920s and 1930s
by Patricia Bayer
Decorative Paint and Faux Finishes
by Linda J. Selden andCarol Spier
The Art Deco Society of New York
www.artdeco.org
