1. Kitchen (Before and After)                                   2.

Welcome back!

It’s 2012 and we’re having an exciting (and busy!) year. So excited that we’re introducing our new before and after series, where we showcase and highlight our past and present renovation projects.

First up in our series, we transformed a one-bedroom apartment for a client in Brooklyn Heights…Tuscany style! The space featured a large roof terrace, an in-block garden, and scenic views of the historic neighborhood. Our client, inspired by his current and past travels, wanted to convert his apartment into a Tuscany and Mediterranean style sanctuary. He also lives and travels between Brooklyn and Mexico City, so we worked closely with the client’s daughter during the course of this renovation.

One concern for our client was to improve the bedroom, as he felt it was small and slightly claustrophobic (see pre photos 5-8). We paid close attention to the space and carved a niche into the bedroom wall, which extends it to the living room (see post photo 12). Separate shelves were created around the niche, which matches the picture line. Additionally the bedroom door was used as a table for the roof terrace.

Wood restoring is crucial in this decorative style, so we convinced the client by enhancing the wood floor for a fraction of the cost it would take to re-install an entire new and modernize floor. In the kitchen (post photos 2-4), we placed a sleek terra cotta tiled floor furnished by Nemo Tile,  incorporated some custom ceramic cabinet knobs acquired from the client’s travels, and installed an antique mural behind the stove. All of the kitchen hardware was furnished by Gracious Home. Converting the bathroom proved to be a fruitful experience as it received a complete makeover, which included new fixtures from Simon’s Hardware, floor tiles from Porcelanosa, and durango limestone mosaic wall tiles, also from Nemo Tile.

3. Kitchen (After)                                                      4.

5. Bedroom Wall (Bed location) (Before)      6. Bedroom Showing Entry To Living Room (Before)

7. Entry to Bedroom (After)                                                                      8. Bedroom (After) 

The spatial details and a touch of sophistication surrounding our client’s apartment inspired us to replicate a Tuscany style villa that is quite unseen within interior spaces in New York City. Pleased with our service, we’ll let our client’s testimonial speak on its own terms:

A Design Team in the “Dream Factory” Business.

 “I could not have been more pleased with A Shoucair Design + East Block Studios’ aesthetic choices, both structural and material, to fulfill my design concept for a Mediterranean apartment in Brownstone Brooklyn.   Whether the choice of tiles for the Tuscan farm kitchen or Roman 13ft bathroom….the assembly and placement of a Portuguese kitchen mural...the idea to build out a cozy, terrace-facing bedroom with an open alcove that became an art wall on the living room side….or their close work with my Contractor and suppliers (many their own suppliers at professional discount), Peta-Gaye and Angelika were always there for me.   I recommend them highly as a complementary team, each with their own area of expertise but a complete design solution when working together.   For those of us coming from Europe or seeking a European “look” that is both conceptual and liveable, ASD+EBS is the perfect partner.”

Even the client’s daughter commented on the apartment’s makeover:

“I recently had the pleasure of working closely with Peta-Gaye and Angelika…each brought to the table an expertise that proved to be invaluable. The outcome is not just a beautiful apartment, but a beautiful home...it feels like the apartment he had in Paris, a space that was a personal getaway for him.”

9. Entry From Bedroom to Living Room (After)                                      10.  Living Room (After)  

11. Dining Room  (After)                                         12. Living Room Wall  (After)

13. Kitchen looking into living room (Before)                                        14. (After)

For A Shoucair Design and East Block Studios, we feel the phrase “personal getaway,” is important and a wonderful way to describe a key element in our design process: to listen and relate to the concerns and personal aesthetic from our clients without strict imposition and interpreting the language of an interior space.

Stay tuned for part 2 in our Before and After renovation series