Before and After: A Buzzfeed Founder's Renovated Rowhouse, Budget Edition - Remodelista
When Peggy Wang the first employee at Buzzfeed she s now the editorial director of Buzzfeed Life was mid apartment search in New York City she... Photography courtesy of White Arrow. ...found herself at a crossroads familiar to many New Yorkers Go for the trendy condo in Williamsburg or head to the new Brooklyn Queens for more space Richter and Wang (who is also a sometime musician, formerly in an indie pop band called the Pains of Being Pure at Heart) collaborated closely on the renovation. To modernize and maximize light they removed interior walls tore up the flooring and bleached the existing subfloors a cost saving... ...measure replaced the interior doors with salvaged French and frosted glass doors and painted the walls in Benjamin Moore s Cloud White In the dining room black chairs and a muted side table Richter and Wang also sourced interior doors and doorknobs from eBay and... ...salvage shops including a famous Brooklyn stop Eddie Hibbert s salvage then painted the doors in Benjamin Moore s satin paint in Onyx Paint Subtle color: A vintage credenza turns modern thanks to paint—shades of pale pink and gray from Farrow & Ball. The colorful living room is just off of the open kitchen on the shelves is a collection of paperbacks... ...sorted according to color Indigo pillows on the Meritalia canvas couch an AptDeco find connect living room to kitchen The small kitchen feels light and open, thanks to dark lower cabinets and, above, white walls with a single floating shelf. In the Shaker-style kitchen, the cabinets and island are Ikea, refaced with Scherr’s custom fronts and painted in Farrow & Ball’s Hague Blue; the matching larder is also from Scherr’s. A case study of high/low design: Wang’s kitchen features Ikea base cabinets done over in Farrow & Ball. A few sleuthing tips for finding high-end appliances online: “Out-of-state items don’t incur tax if you pay online,” Richter says—she found the unused Bertazzoni oven and hood via a New Jersey showroom. “We love a mix of old with new,” Richter says. The blue and white motif continues into the ceramics. In the master bedroom Richter and company reconfigured an existing skylight to bring in maximum sunlight The bedroom is more neutral than the... ...rest of the house a black and white Ikea rug unfinished Shaker nightstands and African mud cloth and shibori pillows by White Arrow In the serene bedroom: a Muji Ash Bed and 1970s plywood side chair, another eBay find. On the Paul McCobb dresser: ceramic planters from Etsy. The blue motif continues in the bathroom We love the intense pigmentation of Farrow Ball so we splurged Richter says... ...the bathroom is painted in Stiffkey Blue The vintage pharmacy style vanity and chrome trashcan are both from Restoration Hardware The subway tile continues into the shower. Not pictured: the Toto toilet. A bright entryway connects Wang’s top-floor apartment to the rental apartment below. Up to the light-filled apartment. The rental unit keeps the same design language as Wang s apartment Richter says with white cabinets in the kitchen rather... ...than blue Unlike Wang s own kitchen the rental kitchen features butcher block countertops and upper cabinets that hide the original chimney In the entryway, a trifecta of dated design: carpeted stairs, stuffy wallpaper, and brown linoleum. The dark kitchen, plagued by linoleum and a fridge that blocked the only window. The rental kitchen, before. A spiral staircase to connect to the large garden—another Ridgewood perk.