Starting with the #startercondo

To kick off our blog, we're looking back at our very first project, an 800 square foot condo that was purchased as a foreclosure. The #startercondo was one of four units in a brick building that was originally constructed as a single family in 1917. At some point in the 90s, the owners divided the house into four condos—one for each of the family members. As a result, the condo had a very choppy, railroad style-layout with one room leading into the next, requiring one to walk through the bedrooms in order to get to the kitchen.

One of our favorite spaces we created was the small entry area. We used a round brass mirror to make the space feel larger and added a small wood shelf as a landing zone for mail and keys. For paint, we used Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee for the walls and Benjamin Moore Chelsea Gray cut at 75% for contrasting trim and doors. We love how using a contrasting color for the trim paint gives a space a sophisticated, European feel.

We kept the color scheme cohesive with gray kitchen cabinets and a simple white subway tile backsplash. We also incorporated open shelving to add storage but keep the kitchen feeling light and airy. A brass faucet and cabinet pulls added warmth to the space.

We reconfigured the bathroom entrance so that it wasn't directly off the kitchen, creating a small laundry room in the process. The bathroom featured retro black and white flower hexagon tile for the floors and white subway tile for the shower walls.

Although this flip took the longest of all our projects to date and many mistakes were made along the way, it was actually our most successful on paper. The design was very simple, but we love the classic, timeless feel. This project was the one that started it all and gave us the renovation bug!