Home Restoration

Home Restoration Audra Lowe: Home renovating projects can be a pretty daunting but in Ingrid Abramovitch has a new book “Restoring a House in the City” you will find a lot of information, advice and inspiration. We met up with the design expert at a fabulous brown stone in Brooklyn where she takes us through part of a 20-year restoration journey. Ingrid Abramovitch: We’re in Peter Pan Street in Brooklyn Heights in New York City and this is a brown stone from 1860’s. It belongs to Catherine Scott. She’s an interior designer who bought two floors of this house when she was in her 20’s. This house had been renovated a lot over the year so a lot of the period detail is missing. She had a romantic vision of returning it to what it would have look like in the 19th century. Audra Lowe: This brown stone is just one of the homes profiled in Ingrid’s new book, “Restoring a House in the City” which is a wonderful guide to renovating in great style. Ingrid Abramovitch: Detail can really make a house and one detail that I love is right at the front entrance. I want to show it to you. So, this bell looks like it’s been here for 150 years when the house was built but actually Catherine founded it an antique store and saved it for years until she was able to find somebody who could attach it to the entrance of her house and now, it looks like you would hold these knobs and some huge chime would ring inside the house but actually it’s incredibly modern. It’s totally wired. This is the front parlor of the house and one of the things about restoring an old house is you only have to be like a detective. If there had been changes over the years and you’re trying to put it back. Try to figure out what it would have looked like originally in the 19th century. Audra Lowe: The kitchen was moved out from the gardening level where it would have been a servant’s kitchen. Ingrid Abramovitch: Her family gave her tons of heirloom in China. It’s old plate gorgeously in these cabinets and they’re very tall. The ceiling I think is 15 feet high and she reaches the top, using this library ladder. It’s both practical and gorgeous. Audra Lowe: When Catherine originally bought two floors of this house in her 20’s, she really couldn’t afford to splurge on interior design at that time. Ingrid Abramovitch: She would come up with ways to have beautiful effects for below budget that she had left after she bought the house. One of the things she loves is silk wall coverings and she said, “I wish I have a bedroom that was covered with silk but I don’t have the money.” So, instead, she came up with striae paint effect that’s basically used as a comb and combs the paint. It’s actually really easy to do and it does really look like silk until you touch it you realize it’s just paint. Audra Lowe: She discovered some great ideas from homes on Newport, Rhode Island. Ingrid Abramovitch: One of the things she saw there, hidden doors. So, where’s the closet in this room? It’s hidden inside the wall. Well, you come into a house like this, it looks gorgeous. It’s daunting but in fact most of the homeowners in my book did not do any false wood. Audra Lowe: In fact this house is taken close to 20 years to renovate and it’s not quite done yet. Ingrid Abramovitch: Would anybody just do who wants to renovate an old house, you have to start well. You have to start with the least sexy things. Unfortunately the plumbing, the electrical, the roof, and put your money there, you know, you can paint beautiful colors but you have to have solid foundation. Audra Lowe: After that Ingrid says you can start to tackle your favorite rooms one by one. Audra Lowe: And “Restoring a House in the City” is published by Artisan and it’s available in bookstores now.