Like a butterfly hatched from a chrysalis
Like a butterfly hatching from a chrysalis... this somewhat sad apartment has metamorphosed into a sunny cocoon!
Located rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, this small 3-room apartment had been renovated a few years earlier by a promoter to make it a pleasant but pretty basic apartment for short-term rentals as we see so many flourishing at the moment.
The current owners had moved there first without doing any work... but very quickly, the low ceiling, the lack of light (the apartment is on the first floor, no windows in the kitchen or in the bathroom) and especially a narrow and not very functional kitchen turned out to be serious handicaps!
A large load-bearing wall separated the main rooms from the wet rooms and a single bay in it allowed access to it.
Hence a loss of space at the entrance to the kitchen / bathroom area.
The plan of the apartment before works
I'm not a fan of touching a bearing wall for reasons that aren't really worth it. This is not insignificant and is expensive! But when it makes it possible to considerably improve the circulation, the functionality of a good, it can be justified.
This was the case here.
The decision toopening a bay in this big wall was not taken lightly. As we were on the first floor (and therefore with a certain number of floors above us), as this building had already had many structural problems in the past, as the co-owners were very sensitive on the subject, opening the wall carrier was not the first option.
Other solutions were first sought. But after making several sketches, it was clear that the opening in the load-bearing wall allowed the only truly effective solution for create a "real" kitchen, maintaining a proper bathroom.
It was enough to give a well-supported file to the syndic, to the architect of the building and to wait for the AG.
The development plan
During this waiting time, the study continued and the estimates were made...
Then 2 months after the co-ownership agreement...
Work can begin!
Installation of protections, removal of cupboards and sanitary appliances, demolition of partitions.
We found that there were very large differences in ground levels between the 3 rooms; about 3,8 cm between bedroom 1 and the living room and 2,8 cm between the living room and bedroom 2, i.e. more than 6 cm drop from one end to the other!
In bedroom 1, the parquet had been laid on a patch made on floor tiles, laid on rubble. In the living room and bedroom 2, the parquet before was laid on CTBX panels laid on small joists. A job done in a hurry and not very satisfactory.
Regarding the false ceilings, it was found that they held on to the partitions and during the demolition of these, they collapsed in several places. Some big differences in levels were also noted between the false ceilings of the different rooms.
It was therefore decided with the customers to remove everything and start from scratch.
Once the stripping was done, we were able to take all the ribs more precisely because as always we were to the nearest cm!
The opening of the load-bearing wall could be carried out, but another bad news awaited us!
As the installation of the new false ceiling was begun, the workers noticed that the plaster of the "real" ceiling did not hold well in the center of the living room. Only solution ; clear it as much as possible to find out the reason. And this was quickly seen; the beams were indeed in rather poor condition and it was necessary to reinforce them before finishing the false ceiling.
And then, the work continued... despite the problems with the adjoining "cardboard" partition, the water supply for neighbors who passed through the apartment, the difficulties in finding a conduit that would allow the VMC to be created and so the numerous meetings with the architects of the building whose requirements were followed to the letter, the workers were able to follow one another over the days and weeks; electricians, plumbers, tilers, painters, parquet workers...
... while the carpenters worked in the workshop to manufacture the many custom-made furniture ; large sliding doors, cupboards, folding bed, kitchen furniture, vanity unit...
Headboard panel in the bedroom in sunny yellow leather from "Cuir au Carré"
Sunny yellow niches and the interiors of the wardrobes were lit by LED strips. Good general lighting has been achieved thanks to many spots (Orbit Lighting) mainly oriented towards customers' paintings to enhance them.
The choice fell on several models of semi-recessed spotlights because of the very low height left above the false ceiling so as not to accentuate the low height under the ceiling.
The main color was pure white, with a few touches of light gray (tiles and kitchen worktop) and bright yellow chosen by the customers and which brings a sunny note to the apartment. The materials also play their part, light oak, lacquer for the front cupboards, leather for the headboard and porcelain stoneware).
A little over 5 months of work will have allowed the metamorphosis of the chrysalis - sorry for the apartment!
The photos of realization are visible here !
A video retracing the construction site will also be available soon!
So see you soon !
