switching it up
Back in 2022, we were wrapping up our home renovation. In the final months, when I really needed to sweat the small stuff and put the finishing touches on, we had just given birth to a beautiful baby boy and were temporarily living in a tiny, dark apartment.
Our trust in our contractor was declining; we were running out of money and needed to complete everything quickly to return to that house.
There's a lot more I wish we could have done - this is always the case in every project.
My buddy's dad used to say, "You do the best you can in every situation with the resources you have and the time you have to do it."
I can confidently say we did our best with what we had.
But of course, I have been chipping away at everything else I wish I had done since. There is still a lot of work to be done in the basement.
We need to refinish about 800 square feet of concrete floors and I can't stop thinking about the floors in the hallway and lobby of Chateau Marmont, my aesthetic 100.
Looks like the original base layer of terra cotta cotto tiles was skim-coated with black concrete and then heavily gloss-varnished.
Chateau Marmont - via their Instagram
The gloss black with a dark baseboard is so sharp.
The floors are the next step. We've been changing out the light switches everywhere else.
As we've been doing more videos of the rooms, I noticed the plastic switches were coming out looking really poorly in the video edits.
We are swapping them all for these brass switches in partnership with Residence Supply.
It's shocking the difference something like this makes. Same thing with door knobs.
My wife commented on it immediately. Sometimes, the smallest hardware changes have an outsized impact on a space.
If I were flipping a house, even at a very low pricepoint, I'd do this. It just immediately raises the perception of the room.
minimum viable design & strip mall restaurants
Last night, I took my wife to an authentic Sicilian restaurant she wanted to visit. It was so good!
All the food is completely homemade, and they use eggplant that's been roasted until silky in many of their dishes. Pristine cuisine.
But I will say the vibe was very underwhelming. The cafeteria setup and lighting were too bright, kinda cheesy decor. I wanted to step in.
My wife and I have noticed a paradox - we are often underwhelmed with food at very fancy, "cool" beautiful places. Whereas the ethnic hole in the wall often blows you out of the water with food but pays no attention to the environment.
There was another Lebanese place we went to a couple of months ago. That was easily among the best 3 meals I've ever eaten in my life. We still talk about it.
But the restaurant space itself was hilariously off. The vibe was as if you were sitting in the middle of an old Kmart.
The contrast between the food and the environment could not have been starker.
Both times, it begs the question - if these people asked for some help, and probably did not have a big budget, what would you tell them to do?
What is the minimum viable design where they could get the most bang without a lot of bucks?
I made this video a couple of weeks ago about design for new construction homes and how if you don't want to make renovations, you should think like an event company - there are 3 things at your disposal: Lights/lamps, plants/florals & statement pieces.
The biggest problem in both restaurants I've mentioned is lighting. You just lower the lighting. Candles on the tables. Game changer - a huge difference.
Large plants are another one that would make a tremendous difference.
Maybe even fake ones (December's Arch Digest cover girl - a successful founder & NYC aristocrat married to a billionaire, has a fake tree in her Jackson Hole home):
If you look at the photo, the room is fantastic, but that fake tree makes it.
Lauren Santo Domingo home for Architectural Digest. Text: Derek Blasbeg / Photo: Adrian Gaut / Styling: Colin King
If it's good enough for Lauren Santo Domingo, it's good enough for strip mall restaurants searching for a vibe.
Finally, statement pieces. In every room, you need to figure out what the main thing is. What are we looking at? Same with a restaurant. Do we have a good chandelier(s)? Do we have things on the walls?
If there is not something to look at, create something to look at.
It really depends on the space, but if you think about a wedding reception or party, there are tables with beautiful things to look at. These tables are often oriented to break up empty spaces and create focal points.
What is the version of the champagne tower that mom-and-pop restaurants could scatter throughout their space?
Perhaps a stack of San Marzano Tomatoes? It wouldn't hurt.
And I might throw in some brass light switches.
