New York Magazine – July 22, 2019

44 new york | july 22–august 4, 2019

bets: low-lift renovations

Stick a Noguchi-style

lantern over

dumpy fixtures

36-inch paper lantern, $28

Use with a porcelain

socket or white-cord kit.

Works great over the

dining table or in the

bedroom. —l.f.

Sub in a

non-hideous faucet

Jacuzzi Duncan faucet, $89

It’s not a pricey thing—

just make sure all the rest

of your fixtures match.

—nye basham, designer

Hardware-store

pegboards make

cheap key holders

43-piece pegboard, $37

Hang a pegboard for

organization. They’re cool.

—emily wissemann,

architecture student

Simulate original

plaster molding

Ekena Millwork

medallion, $30

After replacing existing

fixtures, add a ceiling

medallion. It draws the eye

up. —molly torres,

homepolish designer

Hide bad floors

(or carpet) with

a huge sisal rug

Safavieh area rug, $60

Throw one of these

on top to create room

separation—or layer

under Moroccan rugs.

—leanne ford, designer

Switch out floor grilles

for a cohesive effect

Cast-iron floor register, $38

Cleaning up details you

don’t think get noticed but

the eye takes in—like floor

grilles—elevates a space.

—nicole powell,

co-founder

of we three design

31 Upgrades

for Under $100

People with excellent taste on the

$7 backsplash panels, DIY Donald Judd

tables, and black toilet seats they use to

make a drab apartment look like a

charming prewar or a perfectly sparse loft.

Change unsightly

cords to fabric ones

Cloth-covered wire, $2

Even expensive lamp cords

tend to be quite ugly. An

inexpensive solution is to

swap in fabric cords. I like

them in a classic brown or

black, but a color can give a

room a pop of fun. —n.b.

Replace your

Home Depot

boob lamp with

a mint-green

socket and

oversize bulb

Commune

socket, $45;

chrome bulb, $12

The simplicity of

the classic white

porcelain style but

in a fiesta version.

Screw in a chrome-

tipped bulb

and you’re done.

—david netto,

designer

Life is too short to

spend time digging

through cabinets and

deep stacks looking for

the pan you need. I get

tons of compliments

on this Cuisinart rack.

It’s easy to install ( just

three screws—make

sure you find the

studs) and doesn’t take

up a ton of wall space.

—taryn williford,

apartment

therapy editor

You may have the

dreaded orangey-

grained ’90s oak

kitchen cabinets.

If your landlord is cool

with it, paint them

with a cabinet kit.

It takes a few days for

the de-glosser, primer,

paint, and clear

topper to dry, but it’s

quite transformative.

—daniel king,

co-owner

of home union

... And install

a pot rack

with three

screws

Cuisinart half-circle

pot rack, $34

Do cabinets

over in

matte-white

paint ...

Rust-Oleum cabinet-

coating kit, $80

Get non-dorm-room

over-the-door hooks

Vinyl-coated hook, $12 for 10

McMaster-Carr has

stand-alone hardware

that’s quite handsome when

used in the right way.

—shengning zhang,

furniture designer

Turn carpet foam into

Sottsass-esque cushions

Foam carpet padding, $0.25/square foot

I came across this in the

hardware store. It kind of resembles

a granite or terrazzo look.

Top a layer of it on a plywood bench.

—alex proba, founder

of studio proba

PHOTOGRAPHS: OPTIMARC/SHUTTERSTOCK (PEGBOARD); CLEMENS KOIS, COURTESY OF JONAH TAKAGI (CARPET FOAM); COLOR CORD COMPANY (CLOTH-COVERED WIRE); COURTESY DONALD JUDD FURNITURE (DONALD JUDD); JORDAN SLOCUM AND BARRY BORDELON, THE BROWNSTONE BOYS (WAINSCOTING); COURTESY OF VENDORS (REMAINING)

Visit thestrategist.com for details on where to buy it all.

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