New York Magazine – July 22, 2019

46 new york | july 22–august 4, 2019

bets: low-lift renovations

Stain your faded

grout a deep black

Grout Refresh, $20

If you can’t get rid of sad,

grayish grout, stain it black

or a dark shade to make

the grout color look

modern and sharp. —m.t.

Cover drab

backsplashes

with sticker

decals

Smart Tiles panels, $7

Short of renovating,

not much is

going to fix an ugly

backsplash—but

peel-and-stick tiles

can hide it. I’ve

seen these up close,

and they’re a lot

more convincing

than you’d think.

If your tiles are

a standard size, you

can also find the type

that cover each

individual tile with

a separate sticker

(so you still see the

grout lines), but

they’re a little less

forgiving to install.

—t.w.

Use raw glass to make

a room feel gigantic

DIY floor mirror,

$6/square foot

Get a large piece of glass

from Sam the Glazier in

Bushwick (or any other

glazier). They’ll sand down

the edges for you. —e.w.

Pour bulk Mrs.

Meyer’s soap into

glass dispensers

Soap dispenser, $15

They’re sleek—and good

for the environment.

—kyla burney, owner,

adaptations ny

Upgrade drawers

with Lucite handles

Acrylic handle, from $8

They look particularly

great against a lacquered

white finish—more on

living-room furniture than

in the kitchen. —patricia

voto, designer

at gabriela hearst

Fake a concrete wall

SureCrete SureTex Knockdown overlay,

$36; white color additive, $4

Mix a white color additive into water

( just a little), then stir that into the

concrete overlay until it’s a pancake-

batter consistency. Use a drywall

knife to spread the mixture over the

wall, starting from the bottom

and pulling it straight up. Finish with

concrete sealer. —l.f.

Make a bedside table out of a bucket of cement

Home Depot five-gallon bucket, $4; Sakrete gray concrete mix, $4;

Rubbermaid hardwood broom handle, $9

Pour cement into a bucket, filling it about a third of the way.

Then take a wooden broomstick, cut it in thirds, and arrange “legs”

into the cement. —amy harlow, owner of wagwear

Swap outdated

handles for matte-

black doorknobs

Schlage Bowery knob, $21

Doorknobs in rentals can

be hideous. Sub in a

matte-black set with just

a screwdriver in about

five minutes. —fiona

byrne, designer

Or just go with space-

enhancing linen curtains

West Elm linen curtains, from $99

Remove window blinds and add floor-

to-ceiling-height curtains to expand

your visual space. —ana claudia

schultz, designer at homepolish

Install bamboo

blinds for neutral texture

Matchstick blinds, $18

There is something charmingly

low-tech about these—especially in

a bathroom or kitchen window.

—kelly behun, designer

PHOTOGRAPHS: DUNTRUNE STUDIOS/SHUTTERSTOCK (GROUT); MEMPHISKANSASGIRL123/EBAY (LUCITE PULLS); MIRRORCOOPERATIVE/ETSY (MIRROR); AMY HARLOW (CONCRETE SIDE TABLE); TAPHAT WANGSEREEKUL/SHUTTERSTOCK (BLINDS); ALEXANDRA RIBAR (CONCRETE WALL); COURTESY OF VENDORS (REMAINING)