West Chin Helps West Side Homeowner Design Dream Home

Source: West Chin Helps West Side Homeowner Design Dream Home

When precipitation turns from snow to rain and trees go from flowerless to budding, nature undergoes a timeless but wondrous transformation. It’s nature’s way of cleaning up after the necessary but sad brown mud of an otherwise beautiful season, but we’re all glad it’s passing. So why stop at spring cleaning our homes when we can clear away the symbolic mud to add some zest and pep to our homes with a little more effort?

So skip your post-payday weekend trip to TGIF (Thank God It’s Friday, Restaurant) and tune in to the first episode of TGIHAD (Thank God I Hired a Designer) as triathlete homeowner Adrian West Chin – founder of West Chin Architect, SpacesTV and us – welcome – the A-lister guests – in his Manhattan apartment.

Adrian first recounts how he purposely searched for an apartment that had a friendly structure and skeletons but needed a facelift. He has more than succeeded in acquiring his estate. With high hopes and confidence, Adrian West invites Chin to the beautiful Upper West Side to give his home an equally beautiful presence and bright future.

However, Chin does admit that upon entering the apartment, not only was it dated or in need of an extra coat of paint, but it also needed renovation… and that was probably 40-50 years ago. Chin can think of one word to describe the overwhelming atmosphere: “nostalgia”.

But that terse description will be tested, and we have to wonder if there will be cause for celebration when Adrian has to deny or admit, “Thank god I hired a designer!”

So how can “a house that needs major renovations.” and a place “that your grandmother probably wouldn’t want to live in.” as Adrian and Chin, respectively, see it becoming a masterpiece?

The key is not to get rid of all the signs of the previous apartment, but to modernize it. By using some of the old features and replicating “…cool, sexy, and clean, but still modern and warm like the Upper West Side.” The challenge is accepted.

West Chin brings up a common and recognized point of frustration among New York City residents, namely the perception of a lack of space for “all the functional purposes of a family.”

But every design problem has a design solution, which can actually be a design feature, as Adrian notes with his appreciative fascination with the stereo and its intuitive storage solution. As a music lover and addict, I agree!

Through the use of curved ceilings, window sills and other structural and framing aspects of spaces, Chin discovers innovative ways to combine storage, heating and seating arrangements to create harmony and visual appeal.

One aspect of the updated dining area that Adrian really connects with is the curved ceiling. For him, it brings back fond memories of childhood and a pastime and sport that is gaining more and more recognition and athleticism: Skateboarding!

The sleek lines of the Boston piano are just another example of great compatibility with Adrian’s visualization of an entertainment hub and area to gather around; a working wood fireplace to sit in. Both devote a strong portion to the relaxation component. And every family, whether country mouse or city mouse, needs some rest.

Chin restores how well balanced the living spaces are and that by hiding the necessary amenities with intentionally placed decor and design, they have become “…an architectural statement rather than a functional one”.

And yet, not only through Adrian and Chin’s eyes, but also through what the camera captures, we see that this place is very functional indeed. The finely detailed stainless lighting, the hopeful plant life, the rounded tops of the chairs, the throw over the sofa are all aesthetically pleasing, but they are all fragments of the bigger picture of not just living in a space, but loving the space in which They live in.

We all spend money, but Chin gives us food for thought when he says, “The worst thing a client can do is take a lot of money, spend it on an apartment, move in and be like, ‘Oh, me wish I had hired an architect to help me through this process because I don’t like living here now.’ ”

So, in conclusion, what does Adrian have to say about this whole process? He hired a designer. Figuratively speaking, he handed over the keys. From collaborating on ideas and time to the money he’s invested, Adrian says goodbye to the SpacesTV crew with a smile on his face and a profound, “Thank god I hired a designer.”

Via: toplistreviewstoday.com

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