Hell’s Kitchen (and Living Room)

This small, 1-Bedroom apartment, owned by a couple in the Musical Theater Industry, is located on the top floor of a nearly 100-year old tenement-style building.

Characterized by high, but steeply sloped ceilings, sagging floors and uneven walls, the Owners asked Daedalus Workshop to provide design ideas that would make the apartment visually cleaner and solve their growing storage problems without the expense and invasive work of a gut renovation.

A collection of loose, mis-matched shelving and cabinets were first removed from the Living Room, and a flat, slightly lowered ceiling with recessed lighting was built. New custom cabinets were then designed to unify the apartment while increasing storage and display space.

Project Team: Richard Lucas; Lydia Kiehborth
                       Millwork: Better Glass and Woodwork

A 15' long, full-height wall unit contains a massive collection of CD's, DVD's, videotapes, songbooks and other Musical Theater memorabilia, as well as a variety of audio and visual components. It also includes a hanging clothes closet with drawers and a mini-bar with a liquor display riser, wine glass and utensil storage, a wine refrigerator, and additional space for 18 bottles of wine.

Integrated into the wall unit is an 8' long, 15" high base cabinet that doubles as a bench for the many gatherings that the couple hosts throughout the year. Another base cabinet with a countertop/bench seat runs the 12' width along the window wall of the apartment.

A continuous band of upper cabinets with a projecting ladder rail and display shelf accentuates the high ceiling, provides a datum line that unifies the overall space, and houses wiring for accent lighting over the mini-bar and new, matching island cabinet and bar counter.

Suspended track lighting and a programmable LED cove-light system were installed to accent the Owner's art collection and create a more theatrical setting for parties and celebrations.

As the Living Room work progressed, the Owners chose to renovate the Kitchen, Dining area, Bathroom and Office/Studio as well. Currently, the Kitchen and Dining area work is underway, carrying through the same design concepts and general theme of the Living Room. The Owners plan to continue the renovation work on the Bathroom and Office/Studio in the near future.