<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" VIEW MORE PHOTOS      Like the subject of an episode of What Not to Wear, this tiny New York co-op needed a style makeover. First, the entry was cramped and confining: As you walked in the door, a wall straight ahead blocked sight lines. To the left, another wall, angled across the floor, housed an ill-planned closet. The dining room&amp;#039;s mirrored walls created the dizzying effect of a carnival ride. And the ceiling fixture suffered from what was described as &amp;quot;enthusiastic bad taste.&amp;quot; But the building had good bones. Starting life in 1929 as office space, it was converted to residential housing during an era of superficial veneers. &amp;quot;Everything was artificial back then,&amp;quot; says homeowner Marianita Meyer. So in 2001, when she moved into the co-op with her husband, Robert Spragg, she started updating with paint. It soon became apparent, however, that color wasn&amp;#039;t enough to open up the spaces, and bigger changes were in order. The painters on the job recommended Clare Donohue, a kitchen and bath designer with a flair for carving more out of less. All it took was for Robert to say, &amp;quot;You&amp;#039;re in charge,&amp;quot; and Marianita made her move.      Sharing her ideas with Donohue came easy. &amp;quot;We have the same sensibilities,&amp;quot; Marianita says. But the little buttoned-down, black-and-white kitchen she initially envisioned changed when she came across an eggplant-colored commercial-style range. That was the jumping-off point Donohue needed to establish the kitchen&amp;#039;s jazzy plum-and-green color scheme. To that she added a custom-made copper sink, oil-rubbed bronze faucet and cabinet pulls, and a pale-green-glass tile backsplash accented with a border of eggplant and pale lilac tiles. &amp;quot;The mix of materials blends so well,&amp;quot; says Donohue. Choosing a look was one issue, redirecting the traffic flow was another. Instead of walking through the dining room to get to the kitchen, Donohue closed off that route with a half-wall, then carved a doorway from the front hallway, thus creating a view into the kitchen. Raising the ceilings to 11 feet resulted in a more open ambience, plus it created more vertical storage space. Another challenge Donohue faced was finding a design that integrated the couple&amp;#039;s Mission-style furniture with the remodel. The large, chunky pieces were darker than where the kitchen was heading. &amp;quot;But you have to make things work,&amp;quot; Donohue says. &amp;quot;So we took the Mission style and moved it toward modern with white Shaker cabinets.&amp;quot; That Shaker theme reappears in the living room where a wall of custom built-in cabinets houses artwork, glassware and paperwork. Here, the couple combined storage with display for more efficiency and sophistication. Donohue designed the 10515-foot walnut wall setup to maximize the home&amp;#039;s square footage. &amp;quot;The mass is reduced by integrating it into the wall,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;Giving the walnut a two-tone stain keeps it fresher, more modern.&amp;quot; The final upgrade was to unify the floors throughout using varying hues of slate set in a staggered pattern. After spending five months in remodeling limbo, Marianita says, &amp;quot;I still look at the kitchen and smile. It makes me so happy.&amp;quot;    What Was Done  Gutted the kitchen and reoriented its entrance Tore out dropped ceilings in the kitchen and dining room and raised them to 11 feet. Removed glued-down wood parquet floor tiles and replaced them with multicolored slate Eliminated an angled closet in the entry Added just over 12 square feet to the kitchen, but more than doubled storage space Added all new cabinetry and green granite counters      View our slideshow. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elledecor.com/home-remodeling-renovating/a1238/good-vibes-44018/?src=shelter_footer>