Before & After: Copious Cabinetry Makes a Compact Flat Work for a Family of Four

Sugarhouse Design & Architecture sought to "pack in storage at every opportunity" as they revised this 1,171-square-foot Manhattan apartment.

Sugarhouse reworked the living room storage and reoriented the room to better occupy the available space. An Ellison Studio sofa, recovered in Dedar Patchwork Fabric, fits the whole family for movie nights. The coffee table is from Etsy and the rug is Nordic Knots. The overhead light is a vintage Poul Henningsen via 1st Dibs.

When a couple bought this 1,171-square-foot Upper West Side apartment in 2012 and moved in with their two toddlers, they weren’t in love with its looks. "It wasn’t beautiful, but the layout was pretty perfect for us at the time," one homeowner says—and they were particularly fond of one amenity. "We had had laundry in the basement before, and now we have a full-size laundry room. It seems like a silly thing, but I thought that was amazing."

The family lived there for a decade before considering a remodel. In the interim, small things started adding up, quite literally. The kids’ (now teenagers) sports equipment was spilling out of closets, the parents’ papers teetered in stacks on the office floor, and the living room’s built-in media cabinet could only fit a tiny TV, which put a damper on family movie nights. "We really moved away from watching things together on that TV," says the owner. 

In 2022, they hired Sugarhouse Design & Architecture to double the storage, bring in more light, and weave in finishes that they liked better. First up for designers Jess and Jonathan Nahon was addressing the elephant in the layout: the laundry room.

Before: Entry 

Before: The previous storage in this Upper West Side apartment was not adequate to the family of four living there. Plus, with an interior position in the unit, the entry hall was just too dark on a normal day.

Before: There simply wasn’t enough storage in this Upper West Side apartment for the family of four living there. The long and narrow entry hall was dark, even on sunny days.

Courtesy of Sugarhouse Design & Architecture

After: Entry 

Sugarhouse Design & Architecture lightened up the entry hall, thanks to interior fluted glass panels, white oak floors with a contrasting walnut inlay, and custom oak closets that reach to the ceiling (after removing the fussy tray feature there). The bench is custom-designed by Sugarhouse and fabricated by Elwood Design Co in Orange, CA, and the ceiling light is by Modern Forms.

Sugarhouse Design & Architecture lightened up the entry hall with fluted glass panels, white oak floors, and custom oak closets that reach to the ceiling. The bench was custom-designed by Sugarhouse and fabricated by Elwood Design Co in Orange, CA, and the ceiling light is by Modern Forms.

Jacob Snavely

The designers realized that the laundry room was so nice because it had a full-sized window on the facade of the building that got the best light. Jonathan had a suggestion: "We could make that room part of the actual living space, where it could be accessed and used by everybody." The owners were game. 

Before: Entry 

Before: The storage "was both not attractive and not that practical, and there just was not enough of it,

Before: "The storage was not attractive and not that practical, and there just was not enough of it," says the owner.

Courtesy of Sugarhouse Design & Architecture

See the full story on Dwell.com: Before & After: Copious Cabinetry Makes a Compact Flat Work for a Family of Four
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