Julie Schuster Design Studio l Transformations

TRANSFORMATIONS

Before

Midtown East

New York, NY

These clients asked me to renovate what they hoped to be their “forever New York apartment.” Choosing an apartment that is near to the family and grandchildren for when they were visiting the city was a priority. We were given a magnificent space with large wrap-around terrace downtown to work in. However, as an estate sale, it was sadly out of date and didn’t serve their needs in any other way. We enlarged the primary bath and renovated the kitchen and 2nd bath completely. We restored the 2nd bedroom and added laundry and extra closets for storage. With the thoughts of possibly making this apartment their full-time residence one day, we took Living In Place enhancements into our planning, as well as making it fresh and beautifully updated. Ready in time for summer living!

Before

Renovation For Resale

New York, NY

We were contacted by Jeff Dyksterhouse of the Compass Realty, the Dyksterhouse Team. They had a wonderful Upper East Side listing that just wasn't getting any bid proposals. We reviewed and suggested updating the outmoded interiors with a clean white design to make it more universally saleable.

We fully repainted, installed new countertops, kitchen backsplash, replaced bathroom vanities and fixtures; bringing a whole new look to the home. Now it's ready to welcome a new family to begin their lives here!

Before

West 108th Street Renovation

New York, NY

A recent widow, this client relocated to New York to be near to her children and families. She decided that she wanted a lovely large studio in a beautiful prewar in the neighborhood where everyone lives. Our job was to make it fresh, updated and living-in-place friendly while keeping the exquisite detail that made it unique.

We gut renovated the bathroom for safety and space-saving - no doors opening into the limited space!
We updated the kitchen with new appliances, custom concrete counter tops and hardware
All 80's era track light came out, repaced with luxurious new fixture, updated electrical and a beautiful new color scheme.

Fresh and ready for her next chapter!

Before

Apartment in Aqua

Midtown, NYC

Julie Schuster Design Studio was contacted by this busy young professional to help her decorate her first apartment in a lovely midtown luxury building. Her desire was to create a space that would reflect her personality but still feel professionally pulled together. Being as this was her first home, she needed help establishing a budget for furnishings, window treatments, lighting, etc.

Creating a fun fresh color palette started the design process and inspired a complete paint job within this petite apartment. We shopped for custom fabrics to work with the concept and fabricated a cornice and matching throw pillows. With just a couple of custom pieces and the balance sourced at retail, we were able to transform her apartment within her budget.

Before

Black & White Pebbled Bath

Upper West Side, NYC

Approached by this client in hopes in updating their Manhattan pied-a-terre three-piece bathroom. Their desire was to remove all the original fixtures and tiles and update the space to create a contemporary and functional bathroom.

As a CLIPP professional (Certified Living in Place Professional) we sourced modern and clean looking products that would be functionally inclusive to all that used that bathroom.

Before

Mid-Century Pied-A-Terre

Upper West Side, NYC

Our team was asked to update and decorate this newly purchased Upper West Side pied-a-terre apartment for a couple from Connecticut.

We gave minor updates to the bath, a partial face-lift to the kitchen and a new look to the decor and furnishings.

Before

Chelsea Transitional Media Room

Chelsea, NYC

When we first met this family of three, this spare room was bare of furnishings and filled with sporadic art and books. It became the family’s forgotten space that was being underutilized.

They expressed their desire to create a media room with comfortable and durable upholstery. A tight squeeze in this space, but we were able to get a gracious sectional, a round upholstered ottoman with a removable wood top and a pair of side tables.

Before

Art Deco Contemporary

Upper West Side, NYC

The amazing Art Deco bones of this space made it architecturally wonderful. But the view was lost under years of paint, neglect and poor color choices. This busy two career family wanted a more sophisticated and cohesive story. The JSDS firm played on the Pre-War details and sunken living space to create a gracious flow and and employed Feng Shui tenants to support and nurture this active family.

Before

Hollywood Glam Master Bedroom

Chelsea, NYC

When commissioned to work on this master bedroom makeover, the couple explained that they wanted to create a bedroom that felt as wonderful as a lovely hotel suite that they might have on vacation.

Project managing the entire process, we removed the worn wall-to- wall carpeting, removed the old built-ins, designed a furniture flow that was more Feng Shui, created the color scheme, electrical plans, ordered custom furnishings, including the glam chandelier she’d dreamed about.

"

Julie was a dream come true. I had worked with an interior designer in the past who was good, but extremely expensive and a bit rigid in his views; then I did a kitchen project through HomePolish, which was a mistake and a tough learning experience. Then I got lucky and found Julie. What a difference! She is the best designer I have known. she delivered a full recreation of our Master bedroom, turning it into exactly what we wanted -- a "serene oasis" of luxury and calm, with a touch of glamor, and adding a vanity area that I never thought could fit, but it did. More than a year later, it's a wonderful retreat and I still can't believe it's my bedroom. After the bedroom, she helped us turn our (somewhat awkwardly sized) spare room/home office into a comfortable and cozy guest room/media room.

In each case Julie listened carefully to what we wanted and brought it to life, outlining a concept, making the shopping experience easy by narrowing choices and using my time well, and coordinating work schedules with sub-contractors while we were out of town. She and her team are extremely professional - communicating clearly, confirming everything in writing, anticipating issues and troubleshooting to make things easy. The concept presentations were beautiful and gave me a complete picture before we began. She kept me in the loop with follow-up emails and updates every step of the way, worked smoothly with subcontractors, handled communication with our building staff and probably managed problems that we never even knew about. Our bedroom turned out even better than I expected and as a bonus was featured in a magazine! I will certainly turn to her again when we're ready to tackle the living room, which is my next project.

Dorothy Crenshaw

New York, NY