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the makeover issue
w i n 00
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$100novate
to rer house
you
September 2013
A mazing
makeovers
How to change any room—fast!
Easy upgrades
under $20
Dramatic
before & afters
The power
of paint
bonus
covers
Look what
color can do!
the makeover issue
our 2013 house of the year
After the
Storm
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Last fall, just as the Country Living staff began fantasizing
about this issue’s House of the Year, Hurricane Sandy pounded the
East Coast. Suddenly, our usual approach—an uninhabited
concept home—felt a bit, well, empty. Instead, we decided to rehab
a real cottage severely damaged by flooding: Marian Lizzi’s
bungalow in Breezy Point, New York. Then, the 1,000-squarefoot house sat in nearly three feet of water.
Now, it’s a hopeful beacon for a community in recovery.
Snapshots illustrate Marian Lizzi’s ties
to Breezy Point, New York: 1 The beach
house Lizzi’s grandparents purchased
in 1946. 2 Lizzi’s mother, Mary, on her
tricycle in the neighborhood. 3 Lizzi’s
Penguin paperbacks, ruined in Hurricane
Sandy. 4 A sheet of plywood proclaims
“Rebuild Breezy.” 5 Lizzi’s parents, Mary
and Fred, in the 1950s. 6 Lizzi (right) at
age 3, with her cousin Maria in 1971.
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written by Valerie Rains | photographs by alec hemer | styling by cindy diprima
photograph by lara robby/studio d
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Designer Emily Henderson
(left) helped Marian Lizzi transform her battered beach house.
bright idea!
Enlist a trunk (like this
find from One Kings Lane)
for a coffee table with
real storage potential.
Decorators White
Benjamin Moore
(also used on
bathroom walls
and all trim)
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Spring Mint
Benjamin Moore
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A
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lthough Marian Lizzi has only owned her bungalow in Breezy Point, New York, for six years, her
ties to the tight-knit oceanfront community go
way back. In fact, she owes her very existence to the place:
“My parents met on the beach as teenagers,” explains
the book editor, whose mother still spends summers in
the home her parents purchased in 1946. “It was a big
event for my whole family when I bought this house.”
Then, last October, Hurricane Sandy surged up the
East Coast and flooded almost all of Breezy’s 2,800 residences. Lizzi felt fortunate—if you consider “luck”
nearly three feet of water soaking the furniture, floors,
and appliances in the only home you own. Because
she lives in Manhattan during the week, Lizzi didn’t
qualify for FEMA aid. So she and her boyfriend, Guan
Yang, started cleaning up the wreckage themselves.
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Nothing can replace the treasures Lizzi lost, like
a collection of vintage paperbacks published by
Penguin, the company where she works, or the hammock she picked up in Mexico. But when Country Living
heard of Lizzi’s plight, we marshaled our resources,
recruiting designer Emily Henderson, Brooklyn-based
Deary Construction, and a number of generous advertisers who donated their products. Our goal: not just to
restore the home, but to improve it.
We modified the floor plan to create a large multipurpose space, overhauled the kitchen and bathroom,
and layered on details that honor the cottage’s coastal
location. There’s even, yes, a funky hammock. “I feel
like I’m in a dream,” Lizzi says. “It would have taken me
months to get the house into shape, and now I can
spend that time helping my neighbors. I definitely want
to pay this kindness forward.” ◆
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A West Elm pouf provides
a casual perch near a
Danish Modern teak bar.
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Living Areas
In the newly renovated, wideopen front room, we established four distinct zones: a
kitchen, a dining nook, and the
two living areas above—one
traditional; the other laid-back.
1. Let ceilings soar. Once-dark
wood beams and rafters got an
instant lift from white paint.
2. But stay grounded. Shaw’s
recycled-hickory flooring, in a
deep-brown stain, anchors the
airy space. Bonus: The purpose-
use the free blippar app to take a video tour of our House of the Year.
to watch
fully distressed planks look
as if they’ve been here forever.
3. Strive for balance, not
boring sameness. Note how
the 8-by-10-foot jute rug
(from Surya’s CL line) is echoed
by the round one on the right.
A vintage Aero Studios floor
lamp and a fig tree bring
height, but in different ways.
4. Keep it simple. Multiple
windows call for minimal
dressing. “Fussy curtains would
have overwhelmed,” says
designer Emily Henderson.
But JCPenney’s tailored roman
shades blend right in.
5. Location, location, location.
A tufted chesterfield won’t cut
it on the coast. This sofa.com
number lends slouchy uphol-
stered comfort, while Serena &
Lily chairs reference the property’s seaside setting.
6. Introduce an element of
surprise. This hammock from
overstock.com proves the decor
doesn’t take itself too seriously.
se pte mbe r 2 0 13
. countryli v i ng.com . 87
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the floor plan
before
Before, the 1,000square-foot bungalow
was chopped up into
a patchwork of petite
rooms. After shifting
the bedroom to the
back, we knocked down
two walls up front and
devised an open great
room: now home to
two living areas, a dining nook, and a kitchen.
Bumping out the bathroom by 18 inches
allowed for a decadent
double shower. The
final splurge? Spacesaving pocket doors.
AFTER
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Strategic furniture placement
implies a separate room for
sit-down meals.
1. A cool move: This antique
icebox, retrofitted with glass
panels, acts as a transparent
boundary between the dining
and traditional living areas,
while also displaying treasures.
2. Fake a banquette. With
its back to the wall, a slim settee by Cost Plus World
Market simulates a built-in.
3. Come full circle. An iconic
midcentury Saarinen table,
from Canvas, softens all the
right angles. Ditto Crate &
Barrel’s walnut-framed mirror.
4. Color can unify everything.
We painted these Cost Plus
World Market chairs the same
deep turquoise as the kitchen
cabinets and the bedroom’s
upper walls and ceiling. “I’m a
big fan of sticking to one loose
palette for a whole house,”
notes Henderson.
5. Think clearly. This seethrough plastic pendant gets
the job done, sans visual clutter.
6. Add a sense of history.
“Flea-market finds give a
newly decorated place
soul,” advises Henderson.
Vintage oars and a folk-art
quahaug-clams sign acknowledge Breezy’s past—
without going overboard.
use the free blippar app to pin images from this story on Pinterest.
to pin
“I’m a big fan of sticking to one
loose palette for a whole house,” says
designer Emily Henderson.
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Oasis Blue
Benjamin Moore
(also used on kitchen
cabinetry and bedroom walls and ceiling)
cad design by page mullins
Dining Nook
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Brightly patterned pillows liven up a
neutral settee. Glassware, including
outsize vases from Cost Plus World
Market, populates the icebox, which we
scored at the Brimfield Antique Show.
“Flea-market finds give
a newly decorated place soul,”
advises Henderson.
bright
idea!
Situated on a counter,
a table lamp offers a
homey alternative to
kitchen task lighting.
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Kitchen
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We draped Atelier
688’s nautical
rope pendant
fixture over the
ceiling beams.
Wayfair donated
the Porcher sink;
the quartz countertops are by
Marble90
Mantles.
. c ou ntrylivi ng.co m . se pte mb e r
2 01 3
Since the cooking corner
is visible from the front
door, we lavished the space
with personality.
1. The key to a real-room feel:
keeping all the cabinets below
counter height. We customized
these Ikea units with doors
and drawer fronts by Semihandmade, which specializes in
upgrades for the Swedish
superstore’s basic systems.
2. Why settle for a blah
backsplash? Faux-bois tiles
from 14Ora Italiana create a
functional focal point.
3. Ask a lot from little
appliances. This 2½-footwide Maytag stove manages
to pack in an impressive
two ovens and five burners.
4. More than mere prep
surface, an island also serves
as a social hub come happy
hour. And Cost Plus World
Market’s rubberwood version
helps delineate the kitchen
from the rest of the room.
5. Don’t be afraid to mix
metals. Instead of matching
the stainless steel Maytag
stove, fridge, and dishwasher,
we opted for contrast via
matte black hardware: a Moen
faucet, Schoolhouse Electric
sconces, and drawer pulls by
Cliffside Industries.
6. Delight is in the details.
Accessories provide an easy,
low-key way to inject color—a
cheery red mixer, mugs, and
vintage stools pop against the
ocean-inspired backdrop.
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behind the scenes
Both of these photographs were taken from the bungalow’s entrance, looking toward
the rear. By the time Country Living’s House of the Year team stepped in, Lizzi
had demolished the flooring and lower walls, along with the kitchen she’d renovated
just one year prior (above left). The picture on the right depicts the progress Deary
Construction had made approximately two months after we started—having removed
a beam that marked the corner of the old bedroom, installed insulation and drywall,
painted the ceiling white, and primed everything else.
se pte mbe r 2 0 13
. countryli v i ng.com . 91
bright idea!
Schoolhouse Electric’s
sconces and pendant
bring an industrial vibe
to the spa-like bath.
Rockler’s wheel-and-rail kit
turned this wooden cast-off
into a rolling library ladder.
Bathroom
What a difference 18 inches
makes! Enlarging the lavatory
let us reconfigure the layout
so that the toilet isn’t the first
thing folks see.
1. Tiny spaces often benefit
from bold pattern. A mosaic
of Granada Tile transformed
this room into a jewel box.
2. Streamline the his-andhers setup. An extra-wide
Lacava trough sink accommodates two Moen faucets.
Deary Construction built the
console out of reclaimed wood
from The Hudson Company.
3. Examine a problem from all
angles. Plumbing lines dictated
one spot for the sink—under
the window. To hang a mirror
without obstructing the natural light, we positioned this
oblong model horizontally.
4. Put it all out there. “Tucking
towels in baskets, rather than
cupboards, is more casual,”
Henderson says. The bins
obscure pipes, too.
5. Proof that practical decisions
result in luxury: Stall showers
are well suited to sandy
beaches. They also allow for
double Moen rain showerheads.
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bright idea!
Free up a side table with
a clip-on lamp, like
this Land of Nod cutie.
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Bedroom
For a cozier effect, Henderson
reversed the front room’s color
scheme. Here, the green-blue,
in a much deeper shade, covers
the ceiling and upper walls. The
white Nantucket Beadboard
strikes a crisp note below.
1. The most worth-it splurge
in the house? “Pocket doors!”
declares Henderson; the
hinged kind consume a shocking amount of space.
2. Aim high. Lizzi requested
elevated storage to protect
cherished belongings from
flooding. So we carved out a
mini-attic above the bathroom
ceiling, then rendered it accessible via a rolling ladder, salvaged from the storm debris.
3. Insist that furniture work
twice as hard. Henderson stationed this dresser from Cost
Plus World Market next to the
Charles P. Rogers bed, where
it doubles as a nightstand.
4. Hide in plain sight. A custom cover, painted to mimic
the trim, conceals the air conditioner when it’s not in use.
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Thank You!
In addition to this iron bed
frame, Charles P. Rogers
supplied the mattress. The
coverlet is by John Robshaw;
the 1960s folding bench
came from One Kings Lane.
see shop guide, page 122, for how to buy the furnishings, accessories, and fixtures in this story.
We’re extremely grateful to
Brooklyn’s Deary Construction, which served as the
home’s general contractor
(dearyconstruction.blogspot
.com), as well as Emily
Henderson, who consulted
on the interior design
(stylebyemilyhenderson
.com). We’re also indebted
to our sponsors:
Shaw Floors
Hardwood floors
(shawfloors.com)
Benjamin Moore
All paint
(benjaminmoore.com)
Maytag
Stove, dishwasher, and refrigerator
(maytag.com)
Moen
Sink and shower fixtures
(moen.com)
go to countryliving.com/hoy
Charles P. Rogers
Bed frame and mattress
(charlesprogers.com)
Cost Plus World Market
New furnishings, including
the settee, dining chairs,
kitchen island, and dresser
(worldmarket.com)
Countless other companies
donated products to our House
of the Year. For a complete
list, see Shop Guide, page 122.
to meet the design team behind our House of the Year.
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