After sleeping in her bassinet in our bedroom for the first 2 sleepless months, Sloan moved to the area between our bedroom and bathroom. This was pretty convenient as her limited footprint only consisted of a small crib and a changing table (previously seen in our kitchen as an IKEA microwave stand/storage unit.) We set up a small heater for Sloan to keep warm by since this area also had our spiral staircase to the roof. Yes, she was a Harry Potter child.
Late spring/early summer of 2013, it became apparent that Sloan's space under the stairs wasn't going to fly much longer. "Kid gear" had been increasing by the day. Our lease renewal paperwork had also just come in which, of course, was an increase over our current rate for the next two years. Kerri and I considered moving for about 90 seconds before I started to get brave and sketch out in my mind how we could shift our current one bedroom into a junior two bedroom. [Side note: "junior two" is NYC code for a two-bedroom where the second bedroom doesn't have a window.]
Lump in my throat and telephone in my hand, I called our building owner with a proposition: let me do construction on our apartment, at our expense, in exchange for the same rent we had been paying for the last year (which, keep in mind, was negotiated the previous renewal cycle and we were given a break 'because we were nice kids who just got married'). Our landlord, who shall remain graciously nameless, asked to see my plans for the construction. I sent them to his secretary along with a picture of Sloan. It was a sneaky move but I needed all the help I could get with this negotiation or we may be taking the subway into the city from Bushwick every day.
A few days passed and Mr. Landlord called my cell. The first words out of his mouth weren't, "hello" or, "is Barry there?" but instead, "be sure the little girl has good ventilation." I felt pretty lucky that this 80+-year-old man who owns more buildings in Manhattan than he can probably remember and likely pays more each year in real estate taxes than I will make in my lifetime not only took the time to call me but gave us his approval.
Mr. Landlord and I talked a few more minutes about the particulars of the project: who would do demolition (me) and how long do I think it would take (couple weeks). We got to the lease renewal rate. After listening to how Bloomberg had ruined so many of his investments over the last decade and how taxes on the building were putting him into the poor house, we settled on an increase but one that was dramatically less than the proposed. It ended up making the project cost a wash versus the increased rent but I didn't complain as we escaped the hassle and expense of moving.
Construction started a few days later and with help from some great friends, it all started to come together in a matter of weeks.
Also, I want to give a big thank you to Heath and Jen who let us crash at their place for several weekends while the demo, build and painting/finishing were underway.
Now, about 9 months after the build was completed, we still have standing walls and the doors still close (pretty well, anyway). I do plan to take on other construction projects but hopefully they are in a place Kerri and I own and don't require me to cut drywall sheets in half just to get them into the room.
Here's a gallery of the construction from start to finish. We took so many pictures I'm still finding a shots that I will add to the gallery as they come up.
Here's a gallery of the construction from start to finish. We took so many pictures I'm still finding a shots that I will add to the gallery as they come up.
