[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-detail-home-tours-kathy-kuos-new-york-city-apartment-the-downstairs":3,"blog-related-home-tours-kathy-kuos-new-york-city-apartment-the-downstairs":25},{"id":4,"slug":5,"title":6,"subtitle":7,"bodyHtml":8,"heroImageUrl":9,"heroImageAlt":7,"authorName":10,"authorImageUrl":7,"publishedDt":11,"categories":12,"tags":14,"products":18,"inlineProducts":19,"seo":20},177,"home-tours-kathy-kuos-new-york-city-apartment-the-downstairs","Kathy Kuo's New York City Apartment - The Downstairs",null,"\u003Cdiv class=\"blogcontent\">\r\n\u003Cdiv>\u003Cspan class=\"pinit\">Welcome to the home tour of our very own Kathy Kuo! Here are some of her thoughts on the redesign of the downstairs of her NYC apartment.\u003Cimg class=\" aligncenter\" src=\"http://www.kathykuohome.com/Content/images_cust/userfiles/images/Blog_KathyHome_05.jpg\" alt=\"Kathy Kuo redesign of the downstairs\" />\u003C/span>\u003C/div>\r\n\u003Cdiv id=\"blogcontent_wrapper\">\r\n\r\nAs you know, when we bought our condo, the downstairs resembled a bowling alley — super high shine floors with faux bookshelf walls (built in for fire code reasons) and a LOT of books, piled high and deep. The owner of our place was quite an eccentric NYC couple, one with an Oscar (or was it an Emmy? It was on the piano as I walked in) and a teacher at the prestigious all-girls school, Brearley's (Tina Fey's daughter goes there). They had a son who had the downstairs, and it was the COOLEST downstairs for a teenager son... but it wasn't going to work for us with a toddler daughter, a den, and guest bedroom needs.\r\n\r\nCheck out the home tour before photos here:\r\n\r\n\u003Cspan class=\"pinit\">\u003Cimg class=\" aligncenter\" src=\"http://www.kathykuohome.com/Content/images_cust/userfiles/images/Downstairs%20Before(2).jpg\" alt=\"Downstairs Before redesign\" />\u003C/span>\r\n\r\n\u003Cspan class=\"pinit\">\u003Cimg class=\" aligncenter\" src=\"http://www.kathykuohome.com/Content/images_cust/userfiles/images/Downstairs%20Before%201_edit.jpg\" alt=\"Downstairs Before redesign bedroom\" />\u003C/span>\r\n\r\n\u003Cspan class=\"pinit\">\u003Cimg class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http://www.kathykuohome.com/Content/images_cust/userfiles/images/Downstairs%20Before%202_edit.jpg\" alt=\"Downstairs Before redesign master bedroom\" width=\"960\" height=\"600\" />\u003C/span>\r\n\r\nWhen we finally moved in, it was amazing to find how much furniture they managed to fit downstairs!\r\n\r\nKKH FACT: Contrary to what you may think, a room with \u003Cem>no \u003C/em>furniture in it looks smaller than a room \u003Cem>with \u003C/em>furniture with it. HUH? It's true. Studies show that when you can't understand the scale of the room and how to use it, your eyes only see the walls.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n\u003Cspan class=\"pinit\">\u003Cimg class=\" aligncenter\" src=\"http://www.kathykuohome.com/Content/images_cust/userfiles/images/IMG_6511.JPG\" alt=\"redesigning downstairs in progress\" width=\"1045\" height=\"696\" />\u003C/span>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nOur first step was to carve out the downstairs space and maximize the square footage. In addition, there was hardly any lighting downstairs at all.\r\n\r\nThe floor was sanded back THREE times! First, we had to sand all the shine off, and then we put everything on hold when A+E Studios decided to roll in and shoot the renovation as part of their \u003Ca href=\"http://www.kathykuohome.com/Home/Blog/Inspired-by-Kathy-Kuo\">Inspired Series\u003C/a>, which was so much fun! I got to work with an extremely talented group of people. Here is some of the behind-the-scenes footage:\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n\u003Cspan class=\"pinit\">\u003Cimg class=\" aligncenter\" src=\"http://www.kathykuohome.com/Content/images_cust/userfiles/images/IMG_6566(1).jpg\" alt=\"behind the scenes\" />\u003C/span>\r\n\r\n\u003Cspan class=\"pinit\">\u003Cimg class=\" aligncenter\" src=\"http://www.kathykuohome.com/Content/images_cust/userfiles/images/IMG_6587.JPG\" alt=\"back stage of redesigning downstairs\" />\u003C/span>\r\n\r\nOur second sanding was an additional attempt to further remove brown that was so deep I'm surprised that there was still any wood left on the floors! Finally, our third sanding was due to our whitewashing attempt was a complete disaster... we watched RIGHT BEFORE OUR EYES as the water-based polyurethane coagulate reacted with the oil-based whitewashing paint. This was, thankfully, only a hand sanding. Any more and we would have been staring at a subfloor, and that would be not so elegant.\r\n\r\nTIP: It would have been cheaper to lay new and already whitewashed floorboards down than to re-sand, whitewash, and hand buff our floors. Lessons learned...\r\n\r\n\u003Cspan class=\"pinit\">\u003Cimg class=\" aligncenter\" src=\"http://www.kathykuohome.com/Content/images_cust/userfiles/images/IMG_7262_edit(1).jpg\" alt=\"Poussin French Country Champagne Leaf Garden Globe Chandelier\" />\u003Cimg class=\" aligncenter\" src=\"http://www.kathykuohome.com/Content/images_cust/userfiles/images/IMG_7425_edit(1).jpg\" alt=\"white shelves\" />\u003C/span>\r\n\r\n\u003Cspan class=\"pinit\"> \u003C/span>\r\n\r\nEmbracing the central pillar (that cannot be removed as it holds up the ENTIRE BUILDING) and the symmetry that it created, we had custom chevron barn doors made to complete the aesthetic. Me likey...\r\n\r\nPeek inside! Do you see what's in my daughters room and the guest room?  Yes, we used wall paper a lot in our home renovations. All of them can be found \u003Ca href=\"http://www.kathykuohome.com/Product/ProductList/wallpaper\">here\u003C/a>. And what do you think about our lovely \u003Ca href=\"http://www.kathykuohome.com/Product/Detail/6924-Poussin-French-Country-Champagne-Leaf-Garden-Globe-Chandelier\">Garden Globe Chandelier\u003C/a>. HAD to have it for our office space...more on that and Maya's room in the next post!\r\n\r\nxx,\r\nKK\r\n\r\n\u003C/div>\r\n\u003C/div>","https://d307biz9bwtpmz.cloudfront.net/articles/hero/Blog_Downstairs_2000x1550.jpg","Kathy Kuo","2015-01-07T21:44:51Z",[13],"Our Projects",[15,16,17],"interior design","Interior Design Ideas","Home Tour",[],[],{"title":21,"description":22,"keywords":10,"canonicalUrl":23,"noIndex":24},"Kathy Kuo's New York City Apartment - The Downstairs - Kathy Kuo Home","Home tour of interior designer Kathy Kuo's New York City Apartment design: Part 2: The downstairs","/blog/home-tours-kathy-kuos-new-york-city-apartment-the-downstairs",false,[26,38,48],{"id":27,"slug":28,"title":29,"excerpt":30,"heroImageUrl":31,"authorName":32,"publishedDt":33,"categories":34},1063,"spring-summer-collection","Where Time Slows Down: Inside the Inspiration for Our Spring Summer Collection","Relaxed materials, delicate patterns, and European influences lie at the heart of our new collection.","https://d307biz9bwtpmz.cloudfront.net/articles/hero/Blue-and-green-bedroom-scaled.jpg","Kathy Kuo Home","2026-03-31T10:00:03Z",[35,36,37,13],"Home","Living Room","Bedroom",{"id":39,"slug":40,"title":41,"excerpt":42,"heroImageUrl":43,"authorName":32,"publishedDt":44,"categories":45},1062,"kathy-kuo-apartment-dining-room","Kathy Kuo Designs a Romantic, European-Inspired Dining Room for Intimate Gatherings","Designing an elegant, immersive dining room that feels like a secret garden.","https://d307biz9bwtpmz.cloudfront.net/articles/hero/Kathy-Kuo-New-York-City-dining-room.jpg","2026-03-25T10:00:19Z",[35,46,47,13],"Dining Room","Pro Tips from Kathy",{"id":49,"slug":50,"title":51,"excerpt":52,"heroImageUrl":53,"authorName":32,"publishedDt":54,"categories":55},1061,"kathy-kuo-apartment-living-room","Kathy Kuo Reimagines Her Upper West Side Living Room with Layered Textures and Collected Treasures","The design ideas and details that make my living room feel like magic.","https://d307biz9bwtpmz.cloudfront.net/articles/hero/Kathy-Kuo-New-York-Living-Room-1.jpg","2026-03-18T10:00:40Z",[35,36,47,13]]