I got the following request for info from a resident. Following it is my response and some photos of what we’ve done. I’ll be happy to post any other answers people want to share!
I’ve lived at Canal Place One for almost 3 years. I’ve fixed and upgraded several things so far. I am thinking of my next project.
When I was looking, I remember seeing some pictures of some upgrades people had done to their apartments. Specifically to the kitchen. I saw an arch way to the kitchen and then over by the refrigerator another arch way to the living/dining area. I was wondering if anyone would be willing to share some dimensions on that and if there were any challenges to moving any of the electric on the wall between the kitchen and the living/dining area.
Another thing I was looking at recently is the upstairs hall to the bedrooms (don’t ask me why I started thinking about this). If you notice, there is a box out of the column in the hallway and the box out juts out into the hall. Eventually, I want to get new carpeting for upstairs so I am planning ahead. If I could capture some more space up there, then I might be willing to mess with this AND I would rather look at a nice column as opposed to the box out. I noticed that there is nothing in that box out except the column. If you get a flash light and look in there, in my case the column is still painted but I’m sure it would be an easy thing to strip that paint off. The next thing I was wondering was why is it that they brought the wall all the way out to the edge of the beam? Again, I think this is wasted space. Has anyone ever reworked this area? Thanks.
My answer:
We didn’t just open up that hallway wall, we opened up the one in the loft too.
The wall in the hallway was fairly straightforward and not only gained us generous floor to ceiling bookcases but actually widened the hallway by an inch at the same time. The loft wall was trickier and the shelves had to work around ductwork and plumbing (at the left of the photo above you can see the gap where the ductwork forces a break in the shelving). I believe the original contractor simply boxed everything in to keep costs down; boxing was faster and cheaper than making detailed use of the space and it saved him from stripping the paint and graffiti off the columns. I’ve also been told that the bottom floors of the building have metal columns rather than the prettier wood ones.
When we redid the kitchen, we didn’t open up the wall to the living room but we did add a stained glass window (BTW, any time you open a wall, I believe Lowell requires a permit). Our contractor didn’t have any trouble shifting the wiring to the side to allow for the opening. If you were opening the whole wall you’d have to actually move the thermostat rather than just the wiring.
To anyone considering remodeling: Please do make sure you get any needed permissions from the Association and permits from the city before any major remodeling. Check with Cathy if you’re not sure. While it may sound intrusive, it’s actually for everyone’s protection—and so we don’t have any do-it-yourself catastrophes that damage property and drive up insurance!
I’ve opened the wall between my kitchen and living room to get the light from the windows into the kitchen. Then added granite to the sill and made the 1/2 wall between the kitchen and dining area a casual eating area. Also added 2 drop lights over that eating area for extra light. I’m right now in the process of painting the kitchen (also refaced the cabinets and drawers). Electrical had to be moved to open the wall as well as the thermostat. And added more plugs around that area.
Upstairs I exposed the pillar that was hidden in the box out. Had to use beadboard to wrap the pillar since it was covered in lead paint. I had added hardwood to both the downstairs and the loft and , with some left-over wood from those jobs, completed the footing around the pillar where there had been carpeting.
And in the loft area I recessed bookcases into the wall (lots of space in there).
If you are interested I’d be happy to show you (work still in process!).
Georgi
I just found this comment. There’s a lot of info here. I’m going to read it again. Trying to understand what you meant about the loft area. I thought the bookshelves was a great idea for the space under that beam. I realize you did something different. Can’t visualize it.
To admin: I don’t think these comments are being sent out to group.