When Chris and Trenesa Danuser moved into their 1928 Maplewood home two years ago, the plan was to give themselves time to get to know it before making any major changes.
“We bought the home and decided to live in the space to let us see the flaws, so we would be able to see what was important to change and what could stay the same,” said Trenesa, an executive with a major cosmetics brand.
When it was time to update the 4-bedroom, 3-1/2-bathroom house they share with their daughter, 14, and son, 7, the couple decided the front entry, bathrooms, dining room and sunroom needed attention. They hired Montclair interior designer Robin Wilson, whose eponymous Manhattan design firm specializes in eco-friendly renovations.
The renovation
“We updated the home on a strict budget, and focused on eco-friendly options so we could live in the house during the renovation process,” says Chris, a filmmaker and real estate broker.
In a renovation where there wasn’t a lot of wiggle room, Wilson demonstrated the power of paint, selecting colors from Benjamin Moore’s eco-friendly Aura line to avoid the volatile organic compounds that can contribute to indoor air pollution.
The bulk of the couple’s renovation dollars, however, needed to go to the home’s entry where a stained glass door and its complementary sidelights were showing their age. The door had to be handled with care. Fearing that it would not survive another winter, the couple was prompted to begin phase one of renovating their 3,500-square-foot home.
“The glass was fine, but over the years the leading had deteriorated, and there had been a poor restoration,” Wilson said. She brought in a Paterson company, Studio J, whose crew removed the door and panels, secured the entry temporarily with plywood and rebuilt the glass insets piece by piece over 12 weeks. While the glass was being restored, Wilson brought in painters and carpenters along with the furnishings and fixtures to update the interior.
“The house had an outdated color palette that made it feel dreary and tired,” Wilson said. In the foyer, the effect was compounded by poor lighting. “It was not bright enough or placed properly to make you feel welcomed when you entered the home,” she said. The solution was to brighten with both paint and a variety of LED light fixtures that would help reduce the home’s energy consumption while enhancing illumination.
The three-story house and its squared staircase had the dark interior trim of Arts and Crafts-style architecture, and over the years it had been replaced or restained using a variety of wood types and colors. Wilson unified the stair railings, baseboards, molding and other wood trim with a dark finish that stands in contrast to the whites and other lighter colors selected for the walls. The result is an interior that she describes as classic with a modern touch.
The transformation is marked in the sunroom where Wilson combines several whites with the palest blue for a room bathed in light through French doors and numerous windows. “We brought the sky into the sunroom,” Wilson said, discussing the use of hues that pick up colors in the room’s original blue floor tiles.
“Our sunroom is a totally new space,” Trenesa said of the simple color change for a stand-out room now described as fresh, clean and relaxing.
In the nearby living room, the original brick fireplace was badly soot-stained. The couple wanted to keep the brick but to avoid the harsh solvents that would have been required to remove years-old staining.
“The fireplace had a red brick façade, and our designer had a suggestion that we did not agree with until we saw the result,” Trenesa said. Wilson had the fireplace covered in a black fire-resistant paint to conceal the staining and also match the rooms dark trim. “Using black fire paint on the red brick changed the entire space and made it sophisticated,” Trenesa said.
The fireplace hearth is a man-made material intended to mimic stone, but the stones are green. To make the best of it, Wilson selected green paint and enhanced it with an above-the-fireplace accent wall.
The master bathroom was another area that needed intensive work, Trenesa said. “It had to be reconfigured because it was too limited for our daily routine,” she said.
The bathroom had a floating vanity with no storage below, and everything from linens to cosmetics needed to be stored in open floor-to-ceiling shelving.
Wilson had a carpenter replace the shelves with a double vanity that makes the space more efficient while adding storage. “Now two people can be in the bathroom at the same time,” she said.
The couple also wanted to update with eco-friendly toilets and got them in fixtures from Kohler. Luxury features include a bidet seat and motion-sensing no-touch flushing that requires the wave of a hand. The powder room toilet has LEDs that can serve as a night light. Both use less water when flushed.
Wilson, who also has a signature Robin Wilson Home product line sold through Bed Bath & Beyond and JCPenney stores suggested a dining room table, chairs and sideboard from another woman-owned company in Somerton Dwelling. The company’s furniture is made with formaldehyde-free adhesives.
What they renovated
Front door, entry and staircase, bathrooms, living room, dining room and sunroom
Who did the work
Studio J Glass, Paterson; Wilber’s Painting, Maplewood; Thomas M. Keeler Carpentry, Montclair; Air Group Electrical/Plumbing, Whippany; Robin Wilson Home
How long it took
August to October 2015
How much it cost
About $60,000
Where they splurged
“The biggest splurge on our budget is the grand entry stained glass door,” Trenesa said.
How they saved
Re-staining all the trim instead of replacing it. A relative also installed new bathroom tile.
What they did themselves
“Installation of two towel bars and a robe hook,” Chris said. “Everything else was done by professionals.”
What they like most
The design team suggested that we add our artwork to the walls, which we had kept in the basement,” Trenesa said. “Our home looks completely different with books, artwork and masks from our travels on display. We have so many beautiful things that we were not celebrating.”
What they’d have done differently
“We would have done it sooner, with a larger budget!”
Kimberly L. Jackson: kim_jackson @ starledger.com
