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[MUSIC PLAYING]
LORI SCHWARTZ: We lived in our home in suburban New Jersey
for close to 20 years.
We decided that we had just had enough of shoveling the
driveway, and paying the high taxes, and just having more
space than we ever needed.
It was time to downsize.
We decided to put the house on the market and live our dream,
which was always to move into Manhattan.
I'm Lori Schwartz.
Thank God we hired a designer.
We put it out there to our friends, to our family, that
we were going to undertake this project.
And we wanted suggestions if anybody had ever used anybody
that they liked, or knew somebody
that they could recommend.
Dwayne came to the department.
And I hate to say, it was love at first sight.
DWAYNE CLARK: Our first meeting, for us, was about
finding the characteristics of themselves and the special
qualities that made their house a home.
Their goal was to take those unconditional feelings and
bring them into the city.
LORI SCHWARTZ: The kitchen was small.
And it had a very, very large ineffective counter.
DWAYNE CLARK: It had a lot of dark aspects to it.
We wanted to bring in architectural elements that
allowed the space to feel wider, taller, brighter.
When you put the pen to paper and you show them the
possibilities that could be, it took out the guesswork.
LORI SCHWARTZ: They had ideas of opening it up, making it
light, making it airy.
He brought energy.
He brought vision.
And I think, more importantly, he was a wonderful listener.
He actually heard what we said in making this transition from
our home in New Jersey to this apartment in Manhattan.
DWAYNE CLARK: Every step of the way, this
client has had input.
We took a trip out to the granite yard and not only
selected the type of countertop that we were going
to use, but we actually picked the slab.
And we picked where we wanted the movement.
LORI SCHWARTZ: We added wainscoting to the side walls
of the kitchen, which was an unexpected treat.
DWAYNE CLARK: When you use wainscoting, and you do it on
both sides of your visual aesthetics from one to the
other, really force your eye to have a
linear, horizontal aspect.
LORI SCHWARTZ: The counters are interesting.
We made a breakfast bar, shortened that six foot
counter, and made two pieces out of it.
So there's a functional counter on the inside of the
kitchen, and then a step up.
There's a breakfast bar that flows into the dining area.
The sink is one of my favorite parts of the kitchen.
It's a farmhouse sink that almost
feels like it's floating.
And I love the way it's set into this interesting
countertop.
Dwayne had actually introduced us to the potential of using
glass tiles in the kitchen, which was something we hadn't
even considered.
DWAYNE CLARK: We wanted to bring in the glass tile, which
adds to reflection.
We chose a lighter color, which actually opens it up.
LORI SCHWARTZ: We have wonderful
cabinetry, great storage.
As a novice in this, the idea of making selections and
making choices was overwhelming.
And my husband, who does have a good eye for things, I think
it was just overwhelming.
I think the wonderful thing about working with Dwayne was
he limited our choices.
Dwayne brought us real, viable choices.
They weren't the same.
They had different nuances and different styles to them.
But we knew that he was guiding us to what would work
well in our apartment.
Initially, we thought we could do the work ourselves-- a
little paint, redo the floors.
But thank God we hired a designer.
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