Lofty Pursuit

Errol, who loves to cook, lobbied to keep the kitchen’s original layout, along with its custom SieMatic cabinetry and professional-grade  appliances. Tim did make a few adjustments, though, including swapping out the old tile backsplash and countertops for sleek Caesarstone, replacing silver hardware with black, and installing a new sink with a touchless faucet.

What was once the master bedroom is now a den-slash-office with an en suite bathroom; the smaller of the two bedrooms became the master. It’s not the first time they’ve switched things up. “In the first home we purchased together, we turned the master bedroom into the den because it was on the street, and had the quieter space in the back of the house as the master,” Tim says. “The back bedroom was small and had only enough room for our four-poster bed, but we ended up loving it. We decided to reenact that here.”

The shut-eye-friendly space is painted a deep purple, and the master bath and walk-in closet are across the hall; Tim says that’s how they prefer it. “It allows whoever is asleep in the master to not hear the rustlings of the person in the bathroom or getting clothes from the closet,” he explains.

Tim had the connecting hallway widened by nearly a foot, and added recessed, LED-illuminated, custom walnut shelves along one wall. The guest bathroom received a top-to-bottom makeover, along with a utility room that houses the loft’s “brain”: a state-of-the-art home automation system. “We like smart living,” Tim says.

So much so, in fact, that he had the apartment fully rewired to be a smart home. Every light and window shade is voice-activated and can be monitored and controlled remotely from an iPhone, iPad, or laptop—even from thousands of miles away.