Have you ever wondered about home elevators? Our short video might be of interest! This is part 4 of a series where we feature elements of a luxury brownstone renovation project in Carmel and while there are many steps to navigate in this 4-story home, there was also an elevator included as part of the original construction. As with everything in this project, we answer a series of fascinating questions. What are the weight considerations when finishing the inside of an elevator? How do you design the finishes with the weight in mind? What can you do with the ceiling to make it look nicer? This one is short and sweet, so check out the answers to the questions above as we continue to demystify the remodeling process.
Home elevators are small! They are intended to serve a specific purpose of transporting one or two people from point A to point B in a home, but they certainly don’t have the feel of a larger commercial elevator. So how do you make a small elevator feel like the rest of a gorgeous home while navigating the restrictions of space and weight?
What are the weight considerations?
Simply stated… nothing to heavy. That should be easy to navigate, right? So, our initial thinking of antique glass panels and normal wainscoting trim weren’t going to pass the weight test once you added “people weight” to the elevator. We had to get a bit creative as you can see in the video we strongly encourage you to watch… it’s only 3 minutes!
How did we approach the finishes with weight restrictions in mind?
We began by using ¼” panels for our wainscoting to minimize the weight in the elevator. Everything we used was intentionally thin with weight in mind. Next, there was a pivot from large antique glass panels to a wallpaper that resembled the antique glass and that gave us a tremendous amount of grace to weight reduction. And, as you can see in the video, it looks very nice!
How do you dress up an elevator ceiling?
As can be seen in the video, we incorporated an ornate, visually appealing tin product to create a decorative ceiling that weighs very little and looks fantastic.
Anything else?
There’s not a lot more you can say about a space that is 48″ x 48″ except that this very small area, which was actually the last element of the project that we tackled, required a lot of critical thinking and problem solving. It was planned and everything done was intentional. It is important you think about the need for those skills when hiring your next remodeling partner for a project…. no different than hiring a good doctor that you can trust to make good decisions to keep you healthy.