Design in the Woods

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Design Plan for Modern Bathroom

Although I'm doing a lot of bathrooms lately, they don't all look the same. I practice client driven design and this project and the one in my previous post definitely show the wide range of styles on the boards right now. (By the way, client driven design doesn't mean client dictates and I do exactly as they ask, it means that I try to achieve the end result that they desire whatever the style, with my methods, tools, and creativity.)

This fun bathroom is for a young couple who wanted something fresh and modern. She wanted a rectangular tub and a spa-like ambience. He wanted a bigger shower and they both wanted to update this tired space. This project is about to start construction and it should be a dramatic change.

Here's the view of the bathroom from the master bedroom now.

This is her side. She doesn't use a stool, so we'll be doing away with that feature.

His vanity and the adjacent small shower. We'll be expanding it a bit and taking some space from his vanity area.

Yes, definitely ready for a remodel.

I decided to play up the rectangular shape and do a strie, 12 x 24 porcelain tile floor that goes up the walls with a band of glass and marble mosaic to get some interest and detail. I like the banding up where you can see it with the modern sconces on top to really show it off. Satin nickel cabinet pulls and plumbing fixtures add some gleam and more linear style. Stained wood cabinets will add some warmth to the tiled space with the modern edge of a quartz countertop. A little soft color will create a spa-like ambience.

Finish selections

We'll also be doing some new bedding in the master bedroom with a matelasse bed covering and pillows in that nice geometric from Kravet. The Emerald Green slate from Thorntree in Houston will be the fireplace surround. Soft gray paint colors will continue the scheme from the bathroom.

I'm so happy to get this modern bathroom into my portfolio......in a couple of months!

Monday, January 9, 2012

Design Plan for a Bath Remodel

I'm working on several bathroom remodels currently, two have started construction just this past week.. I thought I'd share a peek at one of the designs.

CAD drawing above, we do those so that revisions are really fast and easy. Well, I don't do them, my intern does them. I don't know how and have no desire to learn. I'm just glad these young designers know their way around this software!

Before

At first, the homeowner just wanted to paint the existing cabinets, build a higher one on the left, change out counter and backsplash and do something special with the mirror. Well, you know how projects have a way of growing! I encouraged them to take out the furr down and do a larger mirror to go up to their 10 ft. ceilings. As you can see, the mirror reflects a lot of light into the bathroom.. They wanted to keep a large mirror too, so if you're going to go big, you should really go oversized!

The homeowner was really tired of painted cabinets and decided to go with stained wood. While I love a painted cabinet, I do think the contrast will be very rich in this bathroom. We will pick up the color of the wood floors in the master bedroom to use on the cabinets.

Master bathrooms should always blend well with the adjacent master bedroom. The homeowner has dark wood furniture in the bedroom and a beautiful yellow/gold color on the walls in there that they love. That was the jumping off point for the finish selections for the bathroom.

We selected new bedding for their dark framed wood bed. That colorful floral linen is from Kravet and will cover three 24" sq. down pillows on the bed. They'll be piped with that dark purple velvet from Brentano. We'll also do a small acent pillow in the velvet. The gold matelasse will be the plain base on the duvet cover.

This seagrass rug will be under the dark wood frame bed.

Bathroom finishes - the flooring is Zin limestone 18 x 18 tiles from MCA Systems in a brushed finish, laid on the diagonal. It feels fabulous on your bare feet and has such interesting fossils and shells imbedded in it. We'll do it in the polished finish in slabs for the counters, then add some detail with an onyx and glass mosaic backsplash that will travel all the way around the gold finished mirror frame. That gold finish is just a sample of a technique, the color will be tweaked to fit our scheme on top of a more curvy moulding.

The shower area will be remodeled to take the tile to the ceiling with a rainshower head.

We're adding crown moulding so we're dropping the ceiling 6" at the shower for the crown to run in front of the wet enclosure.

Before - Tub

Here's what I'm hoping will happen with the tub. They were going to keep the tub when we started and change out the surround to tile. Again, projects have a tendency to grow! They're thinking about this freestanding option. I'm kind of liking a big wood framed mirror on this wall to reflect the light and add some of the dark wood element to this side of the bathroom.

I love freestanding tubs and I think this one would be beautiful there.

Should be all finished in about 6 to 8 weeks. Check back to see how it turns out!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

How Do You Hang Your Art?

Randomly?

Elle Decor

Gwynn Griffith - Elle Decor

Tom Scheerer - Elle Decor

Richard Lambertson, John Truex - Architectural Digest

William F. Rawley - Elle Decor

More of a casual, eclectic, collected kind of vibe. Add one at any time. Take one away and only you would miss it. It's definitely about the collection. You're saying that you like this subject matter or color or artist or whatever so much that you've bought it over and over again in many sizes, shapes, forms. Almost as research..... or obsession? Definitely passion. It says something about YOU. That is what your interiors should do by the way.

Or do you prefer your art all in a row?

Jay and Yvonne Fielden - Elle Decor

Phoebe Howard

Dransfield and Ross - Elle Decor

Jacqueline Derry Segura - House Beautiful

Elaine Griffin - Elle Decor

Barry Dixon - Traditional Home

More formal, more controlled, more purposeful. You've thought very hard about the overall look rather than the individual pieces. Take one away and and the rest are nothing. It's really kind of about the grid or mass the collection creates on the wall rather than the individual pieces of art.

The wonderful thing about design is that there are very, very few rules. (Don't let anyone tell you the opposite!) It all depends on the look you want to create!

And that's where the fun lies.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Pick Something

Some of the most successful interiors are developed by selecting one major element in a space and making it the star. Everything else in the room plays a supporting role, remaining visually quiet. Like a choir with a soloist, a cast of actors in a movie with it's lead character, or a ballet troupe with a prima ballerina, not everyone or everything can shine all at once. The more quiet the supporting parts, the more dramatic the outcome will be.

Ceiling - no showstopping, sculptural furnishings or colorful fabrics here....just that amazing ceiling.

Color - so rich you want to just wrap yourself up in it.

Pattern - the bed is almost non-existent, everything else plain.

Art - so dramatic, nothing else competes.

Vessel sink - with support from vanity top and walls.

Wall finish - the banquette is so neutral and unassuming by comparison.

Marble - details and cabinetry are all so simple.

Wallpaper - nothing else pretends to compete.

Sometimes it's best not to overwork everything in a space. Let one thing stand alone and appreciate the plain-ness of the rest.

Image credits: Robin Bell - House Beautiful, Eric Lysdahl - House Beautiful, Windsor Smith - House Beautiful, Alberto Pinto - Architectural Digest, Carla Aston - Aston Design Studio, Alessandra Branca - Southern Accents, David Kleinberg - Architectural Digest, Amanda Nesbit - House Beautiful

Monday, January 2, 2012

A Little Brass In The Kitchen

Architectural Digest - Genevieve Faure

I'm loving a bit of brass in interiors these days. It had such a bad turn for awhile there. We're seeing it more and more and I love the warmth it brings to a space.