Case Study Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Kelley Astore Interiors

Family Room Transformation: Fireplace & Mantelpiece Before and After

A few months ago, we posted an article on adding dimension and texture to a room through woodwork, where we installed beautiful beadboard paneling on the ceiling of a family room in Reston, VA. Today, we’re going to take you through the rest of the transformation of this family room, and how we achieved it.

The Before

The original room has some beautiful bones – the angled ceiling paired with the floor-to-ceiling brickwork around the fireplace gives the room a lovely shape. However, the walls were painted with a deep red color, making the entire room feel a little small and outdated. Additionally, the wooden floors in this room are incredibly beautiful – a medium-toned wood that was completely drowned out by this aggressive red color. The exposed brick did not match the tone of the walls. Most of the furniture surrounding the fireplace was very short, and in my opinion, a waste of space. One of the best parts of this room is just how tall it is. So I knew that we needed to accentuate that.

The fireplace is clearly the central focus of the room, as it should be. I think that fireplaces are a beautiful feature for any room. I absolutely love the way that this one was designed, with the bricks reaching all the way to the ceiling, and the juxtaposition of the rounded frame around the fireplace, the straight mantelpiece, and the angled corners at the top. The fireplace was going to stay, but I wanted to find a way to use the space more cleverly and give everything that modern update that it was craving.

During

The first step, of course, was planning. I wanted to use the height of the room be to our advantage. I also wanted to extend the framing of the fireplace with two bespoke built-in bookcases on either side. It was important to me that the bookcases didn’t seem placed in the room, but rather a part of the room’s structure. That’s why we opted for bookcases that had shelves to create an angled corner so it seemed like the bookcase was almost emerging from the wall. These shelved corners created a bit of a round shape, which complimented the curved brickwork around the fireplace. As we were installing the new bookcases, we removed the original mantelpiece and marked exactly where the TV would go above the fireplace. We used joinery to connect each bookcase to the bottom trim along the floor, as well as a new mantelpiece connecting the two bookcases over the fireplace.

Once the bookcases were installed and our woodwork complete, it was time to begin pulling the design together. I loved the white color of all the wood, including the wood on the ceiling. I wanted to highlight that, so we opted for a beautiful neutral color from Ralph Lauren. While I wanted the fireplace and the walls to be similar shades, I still wanted them to be different. So I chose to use matte paint on the wall, and glossy paint on the brick. This paintwork allowed the brickwork and the woodwork to stand out in a lovely and subtle contrast that felt modern and purposeful.

After we finished the major components of the room, the final step was styling. I felt that the original room felt crowded, so we kept the decor to a minimum, allowing the shape and structure of the room to really stand out. My client filled her new bookcases with wonderful family collections of books, beautiful artwork, and antique weathervanes.

The After

I love the way that the finished mantelpiece and fireplace turned out. It feels like the entire room has been brought up to date. The white woodwork and the wooden floors look beautiful against the glossy bricks. The styling is much more minimal, making the room seem bigger and cleaner. And all of it looks beautiful underneath the beadboard ceiling. As always, the most important thing is that my client was happy with how it turned out.

If you’re interested in renovating or remodeling a room in your house, let us help you turn your dreams into reality! Head to our services page to see how we can help you today.

Bathroom transformation: Custom Made Vanity

Last week I took you through a before and after transformation of a master bathroom – a plain, one-dimensional bathroom was transformed into a luxurious modern and chic washroom. What I love about designing bathrooms is that all bathrooms are more or less the same…or at least expected to feature the same things: toilet, sink/vanity, shower/bath, and mirror. Because of this, creating a bathroom that really stands out is no easy feat. Every decision is important, no detail missed, with each element deserving careful intention. Today, I’ll be showing you how much thought goes into each element by taking you through how we custom-made the vanity that featured in the final design.

The Original Vanity

The original vanity in the space was boring. There was nothing special about it – and to me, that is the worst place that a design can fall. I would always rather make bold choices and take risks than play it safe and run the risk of being boring. It was clear that the original vanity was designed to be functional, and that’s exactly what it was. With it’s two sinks, plain cupboards and drawers, and plain white counter, it simply got the job done and nothing more. Other than the silver hardware, it was all the same tone and dimension. It was the perfect example of how, without the detail and creativity that a bathroom craves, it will quickly fade into the background and become a space that serves a specific purpose, rather than a space that creates a feeling and atmosphere as well as serving a specific purpose.

Designing the New Vanity

I always opt for custom-made cabinetry and storage spaces where I can. I feel that it gives me more creative freedom and that’s exactly what I needed when designing this bathroom. I wanted to think outside the box for each detail. Because the overall vibe of the finished bathroom was going to be chic and clean, I didn’t want to use any extravagant colors or patterns. I wanted to keep it classic and timeless, while still having that “oomph.” I knew the perfect way to achieve this was through the woodwork. Woodwork is one of my favorite ways to have texture to a design – you quite literally create ridges and dimensions that the eye finds interesting.

The whole bathroom design features a lot of geometric shapes and patterns, as seen in the floor tiles. I wanted to incorporate that motif into this vanity, so I decided to have these beautiful diamond shapes designed onto the cabinet doors below the sinks. Placing the diamond shapes below the round sink created lovely contrast, while still matching the floor. For an extra unique detail, we built three sets of drawers with one set of drawers unconventionally running in between the two cabinets. This felt really interesting to look at and is extremely practical. For a clean bathroom look, you need to have a lot of storage, and I find drawers a fantastic option for bathrooms. Additionally, if there are two people using this bathroom, each will have their own set of drawers, with the set in the middle a perfect place to store shared items like toothpaste and extra towels.

With the framework and basic layout down, we were able to move on to all the finishing details to tie the vanity together.

The Finishing Details

As stated previously, we didn’t want any bold patterns or colors on the vanity, largely because we loved the floor tiles and wanted those to stand out. Because of this, we decided to keep the color scheme neutral, choosing shades and tones that would help those tiles stand out. The base of the vanity was painted with Benjamin Moore’s China White. Of course, we had to use marble for the countertop, so we chose one from Marble Systems Fairfax. We went with a marble that had nice veining but used a light gray against white. This provided something interesting for the eye to dance on, without being too distracting. The grey and white tones really complimented the rest of the color scheme in the bathroom.

Paired with two beautiful silver mirrors from Restoration Hardware, all fittings were done in polished chrome from Rohl. The shiny silver and chrome really helped provide that luxe effect, while still complimenting the color palette we chose. Our vanity lights were also from Restoration hardware, but we custom-made the lampshades in a gorgeous gray silk from Fabricut.

The result

I love the way that the final vanity turned out. I think it is so chic and clean, while still being super interesting. The woodwork really brings it together for me and goes to show that details don’t have to be extravagant or massive in order to have an effect. It was relatively simple changes made from the first vanity to the new vanity, but one blends into the background and provides nothing more than a place to wash up and the other brings its own finesse. Guess which one I prefer!

If you are looking to renovate your bathroom or have cabinetry in need of transformation, let us help you! Among interior designers in Northern Virginia, we are unique because virtually all of our cabinets, upholstery, and window treatments are completely custom-designed. We have ongoing relationships with a range of licensed contractors and skilled craftsmen who work under our supervision on all our projects. Head to our services page to discover how we could collaborate!

Before and After Transformation: Master Bathroom

The bathroom is where you begin and end the day – it’s important that it’s a space where you can feel clean and calm. Personally, I believe that the best bathrooms are ones that feel open and airy, full of light, to start the day with a feeling of a fresh start. Likewise, it’s important that the lighting fixtures are appropriate for a nice atmosphere in the evenings before bed. That’s why this week we’re bringing you a master bathroom transformation – to show you just what a difference design can make!

The Before

The original bathroom was alright. There was nothing wrong with it, so to say. But it was all one-dimensional. Nothing about this bathroom excited me. I really did not like the way that the drapery fell over the windows – there was too much fabric and the color did not really match the general atmosphere. The built-in bathtub was very large, giving a feeling of luxury – but it wasted a lot of space and made the entire bathroom feel smaller. The warm lights combined with the pale yellow wall color made the whole room feel yellow – which is not the ideal color for a bathroom if you ask me. Something about the color scheme made everything feel outdated. One look at this bathroom and I knew that a drastic transformation could take place – and it would be one that would be worth it.

The Design & Process

When first designing this bathroom, I knew I wanted to opt for a more neutral color scheme, focusing on whites and greys – this would look beautiful with natural lighting and feel very clean. To begin, we painted the walls in Farrow & Ball Pavillion Gray #242 as our starting point. The next thing we wanted to tackle were the floors. The bathroom is one of my favorite places to experiment with tiles, because there are so many areas where tiles are appropriate – on the floors, around the shower, etc. I chose an array of tiles for the floor, the shower, and some detail work. I wanted to play with different patterns, to ensure the final design had a lot of texture and dimension, unlike the original.

Additionally, I wanted to ensure that the whole design featured lots of little details – this would help keep the eye fluttering across the room, while still holding true to a simple and clean design. One of the areas I was able to achieve this was in the shower. I chose a classic white and grey marble tile for the majority of the shower walls. But I wanted to create a little arched wall niche in the shower – the perfect place for soaps and toiletries. This little alcove was such a great opportunity to get patterned tiles in, this time in mosaic, the same as the shower floor. My contractors did a fantastic job creating this arch – truly only a real stone craftsman can produce something this perfect, because it involves cutting and shaping all of the stone/tile manually. I’m always so grateful to have the best team!

I also managed to get a lovely texture incorporated into the custom vanity we had built for this bathroom. I love the diamond shapes in the doors and the way that the drawers are installed – slightly unconventionally. I think there’s little more luxurious than having two bathroom sinks, so that’s what we opted for. We chose to have a freestanding tub to create more floor space and open the bathroom up – additionally, we opted for glass shower doors rather than curtains to keep the space feeling airy.

We sourced the mirrors and vanity lights from Restoration Hardware, with the vanity lamp shades custom made in my workroom in gray silk by Fabricut. To really tie the entire design together, we chose to use roman shades which really elevates a room. We used linen from Pindler & Pindler and hand-embroidered decorative tape from Samuel & Sons to tie all the patterns together. Unlike the previous shades, I made sure that these were not bulky, but rather lay flat. Lastly, we installed a toilet from Toto (my favorite place to source toilets) and had chrome hardware installed to match the metallic of the mirrors. All of the plumbing supplies, faucets, and fittings were from Rohl in polished chrome.

The Finished Bathroom

I am incredibly proud of how this bathroom turned out. I think it feels elevated, clean, luxurious, and bright…truly the best place to start and end each day. I think the two bathrooms are so radically different, you may not even tell that they were once the same bathroom!

If you are interested in renovating a bathroom in your house – let us help you! Head to our services page to book your free consultation today.

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