Renovations Archives - Page 10 of 17 - Kelley Astore Interiors

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 Something about the color scheme made everything feel outdated.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.

My Favorite Way to Start a Design: Tips and Tricks for Rugs

Whenever you’re designing a space, one of the first decisions you’ll need to make is your color palette. Your client might tell you featuring colors they want, but unless you’re well versed in interior design, it can be difficult to know what shades and tones to choose – what unexpected combination will take the design to the next level. And I’m here to give you one of my secret go-to tricks that will ensure your design palette comes together seamlessly.

My Secret

…Start with a beautiful rug! This will allow you to match all your paint swatches and fabric choices right up against the rug. You can choose tones that compliment or are similar to tones in the rug, which will then build the foundation for the rest of your palette and design! Oriental and Persian rugs are so intricate and, although you might not realize it when you first look at them, feature so many different colors and tones. That’s why using it as a base for the rest of your design is almost like a life hack. Let’s take a look at an example from a project earlier this year.

A Rug for a Home Office

I designed a home office for a gentleman in Great Falls, Virginia. We started with a beautiful rug that both the client and I loved. When you first look at the rug, the stand-out color is blue. But upon further inspection, you begin to see all the beige and mocha details and tones. There are actually many different shades of beige and mocha, which gave us a lot of options on the direction we wanted to take. If we were going for a moodier design, I would likely be drawn to the deeper caramel browns in the rug for the wall colors. However, this was for a home office, so I wanted the room to be a place that felt inviting to work in – full of natural light. Additionally, the color of the wood floors was already similar to the mocha colors in the rug. To contrast this, we focused on some of the lightest tones of sandy beige in the rug and found a paint color that matched and complemented this. We then decided to match the fabrics to the darker shades, working as accents, without taking away any of the airiness of the room.

Taking this approach meant that when the final design came together – the blue was able to stand out even more against all the colors in the room that were complimenting it. The rug became a statement that made sense.

Tips for Finding the Perfect Rug

We know what you’re thinking….it’s all great, but how do you even find a good rug to start with?!

Budget

The first thing to consider is your budget. The best rugs will be handmade, so money is definitely something to consider. Beautiful rugs can get expensive pretty quickly. However, they do so much for a design that I would encourage you not to be afraid of spending a good portion of your budget on the rug – especially if it will be your color palette. This is another reason I often start with the rug – it should never be an afterthought. You don’t want to leave it to the last minute and then discover you can’t afford it!

Size

The next thing to consider is size – will it cover most of the floor? Just a seating area? Underneath a coffee table? If your budget is tight, you can try to find a rug with a smaller surface area – that way you can still get the punch and palette of the rug without breaking the bank.

Material

I always recommend going for woolen rugs, as they are much more durable. Woolen rugs can be put in high-traffic zones and still look fresh years down the line. Other materials wear down quickly with foot traffic and can end up looking fairly drab.

See it in Person

My next tip is to simply google any rug show-rooms near you and make a day out of it! If you’re working with a client, ask them to come with you! It is impossible for me to tell you which rug to choose because each one – especially the handmade ones – are unique. You’ll know what the right rug is when you see it.

Work with a professional

Lastly, if you are still struggling, there is no shame in working with an interior designer! You may not have the time to select the ideal rug for your project. If you work with a professional interior designer, you can share your preferences and let the expert narrow down the best choices for you. Head to our services page to see how we may be able to help you today!

Before & After Transformation: Sisal Stair Runner

When designing any space, it’s easy to focus on the larger elements of the design like the layout and main furniture pieces, while losing track of all the small details that really complete a design. Without attention given to the details, a design will end up looking amateur and incomplete. In today’s before and after transformation, we’ll be showing you how one seemingly insignificant detail can really change an entire design’s aesthetic and functionality.

The Space

As you may know, if you’ve been following our blogs, I’ve done quite a bit of work recently on remodeling a beautiful house in Great Falls, Virginia. We redid their entrance, dining room, home office and lighting throughout the house, and more. We have also done quite a lot of work on their living room, which leads to a beautiful winding staircase. As we completed smaller sections of the house, we knew that we could give attention to the elements that connect each space, this stairwell being a prime example.

The Before

The original design had a very fluffy beige stair runner on these gorgeous steps. The fluffiness of the carpet didn’t match the chic aesthetic of the rest of the house. The stairs stood out – not in the way you want them to. They looked quite dated against the lovely black marble floors and created too much contrast against the wooden stairs. When looking at the design, you might not initially realize how much of an eyesore this stair runner actually was – it was a relatively small detail compared to the entirety of the house, and the tone of the carpet wasn’t completely off. However, I knew that we could complement the stain of the wood better, in a way that would ultimately be more beautiful and more functional.

The Why

There are a number of reasons why I think sisal is the best material for stair runners – stairs get so much foot traffic, that a carpet like the one originally there would get worn out quickly and end up looking dirty. Sisal on the other hand is incredibly durable and holds up well through time. Additionally, sisal has a better grip which will make the stairs easier and safer to use – especially for those who are at risk of falling and getting seriously injured. But beyond practicality, a huge design trend at the moment is bringing nature inside. There is something so beautiful using a natural material like sisal in such a modern house – it grounds the design and offers something different for the eye to land upon. It’s no surprise then that as soon as I saw this stairwell, I knew that a sisal stair runner would be the right choice.

The After

We opted for a runner that had a lovely two-toned pattern with a thicker binding on either side in a lighter color. The binding on the sisal provides a lovely contrast to the darker wood, and the light pattern keeps the look interesting. However, all the tones in the sisal are much closer to the tones of the wood, in comparison to the original carpet. Making the contrast more subtle means the eye can enjoy the winding structure of the stairs more and appreciate the contrast already provided between the neutral walls/trim and the wooden stairs.

The Takeaway

I am so happy with how this transformation ended up, and more importantly, my client was happy. Take a look at the before and after photos and see the massive difference it made! The sisal looks far more intentional and thought-out. Design is like any other art: each detail matters and deserves equal attention to the rest of the work. If you are designing a home and think you may be missing out on important details, let us help you! Head to our services page to book your free consultation today!

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