Renovations Archives - Page 5 of 17 - Kelley Astore Interiors

5 Things That You Can Have Custom-Made

From bathrooms to bedrooms to kitchens, you can have something custom-made for any room in your house. There are many items that can be custom-made for the home, such as curtains, furniture, built-ins, and cabinetry. I enjoy adding custom-made pieces to my designs because of the complexity they add to a room. My recent projects including custom-made items are a master bathroom with custom vanity, custom bookshelves for bedrooms and home offices, and something a little out of the ordinary, custom desk skirts.

Custom-Made Bathroom Vanity

This master bathroom custom vanity is made from a wood called Sapele or African mahogany. It is naturally golden to dark reddish-brown, but we stained it to a darker brown to contrast beautifully against the marble floors with gray veining. Sapele is a more cost-effective option to Genuine Mahogany and is a very close match in visual appeal, wood processing, and durability. The irregularities in both grain patterns give them an exotic look leading to their popularity around the world. A great addition to the vanity was a pull-out drawer cut out under the sink so no space was wasted. It is great for storing hairbrushes, combs, razors, toothbrushes, and toothpaste. Bonuses such as this are just one of the reasons why I love custom-made cabinetry!

Custom-Made Kitchen Island

For this kitchen, I designed a custom island. As you’ll notice, it is not a perfect rectangle, giving it more character. My favorite enhancements are the prep sink, having multiple sinks in a kitchen is a game-changer, and the microwave drawer is way more appealing to the aesthetic than a countertop microwave or one that hangs above the stove. Also, there is plenty of storage space! The drawer under the microwave can be great for organizing your Tupperware and we installed shelves on one side for a collection of ironstone pots and cookbooks. Lastly, the faux paint finish on the island was carefully colored to match the exquisite marble slab on top.

Custom-Made Cabinets

This is one of my favorite custom cabinet projects! All of the cabinets are stunning cherry and stretch from floor to ceiling for maximum storage. We placed glass mosaic tile as the backsplash and a warm granite countertop to compliment the cabinets. Furthermore, the wine cooler had a perfect home in the kitchen because of all the cabinets being custom made.

Custom-Made Built-In Bookcase

I designed a built-in bookshelf with a desk for a young man’s bedroom to blanket the wall across from the foot of his bed. Joinery crown molding was placed at the top and baseboard molding at the bottom, both continue onto every wall in the room. The integration of an upholstered memo board behind the desk can hold photos and important notes or reminders.

The below picture is from my home office, where you’ll see custom-made built-in units. I created this layout to house my fabric books in the upper cabinets and added doors to the lower shelves to keep clutter out of sight.

Custom-Made Desk Skirts

On the other side of my office are my two desks. I had desk skirts, also called table coverings, made to disguise wires and computer modems and create extra storage space. The gathered skirts are made out of 100% linen fabric by Pindler.

Stylish Blue-Gray Bathroom Renovation

We completely gutted this bathroom to give it a whole new makeover, let’s dive into the nitty-gritty!

At First Glance

In the “before” photo, you can see that this bathroom is a bit outdated. It has old white ceramic shower tiles and white subway tiles on the floor. The brass shower door is bulky and could use a sleek design. The only lighting is above the vanity and the vanity itself could be more functional. We kept the general layout of the bathroom to avoid having to install new plumbing and pipes.

The Lighting

Since the only lighting was above the vanity, we installed new recessed lighting which brightened the room. A night and day difference… literally! The fixture above the vanity mirror received an upgrade as well.

The Vanity

We added a new vanity that was more functional with a bit more counter space. We chose one with several drawers for improved organization. The square sink and new faucet gave it a more up-to-date appearance. The generous white mirror above the vanity makes the space appear larger.

The Shower

This was our favorite upgrade to the entire bathroom! The walls of the shower are gorgeous navy blue handmade tiles with glaze on them, THE color everyone is using right now. We used 1 x 1 tumbled marble tiles for the shower floor to give it dimension. All the brass on the old shower door was an eyesore so we opted for floor-to-ceiling solid glass panels for a crisp, more open design. The only things visible were a few brackets, a couple of hinges, and a handle, all of the polished chrome.

The Toilet

We couldn’t leave an old toilet in a beautifully renovated bathroom, so we put in a Toto Toilet that has a special finish on it called Sani Gloss to help keep the bowl clean. Plus, the style screams “hi, I’m new here!”.

The Flooring

The thing I love most about this tile is that it looks like marble but it is actually porcelain! This is a much more affordable option but is absolutely beautiful. It could fool almost anyone at first glance with the gray vein running through it all. We chose to use 12 x 24 tiles because a larger tile makes the room appear more spacious.

The Finishing Touch

The walls were a bit too ostentatious. We elected to paint them a more subtle color to give the bathroom a clean and hygienic feel. The blue-gray color pulls together the navy shower tiles with the gray vein in the floor to complete this stylish bathroom renovation!

Shop The Look: Young Lady’s Bathroom

I’m excited to share with you the final product of a Young Lady’s Bathroom transformation that we completed just before Thanksgiving in 2021!

The Before.

Here are a few pictures of the bathroom before the transformation took place. While there is nothing necessarily wrong with it, it was clear that a little bit of TLC would truly transform the space. Here, I feel the vertical stripes on the walls made the already-small room appear much smaller than it actually was, creating a slightly claustrophobic atmosphere.

The Colors.

The color palette is much more important than you may initially believe when it comes to bathroom design. In this case, I decided to opt for a rather simplistic color scheme, combining a bright white shade with pastel blue hues. These shades are commonly featured in bathrooms – and for a good reason. This is because they give the room a clean and hygienic feel, which is perhaps more important in the bathroom than anywhere else in the home!

In this instance, we painted the walls in the stunning Lily White shade from Benjamin Moore. As the color white is light-reflective, this instantly makes the bathroom look bigger.

Tiles.

My favorite part of this bathroom is, without a doubt, the tiles behind the vanity. Handmade by Marble Systems, they feature a simplistic yet effective blue and white geometric pattern that adds a new dimension to the bathroom. We also installed unique ‘raised’ shower tiles in the back wall of the shower, which added a further dimension to the space.

It goes without saying that tiles are the perfect choice for bathroom decor since they are easy to clean and resistant to the build-up of moisture. This makes bathroom maintenance a breeze! In terms of maintenance, we also decided to install a glass shower door, removing the old shower curtain previously hung by the owner. Again, this is much easier to clean and gives the space a more modern-finish, perfect for a young lady!

Mirror & Vanity.

As mentioned previously, the vanity became the focal point of the room once we added the handmade tiles. Here, you can see the prep behind installing a mirror within the space. We used blue tape to measure out the exact location of the mirror and sconces, which were then installed upon the tile for a clean, professional finish.

The vanity is painted white in order to match the rest of the space. However, it has a stunning marble countertop, which helps bring a bit of luxury into this bathroom and pairs nicely with the silver furnishings dotted around the space, such as towel racks and plumbing fixtures like the shower and faucets. The vanity is also on the larger side, with ten drawers meaning there are plenty of storage options for the user – whether she chooses to store make-up or toiletries in the space.

Once we had installed all of the fixtures, lighting was the step of the process. We chose to hang two wall-mounted lights in the bathroom, which are both sophisticated and practical.

« First ‹ Prev 2 3 456 7 8 Next ›Last »