Interior Design Archives - Page 14 of 14

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 Something about the color scheme made everything feel outdated.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.

Fabulous Find Underneath Wall to Wall Carpeting

Today we are back in Great Falls, Virginia, working with a client to remodel their living room. When I saw the space, I instantly felt that the wall-to-wall carpeting was outdated and needed to go. Wall-to-Wall carpeting can sometimes work, but in most cases, it makes the room seem smaller. Not to mention that wall-to-wall carpeting traps a lot of dust, which is no good for anyone with allergies. The other issue with wall-to-wall carpeting is that it makes it more difficult to split the room up into sections, whereas using rugs allows the floor to be divided up.

All this to say that the wall-to-wall carpeting needed to go. Keep reading to find out how this first step led to the transformation of this living room floor.

Tearing Up The Carpeting

My lovely contractors and I got to work tearing up the old carpet. It had been installed in sections, so we began removing each carpet piece, the padding, and the tack strips. And guess what we found?! The most beautiful hardwood floors that I knew would look stunning with a bit of TLC. The wood was in great condition and just needed a little restoration and detail work. I was relieved to see this because when removing the carpet you don’t always know what you’re going to find underneath. Oftentimes, it reveals damaged or molding floorboards. We were all so delighted to find the beautiful woodwork.

Preparing the Design

As soon as my client and I saw the beautiful wood floor, we knew it was going to stay. But I knew some detail work would take this from a nice living room to a stunning living room. The living room is two steps down from a landing that features black marble. There are pillars around this landing that stand on black bases. When set up with furniture, the room had two beautiful black cabinets and a lovely modern black coffee table. I wanted to incorporate this black accent color into the floors for continuity in the design, so I planned on giving the floors a black-painted border. With all that in mind, we could begin the restoration process.

Restoring the Wood

We were happy with the color of the wood and didn’t want to stain it again, so the first step to the restoration process was buffing the floors to prepare them for a wood finish. Buffing is basically where you remove the very thin top layer of wood finish previously laid down, thereby also removing any built-up dust or grime. This process is similar to very fine sanding. My contractors used an industrial floor buffer for the main floor and hand-buffed the stairs. After that, we measured a 4-inch border around the edges of the room, taking our time and being very precise – it wouldn’t work unless it was neat.

Once the wood was prepped, we laid down a water-based satin wood finish to give the wood that glossy sheen. A water-based satin finish is a great choice for a living space because it is scuff-resistant and easy to clean. The wood is looking really beautiful already!

Finishing Touches

After the wood was restored, the only job left was to paint the black border around the room. Using tape for precision, we took our time with this step ensuring that it was perfect. Once the wood finish and the paint were dry, the floor transformation was complete. We moved all the furniture back into the room, and what an incredible difference the floors have made! The surprise of the beautiful wooden floors below the original carpeting gave way to such a magnificent finished design. The wooden floors make the entire room feel so much warmer. I absolutely love how the black border turned out and more importantly, my client loved it too. All that is missing from this beautiful living room is a nice area rug for the sofas.

Interested in renovating?

If you have outdated wall-to-wall carpeting, it’s time to consider renovating. Changing the floors goes to show that sometimes you don’t need a million changes to transform a room. Oftentimes one key change can make the biggest difference. However, working on floors is always a laborious task because you often need to be on your hands and knees to complete the work. Let me and my team of highly skilled contractors and craftsmen help you! Visit our services page to book your free consultation today.

Shop The Look: Young Lady’s Bathroom Transformation

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.

We took a few pictures before the bathroom transformation took place, and 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 transformation 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.

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