renovation Archives - Page 13 of 15 - Kelley Astore Interiors

Simple Elegance: Installing Grasscloth Wallpaper

When it comes to your walls and how you design them, there are endless possibilities from paint, to woodworking, to wallpaper. At Kelley Astore Interiors, we’ve done quite a few articles on choosing the best paint colors, but sometimes a room begs for a little more impact than paint provides. That’s where textured wallpaper comes to play. My favorite? Grasscloth. Keep reading to find out how I used it recently in a dining room design, and why grasscloth is always a great choice!

Grasscloth wallpaper is a beautiful material made of fibers from different types of grasses such as jute or rushes. It comes in a variety of different colors and designs but the effect is always the same. It harbors texture and dimension into a design without being too busy or cluttered. Using grasscloth wallpaper is one of the easiest ways to add simple elegance to any room.

My client in Great Falls, VA asked us to re-design her dining room. There was a very formal Venetian chandelier, that would eventually be changed, hanging above a traditional dining room table and chairs. The room was originally painted a deep sea-blue with a white panel wainscoting beneath the chair rail. Because there was such a strong contrast between the blue and the white, and because the blue was on the top half of the wall, the room looked much smaller and more cramped than it actually was. The light was being absorbed into the sea-blue paint. It clashed with the chandelier and the room felt outdated and imbalanced.

I knew that if I addressed the walls, the client would get an entirely new dining room. Oftentimes one simple change can make all the difference in a design. The room itself was very simple, with a dining table and chairs, an acrylic console table, and a few other pieces. I really liked how, with just these few key pieces of furniture, the room could be transformed into something truly elegant. That’s when I knew that grasscloth wallpaper was the way to go.

There are many different fabric houses to buy grasscloth, this particular grasscloth is from Kravet. Kravet is an amazing 5th generation family-owned business that was established in 1918. They sell a variety of wall coverings, fabrics, furnishings, and other accessories. Everything I’ve ever purchased from Kravet has been of the highest quality and utmost beauty. It started as a small fabric house and is now one of the leaders of the design industry. Kravet carries a multitude of grasscloth wallpapers in varied textures, like the one I used for this client, as well as more elaborate designs and even scenic pictures.

My client and I agreed on a neutral-toned grasscloth with a touch of blue for the dining room. It provided lovely contrast with the white paneling or wainscoting, without being too dark like the previous sea-blue. My contractor worked to prep the walls, cut the grasscloth to size on location, and finally installed it. The results are truly a testament to how one change can transform a room!

With the new grasscloth installed, the room instantly felt so much bigger and newer. It had a modern and elegant edge. I am so pleased with the results and highly recommend grasscloth when trying to spruce up any room.

To see more images and videos from this transformation be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Pinterest. If you haven’t already caught it, check out the front entrance transformation we did for the same client in Great Falls. If you would like to work with me on transforming any or all parts of your home, head to the services page to book your free consultation!

Giving your Home Entrance a Bespoke Look

The entrance to your home is everything. It is the first thing to greet you after a long day, and the first thing to welcome any guest that comes into your house. It is similar to the opening paragraph of a novel: the reader, or your guest, will begin to make judgments of what lies beyond as soon as they see the home entrance. Therefore, a beautiful bespoke home entrance can transform the look of a house from mediocre to grand. I had the pleasure of designing a bespoke home entrance for a client in The Great Falls and today I’m going to take you through the before and after transformation!

The builder installed the original front door, it was too plain for the look of the house; a single door surrounded by side window panels, a transom window, and trim. As soon as I saw it, I knew that this entrance was simply begging to have double doors. I wasn’t a fan of the dark brown wood because I felt there could be greater contrast against the brick the house was built with. The client wanted something that felt classy and chic, whilst also being practical and without losing the light from the windows. With that, I got to work on the design, and my contractors got to work preparing the site with protective plastic and cloths – even though a lot of the work was being done on the “outside” of the house, we didn’t want the brick porch to get covered in powdery fallout!

My builders then proceeded to demolish and remove the original door, windows, and transom. It is a difficult task to remove such a large part of the house without damaging anything surrounding it. My contractors have decades of experience and were able to work swiftly and efficiently. Be sure to follow my Instagram or Facebook for videos of them working!

Inspired by French doors, I decided to install two custom doors, each with 6 individual lights or windows. The double doors will have anyone entering or exiting that home feeling like an A-list celebrity. The new doors actually let more light in than the previous, allowing the sun to stream in like a dreamy afternoon in Paris.

My contractors worked extremely hard to ensure that the door we had designed fit perfectly with the house. It required a lot of woodworking and measuring on-site to create these custom doors. However, as soon as they were installed, space was opened up and the entrance began to take its form.

To complete the transformation, all that was left was the finishing touches and details. We had to install some drywall where the transom window was removed, as well as build up a new trim around the door. All existing woodwork and new woodwork were speckled and sanded. We then proceeded to paint both the interior and exterior trim a lovely white color for that beautiful contrast against the black doors.

Just like that, the entrance was transformed! We paired it with a black welcome mat for continuity. The black doors also match the beautiful black planters on either side of the porch, as well as the black mounted lamps on either side. Going with double doors allowed for that symmetry to really shine through. Most importantly, the client was delighted with their new bespoke entrance!

To give your home entrance a bespoke look, head to our services page to book your free consultation!

Renovate Your Kitchen – 4 Reasons Why You Should

The kitchen is a crucially important part of your living spaces Food is a delicate form of love, making the kitchen the heart of the home. Having a beautiful large space to prepare and enjoy food supports a healthy relationship between cooking and eating. If you have children, raising them to appreciate cooking equips them with essential tools for when they step out on their own. If you’re able to renovate one thing in your house, do not neglect the kitchen. It makes all the difference. Keep reading to learn the 4 reasons why you should start renovating your kitchen today!

1. Renovation Gives You Creative Control

Gutting your current kitchen and starting from scratch allows you to build the kitchen you’ve always dreamed of. Renovation always gives you the most creative control in a design process, because it gives you a blank canvas to work on. Your imagination becomes your starting point and you can ensure that it looks and functions in a way that’s perfect for you and your family. Everyone has different needs and priorities, so customization is key. I worked with a client who wanted to do a full kitchen renovation. The original design felt outdated and seemed to suck all the natural light out of the room. As soon as I saw it, I knew there was a more clever way to use the space in a way that would brighten the whole space while providing everything the client wanted and needed from their kitchen.

2. It Makes Mealtimes Easier

Having a smart layout with a lot of storage space and counter space will make mealtimes much easier for everyone involved, especially if you’re a busy parent. Having a kitchen island large enough to have bar stools is one of the best ways to tackle this. It gives you plenty of space to prepare meals and allows your or your children to eat under supervision or while you clean. Custom-made kitchen islands are designed to your needs including size and whether you’d like it to have a sink, a dishwasher, internal storage, a stove, etc. The large amounts of additional counter space will allow the kids or your friends to get involved in cooking without the kitchen becoming too cluttered or chaotic.

For this client, we opted for a bespoke kitchen island with a beautiful marble top, built-in shelves, and amenities including a small sink, as well as four high chairs for casual mealtimes.

3. Organization Reduces Stress

Renovating your kitchen allows you to organize it in a way that works for you. Having enough storage available will largely reduce stress in a kitchen. Any successful chef will tell you that keeping a clean workspace is key to cooking delicious meals, and having smart organization makes it easy to keep things tidy. It also makes doing the dishes a lot easier. Additionally, our brains often associate clutter and anxiety together, so organizing your kitchen in a way that hides most of the kitchen clutter away gives a cleaner, more luxurious look that will ease any stress.

This was one of the priorities for this client, so we took extra care with all the built-in cabinetry. We opted for white cabinets to reflect the beautiful natural light in the kitchen, and also opted for the refrigerator and freezer to be built into cabinetry creating a cleaner look. We made sure to include a bunch of different cabinets and drawers of all different sizes to make organizing kitchen tools and crockery easier. A clean and tidy space encourages a clean and tidy mind!

4. A New Kitchen Paves the way to Post-Pandemic Parties

As more and more people get vaccinated, it feels like we’re finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Dinner parties, brunches, game days, and BBQs with all our family and friends are well underway, and we cannot wait! What better way to celebrate the recovery of our world than with a beautiful kitchen to prepare and host parties for your loved ones? If you’re preparing food for a large group of people, you’re going to want plenty of space to do it. Additionally, an old worn-down kitchen is not as welcoming and doesn’t feel as hygienic as a new beautifully renovated kitchen. Impress and surprise your family and friends with a new renovation.

One of the key ways to make this kitchen feel more welcoming was brightening it up. We went with a fairly neutral palette, focusing on white cabinetries, pale gray marble, and silver hardware detailing. We added lights at the top of the built-in cabinets lining the walls, as well as along the backsplash to brighten everything up. We decided to put the main sink directly in front of the window to make doing the dishes more enjoyable. To balance it out, we opted for beautiful dark hardwood floors.

Stop Putting It Off, Book Your Consultation Today!

If there’s anything we learned from this past year and a half, it’s that life is too short to put off the things that bring us joy. We’ve learned the importance of the home feeling and functioning as a safe haven, and we’ve definitely learned much joy socialization really brings. There are too many reasons to renovate your kitchen, that it would be silly to put it off any longer. It may feel like an impossibly big and daunting task, but that’s what we’re here for.

At Kelley Astore Interiors, we oversee and manage the entire renovating and decorating process. We have ongoing relationships with a range of licensed contractors and skilled craftsmen who work under our supervision on all our projects. We take full responsibility for seeing that the entire project is finished on time and on budget and that all work is of the highest quality. We take the worry out of the process for our clients. Visit our services page to get started today!

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