Master Renovation

A good friend's mom recently asked me to help her fix her house....her whole house! Luckily, her husband is a contractor and is completely down with doing the work! While the fun stuff (furniture, fabrics, accessories) will come later, here is an image of my proposed idea for structural changes to the back half of her house!

Currently she has a really long an narrow room adjacent to the master that acts as a study and music room. I am proposing two different ideas, both of which will make the spaces more functional and will add value to the house!

Master Bathroom Renovation

A few months ago, a co-worker at the YMCA asked me if I had time to help her renovate her master bathroom. I decided that I would make time because I LOVE doing these types of small projects... you get great results in a short amount of time!

When I went to take a look at the space, all I kept thinking was "this house is gorgeous, what in the world needs to be re-done?!" Then we got to the master bathroom....

Since buying the house, Susan and her husband have slowly moved from room to room updating and customizing the spaces...leaving their bathroom as the last project to undertake. The 80's maroon and green floral wallpaper is not exactly what you want to see first thing in the morning...

We decided the wallpaper was the first thing that had to go. After re-surfacing the walls, we put wainscot around the room and painted the space above the wainscot a calming blue color to keep within the contemporary country theme of the rest of the house.

Over the tub, we added a new light fixture and ceiling medallion to bring your eyes into that area and to create mood lighting for bath time! We also replaced the fixtures and the window treatments.

We kept the tile, tub, and toilet, but had to draw the line at the shower. This plastic pop-up thing was very outdated and had to go. We took the shower out and replaced it with a gorgeous floor to ceiling tile with glass mosaic accent that tie in the new bronze fixtures throughout the space. We extended the front of the shower, adding about 6 inches of interior space, and added a custom glass facade.

The most dramatic part of this renovation was the vanity because it's the first thing you see when you walk in the door, and because everything about it is brand spanking new. We replaced the vanity with a solid construction double vanity that has a ton of storage, a wainscot detail on the doors, and granite countertops. We chose bronze fixtures to add some contrast to the lighter surrounding colors and tie in the dark brown in the granite.

Vanity Before

Vanity After

ReDesign

I have so many things going on right now--in both my personal and professional world-- that it's been hard finding the time to blog! I am currently wrapping up three interior design jobs, each of which will soon be featured on the blog.

The first project came to me from a woman who found my website while searching online. She recently bought a new (huge) house and was overwhelmed with designing a new space. She told me that she had recently painted her entire house and it was so emotionally draining (that and the baby she's expecting...) that she needed help with the rest. The first area we tackled was a hallway/balcony area that was an odd shape and really had no function except that it provided a large window for her dog to bark at passerbys all day. She sent me a few images of the space and other furniture in her house, paint colors, and dimensions...

.....and these are the three ideas I came up with. I went for light and whimsical patterns and shapes to try and combat the hard, dark, masculine feel of the space. I think the two together will balance perfectly!

The first is a fun feminine look with a little bit of a retro vibe that picks up in the rug pattern and chaise shape.

The second look is similar to the first, but has a little bit of a grown-and-sexy, more contemporary look ;)

The final design was a more masculine, clean lined look that matches her current furniture perfectly!

Hiring a designer to create idea boards like these is a great way to get some fresh new unbiased ideas about a space BEFORE painting and purchasing things. (and its cheap...)

Look for the next few designs soon :)

Material Boards

Colors and materials make up 50% of the design of a space and are often the most difficult ideas to get across to a customer. An easy way to sell a space and get a customer on board (without modeling and creating renderings) is to make a material/finish board. Here is one that I have recently completed for a client...

The board is arranged by room and shows how materials and colors can be different from room to room, but can still flow together throughout the entire house.

TTFN ;)

Au Naturale Colors

Here are two color palettes that I recently came up with for a client using Valspar paints. She loves natural cool colored tones and has a slightly masculine interior style. Hopefully someone else out there can use these calming color palettes!!

Fun Updates

Going green....and saving some too.

First order of business...I passed my LEED Green Associates exam a few weeks ago and can now officially add LEED GA to the end of my title. (LEED is the internationally recognized green building certification system-more info here)

While studying for this exam, I started thinking about how wasteful wedding invitations are...both for the environment and for my wallet. Why is it necessary to have an outer envelope with a stamp, an inner envelope with just names, and then ANOTHER envelope for the RSVP return? Just because our grandmothers did this doesn't mean we should still be doing it. Some people take their solution to this issue to the extreme and are actually sending out completely virtual invites. Instead, I decided to streamline tradition and do what I think (hope) will work for the best. I eliminated the inner envelope and the RSVP envelope alltogether and I created an RSVP e-mail. Everyone I plan to invite lives in civilization and has access to the internet. If they don't know how to use it, they can find someone to help them. If they can't find someone to help them, then they either call, or I end up calling them. NOT AN ISSUE and totally worth saving $100 bucks on envelopes and $50 in stamps!

I got the idea for this lacy design off the internet, so I can't take complete credit. I think it blows my other two (original) ideas out of the water. What do you think?

Designer Spotlight: Molly Frey

Molly Frey's design style in 3 words: Clean, Cool, Comfortable.

They are the types of spa-like spaces that you want to come back to after a long day on the beach. This Massachusetts designer was recently named one of the 20 Young Designers to Watch by Traditional Homes magazine (where I hope to be one day....) so take a deep breath, relax, and enjoy these images ;)

You can see more of Molly Frey at her blog.

Terrific Time Wasting Websites

You're either going to love me or hate me for doing this.... but I need to share my obsessions. If you have any other great ones, add them in the comment section!!

Style Me Pretty is my favorite wedding inspiration website. They update frequently, have great photography, and amazing ideas for brides, party planners, and designers.

Do you ever watch Entertainment Tonight or any other celebrity/entertainment show and wonder where they get their clothes? The Budget Babe website shows inexpensive ways to get star looks for less.

Hostess with the Mostess is an entertaining/party planning website with TONS of great (do-able) ideas...think of a fun and contemporary version of Martha Stewart.

ModCloth...... first and last thing I check everyday. Throughout the day they add unique and fun clothes/accessories/home decor created by unknown designers. They usually don't stock many of the items, so check consistently ;)


Grey Likes Weddings is obviously a wedding inspiration site. They display real weddings as well as styled photoshoots that are great inspirations for photographers, designers, and party planners.

Color Collective is a great color inspiration resource. The palettes come from art, fashion, photography, and architecture, so you're sure to find something unique.

Everything Fabulous is a very feminine design/fashion/food/beauty blog with a shabby chic style.

This is Glamorous displays photography, fashion, and again...everything feminine.

Design Sponge is a blog with a huge database of interesting blogs that range from design inspiration, vacation destinations, recipes, etc.

Apartment Therapy has everything from new products, to photography, to architecture. It's a great place to go for unique inspiration.

Have fun :)

Beach Cottage Re-Design

Recently a friend came to me for design advice... She desperately wanted to either sell her house or fix it up so that she would fall back in love with the house she purchased years ago. Her taste is very fun and eclectic, which is why we based the design around an old restaurant sign. Here are the before and after renderings...

I decided to paint the wood planks to lighten up the space, but maintain the original character. Isn't it amazing how different the space looks with a coat (or three) of paint!!
The new furniture is an eclectic mixture of styles, materials, and finishes and is arranged in a way that enhances the openness of the space. I added a lot of built-ins for storage and additional cabinetry in the kitchen. The kitchen layout was re-worked to maximize the functionality of the space.

Liberty Fabrics

While blog hunting today, I came across this European company with vintage inspired fabrics. Check it.

http://www.liberty.co.uk/fcp/departmenthome/dept/fabrics?resetFilters=true

Yacht Interior Design

As most of you probably already know, my full time job is with a naval architecture and marine engineering firm, where I provide interior design services for yachts. Before working here, I had never even been inside of a YACHT (small boat, yes...yacht, no) and had NO clue how different they were to design than architecture. My first day of work, people were using words that literally sounded like another language.... sheer, chine, keel, leeward, windward, amidships, athwartships...blablabla. Anywho, after a long lesson on boat vocab and a few courses on Marine Interior Design, I began to feel more comfortable with my career choice. (and with all of my newfound boat knowledge, I am now able to impress the deckhands at the marina ;)

The owners of these super expensive vessels opt for the most luxurious and over-the-top designs, most of which end up being huge engineering and architectural feats because of all of the restrictions and challenges of working on a moving space. Here are some of my favorite yacht interiors!

LOVE this head (yes, on a boat, its the head). The tiles look like scales, the space looks clean and exciting.

This definitely reminds me of a residential bathroom. Very architectural and clean looking.

Playful and casual...

City chic, sophisticated loft...

Cool, clean-lined modern simplicity...

Classic, warm, and inviting...

You likey?