A Wallpaper I Love and Bathroom Plans

I'm planning a face lift for my powder room/laundry on the first floor of our 25 year old house.  It's very tired.   Like I'm yawning as I write this kind of tired.

My starting point is this Sanderson wallpaper I fell in love with the minute the rep showed it to me.
Here's the paper against my bathroom floor, which will be staying for this project...

I love the movement and scale of  the wallpaper pattern against the rigid lines of the floor tile.  The room is small, so I didn't want to get too big with the pattern, but I really wanted something fairly large and airy.    I couldn't get great lighting for the picture, so rest assured it's not as cold as it appears.  The background of the paper is a warm white, not quite true to color in this image (the bottom right of the paper is truest to the color).  All the shades of gray are a great compliment to the warmth of the wood in the space.

I think adding an aged brass sconce would be a great addition.  Here are some contenders...

I'm really excited about the lighting.  Right now, there is the cheapest, $2.95 box store flush mount that has been there since the house was built, even though I swore it would go the minute we moved in 7+ years ago.  Why do we do that to ourselves?  Live with what we hate?  Anyway, one sconce will make a huge difference in the room, as will a new ceiling fixture.

Here's a mirror I'm thinking about, but I'm not really sure yet what color direction I will go on the mirror.  I adore the lines of this one, though...

This bathroom has a window that looks onto the deck, so  privacy is a must.  I'm thinking a roman shade with a great trim.  More on that to come.   All of this is just in the "what if I did this?" stage, but I will share the final plan soon.

The need for spring definitely has me thinking about freshening up our home.  Does that happen to you at the end of the long cold winter?

Before and After -- Master Bathroom

I love before and after's because they give the client a really clear view of how far we've come on a project.  This is the master bath in this house, which I have shown many times on my blog House and Home Defined.

Here's the before...

This is decidedly not my client's style.  They are an eclectic mix of traditional, southwestern, rustic, and places in between.  Everything but the tub and vanity/countertop was going -- a major face lift was in the asking.  My challenge was to capture their tastes and personalities while incorporating the blue-gray tub and carrera.

Here's the after...

All the blue-gray tile is gone, the white tile floor, the window treatments, mirror, and lights.  Woven wood shades are under the cornices.  Yellow and gray prevail, a hold over scheme from the former look, but much softer and more rustic.

What doesn't come through in these images is that the glass accent tile has blue gray in it, and the floor and tub surround tiles are a sandy gold with hints of gray running through them.  (The tub is a much more muted tone than appears here.) The light fixtures have a marble backplate that matches the marble jams in the shower stall, and the chrome accents tie to the other chrome elements in the room.  The custom mirrors have shades of sandy gold and silver in them.

Here's the old view from the bedroom...

And here it is now...

This shot above gives you a better idea of the shading in the tile.

In other news, thank you for joining me here at my new home, 6 Wilson!  House and Home Defined was a labor of love, but I can't keep up two blogs, a full time job as a Decorator,  6 Wilson on Etsy, and mantain my role as wife and mom without loosing my mind, so House and Home Defined is being retired.  Everything I did there, plus news from 6 Wilson, will now be here.

Talk to you soon, my friends!!

Granite in the Bathroom

My Christmas client from last year has asked me to give her son's bathroom a face lift.   Here's the granite, the roman shade fabric, and the trim for the shade...

 It will be sprucing up this current look...

Stay tuned!

On a personal note, I'm up to my eyeballs in work -- this is the "busy season" in design, and holy smokes, things are cooking.  I'm also in the middle of putting together a shop, with more to come on that down the road.  I'm soooo excited to share it with you.  But please, don't hesitate to jump on my design schedule if you're needing something done!  The countdown is on to the holidays!

Carol

Should You Use Grasscloth in a Bathroom?

Grasscloth or any natural wall covering should definitely not be used in a high-humidity bathroom.  But in a powder room?  Perfect!

Here's a look at what I've been thinking about for my own powder room...

Maybe this Sanderson embroidery on linen as a Roman Shade, with one of these Thibault grasses.  I've been obsessed with finding the perfect grasscloth since I did this client's powder room.

I picked up this Weller pottery jardiniere (circa 1920's) at a consignment shop last weekend.  I thought that if I go with one of the looks above, this might make a great planter on the vanity top.  We'll see.  With my own stuff, I usually go through several (ok, about three hundred) looks before I ever decide on anything.

Hope you have a great long weekend!  Thanks for reading, I appreciate it so much.
Carol

Before and After: Bathroom

I'm sure you've seen this bathroom a million times before.  Standard builder edition.  Basic elements.  No style.   Not much different from one house to the next.  Yawn.  (I'm sorry, did I just yawn out loud?)

After the window treatment went up today, this is how this baby's looking now...

We still need to do artwork, a ceiling fixture and the handles need to go on the painted cabinet.  But, this gives you a pretty good idea of how it will all turn out.  Here's more...

 

I kept this powder room fairly monochromatic so that the richness of the textures and patterns would play off of each other, and envelope the visitor with warmth.  I knew when we started this project that grasscloth was a must have.  Nothing compares for incredible texture.

Got a bathroom that needs a change?  Contact me and let's get started.

Talk to you soon with more on Buying Leather Furniture -- the last of the series.

And check out Wow us Wednesday's at Savvy Southern Style today, and Ivy & Elephants, too.  So much great stuff to look at!

Carol

Before and After: Bathroom Progress Peek

My client's master bathroom is rapidly changing.  I've posted about work in their home here, if you want to get a feel for their style.

When we first met about the space, it looked like this...

It was a nice bathroom, but it wasn't their style, and they wanted it to be more in keeping with changes we'd made in other rooms, where  a bit of rustic meets understated sophistication, and their personal tastes shine. 

with the floor replaced (no grout yet); small tiles are for the shower

What needed to stay?  The over sized gray soaking tub, the mirror and lighting.  Oh, and the carrara counterop was brought in a couple of years ago, so that was a fixed element, too.  How to make carrara and a gray tub (a blue-gray, really) work together with a bit of rustic?  Bring in a glass accent tile that has all the colors, and surround it with a tile that has varying tones of yellow, taupe, hints of cream, and gray.   (Sooooo hard to get the color right in this image!)

This is what the tub surround is becoming. 

There are fabric cornices for this bathroom, with woven wood blinds underneath, and lots of light paint and woodwork.  In person, it all comes together perfectly, but in my pictures, not so much (now that's a blogger's aggravation at work!)

More to come soon.  And, speaking of before and afters, I'm participating in Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style.  If you missed my pool room makeover, check it out there!

Have a happy mid-week!

Carol

Bathroom Floors

I'm working on three different client bathrooms, major cosmetic overhauls, and I've got bathroom floors on the brain.  Let's look at a few, shall we?

This floor totally caught my attention today when I was reading Conspicuous Style.  It's by Canadian designer Sarah Richardson.  Isn't this striping brilliant? (I'm all about that wallpaper, too.)

Sarah Richardson

(All the rest of these images are from the BGH Designer Showcase.)

One of my clients is considering a pebble floor (I'd call it smooth river rock, sounds more friendly), but she can't visualize it, so here are some images to help her  (yes! do it!  it will be gorgeous!)...

Andreas Charalambous

Beth Haley

 

 

Gail Drury

The one above is exactly the look of the one I am proposing, although we are considering it in a stunning blue-green, with white tiles and a border of sea glass around the tub.  My client's feet are a little cold, though, so perhaps we will seek alternatives (no....no.....noooo...).  :-)

Shelly Riehl David

What I love about pebble floors is that incredible texture beneath bare feet.  It would take me to another place every morning.

Would you do a pebble floor?

Talk to you soon,
Carol
PS  The blog is in the middle of a makeover, looking kind of identity-challenged.  But as you'll see, I'm going to go orange -- my favorite color to wear for as long as I can remember.  (And no, Tangerine Tango had no influence!)  Love is love, and I decided to take my signature color to my blog. :)

Bathroom Makeover with Grasscloth (Sneak Peek)

Remember this client?

We're meeting this weekend to go over some of my ideas for the master bedroom, bath, and powder room.  Lot's of work yet to do in the next two days, but the powder room is coming along and I thought I'd share, because, well, I'm totally excited about it.  Probably because I covet grasscloth.  Every time I see it, I want it.  And, it will be the perfect style fit for the powder room (around the corner from the living room above).

So here's a peek at the plan.  The embroidered linen to the left will be a roman shade, with the trim on the right dangling off the bottom of it.

And then there's the grasscloth in the middle.  I.  Love.  It.  Oh, yes.  I do.   The tile in the background is representative of maybe the countertop (it will be marble, perhaps), or the floor.  As I said, some work to do yet.

This is a choice for the mirror over the vanity cabinet...

I'm going for lots of texture in this bathroom as it is a plain box/rectangle.  I'm playing around with some molding designs to propose from a chair rail height down to the floor.  So really, I should be working instead of posting!  (My constant inner conflict!!)

Who else out there feels the call of grasscloth?

Talk to you soon,
Carol