Bryant Bathroom Reno

One of my favorite Seattle clients came back to me this summer with a very exciting bathroom renovation. All she knew going in was that she wanted cement tiles, and that was all I needed. Working in partnership with a contractor and solving for the spatial challenges you find in many of the old tudors in Seattle, we were able to pull off a major transformation with sophisticated style.

The obvious starting point of the design was an eye-grabbing floor tile, which set a tone for a clean black-and-white palette that we accentuated with brass fixtures. We mixed in thin black metal towel rings and toilet paper holder, updated the toilet itself, and pulled it all together with a Schoolhouse Electric light fixture that I adore a little more each time I look at it. I also wanted to maintain some of the charm and integrity of the original millwork which we were able to do, but sanded and painted to make it feel fresh and go well with the new brass hardware.

Last and anything but least, this old cramped powder room needed to be expanded to a 3/4 bath, given its proximity to the guest room. We were able to borrow from the guest closet to make room for a glass-door shower and outfitted it in white subway tile, with a matte white hexagonal tile for the floor and bright white grout to create a clean contrast with the walls.

Hope you are left feeling inspired!

Bash's Nursery on Domino!

What an amazing start to the year! I am delighted to share that my most adored design magazine, Domino, asked to kick off their year by interviewing me and featuring my little Bastian’s nursery. Honestly, I can’t quite believe the words I just typed. DOMINO featuring my work!? It still hasn’t quite sunk in yet. Domino was the first magazine I ever dashed out to grab from the mailman, and I’ve hoarded saved every single issue since its inception.

Seeing this happen with any client project would be amazing enough, but to have this particular project featured is extra special. Like any mom, I poured my heart into this nursery. As I share in the interview, my goal was to create a place for Bash to feel totally at ease when resting and full of excitement when awake. I also found that this process helped connect me with my new city, as I found plenty of inspiration in the beautiful Seattle summer.

I hope the full interview brings you some inspiration as well! You can read it here and view photos below.

Satisfaction

For my inaugural blog post, I really had no choice but to profile this blast of a family room and its transformation from blank slate to big stage. My clients, a young couple with a new modern house in the Oakland Hills outside of San Francisco, had a whole lot of space and even more confusion as to what to do with it. Although they couldn’t exactly speak to what they wanted, I could tell they were hoping to push some boundaries in this particular room and I was certain we could accomplish that while also maintaining comfort and livability. When you take a look at the photos, I hope you’ll agree I was right.

During a thorough exploration stage in which we developed the super hip vibe they sought, I was able to tease out and align the wife’s love of the Rolling Stones and the husband’s love of John Varvatos boutiques. Luckily those two elements complement each other well – it’s hard to visit a Varvatos and not picture a few rock stars up on the wall somewhere. Anyway, if it’s the Stones you’ve just gotta Paint it Black, so that’s where we started. The clients were definitely nervous about painting the walls black but I demonstrated how a dark color can actually help make a space its warmest, and away we went.

As the anchor piece, we customized a tufted sectional upholstered in black faux croc fabric, immediately turning the room into a show stopper. I’m never afraid to mix metal finishes and wanted to introduce luster to play off the dark walls, so we added brass nailheads to the sectional as well as a brass coffee table, bronze sputnik chandelier, and antique mirror. Brass pulls on the sideboard were a subtle detail that tied the major pieces together. The butterfly chair was the perfect relaxed offset to the fancy schmancy sectional, and helped keep the room feeling eclectic. Back to that sideboard – we salvaged a gorgeous vintage piece, and lacquered it in a fiery tomato red that provided some needed rock star pop and pulled in my favorite colors from the rug. A word about rugs – as any fellow designer knows, they can be the most challenging items to convince clients to spend on. They sure can be expensive (and sooo luxurious and worth it!), but there are some great affordable options out there if you do your research! We wanted a large vintage rug with red highlights but every gorgeous option was either a budget-buster or the wrong size. We ended up with a brand new vintage-style rug that worked beautifully. Finally, we arranged an array of iconic rocker photos to preside over it all, with Mick at the center.

So, what do I mean in titling this post “Satisfaction”? Well, I don’t mean the “oh, they picked the one I liked on House Hunters!” kind of satisfaction; I’m talking about that oh-so-rare, deep brand of satisfaction. For the Stones, it was knowing they’d made it for good by reaching a third album (despite ironically crooning that they couldn’t get none). For my clients, it was seeing a major investment evolve into a dream space they could love for years. And for their designer, it was the opportunity to share in that afterglow, and to further share it here with you.

Here’s the before:

And now for the after: 

Sources: chandelier | butterfly chair | mirror | sectional (this was a custom version though)