Archive for the ‘Bathroom’ Category
Interior Design Tips on Creating Your Own Massage Room
Saturday, August 20th, 2011
Is there a remodel in your future? Or do you have a spare room and aren’t sure what to do with it? For the ultimate in relaxation and personal indulgence, consider creating your own massage room. Color, scent, sound and amenities combine to create a relaxing environment. What a great way to invest your design dollars!
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Tags: Bathroom, Colors, Flooring, green, massage room, massage table, remodel, soaking tub, spa, stone tile, towels, wood
Posted in Bathroom, Colors, Cool Ideas, Cool Stuff, DIY, Design Tips, Furniture, Interior Design, Lighting | No Comments »
19 Dream Tubs for Bath Lovers
Thursday, June 9th, 2011
Are you about to embark on a bathroom remodel? There are so many choices today! If you are a bath lover, including one of these modern and unique tubs in your design can lead to bathtub bliss!
Tags: Bathroom, bathroom remodel, bathtub, glass tile, tubs, turquoise
Posted in Bathroom, Colors, Cool Ideas, Interior Design, Top Ten, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Portland Interior Designer Shares 5 Things to Change to Sell Your Home
Monday, April 4th, 2011
Okay, I am not going to launch into the misery of the housing market right now. What I will say is that competition is fierce for the sales being made. If you want your house to sell, you absolutely must do all you can to prepare your home to show it at its very best.
So what changes should you make to your property before you sell?
And what should you leave alone?
1. Kitchens: This is not the time to do a major kitchen remodel. You will not get your money out of it and it’s too late for you to enjoy the new kitchen. But you can make updates that count and will really appeal to buyers. Paint older wood cabinets that are too old to appeal to buyers looking for contemporary style and too new to appeal to buyers looking for historical properties. 1980′s oak is not vintage and it’s never coming back in style! White cabinets are more popular than ever, so painting your cabinets white is almost a no-brainer. If you have brass colored cabinet hardware or the hardware is cheap looking – replace it. Satin nickel or oil rubbed bronze continue to be the most popular and your choice depends on the rest of the kitchen finishes. Only replace the counter top or sink if they are in bad condition or not a neutral color. Remove wallpaper and paint a fresh, current color on the walls.
2. Bathrooms: Again, this is not the time to do a major remodel.. But you should update outdated bathrooms as much as possible. Attractive, up to date lighting fixtures and hardware are relatively easy upgrades that make a big difference. Again — get rid of brass and replace with satin nickel or oil rubbed bronze. It can also be worth it to replace the vanity and sink with a current style if yours is outdated or is in poor condition. Replacing a builder wall-to-wall plate glass mirror with a beautifully framed mirror is another simple and affordable upgrade that appeals to current buyers. Only re-tile the tub surround if the tile is in poor shape or not neutral in color. Remove wallpaper and paint a fresh color on the walls.
3. Flooring: If your carpeting is not a neutral color or it is worn out or stained you need to replace it – period. Do not even THINK about leaving it and offering a carpet allowance. The very sight of a worn, stained, or colored carpet is a deal breaker for buyers. The only buyer interested in a home with a worn, stained or colored carpet is a professional house flipper. They will scoff at your carpet allowance and offer you a low-ball price so low it will take you a week to get your jaw back up off of your worn, stained or colored carpet.
Kitchen Flooring especially takes a beating. It is often a different flooring than the rest of the house, so replacing it can be affordable and go a long way toward making the kitchen feel new and fresh.
4. Entry: Your front door needs to look wonderful! Remove screen or storm doors from your front door. If your door is a beautiful one that is just in need of paint or stain, then freshen it up that way. But if you have a front door that doesn’t even look pretty painted, it is worth it to install a new front door. Check out this blog I wrote to see before and after photos that show just how big of an improvement a beautiful front door can make.
New Front Door & Exterior Paint Color Selection: Just Two Changes Make a Huge Difference
5. Paint: Remove wallpaper, and paint any room that has beat up looking paint or that is a color which will not have wide appeal to buyers. It does not matter how tasteful – cheerful – cute – beautiful – vintage – _________ (insert your glowing adjective here) you think your wallpaper is. Having wallpaper — ANY wallpaper — will seriously reduce the percentage of buyers that will consider buying your house.
Is the exterior paint on your house in poor shape or a dated color scheme? Tan with forest green trim? Dark brown with tan trim? White with brown trim? Or perhaps a strong color? Bright yellow? Bright blue? Then you need to paint your exterior also. Exterior paint colors can be tricky to select. A a paint color consultation will help you get it right the first time. When I give exterior paint color consultations I take into consideration any stone or brick on the house, your roof color, and the neighbors’ house colors to be sure that yours will look attractive.
For a little help on interior paint colors to select when selling your home check out this blog I wrote.
Paint Color to Sell Your House: It Isn’t White!
Tags: Bathroom, color, Design Tips, Flooring, Home Staging, home staging portland, Kitchen, Lighting, paint, portland home staging
Posted in Bathroom, Colors, DIY, Design Dollars, Design Tips, Flooring, Home Staging, Kitchen, Lighting, Mistakes: Avoiding & Fixing, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Luxurious Bathroom Style – Chandeliers
Saturday, June 19th, 2010
Imagine you are stepping into a deep and steaming scented bubble bath. Your glass of champagne is close at hand and you’ve put on your favorite relaxing music. As you sink into the water and lean your head back against a soft bath pillow, your gaze drifts upward to the bright and glaring fluorescent light above. Hmmm. What’s wrong with that picture? How about instead … your gaze drifts upward to the softly sparkling chandelier? That’s more like it!
Do you have a ceiling higher than the standard 8 feet in your bathroom? Then you have the perfect opportunity to add the luxurious design element of a chandelier.
The soft green and elegant traditional style bathroom below is designed by Nate Berkus.
Super sooooothing!
My personal preference is a contemporary space. Choose a chandelier style that fits the style of the bathroom. The grid of pendants that creates this chandelier fits the zen feel. The softly curved shapes are a nice contrast to the highly textural stone wall.
Select a chandelier that is an appropriate scale for the space too. Neither too large, nor too small. The white chandelier below is hanging in a very large bathroom. Although it is a pretty good sized fixture, the delicate wire tracery still feels light in the space. I’m also pretty covetous of the fireplace in this bathroom. I need to put that on my list of must-haves for my dream bath!
This black chandelier is the perfect size for above the vanity and its lines echo the design on the wallpaper. I’ve actually become rather partial to black chandeliers. Such a sophisticated look.
Whatever style or size you choose, remember to put it on a dimmer switch. You’ll be glad you can turn it down low for that relaxing, self pampering bubble bath.
You may also like:
Industrial Style Bathroom Design: Perfect For Lofts
Tags: bath, bath vanity, Bathroom, bathtub, black & white, chandelier, contemporary bath, Lighting, Nate Berkus, traditional style
Posted in Bathroom, Cool Ideas, Design Tips, Fireplace, Interior Design, Lighting, Trends | No Comments »
Industrial Style Bathroom Design – Perfect For Lofts
Friday, June 18th, 2010
I love decorating lofts and especially like it when there are great industrial elements to the space. If you are going to decorate your loft in industrial style, carry that look right through to the bathroom. I’ve pulled together a collection of items that would create that look and a couple of industrial style bathrooms I particularly like.
This first bathroom is a spectacularly high end space with a decidedly industrial style. The large concrete tub and steel walls work beautifully with the warm colors of glass in the chandelier. I am drooling!
This bath is on the opposite end of the budget spectrum. The vanity was made by a fabricator who welded the steel frame to which ash wood shelving was added. Matching baskets take the place of drawers and keep items looking tidy. My favorite detail is the mirror mounted on a bar in the middle of the window. I love the idea of putting on my make-up with natural light coming in directly on my face. Can’t beat that! And when the day isn’t sunny, they’ve mounted long narrow light fixtures vertically in between and on either side of each window. Best direction for light to shine on your for your daily beauty regimen (although I wouldn’t choose fluorescent).
source
So, how can you pull together an industrial look? It takes the right accessories and materials. Raw steel and concrete figure prominently. But adding natural elements like wood and natural sea sponges gives it warmth.
The bathroom faucet and shower fittings below are the Waterbridge collection from Sonoma Forge. They are perfect with custom concrete sink & shower surround, or even solid surface materials with recycled glass.
Lighting fixtures found at industrial house continue the look.
The toilet roll holder is from Wire & Twine — but I just can’t imagine even the most basic do-it-yourselfer not being able to whip this up in one quick trip to a big box store. Can you?
So, what do you think? Are you ready to create an industrial style bathroom?
Are you a loft dweller? Then you might also like:
Defining Space, Not Dividing Space – Interior Design Tips for Lofts & Open Plan Homes
Window Treatments for Floor to Ceiling Windows
Soaring Ceilings and What On Earth To Do With Them
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Tags: Bathroom, bathtub, chandelier, concrete, industrial style, Lighting, loft, sonoma forge, steel, wire & twine
Posted in Bathroom, Cool Stuff, DIY, Design Tips, Interior Design, Lighting, Lofts, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Bold Moves: Thomas O’Brien Validated My Creative Interior Design Instincts
Sunday, January 24th, 2010
Today I got a big boost of validation for my creative interior design instincts from Thomas O’Brien! Not that he has any idea he did this, of course. But I found out today that I have something interesting in common with this famous designer who has designed residential interiors for the likes of Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren, and who has become known to the masses with his Modern Vintage® line of home furnishings and accessories for Target just to name a little of what he has done. At this point in my career I can’t name celebrities as my clients and so far my designs are not found at Target. So what could have happened that makes me feel that he and I are in sync regarding interior design and that he would approve of my instincts?
I’m getting there, but I’m going to make you wait for it another minute or two.
If you know me, you know that I totally love lofts. I’m crazy about their open space and the total freedom to arrange your space any way you like. I want to live in a loft! However, my husband and I live with our six cats and two dogs in a 1970′s modern tri-level house. It’s architectural style is very contemporary with a pretty open floor plan, which we love, and it is in the forest next to the Sandy River, where we have total privacy. As much as we love it, and are grateful to have this home, there are some aspects of the floor plan that just don’t work for us and that have bothered us more and more lately. Here goes — it has a big sunken living room facing South with big windows and fantastic views of the river plus a big family room off the kitchen that opens onto a deck over the river, also with fantastic views. It’s just the two of us, so we don’t need both. Also, we recently got rid of our old sectional, so the living room was empty and unused. While these two rooms face South and have loads of natural light, the master bedroom is on the Northwest corner of the house, so it gets no morning light at all – dark as a tomb! – and it doesn’t have a view of the river. Another negative is that the en suite master bath just has a shower, no bathtub. My husband and I love bubble baths and the only tub is in the downstairs bath just off the living room. To top it off, my husband has been affected in a very pronounced way with Seasonal Affective Disorder and the lack of natural light in our bedroom has become a HUGE issue. Add two big dogs and their beds into the mix, and the room was crowded!
So, about a week ago in a burst of defiant creativity, I decided it was stupid not to use the house in the way that works best for us, and I moved our bedroom into the living room. Yes, that’s right. I have turned the living room of this 2100 square foot house into our master bedroom. We LOVE it! Waking up to have this enormous volume of space and big tall windows letting in all of this light has been so good for us. We now have a fireplace next to our bed which we’ve used every night. And, there’s a lot more room for our dogs and their beds so we aren’t tripping over those anymore. The bathroom with the tub feels as if it is our en suite master bath, and our guest room on the same level is going to be my new giant walk-in closet. We’ll put the guest room upstairs in the old master bedroom. After all, it’s just me and my husband so who cares where we sleep?
So, back to Thomas O’Brien. Today I was in Borders Book Store and I picked up a copy of Elle Decor’s “So Chic: Glamorous Lives, Stylish Places“, written by Margaret Russell and the Elle Decor Staff. I usually just flip through these books looking at the pictures, but for some reason actually began reading the story on Thomas O’Brien’s New York City 1100 square foot, one bedroom apartment. And yes, you’ve probably figured it out by now. Thomas O’Brien moved his bedroom into his living room. He also concluded that his apartment wasn’t being used to it’s full potential and he just went for it. He loves his living-room-turned-master-bedroom too!
I just can’t begin to tell you how happy that made me! I had been embarrassed to let anyone (especially clients) know that we had moved the bedroom into the living room. I thought people would think I was out of my mind and that I didn’t know what I was doing when it came to good use of space. But when I read that a famous and wonderful designer like Thomas O’Brien had come to the same conclusion in his home and took the bold move of using his space however it suited him, I didn’t feel embarrassed anymore. In fact, I just realized that I’ve been wanting an open loft to live in all this time, and without having to spend a dime to remodel, I was creative enough to create a loft out of the space I have.
Have you ever used a room in your home in a completely creative and unexpected way? Did it work out for you? Did people laugh at you, or were they envious that you had the nerve to think outside the box? I’d love to hear your own stories. And Thomas, if you ever read this, thanks for sharing your unusual and creative use of your living space. You made my day!
Tags: Bathroom, Bedroom, creative, en suite, Giorgio Armani, guest room, Interior Design, Living Room, loft, master bedroom, Ralph Lauren, So Chic: Glamorous Lives Stylish Places, Space Planning, Thomas O'Brien, walk-in closet
Posted in Bathroom, Bedroom, Cool Ideas, Design Tips, Interior Design, Living Room, Lofts, Space Planning, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Sensational Surface: Part #1 – Kerlite Porcelain Tile
Friday, November 13th, 2009
Actually I am talking about two sensational surfaces here. One is the store: Surface, located at 1235 SE Grand Ave., Portland, OR 97214. The other is Kerlite Porcelain Tile. I’m always on the lookout for cool looking, new and innovative materials to inspire great design ideas for interiors, so I was delighted to be invited to a new product party held at Surface last week. They have some amazing new products for flooring, backsplashes, countertops & walls, and also an intriguing material that can be used in place of glass in cabinet doors, interior sliding doors as well as other unique applications. Rather than cram all this great stuff into one long post, I’m splitting it up, so keep your eye open for “part 2″ and so on.
First I’d like to tell you a little about my experience with the store. Surface is a truly unique finish materials boutique. I recently worked with them to help one of my clients select flooring, countertop and backsplash materials. My sales person was David Horn. His professionalism, helpfulness with my client and expert product knowledge was all first rate. The staff members are all very respectful of the designer/client relationship and will help you as much or as little as you want. The showroom has a warm and comfortable ambiance with nice big work tables to lay out and compare all your possible choices. Enormous windows give you great natural light so you can really see the colors and textures. If you like a little privacy, they also have a separate conference room where designer and client can really brainstorm uninterrupted.
For my last client, I went in alone to preview their selections, then when I knew I was coming in with my client, I phoned ahead and David had all the selections pulled out and arranged on a work table for us when we arrived. Their vast selection is encased in big rolling carts so not everything is on view at once. Initially, I thought this would make it harder to view products, but after being in there with a client, I really appreciated that this display system kept us from going into overwhelm or being distracted with too many choices.
Kerlite:
This product is an ultra-thin – just 3 mm - super strong, porcelain tile that comes in seven sizes, including huge sheets. You can use it on floors or walls, but here is the very cool thing — you can put it right over existing materials including old tile or even linoleum without having to take out the old material. This is true even going over textured floor tiles.
Available in 26 colors and 3 finishes, my favorite is the tone-on-tone floral pattern. The photos of the bathrooms and living room are from the manufacturer’s website and they show the use of the huge sheet sizes to minimize grout lines. It’s also perfect for great kitchen design applications such as backsplash walls. Kerlite is even frost proof so it can be installed outdoors. I’m told that this product has even been installed as siding on a home exterior. I’d love to see that.
In keeping with my desire to find sustainably made options for my clients, according to Coto d’Este, Kerlite ceramic tiling material is “obtained from natural and carefully selected raw materials, such as light clays and pure feldspars,” and “firing is carried out in electric kilns without any release of polluting fumes.” With seemingly endless uses in both interior decor and exterior design applications, it is a product worth checking out. As porcelain tile goes, this is rather high-end, retailing around $12 per square foot. But for the amazing flexibility and lack of demo work, it could be a great idea for your next design project.
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Tags: backsplash, Bathroom, design idea, Flooring, Interior Design, Kerlite, Kitchen, Living Room, porcelain tile, Surface, sustainable, sustainable materials, tile, wall tile
Posted in Bathroom, Cool Stuff, Design Tips, Fireplace, Flooring, Interior Design, Kitchen, Living Room, Sustainable style, Uncategorized | No Comments »