Magic Carpet Ride!

I really, really want rugs for my dining room and living room!

Of course I’m faced with frugal hubby’s fiscal management plans supporting his very logical insistance that we get our renovations completed before we purchase furnishings for the house. Don’t you hate logic?!

What I want for the dining room (right) is something graphic in a fresh green. Maybe a trellis design… or perhaps a quatrefoil design… or maybe a chevron design… or what about off-kilter stripes? Have I narrowed it down enough?

Here are a few pics of what I’m imaging…

LOVE this chevron print rug… now image it in a fresh green!

And… I’m CRAZY about these off-kilter stripes… in a fresh green of course!! This rug (and the sweet pets) belong to Nicole from Making it Lovely. That china cabinet in the background? Built in. How fantastic, hey? Be sure to head over to Nicole’s place and take a closer look!!

Which of these 4 designs to you like best?

For my living room… well, that’s a trickier decision!!

I’m lusting over this Weavers Art rug!

My living room and dining room are partially connected. What do you think about a graphic rug in one space and a patterned rug like the one below in the other?

The the pattern/design of the rug is a nice mix of traditional & contemporary style with a lovely and important touch of whimsy: perfect for the look I’m trying to achieve in my little house… and the colours are terrific, too.

Of course finding something like this in the right size for both of these rooms AND at the right price will be a challenge!

Believe me, I’ve been looking and looking for the perfect rugs. With the living room in mind = I’ve seen a few that I like, but nothing that I love enough to bring home.

With area rugs on the brain I decided to do a little internet searching to see what other kinds of rugs I could find to share with our DesignTies readers.

 

Which one(s) do you like?

A little Purple for Kelly!

To finish off this exploration post of area rugs, let me share another rug I found this evening that I could fall in love with for my living room… or maybe it’s the overall feel of the room, I can’t tell! Just my style.

Wish me luck in my rug search!!

Victoria

Absolutely Stunning Bathroom Transformation!

I completed this bathroom renovation last January for my client and shared it here on DesignTies, too. It’s so great through that I thought I’d share it again… I think you’ll love it too!

Want to see some BEFORE and AFTERS?!

Before, the bathroom was a reflection of all that was bad in the 80s – almond-coloured tub and toilet, flesh-coloured walls and tiles (both floor & tub surround), pork-chop counter and an ugly light fixture!

 

The functionality of the room was hampered by a pocket door leading to the master bedroom (below: centre) and a linen closet (opening to an adjacent hallway) that ate up space in the corner (below: left).

If you really must see the ugliness up a little closer, the photos above get larger when clicked on.

So… after a complete tear-out, 2 weeks of mayhem that resulted in a not-even-close-to-finished bathroom and the firing of a contractor, 1 more week of hard labour… mine, my husband’s and my brother’s (knights in shining armour out to save the day! More like “knight”mare experiences!! Geesh!), and another month to finish up the little nit-pickley elements of a project like this… and we have…

The After!

Note 1: The mirror is temporary – the homeowner will source out something she likes. I’ve recommended she look for something oval, narrower and taller then the one in the photo above, and with either a mirrored frame (i.e., mirror on mirror) OR with a simple chrome frame. Note 2: The print looks high on the wall but it isn’t, because: a) the temporary mirror is too-small so the line is off visually; b) the print it’s hanging the same height as the two on the opposite wall (reflected in the mirror); AND c) because the homeowner will be installing a glass shelf above the toilet where she’ll have taller items that will fill the negative space.

A closer look at the tub, tiles and beautiful chrome fixtures…

All faucet & fixtures are Riobel’s Eiffel Collection. The mosaic tiles are a glass (3 kinds of glass), marble and stainless steel combination and they’re flanked, in the bath tub area only, by a sea green glass listello. Opting to ignore symmetry, I set the mosaics in two strips on one side of the tub only. The white subway tiles have a matte finish, are 16”x4” and are set in line with one another rather then off-set for a contemporary look. I did all the tiling in this room.

The vanity I designed and had custom built includes a linen tower that replaces the closet we removed – believe it or not, it provides pretty much the same amount of storage as the original closet while taking up so much less physical space in the bathroom itself! It’s been made in maple with a dark wenge stain and it’s trimmed out in stainless steel. The counter is a lovely pure white quartz. Patti’s lighting is so much better! She now has recessed lights (in the tub, too) and beautiful glass & crystal pendants that are set on a dimmer for some sexy mood!! The door to the bathroom is new, too… a simple shaker-style with a glass inset and painted in black. All of Patti’s interior doors will be changed to this style.

So that’s it!

My work in this space is complete… the homeowner will take it from here. I’ve put my heart into building this beautiful, glamorous and spa-like bathroom. I’ve planned and designed, shopped and problem solved. I’ve tiled, painted, stressed and cried. I’m so very proud of my very first client bathroom, but I find myself wondering if I have what it takes to try this kind of project again. I learned so much. About designing, project management, client management… and about myself.

Now it’s time to reflect on what I’ve learned.

This project is being shared with Between Naps on the Porch readers for Susan’s weekly blog party Metamorphosis Monday’s. Be sure to head back to BNotP and check out the other transformations being shared today!

Houses, House and Me

I love houses! Especially old houses!!

Here… let me share one of my favourite houses in the Queens Park neighbourhood, a lovely heritage area here in New Westminster (just out of Vancouver, BC)

That front porch… it wraps all the way around. A classic Craftsman and I Love it!!

If I were to compare myself to a house though, I’d currently look like this:

As much as I’d like to think that I’m aging as wonderfully as that old Craftsman house that I love… it just ain’t happening.

Truth of the matter is I’m afraid I’m not well.

And over the last month I’ve been at the mercy of the local version of the TV character House; poking, prodding, testing. Information gathered, only to learn that more is needed. It’s been fun. Not.

Those of you who are regular readers of DesignTies – and of my posts in particular – know that I’m good at putting houses back together again. In fact, with the help of my husband Brian I’m pretty damned good at it!!

Proof:

 

The house that is ME… it’ll be okay, I promise. It has me, Brian, my family and my friends looking after it!

What I need to do though – and the reason I’m writing this post – is to take a break from blogging. Over the next while I’ll be posting once a week, maybe less. My wonderful and supportive blog partner Kelly and I have been discussing what things will look like long term, but we’ll share that fun stuff for another post!

Even though I’m not completely out of the blogsphere I’d like to take this opportunity to THANK each of you for the phenomenal support you’ve shown me over my last 1.5 blogging years – you’ve read my posts, you’ve “hurrayed” my projects and you’ve been my friends!!

I am blessed!

Small space living: Maximize it!

Our little bungalow is small.

Okay… it’s small, but not THAT small!!

So how small is it? Only about 720 sq.ft. on the main, with another 720 in the basement. 1440 sq.ft. of compact living… space that we’re working hard to maximize!

The fact of the matter is, small space living is becoming more and more common. So much so that talented designers are taking on the challenges associated with living in smaller houses and condos! Modular furniture designs, multifunctional spaces, and space-saving solutions are in demand by people like me.

As you can imagine, I keep my eyes open for ideas and solutions that might work in our house.

Recently I was surfing through Style at Home’s site and I came across an lesson-article on maximizing small spaces written by Canadian designer Kimberley Seldon. I’m a big fan of Kimberley so I thought I’d share her insights with our DesignTies readers:

Kimberley says: Built-ins and modular furniture units maximize storage and provide custom solutions for even the tiniest of spaces. The smallest rooms often end up as home offices and can benefit from built-in or modular furniture that effectively utilizes vertical and horizontal space.

Bookcases – either built-in or freestanding – provide valuable storage, contain clutter (essential in small spaces) and define the room without enclosing it. Each of these examples show how you can incorporate a home office into the cabinetry… it’s terrific how the desks in both these units just tucks away when you’re not using it – one hides behind a sliding door while the other folds up and away.

 

In our little home, we’re on track with our own built-ins… when we renovated our primary bedroom, rather then build standard closets we installed wall-to-wall wardrobes filled with fantastic organizing features. These wardrobes are so large and functional that we don’t need any dressers… which is good because there’s only room for the bed in our space!!

Kimberley says: Streamlined furnishings, mirror and glass emphasize available space. In order to visually expand a room's size, designers and architects include negative space (the areas of emptiness that surround furniture) wherever they can. By choosing furniture with legs rather than skirts, incorporating glass where possible, and adding reflective elements like mirror, crystal and silver to an interior, you can amplify available light and space to create an expansive feeling.

Take a look at some of the examples I found…

 

BTW… these are mirrored cabinets above the sofa… bling, the illusion of additional space AND extra storage.

  

Kimberley says: Monochromatic colour schemes visually enlarge a space. Monochromatic colour schemes, in which all colours are close in tone and value, do an impressive job of visually expanding a room. The reason? When there's no contrast (the strong distinction between two values like black and white), the eye is able to move through a room uninterrupted, which creates the illusion of additional space. Since a monochromatic decor also emphasizes the various textures within a room, it creates an overall mood that's restful and sensual.

 

Remember… monochromatic doesn’t mean you can’t use colour or pattern.

 

 

 

 

   

 

Kimberley says: Multipurpose furniture creates flexibility within a space. Today, rooms are often required to serve more than one function. For instance, a guest may be temporarily housed in the living room or home office.

The most common piece of multipurpose furniture is a sofa-bed

A day bed-styled sofa – a comfortable, lovely place for a guest to sleep.

 

A Murphy or wall bed is a great solution when a room has to accommodate an overnight guest. I love the way it tucks away discreetly until it’s needed.

 

 

 

 

A bench like this has multiple uses – it makes perfect storage, it’s a great place to sit and read a book and, of course a bench like this is a perfect bed for over-night guests.

 

 

 

We’ve got lots of rooms in our little bungalow where I’ll incorporate some of these ideas (and others I’ve been thinking about)… family room, laundry room, guest room, 2 bathrooms and my home office… of course we have to BUILD them first!!!