Sweet Respose: A serene retreat for an empty-nester couple

Our brief was to create a serene retreat fore an empty-nester couple. The room had good bones: it was well-proportioned with a lot of natural light, a beautiful four poster bed, and a tray ceiling. It just needed a little help to fulfill its potential. When we met with the client, she had tear sheets (I wish all clients did) that revealed her taste: they all shared a warm creamy mainly monochromatic palette, a restrained feminity, and an undated traditional sensibility.

We painted the walls in a creamy pale gold and re-carpeted in a luxurious stiae wool carpet. A custom double ruffled faille bedskirt and fine quailty Italian linens make the bed a retreat after a long day. Vintage Empire style mirrors with a custom finish flanking the bed provide a sense of architecture and symmetry, while the art platters above the headboard tie together the palette.

Interlined silk panels provide privacy at night, whil sheers allow in diffused light during the day. A small club chair upholstered in charcoal velvet provides a masculine touch to keep the room from becoming too feminine (there is a husband to consider after all), as well as a place for the clients to persue their voracious reading. Ottomans at the foot of the bed pull up to the chairs to provide more comfort.

Across from the bed, a custom nude (painted by me) provides a pretty view. This couple are not big television watchers, so there is not a tv set in the room.

Double doors provide access to the adjoining bath and closets. A faux finish on the door gives the look of aged cypress. Because this view to the bathroom contained so many doors--the entrance double doors, the doors straight ahead (they lead to his and her closets), and a door to the water closet (unseen, but directly to the right of the bath entrance), we decided that they needed to be features in their own right.

A chandlier provides a beautiful focal point, and is even lovelier against the pale blue-grey ceiling.

The extra long double vainities provides a beautiful display place for flowers and art.

The beautiful lucite ball chair (from the fabulous Visual Vamp at perch) provided just the right scale for the petite home owners and the right sparkle.

Togther these elements: creamy paint, sumptous fabrics, and sparkling accessories provides a soothing retreat for a busy couple.

Ultimate Bachelor Pad

I've been working with Donna Russell of Provisions Interiors (here) on a great project lately- a bachelor pad in a converted warehouse. I've shared the progress through the bedroom (here), office/guestroom (here), and a faux paint treatment to hide an unfortunate sheetrocked beam (here). Well, here's the almost final product:

Before, an empty living room:

I'll start by apologizing for the photos: it was overcast and drizzling, and I had to return the better camera I was using. But I was so excited about the project, I could wait and snapped a few pics.

Entering the front door of the condo, the open kitchen is to the left underneath an original beam from 1895. We added the dramatic dark grey paint, pendant lights, and the fabulous tile that runs up the entire cabinet wall. The granite and cabinets were already in place.

There's a small dining area adjacent to the kitchen, and we continued the grey onto that wall to unify the space. The grey also acts a great complement to the exposed brick. Taupe linen grommet draperies soften the windows and blend into the brick, allowing it to take center stage. A new oversized dropped drum shade lights the dining area. The fabulous twig mirror provides interest, but again defers to the great textures of the brick and beams.

The custom floating buffet provides storage and serving area while maintaing a slim profile. The faux bois paint treatment ties it to the existing beams.

A view of the dining area from the staircase.

The sleek sofa is a Candice Olsen design covered in a durable outdoor fabric that resembles a man's herringbone suiting fabric. The zebra throw adds a graphic accent.

A leather chair and ottoman provide a comfortable reading spot. We added the fake beam and custom entertainment center under the wall mounted tv to provide storage for the electronics and a display area. The paint treatment makes it blend with the original column seen in the left of the photo.

The leaning mirror is a custom piece with a waxed natural finish.

The unit includes a private terrace through glass doors.

The metal console is a custom piece. The ikat pillows are made from Robert Allen outdoor fabrics.

Underneath the staircase was a large walk-in closet that we turned into a wine cellar.

Wall hung racks provide storage for wine. The homeowner's monkey makes a great butler.

I painted a custom art piece for the client.

Underneath the counter is a built in wine fridge. Unfortunately, because the room is so small, I couldn't get far enough away to take a pic of it.

Well, this is what I've been working on for the last month or so. Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Dining Room Before and After

My posting has been light lately because I've been working with my friend and colleague Donna Russell of ProVisions Interiors (here).
The project has been a foyer and remodel for an existing client. When we worked with them on the home originally, they were waiting to see whether they would inheirit some family pieces for the dining room, as well as which specific pieces, so we selected the lighting, the draperies, and painted the two rooms the same color as the rest of the open floor plan (Windsor Greige from Sherwin Williams, one of my favorite neutrals. The pluses: the rooms both have several windows and dark hardwood floors. The challanges: we found the dining room pieces included a huge buffet (it is still being refinished, but will go between the two windows opposite the dining room entrance), a small china/curio, 10 chairs, a huge table, and a small server. The home owner also wanted a small desk for her daughter, as she wants her computer use to be visible and there is really no other place downstairs for it to be. Furthermore, we wanted to keep the space from being too serious, since the homeowners are a young family.

We decided on large scale horizontal stripes in the dining room and on one wall in the foyer and the continuing wall down the hall that goes into the family room.

The foyer chandelier is dressed up with a small medallion painted to match its finish.

A pic of the dining room after with the draperies rehung with their bamboo shades. The artwork is an original painted by Donna and me and will hang over the buffet when it comes back from the refinisher.

For added drama, the ceiling gets a bronze finish in the dining room.

A trumeau we had custom made from a salvage door (a post on that later) adds interest in the foyer by the stairs. The peeling paint finish keeps it from being too formal.

A shot of the foyer with its center hall table. The pic doesn't really show it, but the striped wall was coated with a slight glaze and two coats of poly for high sheen.

Because the dining room is not large, the china had to go in the foyer. After the buffet returns, the stem wear will be moved into that. We rehung the curtains at the opposite sides of the window to make the wall seem larger.

A shot of the dining room showing the bronze ceiling, glossy striped walls and contemporary cream host and hostess chairs. The sculptural mirrors were previously in the living room.

We rehung the print horizontally to complement the stripes.

What a Concept

I don't do many formal presentations. Most of the time, I can just describe my plans to client, show them samples, and they are fine. Every now and then, especially with new clients who aren't familiar with my work, I do renderings to make sure we are on the same page. Now, these rendereing aren't formal working drawing, and while in perspective, they are not to scale. Furthermore, this is for a presentation to a potential client, so I haven't been precise with the drawing of most of the finishes, keeping to a suggestion, mainly of colour. And after years of trying (and failing) to create crisp, precise, architectural drawings, I've learned to embrace my own loose, improtu style: some call it messy and lazy. I call it neo-Impressionistic. The photos are from work down by my collaborator on this project, Donna Russell of Provisions Interiors.