powder room power

A powder room is my favorite place to decorate.  It's small and intimate.  It is used for small amounts of time & it requires lighting and a mirror.  Two of my favorite things!  For all of those reasons you can go bold and bizarre or glam and dramatic.  Our last renovation resulted in a super cool powder room.  It was a tiny space, but one of my favorite rooms.

The walls were lined in beautiful walnut flooring thanks to Jeffrey Katz & Kevin Musumano from C & J Katz Studio.  They had this vision on another project and it really worked well for mine. It created this warm enveloping texture.  I painted the ceiling metallic gold while the floors that ran from the kitchen were painted Farrow & Ball's Arsenic.

A truly amazing color.  The contemporary pedestal sink with streamlined faucet had a solid presence.  It looked more or less like this:

and the sconces were

the Punch sconce from one of my favorite resources, Urban Electric Company.
I love EVERYTHING they make.

This time I've made the powder room more classic and glamourous.  I had some more room to work with and have been making design decisions based more on the type of house and re-sale capabilities. Here some pretty drastic before and afters!

Before....

Clunky ugly vanity

Old school gravity toilet with wooden seat, ugh.

Terrible lighting.

I considered re-using the pedestal sink from upstairs.

Or finding a salvaged sink with real history.

But didn't I want to transform the space away from that old-timey look?

I decided on the Gramercy glass washstand from RH:

Painted the walls & trim the same rich blue, Ben Moore's Kensington Blue.  This is a good dark blue that has a touch of gray if you want to keep away from having a nautical feel.

The old threadbare red rug is a great contrast with the wall color.  Also it gives the room an old library feeling.  (Sorry about the toilet paper in view.  It wasn't complete at this stage!)

I choose a metallic pewter paint for the ceiling which combines the golds and silvers.  There is a mix of polished nickel & antique silver in the hardware and some gold tones on two mirrors in the room.  Yes, there is that infinity effect because there are mirrors facing each other.  Very cool in person.

I used the classic Bryant sconce from Visual Comfort because my beloved Punch sconces did not provide enough light.  We couldn't add an overhead chandelier so the two sconces are my only light source.

Moody & chic, non?

The last touch is the window treatment which will be a Roman shade made from this metallic linen that is going to kick ass. 

I'll make an update when the treatments are installed.  Hopefully soon.  I don't want to meet my neighbors that way.

Stay tuned.

xxL

sneak peak & inspiration

I can't get into the house for the next few days because the floors are being finished.  I love the way the floors are looking and wanted to put up a sneak peak at the kitchen and family room area.  Not completed yet, but it is looking great so far.

Kitchen floor sanded down.

Framing has been done for our fireplace slim down.

Painted cabinets.

Cabinet doors drying in the basement.

Lots of cabinet doors.

Slowly getting there.

Shelves built and awaiting paint.

This is an inspiration tear sheet for the family room that will have a TV over the fireplace.

Another inspiration of the style of fireplace with comfortable seating.

The above three images are inspirations for the formal entry hall, the living room and the dining room.  Just love the white walls.  Makes an old space feel modern.

Have I mentioned how much I love the way the floors look now?

We are down to the wire as we move in next week.  I hope we make it!!

floors and frames

There has been a lot of progress on this reno project.  I'm not gonna lie and say it's easy to walk in each day to a real construction site when I know we move in within the month.  I'm talkin' 2 weeks, people.  It's pretty unsettling to most, but I am enjoying the process so far.  I will freak out 3 days before move in.  That is my panic window.

We removed a wall and small closet to allow breathing room into this space.

Getting ready for new floors here.

We removed and unsightly small yellow iron wood burning stove from this space.  It was not attractive & while a fire in the bedroom is a cozy thought, it didn't look good.

New flooring going down.  Though I would never have chosen this species or a pre-finished product, it was a good deal and the budget is stretched so very thin that it's headed to Fashion Week's runways.

The space feels so much lighter and more cohesive.

A big bed, furnishings and eventually a rug will cover most of the floor anyway!

Oh gosh, does it look pink to you?  Blinders have been placed on my face.

New master bath framed out & ready for inspection.

Tiles were finalized yesterday so I'll share that progress when they are on site & ready to go.

Decisions in the Kitchen

It's been full speed ahead with our renovation which means lots of choices to make.
Kitchen first.  Deal with the heart of the home.  Here  is what we are working with. Good appliances (I love me some black)  Good size.  It's not exactly my taste, color wise, counter wise, and format wise, so it'll be great to see the changes & put my stamp on it.

It's a bit dark so we are removing a few upper cabinets around the windows, changing the counter top and painting the cabinets.  On the cabinets, I'm going with a deep blue grey color called "mysterious."  (I know, I know: from dark wood to dark paint....but trust me, it'll work.  hopefully.)

AF-565

And tried and true Carrara marble for the counters.

Here's the slab.

Granite gone.

 I was fairly convinced that I would be going with one of these Farrow & Ball greens on the cabinets.  They felt like great historical colors that fit in with the home's origins, but at the last minute, I changed the tune a bit. 

She looks more open without those upper flanking the window, no?   It would be great to make a larger window or have three.  Next time.  I'm spending too much on the master bath and need to focus the spending. (ie, rein it in)

hotel du marc

This place is stellar.
Housed in the former residence of Madame Clicquot,  Hotel du Marc was renovated by Veuve Clicquot inside and out.  The decor is a mix of antique pieces, custom art and other clever design elements enchant guests.
Definitely on my must visit list.

The entry features this mirror installation that is a tribute to Issey Miyake's "Pleates Please"

 

Cheers.