70's Bungalow: Bathroom Designs

Room design and renderring by Carol Reed Interior Design

The new floor plan for The 70's Bungalow redesign has 2 bathroom ensuites and 1 powder room on the main floor (check out the before and after floor plans here, and the kitchen redesign plans here).  The master ensuite and the guest room ensuite were designed with similar concepts but slightly different material selections.  Each of the bathrooms would have custom wood vanities, solid stone tile flooring and solid slab counter tops.   

I allocated the majority of the bathroom budgets into the floors, vanity and countertops.  Everything else in the rooms would be non-custom, have simple contemporary lines and be basic white or polished chrome.  I'm not a fan of mixing a lot of different tiles in one space, or using trendy tiles,  these looks get dated pretty fast - I prefer to stick with classic natural stones and simple white ceramics, playing up the different shapes, sizes and finishes (honed, polished etc) for interest.

Master Ensuite room design and renderring by Carol Reed Interior Design.

For the master ensuite I designed a floating zebrano wood double vanity that would have 7 drawers, a solid calacatta marble countertop with a tall backsplash and shower jambs to match.  The wood grain of the vanity would run horizontally to play up the contemporary lines of house.  The floor would be clad with one tile, a 12 x 24 honed calacatta, no borders, no inlays.  The beauty of this natural stone's colouration and veining is a feature on its own. The large walk-in shower will be clad in a long narrow white ceramic tile installed in a stacked pattern (not as shown in the renderring), evoking a very modern feel.  The white ceramic walls and white marble floors will showcase the gorgeous zebrano wood.  The bit of non-tiled wall space there is will be painted a deep warm grey for rich dramatic contrast, this was added to the concept sketch later on as the paint colours were selected.

Site sample board for Master Ensuite bathroom.

In addition to a full set of construction drawings, site samples boards are prepared for the contractor - they don't need to be pretty,,,just factual.  Above is the site board for the Master Ensuite material finishes.  Sometimes I'll include photos of the faucets and light fixtures too but this time it wasn't necessary. Final wall paint colour will be selected on site after sampling 2 or 3 draw downs on the primed walls.

Guest Bathroom design and rendering by Carol Reed Interior Design.

The guest bathroom is small but accommodates a standard size tub and a 30" vanity.  The vanity had to be designed to go all the way to the floor, concealing the plumbing (that would come up thru the floor). The custom cabinet would be made from riff cut white oak stained a golden caramel colour.  The countertop will be solid quartz material in white, the same white as the slim narrow rectangular ceramic tiles that will surround the tub, including the tub front and continue across the entire vanity wall.  The floor will be finished with Blue Ocean vein cut travertine in an offset stack pattern which will really play up the horizontal lines in the tile.  The walls will be painted a warm taupey grey. The guest bathroom will have a custom made shower curtain instead of the glass screen illustrated above, and only 1 pendant fixture instead of two.

Site sample Board for guest bathroom.

Using only one tile on the floor and one tile on the walls is a great way to stretch your budget dollars,,,and I think it maintains a clean modern look.  Using a ceramic on the walls, and tiling only the shower or tub walls, instead of all the walls is also another big cost saver.  To maximize a bathroom budget, keep the walls simple and get that luxe high end look by investing in stone flooring and solid countertops.

The renderings above were drawn in the early stages of the design development and it was thru these sketches that the client was able to decide on the room layout and all of the design details.  Subsequently some very minor changes and modifications have been made to the bathroom design since these sketches were prepared but the overall design concept remains the same.

Last week I was out at the supplier's warehouse looking thru their current stock and tagging the orders for both of these rooms and some other areas in the house (talk about being a kid in a candy store!!).  The tiler is scheduled to start in approximately 2 weeks and the vanities are in production,,,I'm so excited to see these designs evolve to the next stage.

 

IDS 2011

If you're in Toronto this weekend you don't want to miss the Interior Design Show at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.   I'll be at the IDC Canada booth on Saturday between 1 and 4pm participating in their Design Dilemma Consultions providing free 15 minute consultations to show attendees.   If you do go and happen to see me, please stop and say hi!

70's Bungalow: Kitchen Design

One of the projects I'm currently working on is a complete redesign of a 70's bungalow which includes a kitchen, laundry room and 3 bathrooms.  The design drawings were completed back in October and since then the construction crew has been busy demo'ing and reworking the framing and rough-ins for the new layout.  You can check out the the before and after layouts here.  The new kitchen will be completely custom and has been designed to suit the needs of my empty-nester clients who, with the move to this house, are downsizing and simplifying their lives.   The top photo shows my design concept sketches for the kitchen.    

The architecture of the bungalow has strong horizontal lines influenced by classic mid-century modern design.  The new interior will be clean lined and contemporary featuring lots of crisp white walls, warm wood and handsome stone.   The use of natural walnut, calacutta marble, carrara marble, silver cross cut travertine and stainless steel materials will set the tone for the colour pallette throughout the house. I think its classic and timeless.

The kitchen will feature a balanced mix of materials; zebrano wood, etched glass, steel, and white lacquer cabinetry paired with carrara marble, grey backpainted glass, white quartz counters and natural walnut floors, all pictured above.

  

The cookwall will be free of upper cabinets and have a full height cararra tile backsplash with open shelves for dishware and deep full extension drawers/pull-outs below. The cooktop and built-in oven will create a continuous countertop edge from one side to the other.  The open shelves provide enough space to hold 8-12 settings of dishes, bowls, cups, and glasses,,,or they could be left more minimal displaying a few select pieces. There's also space for dishware in one of the deep drawers.

  The opposite wall will serve as a pantry/servery and bar area, convenient for servicing the family room to the left and the dining room to the right.  The upper cabinets in this area will have steel framed etched glass doors and a luminous backpainted glass backsplash. (the sink has now been deleted)

In between the two opposite walls of cabinetry, is an island which along with a single oversize sink will house the dishwasher and recycling bins.  The island cabinetry will be white lacquer set within 4 wood post legs under a solid surface countertop in white quartz.  The knee space created by the post legs provides room for 3 stools.  The entire effect will resemble a freestanding table placed over a cabinet.  This island won't have the typical pendants suspended over top, instead the raised ceiling area in the centre of the kitchen will feature one large dramatic pendant.  I'm still looking for that perfect light fixture, I've found two possible options so far....but the search continues...

If everything stays on schedule the cabinetry will be installed in about 6 weeks.  I can't wait to share more photos as this contemporary kitchen comes to completion.

All drawings &  Photos:   Carol Reed

The King's Speech: Scene Stealer

I finally saw The King's Speech last night and totally loved every minute of it, its no surprise that I'm crazy for movies that have great costume and set design.  My favorite part of the entire movie was during a party scene where Wallis Simpson's character (Eve Best) appeared wearing the most STUNNING, drop dead gorgeous aubergine dress.  I gasped (i really did!) when the camera panned to her, front and centre on the screen as she walked towards you,,,,,,,in this perfectly tailored creation.  The dress was simply exquisite with beautiful draping around the neck and a diamond encrusted clasp at the waist.

AND then when Eve Best turned around and revealed the back of the dress,,,,,WOW!!!!

The fabric draped from shoulder to shoulder in a low scoop revealing her bare back and a stunning Van Cleef & Arpel's diamond zip necklace.  In the top photo you can see the necklace around the front of her neck.  The entire outfit to me represents timeless style, this dress could be worn today and look as chic as it would have 80 years ago.

If you love fashion, the moment was a definite scene stealer.

I also tried to find photos of the set design for this particular party scene because in addition to this memorable fashion moment the room was dressed with THE most gorgeous floor to ceiling plaid drapes, I  Loved them!   So if you have plans to see The King's Speech keep your eye out for this, my favorite scene.... and these beautiful details.  Enjoy the show.