Project Redocorate: April and Matt's Office Bathroom

 



If you've never met a Disney Princess in real life, I imagine my friend April would be a pretty close representation. As in, I think cartoon birds braid her hair in the morning and even her facebook messages smile at you from the computer screen. She's an all around delight and she offered her husband's bathroom at his Chiropractic Practice to be redecorated.

And here it is:

With a bathroom like this, there's not much one can do. It's ADA compliant and adding a beaded curtain and twinkle lights would probably not comply. There needs to be enough space around the toilet and most of the items installed are there forever. Except for the Lack table and the tiny tree. I think they can go...

Since my friend is a Disney Princess, it wasn't hard to find inspiration. On the design questionnaire, she asked that the space be, "Elegant, clean, warm, tidy but inviting and classy." Which, for some reason made me think of Disney's Grand Californian Hotel:

That's the lobby. And it's gorgeous. And cartoon birds deliver your luggage. With that in mind I set to work finding the items to make the space more functional.

First, paint color. I love a good, rich green. And this one suits a craftsman style but it's a little more playful:

Jadite by Sherwin Williams.

Next I wanted to add some warm browns to the mix. And I found this shelf from the Threshold collection at Target.

It was designed to hold these Threshold baskets:

And I would only get three. Then the shelf has some open space so it doesn't loom over the toilet like a giant shelf monster. The baskets can hold the cleaning supplies and extra toilet paper..

 

 

To soften the very rectangular shelf up a bit, I added a table runner to the top. This one is a little too wide for the 14" deep shelf, but any fabric would work.

It's from World Market and it's 16" wide. I say cut off the sides and iron the edge under! Live dangerously!

 

Another function the bathroom needed was a place to hang purses or jackets whilst one avails himself or herself of the necessary. Sticking to my Disney/Craftsman/Nature/ inspiration, I found these amazing beetle and ant hooks at World Market:

Metal and a little rusted these will look great next to the wall color and bookcase.

Now the hard part of this design comes in. The artwork. What does one put in a bathroom that is both inoffensive and yet has some kind of link or meaning to the client? I think I solved it.

April and her husband lived in Northern California when we reconnected on facebook. They have since moved back to Arizona, (where I went to high school with April!). And I asked her where she went on her honeymoon...Monterey! Combine all these things, shake them in a jar and you get....Ansel Adams. I know. It does seem a little boring. BUT! He was an impeccable photographer! And he was from San Francisco. He was in the great earthquake of 1906! And the photos are both Zen and beautiful!
I selected three, for very specific reasons:

Oak Tree - It is gorgeous and representative of his work.

 

Birds on a Beach - taken in the Monterey Peninsula

 

Canyon de Chelly - Full circle, back to Arizona.

 

For the rest of the tchotchkes, keep your eyes peeled for things at Target. Maybe something air freshener-ie? Like those reed things or the jar of beads that smells good. (Time to get practical about bathrooms!) I chose a plant, a candle, a vase, a frame...but that's totally up to you!

 

Sherwin Williams - Jadite (Feel free to go darker or lighter. It's better to look at swatches in the space)

Target Threshold Avington Bookshelf  - $80

Target Threshold Baskets - $20 each 

World Market Bug Hooks - $8 each

World Market Table Runner - $25

Ansel Adams Posters - $20 each

Poster Frames - $12-$30 each

 

April, I hope this is what you guys were looking for. And feel free to use this design as your own inspiration to help you figure out what you want! If I were there I would totally paint the wall for you and set everything up...but it's a long commute...

 

Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go pee...too much potty talk around here... 

 

April and Matt's olioboard

Project Redecorate: Autumn's Dining Room

My friend Autumn is pretty awesome. I basically texted her this morning and forced her to send me a pic of her dining room so I could redecorate it just for fun/for the blog. And she did it! That's a good friend. Anyone who lets a crazy person redecorate a room, that you have already decorated, is pretty cool.

Here is Autumn's dining room right now:

She has a great dining table and the shelving units in the room totally work. Her paint color, a pretty, creamy candlelight, is perfect. And I know that it's one of her favorite things about this room.

It also has a lot of doors. There is the sliding glass door, a bedroom door and an opening into the kitchen. As well as the giant opening into the living room. I'm going to do something completely crazy and get rid of one of the doors. Since they rarely use the sliding glass door, I thought I'd put a sideboard right in front of it. This one, from Ikea:

There are two choices to make with the placement, we could center the sideboard and adjust the curtains to make the window look like it's in the center of the room. Or we could keep the asymmetry and add the sideboard centered on the window, keeping the wine storage tower where it is as a bar area.

Then behind it, we could add some drapery:



The color says midnight, but it's more of a pretty indigo.

For the floor, I found a cool texture in a neutral beige:

It's easy to clean and it can be installed in a checkerboard pattern.

For the lighting above the dining table, I found yet another natural fiber situation:

It's actually pretty big. Twenty-two inches in diameter. But it will be impressive and look great against either the window or the closed drapery.

Because the sideboard adds a ton of storage, this shelf can be used as simply an art station for Autumn's two delicious girls, as well as cookbook storage.

I had added a wire mesh shelving unit with red paper file holders from The Container Store, but I like her shelf better.  And the gorgeous Napoli poster can go on the wall  with the candle holder.

I also found this poster, that I love, and could also work for Autumn:

An Italian poster of To Catch a Thief!

Also, if you look at the pic above, you see another door. I got rid of one door by putting furniture in front of it. For this one, I think we can add that white mirror from the design board. It will make the door look like a French door and also make it look like it opens outside while also helping bounce light around and making the room look bigger! That's a hard working mirror!

For accents around the room, I think pretty vases and framed kids art will look perfect. Maybe a tray for the sideboard or a fantastic pitcher.

Ikea Bjursta Sideboard: $249

West Elm Scribble Drapery: $39

Flor Suit Yourself - Raffia: $10 each

West Elm Huron Weave Pendant: $129

Mirror: $298 (yikes!)

Stockholm Storage from The Container Store: $10 each

Hitchcock Movie Poster: $4

West Elm Hive Vases: $24-34

So, aside from the one thing that I found at Olioboard, everything was pretty affordable! And I had fun trying to find the most perfect thing!

Now comes the part where we explain to everyone that they cannot use the sliding glass door anymore...

Edited to add this poster to the design as I just found out her family is from this region:

 

Autumn's Dining Room olioboard

De Colores

(sunset)

We are heading to Mexico soon, for a little vacation. In preparation I've been looking at rental houses and getting excited and inspired. I wish I could paint my walls hot pink and emerald green! It also makes me want to buy a house down there just so I can decorate it.

 

And it also forces me to ask the big questions:

 

How many serapes can I buy without looking crazy? Is my car big enough to hold all the talavera pottery I want to buy? How many shrimp tacos can I eat in one sitting?

 

Here are a few more pretty, Mexican spaces for your perusal:

 

I'm gonna marry that tile.

(skimbaco)

 

(Milagros Mundo)

(Kitchen Clarity)

(houzz)