Magnificent Master Bathroom!

LED lighting under the cabinet creates a soft glow and makes a great night light. 

Before large unused tub

Before split vanity

Sometimes even in a fairly new home there can still be elements that don't work for the current
owner.  This lovely home had a master bathroom that was large. That was about the best of it's
existing features. It had an enormous shower and bathtub but neither looked very good or functioned
well.  It had a single sink and a useless makeup area. Alas, it was a lot of wasted space.

The clients wanted a double vanity, a large open shower, finishes with texture, and to get rid of a
HUGE tub that never got any use.  On a side note I frequently have clients ask me if it is okay to get
rid of the large tubs in the master bathroom or design a new master bathroom without a tub?  My
answer is "YES! "  Many homeowners have come to realize that the "must have" jetted tub of the 90's
and early 2000's has never been used like the homeowner imagined.  Not only do they take a
immense amount of hot water to fill, they also can end up with mildew issues in the jets, and they
take up a lot of room.  More and more homeowners are realizing that a large, well designed
shower gets way more use and makes much more sense for everyday life.

To sum it up; as long as you have one bathtub in your home do not feel that you need to have the
large tub in the master anymore.  Industry trends are showing that a well designed master shower
is more desirable than a tub and shower in the master bathroom. With the aging in place needs
of so many home buyers, the large accessible shower with a bench is a must have.

 The curved wall brings a contemporary feel to the space. The Quartz
tile is used in the shower is in 3 sizes.  A stack stone, a 2 x 4 and a
16" square.It  is accented with a bronze linear tile in random locations.
The bathroom features a curbless shower as well as a heated
floor in the main bathroom area. Not shown is the heated towel bar. 

The bench located by the hand shower provides a place to be

seated and still allows you to shower independently if needed .

Niche #2

A peek back at the sink.  I love the combination of the granite, the

bronze Danze Antioch faucet and the tile.

Vintage Home with a Timeless Kitchen Remodel

Just a few months ago I was approached by clients

with a home that had been built in the historic district of
Prescott in 1914.  This charming bungalow was on the right

street, in the right town, with the wrong layout. The existing house
did not lend itself to today's open floorplan living. 
Enter the designer.

The goal was to create a large open kitchen that would be group friendly
but also look appropriate to the vintage feel of the home.  They wanted it
to age well, but function as a new and contemporary kitchen.

Viola!

 I love all the little touches, the chicken wire on the pendants, the exposed brick
chimney, the subway tile, bead board accents, and reclaimed wood shelves.

BEFORE

Kitchen before, enclosed and small

The built in buffet was charming but was too heavy and chopped up the living spaces.

The plan entailed removing an existing buffet wall and opening up a rear
laundry porch.  These spaces are on each side of the kitchen. By
removing these walls we were able to create a large open room.

 AFTER

The touches of the reclaimed wood shelves, rustic brackets and timeless shaker door keeps
the vintage feel of the home cohesive.

The new appliances feature an induction cooktop and speed oven.

The Farm style sink and honed granite tops are the perfect choices for this kitchen.

Recreating the original wood trim around the new windows in the kitchen

just adds to the historic feel of the home.

There are actually two appliance garages in this kitchen.
One for him and one for her!  Every cabinet has
storage options built into to them to maximize storage.

By mixing color finishes on the cabinets it creates a room with a
furniture feel and again establishes the feel of a vintage home. 

I love the reclaimed wood shelves and custom steel brackets.

The clients are ecstatic and love the open space. It has totally transformed how the
home feels and lives.  I am so pleased with the "feel" of this kitchen.
The classic cabinet door style mixed with modern appliances and
fixtures has created a kitchen that will live well and age well.

Oooooh Shiny Things!

(by guest blogger Julie Burke)

A couple of weeks ago Christie and I had the opportunity to briefly attend the Kitchen Bath Industry Show (KBIS).  Our schedules are so hectic right now that we couldn't afford the time to attend the full conference but we just couldn't bear the thought of missing out on the design event of the year. So we poured over our calendars until we found a very small window of opportunity and off we went!

The highlight of the show for Christie - faucet by Ann Sacks

Hardware really is jewelry for cabinets!

Shiny...and pretty!

Because our time was so precious we had to do some serious prioritizing. We choose to mostly skip the Builders Show, which is twice the size of the Design Show, and dedicate our time to the pretty, shiny things. Our mission was simple but challenging: to race through  400,000+ Square Feet, 537 exhibitor booths and 4 fully constructed model homes in 8 short hours.  This was going to take some serious focus, stamina and coffee...lots of coffee. And did I mention focus?? We are easily distracted, too many fabulous things to look at!

So beautiful!

Fancy feet for cabinets?? Yes please!

Besides the obvious draw of all of the shiny, pretty things, KBIS plays a very important role to our business each year. We are always seeking to improve the services we provide to our clients.  At a trade show like this, we get the chance to see and be informed about the latest products.  This is so valuable in allowing us to be the best possible resource for our clients.  By seeing in person what is new in the market, it allows us to make the best selections to meet those specific needs and budget of each project.  When you choose to invest in improving your home it’s important to be able to feel comfortable that you've made informed decisions and gotten the most “bang for your buck”.

We also use an opportunity like this to further develop face to face relationships with our vendors and suppliers.  In the event of a design crisis you can truly appreciate having someone you can call directly to help you resolve a problem.  That is worth its weight in gold. Because of this, we work hard at establishing and maintaining relationships with a wide variety of vendors.  These kinds of connections also help us ensure our clients are getting the best value and pricing whenever they work with us. 

We loved this simple, sleek vanity. 

Does this make you want to remodel
your bathroom or what?!

  

Providing excellent service to the people we get to work with is very important to us.  But we also totally love seeing all the gorgeous fixtures! These pictures show just a few of the things we found to be the most beautiful. We also saw a lot of great new ideas, innovations and trends. For more of those check out our Pinterest page. When you're ready for your shiny new kitchen or bath, you know who to call! In the meantime, we will just leave you with this eye candy...

Simply stunning. 

Stunning and affordable? Sign us up!

Julie is Christie’s design assistant.  She attended Harrington Institute of Interior Design in Chicago where she got her AA in Interior Design.  She has worked as an architectural draftsman, office manager, and personal trainer/health coach prior to joining Christie as design assistant, draftsman, Pinterest aficionado and finder of pretty, shiny things.