Continuing Kris's Fabuloso Bath

HELLO KAMPERS!!!!!

I know, I know...

I've been missing in action.

But since some of you have started emailing me complaining letting me know that I am missed, 

I have now taken time from my hectic, busy, crazy, overcrowded, lazy, reading when I want to, going for walks and screwing around schedule to write.

The remodel of Kris's bathroom was

excruciating.

It should have taken very little time, as we made sure we had all the materials on site

(in her basement)

before the first workman showed up on the job.

I won't go into all the particulars, as I don't want to scar Kris any further and I know the stupid woman reads my blog.

(being my best friend)

But it's all done now, except for the water supply to the toilet.

It is chrome, and we are trying to find it in brass.

Kris bought one in brass, but OF COURSE it doesn't fit the toilet.

When I left off telling you about the bathroom, we had just installed the vanity

 and hung the mirror .

Now I can show you the plumbing and lights!!!!!

Below is a view through the frameless shower stall.

See how dark it is looking into the hall?????

I used the wonders of Photoshop and fixed the hall!!!!!

I am a rocket scientist!!!!!

This involved editing and cutting and pasting.

Well, I went to kindergarten!!!!!

Below is the view of how the bathroom looked before the renovation.

This was great when Kris's kids were still at home and this room served a 4 person family.

It allowed for two people at the sink and the shower area was more separate.

BUT NOW THE RATS KIDS HAVE FLED THE NEST!!!

Therefore we could create Kris's dream bath that had a more European flavor.

Kris didn't want towels to mess up the look of the room so we hid the hand towels behind the door.

She unearthed a rug she and her husband had bought overseas years ago that fit in front of the vanity, thereby saving some money. (ha)

In my last post I went over all the items I found for this space.

The mirror, sconces, chandelier, plumbing and whatnot.

So if you want to know where I got the whatnot, please scroll down to my last post.

We used the green shades from the dining room chandelier, as we updated that fixture with cream colored cleaner lines for its shades.

The plumbing fixtures are unlacquered brass that will develop a beautiful patina with age.

Kris bought a polishing wax from Waterworks to help with this process.

If left on its own, the brass would just end up turning dark brown.

All of the accents in the room are brass or bronze.

For privacy, we chose half shutters for the windows.

I always use Back Bay shutter for my shutters when doing work in the Boston area.

That's just an FYI.

Once again, we used brass.

We also used the green shades on the little chandelier in the toilet room at the end of the bathroom.

When you look into the room from the hall, you can look down the space and see the chandelier.

Kris really wanted a chandelier in her bathroom, 

and this was the only place to stick one. 

Below the chandelier are the double hooks for the bath towels.

The chandelier even has some crystals because Kris likes her some sparkle.

Now, all we need to do is hang the artwork.

Kris found some antique bird prints that she liked, and she is buying 

24 of them, that we then need to frame in a gold tone.

The reason she bought 24 is because that's what I figured I needed!!!!!

I took white sheets of printer paper and stuck them on the walls to figure out how many pictures I needed.

WELL, I NEEDED

24.

on that note,

Latah, Gatah

The Stuff Kris and I Found For Her Bathroom Redo

OK class, I am back for another post 

THE SECOND WEEK IN A ROW!!!!!

I hope you guys are suitably impressed, 

because I SURE AM.

Let's continue looking at what I've done to with Kris's bathroom.

For those of you just tuning in, look at last weeks post, to catch up.

When Kris decided to redo her bathroom, I didn't take her seriously, seeing nothing wrong with what she already had.

(since I had been the one to design it.)

(and as we all know, my designs are timeless.)

(and wonderful)

(and stand the test of time.)

WELL

her shower didn't.

stand the test of time, that is.

It leaked. 

Down to her new kitchen ceiling.

Kris was not amused.

I would like to point out that I had nothing to do with the labor of the first renovation.

(luckily)

Sooooooooo.......

this inspired her,

 now that her kids were grown,

flown the coop,

left the nest,

cut the apron strings (we can only wish),

to redo the bathroom in Kris's idea of a fancy schmancy grownup loo.

I started to take the idea seriously several years ago when we came across this server in a local auction.

Nice quality image?

Only the best for you guys!

Let's see if I can do better.

It was French marquetry.

mar·que·try

ˈmärkətrē/

noun

1. inlaid work made from small pieces of variously colored wood or other materials, used chiefly for the decoration of furniture.

The top was a warm toned piece of marble that we matched when we chose the marble tiles in the bathroom. 

So now you know why we chose the marble that we did!!!!!!

Kris stored the server in her basement for a million years, until we were ready to redo her bathroom.

Then we started to choose what else we would need in the space, as well as take the server to the furniture doctor who turned an affordable piece into an expensive piece!!!

He replaced all the missing marquetry, and refinished it in a low luster lacquer that could hold up to the moister in a bathroom.

Here is a shot of it in the basement before it was fixed.

We had the extra ormolu pieces inside the drawers.

or·mo·lu

ˈôrməˌlo͞o/

noun

1. a gold-colored alloy of copper, zinc, and sometimes tin, cast into desired shapes and often gilded, used especially in the 18th century for decorating furniture and making ornaments.

I had to find a mirror to go with the glamorous look of the room as well as fit inside the space.

I decided on a Louis Phillippe mirror, as I love the look and style of these babies.

They are elegant without being fussy.

I rely on 1stdibs a lot, as it can supply me with very specific items when I am designing for a very specific look.

What could take me years to find, I can find in a day, as it represents the best of antique stores across the country.

I drew an elevation of the vanity, mirror and sconces so that I would be sure that what we chose would fit. 

I never understood how decorators could design without drawing out what they were doing.

After we (I) found the mirror, I attacked the problem of finding sconces that would work with this room.

I looked at lots.

I looked at these.....

I looked at these.....

I looked at these.....,

AND THEN I FOUND THESE!!!!!

They will go great with the server.

Kris admitted to me that she always wanted a chandelier in her bathroom.

I was taken aback.

I was somewhat horrified to realize that my best friend was 

one of those people!!!!!

But because I love her to bits,

I found her one.

There was no place to put it in the main part of the bathroom, 

but it fits perfectly in the throne room, 

commonly referred to by the unwashed masses as the toilet room.

(see what I did there???? 

Unwashed masses???

 This is a story about a bathroom!!!!

I am funny!!!!)

It will be seen from the hall doorway looking into the room, as it will be centered on the toilet room door.

It's little, so it fits the scale of the room.

Kris wanted crystal, and I found her crystal. We love the barrel beads on the chains 

It works with the pair of sconces.

This is why I wanted the wallpaper we found. 

The slight gold in the pattern, picks up the gold leaf of the mirror and ormolu, as well as working nicely with the warm tones of the wood.

Last week we were able to install the vanity.

Below is the placement against the wall.

Then they hung the mirror!!!!!!!!!!

Then they placed the marble!!!!!!!

You can now see and I hope understand, why we chose the tile that we did.

Kris and I had taken the slab to a local marble vendor and had the hole cut in it.

Our furniture restorer reworked the cabinet to fit around the sink and plumbing.

The wood glows and is so beautiful.

That's as far as we have gotten.

Kris has been rambling in Cornwall, and will be back tomorrow, so I expect the bathroom work will continue this week.

We need to do the electrical and plumbing finish, then the shower enclosure..... and then add the shutters on the lower parts of the windows so no one can look in on my buddy while she is sans clothes.

All the hardware is unlacquered brass, so it will mellow over time. 

Once again we chose all of it from Waterworks.

The sink is from Kallista

Kris fell in love with it because of the overflow holes.

You gots to love a good overflow set of holes!!!!!

On that note, 

Latah, Gatah

Bathroom Redo

Or....having to redo a bathroom I already had to rehab ONCE!!!!!

Hi!!!!!

I have been away from you guys!!!!!

Working my little tush to the bone.....

I have ACTUALLY SOLD SOME FABRIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(i don't know if those were enough exclamation marks.)

(i tend to underdo my punctuation.)

My first collection has been selling and I am getting ready to launch my 2017 designs this summer.

Then we will branch out into wallpaper.

What the hell have I started?????

This feels suspiciously like work.

BUT I AM LOVING IT.

go figure.

anyway.

enough about my wonderful stuff.

let's talk about my buddy Kris.

Kris lives in an old old old old old old old house.

Not one of these new fangled homes with bathrooms for each bedroom.

This house was lucky if it had a bathroom on each floor.

When we remodeled the downstairs, we enlarged the back of the house, enabling us to change the power room from a tiny closet to a normal size half bath.

When I say tiny,

 I mean so small that the door had to have a half circle cut out of it so it could swing open and get past the sink.

I wish I had a picture of this.

I do not.

My life is full of regrets.

Sigh.

ANYWAY.

On the second floor, 

years ago,

 when I first started working for Kris,

 and she was my client,

 and not my friend, 

and those were the good old days and I made money off of her and her falling down old old old house.........

I designed a remodel of her second floor bathroom.

This bathroom serviced the four second floor bedrooms.

These were all the bedrooms for the family.

Well.....

one of those rooms we turned into the TV room, so it really was for three bedrooms.

BUT IT WAS FOR 4 PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!

We were able to enlarge the bathroom to create a separate toilet room, 

which is a really nice detail..

 when you have 4 people sharing one bathroom.....

Now, before you feel too sorry for her family,

 they did have another loo on the third floor,

 thus the kids got plenty of exercise,

 and to this very day are fit and healthy.

Kris wanted a bathtub/shower,

 so that's what I gave her.

Later on, it was changed to a shower stall.

Here are the shots of how it looked before it was all gutted for this new remodel.

I had a half wall built to separate the tub from the vanity, 

adding beadboard wainscoting to all the walls.

This was 20 years ago, before everyone and his dog was using beadboard.

Anyway, I don't care, 

I still love it.

beadboard beadboard beadboard beadboard.

Love it.

So Kris ripped it all out.

Below are all the before shots.

First is looking in from the hall past the vanity and what later became the shower stall back towards the toilet room, with its pocket door.

After 20 years, the wallpaper is starting to peal off.......

We used hardware and faucets from Waterworks, and Carrara marble.

These pictures are courtesy of Kris. 

She took them for me before the room was demoed.

Shot towards the door out to the hall.

We used subway tile 20 years ago, because I've always used it.

I found Mexican mirrors that had been metal worked in silver, so the tone of the metal was similar to the nickel of the fixtures.

The wallpaper was a classic Brunschwig & Fils all over leaf pattern in green.

So

That is what was, this is what is:

As you know, if you've been paying attention.....

we gutted the room.

Started from scratch.

Clean slate.

We still kept the subway tile look, but Kris wanted something less stark than white, so we went with a creamy marble.

Below is the wall that runs behind the vanity and shower.

I decided to tile the whole wall.

It's only money, and it's not mine.

For the top of the tile we installed a crown of the same marble.

I worked with the carpenters to create a similar profile in wood to continue around the room.

They also recreated the details for the windows and doors that the rest of the house had.

Below is a shot of the molding painted. See how nicely the shape blends with the tile.

We had the beautiful basket weave tile in the same marble installed on the floor of the room and the shower.

We were lucky

 (I found it.....) 

and found a small slab of the same marble that we could use for the shower curb.

We didn't want to have to buy a 4 x 8 size piece of marble for this little area.

It took us hours to find the right wallpaper.

We wanted one that was simple,

to work with the tile,

but that had a little glitz, 

since Kris was going glam.

 This wallpaper (it's hard to see in the pictures) is printed in metallic gold.

Very subtle, but glittery in the morning sun,

when an old biddy is getting up and attum!

This is the way it looks at this point in the renovation.

It's all creamy.

I will be keeping you up to date on its progress.

I promise.

I have been missing in action, but will be better.

That's it for today, campers.

Oh, wait!!!!!

we need one of my fabulous side by sides!!!!!

The new way is going to feel much larger because I am not going to have a half wall.

OH!!!

and a teaser.

the vanity is an amazing antique we picked up at auction.

On that note,

Latah, Gatah