Thursday, November 30, 2017

Powder Room + Laundry Room- Briarmead

Whew!!! What a week!! If you follow Wild Rose Interiors, Inc. on social media, then you’ve already heard the exciting news that we’re opening a store + studio space. For those of you who are local to Houston, the store will be in the Rice Village area at 2358 Bissonnet, between Kirby + Shepherd. Signs will be up in about two weeks and furniture will start to arrive in early January, which is when we'll officially open. I’m really excited about the two furniture lines that we’ll be stocking, which will give our clients access to thousands of fabrics and leathers for totally customizable furniture. I will also have a couple of great accessory lines, and feel very fortunate that I’m working with several Texan artisans. One of the craftsmen is out of Austin and makes gorgeous live-edge dining tables as well as several other styles of accent pieces. 
From a clients' home that I'll be sharing more of soon!


I’ll be stocking a few original pieces of art from a fine artist out of Dallas, who will also be ready to take on commission pieces. And last, but not least, we'll be offering custom cabinetry from a local Houston carpenter who is hands-down fantastic (we can offer 3-D renderings for larger projects). I have several of his pieces in my own home, and have watched him site-build all the cabinetry for full remodels and new construction for clients (you've seen his work at the spec house on Woodard). I will have a free-standing cabinet and a small kitchenette in my shop by him for locals to see his work in person. Everything is starting to come together with the shop, and has been very time consuming. I'm working on compiling a post to share all the work that goes on behind the scenes before a store opens, so be on the lookout for that. 

While I’m really excited about the progress at the store, I’m equally excited to see several of my design projects moving right along. Last time I shared the kitchen plan for the remodel on Briarmead, and today I have the powder room + laundry room design.

My client had an inspiration photo for the cabinet style for the powder room, which is being designed to look a bit like a built-in dresser. It will have drawers rather than cabinets, faux legs, and will be painted a dark gray. She also liked the idea of using a wallpaper in here (no argument from me as this has become a bit of a signature element for Wild Rose Interiors). I found a fantastic geometric paper in white + silver, and decided to offset that with a contemporary brass mirror + wall sconces. I love that the mirror is a rounded rectangle for a little interest but not so ornate that it competed with the wallpaper. 

We kept with a quartz countertop + brushed nickel faucet, which matches the rest of the countertops + plumbing fixtures used throughout the home. I think this small space is going to pack a punch of contemporary glam style.

Laundry rooms are having a big moment in design right now, which I’m completely onboard with. Often times these spaces are overlooked and uninspiring, which makes the mundane task of doing laundry even worse. If your laundry room is feeling drab, try painting the walls or the cabinetry a bold color, or if you’re ready to do a little more work, think about adding tile on the wall behind the washer and dryer or adding a unique tile to the floor. I was really excited that my client was interested in doing a patterned tile on the floor and running subway tile on the exposed wall behind their sink and countertop area. They were able to save a little money by reusing the black granite countertops + hardware from their original kitchen, which you would never know that was not an intentional design choice.

Here’s a few progress shots taken today. The floor has been laid and is waiting for grout, and the subway tile has been started.


And one more progress shot from the job site-the TV wall in the living room that's open to the kitchen. To add some interest we've added a little shiplap detail and my favorite shade of navy behind where floating shelves will eventually be located. This will compliment the new furniture + rug we have coming for this space as well. Hope to share more of those details soon! 
Next time will be all about the master bathroom and the Jack & Jill bathroom. Lots of beautiful tile happening in both spaces!!! You won’t want to miss it! Until then, have a great Friday!!!

Monday, November 13, 2017

Kitchen Design- Briarmead

The weekend has flown by, and here we are, right back at the beginning of another work week! I started the weekend a little early by shopping with a friend on Friday at the annual Nutcracker Market, which is a huge holiday and gift market inside the NRG convention center, complete with food + cocktails. It was my first time going and it did not disappoint. I definitely see why it has become a yearly tradition for so many people to signify the start of the holiday season. 
Crazy amount of shoppers!!

Aside from the holiday market, we managed to squeeze in some grilling, football, and a long walk around the neighborhood thanks to some beautiful fall weather. And I can't talk about the weekend without mentioning that my favorite pooch, Brody, also turned 11!!! 
It was one of the most relaxing weekends I’ve had in a while, which has given me a little spring in my step today to share a new project, a remodel, that I've been working on for the past six months are so. The home was built in the 1950s and was a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home that Blue River Custom Builders is converting into a 4 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom home. The kitchen is being completed renovated and a new powder room and laundry room were added. The detached garage was moved up and connected to the home by a second story addition that includes a game room and two bedrooms that share a Jack and Jill bathroom. On the first floor, the small, middle bedroom in the original three bedrooms, was converted into the new master bathroom and closet, allowing for the old master bathroom to be removed to allow for a larger bedroom space. Additional changes include pushing out the living room wall for added space, custom built-ins in the living room, new flooring and lighting throughout most of the home, and a freshened up exterior. The house is really moving along and is currently in the millwork and tile stage. I plan to share a few glimpses of the construction progress as I share the design plan for each space, starting with the kitchen, which has gone from closed and cramped to light, bright and open. 



Expansive new kitchen.

Looking towards the stairs leading to the new 2nd floor addition.
Living room is to the right.

Wine nook that is to left of the kitchen.
As you can tell, the angled brick fireplace was removed in order to allow for an open concept kitchen/living space + a large island. The kitchen was also extended into the old laundry room to provide space for a pantry and the refrigerator. An additional window in the kitchen, and the nearly floor to ceiling windows in the living room maximize the light flooding into the home. 

The design itself is a great mix of modern, classic and industrial touches. The quartz counters have a soft movement throughout which compliments the mini marble herringbone backsplash in the kitchen + the stainless steal mosaic in the wine nook/dry bar that is directly off the kitchen.


All of the trim + cabinets are being built onsite and will be painted in a very pale gray. The island and the wine nook cabinetry will be painted in a deep shade of charcoal that is quickly becoming one of my favorites. We went back and forth between wood or acrylic barstools, but ultimately decided to keep it light with the acrylic choice since the island and flooring are darker. I think this also adds to the chicness of the space.

Since we opted for the acrylic stools, to add to the industrial vibe we selected matte black, contemporary lantern-style lights for both the island and the dining room, which is semi-open to the kitchen. These will connect well with the new black iron railing that is being used for the stairs going up to the second floor, which is open to the kitchen.




The overall design feels very cool with an industrial chic vibe that fits this young, growing family. 

I'm really excited to see this kitchen come to life and to share how perfectly this plays with the adjoining living room, which we’ll share more of next time!!! Until then, have a great start to the week!!!

Friday, November 3, 2017

Tile Progress- Woodard

Happy Friday!!!! It’s a big day here in Houston- the Astros have won their very first World Series, which honestly could not have happened at a better time after dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey for the past few months. So cool to see how a single sporting event can change the mood and energy of a city. We thought about going down to the parade today, but decided that fighting for a spot with 500k of our closest friends wasn’t how we wanted to spend our Friday. Many of the schools even cancelled class today!! Crazy!!! BUT the good thing is I have now managed to carve out a few minutes to sit down and right this blog so another week doesn’t slip through my fingers without a blog post.

Last week I shared the last of the design plans for one of the spec houses I’m designing, and today I have some of the tile progress that’s happening.

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve already seen a little sneak peak of this, but the mini herringbone backsplash is up in the kitchen and I absolutely adore it. Everything is very neutral throughout the house, so this felt like the perfect place to add a little touch of character without going too taste specific. **Please excuse the sub-par iPhone pictures... professional ones soon to follow. 


On the fireplace, we’ve added a light-colored stacked stone, which is also being used on the exterior pillars. The stair treads + railings were just installed and have really transformed the look of the space.
While you don't typically put railing on both sides of the stairs, we had to on this bottom section because of it being open on the right side and because the top staircase railing had to be on the left side. It felt and looked strange to not have the railing be continuous. 
You can get a better feel for the size of the kitchen from this view, although you're missing the whole left side that has the sink + dishwasher. The island pendant lights will be going up soon! 

In the first-floor bathroom, we kept the basket weave tile as originally planned, but changed the shower wall tile to a beveled glass for a little more drama. The single light will look fantastic centered over the round black + brass mirror, which will be hung next week.




The tile work was just underway in the two secondary bathrooms upstairs, but we’re pleased with the countertops and lights so far.

The master bathroom is taking on the light, bright spa vibe we were going for. The marble hexagon floor + accent band in the shower compliment the countertops perfectly. The large subway tile has the slightest unevenness to the edge, giving it some added character. 



The vanities are split in the master bathroom.
On the right side is another sink + a lower makeup counter.
The wood floors are currently being installed (so happy I switched to a lighter color last minute) and the grout on the tile work is being finished up. 

Next week the cabinet + door hardware is being installed, as well as a few other punch list items, but we're getting so close to listing this beautiful home!!!