Friday Favorites- Modern Bathroom Designs

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a Friday Favorites post. And by awhile I mean 5 months… I guess it’s time to round up another batch of my favorites, this time being my favorite modern bathroom designs.

Sometimes when people think of modern design, they think cold, hard or empty. That really isn’t the case. Modern designs can be warm and inviting when done in the right way. While they typically use cleaner, straighter lines they can easily be softened through the use of texture and pattern. Bathrooms are probably the space that I tend to lean a little more modern on because they feel clean and serene, and quite frankly, they just look cool. Below is my roundup of a few of my favorite modern bathroom designs.

First up is simple in design, but offers a big style impact. The floating vanity, the tile on both on the wall and the floor, wall-mounted faucets and a huge round mirror. Plus they mixed the metal finishes, which I'll be talking more about next week, for added visual interest. 

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How amazing is this floor tile?!? If you're going to have white walls and a simple black framed mirror, going bold on the floor is a huge bang for the buck. My general rule of thumb when doing a patterned tile is keeping the color scheme neutral so you're less likely to tire of the tile choice down the road. Black and white tile is always a winning choice. Also, I have to mention that waterfall countertop- gorgeous!

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Along the same lines, but with higher contrast is this bathroom. The floor still has a pattern but it's much more subtle, which makes the dark stacked tiles for the back wall and shower a great choice. I love the way the brass fixtures pop against the dark backdrop, too. 

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In one of my own designs, I took the dark walls a step further by also painting the vanity the same color but in a high gloss finish. The white countertop and subway tile shower provides a high contrast to the dark walls and vanity and the patterned tile floor creates visual interest. Brass fixtures add warmth to the space. 

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While this space is fairly simple, there are so many neat features that make it visually interesting. The midcentury style of the vanity (love those angled legs), the subtle tonal change in the floor pattern, the tile wall behind the long skinny mirrors, and that super cool light fixture hanging between them. It's sort of retro-mod at its best. 

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The previous bathrooms all had warmer wood featured, which really looks great against whites and grays. For an overall lighter vibe, the bathroom below is giving me all the heart eyes!! I absolutely love the bleached wood and the classic round vessel sink with a wall mounted faucet. It feels like you've just walked into a peaceful space. And the band of tiles below the mirror (which is also repeated on the floor) is something that I haven't seen time and time again, which is honestly a rarity now because of social media. It really is just a lovely space that I can guarantee does not suck to brush your teeth in! ;)  

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Black and white color schemes can go classic or modern based on the material selection and application, which is clearly demonstrated in the two images below. Both have dark framed showers and mirrors, but the first is a little more playful with the large hex tile on the wall and a sleek gray tile on the floor. The unique round mirror finishes out the space perfectly. The second bathroom has a more classic vibe with the white marble shower walls and countertop but brings the modern vibe with the white lacquered vanity and metal framed mirror with a single industrial-style light above it. 

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And last, but not least, I had to share this space because it is one of the most unique tubs I have seen. The gorgeous use of concrete tiles mixed with marble is absolutely stunning. The black window and copper/rose gold plumbing are the perfect accent in this class meets modern bathroom. 

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All of you transitional and/or classic bathroom lovers out there, don't worry, I have you covered in the next installment! I'm signing out for the weekend, but I'll see you back here next week with more construction updates and hopefully sharing the start of a new project! Happy Friday!!!

Friday Favorites- Fireplaces

We are nearing the end of the first week of January and I already almost failed at my New Year Resolution…. posting a minimum of one blog each week! Ahhh! I really need to come up with a designated time to sit down to write my blog(s) for the week because I really do love sharing information here. If only it were as easy to do as it is in theory.....

During the month of January I’ll be mostly focused on ways to organize your home that are also esthetically pleasing. From your bathroom counters (hello, product hoarder), to coffee tables and the dreaded closet! But before we go all New Year Resolution on this thing, I figured I’d start with a Friday Favorites that I've been giving a lot of thought to lately as I'm helping a new client design this for her home that's currently being built- fireplaces! I’ve lived in homes with electric fireplaces, gas fireplaces, and no fireplaces, and let me tell you I love a good fireplace and desperately miss one in my house now! I may live in Texas, but as I'm writing this a cold front moved in and just like that it's 30 degrees out, and taking the chill off the air with a fire sounds pretty dang good right about now. 

*Why I love fireplaces ? They instantly create a focal point in a room and make any space feel cozier. I’ve broken everything down into some of my favorite fireplace trends starting with the classic brick fireplace.

Brick fireplaces have been around forever and are becoming more popular today because of a little secret weapon known as white paint! Everyone, myself included, loves painted brick right now and I honestly don’t see this trend dying out any time soon. For a more rustic, natural look try whitewashed brick instead of solid white.  

Floor to ceiling brick + exposed beams. Heart eyes!!!

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Historic brick next to a large glass + marble shower for the win

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Painted brick + a natural wood mantle

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Lightly whitewashed for a softer look

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*Why I love brick fireplaces? Whether they’re painted or left natural they are a timeless and classic look for any fireplace. 

Over the past few years I’m seeing more and more smooth fireplaces, which are typically covered in plaster, stucco or concrete. While they definitely have more of a contemporary feel, when mixed with reclaimed wood they can work beautifully in a cottage or farmhouse style home as well. 

Sleek, double sided fireplace is perfect in a bathroom

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Gorgeous detail + herringbone brick inside the firebox

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Concrete + natural woods for a rustic yet modern vibe

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*Why I love smooth fireplaces? They’re neutral and you don’t have to worry about the stonework going out of style. Clean, fresh + simple. 

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past four years then this next one won’t surprise you- shiplap!! While it is definitely trendy to use shiplap right now, it has in fact been around for centuries, and in more recent times is finding its way into homes that aren't at the beach or a cabin in the woods. I appreciate shiplap for the fact that it adds instant texture without having to break the bank on floor to ceiling stone. I also love how the wood marries perfectly with just about every other material you could think to add to a fireplace surround- brick, stone, tile, marble, etc.

Shiplap + traditional mantle
What I really love is the navy accent on either side

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White shiplap + those gorgeous wide-planked floors

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Subtle stone accent brings in grays + tans into the space

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More traditional feel but hooked on those little cutie arm lights

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Okay, technically the shiplap is on the ceiling but
this moody gray wood paneling is too sexy not to share

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*Why I love shiplap on fireplaces? It adds instant character and history to a home.

So, which fireplace style is your favorite? 

Friday Favorites- Christmas Tree Edition

OH Christmas tree, OH Christmas tree!! It’s that time of the year, and while if you use an artificial tree you probably already have your tree up (before Thanksgiving if you’re like me!) but those that use real trees are just starting to get into tree decorating. For Friday Favorites today I’m sharing some of my favorite trees of different styles, along with my own!

Monochromatic Trees

By far the easiest way to decorate a tree for the holiday. Choose a color and use only that color or varying shades of that color. For a little extra dimension add a metallic shade (silver, gold, bronze) or a neutral such as white. 

Love the shades of pink with a few touches of gold

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Classic red + white

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Growing up we had a large tinsel tree in our basement
that we decorated with bright colored ornaments.
Absolutely love this mini version. 

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Colorful Trees

The one thing I love about Christmas is that you aren't locked into certain colors as you are with most other holiday decor; any color can be festive for the season. In fact, in can be fun to do something that's a complete departure from your typical decor. The key to keeping bright colored trees more polished and less Candy Land-esque is to limit the colors or to hang them in an ombre effect. Also, don't forget to mix in metallics and neutrals to balance out all the bright colors. 

Matching wrapping paper finishes this tree

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Great saturated colors + adorable galvanized bucket

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Antique-style ornaments on a mini tree

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Neutral Trees 

If you want your tree to blend more with your existing decor consider doing a neutral tree. You can use varying shades of metallics or natural elements to create these beauties. To prevent your tree from being boring add lots of texture and sheen- beaded branches, satin ribbon, burlap, feathers, reflective and matte ornaments. 

Gorgeous flocked tree

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If you have the space, a grouping of trees makes for high impact style

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Natural/rustic trees can be just as elegant as a tree decked with
satin, beads and silver glass ornamnets

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Nothing sweeter than a simple Charlie Brown tree

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My Favorite Tree.... My Tree ;) 

In our last home we had room for two trees, and had one that was all metallics and another that was more traditional with shades of red, green + white. Our new home only had room for one tree so I decided to mix up the ornaments a little bit. I used the metallics + white ornaments but added in some navy ornaments this year. I also opted to use peacocks feathers as my tree topper to tie it all together. 

A few tips for decorating your tree (excuse the crappy iPhone pics). After your lights are on start by weaving ribbon in the tree to fill in any sparse areas. I then hang any large ornaments (or simple ornaments) towards the inside of my tree. So many people only decorate the outside of their branches but miss creating depth by layering ornaments in further. Next year I would like to add a few really large ornaments to my tree to play with scale a little more. When I hang ornaments I have found that by grouping together a few like-colored ornaments creates more impact than spreading them all out. 

Sad tree with ribbon only

3 gold ornaments hung together 

Lots of ornament groupings in brown, navy + gold

Once the base of the tree has been decorated, now comes time for the fancier or more unique ornaments. I also add branches or fake floral at this time to fill in any other gaps I see throughout the tree. Last, I add my topper which this year is a whole cluster of peacock feathers. 

Metallic leaf ornaments

Branches with crystals

Glitter poinsettia branches and
wool ball garland with metallic wood beads

Peacock tree topper

After cleaning up under the tree I add the tree skirt, except mine isn't a tree skirt. I couldn't find a simple metallic one I liked so I bought a bronze-colored blanket and wrapped it around the base of my tree. Whew!! And there it is- my steps for decorating a Christmas tree. Hope you all are enjoying decorating for the holiday as much as I am! In the next week or so I have several projects to share with you that I have been working on for clients, but in the meantime, enjoy the weekend!! 

OH Christmas tree, OH Christmas tree!