As some of you may know, I’ve spent this entire summer renovating my family’s new home. And, as we’re approaching the home stretch (pun intended), I wanted to share some of what we’ve accomplished.
Because I’ve been doing the design on my own; no designer, no architect, and a husband that says, “sure, that looks nice/I don’t care” about everything, I’ve had to take our 1950’s traditional house, design it and ultimately bring to life an aesthetic that is by no means traditional. I really wanted to keep the feel of mid-century glamour but mix in my own taste without making it look too overdone. To achieve that, I was very meticulous about each and every detail because to me, it’s truly the little things that make the biggest impact, and boy, have they been worth my while!
Come on in!
I fell in love with this marble tile for the master bathroom…
And turned it into this…
A marble “bath mat”
Glass pulls
Swarovski crystal shower valves with rope detail
Mirror, mirror on the wall
Beautiful etching
This faucet was intended for a vessel sink but I absolutely loved it so I made it work for a regular sink.
The perfect spot for this antique glass jar with serpent feet
This pocket door was original to the house. I didn’t want to get rid of it, so I turned into one of my many projects…
Black paint + gloss gave this sliding door a glamorous new life
Saw these rope detail moldings and just had to have them somewhere in the house…
The detail within the detail
So I decided to make picture frame moldings for the living room to add dimension and an unexpected detail to an otherwise simple room.
Also adding the detail to the mantel tied the room all together.
Adding traditional woodwork to the first floor, especially the hallways really made the space appear wider and gave it more life.
When it came to the dining room, I really wanted to do something special and what could be more special that this Scalamandre zebra wallpaper?
I’ve always wanted a grand ballroom type space with beautiful checkered floors but didn’t want to rip out the original dining room hardwood, so instead I took on my next project of painting them.
On a “fresh” 90 degree day, I started with sanded floors and boundless energy. I painted two coats of primer that smelled extra pungent in the heat, waited for it to dry for 24 hours, then painted two coats of white floor paint, waited for that to dry for 24 hours and then it was time to put my geometry skills to work. I had to figure out the best scale for the squares and the exact angle that I wanted them to go in as not to look like kitchen tile but more like tile in a grand foyer. Two days later, I had my tape in place and it was time for the black floor paint. With dogs, builders, electricians and dust rolling in and out (no one took heed of my blockades), it was a painstaking three weeks of hand-and-knees touch ups of each and every single square. And then like a good polish change, a beautiful clear coat to give it a shiny finish.
Another detail that I went bonkers for were the doors and the door hardware. I must have spent weeks looking for the perfect interior doors and finally came upon these that are truly traditional but none that I had seen elsewhere.
I added these egg shaped glass door knobs on all the “main doors,” like the bathroom and bedroom doors, for that extra touch of traditional-meets-unexpected, and more simple chrome egg shaped knobs on the rest of the doors.
I like to design interiors the way I style my clothes; to me, a look is more fun when I can mix and match a few pieces instead of having everything be so matchy-matchy. I try to keep the commonality between the pieces in at least one detail. In this case, the chrome finish and the egg shape did the trick for me.
I also tied in the glass hardware in other parts of the house. The lever handles for the French doors are a different style, but continue the look from the other doors into the kitchen.
And these knobs on the kitchen pantry….
Lighting is another one of my greatest obsessions. To choose just one for each room wasn’t easy, but I wanted to find something unique for each room, as well as something that could (potentially) stand up to the test of two wild growing boys.
My obsession with flowers grows and grows… I put these flush mount lights in the hallways with these gorgeous crystal-like bulbs.
To protect our home, or to simply get in, I fell in love with this grizzly lion knocker that took center stage at the front of the house.
I added a matching chrome entry handle and decided on this gentle blue door color to match all the blue hydrangeas planted in front.
And for protection, my grand Foo Dog.
Of all the rooms, the one that I fell deeply in love with happened to be the absolute smallest room in the house. I loved the concept of turning this tiny powder room into the most luxurious piece of 100 square feet this house has seen. It started with my obsession with this wallpaper from the Netherlands that I had seen many years ago, and spending weeks upon months adding each and every detail to make it look wonderfully embellished but with all the right pieces.
Life imitating art
Gold swan faucet
I found this Kohler pedestal sink basin but couldn’t get its matching pedestal in time, so I had my plumber finagle and somehow attach a different Kohler model with a more simple design and it actually came out better than the original.
An antique perfume sprayer I found at an antiques market
One side of the powder room
Ok, bye!
I am by no means an interior designer by profession, but I have had a passion for interior design since I was a little kid. I loved and I hated every minute of this process, but I purely love every minute of what it looks like now. I can’t wait to show you guys the finished project, so stay tuned!
~xoAlisa
Ms Fit for Society 