The Finished Product!

It's been a whirlwind.  There's been a little blood, a good amount of sweat, more than a few tears and lots and lots of laughs, but we are proud to present you with...

The Reader's Retreat!

I will talk you through this as if you were coming on the Showcase tour. (And if you're in the Pasadena area, I highly recommend you take the tour! It is open through May 19th.)

We added the built-ins to make the best use of the space under the eaves, which cut quite low and tend to be impractical space to access. By adding the built ins, we not only gave the homeowners ample storage (honestly, check out how much storage that is!), but the light paint also brightens the room. The built ins also eliminate the need for a bulky dresser or armoire, so even though they remove some of the floor's square footage, the room appears much larger and is more efficient. Yes, those are drawers under the window seat, too! And that beautiful painting, painted by Southern California native Janet Bothne, hides a TV on a swing arm, easily pulled out to be viewed from the bed, then tucked away when you don't want to see it anymore. (It is the Reader's Retreat; we don't want anyone to know you've been cheating!) The arch in the sculpture niche reflects the arch on both the headboard and the valance over the window. And speaking of sculpture, this bronze by Monica Wyatt (also a Southern Californian) is called "Learning to Fly". It's pretty perfect for our mother-daughter design team!

Because the room is east facing, it receives a lot of light in the early morning. But as the day goes on, the room can get quite dark. Because of this, we wanted to play up the light in the room as much as possible. Most of the fabrics and finishes in the room were selected for their reflective quality. The panels flanking the bed are actually an abalone shell wallpaper we backed with gator board and framed as art! They are extremely light-weight, add texture to the room and reflect the light differently during different times of the day. The grass cloth wallpaper is backed on a silver paper, so it also adds shimmer to the room. The vinyl window seat cushion is practical as well as reflective. One of the biggest hits in the room is the organic vine stencil on the ceiling. Artist Michael Sullivan added a bit of silver metallic paint to our cabinet color to create the iridescent champagne finish on the ceiling. It looks different depending on the time of day and on the light source. It was gorgeous this week with the cloudy skies outside.

The custom bed was created using the ikat (apparently pronounced ee-kot) fabric we showed you in our inspiration board. We pulled the citron, plum and silver tones from it to use throughout the room. In the corner, you can see the art deco chaise that was also one of the original inspirations for the room. Actually this is the first thing you see as you enter the room. (I'll post a closer picture of it in another post.) We designed a C table specifically for the chaise. It will swivel so that the reader (or napper, as the case may be) can easily get into and out of the chaise. Above the chaise are two more paintings (a diptych), which, unlike its corresponding mate on the other side of the window, does not open to reveal a hidden TV or the cocktail bar we wish, at this point, we'd thought to include. They are just a beautiful "Lavender Haze" also painted by Janet Bothne. The Feiss chandelier, though new, seems to fit with the era of the chaise.

We will also add a closer picture of the beautiful antique jacobian tortoise shell dressing table. It took some fancy footwork to get it in, but it fits like a glove in the space! The cross-leg chair also shares the ikat fabric. Looking to the right of the dressing table is the closet (filled with plum, citron and silver clothes belonging to members of our team!) and to the left is the bathroom...

We wanted to create the most efficient use of space in this small bathroom. We removed a tub, linen closet and a 24" deep vanity that visually consumed the small room. We replaced the tub and linen closet with a wall-to-wall walk-in shower so that you see both back corners of the bathroom when you walk in. The lack of a shower door also eliminates visual barriers. (And, yes, it does work. We did demonstrate to the homeowners that water would not splash all over the bathroom!) Michael Sullivan worked his magic on our custom designed, now-only-18"-deep vanity as well, creating a multiple-layer striae finish. The Kohler "Spun Glass" undermount sink adds more sparkle and surprise. The mirrored panels reflect the light and add a sense of space and all elements of the vanity (even the panels above the vanity mirror and in front of the sink) open up for storage. The Walker Zanger tiles are a beautiful warm grey that add light and interest to this small space without overpowering it.

Please come visit us at the Pasadena Showcase House now through May 19th. We'd love to have you see the room in person. You, too, will wish to be curled up on the chaise, relaxing in the Reader's Retreat!

Our Fabulous Subs - Part 2

So, we have to back-track a bit. Photography was this morning. The room is done, but I want to go back to last week's progress when every day was chock full of changes.  Here's where we were a week ago today: After Richard Stewart's painting team finished the cabinets and ceiling, our specialty artist, Michael Sullivan of Michael Sullivan Art started on the ceiling stencil (picture below) which will be replicated on the bathroom walls. He'll also work his magic on the bathroom vanity which he is painting in an iridescent silver striae pattern.

 The bathroom has been tiled. Jim Nasra of G. N. Custom Tile has brought the vision to life. He installed a floating marble bench, marble vanity counter and marble shower curb today to complete the look (not yet pictured). Here's an early photo of the shower wall tile with the white ceramic penny round shower floor:

During move-in week we saw some of our custom pieces arrive: the fabric bed in the Pindler Ikat, our Belgian oak nightstands, our abalone wall panels framed in a painted sterling silver frame from Roma through Fast Frame La Canada and our alabaster table lamps from Schumacher.

The next few days will see even more changes: Bathroom trim installed, drum chandelier and bathroom sconces hung, bedding arranged, accessories placed and final artwork hung. To be continued.. 

Our Fabulous Subs- Part 1

We’ve been moving full steam on our Reader’s Retreat space at Showcase and are less than 2 weeks out from completion. This is when vision meets actuality. In the next week and a half, we will be installing tile, a custom bathroom vanity, final lighting, plumbing trim , shower glass doors, wallpaper, abalone shell panels, all furniture and accessories, draperies and bedding. This week so far has seen the brazilian cherry color of the floor turn ebony, drywall patching cover exposed lighting runs and lath and scratch coat cover the walls of the shower stall.  Our master schedule is updated continuously throughout the day as we adjust for  labor availability and unforeseen delays. It is a juggling act to say the least and we have hit our far share of drama. What project undergoing a change this massive this fast wouldn’t? we will try to cover all the steps to come, but first, I want to go back 2 weeks when our bedroom built-ins were installed. We have been incredibly lucky. We have had some wonderful craftsmen working alongside us throughout this process, often donating their time, labor and materials. Our cabinets were built in sections by two different woodworkers who needed to work together to make them look seemless:

The East wall (windowseat wall) was built by Richard Kolarik of Kolarik Cabinetry in Sunland. He is also building a custom zebrawood trey table we designed to reach across the plum chaise we’ll be installing in next week. This is his wall:

The South wall (display cabinet wall) was built by Gary Hagen of Hagen’s Woodworks out of Glendora. He is also in the process of building our bathroom vanity.

We cannot say enough wonderful things about both woodworkers. As designers, we look for craftsmen who make it easy for us to dream big. Richard and Gary are  positive thinkers, can-doers. They might rein us when the creative urge exceeds the project budget, but they are always solution oriented.  We highly recommend them both. This project is only as good as the people who have generously leant us their time, materials and skills. We think their work speaks for itself.

In the days to follow the cabinet installation, we had our painters, Richard Stewart Painting (Sunland) prime them and paint them in Dunn Edward’s Limestone with an eggshell finish. Take a look at their meticulous work:  

We have so much more to come and it will come fast in the next 10 days:

Flooring refinishing updates and pictures, the Kravet abalone shell wallcovering will be backed and framed for wall panels, bathroom tile from Walker Zanger and plumbing fixtures from Kohler’s Purist line and their new Flipside handheld will be installed. Stay tuned….

Master Bedroom Redesign

When we are caught up in lengthy interior design projects, we love to get the immediate gratification of a redesign or staging job. With interior design, we wait months, sometimes years, to see the final outcome of our efforts, but a redesign or staging can take just days to see the light. Here's a redesign project we just finished. Our client asked that it be a surprise for her husband's birthday and after several months of planning, we installed everything in the last 2 days while they were out of town.

The room has wonderful south/western exposure. It's a large room with all day light, a feature the client wanted to maintain through soft, light-filtering window treatments.

Two of the client's requests were that a writing desk be included in the new layout and that the balloon roman shade over the window-seat be replaced with something less formal.

Working with the mint green of the walls and the camel color of the window-seat cushion proved more difficult than I expected. Neither color is well-represented in most home decor stores at the moment. Aqua is everywhere. Mint, not so much. So, we looked for complimentary colors. I came across the bedspread first. It became our inspiration for the space. It combined mints, camels, celadon green and a purple silver. I leaned heavily on those colors for accent items: pillows, desk lamp, dresser decor.

Finding a King headboard in stock or getting one made and delivered within a few week turnaround was another challenge.

 Here is the desk we found for her at an auction. It's Italian made and amazingly fit in our budget. I love using antiques when I can. They add an air of formality and history to a room.

   

The dresser and side table have been with our client since college. Since they had cedar-box drawers and could eliminate buying costly new pieces, I decided to explore their growth potential with paint and an updated look.

 

Before

After

The side tables got 4" furniture feet to give them some elegance. They got painted silver with purple undertones to coordinate with the bedspread and I changed out the hardware on all 3 pieces from the wood knobs to antique bronze pull rings that coordinate with the drapery hardware. 

When we talked about drapery options, keeping the windows light and airy was of top priority. I suggested a sheer drape which would be whimsical and light, but with a natural fiber roman shade to give the smaller sized windows weight and the illusion of greater width.

 

Before

 

After

The chest the client had at the foot of the bed is beautifully made. It has bird's eye maple panels and is cedar lined. I could not, in good conscience, have painted it and since I also felt it was disproportionately sized for a king bed, we changed it out for an open-legged bench.

For an unexpected pop of color against the mint walls and the blue/green of the headboard, I put celadon sheets on the bed and added a grouping of 3 green glass vases to the dresser.

Inspiration

When we found out that we would be designing a room at the Showcase House, we dove in headfirst. The Showcase committee gives all the designers a broad series of color palettes from which we can choose. Initially, we tended towards browns with pops of orange and cinnamon. And then, after a trip to the Design Center, we mixed things up and did a 180. 

This beautiful ikat fabric turned our heads immediately.  It changed our color palette and the whole direction for the room.

As you can see, browns went the way of silver.  We love the rich plums and the golden citron color.  The silver tones create a cool and calming contrast to the more lively plum and yellow-green.

The fabric became our jumping off point.  A Queen size, fabric bed will be covered in it.  Bold, we know.  But right away we knew we were heading somewhere exciting.  If we’d had any doubts about this more vivid color scheme, they soon dispersed.  The next day we found this beauty…

The chaise is a 1920's art deco piece covered in plum velvet. It became our other major inspiration in the room.  Its color helped direct the space and its purpose as a "place to lounge" encouraged our reading room theme.  We are having the legs of the piece re-stained to blend into the newly re-finished dark wood floors.  We love that the piece has that vintage, retro, glamorous feel while its color gives it a modern pop.

The combination of classic and modern is an aesthetic we really love at Strong Studio Designs.  This ikat fabric is a current, formal take on its ethnic origins while the chaise is a nod to a time gone by.  We definitely wanted to incorporate more art deco elements in the room.  Remember this little nook? 

In between the bathroom and the closet in a small hallway, it could easily be wasted space.  But you know we like to use every nook and cranny we can.   We found this gorgeous table, which was so meant to be.  It fits perfectly!

The tortoise shell vanity table is also art deco.  It is French art deco and will anchor the dressing hall space.  It features a glass top, turned legs and tortoise shell facing.  We are currently on the hunt for the perfect vanity table chair to offset the tortoise shell table veneer.

We have so many incredible elements in the room.  We can’t wait to show you more!  

Our Showcase House space - The Reading Retreat

 

The Reading Retreat

For years we’ve been toying with the idea of throwing our hat into the ring for a Showcase House space. The pros and cons of designing for Showcase House is a blog entry in and of itself.  Busy schedules never made it seem like the right time.  Since, these days, busier than most, there’s no such thing as the right time, we took the leap. As we walked the house the first time, we looked for a space that was manageable for us both in size and financial under-taking.  (The designers bear most of the cost of implementing their designs). The room we ultimately got was not among the three rooms we targeted. The guest suite we ended up with was originally part of an up-stair’s Maid’s Quarters that consisted of a sitting room and 2 guest suites over the garage. The space was originally presented to us as a single space for one designer’s under-taking. The scope of it was more than I think any single designer wanted to tackle outside of the Master Bedroom and kitchen, so the 3 rooms were ultimately divided into 3 individual spaces. Since we had not focused on the rooms over the garage as a possibility when we walked the house, there was only one space I remembered well:  A room with sloping eves and built-in architectural interest.  Oddly, this is the room we were given and it suits us: A space with a little bit of quirk and lots of personality. (If the room were a redhead, we’d just go ahead and move in.)

Here is our space:

The room presents some interesting challenges.  Its ceilings are all sloped, which make utilizing the under-eve space crucial.

Sloped ceilings can sometimes limit a homeowner’s options in a space.  We, however, found our inspiration under these sloped ceilings.  We are going to wrap two of the walls in custom cabinetry, creating bookshelves, extensive storage and a window seat nook under the window, perfect for snuggling up with a good book.  This relaxing reading retreat will feature all the comforts of a bedroom oasis, but will provide practical solutions to everyday storage needs, as well.   As mothers of four, we are all about finding creative storage solutions. 

One of the other challenges in the room is its North Eastern exposure.  This makes the room very dark for much of the day.  In order to bring more light into the room, we have chosen a silver/blue grass cloth wall covering with shimmering top layers. Reflective, iridescent fabrics will also help bring light into the room.  Perhaps one of my favorite features of the room will be the un-expected abalone panels we’ll be framing in sterling, silver-brushed wood frames (Courtesy of Fast Frame La Canada). They’ll provide light and a striking focal point over the headboard, side tables and along the wall of the entry hallway.

The last major challenge in the room is the small, cramped bathroom.

The bathroom currently houses a shower/tub and visually bulky cabinets all under another sloped ceiling. Our goal is to visually open the space without compromising on storage.  By removing the cabinets and the tub, we will eliminate 2 of the bulkiest objects currently cramping the space.  The storage lost by the removal of the vanity cabinets and the linen closet by the tub will be replaced with upper cabinets over a new vanity and a shallow, recessed cabinet built into the north wall between the toilet and the new shower stall. 

 The shower stall will feature a floating bench,  a medallion tile focal point and Kohler’s Purist line of plumbing fixtures with their new flip-side handheld. The tile will be a cool-tone combination of Walker Zanger’s new lines:  6^th Ave. ceramics, 21’s stone finish porcelain and Rue Pierre’s leathered, pillow-edged Blanc-Antique marble.

These challenges so far have invigorated and inspired us and we can’t wait to dig in!

Strong Studio Designs in Showcase House 2013

Pasadena Showcase House of Design

We have some exciting news over here at Strong Studio Designs and much to our relief, it has nothing to do with Courtney having another baby. We are actually giving (re)birth to a room at the Pasadena Showcase House of Design!  This is a prospect that both thrills and exhausts us.  We’d like to invite you to ride along with us as we embark on this exciting adventure.

For those of you who don’t know, the Pasadena Showcase House of Design has been a Pasadena tradition since 1965, with its proceeds benefitting three annual music programs.  It is now one of the most successful home and garden tours in the United States.  Each year the Showcase committee chooses a large, historic house in the Pasadena area and then lets loose a bevy of interior and exterior designers to update and beautify the house.  Through some inexplicable fate, we were chosen to remake one of the rooms.  We’re not sure why we were chosen… Was it our semi-polished portfolio (finished fifteen minutes before presentation time) or our magnetic personalities? We aren’t sure, but we are sure we are going to take the Showcase House by storm!

Over the next couple months, we’d like to share with you, in non-designer lingo, the nuts and bolts (and tiles and fabrics) of the process.  The past month has been a whirlwind already.  We can’t imagine how much crazier it’s going to get.  All we know is that with amazing sub-contractors, some incredible textiles and wall-coverings, a healthy sense of humor (followed by an occasional dose of red wine), we will make it through and even have a little fun.   Grab a glass and join us!