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….