My Design Secrets

Before ~ Dated, drab and choppy.

Recently I pulled off a quick and affordable bathroom makeover that I just love.  My clients purchased a home with a wonderful layout, lots of light and easy indoor/outdoor living.  But many of the details in the home needed updating.  So we prioritized.  Some of the must-have’s…a new kitchen and new flooring throughout.  But then there were details that  just needed a quick face-lift and their master bath was one of them. 

The Good News…it’s a nice size bath with his and hers vanities and beautiful plantation shutters. All the permanent fixtures were in light tones.  

The Bad News…dated vinyl wallpaper and pickled wood cabinets that highlighted the cultured marble counter-tops.  Not my favorite combo.    

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After ~ Serene, cohesive and classic.

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The key here is highlighting the good features (large room & plantation shutters), creating a simple color palette (ivory and blue) and updating the less desirable features (the mirrors and cabinets).  So this is how we did it.

4 Easy Steps to a Quick, Easy & Affordable Bathroom Makeover

Step 1 - Remove the wallpaper and paint the walls a spa-like blue. (See how the soffits virutally disappear?)

Step 2 – Paint the cabinets Benjamin Moore Linen White. (My favorite warm white.)

Step 3 – Replace the knobs with something simple and classic.

Step 4 – Install frames on the existing mirrors to tie in with the cabinets. (I have Excellent Sources for mirror frames in My Secret Database.)

So if you are not happy with your bathroom, really take a good look.  Does it have good bones but just needs a few tweaks?  Chances are you might be able to pull off most of the work yourself and be relaxing in your spa-like bathroom in no time at all.

My Secret Database should be your first stop on your decorating journey!

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Thanks for your patience during our website’s upgrade.  Between working on My Secret Database and doing my interior design work, it’s been pretty busy.  I figured the best way to stay in touch is to share some of my recent design work and give you some home decorating tips along the way!

The photo above is from a recently completed project which was a great deal of fun.  My clients moved down to Florida last year and were ready to make some changes so their home would truly reflect their personal taste.  They love light and bright colors and like to keep things simple.  For their living room, inspiration started with this gorgeous Thibaut print.  This is one my favorite companies when it comes to creating a sophisticated tropical look.  We created our color palette by using the beautiful aqua, pomegranate and olive green in the print.  I just added one stripe for interest and kept everything else fairly neutral.

We needed to make some changes before we even approached the furnishings.  The white tile floor was shiny and dated and the walls were a boring, chalky white.  On the windows, the dark  padded valance really made the room look small and the ceiling low.  It visually highlighted the soffit and limited the amount of light in the room.

First, we replaced the white tile floors with a warm Mexican tile.  Then the walls were painted a beautiful hue between peach and yellow (Secluded Beach).  We painted the soffits the same color as the walls so that they would blend in.  We finally had a clean palette!  Then, we added window treatments back in but kept them light and bright with bronze hardware and simple sheers.  We selected furnishings that were interesting, but simple.  An updated wing chair really shows off the fabric and a coordinating stripe really made it pop.  Plaid cotton area rugs pulled the seating area together.

I am sure you can see that some thoughtful choices really make a big difference.  My clients asked me about removing the soffit, but I really did not think it was necessary.  As you can see, paint can really help you create the visual effect you desire. 

A special thanks for Judy and Mike for allowing me to share their photos!

~Lorrie

Thank you for your tremendously positive response to the fabulous bathroom makeover last week.  My friend Amy is now a celebrity in the most prestigious circles of New Jersey!  I hope that you will be able to use my valuable tips for your own project.  Now I am back with more insider guidance to take you every step of the way in designing a beautiful living room.

Today I am featuring a project I completed on a very tight schedule.  Normally, after carefully considering my client’s wants and needs, I order custom furnishings that take at least 3-4 months to be fabricated and delivered.  In this instance, my client needed to move into the apartment within 2 months and he wanted a Modern look.  With a little ingenuity and a lot hard work, the project was successfully completed in 2 months flat, from start to finish.  For 90% of the project I used the very same retail sources that you have access to in My Secret Database.

Here’s an easy way to successfully furnish a fantastic living room:

1. Have a clear vision of the look you are after.  Look through magazines and at photos online.  Be honest with yourself.  Trends are tempting; but will you still love the look a few years from now?  Keep these photos with you at all times as a guide.
2. Look at the bones of your project.  In this project the carpeting and the walls were drab.  We changed the carpeting from a flecked Berber to a solid one and then choose a warm celery color for the walls that was used throughout the whole apartment.  A small space feels larger and more unified with one color.
3. Furniture first – the rest later.  You might be inspired by a pillow, but that should not be your first purchase.  Select your furniture and then move on to pillows, window treatments and accessories.  They are the icing on the cake.
4. Be patient – If you you find a sofa and chairs you love at a great price, but you have to wait a couple of months for delivery, then wait it out.  So many people will drive themselves crazy for the next two months looking for a replacement that can be delivered immediately, only to come back to the original choice in the end.
5. Great design is in the details.  This project is 3 years old, but you would never know it.  Here are some affordable tips to get the designer look.

• The custom-made draperies shown are white cotton panels with silver grommets.  Lately I have seen many low-cost imitations at JCPenney, Restoration Hardware and Linens-N-Things.
• One of my great designer secrets is that Crate and Barrel has a phenomenal selection of pillows with down fillers at great prices. 
• The lamp shown is quite expensive, but I wrote a post in January showing an affordable replacement.

I hope this inspires you to start your project and to move forward with confidence.  Explore My Secret Database to quickly find the treasures you seek!

Do you love a dramatic makeover? Of course you do and I totally agree!  You would think after all these years of being a designer that the charm would have worn off, but it definitely has not.  The process of taking a room from lackluster to extraordinary really fires me up!     

The project above is the bathroom in my friend Amy’s home.  Amy and I have been friends since our 7th grade Spanish class.  Instead of conjugating verbs, we were plotting a Friday night foray at the local movie theatre.  Her guest bath (which she lovingly referred to as the “sucky pink bathroom” before the makeover) needed a face-lift.  And with so many other projects (including 3 kids and a dog) going on at her home, she was not ready to do a full renovation.  As you can see, this bathroom featured the lovely pink tiles that were featured prominently in many homes from the 1960′s.  Replacing tile is a big job!  So if you are not ready to tackle the job, then figure out how you can work with it.  A new window treatment, paint, lighting and accessories helped transform this space into a glowing retreat. 

These are the tips I gave to Amy.  I am sure you will find them helpful as a general guidleine in most bathrooms.  Just adjust the colors for your project accordingly and have fun!

• Paint the walls brown, yes “brown.”  And I don’t mean a wimpy taupe color.  Benjamin Moore “espresso” 2099-30 is very pretty, or somewhere in that family.  It is going to take 2-3 coats to do it properly.  I know Dave (her husband) is going to hate me.  Rest assured this is going to give the room the face lift it needs!
• Window:  An off-white or ivory roman shade will look great.  West Elm has a nice one.  Don’t worry that the shade is too long.   It will look more substantial if it has some fabric folded up at the bottom.
• Put simple chrome hardware on the cabinetry. 
• Install a simple light fixture that has a chrome finish.  Get rid of anything brass.
• Find a brown vase (craft store) and put an orchid in it. Fake or real.
• Artwork – If you have some good digital photos of the kids and the beach, print them out in a “sepia” tone, which is brown and white.  Then get some white frames and use either white or pink mattes.  White frames are best beacuse they will show up beatifully against the brown walls.
• Rugs – Brown

Here is an alternate plan if you want to leave the walls white.

• Just paint the walls a warm ivory.
• Brown shade from West Elm
• Brown Frames on the pictures.

Since I know you all never tire of looking at photos, I have just posted a sample of my Portfolio online for you!

Shop for great bathroom furnishings at My Design Secrets!