Hola my little chickadees.....we made it to Friday.
Hallelujah right?
I thought I would talk a little bit about the beginning stages of a renovation or new build. If you follow me on Instagram then you might see that I post a lot of shots of tile....half done kitchens and exterior shots. It's a long process usually 6 months to a year to finish them up and requires a lot of thought process and attention to detail.
Guiding a client through the process can be very overwhelming. Usually they have moved out of their home and are residing in a rental which can be stressful. There are a lot of situations that can delay projects also.....like throw in a pandemic right?
There are budget restraints. Many things will come up that you realize you want to do while the house is tore up!
It's all about priorities. I am of the school that if it's a choice between a cool architectural element or a new sofa.....I would always chose the architectural detail. Those are harder to do at a later time:)
That being said.....normally the first thing that will come up is plumbing. They need the valves for rough in. What that means is that if you haven't picked out your plumbing fixtures then you need to at least decide which brand you are using.
After that is electrical....deciding not only the basics like overhead cans etc but decorative as well....where they go and what you might need like picture lights etc.
Both of those need to be picked out before the drywall happens....
Then tile....and countertops.
That being said....most people are visual and need to see how it is all going to come together.
So after we pick out the plumbing, tile and lighting....I pull it all together for them on paper so that they can visualize it. It's a good time to change and that happens often.
I also figure out the vanity sizes and start with the colors and styles.
While I will throw in a mirror or some wallpaper to pull it together [the designer in me!]....it is usually just to show how it could work in their space.
Installation
There are always changes along the way with a light fixture being backordered or a budget restraint.
It can be pretty daunting pulling together 6-7 bathrooms so that they all co-ordinate with the clients desires.....I will definitely use the same light fixture in a couple of secondary bathrooms just to be consistent.
We started out with blue shower walls in the bathroom below but switched it to all white with a blue vanity instead.
The vanity will be painted BM Hale Navy.
This client has 3 boys so we kept the bathrooms pretty neutral.
I will give choices like below in the laundry room....checkered tile or a graphic wallpaper...
We chose the tile and I love it!
I usually spec marble in the master and maybe one guest room. It's much more expensive than ceramic but will give you a little "pretty". Also if it isn't in the budget then there are plenty of ceramics on the market that have a marble look!
Because of Covid 19 restrictions I went and gathered a bunch of countertops so we could decide what to use....
Since they were doing the tile I was able to gather samples to put it all together.
For the kitchen....I gave them examples of shaker style doors....
The kitchen plan below shows the cabinets painted BM Revere Pewter and the walls BM China White. The island will be a wood tone and the floors will possibly be stained Jacobean
I picked Caesarstone Calacatta Nuvo for the countertops. The reason we decided against marble is that she has 3 boys and does not want to be stressed out about them....[the countertops not the boys!]
I believe that design is always functional....how.....you use a space.
How you live as a family.
One of the additions to this home is a huge screened in porch. It's right off the family room so I know they will use it a lot!
And there you have it. So much work in the beginning....and also details to remember. I hope that I can calm them down and ease them through the process with no stress.
I hope you guys have a great weekend! I got my hair done yesterday and it was heaven....
And my sisters came over like old times. We ordered from Buckhead Diner...drank wine and it all seemed so normal!
I forgot for just a brief moment all of the things going on......
Shayboo
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