A beautiful transformation years in the making …
I am so excited to share photographs of this project with you today. I first started working with this client exactly five years ago. When we first met, she walked me through the house they had built 20 years ago. It was a beautiful traditional home on a grand scale filled with lot of antiques and furniture they had invested in. As in so many homes built and decorated at that time, there was lots of red and gold, formal custom draperies, honey oak floors and overstuffed upholstered furniture.
She explained to me that they wanted to start updating things. But in a house of this scale, they knew it would not be an overnight process. They weren’t interested in “quick fixes” and changes. She wanted to take time to make the right selections, save for pieces she really wanted, invest in custom pieces, sell many of the investment pieces she had collected but no longer fit her style, and have fun in the process.
I am kicking myself that I did not take more “Before” pictures – but at the time, it didn’t feel like a typical Before & After project. We were on a journey and the destination seemed far off. Throw in a worldwide pandemic and the resulting product and shipping delays, and the years stretched on.
My client is also an avid art collector – and she had already purchased quite a few pieces she had fallen in love with. Many were abstracts, modern, light and airy with bold and fun colors. These certainly didn’t fit in with the traditional Red, Gold, French Country vibe of the rest of the house, but they became a jumping off point for our overall vision.
So floors were refinished, walls were painted shades of white, things started to be sold on Chairish, we decided what pieces could be incorporated into the new design (I still love a mix of vintage and modern) and started searching for the perfect … sofas, tables, lamps, rugs, nightstands, bedding … each and every item was very thoughtfully selected.
Of course, paint and furniture can only take you so far … what about an outdated kitchen? Well, of course, we brought my favorite kitchen designer, Stephanie Frees of Plain & Posh in for that!
And so that is where I will start with the photographs. I am going to break this up into three posts of my three favorite rooms. Part One today is the Kitchen. We did take photos right before demo started and this is what it looked like.
And here it is today …
Can you believe it? And this was not a full gut remodel. The perimeter cabinetry mostly stayed but got new doors and height added at the top. The island and tall wood stained cabinet to the left of the sink are new and custom built and Stephanie hand-drew the design of the new range hood. Isn’t it gorgeous?
The beautiful reeded detail came from our idea to add this special element to the new island and cabinetry. Bringing it over to the hood just tied everything together, don’t you agree?
Here is that same view before …
Lets talk about that sink, shall we?
We were so in love with this stunning Quartzite we chose for the countertops we wanted to feature it further in a custom apron-front sink.
We scoured Etsy for vintage runners and this one was our favorite for pulling in colors from some of the artwork we commissioned for these spaces … such as this whimsical piece by Marissa Voytenko.
After falling in love with her work, we realized Marissa is local to the Chicago area. She graciously hand-delivered this piece to my client, saying it isn’t often she gets to see in person where her art will hang in someone’s home.
This area used to be a small desk – common in so many kitchens for many years, but no longer needed or practical in a modern kitchen.
The new cabinetry by Plain & Posh is a beautiful replacement, don’t you agree?
Some other special features of this kitchen – the lighting. That picture light above (a favorite), the pendants over the island and all sconces are from Circa. (I actually have those same Goodman pendants in my own kitchen – I love them so!)
Styling this new kitchen was such a treat!
Of course, I must talk about this backsplash! There were so many times in the design of this house that my client and I could almost agree on things telepathically. We were both in love with the look of Zellige tile and it seemed that all of our favorite kitchens we had Pinned or saved pictures of used Zellige tiles … so it was just one of those … “Well obviously we are going to do Zellige!” moments.
Zellige Tile is a variety of glazed terracotta tile originally handmade in Morocco. It is kiln-fired over olive-branches, giving each tile a unique glaze, color and texture. No two tiles are exactly alike, so every application ends up being a unique tapestry of color and texture.
Once again, rather than make a quick decision, we got samples from a few different companies. And then, because there is inherently so much color variation, we ordered more samples over time to get an overall feel for the variation. Ultimately, we chose Clé Tile’s Zellige in Weathered White.
Installation of this tile, especially in the herringbone pattern we wanted, is not for the faint of heart! It took 5 days of labor and many hours of going through boxes to mix the colors. But definitely worth it!
Another way we added texture … these beautiful stools from Restoration Hardware.
As we get ready to head into the family room in tomorrow’s post, these shots below give a good example of how we were able to incorporate the old with the new …
The dining table and chairs were custom well-loved pieces my client had invested a lot into years ago and wanted to see if they could still work.
The chairs were so unique I definitely wanted to be able to keep them. We had new cushions made of faux ostrich leather by Sew Special Designs and a custom rug made by Carpet Showcase to break up the wood-on-wood. I think the setup ads a lot of unique character to the space.
A huge thank you to Marina Storm of Picture Perfect House for capturing this space so beautifully. Be sure to come back tomorrow to see the Family Room. It’s a beauty!
