Ideas for Interior Design

As you are aware from my last post, the council signed off on our plans and have moved us to the 'advertising process'. In this period we are basically notifying all of the neighbours that we are going to renovate, and they are given the opportunity to lodge an objection to our plans. Hopefully nobody objects, but if somebody does, the council decides whether to consider the objection seriously. Otherwise, we get the all-clear! When this is acheived (I clarified avec ma mère) we go back to the architects and decide on all of the interior details - side note, I say YES this job could hypothetically be given to an Interior Designer. When finalised, we can present the plans to potential builders to depict what we want to build. We have to decide on all of the intricate details now so that the builder doesn't build something to their own preference due to vague information.

I have compiled a selection of Interior Design photos that I love, and are my latest inspiration for Almora. I have 3,077 photos to date in my "Interior Design" folder, so some serious culling of images has just occured for this post. These looks you're about to see are yet to be approved by my parents, AKA the mortgage payers, but some design advice will hopefully push them in the right direction. From what I gather, we are all on the same page in terms of an overall traditional look with some contemporary elements. So, a transitional style; "Transitional style is a marriage of traditional and modern furniture, finishes, materials and fabrics. The result is an elegant, enduring design that is both comfortable and classic." (from http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/204463/list/Transitional-Style--A-Bit-of-Modern-and-Traditional)

Bathroom

Now, I'm not sure if this sort of detail is required in the plans, or if this is communicated to the tiler on the day of installation. Nevertheless, I believe in playing up pattern. That means layering patterns (contrary to what many people believe) and changing up the norm "subway look", like with a play on the herringbone layout below. This pattern is reminiscent of the classic checked pattern of black and white tiles, and is made unique with the variations in the finish of the marble. Love it!

Source: http://www.georgicapond.com.au/about/faq/

Again, I don't think wall paper choices need to be conveyed in the plans, but still I want to share my inspiration. Here we have large scale, busy pattern in a small room (powder room). Interior Designer Sarah Richardson preaches that bold pattern can be applied to a small room, because the overall intake is actually quite small. I think it would be fun to  be adventurous with pattern and wallpaper. Too many people are not!

Source: http://www.sarahrichardsondesign.com/portfolio/sarahs-house-4/powder-room

Recently my mum and I visited Schots Home Emporium - a furniture and homewares store that specialises in traditional design. (NB: not a brand deal).  They have a really nice range of bathroom fittings, like the faucet below. I am obsessed with this style of tap. It is so American, and I love the ornate, sculpted look. It is a complete opposite to your typical plain-Jane, squared tap... I believe the finished look of a room shouldn't appear as though it came straight out of a single catalogue. There should be unique pieces, elements that aren't ordinary (but not weird) like this tap so that the room looks custom-made.

The following three photos are my own orginial photography.

I see this style of bath tub in lots of American bathrooms. I'm bored with plain bath tubs. I love the sculpted façade with the ribbed edges and base. 

 I couldn't establish whether or not the counter top on this vanity was genuine marble or not. Either way, it's a pretty neat option. I love the shaker doors, the drawers down the middle, and the sufficient counter space. The curved cut-out on the base prevents the vanity from looking too boxy.

Once again, tile pattern in the bathroom, but continued up the wall. Patterns can definitely clash if they aren't thought out properly. I love the idea of having three different tile arrangements in the bathroom. The first being on the floor, similar to the layout in the photo on the right, with the stone laid in strips, separated by narrower strips. This option is great for combining cheaper tile with expensive tile. It is a cost-effective solution for achieving a high-end look with quality tile, but not blowing the budget just on the floor. Using a more accessible large-scale tile and separating it even with a standard small-scale tile can make the floor look totally designer. The second pattern on the wall should probably be least fussiest in arrangement. Often designers opt for a simple paint job rather than tiling every inch of the walls, becuase it is quite expensive to do so and unnecesary for some areas to be fully tiled. For the third, if the floor is fairly pared back in terms of pattern business, and the walls are plain, then you can have fun with a feature wall. Now I use that term carefully because I don't mean a block colour one one wall, with the other three white. I take reference from the tiled niche in the right photo. In mine and my sister's bathroom, we want the main feature pattern to go in the shower. We also really admire the marble wall tiles in a honeycomb arrangement in the left photo.

(left) Source: http://www.sarahrichardsondesign.com/portfolio/by-room?room_type=9

(right) Source: http://www.sarahrichardsondesign.com/portfolio/sarah-101-season-2/refreshed-master-bath

When building a house, lots of people opt to have the same cabinetry from the kitchen in the bathrooms too. I have never been keen of this concept because (I know this is strange) I think of it as if you would preparing food in the bathroom. I think it is just my subconscious pathetic excuse to explore two different cabinetry designs. I reckon I could get by with the same cabinetry, but different paint or stain finishes in the kitchen and bathroom. Nevertheless, I really like the custom Art-Deco inspired vanity by Sarah Richardson below. I love the patterns in the wood, don't you?

Source: http://www.sarahrichardsondesign.com/design-team/sarah-richardson

 Bedroom

These two photos are more for decorating inspiration. I am not against a neutral foundation finished with colour and pattern. Although I want to be brave and have "colour commitment" somewhere, sometimes tastes change, and a good way to be economical in preparation for this potential change is to let the expensive stuff be neutral (this goes for every room, really), such as fixed cabinetry, expensive furniture, and window dressings. The fixed elements should be neutral for re-sale purposes too, but don't completely dismiss your own style and taste if you are going to be living in your house for a while before you sell it! Decoration pieces like lamps, throws, and cushions are inexpensive especially if you buy online, so they can be easily changed up. This allows you to inject some colour and patern and texture into your room. My current bedroom follows this advice, and I intend to continue to maintain that. Except I've noticed I am constantly wanting to upgrade everything - chairs, dressers, linen, cushions... - but I've found out this is a common symptom of Interior Designers. Phew.

(top) Source: http://www.sarahrichardsondesign.com/portfolio/sarah-101-season-2/kid-free-retreat
(bottom) Source: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/514677063636836739/ 
 
Interior Doors

My favourite doors are the colonial doors that I describe as "the ones with squares in them". They are classic french doors, have a beautiful aesthetic, and suit traditional styling. I would love to see at least one door like below as an interior door in our house, whether it be in the hallway separating the bedrooms from the main living section of the house, or the door into the second living room.

(left) Source: http://indulgy.com/post/ZNwUpCsG71/bright-white-walls-and-warm-wood-floors-heaven
(right) Source: http://www.amaratimber.co.uk/door-products.php?doorCategory=viewAllInternalGlazed

For the other inteior doors for bedrooms and bathrooms, I would like to see us diverge away from the usual four-panel door, and install five-panel doors or three-panel doors like below. They are still traditional, just a different aesthetic. Also a common American choice. (All I do is rave about America! Don't be surprised when you learn I've moved there in the future.) A few years ago I was reading the blog "The House that A-M Built" and one tip Anne-Maree gave was to use exterior-grade oak doors for internal doors. Not only would they feel substantial when you open and close them (not weak and flimsy), but they would also be better at sound-proofing and insulating the room. Hopefully we can find doors intended for external purposes with a nice aesthetic and use them inside.

Source: http://www.houzz.com/photos/1802361/P-630-Interior-Mahogany-3-Panel-Single-Door-contemporary-interior-doors-tampa 

I am obsessed with American East Coast design, i.e. The Hamptons. One of my favourite TV shows is Revenge because the set design is absolutely stunning.What I really admire about "Grayson Manor" is the black finish on interior doors and windows. I would love to paint our windows and doors like this. Not a matte black paint, but black stain so that you can still see the wood grain underneath. Otherwise, the doors in particular might actually look like exterior front doors. Perhaps just the  windows, front door, middle-entry door, and rear french doors should be black, and leave the other interior doors white? Still musing...

 

(top) Source: http://design-home-house.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/the-revenge-house.html
(below) Source: http://www.thefurnishingtouch.co.za/set-in-stylepart-2series/

Exterior

Again with the Hamptons look, I love this architecture below. Unfortunately, this isn't the style of architecture our house will have, particularly in terms of roof shape. Although, we could still adopt the colour scheme. Light grey, white trim, dark grey roof, black front door. Just not yellow cream. I really like the oval windows, and the french doors on the right photo.

 

 (left) Source: http://www.pinterest.com/anguishm/

(right) Source: http://www.lanegroupinc.com/blog/gallery/

Flooring

The current floor boards in the heritage end of the house are baltic pine. This would be found in almost every heritage house in Australia. I don't have an issue with the pine, becuase I love the grain in each board, and the variations between them. What I dislike is yellow stain. Ew. I prefer a stain that is more of a light brown. The below photo is an American Oak floor, but we could stain our boards the same colour. The extension will most likely be laid with baltic pine flooring. I hope we don't choose another wood all together, becuase the juxtaposition between the two boards would be so obvious (at the moment this is the case, a narrower more modern floor board is in the extension) and would divide the house. We want the extension and original building to flow in unison. Consistent flooring will definitely help with this.

Source: http://www.houzz.com/photos/4354623/New-White-Oak-Character-Grade-traditional-hall-dc-metro

Kitchen

Hamptons kitchens have become popular recently. They didn't use to be so common, but that doesn't deter me from wanting a similar kitchen. I will help my parents design a unique kitchen, classic in aesthetic and modern in function. That should be my tag line. I have expressed my admiration of shaker-panel doors before, so I don't need to reiterate that I want them in the kitchen. A white colour schemr kind of expected. I don't have an issue with that, but I'd be happy to see a contrasting island installed. If we went ahead with the dark stained inner window frames and doors, I reckon, for consistency, we should stain the island the same colour. However, the stain, and this goes for the doors and windows too, must work in harmony with the stain of the floor boards. The two colours cannot be exactly the same, or totally different. I reckon we should draw out a darker variation in the floor board colour and use this for the windows, doors, and island.

Source:  http://newvisionprojects.com/construction-services/kitchen-renovations

For the counter tops I initially liked the idea of carrara marble, but then I learnt about its vulnerabilty to stains and scratches. I thought, it is such an expensive material to use, you don't want it to be ruined! Instead of marble on the counter tops, I reckon we should have a quartz counter top, like Caesarstone. Caesarstone is definitely cheaper than natural stone, but is more durbale than the likes of marble. We could still incorporate marble in the kitchen, just on the backsplash like the photo below. Marble tiles surround a feature pattern above the stove top. The backsplash is less prone to stains than the counter and is a great way to add a fancy design aesthetic that you can see from a distance when standing up.

Source: http://newvisionprojects.com/construction-services/kitchen-renovations

I love the idea of a raised breakfast bar, perhaps on the island. This would shield views of a messy kitchen from the living room. If it isn't too high, it shouldn't separate the room. We want the kitchen/dining/living areas to feel open. In the kitchen photo below, I love the wine fridge tucked into the profile of the bench.

Source: http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/3465673/start=563/thumbs/Suzy-s-Inspiration

Living Room

The built in cabinetry in the living room should be an extension of the kitchen cabinets because the room is open and undivided. I think that a gas fireplace would be cozy to have in the living room, flanked by cabinets like the photo below. I love how those cabinets have glass on the top, and solid doors on the bottom without a shallow bench separating them. I really like the idea of keeping the depths the same. The marble surround of the fireplace is beautiful, too.

 Source: http://www.houzz.com/photos/1737707/University-traditional-living-room-dallas

Look up! I adore coffered ceilings. I don't know how likely it is for us to have a coffered ceiling in our living room, or at least somewhere else in the house, but I like to imagine so. I think they are great eye candy for a room. They are an architectural feature, like an American take on the Victorian ceiling rose.

Source: http://rikkisnyder.com/blog

Stairs

You might have seen in the CAD elevations I have shared of the interior, that the stairs are going to be open-tread. All along I have wanted a filled stair case, with treads the same stain as the floor and and white risers. However, due to the narrowness of the house, keeping the stairs open will allow for the house to feel more open too. I was against open-tread stairs because I think they look like a skeleton and they are really contemporary. But they have lead to the transitional style aforementioned. I think a balance of contemporary elements and traditional elements will be nice. As long as there are traditional elements with straight lines to reference the stairs.

Source: http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/Stairways

Wardrobe

This wardrobe is the inspiration behind the wardrobe I've designed for my bedroom, which will be reflected to be the wardrobe for my sister's room too. What I admire about the wardrobe below is the colour, the shelves for shoes, the thickness of the shelves, the shaker drawers, the counter space with a mirror, and the high shelves and cupboards. I think a chandelier would be glam too. I will continue the carpet from the bedroom into the warbrobe for continuity and put an ottoman in the corner. The wardrobes will have a skinny window for heritage restrictions, so I'll have plantation shutters over it, just like in my bedroom.

Source: http://www.pinterest.com/prismma/wardrobe-design-ideas/

I have included a CAD screenshot I drew up of the high (off-centre) window in my room with my headboard and bedside tables drawn in for reference, as well as my wardrobe designs. The last shutter on the right is the fake.

Original design created by me, Suzy Rose.

This concludes my interior inspiration for Almora. I hope you've learnt something new and enjoyed musing over some of my favourite photos!

Happy weekend all
XO