AbbeyK — On Interior Design

Mosaics for your Garden

Looking out the window, all I see see is melting, slushy snow. So, I dream of May when I can get in the garden. Landscaper I am not, and doing exterior space is not something that comes easy. That's why I am an interior designer, after all. One thing I am thinking of for this spring and summer is hard scape.

Check out the The Master's Mosaic's slide show of Jeffrey Bale's work from the article Turning Every Stone for a Perfect Fit from the New York Times. He makes these absolutely incredible pebble mosaics. 

Update: after posting, Jeff sent a note:

"Well, one thing the article said is that I am booked out two years in advance. Not true!!! So, if any of your readers wants to commission one of these works of art, you can contact me from my website at www.jeffreygardens.com."

Renovating a Bathroom: grab all space you can

When your bathroom is only 5 x 8, the case in many urban homes, every inch counts. I recently renovated a bathroom and stopped by to see the finished room. We had also done the living room and the master and the office and I'll post those soon. (I am completely in love with how the bedroom drapes came out!!!)

So the bathroom was original to the 1920s brick building. I do love the classic look but this one was tired. Mold was coming through the tiles in the shower. It didn't feel clean any more. Homes have life cycles just like everything else and for this bathroom, it was just time. Plus, water was leaking into the unit below. That pushed my client to re-do. Here are before pictures.

One of the chief complaints of this bathroom was the lack of storage. Where's a girl to put all the products? She had a low free-standing storage piece, but it was spilling over. This client is very neat and it was driving her crazy. It would me too!

Many homeowners attempt to solve the space dilemma with a vanity. But truthfully, in small space, a pedestal sink makes the space feel bigger. Clients are not usually convinced though. For this space, the tape measure informed the decision. You wouldn't be able to open the door to the vanity. The tub was too close. We even considered some of the vanities with drawers. Ultimately it was the same issue. No room.

So we solved the storage issue other ways. We put in a 40"high Robern medicine cabinet over the pedestal sink and built-in a storage closet to the left of the sink. My contractor maximized the space by stealing every single inch. He was able to build 8" deep for most of the cabinet, but he had to go around heating pipes (which could not be moved) so there was about 4" on the inside in front of the pipes. That 4" space is perfect for small items like make-up brushes. While the deeper space houses baskets and larger items. Don't the baskets just look great? Love them!!!

Good-bye plastic bins on the floor. Good-bye spilling over of "stuff."

The tiles in the wet area are 3 x 6 tiles from Sonoma Tile. The cushioned edges give them a bit of dimension so they have some interest beyond a standard subway tile. You can see this better on the front of the tub. Walls are a nice Ben Moore soft green. (We used their Aura brand low-VOC paint.) Porcelain floors from Tile Showcase were a pleasant surprise. I thought the tile was consistent in its color, but they actually varied to look more like stone (which delightfully also hides more).

Anyway, it's fresh and clean and feels happy and is a huge improvement. Client is happy. So am I. YAY.

AbbeyK's Advice on Tiling

From time to time, I get emails from readers with technical questions. Often it's a "What color should I put in my hallway?" type of question which is very difficult to answer without seeing the home.

But on occasion I get a question I can answer. Here's the email Q & A with Victoria. Thought it might be helpful info to someone out there.

From Victoria:

I was admiring your beautiful design work on the This Old House Website. We are deciding on tile for our only full (and quite small) bathroom in our house and I was intrigued by your recommendation to tile up to the ceiling.

I am considering the look of a natural colored 12 x 24 tile and then using a 12 x 12 of  the same tile color on the bathroom floor and the ceiling of the shower.

Do you think that it is too big a tile for a small space that is measuring 58'' x 89''? Do you think going up to the ceiling with this type of tile would be too much?

I appreciate your advice. I have been going back and forth with tile directions and this one seems a little different than the classic subway tiles that are very popular right now. It is so hard to make a decision and pick a direction.

Any feedback about if I am making a big mistake with those large tiles would be appreciated.

My response:

I would be weary of a 12 x 24 on anything other than new construction. It's not always possible for 24" to work. Spaces often settle or have sags in a floor and there's no give with a 24" tile. I might talk a client out of this.

That scale is a bit large anyway for a bathroom of your size.

Are you using stone, ceramic or porcelain. The large porcelain is usually too thick/heavy for walls so the install is a bear... all the more reason to avoid.

If your shower is tile on the floor, keep it to 2 x 2 or less. For safety reasons. I am not sure if you have a tub or a stall with a tile floor.

I have done longer tiles on floors sometimes. If you go to Cambridge Renovations you'll see some planky floors.

Victoria responds:

Thanks for the important feedback!!!!!! The tile sample seemed really thick and I am sure our walls are not the straightest in town.  We are far from new construction with a 1914 build date.

We fit a full tub with shower in our space so no worries on the the floor.

Back to the tile showroom I go with this new info in hand.

Again, thank you as I would not have considered this--I wish the showroom rep had as I almost placed the order on the spot.

My final response:

They will sell you ANYTHING!!!

Some porcelain is not appropriate for the walls due to the weight, well it's doable but you have to put a board up below each row of tile and wait for it to set...then move the board. You get the drift. It's really labor intensive and quite frankly not worth it.

With a house from that ilk, I'd stick with something smaller.

Best of luck on your project.

Tile close ups, This Old House, Newton

Have received a few emails requesting some close ups of the master bath from This Old House, Newton... so here they are.

The after shot is included too, for reference.

This Old House Newton -- Bathrooms

Here are some of the bathrooms we did for This Old House Newton:
I included the before and after shots just for fun.

Master bathroom: shower area, vanity area and adjacent to-die-for walk in closet.
Was previously a sleeping porch. Yes -- the photo with the green walls is the same room.
After

Before

Spence's bathroom: sparkling blue glass tiles are fun and vibrant -- much better than boring and dated

After
Before

Guest bathroom. Good-bye Noah's arc. Hello inviting.
Before
Stay tuned and I'll post the after photo soon. You can in the mean time dream about all the possibilities of change.

This Old House Newton -- Kitchen

Here are my snap shots of the finished kitchen for This Old House Newton. I'll post other rooms a few each day.

It was a great experience all around.

Many, many people worked on the project from producers and the film crew, fine carpenters, plumbers, electricians, architects, painters and more.

I had the project professionally shot so as soon as those are ready, I'll post them on my web site and you can see things staged, lit properly and all that.

Happy viewing.

Here are the before shots. These are indeed the same vantage points as the shots above.
Wow, huh?

This Old House, Progress

Thought you'd all like to see the on-going process.

My 10th grade English teacher always said: show don't tell.
So it's all pictures today.

Tiling the Kitchen, This Old House

Tiling of the Kitchen backsplash has begun.

First we had to plan. We had done a layout to scale, but it's not until you get the product on site and do a hard layout that you know. Those of you who read regularly know that I often proclaim that scale and real life are two things.

Joe Ferrante sketched out the design above the cook top.
You can click on any of the pictures for a larger view.

Maddy and I agreed that we liked the look of it.
But there was still work to be planned. Which tiles would go where in the tableau design above the cooktop?

If you click on the images, you'll notice on the design we wrote R and S. "R" for rosette and "S" for star.
That's because there are 2 different 6 x 6 tile patterns in the tableau. On the border of the tableau tiles will be cut in halves -- making a triangle shape. Mark Ferrante took over the project after his brother's passing. He suggested we consider which of the two tiles will look better as cut in half and build from there out from the edges. I wouldn't have thought of this, but it was the way to go. I love when I learn a new trick. One tile worked well cut on the diagonal so we used that along the edges and developed the pattern off of that.

Another tip? start the tableau higher than you think you might like it. Why hide a tableau with pots and pans.

Once we decided what we wanted. Mark and his son got to work. Here's Eric as he started tiling and it's all about the details.

See all the little pieces? The tile comes mesh mounted on a sheet, but to end the run, each little tile must be pulled off the backing and cut by hand. That's a lot of work.

It's coming along and lookin' good.

Bathrooms, tiling to the ceiling

There are a lot of homes out there with small bathrooms. In this situation, I am a big fan of tiling to the ceiling. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but tiling to the ceiling actually makes the room look bigger. It does not make you feel fenced in, which is the typical fear.

When you have a line of tile going around the room, your eye follows the zig zag of the line. Typically in a bathroom, you see a lot of tiling of the shower to the ceiling, and out side the shower to chair rail height.

One thing I never like is showers tiled and the rest of the walls paint. This looks like you ran out of money.

Here are a few bathrooms that I tiled to the ceiling. One bathroom was only 4' x 5'!!!

Wellesley Bath Renovation -- More tiling

A room of stone. Feels like a palace.
FYI. Ceilings in a steam shower enclosure must be tiled.
Next steps are all finish: shower head and levers, lights and fan hooked up, glass steam shower enclosures.

The end is in sight for the client.