Pilgrim Project Reveal - Office

Today's reveal is really special to us. This project began last August!!! Yes, 2017. Yes, 9 months ago. Like a baby, this beautiful space needed lots of love and patience to come to completion.

Here's the story: we began working with our client last August to design a mudroom and office/homework space. The plan required the removal of walls, the construction of built-ins and lots of details in between. We finalized the design shortly thereafter and...as is sometimes the case with contractors...the project got bumped. This is not to say the contractor (Capano Construction) was anything short of fantastic, the timing just didn't line up. The original plan was for completion before Thanksgiving. The revised plan was for start after Christmas. Our amazing client made lemonade out of lemons and we designed her dining room while we waited (click here for part 1 and and here for part 2 of the dining room reveal). When the new year hit we were off to the races! 

Today we're revealing the office/homework space and we'll be back with the mudroom in a separate post. 

Where to start?! Okay - this amazing, custom, two person desk is the centerpiece of this room and it's truly a stunner. The combination of drawers and cabinets creates a ton of diverse storage. We love some fun containers and trays on top of a desk to coral frequently used stuff, but a truly functional office has hidden storage. And this office has it in abundance.

We had so much fun imagining our client's kiddos sitting side-by-side practicing their multiplication tables...or doodling super heroes.

We always consider the home itself in our designs. As we mentioned in the dining room reveal, this home was built in the 1920s and retains much of its traditional New England character. With the bones of the home in mind, we chose traditional Windsor chairs in an updated, modern blue for the desk chairs. 

The pop of blue against the otherwise neutral color palette - black, white and wood tones - is the perfect amount of fun. It brings whimsy to the space that will make homework a less of a downer.  

Like the desk chairs, the hardware for the drawers and cabinets are also a mix of traditional and modern. 

On the wall opposite of the desk is a large closet with custom, bypassing, barn doors made of reclaimed wood (built by Capano Construction). 

The hardware is recessed to allow the bypassing feature and, bonus, it's beautiful. The imperfection of the reclaimed wood - the mixed stains, the cracks, the knots and the marks - add so much character.

A series of large windows flood the narrow room with natural light at the center of the desk. On the right side of the windows we added some floating wood shelves to showcase some colorful, special art from our client's children. Even stealing that awesome framed black and white monster from a different room and relocating it here. The mat is a perfect match for pencil yellow.

To the right side of the windows we wall mounted a dry erase calendar for function and letter board for humor. Hints of brass (in the lamp and letter board) played well with the schoolhouse yellow.

As with any space that will be used by kids, we had so much fun with the details. There's nothing better than a crayons and crayons and more crayons. And puffy, green flowers that look like they've come out of a Dr. Seuss book are always welcome.

This was an incredibly fun project and we couldn't be more thrilled with the end result. 

Have a fantastic week! We'll be back next Monday (Memorial Day!) with another post.

- Leah, Sonia & Michele

Pearl Street Project Reveal - Entryway

Hi again! We're back this week with more from our Pearl Street Project Reveal (if you missed the living room - click here). Today is about the entryway.

As we explained last week, Pearl Street is a city condo. This meant we designed in smaller spaces that needed multi-functional use. For example - the entryway.

The "entryway" is the cabinet and mirror against a small wall in the living room. It's right next to the condo entrance and feels subtly separated from the living room. We stuck with our tried and true entryway formula (read more on that here): storage, mirror and texture. The cabinet provides great hidden storage, the mirror is functional and unique, and there is texture everywhere.

Let's talk more about that texture. First, there's the rattan front cabinet. 

Second, the mirror. So much texture in this one piece. The shape and bone in-lay, check and check. And even the color provides texture with layers of whites and creams. 

Last up - the details. The striated vase and the tote basket. More texture and some great function too. The vase is a great spot for fresh flowers and the basket is a great spot for just about anything, including cat toys...which will likely be the use. Shout out to Ozzy the cat, who was polite and supportive throughout install day.

The sum of all this texture made us so happy. And, more importantly, the function we created on this tiny wall of the living room was everything we (and our client) wanted. We think this "entryway" is a great example of maximizing function in a small space without layering hook upon floating shelf upon basket upon drawers upon more baskets and hooks. A space can look sleek and be functional too.

We have more to show you from our Pearl Street Project (the dining room!), but we'll take a break next week with something different. And we haven't even begun to show you phase 2 of our Pilgrim Project! EEEEK. So much goodness to come.

Have a great week!

Leah, Sonia & Michele

Pearl Street Project Reveal - Part 1

After a bunch of sneak peeks on social media (we couldn't help ourselves), today is the full reveal of our Pearl Street Project. Technically, Part 1 of the full reveal.

This project is different than anything we've previously tackled because it is a city condo versus a suburban house, and for one other crazy reason...which I'll get to. The city condo factor immediately presented some considerations: smaller rooms, multifunctional spaces and storage needs. We'll chat about each factor between this post and next week's (part 2 of the reveal), but let's start with a photo.

All of our designs start by determining the central style of the room. A room is never one style - it's usually a mix of several - but centralizing a room around one general feel/theme/style brings cohesiveness. The most important key to determining the style of a room is, of course, getting to know our client. To do this we talk to our clients about colors they love, stores where they shop, and ask general home design questions (i.e. "how do you feel about color on the wall?" or "is Fixer Upper your favorite show?" or "gingham: love or hate?"). We also take a good look at the current set up of their home - the colors and pieces they instinctively drawn to. 

Our Pearl Street Project client has a modern, clean style but isn't afraid of color and eclectic accents. Basically, a dream client! And so, the central style of this project is mid-century modern. But don't miss the layered sprinkles of boho and global stylings.

For this project, we brought in all the furniture with the exception of the couch and the dining room chairs. People often ask if they're allowed to keep some of their existing furniture - if our interior design process is all or nothing. For us, making a home beautiful and functional does not mean putting all existing furniture on the curb and lighting a match (though some of us dream of doing so now and then). Incorporating important, existing pieces into our design is part of our job. And, as I just mentioned, having those pieces is useful in discovering that central style of our design.

Here is what this room looked like before.

A side-by-side always helps with a comparison.

You'll notice we changed the layout. With the new layout, we fit the maximum seating the space could handle without overcrowding. In smaller rooms people instinctively think they should get small furniture and use is sparsely. In fact, that can make a small space appear even smaller. {Design Tip}: The rules of proportion don't change just because a room is huge or tiny. Use furniture that fills a space without stuffing in too much or leaving pieces lonely and ungrounded. 

We love the pair of armchairs (one is above) because they're a great combination of sleek and comfortable. They are something you want to curl up in, but they don't take up a ton of space. And, bonus, they have these beautiful legs that add some negative space. All rooms need a balance of big, heavy pieces and airy, "see through" pieces. 

Speaking of airy furniture, this origami coffee table and leggy media console also add to the balance. And the media console does so without sacrificing storage. Look at all those cabinets and drawers. Double win. Wall mounting the television also freed up great space on top of the console for storage (a low profile basket or box would be our recommendation) or just for display of some pretties.

I'm sure you've noticed the colorful dhurrie rug. It's a beauty. We often use blue as a neutral, but for this project it's definitely an accent color. The saturated tone is a great pop against the beiges and grays that ground the style. Oh, and there's also the orange. LOVE, love, love the orange. It's so happy. The painting that was originally where the TV is now wall mounted (scroll up to see) was inspiration for the color palette, including the orange. 

Other than this project being in a city condo, we had one other, unusual, consideration - the ceiling of the entire apartment is configured with radiant heat. Wrap your head around that one. We couldn't (and neither could our client). This meant we couldn't add recessed lighting or ceiling fixtures. Nothing. Nada. Our only option was to update existing light fixtures...and there were no existing light fixtures in the living room. #bummer

And so, standing lamps became our next best choice. And if standing lamps are your sole source of lighting in a room, you go big. Hence the awesome arc lamp. And we also added a complimentary cutie in the opposite corner of the room.

The art in the room was already part of our client's collection, which just gave the pieces a new home. In the photos above you can see where we hung everything. In the photos below you can get a closer peek at the art itself. The artist, Jacob Higginbottom, is local and so very talented. 

We also installed some metal "sea urchins" to one side of the television. They're black and brass and dimensional and fun. (Check me out in the reflection in the TV...heehee)

Subtle brass moments throughout the room add touches of warmth to the cool mid-century feel.

Next week we'll show you the dining room and the "entryway"...which is sorta/kinda part of the living room. See that line of a table in the bottom left corner of the photo below? That's the entryway! Stay tuned, more to come next Monday.

Until then, have a great week! 

- Leah (and Sonia & Michele)