Dream House: Dining Room

It has been far too long since I've posted something on this blog, almost a year, as a matter of fact. I've made some alterations to my dream house floor plan and I've been working slowly but surely on the dining room. I feel like my problem is that I have an idea in my head of how I want a room to look and I select certain pieces and then I see something I like even better in a new magazine and change the whole design around. Now I understand why it takes so long when someone remodels their own home. It's always different when designing someone else's space.

Here's the new floor plan of the house. I added an actual powder bathroom, as well as a bay window to the dining room. I'm much happier with it now.

The dining room I had a hard time with. I changed the dining table a few times and went through about 10 chairs before I finally chose the Saarinen chair. At first I was going to use a leather on the back of the chairs and a fabric on the seat, and then decided on using the blue snake-pattern leather on the backs of all the chairs with six different leather colors to go on each of the chair seats and back fronts. It would definitely be a colorful, moody dining room, which suits me. 

Dream House: Kitchen Board

I would say, out of most of the major rooms in a house, I probably spend the least amount of time in the kitchen. I'm not a terrible cook, but I don't particularly enjoy it. I love to bake, but when one is attempting to cut sugar out of their life, it doesn't make much sense to be baking things one can't eat.

I do know, however, that after living in apartments most of my life I've had my fill of white countertops. The top picture is basically my dream kitchen, just probably with grey cabinets, though I can't decide if I like the clean look of the cabinets in the top picture better than the more traditional look of the bottom picture. I figure it's a decision best left for when I have an actual kitchen to design. The easiest decision is the backsplash. Those Turkish ceramic tiles from Ann Sacks in the top picture really do take the cake.

Dream House: Powder Bathroom Board

I always start out with projects like these with every intention of posting monthly. Even the best of intentions cannot withstand the shitstorm that life sometimes churns out. As it was I didn't post my first dream house design board for the entry of the house until April (you can see it here, and since it's been a little while I thought I'd share the entire plan above again).

It wasn't long before I realized how much work I had cut out for me with just about every room in this house, and it was a great reminder as to why interior design is a full time job. Not that I need reminding. I do this for a living, but in a completely different field of design (commercial office spaces) and it's been a while since I had a hand in designing a home, even a pretend one. It was also a great reminder as to why I chose to go to college and get a degree and do this for a living and read design magazines like a fiend. This stuff is fun.

So this isn't the most traditional powder bathroom. It's technically just a guest bathroom, but I couldn't work an actual powder bathroom into the plan, so just go with it. I found the Ann Sacks Marrakech mosaic and was in love immediately. It would surround the shower and extend across the vanity wall. Feels like it would be a very moody bathroom.

Ann Sacks Chrysalis Marrakech mosaic tiles.

Sherwin Williams SW6510 Loyal Blue high gloss paint.

Ann Sacks Cirrus Porcelain flooring.

Kohler Purist fixtures.

Restoration Hardware Classic wall mirror.

Dream House: Entry Board

Last year I had so much fun collecting inspiration photos for my dream house. This year I wanted to use a floor plan I adapted myself and design it room by room using digital design boards as though it was my own house. I haven't been this excited about a make believe design project since design school. I've been delayed the first few months of this year with real design work and my novel (that still isn't done), but I finally got around to finishing up the plan above. It's probably quite a bit bigger than any house I'll end up living in, but you never know, and I wanted to have a few guest rooms just for the fun of showcasing different themes.

For obvious reasons, I thought I'd start with the entry.



Paint: Sherwin Williams Slate Tile SW7624

Area rug: Overstock Safavieh Antiqued Vintage rug

Console table: West Elm Lacquer Storage Console

Side Chair: Wayfair Clairborne side chair
Side Chair Fabric: Maharam Chenille Cord, Tide (407808-003)

Table Lamp: Pottery Barn Glazed Glass Lamp

Mirror: Overstock



Dream House: Gallery Walls

I've been wanting to put a gallery wall together in my apartment for months. I have yet to buy enough frames, but I'm hoping these photos will get me motivated.

Daniel Beauchemin

York Avenue

Aero Studios

Design Dump

Miles Redd

Nate Berkus

House Beautiful tips for Gallery Walls

Since  I've started this post I've purchase a few frames and I'm getting super excited about getting everything up on my wall. I promise to share photos when it finally happens!

Dream House: Outdoor Spaces

I'm not sure I need any further inspiration than this photo for any outdoor space I'll have. I've always been in love with the idea of a pool (and, obviously, there could still be a pool in this backyard just out of sight), and I'm sure I'd use a pool, but I think I'd rather have a smaller yard like this in close proximity to a beach.

But who knows, maybe I'll end up in a city like New York where a backyard like this would most likely be a balcony, which would still be absolutely perfect.

In the spirit of inspiration for the unknown, here are a few more ideas for outdoor spaces that make me want to grab a book and curl up on a cushy chair in the sun.

De La Torre Design Studio

Terry Hunziker Inc

Wadia Associates

Mac II

I used this last one in my post for pools a year ago and it's one of my favorites from that post. I can imagine coming around the corner of the house and finding a secluded little oasis like the first picture.

Dream House: Walls

Last month I posted inspiration for ceilings and I think the two should merge together (the first picture below is a really good example), but there are some really awesome ideas I found just for walls.

Hein + Cozzi

CW Eisner

CW Eisner
(Custom Gracie wallpaper)

CW Eisner
(Custom geometric design, by me, of two tones of faux leather fabric)

CW Eisner
(Glass mosaic tiles, mirror, and faux finish paint)

John Derian
(Such a cool idea, but unless you found a wallpaper, I don't even want to think about how much time this would take, or where the pages would come from!)

Kara Paslay

Dream House: Ceilings

The more I move into the architectural details of design (walls, floor, ceiling, etc.), the more I realize when looking at a photo of a room these details can go unnoticed, or fade into the background. I've been looking through so many photos over the last year for these posts that the idea of having to pick out photos purely for wall and ceiling details is daunting. I think I might have gone about this backwards. And it would make sense to decide on wall and floor and ceiling details first because that is what is built or finished first.

When it comes down to it I think I prefer dark wood flooring and high ceilings with a good amount of molding details all uniform in color with the walls (usually white). Pairing this with my taste in mixing contemporary furniture with antiques and it seems my style is decidedly French (and that first photo is a good example). I didn't do this on purpose, but there it is. The French do have great taste.

Thad Hayes

Geoffrey Bradfield

Wadia Associates

Jerry Maggi & Mehall Griffey

Shostak & Co Inc

Carol Egan Interiors

Rockwell Group

Dream House: Staircases

I have an obsession with spiral staircases, as you might be able to tell from the photos below. I've always wanted one of those table top collectable miniatures. Gorgeous. As far as having a spiral staircase in my house, I think one would work nicely in a library, or perhaps even outdoors if you had a 1st to 2nd story patio...


When it comes to staircases in general, I'm attracted to anything different, anything that is not the typical carpeted straight span of stairs that was only built to get one from the first floor of an establishment to the 2nd floor. If I have stairs in my future house, needless to say, it will be a creative addition to the house.

Peter Marino

Bunny Williams

Jean-Louis Deniot



Pinterest

Aparicio Associates

Jean-Louis Deniot

Michael Bay's Miami home

Kelly Wearstler

Betsy Morgan

Jennifer Post Design Inc



Martin Lawrence Bullard Design for Ozzy Osbourne

Elizabeth & David Brockman

Simply Sun Signs