The Continuing Saga of a Ranch-style Remodel Part 4
In the beginning...
There was a gal who met a gal who needed window treatments for two rooms in her Land Park home. But that's not where the story ends...
Project 4: The Daughter's Suite
Mrs. W. now had a comfortable family room, a welcoming entry way, elegant living and dining rooms, and a glamorous powder room. Still, there were more areas of the house that needed to be addressed.
Mrs. W.'s daughter was just entering her teens and her room was woefully out of date. The walls were bubble gum pink, the carpet was a deep plum and the antique furniture was all very large, very heavy, and very dark.
Compounding all these issues, her bathroom was almost completely non-functional. There was a large L-shaped vanity that partially blocked the entrance to the tiny shower, a jet tub that didn't work and was so low to the ground that it was a trip hazard, a pony wall blocking the toilet from the bath made the space look even smaller, the door opened the wrong direction, and the wall paper was incredibly dated. Something had to be done.
The Goals:
The main goal of this project was to give Mrs. W.'s daughter a room that would grow up like she did. Middle school and high school years are times of amazing growth, mentally, emotionally, and physically, so the space needed to be flexible as well as stylish. And not pink
As for the bathroom, it needed to be functional. There was quite a bit of space available, but taken up with things like a pony wall and a double sink. It was also decided that it needed to work with whatever was done to the bedroom. Finally, it needed to be handicap accessible. Mr. W. was wheelchair bound for a short period of time and both the Mr. and Mrs. are in the medical field. That greatly influenced the rest of the design.
The Process:
The first thing that had to be done was planning. After meeting up with Mrs. W. and her daughter, I discovered that the young lady was becoming interested in more contemporary styles, but didn't want to jump in too deep with them. Gray was very trendy at that time and Mrs. W.'s daughter decided that she wanted her bedroom and bathroom to be that color. After that, it was my turn.
Knowing colors as I do, I knew that the popular cool grays would look dated and flat fairly quickly, so I chose warm grays for the walls. I used the chair rail as a barrier and put a lighter color on top and a darker one on the bottom. The old carpet was ripped out and hardwood was put down. Being that it was a teenager's room, Mrs. W. and I felt the need to add some closet organizers to the mix, freeing the space from the typical clutter.
As far as furniture went, two different bedside tables, a new dresser, a vanity, and a new padded headboard were chosen. There were quite a few new lights brought in as well. A reading light was added by the window seat, a large overhead fanlight illuminated most of the room, contemporary pendants framed the bed, and two table top lamps in various styles helped to dress the place up.
A few final touches, like the custom pillows and window seat cushion and the dual rugs softened the harder edges in the room and made in into a comfortable and classic design that would age well with Mrs. W.'s daughter.
The bathroom used the same warm gray and white color scheme, but was much more involved. The room had to be nearly completely demolished and built up again, but it allowed for a few very interesting additions. The bathroom window was replaced, for one. For another, the shower area was enlarged by taking space away from a linen closet in the bedroom. The final reason was for some very special wiring to be run... but I'll tell you more about that in just a bit.
As I mentioned earlier, there was quite a bit of space in the bathroom that was being wasted because of the setup. The first thing I decided was that the pony wall had to go. So did the L-shaped vanity. The storage wasn't worth the loss of space. Instead, I had a new vanity custom made. I had the wiring changed around so that the light switch was on the correct wall and had more lights added, including can lights, a bar light over the mirror, some pendants, and a chandelier.
The floor was tiled in a beautiful Turkish travertine and the shower and lower half of the walls were done in a porcelain tile, making clean up easier. The shower itself was made to be wheelchair friendly. Instead of the glass enclosure that had been there before, we made it doorless and curbless. A foldout teak shower seat was installed as well as two different shower heads, one standard and one handheld that attached to a pull bar.
There was one final touch though. The reason for the extra wiring that I mentioned earlier? It was for a heated backrest in the new soaker tub that was installed! A few sea-side accessories and the room was complete!
What's Next?
Mrs. W. was thrilled. Her daughter finally had a room that reflected her age and personality and the guest bath was safe and accessible for everyone!
It got her wondering what I could do with...
...her kitchen...
And so the job continued... but you'll have to come back for the next entry to hear what happens next.
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