Stately Kitsch | Design for the modern older home owner.

Sarah’s Bathroom Renovation Part 6: The Lighting

March 29, 2011 — Leave a comment

Quoizel Sconce w/ glass shade, $138

The Sconce:

One of the first things we picked out for Sarah’s bathroom was this sconce. So beautiful and sparkly! We looked at several sconces including some plainer options but Sarah instantly loved this one. I like that there is a frosted glass diffuser to help soften the light at the mirror.

Heath Flushmount, Restoration Hardware, $149-$269

Overhead Light Fixture:

Finding a coordinating ceiling light proved more difficult than I was expecting.Â I considered a small chandelier but almost none of them are UL rated for damp locations. For surface mounted fixtures, many manufacturers are not currently offering Chrome/shiny finishesÂ (it seems like rubbed bronze is the finish of choice). In the end we went with this simple but elegant fixture from Restoration Hardware. Although not cheap, it seems like a reasonable value to get the UL damp rating. I also wanted to avoid fixtures that have an open top above the diffuser. I find that these collect a lot of dust and bugs. A closed fixture should minimize this problem.

Good to know:

UL Rated Fixtures:

When you are picking light fixtures for the bath you really want a UL damp rated fixtures due to the humidity in the air. These will hold up much better in the moisture, particularly for a ceiling installations. Also for fixtures in the shower or above a bathtub you should pick a UL wet rated light fixture. The specifications for any light should tell you whether it is rated for this application.

Wall/Task Lighting:

-Ideally locate light fixtures on either side of the mirror at eye level. This will provide enough lighting around the face to avoid shadows.
-Use fixtures that have frosted diffusers/glass in front of the bulbs to soften the light.
-If you don’t have space on either side of the mirror consider a light above the mirror. In this case you are better off choosing a higher output fixture that lights upward so that the light will bounce off the ceiling and down. A direct downlight will tend to cast unflattering shadows.
-Consider separate switching and dimmers. For general use you don’t typically need a full strength light at the mirror, but for those times when you need that bright light to put on your makeup, you can adjust the light all the way up. Dimmers are economical because you are saving energy by reducing the power going to the fixture and also extending the life of your bulb. (Note: Not all bulbs are designed for dimming. Many florescent bulbs won’t work with dimmers).

General/Ambient Light:

-Use overhead ambient light for general illumination and to help balance the light from the task lighting.
-Again consider a dimmer for this application. These are especially nice at night when your eyes aren’t use to the bright light.

Additional Lighting:

-Consider a separate light in the bath/shower area. This should be UL rated for wet locations.

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In -Lighting, -Sarah's Bathroom, -Victorian, INTERIOR DESIGN CLIENTS

Stacey’s Backyard Makeover-Part 1: The Background

March 28, 2011 — 3 Comments

Backyard: From rear of property

Backyard: From the back entry

Backyard: From the sunroom

Stacey lives in the most charming house! It is a Tudor style cottage built in the 1930s. She has lived there for several years now and has been busy working on the house. She has also started to work on the yard, but she was lacking a cohesive plan. So we met and did a detailed analysis of her yard. We also looked at a number of garden books to help define the general style she was after.

Goals:

-Create a county style garden with a more formal lawn in the center of the yard, while minimizing the lawn elsewhere.

-Create several garden “rooms” to help define the yard.

-Minimize the view of the neighbors.

-Maintain the existing trees where possible.

-Maintain the sunny vegetable garden.

-Provide a location for the apple trees, a water feature and a swing.

-Locate future patio/deck and steps from the sunroom.

The Design:

The Garden Plan!

The Design Elements:

Element #1:

Create a large curved planting bed that will divide the main lawn from the veggie garden.Â This will incorporate a number of existing trees and shrubs. This will have 2 zones. The front zone will be for smaller perennials, shrubs and annuals. The taller zone behind will be for taller shrubs, perennials and grasses.

Element #2:

Locate a Patio at the rear of the house.

Element #3:

Locate a new tree opposite the existing crabapple tree to help balance the yard and create some symmetry. This will also minimize the view of her garage from the house.

Element # 4:

Locate the apple trees at the rear of the property. These will also provide a visual buffer to the ugly garage on the adjacent property.

Elements #5,6,7 & 8:

Locate the major architectural elements throughout the yard to provide multiple points of interest. This includes a water feature, bird bath, swing, and arbor.

I will be describing these elements in more detail posts so stay tuned!

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In -Stacey's Garden, GARDEN DESIGN CLIENTS, GARDENING & PLANTS

My Pine Tree is Being Attacked!

March 28, 2011 — Leave a comment

My big, old pine tree w/ I guy in a lift 60+' in the air!

Okay, so not exactly attacked, maybe butchered is a better word. As I sit here at the back desk, my poor old giant pine tree is being “trimmed” by Asplundh, the tree service that PECO uses to trim the trees near the power line. Since they are still here, I haven’t had a chance to take a look at the damage (hopefully minimal). I know it is important job to keep branches from hanging over the power lines, but they don’t have a delicate hand. In the meantime, I get to hear the loud humming of diesel trucks and tree branches being chipped. The poor tree has had a rough couple of years. When we moved here she was very symmetrical, unfortunately one of the giant snow storms last year managed to take out about a third of her branches in one fell swoop. It was a horrible cascade from the top. It made me very sad!

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Pillow Love

March 25, 2011 — Leave a comment

Dwell Pillow from Target, $25

I love a good pillow! So when I was at Target earlier this week I was pleasantly surprised to find this one from the Dwell line. I didn’t buy it yet, because I try not to purchase things the first time I see them, but I may have to go back and pick a couple of these up. I think they would look nice in the Living Room, with the many other pillows on the couch. I like that the pattern is embroidered rather than printed, although I am a little concerned that the kids might snag them. I was also pleasantly surprised at how soft it was. I might use these instead of the green patterned pillows, although recently the pillows spend more time on the floor as part of a fort then on the couch.

Our well loved couch

Typical daily use of couch

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In -Living Room, FAMILY, INTERIOR PRODUCTS, FURNITURE & FABRICS

Plant of the Week: Galanthus aka the Snowdrop

March 24, 2011 — 1 Comment

My Snowdrops

Closeup of Snowdrops

Galanthus (Snowdrop)

Type: Perennial/BulbÂ (Zones 2-9 but prefers 4-7)
Light Requirements: Part Sun to Shade, excellent for under deciduous trees
Moisture: prefer moist soil, although mine grow fine pretty much anywhere in the yard
Blooms: Early spring (start to bloom in February/March here through end of March). Apparently in the south they can flower all winter. Blooms are white with green highlights.
Leaves: Sprout in winter, die back in summer and come back in fall.
Pros: First thing to flower in the spring. Naturalizes both by self-seeding and bulb offsets.
Cons: If you want a large impact you need to grow a lot because they are small.
Division: After they bloom pull and take the bulb offsets.
Origin: Although these were growing in my yard they are native to Europe and Turkey.

When we bought our house there were almost no perennials or bulbs. Mostly there were overgrown bushes and lots of weedy grass. The first spring we lived here I was pleasantly surprised to find a number of snowdrops in the grass. Over the next couple of years I moved them into planting beds.Â They must like my yard because they keep multiplying. It may help that I have moved most of them several times, and when I do I divide the bulbs. They are really easy to grow. You only have to dig into the ground a couple of inches and stick the tiny bulb in!

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In -Plant of the Week, GARDENING & PLANTS

Pretty Planter Holder

March 24, 2011 — Leave a comment

Seedling Wall Planter, Crate and Barrel $29

I know I can’t stop posting about the garden, but there was one more thing that caught my eye in the lastest catalogs. It was this planter holder from Crate and Barrel. I wouldn’t actually buy it because it is kind of pricey (especially considering I would want to buy 3 of them) and I think the pretty pattern would be lost once most plants filled in, but I love the look and if it had a couple more rows of “leaves” at the top I would probably pick a couple of these up. It is kind of a rip on Orla Kiely’s stem pattern (one of my very favorite designers) which is probably why I am so enamored of it.

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Red Garden Sculptures

March 24, 2011 — Leave a comment

Kiss Garden Sculpture, CB2 $49

Stackable Tomato Ladders, Gardener's Supply $49 for set of 6

I just got the lastest round of home and garden catalogs. Lots of beautiful sunny pictures of relaxing backyards! I like that CB2 (Crate and Barrel’s modern sister store) has some more modern looking outdoor furniture and accessories. If I had a 50s style house I would be all over these red Kiss Garden Sculptures. However the price is well a little pricey. Then I noticed that Gardener’s Supply Company (a favorite of mine) has stackable Tomato Ladders in red. These would give a similar feel and you could actually use them to grow things! Plus you can stack them to up to almost 8′. I usually grow my tomatoes in pots on the deck but I might need to try these anyway.

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Philadelphia Flower Show

March 23, 2011 — 2 Comments

For the first time in several years I had the opportunity to go to the The Philadelphia Flower Show. The show is pretty overwhelming. It includes elaborate displays from florists and landscapers as well as plants from local garden clubs. There is also a large area devoted to booths selling everything from fresh flowers to garden accessories to random knicknackery. The main reason I like to go is to look at interesting plant combinations, new varieties and trends. The theme this year was Springtime in Paris and it was nice to be inside the convention center on a drizzly winter day with a good friend!

Flower Carousel at the Center of the Flower Show

Trends

I noticed lots of circles and highlights of yellow and pink. I especially like the color combination of the yellow, aqua and green.

Floral Display w/ Aqua, Yellow & Green

Another Floral Display w/ round elements

Nice Yellow Urns

Plants

My favorite unexpected plant combination was the variegated Irises with the Heuchera (coral bells) and a soft moss ground cover. I also loved the short ground cover type tulips at one display. I think I will definitely have to get some in the fall to put into my garden. Brent & Becky’s my favorite bulb catalog sells several varieties. I also fell in love with the Pear Espalier. Too bad I don’t have a place to put something like this.

Varigated Iris (front) w/Heuchera & Moss

Lovely Pink Tulips mixed w/ perfectly placed oak leaves

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Creamy Yellow Tulips

Pear Tree Espalier

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In -Design, GARDENING & PLANTS

Sarah’s Bathroom Renovation-Part 5: The Toilet

March 22, 2011 — Leave a comment

American Standard Dual Flush Toilet, $267

As part of her bathroom renovation, Sarah is going to get a new toilet. No matter what toilet she chooses it will save quite a bit of water (estimates range from $50 to $100 a year in water/sewage savings) andÂ it will be more attractive. Old toilets can use as much as 7 gallons of water per flush. This was first lowered to 3.5 gallons and then in 1992 it was lowered to 1.7 gallons. When this first happened there were a lot of issues with low flow toilets. The good news is that now most low flow toilets work just fine. We have two 1.7 gallon toilets in our house and we haven’t had any issues. However now there are also a number of toilets that use even less water!

When I am designing institutional building we almost always use dual-flush toilets. These are toilets that have 2 option when you flush (1 for #1 and 1 for #2). The ones I use in institutional settings typically have a green handle (maybe you have seen this somewhere) and if you pull the lever up it uses about .7 gallons and if you push down it uses about 1.5 gallons.

In the last couple of years a number of residential dual-flush toilets have come on the market. Even Home Depot and Lowes carry some in stock. Unfortunately, not all of them have great track records. A number of architects and plumber recommend Toto (a Japanese company) for their low flow options. However I know someone who is not happy with hers, so I thought I would look at what else is out there.

For Sarah I selected the American Standard H2Option Siphonic Dual Flush Round Front Toilet. I found a few reviews that were generally positive and the price was about the same as for a nicer regular low flow toilet. For more extensive reviews from a plumber I recommend Terry Love’s website. He gives a rundown on a bunch of toilets.

Also look for the WaterSense logo from the EPA. This means the toilet uses at least 20% less water than the current guidelines of 1.7 gallons and has met a number of standards and tests.

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In -Sarah's Bathroom, -Victorian, INTERIOR DESIGN CLIENTS

Garden Arbors

March 21, 2011 — 3 Comments

On this most dreary spring day, I thought I would show some of the Garden Arbors I am considering for the backyard. For Mother’s Day last year my lovely husband tried to buy me a garden arbor (to help hide the compost pile & provide an additional element to the back garden). Well last year came and went and I still hadn’t decided on an arbor. There are many to choose from in all different materials and finishes but I think I finally may have found a winner. Let me know what you think! Stay tuned for the installation…

Requirements:

-42″-48″ wide opening to allow for a wheelbarrel
-Have a gate to help hide the compost pile
-Work stylistically with the adjacent garage
-Require minimal maintenance
-Have enough supports to allow for a vine to grow
-Ideally made in the USA

Material Choices:

Cedar:

Pros: Nice appearance, will blend in with the adjacent wood garage & is stainable
Cons: Requires maintenance (restaining/sealing wood every few years)

Metal:

Pros: Minimal setup required. Shouldn’t require much maintenance.
Cons: Typically more open appearance (may not hide the compost pile as well as I would like)