So let your personality shine by furnishing your entry with special items that you truly love and that bring good feelings to you and to those around you.

Source: Ashley Whittaker Design

Smaller foyers provide a perfect opportunity to create drama by adding colorful and bold wallpaper. Charm your guests with a splashy rug, an embellished mirror and a small chest for practical items.

Source: Palmer Weiss Interiors

A brightly painted chest can immediately pull you into the room. Providing a seat with a beautiful textile gives guests a place to rest. Create a display wall with photos and artwork that reflect your style. Adding a small lamp allows another layer of light that immediately warms your space. These elements will not only personalize your entry but will make your space unique.

Wood Tiles – Source: Mirth Studio

If you are starting from scratch, consider using pattern on the floor by installing
wood tiles by Mirth Studiohttp://whats underfoot. Not only are they beautiful but they can camouflage dirt and mud and still look good. Mirth’s interlocking wood floor squares are hand painted, sealed and come in a variety of beautiful patterns as well as the ability to create your own pattern.

Source: Apartment Therapy

Another great option for a lively entrance is to paint a wall with alternating skinny and wide stripes. Choose any color that speaks to you, add a piece or two of art and a place to drop the mail…. now every time you come home you are greeted with warmth and personality!

The post Resuscitating your Entryway appeared first on Pam Chatham Interior Designs Durham, NC.

After all, as designers, we are  in the business of transformation.   Bathrooms of the 80’s and 90’s are particularly memorable not only because of the large soaking tubs with extensive decking, grid style tile, and plenty of shiny brass  but also because we are still living with  them today. Follow along to see my design transformation of a bathroom that was built in 1984
 

In this bathroom we removed the wall above the shower and expanded the door area to include more glass.  This open plan allows additional light to stream in and it visually enlarged the shower area, even though the size did not increase.   

The footprint of the bathroom stayed the same as it made sense to keep all the plumbing fixtures where they were originally positioned.  Though soaking tubs still remain a requested feature of bathroom remodeling, there are options for much sleeker designs. The existing garden tub was replaced with a freestanding soaking tub by American Standard DXV. By making this substitution, we were able to gain additional space in front of both the tub and shower. 

The height of the existing vanity was quite low at 30” high. We replaced it with a taller vanity and a white quartz counter, increasing the height to 36″. 

All plumbing fixtures can be found in the  Kohler Purist Collection .

Bright LED lights illuminate the newly remodeled bathroom

For general lighting LED can lights were installed for more focused lighting.  LED sconces  were added at the vanity. Both sources of light provide the bathroom with a nice white brightness.

The existing  bathroom door was awkward as it had to be closed in order to access the left side of the vanity.  A full light frosted glass pocket door remedied this problem.  Frosted glass is another visual tool to make the bathroom surfaces reflective and lighter.

The existing  linen closet was  visually underwhelming  and under-performing.  This was replaced with a custom linen closet inserted into the existing closet space.   Changes to these areas dramatically enhanced the bathroom space to allow more light and  better storage.

All these changes effectively enlarged the bathroom space and lightened the overall feel, allowing the aesthetics of the bathroom to work harmoniously with the  function of the bathroom. A win-win for everyone!

The post 80’s Bathroom Transformation appeared first on Pam Chatham Interior Designs Durham, NC.