Hello and welcome to my new website and blog!
It was high time we redecorated this blog, don’t you think? Today, I’m also sharing my design portfolio for the first time (eek!), along with fun new happenings all around this web domain of mine. (Product of the week! Posts from my archives! Testimonials!)
And stay tuned — because a couple of my favorite projects are under wraps until magazine publication. (Hooray!)
I need the world’s most epic thank-you note for Isaac Bailey, my web designer and photographer. He makes my designs look wonderful, works like a mad fiend, and is the best kind of person to have in your corner.
Also, the beautiful Andrea Heser of Featherpress Design created my new logo, which I love.
And now, would you like to see one of my projects? Let’s start with Jennifer Hendrix’s 1929 adobe home in Arcadia. Today: kitchen, dining and powder room. Later this week: more to come.
Jen and I met because she needed help choosing that impossible thing: the perfect shade of white paint. We’ve been scheming and planning and stalking tiles together almost every week since. (We just finished house number two!) When she called me, her project looked like this:
This was her kitchen:
And the powder bath:
Jen is a fierce devotee of midcentury modern design, but she knew it was important to nod to the Spanish style of her home. Our design mantra became boho-modern-mix.
We used vintage pieces anywhere we could because nothing beats that authentic patina, but also because Jen has one of the world’s great soft hearts.
She likes to save things that no one wants anymore — sofas, animals, and even houses.
I love her.
We also focused on using materials with a hand-crafted, Spanish vibe and updating them with the modern twists that Jen loves.
And now her kitchen looks like this:
Isn’t it cool?
The walls in the kitchen aren’t clad in just subway tile — that is hand-formed glazed Mexican terra-cotta tile that has the most incredible undulating texture in real life. Jen also chose the terra-cotta tile floor, and combined with the arched doorways, we instantly had a lot of that Spanish thing going on. For a modern twist, Jen went for the midcentury globe lights that she loved. (Don’t worry – sources to come.)
To add more texture and material integrity, we had a looooong discussion about Carrara marble countertops. Yes, they’re high maintenance. Yes, they etch and scratch and stain and dent, and you know what? They’re still beautiful. Marble is a material that stands up to a rough patina — it ages like Helen Mirren.
In the end, Jen took the plunge, and on the day they were installed, I got a text that said “The countertops are so beautiful I almost cried.”
Her dining room above features an incredible Bernhardt bone-inlay dining table that I ordered for her, along with a custom Canopy Designs chandelier in her favorite color. The chest is vintage, and she found the artwork in Paris. Jen found the chairs at Cost Plus World Market, and we had the draperies made.
Are you ready for the powder room?
Can I get an amen?!
Jen’s favorite color is turquoise, and it’s such a great contrast with that killer black and white Granada cement tile. We kept everything else in the space quiet to let the tile do its thing: bronze fixtures, vintage lights that came with the house, and a seriously fab budget find mirror that we painted ourselves – even that gold bead around the edge. People love walking into this room.
And in case you’re wondering, the perfect white paint for Jen’s particular project and light was Dunn Edwards Whisper — crisp, Spanish whitewash-esque and just a little warm.
Come back tomorrow for a look at her master suite — and don’t forget to explore this new webpage of mine! I’d love to hear which space is your favorite.
SOURCES
Built by Matthew Douglas Construction
Kitchen: Pendants, Schoolhouse Electric. Faucet, Kohler at Farnsworth Wholesale. Carrara slab, Arizona Tile. Barstools, Ballard Designs. White shelves, Ikea. Cabinet hardware, Restoration Hardware.
Dining room: Table, Bernhardt, to the trade. Light fixture, Canopy Designs, to the trade. Vintage mirror and console, to the trade. Draperies, custom. Chairs, Cost Plus World Market. Lamps, Arteriors, to the trade.
Powder room: Floor tile, Granada Tile. Mirror: no longer available. Sconces: vintage. Cabinet hardware, Restoration Hardware.