Dwell by Cheryl: backsplash

Showing posts with label backsplash. Show all posts

"Cool, Colorful and Cozy Project Reveal"

So excited to be back today to share with you one of our favorite projects this year. You may remember this project from last year, when we gave the client's master bedroom a new lease on life with a heavy dose of pattern and a new cozy seating area. You can read more about that in my

"Pattern Play Master Bedroom Reveal" post.

Early this year, our clients returned ready to tackle the living spaces on the first floor of their uptown Charlotte home. The spaces had really good bones and in my opinion, they'd done a great job getting the foundation right. The paint color worked well with their style, the layout wasn't bad, but overall the space lacked the life and personality that reflect the cool young family who lives there.

Since we'd worked with them previously and had already gotten to know them, we jumped right into the design phase of the project. In fact, we actually started it before they ever called us back for Phase II of their project. Let me explain...

So, we’d completed the first phase of the project last year, but during the initial consult I snapped a picture of an art print they had tacked up in the kitchen. Honestly, I was just data collecting to get a sense of their style.

Fast forward several months after their project wrapped and we were out treasure hunting in the NC mountains during our team retreat, when this abstract fell from the sky.

It was the prefect complement to that print and perfect for our clients (who hadn’t yet hired us back). We had a feeling they would, so we bought it and held it... and guess what? They called! That beautiful original art became the basis for the entire first floor of their home.

We used it as a driver for the color scheme and vibe for the project and made selections to complement the piece. The vibe was cool, colorful and cozy.

I really loved this one from day one, so to see it in real life was really amazing. Love it even more!

We kept the original layout and even several of the family's existing furniture pieces. There was no need to replace the leather chairs, x-benches, storage console or bookshelves. However, the sofa, window treatments, lighting and decor were definitely due for an upgrade. The windows got a heavy dose of pattern and color with a red geometric print roman shade, a subtle nod to the fraternity and sorority affiliation of both clients.

Check out that sconce in the background!

We opted for family-friendly pieces that would stand up to the play of two little boys and a pup. Revolution Performance Fabrics to the rescue on both the sofa and new window seat cushions. I'm also a little obsessed with the pass-through coffee table. I can imagine the little ones crawling through it when it's not doubling as substantial storage space.

While we were working on the master bedroom project, our clients expressed the desire to add a piano to their home. They went for it and we made its placement much more intentional with the addition of lighting and that original art print. Love it!

In the kitchen we needed to address the dining seating, the obnoxious fan, dated backsplash and under-scaled lighting.

Again, the paint selection seemed to work, so we left it unchanged and went BOLD on the backsplash. We knew we wanted to work with the existing cabinets and countertops as they weren't quite ready for a full kitchen renovation.

You'd be surprised what a good backsplash, new lighting and hardware can do. Maybe you won't be after you see this. Check it out...

Crazy right?? So much better. The graphic print really does make the cabinetry and countertops seem so much more intentional. In the eat-in space, we added a modern oval table and fab leather chairs that allow for the family to seat six-- essential when they have friends and family over.

Lastly, wanting to set the tone as you immediately enter the home, we encouraged them to address the entry. I think it's so important not to leave this space overlooked. In this case, a modern wool runner and swanky lighting do the trick. (You should see these at night!)

I love this home and I love this family. I'm so pleased that their home is now so much more THEM! You can't ask for more than that. 😊

Photography: Laura Sumrak Photography

Spring 2020 One Room Challenge - Week 3

The Foundation

Welcome back y'all! This week we'll dig into the foundational selections for Project Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue. Whoa that's a mouthful. 😂

The foundational selections set the tone for pretty much everything that is to come. As in the case of this project, I almost always begin with textiles. They're my favorite and I often draw the most inspiration from them. So, with the drapery fabric, upholstered banquette and the wood tone of my cabinetry already determined, I set off to determine the tile, paint and wallpaper selections for the space. These would become the foundational elements in the design, so getting them right was paramount.

Let's start with tile, shall we?

Check out this video of my trip to The Tile Shop, official sponsor of The One Room Challenge™

The Tile Shop has a ton of great tile options. With numerous locations across the country, I'd highly recommend them for your tile needs. If you go be sure to tell them Dwell by Cheryl Interiors sent you. I was pretty certain that I wanted a patterned tile, but I envisioned using it on the flooring. After quickly realizing that nothing quite fit the bill for the floors, I landed on this beautiful Annie Selke ikat ceramic wall tile.

Annie Selke for The Tile Shop
Shadow Navy Ceramic Wall Tile

I knew it was perfect almost as soon as I spotted it. I love that it was fun, yet classic and would infused a little culture into the space as well. It was also pretty much a dead ringer for a preliminary window cornice fabric I'd been eyeing.

Man I love it when things just seem to fall into place.

Next, it would just be a matter of finding a complementary selection for the flooring. Since this Annie Selke option struck just the right note, I decided to explore other options in the collection. Turns out there was a pretty great selection of floor tiles as well. I was immediately drawn to these two options:

I have no doubt that it's because they both remind me of fabric and provide an awesome visual texture. Ultimately though, I decided to go with option 2, which I affectionately named "seersucker". I mean it looks like pants to me. 😊 Once I narrowed the pattern down, I had to figure out the size and color I wanted.

They seem pretty similar but once I got the samples and viewed them at home, there was a pretty big difference.

I ended up going with the darkest option of indigo in the 6" x 20" planks. It seemed to work best with the wall tile and I figured the darker might be a little more forgiving in terms of daily wear. As soon as the installation began, I knew I had made the right decision.

The plank style just felt like the right option for my cottage home. I was right! I have a tendency to lean a bit more formal in my tastes (upholstered skirted banquette, full length drapery, vintage dining table...), so this more casual tile style would be a nice juxtaposition against the more traditional options. I also don't have a huge kitchen so the smaller scale seemed like the better option.

Eek!! So freaking exciting!

Once I had the tile selection done, it made selecting a paint color so much easier. Sherwin-Williams graciously agreed to partner with me on this project and provided the paint. I wanted a neutral hue with a little warmth. Of course, I have my SW go-to's but I wanted a little less gray neutral than our clients tend to want. In the end, I decided on Accessible Beige.

It's a really neutral...neutral (lol!). Not quite warm, but also not quite cool in color. It reminds me of a really light pair of khaki pants. There I go with the textiles again. 😜

Sherwin Williams
Emerald Interior Acrylic Latex Paint

My painters were really excited to hear that we'd be using Sherwin-Williams' Emerald Paint, informing me that it was their favorite. We went with a 20% Accessible Beige/80% white mixture on the ceiling. This helps to provide a more seamless transition from wall to ceiling rather than simply painting the ceiling white.

So much fresher!

Lastly, but certainly not least among the foundational pieces was the wallpaper for the corner nook. Here I wanted something fun and classic that could serve as an exclamation point in my kitchen space. This space would be all about function but also pretty things. As soon as I heard that Milton and King would be a ORC sponsor, I headed over to check out the options.

I landed on these two options-one in three colorways.

All were really beautiful options. I really wanted a large scale floral wallpaper, so the Wildflower just seemed a little too dainty pattern. I selected the Tulip Seed! It was a really striking paper, but something about it just felt classic. The deep navy had a grounding effect that I felt was missing, making it the perfect option.

The folks at Milton and King were awesome and wasted no time in getting us the wallpaper so we could get the installation scheduled. Jordan's Wallcoverings is my go-to for professional installation. Zach and his team are second to none. Installation was an absolute breeze. Especially for me. Lol! It was a small space, so they were done in no time.

I mean, the cutest corner ever right!? It's only two small walls, but the impact is astounding. I love wallpaper!

Paint, Tile (Backsplash and Flooring), Wallpaper - ✔

Talk about a good foundation! These are the pieces that will serve as the base for a really pretty kitchen. Stay tuned...

Check out the progress of the other featured designers. There's some pretty incredible stuff going down!

A Glass of Bovino | Beginning in the Middle | Beth Diana Smith | Clark + Aldine | Coco & Jack

Deeply Southern Home| Design Maze | Dwell by Cheryl | Erika Ward | Home Made by Carmona

Veneer Designs | Rambling Renovators | Renovation Husbands | Studio Plumb | Media BH&G

"Small Changes, Big Impact: Client Project Reveal"

Well, we've made it halfway through 2018! It's been quite a year for us so far. I can hardly wait to see what part two has in store. Today, I'm checking in to share one of our recent project reveals!

Our goal for this project was to make this home's main living spaces a little more reflective of the client's current style. We wanted femininity with a touch of modern and I think that's just what we achieved.

For starters, we needed to address the dated fireplace area. It was a corner fireplace, which can be challenging themselves, with a large tv niche above the fireplace. There was also no mantle or fireplace surround. We needed to finish things off for a more updated and streamlined look. While we liked the existing gray paint color, the blue wasn't pairing too well, so we painted the entire space in the same hue.

Big difference, right? At the entrance of the home, we removed the molding that seemed only to chop things up a bit and switched out the entry light for a simple flush mount option.

We let the client's original color selections drive our choices. The existing gray paint color had a hint of purple and it was obvious that she also liked a bit of blue. We created a plan that utilized a muted purple, green, blue and gray to update the space and create a cozy living area.

In the dining space, we created a casual dining area for four and tied the color scheme in from the adjacent living space. Lighting made a huge difference here, elevating the area a bit.

The client had already purchased new countertops but was looking to spruce up the kitchen a little as well. We helped select a striking backsplash, which really helped to jazz things up. A single cabinet door was changed to a glass door to provide a place to display items and we also changed out the cabinet hardware, added new lighting and decor.