Art Interiors Archives - Page 6 of 7

A Timeless, Traditional Master Ensuite

As a designer, two of my favourite rooms in the house to design and decorate are kitchens and bathrooms. I think it’s because we spend so much time in them just living. They can contribute so significantly to our lives – to our freedom to relax, unwind, connect and dream. And kitchens and baths are also an amazing opportunity to explore and express a love of details.

I went through no less than twelve iterations of the floor plan for this bathroom before the owners settled on my first instinct. We were taking out a very dated bath and removing their walk-in closet {replacing it with a larger one as a part of the addition}. As such, we had a lot more space to work with than what they had been living with previously, and they wanted careful consideration to be given to each and every detail. Form could not trump function, and function could not make anything less than beautiful. I was certainly up for the challenge.

Painting by Elzbieta Krawecka via Art Interiors

The obvious centrepiece when entering the room is the creamy, wood-paneled tub floating in the centre of the space. Its interesting shape and timeless, Romanesque paneling set the tone for the entire room. The elliptical skylight above mirrors the shape of the tub and floods the space with healing and inspiring natural light. Truly a successful focal point.

My goal with this master ensuite was to interpret my clients’ traditional taste with a refined restraint that would be simply timeless. For that to be accomplished, symmetry became the absolute rule, starting with “his and hers” custom, bow-front mahogany vanities on either side of the tub.

My clients wanted ample storage so that the space could remain uncluttered while entirely functional. Even the bow front drawers on the face-frame vanities offer storage, eeking every square inch of possible function out of their lovely, curvaceous forms. We chose to leave the mahogany unstained in all its natural glory, with just a clear-coat finish to protect the wood. The warmth of the mahogany works so beautifully with the Crema Marfil tile work, speaking beautifully to its golden veins and timeless character.

What you don’t see in these shots are the perfectly balanced water closet and walk-in shower {picture them over the right and left shoulders of the photographer as you enter the room and face the tub}. The privacy offered and the elegant and refined balance to the floor plan work beautifully together to marry form and function.

As I’m sure you know by now, I am quite addicted to the texture and patterns made possible when working with tile. This bathroom was a delightful opportunity to work with the timelessness of Crema Marfil and create elegant and timeless designs. Even the baseboards around the room are carved from Crema Marfil! Decadent, elegant, gorgeous.

I have already confessed to you my addiction to all things herringbone, so the design for the inside of this tile carpet was an honest marriage of intuition and addiction. I love the way that this tile carpet runs under the tub, anchoring it like a piece of furniture in the room. I also love the way the warm brown mosaic border draws the eye straight into the room and towards the beautiful focal point of the tub and the gorgeous art hanging above it. Overall, the floor is an elegant exercise in scale, pattern and warmth.

Because I know you’re the kind that love details, I had to share the ceiling of the master bedroom with you today as well. I designed this together with architect Kevin Crozier, and I think the end result of this collaboration is rather stunning. From the window design to the deep coffers in the ceiling to the skylight to the elegant focal point of the Fortuny silk chandelier, I love the view looking up in this master retreat!

Wishing you a Wednesday filled with details to delight!

xo
s.

All photographs by Amy Montgomery

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|October 31st, 2012|0 Comments

Powder Room Perfection

Today I thought I’d share with you one of my favourite client powder rooms. Small but sophisticated, this powder room elicits a lot of conversation when guests come for dinner. I think it’s all in the details.

There’s just no substitute for gorgeous raw materials. In this case, I chose Macassar Ebony for the floating, 2-drawer vanity and beveled mirror frame {which wraps around the vanity from floor to ceiling}. I finished it with a simple but stunning polished black granite countertop with a 5″ mitred edge. Clean, substantial, modern and gorgeous.

To continue the floating effect established by the vanity, I chose a simple and elegant Hansgrohe wall-mounted faucet, mounted on top of the mirror so that it seemingly pours out of infinity into the shimmering hand-hammered, undermounted nickel sink.

As if mimicking the waterfall from the faucet, the crystal droplets of these two sconces {elegantly framed by their black pleated shades} add sophistication and glamour. Layered on top of the stunning metallic flocked wallpaper from Kravet, they tell the story of texture upon texture and detail upon detail.

I love the femininity and simplicity of the art we chose to mount above the toilet – a gorgeous ink on mylar piece by Madeleine Lamont {via Art Interiors}. Simply floating on the matting behind, Madeleine’s piece compliments the very graphic, henna-like pattern of the wallpaper without fighting it, carving out a place of its own with it’s gestural, organic image and crisp, dark wood frame. The baseboards, crown moulding and ceiling are all painted out a dark, chocolately-charcoal grey, acting as a dramatic frame for the entire room.

The floors are once again texture upon texture and detail upon detail. A gorgeous, striated mocha limestone is inset with a beautiful mosaic tile carpet which runs underneath of both the floating vanity and the toilet to truly anchor the room and connect the elements.

The border is created with 7 rows of 5/8″x5/8″ jointless dark chocolate Emperador mosaic.

The inset of the tile carpet is comprised of this timeless and spectacular Crema Marfil mosaic, the fan motif serving as a beautiful nod to the Art Deco period.

Overall I’d have to say this is one of my all-time favourite client powder rooms, a sophisticated space for a sophisticated family. A great deal of time and attention to detail were poured into the design of this powder room, a space that is far too often overlooked for the opportunity it offers to created a style statement in a little jewel box of a room. I hope this inspires you with some ideas for what you might do with yours!

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|October 3rd, 2012|4 Comments

The Art of Grouping: Working With Smalls

If you’ve been tracking with me for awhile, you will have noticed two things: ONE, I love original art and I work with it as much as I can when designing interiors. TWO, I love working with one Toronto gallery in particular: Art Interiors.

I’ve worked with owners Lisa Diamond Katz and Shira Wood for years now, curating and adding pieces to my clients’ collections from Art Interiors‘ beautifully edited gallery. With a vision for creating a gallery that invites people to break down the typical boundaries to buying original art, Lisa and Shira continue to offer affordable pieces in a warm and engaging environment that takes the edge off of what you might expect from an art buying experience. No pretense. Lots of warmth, humour, beauty and creativity. And pieces starting at $50.

I recently stopped in to collaborate with the lovely and sophisticated Shira to show you how you can create larger, anchoring groupings with “smalls.”

Painting seen behind Shira is by Madeleine Lamont

For our first grouping, Shira and I chose this beautiful figurative 16″ x 16″ piece by Elizabeth Lennie entitled “Beach Life” as our starting point. I love this Canadian artist’s work as she captures scenes that were foundational to some of my favourite childhood memories of growing up in Canada and enjoying the outdoors.

Next, we chose 2 complimentary pieces. The first, entitled “Sonic Boom” by Aaron Jones, is a 12″ x 18″ mixed media piece that connects to the treed landscape on the horizon of Lennie’s beach scene as well as the blush coloured palette of the sand. The second – a much more contemporary 8″ x 8″ piece by Dionne Simpson – draws upon the colour palette while lending a decidedly modern edge to the grouping.

This grouping would work very well on its own, but we wanted to show you how you could build your collection over time. The next piece to catch my eye was this whimsical and quirky piece entitled “Ram” by Amy Thompson.

I love the vintage charm of the artist’s chosen canvas – an old library card.

We also selected two contemporary abstract smalls by Emilie Rondeau – “Champs Fleuri” and “Celeste.” Both only 6″ x 6″, it is the bold and dynamic colour palette of these two pieces that adds a definite joie de vivre to our grouping. I also love the way the chartreuse green of the grass in “Ram” is echoed in the Rondeau pieces along with the shades of blush that pull from our first three pieces in this collection.

Again, I would be quite happy to call this grouping complete, but for the sake showing how a grouping can be curated over time, we selected one last piece to show you. This 8″ x 10″ is actually a part of a triptych entitled “Round Lake Series” by Rojia Dadashzadeh, and I think it does a lovely job of balancing the abstract elements with the more literal in our collection. Again, it also connects with the blush colour palette along with the two black frames and the dark horizon of the beach scene.

Overall this grouping gives the eye much to consider with a gentle wander while offering many points of harmony to make sense of the collection being grouped together.

Curating your own groupings of smalls should be a creative adventure! Start with what you love. Look for connections between the pieces that draw you in. Often you’ll find that there are commonalities in colour palette, texture, subject matter, line and form or just mood. Pulling unexpected pieces together that speak to you can create the kind of interesting and engaging grouping that uniquely reflects your personality in your space.

I would strongly encourage you to pop into Art Interiors soon to see what inspires you! The ladies are the loveliest and always ready to help you discover your own tastes in art. The art they have curated is as varied as the audience for which it is intended. There truly is something there for every taste and budget. Can’t wait to hear about your fabulous finds!

By Sarah Walker The Curated House|July 18th, 2012|2 Comments