Creativity Experienced: Getting Behind Design with HP

Decor

Have you ever wondered about where the things in your home come from? Who created them? How were they made? I firmly believe that a thing takes on a whole new level of meaning when you can tell its story. I’ve made this concept a top priority as I work to design our new house. The renovation process has been such a (never-freakin’-ending!) labor of love. So now that I’m working on furnishing the space, I want what I put in the house to have the same level of care and attention paid that we put into our construction. I’m in no rush to simply fill the house with off the shelf stuff so that it feels “done.” Instead, I’ve been intentionally taking my time, hunting down pieces that I know I will feel good about every time I look at them.

So when my friends at HP challenged me to create an experience inspired by the beautiful design and attention to detail that went into making their gorgeous HP Spectre laptop (my new obsession which you may have caught in this post here), I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to collaborate with someone who would put that same attention to detail and commitment to artistry into a piece for my home. It did not take long for me to think of my dream partnership. I immediately set my sights on the home furnishing company Cisco Home. Like HP, they care about both the guts of their product as much as the visual aesthetics.

I’ve been obsessed with Cisco Home ever since I stumbled upon their store front upon moving to San Francisco. Their eye-catching lighting is what drew me in first, but it is the family run company’s commitment to quality, sustainability and beautiful timeless design that has kept me coveting a Cisco Home piece. Thanks to HP, I got the chance to hop down to Los Angeles to get a personal tour of the Cisco Home headquarters and furniture factory (where nearly everything Cisco Home sells is made by hand), to see what goes into their design process and collaborate with the founder himself on a custom piece for our home! Swoon.

As we walked Cisco Home’s factory floor, my HP Spectre tucked in my purse (it’s SO thin and light you can’t even tell it’s in there, can you??), I was so impressed by the skill and artisanship that goes into building furniture frames – Cisco only uses certified sustainable hardwoods – hand tufting headboards, stuffing cushions or hand stitching upholstery. Fabrics are designed in house by Cisco Home’s Creative Director & founder Cisco’s daughter Maurishka. To see the human hand that touches each detail of a piece of furniture was so inspiring.

After getting to see how a piece of furniture is made – start to finish – we sat down do design the perfect piece for my house! I was like a kid in a design candy store to say the least. Since our living room is likely going to be the heart of our home – it’s directly connected to the kitchen and will be the ultimate hang out zone – we decided to design a sofa. When it comes to home furnishings, your sofa is kind of equivalent to your computer if you think about it. It needs to be your work horse and stand up to all the abuse you dish out, but it also needs to look good and inspire you! I really want our living room sofa to be a piece I’ll love for years to come. Thankfully, my HP Spectre was the perfect travel companion to help us get the job done. At less than 2.5 lbs I was able to travel with it easily. And with its great battery life, I didn’t even have to haul a charger.

We were able to sit down right there in the middle of the Cisco Home showroom and quickly look up sofa styles on their website, look through all my Pinterest boards and narrow down to the perfect sofa style, fabric choice and color palette for my design – all in less than an hour! I loved that the online world could so easily collide with the old school physical one that is furniture making. It felt so satisfying to look at Pin boards on my HP Spectre while simultaneously flipping through Cisco Home’s books of gorgeous textile samples, connecting the virtual with the tactile in real time.

While I’ll have to wait for my sofa for awhile, I thought I’d share a little sneak peek of the design direction we’re headed.

I cannot wait for this house that I’ve worked on for so long to finally feel like home. And knowing the loving, thoughtful origins of our living room sofa is going mean so much to me. It’s just proof positive of HP’s entire approach to the design of the Spectre; that when something is thoughtfully designed from the inside out, it is made to last and to be loved.

original photography for apartment 34 by jeff mindell

This post is a paid collaboration with HP Spectre. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. Thank you for supporting partnerships that I’m excited about and that have kept Apartment 34’s doors open.

The Main Ingredient for the Ultimate Dream Kitchen

Decor

I realize it’s been quite a while since I’ve offered you an update on the Victorian. Well, that’s primarily because the old saying is true: when you move into a remodel still in progress the work slows waaayyy down. While things were livable when we moved in a few weeks back, they’re no where near “done.” There’s still a lot of finish work that’s left…well unfinished to date, but I’m slowly but surely trying to chip away at it. As of right now, the house feels a bit like we’re squatting in a really nice, albeit unfurnished airbnb.

So while I have to hold off on any big reveals until the house is in tiptop shape, I thought I could tide you over with some hints at what’s to come. For example, designing my dream kitchen. That was probably my favorite part of entire renovation process. I mean, I’d been dreaming about it for years at this point (the blog is almost 9 years old after all). While the kitchen wishlist was pretty standard; bright white counter tops, a stunning backsplash and a range to make a chef proud, I did add one detail that wasn’t part of my original must-haves.

Can you guess what it is? What do you not see in the image above?

Did you say appliances?! While working on our remodel designs, I fell in love with the idea of integrated appliances. That’s when you build cabinetry over the top to blend in with the rest of your kitchen seamlessly. The look is so clean, so polished. With integrated appliances the kitchen becomes the star rather than some stainless steel behemoth. I’m pretty obsessed with the look.

I love how this kitchen still feels very traditional, but timeless. The bit of molding on the cabinets and the classic marble backsplash give it such an elegant feel. Obviously an integrated look can also swing very modern with minimalist lines and dramatic touches like stainless steel counters, or a stunning waterfall island.

We found the prefect refrigerator for the job, the Thermador Freedom Refrigeration system. Completely customizable, we were able find the perfect unit to fit our space. I love refrigerators with french doors. It makes is so much easier to access everything. And freezers on the bottom are a must. You get more storage area and how often do you really dip into your freezer? It’s nice to everything you use daily at arms reach.

I could not be happier with the look of our integrated Thermador appliances. Just like all the images above, the space feels clean, sleek and understated. I simply cannot wait until I can reveal everything to you, but for now, here’s a teaser of what you can expect to see when I do!

lambert & fils chandelier // benjamin moore storm gray paint // school house electric pulls // silestone by cosentino counters in zeus and backsplash in lusso // thermador freedom refrigeration // pendant

image 1 hecker guthrie / image 2 karlavagen 76 / image 3 by armelle habib / image 4 hecker guthrie / image 5 raya todorova

How to Create a Nursery that Will Grow with Your Kid

Decor

Designing a nursery is one of the many exciting parts of welcoming a tiny human into the world. Nesting instincts and all. It certainly was one of things I was SO looking forward to. But to say the design process for our son’s nursery was atypical is a major understatement. You see, we got the order of things a little out of whack. We bought what we were turning into our dream house with plans to start our family there, but our family starting growing much faster than our renovation timeline! So instead we wound up becoming a family of 3 (plus 2 dogs) in 1,000sq feet. For an entire year. And while I loved the mini nursery I carved out in our loft, now that we’re actually in said dream house, it has proven to be an interesting exercise to design a “nursery” for a little guy who is hurtling down the road to toddlerhood (lawd help me).

When it came to my kiddo’s room, I set out to create a space that would meet all the needs of a bebe, but would also grow with him seamlessly. I’m rather pleased with the final design and am thrilled to partner with Minted to share a little sneak peek with you today.

I was so excited for our little guy to finally have his own room – and not just because I wanted more than three feet separating us at night. I also remember just loving my room as a kid. It was s such a special place for me – to have my own little space and I was excited to create that for my son. But since he’s not really conscious of choices like furniture placement or wall colors yet, I also wanted to create a space that I really enjoy being in everyday!

There are SO many different directions you can go with nurseries these days. There really are no rules. But I wanted to accomplish three specific things:

1. Not have to change anything anytime soon. And by soon I mean in the next five years. We’re just now completing what’s turned into a two year renovation. I’m done making design decisions. So when it came to the nursery, this meant I had to say no to things like really cool nursery wallpapers, murals or stencils that are adorable for those fresh newborns but are maybe less appealing for you (or your littles!) when they’re four. I also didn’t want to pick a theme because what if you pick trains but then they end up being really into animals?

2. Pick versatile pieces. I wanted to select furnishings that I liked, but that an older kid might also be apt to think are cool too. Everything in this room could work well into the teen years, save the crib obviously. I also wanted pieces that should the kid no longer like them, they could be repurposed elsewhere in the house. I could easily swap the rug into another room for example.

3. Add sophisticated whimsy. I wanted to create a room that fosters play, but didn’t feel like a pre-school playroom. He’ll be in plenty of other environments like that. I wanted his room to have a distinct, design-focused aesthetic. I accomplished this through the muted color palate, unique rug choice and selecting pieces that weren’t actually designed for nurseries!

The final result? I call it eclectic modern classic. The Moroccan rug adds an unexpected boho touch while the slate gray furniture adds classic sophistication. Combined with birch accents, it still feels young and playful.

I was so excited to finally create a gallery wall for Carter. He loves to look at things on his walls – we talk about the pictures and what’s in them. Genius distraction technique for diaper changing time. But there’s no rule that kids’ art can’t be appealing to you too! I found so many great options for art at Minted. I ended up selecting a monochromatic palette focusing on black, white, gray, touches of blue and pops of gold foil. I love the fishy print that says Be Unique and who can resist the Hello Handsome?! I also incorporated a gorgeous depiction of his Zodiac sign.

I took a very laissez-faire approach to my gallery wall placement. I simply laid out all the pieces on my bed, quickly tested a few arrangement options and then adhered each frame to the wall free hand. Some people really like to measure or make perfect grids, but I was going for more of a collected, eclectic vibe. Pro tip – I used those adhesive strips instead of nails so it’s easy to rearrange should I change my mind (which is likely!).

I was so excited to learn that Minted now offers their artists’ designs in print-on-demand fabrics. I had both curtains and oversized pillows made that I use as floor cushions.

We’re lucky to have 12ft ceilings so I selected Minted’s 120″ length for our curtains (they offer six options). Conventional wisdom says hang curtains 1/2 inch from the floor, but I’m into the slight puddle effect in this space. And Carter loves to play peek-a-boo in them (cue heart melting).

Now complete, the room feels cozy, inviting and a like a fun space to hang out, play or relax. I certainly love being in it and I think Carter does too. While I’d love to show you even more, I am keeping the brakes on until my full home tour is ready. Sadly, after an 18-month renovation process, finishing touches are rather slow going. But it’s ok. I want to design this house right, not quickly and now that Carter has a wonderful space all his own, I can stand being surrounded by boxes in every other (empty!) room of the house.

I’ve included all the resources for our nursery below. And you can shop all of my Minted selections plus more of my favorites in my Minted Curated Boutique right here.

ROOM RESOURCES

Minted Drapes in Gray Shibori Stripe // Minted Art print 1, print 2, print 3 // Minted pillow in Gray Alphabet Soup fabric // Minted pillow in Black Number Crunch fabric // Stokke Convertible Sleepi Crib //Baby Jives mobile // Oeuf Merlin Sparrow dresser & changing tray // Crate & Barrel leaning bookshelf // Coral Pendant at DWR // Safavieh rug c/o PlushRugs.com // The Citizenry Mercado Basket // Hazel Village dolls from Noble Carriage // Pottery Barn Kids Lamb Plush Rocker // West Elm curtain rod // walls are Whitestone Gray & White Whisp by Benjamin Moore

photography by suzanna scott

This post is sponsored by Minted. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. Thanks for supporting collaborations I’m excited about and that have kept apartment34’s doors open.

5 Key Ingredients for a Welcoming Guest Room

Bedrooms

With the arrival of Memorial Day weekend and the official start of the summer travel season, it’s time to get ready for guests. Thankfully, creating a tranquil visitor-ready space is much easier than you think. Even if you don’t have a lot of space (or are just getting settled in your new house!) just a few thoughtful details came make your visitors feel like they’re getting the royal treatment.

Even though we’ve barely gotten our footing, I’m excited to host our first guests. After living in less than 1,000sq ft, having a guest room feels like such a luxury. Yet my guest room, like the rest of the house, is not even close to being “done.” That’s going to be a loooong process. But if you get creative, you can pull together a totally inviting space.

Obviously, the key to a good stay anywhere is an excellent night’s sleep. If there’s thing you should always invest in, it’s your bed. For our guest room, we went with the Wyatt bed from Room & Board in a soft gray velvet. It has a hotel bed look, which I love. And our Cocoon by Sealy mattress is already getting rave reviews. But it’s how you make your bed that will make visitors feel extra special. I’ve been a bit obsessed with the various bed making styles. My current favorite: sheets tucked in nice and tight, layered blankets folded down almost to the bed’s foot to expose all the colors and textures and then a good stack of pillows. I like just two decorative pillows for a crisp clean look.

Since we don’t have much furniture yet, I had to get creative to make the guest room functional. No bedside tables? No matter! A pouf and a cool decorative ladder (ladders are having a moment) are all you need to give your guests a spot for a glass of water, their phone or a book. This were I also put two of my other key ingredients for a the perfect guest room – fresh flowers and good smells. A lovely candle, or in this case my favorite room spray from le labo, is a luxurious touch.

I repurposed our floor lamp to serve as a bedside light, at least for now. A basket for extra throws is always nice should your guests get cold in the night.

I also think it’s a nice touch to offer your guests a supply of toiletries. A toothbrush and toothpaste, soap, lotion and even shampoo and condition. I’m notorious for getting things (since I’m usually rushing to catch my plane) and this way your visitors don’t even have to ask to borrow something.

Finally, leave out some good reading material. It’s always nice to read a little something before bed and this way you guests to have to sit under the goal of their phones. That is not conducive to a good night’s sleep!

And there you have it. If you add just a few thoughtful details you can have the ultimate guest room. Warning: you may end up waiting to sleep in a room like this yourself.

Room sources: Throw pillows, pouf, ladder, leather basket, throws, p0mpom coverlet, floor cushions Jessie Black / Wyatt bed from Room & Board / Cocoon by Sealy mattress / Flaneur sheets / West Elm floor lamp / Morgan toiletries / florals by Natalie Bowen Designs

In case you’re curious about details of our house here are a few: Benjamin Moore paint in White Whisp / adorne by Legrand switches & wall plates / emtek glass door knobs

original photography for apartment 34 by suzanna scott

How to Design a Home with Soul

Decor

As I look around the blank canvas that is our new house – literally – my all-white walls and furniture-free rooms are begging to be filled – I’m so excited to do the exact opposite. I’ve spent the last five years subsisting in apartment living, making due with spaces and styles that ultimately were driving by necessity rather than passion. It’s like wearing a hat on vacation. You know the one I’m talking about. You buy it impulsively and it totally fits for that one specific moment in time, in that one specific place, but then you return home to the real youand that hat just feels ridiculous. Well, now I am home for good and so excited to let the real me – the real us – evolve in this house.

my one not-white wall

So apologize in advance to everyone salivating for their before & afters. This is going to be slow living at its finest.

I started to get inspired when the husband gifted me this book about wabi-sabi – the Japanese art of things that are imperfect, impermanent or incomplete. While totally at odds with my type A personality, the mantra that beauty lies in the imperfect is exactly the ethos I want to adopt for the design of our house (and in life!). I want each room, each piece, every detail to be considered, thoughtful – with a story to tell about where it came from, why I loved it or how it makes me smile every time I pass by. Actually, I want every aspect of my life to have that same ethos.

That’s why I was so excited to hear that local Bay Area designer and long time favorite of mine, Erica Tanov is now offering found vintage finds on her website! I’ve been oogling all of her home goods and cannot wait to treasure hunt through her finds for some choice pieces.

Erica’s own home is a stunning example of how personality-filled objet inject interest and soul into your space. Here are a few sneak peeks of her home tour that show what I mean.

Life has a patina to it and therefore so should our homes. As much as I adore a uber modern minimalist space, I know it is impossible to keep life looking that tidy. Now that I’m a year into motherhood, I’m slowly but surely coming to embrace it. In fact, I’m looking forward to seeing the layers of our life evolve in our new space.

In Erica’s space the textiles, wood tones, mixed materials and saturated color speak not only to the depth of her aesthetic but to the depth of her life. Your eye wants to linger on every piece, curious about its origins, its history or its meaning for the owner. Her spaces are multifaceted, yet still sophisticated. Filled with treasures but not overstuffed. Some of the images make me think I’m looking at an old Parisian apartment rather than a home in Berkeley, California.

For our new/old house, I very intentionally didn’t bring anything from our loft life that didn’t hold deep meaning or bring me joy because I knew they’d sit as place holders for years, their benign existence rending them invisible. In this house I want to see and feel every single thing when I pass through a room.

And that starts with only bringing things in that tell a story. And not a made it mass quantities, can get in any mall in America type of story. This go round I’m not designing our house to fill empty space, but rather to fill out our own personal story. These are just a few of the vintage items currently listed on Erica’s site that have caught my eye.

I’m officially embarking on a treasure hunt. Care to join me? I just have to hope you don’t beat me to them!

photography by Ngoc Minh Ngo courtesy of erica tanov

It’s Official – We’ve Moved!

Decor

No – not the blog. This puppy’s not going anywhere. In fact, we’re just getting warmed because we moved into our house yesterday! Hence why I’ve been MIA this week. Sorry about that! It’s been 642 days since we bought this crazy 150 year old San Francisco Victorian. The blood, sweat and tears that went into our renovation have been truly admirable (only the tears have been mine – the blood & sweat belonged to our amazing contractor and his team).

But today there is nothing but an exhausted smile on my face. I cannot wait to dive head first into phase two of our project – turning our dream house into my dream home. Now it’ll be a while before I can fully reveal all to you, so I’ll have to beg your continued patience. But oh my, do I have some fun plans in store. And I’ll continue to share sneak peeks on Instagram and now Snapchat on occasion too (seeing if I can hang with the cool kids there). Here are few snaps to whet your appetite.

This house has literally been years in the making. But to see it come from the diamond in the rough it was (if you need a fresher on where this sucker started just click here or here) to what I’m sitting in as I type right this very second…well it’s a remarkable transformation and a testament to the team of amazing and talented professionals who helped build my vision – almost from the ground up.

But the adventure is only just beginning. I hope you’ll plan to stay on board for the rest of the ride!

In the meantime, get caught up on our renovation here.

Check out a ton of my design inspiration here

And follow my Pinterest board for the entire project here!

I’d also love to know what you’re curious to learn about! I’ve made many a fascinating discovery as I traveld down this occasionally bumpy renovation road and I’m sure there will be missteps in the upcoming design process too, but I like to think we’re in this together. For those who have been around for years – I appreciate you more than you could ever know.

Erin

The Mania of Moving

Decor

If you’ve ever wanted to see the ugly underbelly of blogging, today’s your lucky day. Because there’s nothing pretty about moving. It’s messy, it’s dirty, it’s chaotic. And we’re in the thick of the storm so I’m not going to sugar coat it for ya.

Our move is in fact, just one week – yes I said it – one week away! Color me panicked. After living in the same apartment for nearly four years, getting our place back into rentable shape is more than a little daunting. Because it’s all about the renter’s holy grail – getting your security deposit back, am I right? As a reminder, here’s what things looked like when the loft was at its peak.

Needless to say, it’s devolved a bit.

We’re slowly but surely dismantling all the work I put into making this place feel like home. Now it’s my job to make it look like a place a new tenant will love. While it may feel like you’re powerless when it comes to the discretion of a landlord, there are a few things you can do to put your best foot forward and give yourself the best chance of having your deposit returned.

One thing we needed to do is patch some walls – I’m a sucker for picture rail shelves, what can I say – but having paint brushes, drop cloths and tools on hand is certainly not practical in apartment living. Neither is taking the time to fill holes, sand, prime & paint when I’m frantically packing boxes with an 11-month old on my hip.

Hence TaskRabbit. If by some miracle you’re still unfamiliar with this awesome service, in short TaskRabbit is an app that connects you with people ready and willing to do the things you don’t have the time, know-how or brawn to complete on your own. Living in the city, TaskRabbit has come to my rescue more than once and this case was no exception. My Tasker, Logan was a dream come true. He showed up promptly, every tool necessary in hand and completed in two hours what would have taken me a whole day!

chloe was an excellent painter’s assistant

Having that repair work crossed off my list is such a relief. It leaves me free to focus on the purging I’m attempting to do right now – because why pack what you don’t want, right? – and all the sorting and organizing that needs to happen too. If time gets really short, I just might call Logan back to help me pack boxes!

There are a few other things to do if you want to have the best chance to get your security deposit back – and they’re all things you can rely on the expertise of an experienced Tasker to help you do in half the time.

The obvious one is clean. You want to check your lease to see if a nonrefundable cleaning deposit is already built in, but if it isn’t, go crazy. Deep clean those bathrooms, cupboards, drawers and baseboards. All the details you might ignore in day-to-day life – this is where it’s worthwhile to clean them.

Along with patching walls, look for any other minor repairs you might want to make. Perhaps you need to touch up your walls, replace some chipped trim or fix a leaky faucet. Any wear and tear you can spruce up will increase your chances of getting your hard-earned money back.

If you have a small move you can even have TaskRabbit help you do that! Maybe you can convince your friends to schlep boxes and all you need is help with some heavy lifting.

As an added bonus, TaskRabbit is offering you, my dear Apartment 34 readers, an exclusive discount on their services! Simply enter the code APT34 to receive $20 off same-day tasks – because you never know when you’re going to need last second help. (this offer expires 3/31)

I wouldn’t be surprised if I call in TaskRabbit reinforcements one (or two!) more times before moving day.

image 1, 2 by aubrie pick

This post is in partnership with TaskRabbit. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. Thanks for supporting posts that have kept Apartment 34’s doors open.

Remodel Update: Fireplace Goals

Decor

As we head into the heart of winter, there’s nothing more romantic than curling up in front of a beautiful fireplace, am I right? I certainly have fireplaces on the brain right now. We’re lucky enough to have four – count them – four fireplaces in our new/old house. Yes, that sounds excessive to me too, but it was the only way the house was heated for I don’t even know how many years (though we do have central heating now, thank goodness). I’ve never designed a fireplace before, let alone four so I’m trying to figure out what the heck to do! I’ve gathered my top seven inspiration images to give you a sense of where I’m currently headed.

Our dining room, living room, master and guest bedrooms will each feature a fireplace. Very cool? Yes. A touch overwhelming? Absolutely! Two of the fireplaces will be entirely decorative – our dining and guest bedroom. The other two will feature gas inserts. Regardless of their function or lack thereof, I still want to pay homage to the heritage of the house and create some stellar focal points. But there are so many variables to consider. There’s scale, size, the types of materials you use, any decorative elements, what the hearths should look like…the options are rather endless I’m afraid.

After scanning reams of Pinterest pages and doing some Google image searches I have begun to zero in on the general look I think we need to go for. I’m particularly drawn to 19th century Louis XV style mantels. Their curvature is so sexy! The designs often featured ornate carvings and some sort of crest at the center. But then again, stately English styles that featured a cleaner square design are also rather fetching. They certainly lend themselves to my more minimalist aesthetic. So then I’m torn. I do know that our original fireplaces also featured arched openings so I think at least one or two will need to have that design element.

With the clock ticking down on our remodel, it’s time to go into decision mode. I’d love to hear which fireplace you love the best. And if you happened to dealt with putting new fireplaces into old houses please share any tips or tricks you might have! I’ll be sure to compile all the knowledge and share it back out.

If you missed any of our remodel updates CLICK HERE

If you’re curious about the before pictures CLICK HERE

If you want to see more of my design inspirations CLICK HERE

What I’ve learned about renovating an old house CLICK HERE

image 1 via // 2, 3 via vogue.com // 4 via // 5 via // 6 via new york times // 7 via pinterest

Remodel Update: How to Pick Bathroom Tile

Bathrooms

Today we’ve got a little interruption to gift guide-palooza. Even with all the holiday hoopla, our remodel must go on! It’s been a few weeks since we concluded the One Room Challenge, but work on our house is trucking along. I’ve been focused on our bathrooms of late. We’re going to enjoy a master bath, a guest bath and a little powder room in this house. The designs have now been finalized and the finish work is underway! If you need to catch up, I gave a little sneak peek of my inspiration here.

My goal for our bathrooms was to go big on tile – it’s the perfect way to pay homage to our house’s 140 year old heritage, yet do so with a modern touch. But the sea of tile is vast. Overwhelming to say the least. You can wander big box aisles or head to super expensive showrooms but it’s really hard to know what the heck you’re getting. That’s why I decided to work with San Francisco-based Fireclay Tile. You know I love me a local business! I’m lucky enough that their gorgeous showroom is only blocks away from our loft. It doesn’t get much more local than that.

It made for a great mama-son field trip!

Fireclay’s tile is so beautiful. All tiles are made by hand at Fireclay’s factory in Aromas, CA, using recycled and locally sourced materials (including: curbside recycled bottles, discarded glass, bathtub porcelain and the like. Gotta love that.

While I’d taken the time to gather a ton of bathroom inspiration images, I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted our tile to look like. And like I said there are SO many choices. Fireclay offers over 100 colors and 30+ sizes so finding the “perfect” design seemed a tad daunting. Thankfully, Fireclay helps you get exactly what you want from idea to execution. So many options and specifications could seem overwhelming, but that’s where Fireclay’s design consultants come in to streamline the process. You can begin with free samples of literally every tile they make. Then you get to consult a tile expert to help nail down the specifics. They’ll even provide free renderings to help you visualize installation, whether you’re simply adding a backsplash or tiling an entire bathroom. I was lucky enough to get to do my entire consultation in person, but you can do a consultation via email, phone or on their website.

I’m thrilled with how all our designs turned out, but I’m not ready to reveal them just yet. It’s no fun without before and after photos but I’ll give you a one word clue: Ombre.

Any guesses?!

If you’re playing catch up, check out the plans for the house’s media room HERE. And my moodboard for the remodel is HERE!

Gimme More

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