What’s Happening in Western Springs?

We are proud and excited to be included in Michael Menn’s renovation of a lovely home in Western Springs. As part of the overall renovation, we’ve been called in to work on the kitchen, mudroom, first floor powder room and master bath. We’ve worked closely with architect Bonnie Rosenburg of the Michael Menn team to create fresh and updated spaces. Here are some “before” photos! Stay tuned for the finished project sometime in March or April!

Top 5 Budget Bathroom Updates

Is your Master Bathroom monotonous? Your Powder Room no longer perky? Here are 5 low-cost fixes for you:

  1. If your fixture looks like this, it’s time to “see the light”! You can say goodbye to those “Hollywood lights” for a minimal cost.

  2. Perk up a boring bathroom with a weekend paint project. Be brave! Paint your walls in bold, contrasting colors.

  3. Do you have a plain builder’s mirror? Frame it! You can select your favorite style of molding from your local hardware store, cut to fit your mirror, and paint or stain to match your bathroom. If you don’t want the do-it-yourself hassle, you can replace your plain mirror for a reasonable cost.

  4. Want a project that a makes a dramatic statement quickly? Replace your outdated faucet. There are a variety of contemporary faucets available for under $100, like this waterfall faucet sold by sinofaucet.

  5. Opt for some spunky cabinet hardware. One caveat – make sure the new hardware will work with the holes already drilled in your doors and drawers. Before shopping, measure the “spread” from the center of one hole to the center of the next hole on your existing handles.

Design Project Diary- Day 16

We’re in the home stretch now!  The paint is done, the trim on the baseboard tile has been resolved, the lighting is up, and I have even come up with a design for the vanity legs that the client likes.  Not only that, but I’ve found another fabric for the coverlet which is similar to the first, and a new bolster fabric because the original- which is beautiful- may take forever to get here.  There isn’t any of that fabric in stock here in the States, and the mill is in Italy- which shuts down for the month of August.  Considering that we need only a whopping 2 yards, I’m thinking that it’s very likely that we could be waiting a long time for a pillow fabric. 

Ok so far, having a happy Friday and then the contractor calls.  At 2:30.  The plumber doesn’t like our choice of tub fillers (spout).  He feels that the length and weight of it and the way it’s attached, make it a likely candidate for breakage if it’s leaned upon in any way.  Hmmm.  And, it’s missing a part.  Ok, I call the client to see how she feels about the recommendation.  I’m surprised that the plumber would voice a concern- but grateful that he’s giving us the benefit of his expertise.  I’m glad that he cares enough about what he does to want it to be right for the client. 

After talking to the client, I jump on the internet to try to find an alternative.  I come up with a few that are reasonably close to the look we’re trying to achieve.  I also decide that once we pick something we like, we’re checking in with the plumber to make sure it will work as the way the spout gets attached can vary. 

Rats!  The alternative doesn’t attach in the same way and would cause more modifications to the existing plumbing in order to attach.  I suggest to the contractor that maybe it would be best for the plumber and I to discuss the situation.  The plumber calls and explains that he understands our design intent and is working on finding an alternative which will keep our look, but also not create more problems in attaching.  I’m impressed.  He calls back shortly with a model number to look at.  I think it can work.  Client likes it!

Yippee!  Now we can finalize on those vanity legs.  Next week we’ll work on the finish for the dresser and night stands for the bedroom and get cuttings ordered for the new fabrics.  The headboard should be on its way shortly, as should the chair.  We’re getting closer and closer to completion! 

Here are some new progress pics!

Chicago bathroom remodel, picture of bronze light fixture with 4 lights above vanity mirror

The new lights

Chicago bathroom remodel, irridescent floor tile and baseboard tile with stainless strip above baseboard

floor tile and baseboard with stainless finishing strip

Chicago bathroom remodel, tile wall and painted wall

The paint color alongside the tile- note the white squares of paint color!

Design Project Diary- Day 8

We’re making progress!  The wall tile is almost complete, the mirror is partially installed and the guys come to measure for the custom shower doors on Friday.  Yee ha! 

Now that’s not to say that there haven’t been a couple of “issues” along the way.  Yesterday I was on the phone with the contractor in the morning because his tile guy didn’t think our inset of glass tiles was going to look good- AND we didn’t have enough.  I was a little confused as we had planned carefully so as to have enough of all our materials. 

I contacted the client and made my recommendations that we could use just one strip of the glass tile instead of two as it didn’t seem like we had enough.  She was fine with that, but in the meantime the contractor called me back and said that after our discussion, he understood what we were trying to do and did in fact have enough and it would look good.  Seems that my drawings didn’t reflect the exact measurements of the tiles!  Good thing we talked!  As I’ve said- the contractor is GREAT because he does call if there’s a question and we can work it out.  Crisis averted!

Next issue- the vanity may be too heavy to hang from the wall.  We’ve chosen a “floating” vanity which doesn’t sit on the floor, and although the contractor is going to reinforce the walls, he’s concerned that the metal studs plus his reinforcement won’t be enough.  We certainly don’t want the wall to come down, and considering there will be additional weight from the granite countertop, we want to be sure it will remain secure.  Worse case scenario is we have to come up with some legs for the vanity.  Got the brain working on Plan B already. 

Last issue for today: The cutting for approval for the coverlet fabric for the bedroom is still not right!  The color is significantly off from our sample.  Arrrgh!  I’ll have to call the fabric house again tomorrow and see if we can send them our sample to use for comparison.  Are we having fun yet?  Actually, yes.  Despite the ups and downs of construction and fabrics, I’m having fun because we’re getting closer and closer to seeing the project completed, and knowing that the client will be able to soon enjoy her beautiful new rooms.  Here are the pictures of the progress!

Tiled wall, with opening for niche, under construction

Shower niche

Tiled wall in light grey with inset of glass mosaic tiles in various blue and brown colors

Glass tile inset

vanity mirror under construction

Partial installation on vanity mirror

Check back soon for more updates!

Design Project Diary- Day 6

Yes!  The tile was delivered today, as was the custom vanity.  Things are progressing- this week the tile will get installed along with the vanity and then it’s time to call the granite company out to template the countertop.  Here are a few pictures of the work-in-progress taken by the client.  I love the picture of the bulb! 

Chicago rehab, construction-in-process photo of new tub, toilet and new sheetrock

Phase I, new tub & toilet

Chicago bathroom re-hab, picture showing drywall with temporary lighting

My favorite photo!

Ah yes, isn’t temporary lighting attractive?  Some other items presented today:  Need to choose new door handle as the current one is gold- no problem.  Client would like to look at paint choices.  I e-mailed some choices to her with two suggestions: 

  •  The first suggestion is that I finalize the paint colors when everything is in, as it’s better to see everything in the room with the correct lighting before making the final choice. 
  •  The second suggestion is one that I’ve had previous clients do and it’s very helpful in viewing new paint colors.  Either paint your color samples on white cardboard or other sturdy white paper with a large border of white around the sample, or, paint your sample and then take a sheet of white paper and cut out a square in the center.  Use this as a “viewer” to look at your selected color surrounded by the white paper.  This trick allows you to see your selected color without being influenced by the colors around it.  For instance, if you have a tan wall and you try to paint a creamy yellow sample on it, you’re going to be influenced by how the yellow looks on the tan.  You really need to see your potential color choice separate from whatever color it’s going over.  

Check it out sometime and see for yourself- it’s pretty amazing.   Tune in later this week to see how things are going, and more in-progress shots!