Ok, like I said "Let the ride begin"
I love getting to know my clients and sharing our ideas and visions for each space, however, this is very limited when your client is blind. I must say that Carl was very trusting and in speaking with him I learned that he knew every square foot of his home and could precisely visualize the space. As I had mentioned in the previous blog - upon my first time entering the home I was inspired by the space and knew what I needed to do to remodel my client's home to give it a more Mizner - where the Mediterranean meets British Colonial - Bahamas style.
When considering all of your interior design elements one of the most important is the flooring - One of the first questions Carl asked me was "What would I do with the existing flooring" I quizzically responded to him that we can have the Saltillo Terracotta floors refinished" and he asked if I would consider having it removed and install a marble floor - I explained to Carl that architecturally the Saltillo Mexican Terracotta tile is traditionally correct for the old world Spanish - Mediterranean feeling, What I love most about the Saltillo tiles is that it is the one flooring material that is so integral to the architecture of a Spanish - Mediterranean home. The tiles will greet you at the Front Courtyard, into the Foyer, throughout the home and right out to the rear Lanai - It visually brings the Outdoors In and the Indoors Out - I love it! Carl then informed me that everyone he spoke to told him that he should remove it - even one of my contractors told me to remove it - That's where being an interior designer who can see the bigger picture while enhancing your existing elements and incorporating them into your new home remodel.
Because of my love of color and many details I need to design the space so that all of the components come together and create a feeling of wellbeing and balance, even if it is on a sub-conscience level. Here you can see that I have chosen this beautiful rich medallion fabric for the Living room and Piano room side panels. I love the relationship between the Saltillo tiles with its earthy red clay and the golden tans to the drapery fabric withs its rich Venetian Red, Truffle Brown, Taupe and Putty with an accent of a Grayed Aqua. If you look closely you can also see some Coral color accents that I wanted to relate to the outdoor fabric at the columns.
For me the fabrics in the room are the most important and I always ask the fabric Gods and Universe to bless me -
Fabrics are where I derive my color scheme from and this fabric is perfect for what I want to achieve in this interior design project.
Ok, as per this fabric and the way I see it is - The walls will be painted in a tan / putty color for an earthy feeling (but still stay light and fresh) this will tie the flooring, drapery, and walls together. The existing cherry woodwork is now an anomaly and does not play well with the new grayed browns and putty - so I want to paint it the Truffle Brown from the fabric, and in doing so I will add a trim molding below the crown and above the baseboards and once it’s all painted it will give the illusion of a much grander molding and will enhance the scale of the room.
Presentation Board with elements of Mizner’s Old Palm Beach Estates and our newer Boca Raton Communities such as Mizner Country Club, Saint Andrews, and The Oaks.
So begins my pathway of inspiration where I can bring all of the pieces together with drawings, color renderings, and photos to be displayed on my presentation board.
As you can see from above, when it comes to my Presentation Board, I am very old school and having once been a Trompe-L’oeil artist, I enjoy creating a hand-painted room perspective along with cutout images that convey the design concept.
Here are some of the interior design elements for the Mediterranean Style Living Room
Speaking of adding height, I will be removing the built-in drywall drapery valance that cuts the room in half - The new sheers with colorful side panels will frame the room and go from floor to ceiling.
As represented in the perspective painting, now you can see the simple Trompe-L'oeil architectural arch painted on the walls of each side of this Mediterranean living room. Please note that the lower corners of the blue faux walls have the same incurvated detail as this large 72" long and 42.5" tall beautiful credenza in driftwood like finish with plenty of moldings and columns.
On either side of the arches will be these old-world sconces with glass tortoise shell-like shades that will match this 71" wide by 60" tall wrought iron traditional chandelier hung in the middle of the tray ceiling and over the metal nickel finish, glass top coffee table - because of the scale of this room and it is in the Mediterranean style I wanted to use the antique gold accents and update the look with the addition of silver / nickel items as well - Such as the tray ceiling will be covered with a very luxurious silver linen wallpaper that has a slight gold tone such as nickel. The acanthus leaf ceiling medallion relates to the painted blue arches, even if its convex design is opposite of the incurvated corners of the credenza.
Please note how the colors in the rug and drapery fabric relate and will visually marry the the floors and walls. There is also a Truffle Brown fabric border at bottom of drapes.
For the Foyer I am so excited to finally use this large 36" wide by 62" tall shell encrusted mirror with scrolls - I wanted to use this mirror in a clients beachfront home but it was 2" too tall and since this is the Mediterranean Karma project, I will have you know that I was told it and its matching credenza has been discontinued - but I asked the Universe and another supplier that found me the last one.
The mirror will be flanked by these two Heron / Tortoise bronze lamps sitting on top of a faux painted tortoiseshell base, all of this under this inlaid tortoise glass flush mount ceiling fixture and custom medallion.
Silver nickel metal and glass top coffee table to give a more Eclectic interior design style.
I love sofas trimmed in wood - a wood base, arms and back - this sofas back is a dark Ratan and wood - I think if you place a sofa out into a room that the backside should be an important design feature.
Below are the interior design elements for the
Traditional Mediterranean Great Room
Dimensions for “L” shape sofa with silver / nickel nail-heads
Fabric for the Living Room sofa
Traditional Sofa and chair with nail-head detail (nail-heads to be a silver / nickel)
Fabric for the Family Room sofa
Living room sofa (87 inch) and two chairs (39 inch) both with silver / nickel nail-heads
Its all about designing for the comport of the client -
As Carl and I were reviewing all of the interior design items and discussed his lifestyle, it came up that he likes to sit in the living room and play his guitar and with him being blind he does spend a lot of time sitting - We both agreed that an upholstered arm would be better suit him, and decided to use the same style custom sofa with nail-heads that I specified for the Family room - but instead of an "L" shape I would use a sofa with two chairs.
The presentation for the Family & Dining room with its Mediterranean Style
Family Room Rug 8 Ft. x 11 Ft.
Family and Dining Room fabric for drapes
Dining Room Rug 10 Ft. by 14
As you can see from the presentation board I have continued the same putty color walls with its dark truffle brown moldings from the Living Room. I am continuing my cohesive color scheme, but now with the rich aqua as the predominate color and still having the putty color background in order to relate to the walls and the browns to relate to the crown and baseboard moldings.
Above is the design for a custom dining table runner - the first first textured golden-green fabric is for the reupholstered dining chairs with silver nail-heads, the second green is for the center of the runner and the aqua fabric is for the surrounding border with 3” interlocking golden-green rope trim on top and edged with the matching single rope trim.
Here are the final choices for the coffee and end table in a driftwood finish that will relate to the two beautiful credenzas in the living room - I believe that the distressed finish truly gives us that relaxed coastal Mediterranean style.
All of the light fixtures for the rooms give us that old world feeling being made of wrought and finished in a golden bronze, accented with antique gold acanthus leaves. Above to the left is the 71” by 60” chandelier for over the dining table (The same as in the Living Room) and to the right is the 44” by 43” chandelier for the fireplace / Family Room.
To the left are the 12” by 68” tall sconces to flank the dining room artwork and to the right, are the five hanging 11” by 23” pendent lights
Stained glass light fixture for over the bar area.
This is the stone facade for the half wall around the sunken family room.
The British Colonial - Bahamas Style Master Bedroom
I was very excited to see this beautiful four-poster bed with its canopy
While creating the interior design of a space, I occasionally find that I am not able to use the item that I had originally specified - such as the item has been discontinued or not in scale with the room - when this happens I always tell my client “Don’t worry, every time this happens the Universe will find use something much better and we will be glad the original didn’t work out” This is so true with this room - If you look at the presentation board there is an image of fabric with teardrop shape medallion with a tan / putty color background - the manufacture was out of stock and when I told Carl he was very disappointed - With Carl being blind, I went to great lengths to describe in detail each item and its size, shape, color, material as well as my inspirations and how each piece relates to each other and gives the master a feeling of well being.
Carl was so disappointed, and he explained to me how the room was to look - I believe that Carl can visualize much better than my sighted clients.
The original fabric didn’t have the lime green color and I initially wanted the green because I love the impact it has next to the aqua - The Universe found us a fabric with the lime so it will match the rugs, another benefit was that I found that the medallion shape reminds me of wrought iron which gives me a little subliminal feeling of the Mediterranean style form the rest of the house even though I wanted the Master Bedroom to have more of a British Colonial Style but with the new fabric I am going to pull the aqua and put it on the walls to brighten the room and give the master bedroom more of a playful coastal Bahama Isles feeling.
I love this credenza, nightstand and occasional table with it’s weathered coastal driftwood feeling and they will relate to the living room credenzas and family room tables - Once again, as I said with colors and details - I love to have unity throughout the house.
These chairs were a great find as well - I was looking at some custom chairs to match the fabric but it was eating up my budget for an item that was low on the priority list - I found these chairs already made up in the perfect fabric! If you look closely, the fabric has aqua, dark blue, lime green and an off white matching all of the colors in the rugs and drapery, also I love that it has no pattern - just dots of color to sit on the ornate round rug.
Sconce (35” by 21”) with Murano glass flower lights with clusters of crystal flowers and lime green metal leaves with a matching Chandelier (28” by 24”)