This is the story – of a little redo:

 

This is story of a redo.   It is the story of Ron van Empel, lamp maker extraordinaire, and the creation of his new retail space.  Ron and I met through emails after The Peak of Chic featured his company,  Empel Collections – based in the Netherlands.  We became fast friends and I featured his lamps on my blog, HERE.  Then something remarkable happened that we shared – the process of his building a new showroom.  It started like this:  Ron bought the retail space that housed a run-down flower shop underneath his apartment.  He took me along for the ride,  through hundreds and hundreds of pictures and emails;  a ride that lasted almost a year.   The story of his redo became my story too.   There was a time, when this all started – one whole week of time – that I pored over pictures of his territory, his apartments (he owns two in the same building), his swimming pool, his pool house, the upstairs terrace, the old flower shop he just bought, the new annex he was building – until I understood it all so well, I could probably walk around the vast complex blindfolded and still find my way – halfway across the globe.   I don’t know why this kind of thing intrigues me, but it does.   It is at the core of who I am, aesthetically.  I find pleasure in floor plans, in seeing old spaces turned into new ones.   I’ve always been this way – becoming aware of it at 8, when my parents built our family home  – and the process of it, the architectural drawings, the space planning, the interior design all became a way of life for me from which I have never wavered.   I suspect many readers of Cote de Texas are exactly the same.   But, if you aren’t interested in renovations, or architecture, or interior design, or floor plans – you probably won’t be all that interested in this story.  In truth, I found it all so fascinating on a number of levels that I hope you will too.   To help you understand the layout – full floorplans follow the story.

1

The most important thing to consider in this story is the country.  In Holland’s cities, where space is at a premium, you don’t just tear down property – you redo it, you add onto to it, you squeeze as much living space as you can into your four walls.    You may choose to gut the interiors to your liking,  yet all the while - you preserve the exterior to blend in the neighborhood.   And this is exactly what Ron did.   It all starts with a building:    after college, the young Ron bought an apartment over a flower shop thinking he would stay there just a few years (fate has a sense of humor!)   In this building, besides the flower shop, there were two other apartments in addition to Ron’s.   Today,  Ron owns 3/4 of the building – hopefully, the final upstairs apartment will one day be his after the owner decides to sell.    Ron’s city is called Leiden and it is a quick 30 minutes away from the metropolis of Amsterdam with an international airport nearby for the convenience of his clients who fly in from all over the world.  Ron’s neighborhood is called a garden area, and it was developed in the 30’s, just as Ron’s building was.  The area is now middle class, but many university students are moving in.   Besides there being even newer areas of town, Leiden boasts buildings still standing from the 16th century!

 BEFORE:  Ron’s building with this two apartments and the florist shop on the bottom left, just waiting to be rebuilt.

BEFORE:    Ron’s building as it was:   on the ground floor is the old run-down flower shop with – on the left - the white, modern annex the florist added to his shop.  The two red doors on the right are to Ron’s two apartments.  The red door on the left leads to his upstairs apartment over the flower shop with its bright white door.  That apartment takes up the second floor and  its two bedrooms are on the third floor (seen in the left attic dormer, above.)  The red door on the right leads to his second apartment – another two story unit.  The door in the middle leads to the last apartment – which one day Ron hopes to own.    This picture was taken in spring of 1996 – notice the gorgeous bed of daffodils – where are the tulips, Ron?????       As the young Ron lived in his upstairs apartment, he began toiling with lamps, designing them and then making them himself.    As his business starting growing, so did his need for space.   He needed room to spread out and he needed storage space.  He began eyeing the next door apartment.

BEFORE:    Here is a rare picture of the back of the building before the florist built the white annex.   You can see Ron’s first apartment here on the second and third floor.   The large window on the second floor opens up to a terrace.   Let’s go look at Ron’s first apartment, above the original flower shop, that is now the home to Empel Collections.

 

 RON’S FIRST APARTMENT:     You enter through the red door at the front of the building to this first floor vestibule with slate floors.   Ron loves classical design and symmetry.  He has chosen the X as a motif and it pops up throughout his spaces.   He completely gutted this area and rebuilt it to his specifications.    All the light fixtures are his, of course, hand made by Ron.     Ron’s career as a lighting designer happened by accident.  Now 47, he was an interior designer until 8 years ago – when he finally decided to put all his attentions into what was at first a hobby – designing lamps.  Today, he still does some interior design and by chance is very involved with the total remodel and renovation of a house in Houston – of all places!

In the vestibule, Ron created the two closets flanking a niche with a mirror and sconces.

A close up of his niche:  all Ron’s design – the mirror, the miniature, the sconces, the hanging light!  Isn’t this just beautiful!!!!

The staircase leads to the second and third floor living spaces.   Notice the X motif on the stair railing.  This X shows up time and time again.

 

Here’s the living area today – it overlooks the front of the building.   Ron has renovated and upgraded this apartment twice in all the years he has lived here.

 

Close up  - I love those coffee tables, so interesting!   The crystal lamp is from his contemporary collection – isn’t it beautiful with the drum shade? 

 

THEN:   Here is how Ron lived as a young man, right out of university, all those years ago!   I actually quite like this – bleached shutters, tufted leather sofa, Burberry throws, and leopard pillows.  

The dining area overlooking the back terrace. 

The same room at night.  The kitchen is through the French doors.

THEN:  The dining room then, before the renovations many years ago.   The entrance to the kitchen was in the stair hall.  Ron, this looks quite nice  for a young man just starting out!  The table is the same one Ron uses today.

 

In between the living area and dining area is the fireplace – Ron recently painted the wall behind the mantel a Farrow and Ball light blue.

 

Close-up of his mantel-scape.  Just beautiful.   Notice the dentil  crown molding and the carved mantel.   These architectural details, along with the sconces and mirror are all Ron’s designs.

The door to the kitchen is flanked by two cabinets – providing surfaces to showcase more accessories.  Ron makes lamps out of many different things – his horses will probably end up as lamps one day!

 

And the small kitchen – perfect for a bachelor:  black granite and white subway tiles and plantation shutters.   Notice how he built in his TV!  And remember what I said about eeking out every inch of space – notice the built in microwave to the right of the sink.

In order to conserve much needed counter space, Ron had this box built to house the microwave outside!  The washing machine and dryer got a similar treatment.  Ingenious!

 THEN:  The kitchen as it was – wow!  Ron – you’ve really changed this room for the better!!!!

The outside terrace, off the dining room.  To the right, through the faux windows – this overlooks the pool area of Ron’s second apartment!

BEFORE:   The side of the building with the white annex – Right above the annex you can see Ron’s terrace with the row of faux windows, the dining and living room windows, and on the third floor, the bedroom and bathroom windows.   On the left side of the back of building is Ron’s second apartment.    Today – this looks completely different!!   Ron refers to the white annex as a trailer – stuck onto the building with no regard to it’s architecture or age.  

Ron’s upstairs bathroom, classic black and white tiles.

As Ron’s business grew, so did his need for space.  He needed room to make his lamps, store his lamps, and sell his lamps.  And so, for a few years, he turned his first apartment’s living room into the factory and the warehouse.   This is how his first apartment was the last few years– see the fireplace in the middle of all this?  

As you can see, Ron needed space to live – so he bought his second apartment in the building.   All the while, he was negotiating with the flower shop’s owner for his space.  The negotiations took years and years and years.    Until an agreement could be reached, Ron waited it out – working out of this living room in his first apartment, and living in his second apartment.

RON’S SECOND APARTMENT:  Through the second red door is Ron’s newer apartment – bought to help with space problems and to have a place to entertain friends and clients.    The second apartment is two stories.  On the second floor, Ron connected his two apartments through a door.  

The second apartment garden room:  this is where Ron greets his clients and serves them tea.  First, they sit and talk and relax so that there is no heavy sales pressure and he can gauge what the client will need.  After the tea and delicious (I’m sure!) pastries, Ron leads his clients to his new showroom either through the back pool area or out the front door to the new showroom entrance.    I love the way Ron has decorated this room – the gorgeous clock, the antiques, the blue and white garden seats! 

   

The other side of the garden room shows the classic symmetry that Ron loves so!

 

At the back of the second apartment is the pool and pool house which Ron built – quite a extravagance for a Leiden apartment.    Ron installed a retractable black and white canopy for protection from the sun.

 

The back pool and pool  house.

 

Today – this area has changed somewhat.   On the left side where the ivy wall is, Ron built an atelier for the showroom. 

BEFORE:   Whoa!     This is what the back yard of the second apartment looked like.   What to do?  How to hide the brick shed on the left?  Ron came up with the idea of a pool house.  The left window on the pool house is actually a facade!  Quite a difference today with a charming Pool house vs. this disaster!   Scroll up – this is exactly the same view before Ron built the pool and pool house.

BEFORE:  Before there were no French doors – just a window and a door to the kitchen.

DURING:  Ron installed two sets of French doors – one to the Garden Room and one to the kitchen.  This picture was taken from his first apartment’s outside terrace.   Scroll up to see the exact same view before the French doors and after.

TODAY:   The same view.   Looking back into the garden room at dusk.  These French doors replaced the plate glass window. 

TODAY:    And looking into the second apartment’s kitchen – these French doors replaced the kitchen door.

The kitchen in the second apartment – looking out at the Pool House.

And looking in, the other way.  I love how he used French doors for the interior and exterior.  Just charming!

And now, Ron starts his waiting game with the owner of the flower shop.   He approaches him about selling and offers are made.  It took over three years to finally get an agreement drawn up.   All this time, Ron has been planning and drawing – thinking how he can turn the decrepit flower shop into a beautiful showroom worthy of his high end light fixtures.    Finally the day comes – the florist moves out and Ron begins his renovations.  

THEN:  The flower shop with it’s white annex.  The front door to the shop is the single white door.   Ron’s first apartment is directly above the flower shop.  Ron’s plan is to change out all the windows, lining them up with those above it on the second floor, raise the roof of the annex, gut it, and make the annex the front door to Empel Collections.

The demo works begins in the back.     The wall covered in ivy that divides the pool from the flower shop comes down.   The alley space between Ron’s apartment and the flower shop will be built out, connecting the space.

 

The building begins.  This room is being built in the alley way between the apartment and the flower shop.    It will connect through the brick wall into the flower shop – and will be used as a workroom. 

Ron’s entrance to his kitchen is through the French Door on the left.  With the boundary wall torn down, Ron makes plans to break through to the flower shop  - thus creating a back door entrance into his new showroom through his pool area.    The black door leads directly into the flower shop.

 A few weeks later, the adjoining building – the new workroom - is finally shaping up.   Romantic slate tiles go on the roof.    And finally – you can see here - Ron breaks through to the flower shop.   This will become his backdoor to work.   Above the hole in the wall – you can see the wall of faux windows which line Ron’s terrace in his first apartment.  And notice – the black door to the flower shop is now a window!!  Just above the window, is the metal box which houses his microwave.  

The doors go in!  Looking from the flower shop out to the pool area of Ron’s second apartment.  Progress is really being made.

BEFORE:   To help you better understand the layout – this is a before view,   looking down at the pool.   The ivy fence is shown here.  Ron’s outside terrace with the faux window wall is on the far left.  The space between his ivy wall and the building is the alleyway of the flower shop.  Also from this picture, you can see the pool house roof.  The left side of the roof was the original shed that Ron disguised by erecting the pool house around it.   Confused yet? 

DURING:   From the exact same vantage point, showing the new back storage room leading into the showroom.  Scroll up to see the difference.

BEFORE:  The white annex to the left and the flower shop’s front door in white.  Above the shop is the living room to Ron’s first apartment.

DURING:  While all the work on the back is going on, the front on the building is being worked on too – here the roof of the white annex or “trailer” is raised a few feet, before the space is totally gutted.

Mission accomplished.  The white annex’s roof is raised and it is totally gutted.

The gutted white annex, with it’s roof raised, will now be built out.  This will become  the entrance to the showroom.  

The side view of the former white annex being built.

And showing the back of the white annex. 

 

While all the work on the back side and the annex is being done, Ron prepares to work on the front facade.   All the windows and the former front door of the flower shop will be completely changed.   On the right is the red door to Ron’s first apartment, above the flower shop.

In progress:   The white annex is long gone, replaced with a much more substantial building – you can now see the front entrance to the new showroom.   The flower shop's windows have all been changed out to match the placement of the windows above it.  The old door to the flower shop is long gone – replaced by a window instead.  Ron designed an overhang to visually connect the main building to the front door annex. 

The windows get paned. 

As time goes on, the former white annex is no longer recognizable as the old “trailer” as Ron called it, instead it is a beautiful building with a lovely stacked stone fireplace.  Ron has put in the paned windows.  The roof gets a siding of zinc, the bottom gets a skirting of brick.  The fireplace will soon be getting a custom designed cap.

With the outside facade almost complete, work begins inside the former flower shop.  Here looking out towards Ron’s pool area – what a mess!!!!  This is where Ron broke through the brick wall.  He will be taking his clients from his second apartment garden room, after tea and pastries, through the spruced up pool area into this back door – OR they will enter through the front door!

And looking from the back towards the front windows.    Through this door on the left – you can see the replaced windows from the front facade.  On the right, through the openings is the new annex or the former “trailer” building.

And inside the former white annex, looking towards the new front doors.

And all the state of the art wiring goes in.   Don’t forget – this is a lighting showroom, there has to be good electricity!

In the backyard pool area, the brick is plastered over and painted.  Ron puts decorative finials on the post.   Look above to see Ron’s terrace with the faux window wall outside his first apartment.

The side window grill of the backyard pool building gets installed – in his beloved X motif. 

More details:  the front door windows get their own grills. 

 

And the beautiful stone chimney gets its zinc cap.  Everything is finally coming together.    Ready for the final reveal?

A wintry scene with icy flower beds.

 

The front – with all three apartment’s doors. Ron’s apartments are the left and right red doors.  One day he hopes to own all three apartments in the building. 

 

And a close up.   Notice how nicely the windows are lined up now.  The overhang visually connects the front door annex to the main building, as does the darker red brick skirting.   Let’s go inside!

 

The front door – hard to believe this was once the white annex, what Ron called a trailer.  Inspired by Dorothy Draper, Ron designs a double door with center knobs, flanked by hanging lanterns, and topped with a zinc pediment.   The rug gives it a nice extra touch.  I adore this door! What a fabulous logo to put on stationary – not that anyone asked moi!

Before moving in:   Inside the former white annex, Ron creates a fancy showroom, with red chinoiserie wallpaper, dark hardwood floors, and a beautiful fireplace.  The front door is painted gray, and notice how the pediment matches the zinc one outside. 

 

Looking towards the back of the former white annex.   The windows at the rear lead to a back courtyard off the parking area.  Ron has not finished the landscaping there yet. 

 

And the same view at night – showing all the dramatic lighting. 

Looking at the brick fireplace with its antique andirons and Ron’s own designed sconces and mirror.

The floor in the annex is a beautiful dark herringbone pattern.

A close up of the fireplace details.  

  

Looking from the Chinoiserie room to the main showroom on the right.   Time to move everything in the shop!!

Everything from Ron’s first apartment, which has been his temporary showroom all these years, has to first be packed up before it can all be brought downstairs to the new showroom.   OY!!!

Leaving it looking like this!  But don’t worry – remember how beautiful he fixed it up:

 

Much better!   Now that this is no longer his workroom, Ron has moved back into his first apartment, leaving the poolside second apartment for friends and guests.

All moved in!!!!     Finally – four years after negotiations to buy the old flower shop began, Empel Collections has a proper showroom.   From the front door in the Chinoiserie Showroom, you can enter the main showroom, in what was formerly the flower shop.

Facing the back of the Chinoiserie Showroom, with the main showroom on the right.

    

The view from the front door looking into the Chinoiserie Showroom.

Looking from the Chinoiserie Showroom into the main showroom – the former decrepit flower shop!   Beautiful photo.

Close up of Empel Collections product displayed on a console table.

Another shot of the lit fireplace with Ron’s designs.   I love that fire!  So romantic.  Honestly, when was the last time you were in a lighting shop with a roaring fire and chinoiserie wallpaper?   Never?   I didn’t think so!

 

Leaving the Chinoiserie Showroom, and entering the main showroom.  The wood floor is replaced with a natural fiber wall to wall carpeting.

Facing the street.  Notice the large pediment on the left wall.  Inside it is a TV monitor.  When Ron and his clients sit at the skirted table and Ron shows product from his computer – the image is displayed on the large wall  monitor.  No more peering at a small computer screen for Ron’s clients.  He has thought of every detail – he should have!   He had four years to plan his showroom!!!!     Through the French doors on the left is a powder room and a storage closet.  The niche where the computer monitor is hanging is accented with wallpaper while the rest of the walls are painted.

  

 

The same view – looking to the right.  The windows face the street.   The old flower shop door used to be at the curved corner.  No longer.  The front door is now in the Chinoiserie Showroom.  

Looking from the skirted table to the rear of the main showroom.  To the right is the powder room. 

The main showroom – looking towards the back. 

 

The French door behind the desk leads to the workroom which connects to Ron’s pool yard.    The door to the right of the desk leads to the kitchen, which is not yet completed.

I love how Ron chose to use mirrored French doors throughout the interior of his shop.  They just add so much sparkle and atmosphere.   The powder room is behind these doors.   Look at the Greek Key door handles he designed.  Always the classical choice for Ron.

The powder room is stunning in black and white.  What a surprise!

Notice how the floor repeats the motif of the door handles.  And I love the small spot lights pointing to the tiled floor.  Just stunning!

 

A close up of the black on black wallpaper and hanging sink!  The mirror and light fixtures that Ron designed add just the right touch!

FROM THIS

TO THIS

 

FROM THIS

TO THIS

FROM THIS

TO THIS.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my story of Ron van Empel’s redo.   I know it was long and if you stayed with it - thanks!!!!   He is so proud of it and I am of him, too!  Ron is one of the nicest guys I’ve met on the blogs and he’s got a quick wit to match.    Ron, I wish you much success and good health and happiness in your beautiful new showroom!

For all the architects and designers out there – here are the hand drawn plans Ron emailed me one night last summer when I was trying to put it all together in my mind.  After that, are his plans to one day turn the showroom into his house when he retires – yes, you heard that right.  And following that are the proper architectural drawings!

This shows the floor plan of his second apartment, the pool area, and the new showroom with the Chinoiserie addition.

 

Ron’s plans to turn the showroom into his home after he retires!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

He even has his furniture placed in his future home.  Anal?   You decide!

The architectural drawings for the showroom.

Redo in Tanglewood

Of all the questions I get from people about my blog, the most asked is – do you make money from it? The answer is always the same – No! Then comes the lengthy discussion of why not: because it’s hard to make money on blogs. You first must have a huge readership to get advertisers willing to pay you more than $25 a year for the privilege of turning your site into a cluttered billboard. And then there is this reason: I started this blog as a labor of my love for interior design with absolutely no expectations of making any money. That hasn’t changed these past two years. Why would I want to turn my labor of love into a advertising free-for-all for Google ads or Amazon books or the latest green cleaning agent? And still – I don’t want to have to keep up a posting schedule that an advertiser might impose on me either. Nope. I’m ad-free now and hopefully forever, thank you very much!

There is this other oft asked question: does your blog help your interior design business? Do you get clients from it? Oh boy, yessiree I get clients! I have many, many readers who send me pictures of their house with questions on furniture arrangements or curtains or questions about seagrass (a lot of those) and slipcovers (even more!) or how about this one: how can I get my musty antiques to quit stinking up my house? Yes, I get clients. The problem with these kinds of clients though, is they aren’t paying ones. Usually their request for help can be answered in one or two emails, which is no real bother. In fact, I actually like those emails – it’s fun to look at readers’ houses and give my advice, though why they would want it is beyond me. As the blog has grown, so have the email requests and sometimes it does take a toll on my time. Have I ever gotten a true client from my blog – a paying client that actually lives in H0uston proper? While I’ve gotten a fair share of inquiries for true design work - most never go further than the initial email. They either live too far away from me as Houston is a very large, spread-out city. Or, they get a severe case of sticker shock when we start to discuss budgets. But, I have had a few clients that came to me from the blog, where everything worked out and the job was actually started and completed. This is a story about one such reader, who sent me an email asking for design help. As usual it came accompanied with pictures. And as we talked, she revealed that she was the reader who once left me a Kenneth Turner candle on my porch after I had blogged about them. Could any designer want for a sweeter client?

It started slowly. She and her husband and sons live in Tanglewood – one of Houston’s finer neighborhoods. Her house is an older two story, about which they were debating whether to tear it down and rebuild, or remodel, or just move. Their final decision was this: they would do a small remodeling job, wait until the boys went off to college in a few years, and then they would tear it down and rebuild. Maybe. The main issue was the problem of their master bathroom. They wanted to gut it and turn it into a smaller, but more efficient bathroom and add a separate powder room. Could I help her pick out marble and tiles? Hmm. I guess. Truthfully, picking out tile didn’t sound too promising or really worth my time. It sounded like another wild goose chase where the potential blog client is at first all excited, then gets cold feet, never to be heard from again. But this one was a little different and she actually had architectural plans for the bathrooms, and hey, I wasn’t too busy.

We worked on the two bathrooms and had the numerous and typical set backs and issues with contractors and stone tiles that turned mysteriously pink when installed. Try picking a paint color for that!! While work was being done on the bathroom gut jobs, my client confessed that she had recently purchased a sofa for her family room. Could I help her with fabric choices? Why, yes, as a matter of fact, I can. The two bathrooms are finished now. The master bedroom is still being worked on. Today, we finished the family room. So you see, in the end, it was worth my time. I gained a friend, and a client who turned out to be exceedingly nice and polite and very fun to work with. You know – that perfect combination. And I am learning something important. The BEST part about getting clients from my blog is that they already know my style. They’ve seen my work and obviously like my taste or they wouldn’t be hiring me. Without me even realizing it, much less planning it, my blog has become a portfolio for potential customers to peruse. After years and years of working with people whose style is so vastly different than mine, it’s refreshing and extremely exciting to work with a client who knows my look and wants it for herself! Here’s the story of her family room redo:

BEFORE: She had decorated it with some help a long while ago. The room was nice enough - cozy, and warm, just outdated for the 21st century. The walls were green, though it doesn’t look like it here. There were two groups of matching chairs, a dated brick fireplace and mantel, 60s type paneling and layers of nick naks built up from years of married life. And, there were no window treatments at all. What she wanted: the same cozy, warm room, just updated. The client actually had architectural plans for a major remodeling of this area of the house, but in the end they opted for redecorating instead.

BEFORE: The room is long and narrow with French doors on each side.

BEFORE: At the back of the room there is a table and chairs. With two teenaged boys, internet surfing is allowed downstairs only – in plain view of their parents. This became the main issue of the redo. The boys’ computers and gaming equipment (cleaned up for this picture) had overtaken the room. Clearly, something had to be done to provide them with a place to work, yet it needed to be somewhat hidden. A computer armoire? There are two boys, two computers, but two armoires in one room? Not a viable solution.

BEFORE: It was decided that a cabinet would be built in the back of the room along these two walls. There would be two computer stations hidden behind doors. With a plan in hand, fabrics were chosen, paneling was painted, the dated mantel was removed, doors were replaced, and everything was purchased new in the room, save for a coffee table and a gate leg table.

AFTER: In the entry hall, we painted the walls a cool toned, greenish taupe. The stair handrail was painted black to pop it. Two black lanterns were hung – one by the door and one in the stairwell. I found her an antique gate leg table and a new lamp was ordered from Aidan Grey. Seagrass will probably be going on the stair treads – if the bid will ever come in!

The dated shutters were replaced with bi-fold paneled doors. In fact all the doors in the house were replaced and then painted black. I like to do this when a house needs some extra architectural detail. Plus, I think the black paint gives the hollow core doors of today some much needed richness. The client was instructed to stay away all day and finally at 4:00 she was allowed home for the big reveal.

AFTER: The family room is now painted a rattan color, slightly yellow, slightly green, slightly creamy. The floor is covered with custom cut seagrass which extends to 5 inches away from the walls. There is an Os-de Mouton French sofa, slipcovered in a rattan colored linen, held in placed with long ties. There are two French styled wing chairs on swivels for easy TV watching along with a tufted top ottoman. For extra seating there is a French styled chair, in a Chelsea Editions check. The pillows are velvet and the curtains are a F. Schumacher print, which my client chose as the inspiration fabric. You can see the L-shaped built-in with the two hidden computer desks behind the sofa.

Another view. Since space and cluttering were concerns, we opted for two floor lamps next to the sofa instead of side tables. The coffee table will be used for drinks.

Looking towards the fireplace, we removed the mantel and placed a convex mirror there. Next to each chair is a vine table for drinks which was bought at the new Mecox store in Houston. In the existing bookcases, we added thickness to the shelves to update their appearance. In this picture, on the right, you can get a clear view of just how close the seagrass rug is cut to the wall, perfection!

Close up of the curtain treatment. This is actually one French door with two side windows. In order to hide the wall space between the doors and the windows, I used four panels instead of the usual two. Each panel is two widths of fabric for extra fullness. If space allows, three widths is even better! To fool the eye that the ceiling is higher, I placed the curtains right under the crown molding and the deep brown shades were brought up to that height also – thus eliminating the visible wall space between the French doors and the ceiling. The F. Schumacher fabric is a linen that resembles a Bennison but without the price! At a quarter of the cost, my client was able to get the look of a fine fabric and not break the bank. At our initial design meeting, my client was presented an edited array of fabrics and this was her first choice. The entire color scheme was built around it. The rattan linen fabric on the upholstery is a Dogwood, also very cost friendly. The linen is actually a blend, therefore the slips will be laundered when necessary, not washed. And last, outside the window is a courtyard in the middle of being landscaped.

Close up of the sofa. The seams are a 1/4” flange. The back cushions are cut in the same shape as the back of the sofa.

And looking towards the right side of the room.

Behind the sofa, we placed the client’s large gate-leg barley twist table along with the two desk chairs for the boys to use at the computer desk. Instead of typical bulky office chairs which would totally ruin the look, we chose these tufted red leather ones.

The bookcases are actually not completed yet. The center unit behind the doors houses the computer desks, complete with keyboard trays. These doors are getting chicken wire and will then be lined with fabric which will hide the computers when the doors are closed. The carpenter also has to finish the trim work below the center cabinet. Notice how the seagrass has been cut around the curves of the shelving unit. This is such an important aspect of getting your seagrass custom cut – these details around curves and fireplace hearths add so much!

The second side of the built in. Hi Mimi!!! You can see the chicken wire was attached on the right door. The boys are so anxious for their desks to be finished already. Some of the shelves’ accessories we ordered hasn’t arrived yet, and some of the books are still packed away.

Behind the scenes:

My main girl! Monica Hancock of Custom Creations by Monica. Monica and I have been partners since my very first job! She does all my measuring and is the liaison between the workroom and my clients. Every drapery panel, pillow, duvet, and skirted table goes through Monica. I’m not sure I could be in business without her. She refused to pose for the camera because she hadn’t checked her hair or makeup first. Come on Monica, smile, you look great!!!!!!!!

Drapery installer extraordinaire: Mr. Bennie Davis. Back on the job after open heart surgery last year, Bennie is an artist, though he said he hasn’t started up again painting since the surgery. Bennie has installed every single curtain I’ve had made, except for the jobs when he was recuperating. Always smiling, always in a good mood, and always humming!!!!!!!!!!!! He agreed to pose without looking in the mirror first, what a team player.

Custom cut seagrass. Yes, it CAN be seamed – and I dare you to find the seam later. The seagrass was cut and the binding was glued, all on the job, causing the day to be extra, extra long. OY.

And finally: BEFORE

and AFTER.

BEFORE.

And AFTER.

The master bedroom should be completed in a few weeks. I’ll take pictures of it, along with the two new bathrooms!