A project I'm working on...

As a designer, I work on all sorts of projects.  Sometimes people just want to focus on a room or two.  Other times, I might be helping a client to furnish a newly purchased house.  But I also work on start-to-finish construction projects where I am involved from the very beginning, helping to design rooms and specify finishes and furnishings before anything even exists.  These projects can take many months or even years to complete.  In fact, one of the projects I have been working on recently has been going on for almost two years now, and we are still not quite finished.  I thought I'd show you the great room area from this project today.

This was a house that was built in the late 90's.  I worked on it originally around 2005, when my client first purchased it.  It's a vacation house on the lake and because it gets a lot of heavy use, it was starting to show signs of wear.  Additionally, with an expanding family (new grandkids), the house needed a few new bedrooms and bathrooms.  We started out with the simple intention of adding the two new bedrooms onto the existing second story, which previously only consisted of a master suite.  However, as we got further into the project, almost the entire house got taken down to the studs and just about every surface material was replaced.

Again, we're not quite finished, especially with accessories and artwork, but here are some photos of what things are looking like now in the great room...

Great Room Seating Area--area rug from Stark Carpet, sofa fabric from Glant and trims from Samuels and Sons, toss pillow fabrics from Fortuny.  There is a lot of heavy log work in this house as you can see on the ceilings, the posts on the cabinetry and the trim-work on the hearth.  Some of it was saved from the original construction and other logs were added in the remodel.

The client loves soft colors and wanted a warm inviting, family-friendly atmosphere in the great-room which often hosts large groups and family holidays.

The walls are all Venetian plastered in a soft beige and the rustic floors are from Du Chateau...

Du Chateau antiqued  and heavily distressed reclaimed flooring.

In the entry we used antique Jerusalem Stone pavers, shipped over from Europe.  Their soft colors blend in beautifully with the Venetian plaster-work...

Close-up view of the love-seat and coffee table by local wood artisans, Finishing Touch of Tahoe City.  The green leather swivel chairs were part of the 2005 decorating and are from Hancock and Moore.  Everyone in the family loves these as they rock, swivel, recline and can be turned around to face the wall of windows lakeside.

 

This gorgeous little side table and lamp are from Gregorious Pineo.

Detail of the metalwork on the table.

I love the rusted steel detail on the coffee table leg.  Finishing Touch also supplied us with a rustic mantle, bar top and the kitchen island counter top.  They are currently at work making bedside tables for all the bedrooms and I can't wait to see them completed!

The rustic floor is so pretty with the soft colors on the furnishings.

Ottoman details--fabric top from Fortuny, leather sides and rustic trimmings from Samuel and Sons.

Sofa detail showing the Glant chenille fabric with leather and nailhead trims from Samuel and Sons.

Centered over the coffee table, is a large light fixture from Gregorious Pineo.  Here you see the logwork trim on the ceiling and surrounding the cabinetry and fireplace.  

Bar area.  Again, artwork and accessories are something we're working on.  The charming copper pendants are from Aldo Bernardi.

Close-up of bar stools.  Trim by Samuels and Sons.

I have tried to include photos of the lake-side wall of this room, but the reflection on the lake creates so much glare that the photos are useless.  My apologies for not being able to include any of these shots.

Metalwork by Truckee's Mountain Forge.

A banquette handles large crowds in the dining area.  Fabrics are by C & C Milano.  Braided leather trim by Samuels and Sons.

A detail of banquette fabrics from C & C Milano.

Another huge Gregorious Pineo chandelier hangs over the dining table which was custom made by Bausman.

In the kitchen, a custom hood from Mountain Forge takes center stage.

The custom cabinetry from Bervid Construction is gorgeous.

Finishing Touch supplied the live edge island countertop.

A custom wildflower mural from Country Floors centers over the range.

We are still working on many aspects of this house and finishing up our punch list.  Tops on our to do list are accessories and artwork, but these will come together shortly.  

The contractor on the project was Eric Bervid and the architect was Dennis Zirbel.

Fabrics and Trims...My Favorite Part of Decorating Mountain Homes

As a designer at lake Tahoe, my work is mostly on lakeside cabins and rustic mountain lodges.  Whenever I'm asked where I start in designing a room, I have to answer, with the fabrics.  I confess that I am passionate about fabrics.  I love their textures, colors and patterns.  I love the way that fabrics have the ability to enliven, soften and warm up a room.  For me, they are the personality in any design.

Sometimes it's fun to show the design process.  Here are a series of fabric photos I sent to a client during the decorating of her stunning Martis Camp home.  Some of these made the final cut and some didn't. (See more photos of this house.)

Chivasso Osman

Meet Chivasso Osman.  This is one of my favorite mountain fabrics.  Clients often fall in love with it. The problem with Osman is that it's expensive, very expensive.  However, that doesn't stop us from using it.  I've learned how to stretch a yard or two of really good quality fabric into a pair of spectacular toss pillows, some Euro shams or, in this case, chair seats or seat backs.  I often mix or match really expensive fabrics with less expensive fabrics to keep the total cost down but the overall impact up.  Using a few yards of a beauty like this elevates an entire room.

Chivasso, Osman, see here.

Since many of my clients only visit Tahoe occasionally, in person meetings can be infrequent.  I often start my work by snapping photos of suggested fabrics and trims.  Sometimes these photos include flooring or tile samples, paint chips or wood trim, too, depending on what we already know will be in the room.  If the client is interested in what they see in the photo, I will order physical samples to be sent to their home.  In the case of this house, the client was living in Mexico City during the construction and we did not meet at all during the period of time we were making many of these decisions.  Below is the actual photo I sent her with fabric ideas for her den.  You can see below that we used the stripe and feather trim on the curtains and Chivasso Osman on the seat backs on a pair of upholstered chairs.

The client loves horses and Western artwork.  Throughout the house we've used Western details and trims.  

You can see our final finished chairs here before the room got dressed up with toss pillows and accessories.  

Some of the pillow ideas for this room.  

Evergreen, Blue, see here.  

Next, we have another mountain favorite, Evergreen by Grey Watkins.  Evergreen comes in three gorgeous colorways.  My client chose the blue.

Although not as expensive as Osman, Evergreen is just a bit pricey too, and we needed a lot of yardage for curtains in the daughter's room.  We had already used it for a dust ruffle on the bed and the budget was getting tight.  Rather than do the entire curtain in Evergreen, we chose to extend it with a pretty stripe from Calvin Fabrics (no longer available). 

Sorry for the poor quality of the cell phone photo--it's the best I have of this room.  

Finally, here are some original fabric photos sent to my client along with a sketch for a chair and ottoman in the living room.

The fabric is Lee Jofa Eric Cohler Sundance Tapestry.  Again, this fabric is expensive so we "stretched it " with a beautiful but highly affordable herringbone.  Using Sundance on the chair seat, back and ottoman top only amounted to a significant savings and yet, the impact of this gorgeous fabric is still there.  Luckily for my clients, combining multiple fabrics on one upholstery piece works especially well in mountain houses where the intended look is rustic, comfortable and casual. 

Sundance in Clay...gorgeous nubby woven texture, see here.

I Love Designing Bathrooms!

Tile is one of my favorite design pleasures and over the years I've had the opportunity to design a lot of mountain bathrooms. Here are some cabin and rustic mountain lodge bathrooms I really enjoyed working on.

The bathroom below doesn't have a lot of tile, but it is a beautiful bathroom. I love the free-standing tub set into the arched niche with its rustic fittings, the custom designed area rug, and the stone wall.








Above and below are tile details from the shower stall.

Does pretty work in mountain cabins? Take a look, below, and you tell me. Several years ago I worked with a client who loved soft pastel colors and floral patterns. We remodeled the master bathroom to her liking.

Recently, I helped a client with a contemporary bathroom. I would love the opportunity to work on more contemporary projects, especially with clients who love high end finishes and detailing like this.












I designed the following bathroom for a modern mountain Arts and Crafts house. The client wanted Native American influences throughout the house and asked for a soft turquoise and red color palette. We used brighter versions of these colors in the furnishings but chose to keep the bathrooms somewhat muted. I love the crackled finish on the aqua field tile we used in the shower. The Indian motif mosaics were custom designed by me and created on the site.













Lastly, here are a couple of photos from a Lahontan lodge style house. The tile is handsome and simple but mountain themed, as the client wished.







Just one more thought on bathrooms, a lot can be achieved affordably. I usually like to put the impact into the deco tile and save money on the field tiles. But below in the same Lahontan lodge, a simple inexpensive but graphic idea, punches up the volume in a deco border.