One or two things when remodeling a home: My masterbath after

When we started remodeling our home I knew we were not going to live here forever, I also knew what many people know to be reality now a days that the time of the housing boom was over.  Knowing that, my choices on materials and structural changes needed to be more cautious, but I didn't want to sacrifice style or comfort.  So I kept the kitchen and bathrooms as traditional and neutral as possible, something that would appeal to most people, in case one day we decide to sell this house. 
For our master bathroom I mixed "real and steal" materials.  Marble mosaic in calacata gold for the floor, chair rail (to end the tiles that I extended 12" up the wall, below) and the pencil border that frames the walking shower.  The shower walls are in porcelain that looks exactly like calacata gold marble.  It's funny the tile installer didn't know it wasn't marble until he saw the back of it.  I bought the porcelain tiles at Classic Tiles in Brooklyn.  The vanity is custom made. 
The master bathroom is on the small side so I installed a programmable tile warmer, a luxury feature that will compensate for the lack of space.
Anyone who has ever remodeled a home knows that faucets are extremely expensive.  For the shower faucets I simply left out unnecessary things such as volume control handles.  Those things complicate life, really! The main shower handle does the volume control already so why buy an extra one?  I got the big overhead shower at Lowe's and the handheld is a combination of one of those handles that come with the shower I just replaced the hose for one that you can connect separately and got the set of handles with its respective valves at a trade showroom.  After doing all that math and all the search I became more savvy about plumbing and my hubby keeps telling me that I like to complicate my life.  But when he enjoys a shower with more than one water source all hitting his body he gets to understand why I like to complicate my life and why I always choose to go through the less traveled road.  Whatever you think it's possible it's because it is! 

 A shot of the floor and chair rail.

Our sons's bathroom.  We finally got the oval shower curtain rod that was in back order (I don't stand when things are in back order) and replaced the L shaped rod we used for the previous photo shoot. 

Photos (besides the second) by Robert Levi

My Kitchen: Before and After

While thinking about what to post today, my own kitchen came to my mind.  Since we're soon moving to another country (Sao Paulo) I feel it would be great to show how I renovated our kitchen. The picture above shows how our kitchen was before.  Very unattractive!  We teared down everything, from the cabinets to the walls, got rid of that double tray ceiling and redid the floor.  My vision was to create something charming instead of modern because this house was built around the 80's when there was absolutely no reference whatsoever to any period architecture.  So I decided it would look like something between old and au courant.

I wanted the Ikea cabinets to go all the way up to the ceiling so I had the extra open boxes custom made and installed mirror in the back.  I also added crown moldings to make them look more custom.  These cabinets don't really need handles but I decided to install them anyway for the same purpose.  I was happy when I found this kind of porcelain mosaic for a great price at a place called The tile shop.  If you didn't, know the smaller the pieces the more expensive the mosaic, that's why  the places that offer more affordable tiles usually only have mosaic of one inch.  This one is little less than 3/4" which makes it look more like the real thing. 

 

The custom banquet, upholstered more than three years ago in a Quadrille fabric.

photos by Robert Levi

The House Hotel in Istanbul

The ornate facade of The House Hotel in Istanbul

One thing that inspires me the most is Architecture, especially seeing how different countries interpret it while injecting their own personalities.  I think that is extremely smart and I'm so happy that that's being the case.  The House Hotel in the hip Beyoğlu area of Istanbul was renovated in 2010 and Autoban, the firm responsible, preserved the 1890's building by keeping its structure as untouched as possible and also maintaining its beautiful parquet floors, hexagon coffered ceilings, boiseries, and Mosaic. 

Part of the ceiling of this hotel is a hexagon coffered ceiling which is repeated on some areas of the floors.  Please note how the small sconces have the room numbers on them which then reflect on the walls.  How cool!

If it weren't for the glass table the size of this room would be perfect for kids to play around.  The beam ceiling is loudly calling my name.

The white curvy side table works as a space for the eye to rest from the rectilinear of the elaborate boiseries and headboard.  Love the scale of the lamp and the simple detail of the brassy dove on the wall.

The TV of course had to be white.  If I live in Istanbul one day, cross your fingers, I'll be knocking the doors of Autoban. 

Love, love the excess of molding and the appliques used to make the boiseries.  Everything is about continuity in this hallway. 

In the bathrooms hexagon shaped mirror again mirrors the ceiling.  The two leg sink, by the way, deserves a post of its own. 

In both images above we can see clearly how beautiful architecture does not need much to reign.  Someone said that a good room should be able to look beautiful naked.  I agree!

Apparently the hotel has a "butler" style service but I would much rather be at the roof top enjoying a delicious Turkish breakfast overlooking The Galata tower.

images from Autoban and THH


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