Updated Window Treatments

Updated Window Treatments

The photos above are "after" and then "before" of the window treatments I did in the kitchen remodel shown in my previous blog post. I thought that the old valance cut the room in half and didn't involve the volume of space above it. I tried to create a more open breakfast room and accentuate the height of the ceiling by adding a chandelier and doing vertical panels alongside the windows. The trellis pattern in the fabric relates to the garden outside and the dark bronze hardware speaks to the kitchen color scheme.

ASID Award Winning Project

ASID Award Winning Project

I won an award at the ASID Awards Gala last week! I had entered one of my master bath remodel projects and it won an Honorable Mention! Photos of the winning project are shown above.

My wheelchair bound client needed accessibility but did not want it to be obvious. A masculine feel with spa-like quality was desired. Walls needed to come down to provide a luxurious roll-in shower and side entry toilet. Direct access to the sinks was allowed when storage shifted to the side and the countertop was floated on the wall. A reddish toned slate, “painted desert” was used on the walls and floor to continue the exterior brick wall color into the bath and served to marry the indoor space with the garden. Dark mahogany was a rich accent and made beautiful cabinets and trim. The 3 ft. wide louvered mahogany doors added for ease of entry into the bathroom and closet, created a spa-like ambience. The glass block partitions provided some privacy while visually keeping the space open.

During the course of this project, I became interested in universal design and took a course through the GHBA to become CAPS certified. CAPS stands for Certified Aging in Place Specialist. My goal is to design projects that are accessible and beautiful.

Later Updates:

This project later won a national award from the NAHB Remodelers in 2010, the Homes for Life Award, single space.  I received this in Baltimore at their awards gala.  Such a thrill! 

I was really moved though when I found out through the next homeowner of this house, in the fall of 2011, that my client had lived in this home until he passed. The changes he had made to the property enabled him to be at home instead of in a hospital. 

My assistant, Sarah, and I, at our new office!

My assistant, Sarah, and I, at our new office!

We are ready to begin new projects. We love our new office and location and look forward to having new clients stop by and visit. Sarah Bourne has been with me now for the last three months. She is organized and technical and is a wonderful addition to Aston Design Studio. As a degreed designer and Allied Member of ASID, she recently passed her NCIDQ, the qualifying exam for state licensing of interior designers. While I sketch, she operates our CAD and we have double the skills to offer our clients. I'm very happy to have her on staff.

My New Office!

My New Office!

Here are photos of my new office. I really love it! It’s a nice blend of commercial office with a residential softness. The industrial style light fixture and mesh office chairs combine with the soft window valances and shades, residential style of the ghost chair, and linen covered tackboards to create a nice blended look. Design offices can look so cluttered because of all the colors, samples, and paper everywhere, so I chose to have a soft creamy white backdrop on the walls and furniture. The neutral coffee colored countertops, lighting, carpet, and hardware anchor the space and provide a break in the light colored room.

The layout of the room gives the maximum use of storage and work surface and the tackboards are a must in every design office. We even have room for a future intern! Maybe in the fall.

Here it is, finally done!

Here it is, finally done!

I haven’t posted in a long time, too caught up with work and an exciting new venture I’ll discuss later. Here is the bathroom, all finished and beautiful.

I’m so happy with everything. My perfectionism served me well, everything is really just the way I want. I love my plumbing fixtures (they are so solid and function so beautifully), my mirrors (they gleam!), the tile work, the paint job (so smooth), the lighting (fabulous!), my vanity (it makes me feel so special), my storage (much improved!), and how spacious the bathroom seems now. It was a truly successful makeover. Let me know what you think!!!

My business is growing. I’ve added an employee, a young designer, who comes with good technical experience and contacts. She is very helpful.

The big news is that I’ve moved out of my home office to a business location. A local remodeling contractor contacted me last spring to talk about relocating into his showroom space. We will retain our separate businesses, but refer clients to each other. I have been doing contracting on my jobs, but I wanted to stop that and just do the design part. He wanted to farm out the design work and concentrate on the contracting – a perfect symbiotic relationship.

We are remodeling an old house on I-45 North in The Woodlands, a great location and great venue to show off what we can do. We will have a model kitchen (with a built-in cappuccino machine:), a large conference/showroom area, and sample rooms for tile, stone, and flooring selections. His wife is a faux finisher and we have many samples of her work as well. She occupies a separate painting studio in a storefront/garage building on the property. The remodeling business office is upstairs and my design studio with a nice sample room for fabrics and furniture is adjacent to the conference/showroom. I’ll post pictures soon! I’m very excited about this new endeavor!