Drexel Avenue Project: A Peek Inside the Design
I’m going to preface this post by saying I am not a designer. Not of interiors, exteriors, products, clothes or otherwise. Like you, I’m a person who sees things I like - finds inspiration in my surroundings and has a general idea of the types of styles, finishes, colors and textures I gravitate toward. In my experience, I’ve learned trying to pick the ‘right thing’ generally doesn’t help me create a space I love. Instead, focusing on picking things that make me feel happy has been fundamental in creating a space that I love to live in.
We bought our home 6 years ago knowing it didn’t work for us (3 bedrooms for our growing family of 6 became tight in a hurry - read more about that here). Knowing we’d eventually need to do this project, we spent 6 years putting band-aid fixes on a lot of different areas of our home. We painted to make it feel a little more like ‘us.’ We swapped out kitchen hardware, painted cabinets, installed the cheapest subway tile we could find all the while knowing someday we’d have the opportunity to truly make it our own.
All that to say that where we are landing with design is unique to my own personal style. I say ‘my’ because my husband has a ‘as-long-as-it-makes-you-happy’ kind of attitude toward design and my kids are completely over me dragging them through tile, countertop and wallpaper showrooms. Our family has all played important roles in this project - mine just happens to fall more so on the look and feel of the space.
I would define my style as traditional and feminine but with a love of color and abstract art. I love coastal vibes that remind me of our favorite vacations to the South Carolina beaches. I love a more tailored aesthetic, block prints and symmetry. I love paneling and trim and lighting and mixing of finishes. I love old homes and hope that it still feels that way when we’re done. We aren’t building this home with the general buyer pool in mind (impossible for my mind not to go there #realtorproblems) - we are building it for us, so not all finishes will appeal to the masses. There’s a lot of pink - because pink and blue and green are my favorite colors and likely only about 10% of the rest of the population will concur. With that said, here’s a peek inside a few of the spaces in our home as collaboratively dreamed up with the talented Natalie Talley of Talley Jane Interiors.
Adding glass to our front door will be a game changer for our otherwise dark and dim front entry. During the demo and framing phase, we removed a door that made our entry more of a closed off vestibule and widened the doorway to match surrounding cased openings. Pulling out our original solid wood door and replacing it with this 3/4 glass version will allow natural light to flow into the front hall of the house. Geometric pink grass cloth and brass accents tie in with the art I have owned and loved for years. We splurged a bit on the front entry Fireclay tile given it’s such a small space - we made up for it with something more budget-friendly in the mudroom.
I love how the geometric print in the entry grass cloth is mimicked on the mudroom floor tile. This 8 x 8 porcelain will be durable under foot while giving a nod to a more traditional checkerboard floor. The tones pick up our warmer cabinetry color that will wrap the perimeter lockers and built-in storage. A stained walnut bench will tie in the adjacent kitchen island. A modern stripe and transitional lighting keep the space from feeling too formal.
Wood flooring will carry into the relocated main floor bathroom (taking up occupancy in our former front hall closet). The sweet wall-mounted sink and classic wall mounted plumbing might be my favorite thing about it. A block print wallpaper ties in the surrounding rooms. Jury is still out on lighting and a final mirror selection in here, but I love the idea of some natural textures.
The girls’ bathroom has quickly become one of my favorite rooms in the house. It all started when they refused to allow any pink in their bathroom. It was fun to see a space come together that was still feminine without its trademark color. I love that these finishes don’t feel too youthful and that this space can grow up with them - or someday serve as a charming guest bath. The dotted tile accent pictured will be installed in the neutral beige color. The rattan mirror and green sconces will pair perfectly with the painted green vanity and brass hardware.
When doing a renovation of this scale, it has been critical to have a dedicated designer steering the selections forward. While I may know what I like and don’t like, there are so many other facets of the design process that a professional designer is weighing - perhaps most importantly, scale. Filling out a room and making things feel proportional while also retaining their function is one part art, one part science. Adding layers, playing with textures and making the space feel cohesive from one room to the next are what sets us amateur designers apart from the pros. Not to say some of us don’t possess these natural abilities, I just don’t happen to be one of them. It has been a joy working with Natalie Talley of Talley Jane Studios and seeing the inspiration we had come to life through her lens. There are more rooms to share (like kitchen and dining and butlers and owners’ bath!) but I’ll save those for a future post. Head over to my LikeToKnow.It account for links to the sources pictured!
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Check out these posts to learn more about how we got ourselves into this renovation!
