Mar 27, 2018 | Posted in How To & Decorating Tips |
As a designer, people often ask me for advice on their home renovations. Here’s one that puzzles homeowners: “How do you design multiple bathrooms in the same home so they look cohesive, but still maintain some individuality?”
First, I consider how my client wants to live in the space. Is it a city crash-pad for a single person with frequent overnight guests? Or is it a family home that handles two parents preparing for work in the morning, while kids are getting ready for school all at the same time?
Here’s an example of 2 bathrooms remodeled within the same home, which is bustling with busy parents and 2 daughters on the verge of teendom. I designed both the master and girls’ bathrooms so they’re visually cohesive, yet kept each bath distinctive enough to appease the girls desire for a bright and youthful space, and the parents desire for a sophisticated calming retreat.
Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by Paul Dyer
By designing both bathrooms with repeating styles in the cabinetry, lighting fixtures, and custom details in countertops and windows, we maintain a cohesive look between bathrooms. We then layer on youthful and fun finishes and colors for the girls bath and a tranquil sophisticated materials palette for the adults.
Redesign of the master bath creates a calming spa-like getaway that’s accented with finishes you might find in a mountain home retreat. I used various shades of pale-blue glass tile to give the feeling of a foggy San Francisco seaside hideaway, and brought in cedar cabinetry and iron mountain hardware to continue this home’s unique architectural elements of cedar paneling and raw wood beams.
Design by Kimball Starr / Photos by Paul Dyer
Remodeling both the master and girls bathrooms included adding plenty of lighting and storage. Windows were doubled in size to bring in more natural light, and were changed to top-hinged windows for improved air circulation. Shaving and applying makeup are now a breeze with face flattering light surrounding the mirror.
Below, take a look at the base of the master vanity, do you notice the curved front ? It’s a small but mighty design detail that lightens the visual heft of the wood cabinet, and makes the overall space less rigid and softer.
Design by Kimball Starr / Photos by Paul Dyer
The marble floors and countertop surfaces also go together, quite literally. See how the marble counter wraps down the side of the vanity and right onto the marble floor? Creating one continuous surface avoids narrow non-cleanable gaps between the vanity and shower glass, and it looks cool too!
The master bath provides plenty of linen storage in deep recessed cabinets flush with the wall. In the girls bath, tower storage sits above the counter, with dedicated drawers for each sister so there’s no arguing over storage space for beauty products!
Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by Paul Dyer
The master bathroom has a warm, sophisticated look, and by contrast, the girls’ bathroom is youthful, fresh, and bright, while still including the same “grown-up” features – like the ultra contemporary sconces – which remain functional as they become teens.
In the girls bathroom, repetition unifies these spaces, while differences in finishes and colors makes each space unique. We used the same glass tiles, but this time in a brighter bolder blue that was hand picked by the girls. It makes you think of cool fresh water, and it contrasts crisply against the white cabinetry, glass knobs, and playful penny tile.
Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by Paul Dyer
The girls bathroom has the same waterfall countertop as the master, but this time in practically indestructible white engineered quartz – a real lifesaver when cleaning up makeup residue or nail polish spills.
Notice again how the engineered quartz runs into the shower resulting in a countertop that’s both inside and outside of the shower at the same time, just like the master bath? Gaps are eliminated between shower glass and vanity, and it’s a clever way to utilize every inch of space in this compact bathroom while creating a modern design detail unique to this home.
We have shower seating in both bathrooms, with the girls’ seat softly curved and clad in our youthful penny tile, and the master bathroom has a cantilevered corner bench in the same marble as the countertop and floor – chic and more grown-up.
Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by Paul Dyer
So there you have it: We created two clean, modern spaces in the same home, with a sophisticated master bath in warmer tones, and a girls’ bathroom that’s fresh, bright and crisp.
We achieved design cohesiveness by repeating shapes and architectural elements; and personalized the bathrooms with complementary but different colors. High-quality finishes in both spaces that were distinct from each other, creates a relationship between these two bathrooms that guarantees one big happy family.
Kimball Starr designs bathrooms and kitchens for homes throughout the San Francisco Bay and Lake Tahoe areas. Contact her today for your own personalized beautification plan!
Labels: bathroom, cabinets, color, countertops, modern design, modern style, tiling, transitional style
Mar 12, 2018 | Posted in Before & After |
When are diamonds NOT a girl’s best friend? When they adorn the walls of a dated kitchen! My clients’ dreary out-of-the-box 90’s kitchen was transformed into a bright, beautiful dream space for cook – read on to find out how!
BEFORE: Sunnyside dated kitchen
The original kitchen was a monument to the late 80’s/early 90’s, with cheap plastic-fronted appliances, boring cabinets, mismatched countertops, plus those diamond-shaped wall accents. Yuck!
The redesign for this San Francisco kitchen remodel created a kitchen that’s warm and modern. Opening up the space around the windows and keeping surfaces light in color allowed us to capture natural sunlight, and traditional cherry cabinetry brought warmth to complement the sunlight’s glow.
AFTER: Kitchen design by Kimball Starr / Photo by David Duncan Livingston
Tear down that wall! That’s exactly what we did to open up the space and create useful counter seating.
BEFORE: Lack of seating and diamond-shaped wall accents did NOT sparkle
With the newly-added seating, you can enjoy morning coffee and soak up the sun at this streamlined and space efficient counter area.
AFTER: Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by David Duncan Livingston
Sometimes too modern a kitchen can feel cold and out of place within a traditional home like this one that has cherry wood wainscoting throughout and original wood floors from the 1930’s. So I paired modern light gray quartz countertops with distressed pewter hardware, cherry cabinetry, and gorgeous limestone floors to give the kitchen warmth and soul.
However, limestone not for the faint of heart if you like perfect unstained surfaces! Limestone is commonly used in Europe and absorbs stains easily, which then develop into a lovely patina over time showing how much your kitchen is used and loved.
AFTER: Kitchen detail by Kimball Starr / Photos by David Duncan Livingston
Previously, the white appliances were difficult to keep clean, and looked dated. Continuing the diamond tile theme, it made the stove look like it was an afterthought!
BEFORE: White kitchen range and box-standard hood
With the new kitchen design, the contemporary appliances work with the beautiful cherry wood cabinetry instead of fighting it, appearing balanced and modern. The natural stone and glass mosaic backsplash brings a hint of color from the walls of the formal dining space into the kitchen, giving them a relationship without screaming “I match”.
AFTER: Kitchen renovation by Kimball Starr / Photo by David Duncan Livingston
Can you see the traditional dining room peeking out at the right of the space? The built-in cabinetry expresses the history of the home and continues the warm and modern between rooms, making the entire space feel complete and thought-out, as if it always belonged there.
Would you like this warm and modern kitchen design for your own home? I don’t need a diamond, just send me a message and let’s discover how I can transform your current challenge into the kitchen of your dreams, today!
Kimball Starr transforms lives one room at a time by providing bathroom and kitchen design for all outdated and unloved spaces throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and Lake Tahoe regions.
Labels: appliances, backsplash, before and after, cabinets, color, contemporary, counter seating, countertops, kitchen
Mar 01, 2018 | Posted in Before & After |
Don’t you just love a good bathroom makeover? Remodeling outdated and inefficient spaces is very rewarding, and the results are a beautiful reflection of the collaboration between myself and the client’s aesthetic and lifestyle.
This original bathroom needed a complete overhaul. With too shallow a tub, aging fixtures, and a supersized green and pink tile diamond greeting you in the shower every morning, it was enough to make you go back to bed and pull the covers over your head.
BEFORE: Sunnyside master bathroom
The design remodel of this compact master bathroom in a San Francisco home resulted in a beautiful, airy retreat. The transformation is amazing!
Goodbye shallow tub you could barely fit in, good riddance dreary lighting that gives you dark under-eye circles, arrivederci cracked vinyl floor tile, and hello gorgeous everything!
AFTER: Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by David Duncan Livingston
We installed tile wainscoting to keep with the traditional Arts & Crafts architecture of the home, and added white glass pendant lights and custom curved mirrors for a balance of contemporary and traditional.
Enlarged windows, deep tub, and pale colors instill this calm sanctuary with natural light. Statuary marble floors and handmade ceramic tiles keep the design timeless while enriching every moment spent in the bathroom.
AFTER: Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by David Duncan Livingston
That’s the first half of this makeover, done! Now for the powder room….
BEFORE: Sunnyside powder room
Have you ever had a powder room that’s just too small? A clever way to fix that is to break into the adjacent room! This powder room shared a wall with the water heater closet, so we relocated the water heater and used that closet space to add a sink area. Instant size upgrade!
AFTER: Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by David Duncan Livingston
This powder room before-and-after takes my breath away! Dark blue handmade tiles ground the walls, and are balanced above with pale and ethereal sea mist toned tiles. Statuary marble in various forms from tile to mosaic maintain visual interest and classic sophistication.
Wouldn’t this put a smile on your face every time you walk into the space? It certainly does to the house guests in this home!
AFTER: Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by David Duncan Livingston
You can have a fantastic remodel like this for YOUR home, too! Just drop me a line and tell me about your home’s challenges. If you transform your home, it will transform your life!
Kimball Starr transforms lives one room at a time by providing bathroom and kitchen design for all outdated and unloved spaces throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and Lake Tahoe regions.
Feb 12, 2018 | Posted in How To & Decorating Tips |
When you host an event at your home, whether it’s a formal dinner or an informal gathering, most of the time everyone hangs out in the kitchen — whether you want them to or not. Here’s how to transform a less-than-ideal kitchen into the heart of your home… in time for Valentine’s Day or any day!
Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by Paul Dyer.
If your kitchen feels dark and dreary, the best action you can take is to reveal more light! Someone once said, “If the kitchen is the heart of the home, then windows are the soul.” Enlarge exterior windows or add a skylight to bring more natural light in and make the space feel more airy. If you can’t knock through walls or ceilings, you can more easily add pendant lights to your existing space.
Once you have a brighter kitchen, adding an island will create additional workspace, doubling as a gathering space where everyone will want to sit and chat while you cook. Make sure your island includes seating and storage, and fits into the kitchen work triangle whenever possible.
The way to anyone’s heart is through their stomach, and a great way to ensure quality ingredients is with quality appliances. This Belmont kitchen renovation added a Sub-zero refrigerator and Wolf oven/range combination. Investing in high-end appliances that last a long time, won’t break down, and perform well such as evenly heating throughout, will make this kitchen a delight for years to come.
Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by Paul Dyer.
Special finishes such as a great backsplash provide excitement and enjoyment that you can live with a long time. But if you do change your mind, it’s relatively easy and fast to replace, without making your kitchen a construction zone.
Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by Eric Rorer.
Bring in warm elements. In this San Francisco farmhouse, the countertop next to the range is made warm and inviting by adding an end-grain butcher block to one end. A single section means it’s easier to keep clean than an entire countertop made of wood, and it’s charming!
Design by Kimball Starr / Photo by Eric Rorer.
Good space flow, warm elements, quality appliances, and natural light will make your kitchen a place that nourishes both body and mind. Give your kitchen some love today and contact us to turn your kitchen into the heart of the home.
San Francisco Bay Area interior designer Kimball Starr, provides kitchen and bathroom design for homes throughout Northern California and Lake Tahoe region.
Labels: appliances, backsplash, countertops, kitchen, pendant lights, skylights, tips, windows
Jan 29, 2018 | Posted in Travel |
Here is the first in a series of travel blogs that I’ll be sharing about interior design integrated into my globetrotting adventures. Back in September 2014 I visited Morocco and learned about the country’s architecture and intricate tiling. I’ve shared with you a few of my travel pictures to bring you inspiration for new design influences into your own tiling design or home remodel.
Above is the Ben Yousseff Madrasa, an Islamic college in Marrakech, Morocco where decorative tile is found everywhere in both public to private spaces to help keep gathering areas cool in a hot climate, as well as communicating religious and cultural ideas.
Located in Northern Africa, Morocco is bordered by the Mediterranean and Atlantic oceans with architecture that reflects its diverse geography and a long history of settlement and military encroachment. Rule by the Berbers from 110 CE gave the country its cultural heritage of constructing buildings from earth or mud brick called pisé, a word from the French, who occupied Morocco as recently as 1912.
It was the French who, seeing unorganized real estate growth from early 1900s, mandated Moroccan architectural standards in the early 20th century requiring buildings not be higher than four stories, have flat roofs, and that 20% of the space must be gardens or courtyards. These building regulations have maintained the country’s preexisting architectural features and balanced the rapid urbanization, while beautifying contemporary construction.
Classic Moroccan interiors contain common elements such as intricate woodwork that is left untreated and unpainted; metalwork of copper, bronze, iron and brass used for door and window frames, door knobs, studs and room partitions; plaster used for sculpting, called “gabs” or “jybs” made from gypsum quarried nearby; and painted and glazed ceramics. The process of tiling, arranging and cutting them requires great expertise. Several of these classic interior elements are featured above in the Ben Yousseff Madrasa photos.
The colorful style of enamel-covered terra cotta tile that originated in northern Africa and migrated to Spain in the 8th century is called “Zellige”, a design solution that arose from the need of Islamic artists to create spatial decorations that avoided depictions of living things, consistent with religious teachings. Today Moroccan or Moorish tile is used to accent and decorate in Western design, where it brings romance and adds visual interest to monotone interiors.
Zellige-making is considered an art form, passed down from generation to generation by maâlems (master craftsmen). Training starts in childhood to develop exceptional skills. Small shapes are cut according to a precise radius gauge and painted. (This is where those high school geometry classes become useful!)
The enameled pieces are assembled in a geometric structure face-down to form a completed single mosaic with a completely even surface, so the pattern is not revealed until after the zellige dries. If the tiling is done on an uneven surface such as a curved wall, a mold is made first and then the tiles laid and cured, and only later installed onsite. The process has not changed for a millennium, though the first stages of conception and design now allow for new technologies to create the patterns.
Arches are another important element in Moorish architecture. Arches vary in shape from pointed, multi-foil, to horseshoe, which is also aptly named the Moorish arch by Westerners. Used frequently, arches appear in almost every aspect of Moroccan housing, whether it’s doors, entrances, windows or niches. The horseshoe arch was originally designed as a superstitious and symbolic emblem to provide protection and bring good fortune into the home.
A fountain or water feature is a conspicuous feature in every house, often made of marble or cement. It’s located in the heart of the courtyard, living room or guest room. Before the conversion to Islam under Berber rule, water was already an important part of Moroccan culture; however, Islam made water even more important functionally because of ritual ablution before prayer.
The herringbone tiling pattern pictured above is one more familiar to Westerners, though not as intricate as the geometric zellige. I love the variation of color!
Colors have different meanings in Moroccan culture. Yellow stands for wealth, the sun, and gold. White means purity, beauty, and femininity. Blue represents the sky, heaven, and water, and green also relates to heaven, because it is halfway between reddish hell, and blue heaven.
Now that you’ve been inspired by the beauty, history and charm of Moroccan tiling, if you’d like to explore using these ideas in your own little palace, get in touch!
Kimball Starr Interior Design is a boutique SF interior design firm providing design solutions for home renovations and remodels of SF Bay Area homes.
Labels: bathroom, color, decorative tile, kitchen, Moroccan tile, travel series
Jan 16, 2018 | Posted in Trends |
Design by Kimball Starr
As a longtime fan of purple, I’m excited Pantone announced Ultra Violet as their 2018 Color of the Year! I created this San Francisco mid-century modern dining room a couple years ago for a city-dweller who isn’t afraid of color, contrasting the violet walls with chartreuse chairs.
From Top Left: Kobe Pendant Lamp in Purple Wool by Innermost / Cotton Velvet Throw Pillow in Nebulous Violet by 17patterns / Orb Pendant Light by Curiousa&Curiousa / 3-Seater Sofa by Linteloo Lab from their Pleasure line in Purple / Console Table by Malabar / Stream Rug in Lilac by Tania Johnson Design
I’m imagining what fun it would be to design another pied-de-terre in the Bay Area using even deeper and stronger shades of purple, such as this Linteloo Lab three-seater sofa from their Pleasure line, paired with a Kobe Pendant Lamp in Purple Wool by Innermost, a funky console table by Malabar and a few 17patterns cotton velvet throw-pillows in Nebulous Violet. Accent with Curiousa&Curiousa orb pendant lights and tie the whole thing together with a Tania Johnson Design Stream Rug in Lilac, and you’d have a room where boredom would be impossible!
If you’re the kind of person who wants to bring more color in your life, get in touch and let’s see what we can create together!
Kimball Starr Interior Design is a San Francisco design firm that offers interior remodels and decorating services for homes throughout the SF Bay Area. Our designs are focused on creating modern and fun interiors for relaxed California living.
Labels: color, dining room, living room, modern design, residential design, vintage furniture
