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Gabriel Flores

Yes. Yes, please.

theglitterguide-deactivated2021

Project install // Vallejo Street.

I installed some final details for a San Francisco project that I'd been working on for awhile a few months ago. We had planned on photographing it in all of its glory this fall but as things go, the client has picked up and moved to Europe with little notice and we won't be able to get it professionally shot. Heartbreaking. It was a different project for me (with a lot of challenges) and I was really looking forward to styling it and adding it to my portfolio.

I did manage to snap some quick shots the last time I was in SF for our final meeting and I'll share them here. I love the muted palette, mix of patterns and soft colors and blend of modern and traditional shapes.

*Please forgive the quality of these photos. The lighting is horrible. The walls that appear yellow further down are, I assure you, most definitely not.*

#interior design #seattle interior designer #Heidi Caillier Design #project install #living room #greys #portfolio

jaclynpaige

Nerd.

Pureness.

The real deal: home renovation diaries.

You'll notice I haven't posted an update on the house in a bit. It's been a busy two weeks with two large client presentations (which are both insanely beautiful and exciting). That's my first excuse. My second is that it's been rather boring on the home front. If you've ever done a renovation you know there is a period of time where it's just that, boring. Things are happening but nothings looking really different or exciting like it did those first few weeks of demo. Oddly, I have a client at the exact same point in construction and our last meeting on site was rather underwhelming for the same reason. Let's face it people, it's good to see progress, it's fun to watch walls go up (and come down) but it's not as rewarding looking at rough-ins for a bathtub or electrical stubs.

But I'm happy to report I got a text from our contractor last night letting me know insulation is done and sheetrock is going up Monday. Our house is going to look like a house and I can't wait. Here are some of the latest progress shots (I told you-boring). If you can make it through all of the boring there's my design inspiration for the master bathroom at the end of the post which, be still my heart, I love.

I am really smitten with our upstairs bathroom and am hoping it turns out as good as I'm imagining it in my head. I wanted it to feel balanced, with touches of brass, marble, wood and linen. I was completely inspired by the hex tile floor pattern above that Jessica Helgerson used in a recent project and that really lead the design for the rest of the space. I went a bit larger on the tiles (3") for a modern take on the pattern as hers leans pretty traditional, and I'm really stoked to see how it looks installed.

On the life front - we have now been living at my in-laws for three months and I am pretty ready to have our own space. I'm so proud of us that we've managed it (if you had asked me four months ago if I had the strength to do this, I would have undoubtedly said no) and are surviving unscathed for the most part. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and I'm just staying focused on it. Like, hardcore laser-like focused.

Home renovation update.

I was talking to someone about the house yesterday and I realized that I had never mentioned the age of our new dwelling. It was built in 1910, which makes me excited in my bones. I LOVE old houses, old architecture, you name it. Justin and I were both adamant that we didn't want a new build and the age of this house has been a dream. One of my favorite parts of this project has been riding the line of updating the home so that it's functional and fresh for us but also maintaining the historical integrity of it. We are keeping the original interior doors and hardware, original hardwoods and most of the charming bones of the architecture. Details on that charming architecture below.

This week was honestly quite boring on the renovation front. The house looks completely different to us but it's still a lot of demolition, framing and insulating. The most exciting part of the week was driving up to see our new front door!

If you haven't ever been in the market for new doors, let me be the first to tell you-doors are expensive. And we are on a budget. Also there is no way I'm doing something crazy like forgoing my powder room tile for a pricey front door. Sacrilege. So I was stoked to find this nice looking Craftsman style door at Home Depot for a great price. We popped one on the back door too, which is that area shown on the right-now framed out into our mudroom.

The amount of trash is quite stunning and I find it so satisfying. It feels like we are stripping the house down to what it should be, giving it a chance to breathe.

The left is our upstairs bath which is now gutted, walls removed and ready for the bathtub to be framed. And that drawing is our floor tile layout, which will be a great pattern with Carrera and Nero Marquina 3" hex tiles. I'll be blogging about this room next week. I keep pinching myself that this will be OUR bathroom. Right is our kitchen. Drama with that this week but that's a story for later.

We purchased the home from Properties NW. They came out to do a little photoshoot last week for their website. That's our plumber and our friend, Jeff, who we bought the house from.

And here we have the living room/dining room, my personal nemesis in this house.

No joke. I spent the better part of Wednesday night agonizing about this situation. We moved some structural walls in here to open up the space. The dining room is enormous, and the living room is a bit smaller. Originally, I wanted to expand the living room and shrink the dining room. But this old house just doesn't want to cooperate. Too much symmetry and asymmetry with window boxes and fireplaces and original details that we don't want to touch.

The options here were to take away those cut-ins and leave the space completely open plan (including to the kitchen which is where I'm standing taking this photo), to leave them here (which is where they were added last week, in an effort to make the living room larger) or move them back to the original footprint and keep a smaller living room and larger dining room. I agonized people. The open plan just wasn't right for this house and felt like forcing modern into classic, which is one of my largest pet peeves. And I knew in the end that seeing that window off-center would make me crazy every single day. I'm sure my contractor hates me but we are moving it back.

To make the dining room a bit more cozy and useful we have expanded the window seat and made it a lot deeper to accommodate a really nice nook with lots of pillows and a comfy seat cushion. I know it's the right decision but it was so hard to come to. It is completely different designing for myself than for my clients. If this were my clients house I would have absolutely stuck with symmetry from the beginning. But when it's your own, you can take more risks as you are the only judge. Such good lessons here for me as a designer...

Moving on. The powder room sits off of this area, right next to the kitchen. It's small and I really wanted to take the opportunity to make it feel interesting and unique without doing predictable powder room wallpaper. First, I just know I'd get sick of it. Second, we most likely aren't staying in this house for more than a few years. I had to keep that in mind when making decisions for this home and wallpaper just isn't right in this market. So, this is what we have, which I am terribly excited about.

The floors will be covered in this beautiful Fireclay Tile pattern and color way. I am so in love. Fireclay is a California company and I love being able to bring in pieces of our old home state. It feels like just the right thing for this small space. I found an amazing company on Etsy who refurbishes vintage sinks. We will be doing the base in black and the hardware is being replaced with an unlacquered brass faucet and drain plug. I can't wait to see the patina that the hardware takes on over time. I searched high and low for a toilet paper holder (as only an obsessive designer would) and I found this one, made in Japan, that I adore. Check. The mirror wanted to be wood and I wanted it have a Moroccan vibe. Surprisingly extremely difficult to find (right?!) but I'm negotiating this piece with a seller in New Mexico as I type. And a classic light fixture to pop up top. Although I love the way a bare bulb looks, and they are so on-trend right now, I'm over them. I hate the glaring light they give off and I'm really ready to move past this over-the-top-industrial-Edison-bulb-reclaimed-wood-vibe. This feels way more fresh to me. A little white paint on the walls and a piece of art somehwere in the mix and its a wrap. I'm super stoked on this little space and I can't wait to see it come together.

#Heidi Caillier Design #home renovation #restoring homes #historical homes #interior design #PNW #vintage #powder room #bathroom renovation #tile #fireclay #farm sink #brass hardware

We bought a house!

One of my biggest dreams coming true over here. We closed on a house in an adorable old historic neighborhood--it's a gut renovation and demo starts today! I have been fantasizing about this day for so many many years. I actually remembering talking about it with Justin on one of our first dates, so obviously we are over the moon.

The next few months will be flurry of building, demolition, design decisions and appliance shopping which I'm beyond excited and overwhelmed by. Do you have any idea how hard it is to choose when it's your own home? So completely different than designing for my clients. But I will absolutely be taking all of you along on the ride. Ready for the tour?

+ The entire exterior of house will be re-sided and repainted. I am thinking a light taupe with white trim.

+ The entry with original railings and stairs. We will be keeping the original fir floors and refinishing because, well, it would be a sacrilege to take up original hardwood floors.

+ Goodbye molding, hello new sheetrock and trim throughout. There is no entry closet so a cute upholstered bench and some hooks will go on this wall.

+ Love the original details.

+ The wide stairway is stunning.

+ The living room! We will be replacing the fireplace surround and adding low shelving on both sides of the fireplace to create cozy nooks to display pottery and all of my design books.

+ Other view in the living room. This wall is getting opened up and the doorway will be much larger.

+ View from the dining room into the living room. We are taking down the header and bringing the space back a bit to give the living room more breathing room. The chimney on the left side is also going away so there will be a nice, seamless transition between rooms.

+ The bench will sadly be removed. I think. I haven't decided firmly on this. But potentially doing a built-in buffet here instead. Something floating so their is an airiness.

+ View from the living room into the dining room. The light in this house is what sold us. It is amazing. Those windows are being removed and we are adding French doors that will lead on to our soon-to-be deck.

+ I mean, really. The masterpiece. Can't wait to rip this out and start fresh. I will post an inspiration board next week. I may be the most excited about this.

+ The wall on the left is getting bumped out and we are making more space for a mudroom.

+ Just gross. Cute new powder room coming up.

+ Three bedrooms upstairs, all big with enormous closets. This will be the master. All original molding is being restored as are original doors and hardware.

+ All floors are being sanded, refinished and re-stained. This is bedroom #2.

+ Bedroom #3.

+ Bathroom gutted. This is going to be beautiful and so much bigger once it's reconfigured.

+ The garage is huge and half will be turned into my office. Holla. Going to be awesome.

+ Big backyard we will be landscaping and there will be a nice deck coming off the back of the house. Seriously, pinch me. That's our contractor Sean, who I am really stoked to work with on this.

Check back for regular updates. It's going to be intense juggling this with all of my other work but the best kind of intense and we could not be happier!