Brian's Condo - Front Entry

With only a week or so left til 'Move-in Day' at the bachelor pad,,,things have been progressing quickly and I've been sourcing and purchasing furnishings, bedding and lighting non-stop from morning til night (not to mention I'm simultaneously furnishing another entire house from top to bottom with a move-in date just a week after Brian!!).  All of the major pieces have been delivered to the condo and this coming week and thru next weekend we'll be installing new light fixtures, faucets, hanging artwork, shelves, hooks and getting the small accessories in place.

One of the most awkward spaces in the condo is an area just inside the entry, its a wide alcove area that I think was most likely intended for a home office nook.  Its right inside the entry area, past a set of mirror sliding closet doors, leading into the main living space.  Since Brian didn't want his home office located here (his desk will be in the 2nd bedroom) we had this extra space to deal with and a small furniture budget to boot.  Its a great amount of space for extra storage but that wasn't a priority in this situation as there's a spare bedroom and really Brian hasn't accumulated a bunch of stuff, he's starting from scratch.  It certainly would be a great spot for a library but Brian doesn't have much to fill the shelves at this point so we were planning a small library of shelving in the second bedroom where his desk would be.  So what to do with this area that you see immediately upon entering???

Inside the entry he needs a drop zone, a place to drop his keys, his briefcase, a shopping bag etc.  I'm not a fan of console tables as I think they take up space but don't give you any storage, you can't sit on them and they're not too handy for dropping all your bags on - I prefer a bench for this, which does double duty for you or your guests putting their shoes on.  Above the bench I thought we could add a 'console' shelf or two and start a small gallery of artwork and photos that Brian can build on over the years.  I was thinking of not just a picture ledge but a 'console' shelf wide enough to hold a tray or bowl for keys and mail,,,a vase,,,and other decorative objects.  This would provide a nice visual display upon entering the condo and is also the direct sightline Brian will have directly opposite his bedroom door - the first thing he'll see every morning, so it has to make him smile!

I sketched up two variations of this concept, one with asymmetrical shelves and one with 2 different size shelves justified to the right.   I hoped to find a vintage mid-century modern style bench in teak or walnut that would sit against this long wall, below the shelves and art display.   We would start with ready-made frames and add some personal photos of Brians then some small accessories and objects.  After looking at the two sketches, Brian liked the first option with the asymmetrical layout so this is the direction we'll take this weekend when the shelves are installed.

During one of my visits to Queen West Antiques right before the holidays, I walked in and immediately saw this incredible walnut slat bench - I gasped,,,,,yes, out loud (!) - as I knew this would be such a great piece for Brian.  I could hardly contain my excitement, this was going to be the very first purchase for the condo - It was in great condition and the price was right in our ballpark.  I love pieces like this, I go crazy for benches because they're so versatile.   This could be a coffee table, an end of bed bench,,,,a front entry bench,,,or just up against a wall or behind a sofa stacked with books, its the type of piece that can move with you from place to place and you can always find a spot for it.  It didn't take me long to seal the deal with Kate and voila, this was the very first item purchased for the condo!  It was the perfect starting point because it really represented what my approach would be for the rest of the furnishings,,,it was affordable, great quality, beautifully designed, clean lined, and versatile.

The only downside to the bench was that it was slightly lower than I would have preferred, so I'm having a nice thick cushion seat made for one side of it out of a tweedy grey woven fabric,,in a box style with button tufting.  This will make one side of it the perfect seating height and the other side great for dropping bags or purses.  I had the pleasure of storing this beauty in my front hall for a few weeks and I got quite attached to it - I'm missing it now so much that I really wish I could have kept it.

I'm picking up the wall shelves tomorrow and I'm still torn between the dark wood or going with white, right now I'm leaning towards the white as the photo frames will be a combination of black and wood and I'm not sure about the black espresso colour with the walnut bench.  I may end up buying both and making this decision on site.

For previous posts about this condo project, including floor plan click below:

A New Project - Brian's Condo
Brian's Condo - Dining Rm Update



Sketches and Photos:   Carol Reed

I'll Take Two...

On Sunday I took a drive north of the city to visit Victor and his Antique Iron Beds.  Victor has been collecting and restoring iron beds for over 35 years and boasts the largest collection in Canada.  For those not in the Toronto area, you can view and purchase all of his beds on his website here and he'll ship anywhere in the Country or the U.S.  He has hundreds and hundreds of beautiful, century old iron beds stacked up in this shop and even hundreds more outside, all rusted and patinaed.  As he can tell you, these beds are getting harder and harder to find these days and since I was searching for a pair of matching twin beds, I knew if I was going to find a pair anywhere,,it would be here.

He has white iron beds, pewter and black finishes, among some rarer colours like pink and tourquoise.  All of the beds have been modified to fit today's standard size matresses, with a huge assortment of single, queen and kings.  I was fortunate enough to find a rare pair of pewter, matching twins!!!!  I took this lovely twosome with me and dropped them off at a clients house on my way back home, they currently sit in the empty guest bedroom alone, awaiting all the other items I'll be bringing in over the next few weeks.

There's something about a pair of twin beds in a guest room that I just love.  Maybe its the symmentry or the double decadence of lush comfy bedding, even in the smallest of rooms they just seem so inviting to me and luxuriously pampering.  The thought of a beautifully made, cozy fresh bed JUST for me to spend the night in,,,,along side a best friend, or sister, or niece (or mother or daughter) who might be cuddled up in the other twin while we talk and laugh into the wee hours of the night.  Its a bed for one of those special sleepover nights you enjoy being away from home and spending time with friends.  I hope to one day have two guest rooms in my own house, one with a Queen size bed and another with a pair of twins.  Personally we have more single friends and relatives than couples, in addition to aging parents and teenage nieces and nephews, twins are just so much more practical when space is limited.

In my clients guest bedroom we're hoping to achieve a classic french inspired look but that's not too country looking.  I particularly love the contrast of simple iron beds in white rooms which emphasizes the lines.  Here's a few images of rooms with iron beds that I love because they're paired down and simple - not too cutesy and frilly nor too rustic or cottagy. 

If your budget doesn't allow for a small splurge on an antique iron bed, one of my favorite Ikea pieces is the Lillesand bed for its pure utilitarian lines.  Had this been available in a twin size, we likely would have gone this route for this client's guest room (photo below).

Photos 1, 2, 3:  Carol Reed

Photo 4:  Canadian House & Home (issue unknown)

Photo: 5  Mimmi O'Connell

Photo: 6, 8, 9  Country Living

Photo:  7  Kelly McGuill Home

Photo:  10  House Beautiful

Photo 11  Kyle Timothy Interiors

Pretty in Pink

I spent a morning last week working on a room design for my youngest client, she's a 7 year old ballerina and like most little girls, she LOVES pink and ruffles and bows and candy stripes and fringe trims and pretty much anything frilly and girly.   She's never looked at a design magazine in her life, nor watched a single design show on tv,,,,,and has no interest in Philip Stark ghost chairs, Kelly Wearstler prints or Jonathan Adler furniture,,,,,well, unless its frilly or pink or sparkly then that's all she cares about.

This little girl and her mother are getting ready to move-in to their newly furnished house in about 4 weeks.  I've been working with them since October on completely furnishing and outfitting their entire 3 bed side-split and with most of the other living areas nearing completion I've been focusing on the bedrooms this month, along with a million other small details!!!   (this project in conjunction with furnishing the Bachelor's condo has been a crazy couple months of marathon shopping!)  The little girl's bedroom is tiny, measuring only about 10' x 10' with an 8' ceiling, a small window and has no architectural features at all.  The walls had just been freshly painted when I came on board, they're a light peachy melon colour and repainting was not an option so I'm working with it.  With a small budget, I decided to allocate a large portion of the budget to a custom upholstered headboard, bed skirt and window treatment.  

I made a quick trip to Designer Fabric Outlets and picked out a strawberry coloured velvet and a multi-coloured stripe.  The solid colour headboard will grow with her into her teens as will the stripe, the lighter peachy colour seen in the stripe fabric is similar to the wall colour and gives us the colour palette for the rest of the bedding which will be ready-made.   Next, I sketched up the design for the headboard and sent it all off to my upholsterer - fingers crossed it will all be ready before move-in!

With the headboard and custom skirt and window treatment being made the rest of the room will be filled in with some ready made, in-stock pieces and vintage finds.  I had a lucky day last week when I came across this french style dressing table in a consignment shop, painted white with a peachy glaze on the edges it was like it was made for the colour scheme of this room.   I scooped it up and headed off to the lighting showroom where I picked out a couple of sparkly pretty chandeliers,,,,I'll run these by my little client today and see which one she prefers....

All Photos & Sketches:  Carol Reed