MY CHICAGO HOUSE.

Gucci wallpaper

The front console and overall floor plan has been evolving as I decide on the paint, wallpaper and stone for each room. The Bird and Thistle wallpaper from Brunschwig & Fils was one of the first wallpaper decisions that was made, and in addition to the paint colors, this pattern has been influencing the choices made throughout the house.

The back console will be papered in a beautiful grasscloth from Brunschwig & Fils that has a nice dark backdrop to the woven pattern.

Walnut grasscloth in back console, Brunschwig & Fils

What remained until this week was the circular entryway console and the color of high gloss paint in the dining room. Papers that were in consideration for the front console included everything from an array of Farrow & Ball papers to Kelly Wearstler geometric patterns to Phillip Jeffries Coffered Wood.

Ultimately, the geometric patterns too harshly contrasted the toile in the guest bedroom and I couldn’t get excited for more than a week about a pattern until, .. behold.. Gucci.

Gucci Light-Herbarium-print-wallpaper — Gucci makes wallpaper (and it is fabulous)

As you may know, Gucci makes wallpaper now, and it is fabulous. It is also surprisingly inexpensive compared to other makers with similar square foot coverage. Less than $200 will get you over 110 sq feet of coverage. I am anxious to check on the quality but the design is perfect and the texture is even better.

Close-up texture of the Gucci Herbarium print wallpaper

The wallpaper design is inspired by a vintage fabric and will be a beautiful in the entryway. I’m looking forward for it to arrive and will do a last check then to make sure it works with our paint colors in person.

Master bathroom demo

The master bathroom demo is underway and all floors and the privacy wall have been removed. The master bathroom previously had hex tiles and a very traditional look and feel with 1930’s style fixtures that will be kept.

The master bathroom floors and privacy wall are gone

The Perrin & Rowe fixtures will be updated to an unlacquered brass from Waterworks

The floors will be replaced with a custom Kelly Wearstler for Ann Sacks geometric design

All fixtures will be replaced with Waterworks unlacquered brass Highgate and Easton Classic fixtures.

Waterworks Highgate Faucet with White Porcelain Lever Handles

thermo — Waterworks Highgate Thermostatic Valve Trim

The hand shower will be removed and an in-wall shower head will be added. The fixtures have been delivered as we wait for the ceramic trim and baseboards to arrive with medicine cabinets, lighting, ceiling fan and geometric floor design to be ordered.

Ann Sacks Kelly Wearstler custom floors

The master bathroom is all white subway and hex tiles, similar to the guest bathroom. While the subway walls will remain, we opened up the space by removing the privacy wall and will completely replace the hex floors. Here is the master bathroom today:

The master bathroom today has two sinks and hex floors that we will replace

The privacy wall will be removed to give more space

The floors in process are a custom Ann Sacks, Kelly Wearstler Liason design. The pattern is part of the Liason Collection and called Hillcrest. The pattern looks like this:

AnnSacks_LiasonHillcrest_CustomColor — Ann Sacks, Kelly Wearstler Hillcrest Tile

I’m working on custom color choices with the Chicago showroom and have begun to narrow down our choices. Initially we narrowed down to Chinese Verde Luna, Travertino Red, Calacatta Oro and Rubicon. When the lot samples arrived the Verde Luna was brighter than I expected so we went back to the drawing board to look at more samples.

Initial cast of colors for custom Ann Sacks / Kelly Wearstler Liason floor design

There are three boards of colors to choose from for custom Kelly designs at Ann Sacks that give a broad array of options for different looks and styles. Here is the full spectrum of color choice – it is a great selection with some beautiful stones.

Kelly Wearstler for Ann Sacks — Neutral stone choices for Kelly Wearstler designs at Ann Sacks 1/3

Each stone can either be polished or honed, adding to the choices, but today we decided to lose the green stripe, pull in the Travertino Red stripe and incorporate the warm and neutral Zebrino stone into the design. The stones will be a mix of polished and honed.

We narrowed down to a more neutral palette, pulling in the Travertino Red stripe

These color selections have been sent back to the Ann Sacks team to be mocked up for production while the bathroom demo is underway!

Guest bathroom remodel

The demo has begun

The bathroom demo has begun and our crew is in the process of removing the sinks, toilets and floors from these tiny bathrooms so a bathtub can be installed and new floors can be put down. It is a bit messy for now, but progress is being made and I’m excited to share the results.

Photo Jan 17, 6 42 47 PM.jpg — A pedestal graveyard in our guest room awaits new faucets.

The Duravit 1930’s pedestal sinks will be updated with new faucets and drains, and replaced back where they came from.

Photo Jan 17, 6 43 18 PM — A new Kohler Underscore tub will be installed and the hex floors will be replaced.

This tiny bathroom will receive a new Kohler Underscore tub, 60″x30″ that will be tiled up the front and across the floor with a herringbone 3″x12″ Ming Green custom cut polished stone from Ann Sacks. The tile will compliment the Bird & Thistle wallpaper in the adjacent guest bedroom. Since Grohe fixtures were already installed, we will save the expense of updating the entire system by sticking with the Grohe brand for the guest bath, with the exception of the hand shower which will be a more traditional Brizo piece.

Brizo hand shower — Brizo Traditional Hand Shower

Temp Control — Grohe Seabury Volume Control

grohe thermostatic — Grohe Seabury Valve Trim

All of the fixtures were purchased in the chrome finish. I found a perfect match for the subway tile and will install ceramic pencil tile and chair rail in addition to ceramic baseboard.

After reviewing a few different lots I chose Ming Green from Ann Sacks to be cut into 3×12 bricks.

The floors will be tiled in a chevron Ming Green stone that will continue up the front of the bath. I am most excited about these floors!

Floor plan 2.0

The plan for paint has evolved slightly since Julie came to visit. When we last parted ways we agreed to continue to think through the wallpaper choices and the color of the dining room, which will be high gloss. While we have decided on Bird and Thistle wallpaper for the guest room, the front entry and the back console are still to be determined and the dining room is still on hold. However, we have some options to consider. Here is the updated floorplan:

Astor 1210 Floorplan4 — Wallpaper choices for the entry from Farrow & Ball

We found the perfect grass cloth from Brunschwig & Fils that we will use in the back console and purchased the Bird and Thistle for the guest as well. The front entrance choice changes every day, but we are getting closer to final decisions as the work continues to progress.

2018-01-15 13.10.16 — Grasscloth with a dark background for the back console, from Brunschwig & Fils, ties the Farrow & Ball Railings den together with the Wimborne White master bedroom.

2018-01-15 14.46.43 — Continuing to consider which paper we select for front entry. Here is a Kelly Wearstler design.

I always keep the entire home in mind when selecting colors so that everything flows, even when using a lot of pattern, colors and texture.

Wallpaper for measure

We are planning to paper the guest bedroom in Brunschwig & Fils “Bird and Thistle” wallpaper in the Green colorway. We removed a bookcase from this room and it is looking less than perfect these days with lots of color patches.

Many colors happening in this room today, with our chosen swatch of the future, Bird and Thistle by Brunschwig & Fils.

I’m working on placing an order for this paper so we can be ready for Walter to install in the coming months. As a reminder, we are working on the guest room, highlighted below.

Astor 1210 Floorplan Guest — Floorplan of Guest, with built ins

I have found a couple of different resources for estimating the number of rolls needed. The bookcase helps us out because we do not need to paper the majority of that wall. I checked Lowe’s = 6 rolls. I checked Amara Living = 6 rolls. I checked Omni Calculator (this site has a calculator for everything!) = 6 rolls. Three for three! We will go with 6 rolls and get this order placed.

[A tiny] Bathroom remodel

This bathroom is teensie. Let’s flash back to the listing photo:

Small Guest Bathroom, Tiny Bathroom renovation — Listing photos are always so perfect

Here is the bathroom today:

Bathroom Guest — The bathroom, prior to renovation

The bathroom is nice, but it doesn’t have a tub and the floor tiles are not our favorite, so I will change them when we add the tub. The shower hardware is mixed brands and even has two “hot” knobs instead of one hot and one cold (why did that happen!?). We will keep the sink and toilet to save some money on this project.

I will be working in a space that is 6’1″ x 4’10” at its longest points.

Gold Coast Small Bathroom Renovation — The bathroom is approximately 73″ deep

And I will be fitting in a bathtub.

Gold Coast bathroom renovation — Width is 58″ from tile to tile, and the standard bathtub is 60″

We have started shopping for tiles and I’m tired of the all whites and grays. I am really working on getting away from what we’ve been seeing and selecting different things for this home.

Basketweave Tiles — This is NOT what I will be doing

Here are some different tile patterns that I liked at Waterworks (with different color schemes):

I also like the Kelly Wearstler for Ann Sacks tiles. These patterns are so fun.

AnnSacksLiaison_DohenySmall_StoneCollection — Kelly Wearstler for Ann Sacks Doheny Small

ANNSACKS_KellyWearstlerLiaison_Collection1 — Kelly Wearstler for Ann Sacks Liaison Collection

We will add a better vanity and have already removed the existing mirror and shelf. I will be selling everything that is salvageable on Ebay and Chairish.

Gold Coast bathroom update — The shelf and mirror have been removed and will be replaced with a lit medicine cabinet.

There are two medicine cabinets that I think are great for this space. The Astoria Medicine Cabinet from Restoration Hardware has a 1930’s look and is $455, or $364 for members for the polished chrome. It is 18 1/4″ wide x 30″ tall.

The Kohler Verdera Medicine Cabinet is $911 (or $683.25 if you shop at Build.com) and is 20″ wide x 30″ tall. It has awesome lighting and would remove the necessity to put a light over the mirror, which would be nice. And yes – these lights DO make you look better!

Instead of replacing the toilet which is from the Duravit 1930’s Collection, we have ordered the soft close cover and will keep it and the matching pedestal sink.

To replace the toilet and sink it would cost $1,500+ so we are keeping the budget lower by keeping. However, we will replace the sink tap and drain.

We will be replacing all of the sink and shower hardware, adding the bath filler and tub, re-tiling the floors, replacing the toilet seat and adding a medicine cabinet. My next step is to have my plumber price out this work and confirm that we can fit a 60″ bathtub in the space!