What inspired the design of this room?/How did you decide upon the colors & overall style?
The architecture of my house is the base inspiration for everything I do within it. As a Modernist living in a Victorian-era house, I try to be very respectful of its original structure and character while still moving forward and not trying to create a faux-Victorian look. This attitude toward renovation (particularly when it comes to kitchens and bathrooms) is quite prevalent in Scandinavia, but in this country there is a still a tendency to try to make newly renovated spaces look “old”, and unfortunately the result is usually more of a pastiche than anything.

That said, I have tried very hard with both of my bathroom renovations to not make them look too “new”, either! The last thing I want anywhere in my house is for someone to open a door and immediately know that a particular room was recently renovated. My house is full of quirks and imperfections, and I have deliberately carried them into this space. This bathroom was added to the house sometime in the 1930s or ’40s (the space it’s in was originally a pass-through pantry connecting the entry hall to the kitchen at the back of the house), and I elected to keep the cast iron corner tub that was installed at that time. The old toilet was very cute, but it was terribly inefficient—rather than replace it with a “faux-old” toilet, though, I prefer the honesty of a very contemporary-looking one-piece.

But back to the question, you could say that every design decision I make in my house is inspired by Modernism, Industrialism, honesty of materials, and contrasts between old and new.

What is your favorite thing about this space?
The floor. The effect of the monochromatic matte black penny tiles and black grout is very subtle, but in the light it shimmers in the most beautiful way. It feels wonderful underfoot as well. This was one of the very first things I decided on for the bathroom, and I’m so glad I never had second thoughts.

I need to give an honorable mention to the black paint, too. The bathroom is only about 5×6 feet, but the ceiling is more than 10 feet high! By carrying the white paneling and wall tiles to a uniform 8 foot height and then painting the upper portion of the walls and ceiling black, I was able to give the room a greater feeling of width and space. It’s an illusion that really works. I can’t believe how much more spacious the room feels now!

At what point did you know when to quit?
Because my husband and I did the entire renovation (excluding the plumbing) ourselves, we were bound by our own limitations of what we could devote in terms of skills and time. We are both willing to read, ask questions, watch, and learn, but we know when to reign ourselves in (most of the time!). We spent about six months on this renovation, and it really took up almost every moment of our free time for the duration. When we were in the planning stages, we had all kind of ideas (like turning the space into a fully-tiled shower room) that we had to nix in favor of reality. As far as finish work goes, I’m pretty good at knowing how much is enough. I look at rooms the same way I look at 2D print design—I include enough to achieve balance, but remove extraneous materials that aren’t essential functionally or visually. For example, I had initially considered using a very bold Marimekko print to make a shower curtain, but after painting the ceiling, I decided to let the impact of the black against the angles of the white walls be the “stunner” of the room—even unbleached linen ultimately proved to be too overwhelming as a shower curtain! I ultimately went with a classic white waffle-weave, which recedes nicely while still adding a different texture to the room.

COST BREAKDOWN:

Plumbing: $1495
Toilet: $425 / TOTO Eco-Supreme
Sink: $80 / IKEA ÅNN (not online)
Tub: $0 / semi-original to house
Sink faucet: $80 / IKEA ÅNN
Tub faucet and trim: $675 / Kohler Purist

Shower wall tile: $100 / 3×6 gloss white, American Olean
Floor tile: $310 / matte black penny rounds, Nemo Tile
Plywood subfloor: $50
Underlayment: $70 / Easymat
Tiling supplies (grout, caulk, thinset, tools, etc.): $270

Sconces: $200 / Truman, Schoolhouse Electric
Ceiling light: $130 / Alabax, Schoolhouse Electric
Towel radiator: $500 (eBay, 1/2 price) / Omnipanel, Runtal
Electrical supplies (outlets, Romex, etc.): $105

Cement board: $50
Sheetrock: $15
Insulation: $35
Construction adhesive: $20
Joint compound: $10
Vapor barrier: $20
Tongue & groove wood paneling: $120
Wood trim: $80
Wood shelving: $32
Saddle: $12
Screws, nails, etc: $50
Miscellaneous building materials: $200

Primer: $20 / Zinsser Bulls Eye
Ceiling paint: $20 / Olympic Knights Armor (eggshell)
Wall/trim paint: $100 / Benjamin Moore Simply White (satin)
Painting supplies (brushes, rollers, etc.): $40

Shower curtain rod: $170 / Vintage Tub
Shower curtain liner (2): $20 / Target
Shower curtain: $50 / Bed Bath & Beyond
Shower curtain rings (2): $22 / Bed Bath & Beyond
Shower caddy: $40 / Simple Human

Trash can: $249 / Vipp
Bath towels: $20 / IKEA BÅVAN
Hand towels: $7 / IKEA ADMETE
Bath mat: $18 / West Elm
Mirror: $0 / family antique
Towel hooks: $0 / original to house
Toilet paper holder: $5 / IKEA GRUNDTAL
Medicine cabinet (painted): $20 / IKEA FÖRHÖJA (not online)
Square vase: $6 / IKEA REKTANGEL
White vases: $18 / IKEA SALONG
Fresh tulips: $7 / Adams Fairacre Farms
Basket: $6 / IKEA BÖLSNÄS
Radio: $220 / Pal, Tivoli Audio
Tealight holder: $2 / West Elm (not online)
Painting of Hudson River: $1 / junk shop

GRAND TOTAL: $5,745 (plus 6 months of weekends!)

ANYWAY! The lack of a real need for a new kitchen certainly doesn’t keep me from fantasizing about one…

Photo by Alexander Crispin (from Scandinavian Style). This is probably my all-time favorite fantasy kitchen. The combination of materials and colors is just so perfect. I love marble countertops and the patina they gain over time. I am happy with my wood and steel counters for the same reason.

Kitchen by DAPStockholm. I’m not sure how it’s possible that I’m still not tired of seeing that wallpaper everywhere, but I’m not. Also, how cute is that Arne Jacobsen faucet?!

Photo by Jon Jensen. Oh Heath Tile, how you taunt me! I can definitely get behind soft grays in the kitchen.

No one can argue with a white kitchen, right? This just looks so fresh and clean. I spy another AJ faucet, too. (I can’t remember where this photo is from, sorry! I think it may be from a Swedish real estate site that Emma linked to a while back.)

Of course, black kitchens are good, too! I have black cabinets and a black floor in my kitchen, but it never reads as dark or dreary. I wish I had a brick wall that I could paint black, too. Photo by Hotze Eisma.

From ShootFactory. The combination of open and closed cabinets is so practical, and I love all of that wood. In 40 years, this kitchen will still look great.

This is my favorite IKEA kitchen right now. They’ve used a NEXUS lowers and RUBRIK uppers. I particularly like the white kickplate. It makes the cabinets look like they’re floating.

From Factory 20. More marble! Yay! And a glove mold! And a rustic shelf! With black brackets! And black cabinets! Yay! There’s a whole lot going on here that tickles my fancy.

Another photo by Hotze Eisma. I may have lied about that first kitchen being my favorite, because this one is giving me palpitations right now. Everything here is perfect, right down to the imperfect tiles. Also, the combination of white, black, wood, a green lamp, and Bertoia chairs makes this kitchen the perfect companion to the room right above my kitchen: My office!

I’m on a mini-vacation until Monday, but here are some photos of the exterior of my house, now with black trim (Benjamin Moore Black Beauty)! Keep in mind that the windows still need to be repaired and painted, and the stair treads still need to be stained to match the porch ceiling.

(Sorry for the weird sizes, but I’m not on my own computer right now, and have no access to Photoshop!)

And a before picture, for comparison. It’s hard to tell from the photos, but we’ve also had the bricks cleaned and repointed. Oh! And that ironwork on top of the porch? We had it sandblasted (it was really rusty) and powdercoated (by the same guys that did our bathtub, sink, and radiators!) in black. It looks great.

Bye-bye peeling, discolored, forest green paint! ICK:

Look! We have a new porch ceiling! And a new porch light! Yes, I know the light is very traditional, and it’s really a bit too “faux-old” for my taste—but it does suit the house quite well, and the scale of it is right. Our porch is high off the ground, and small overhead lights look out of place. (By the way, we bought it at Pottery Barn on clearance and then squirreled it away in the basement for a year. They don’t have it anymore, sorry!)

Here’s a gross before shot. As you can see, the current situation is definitely an upgrade from rotted plywood and a bare bulb.

Sorry I don’t have many “during” shots! The demo took forever (not that I had anything to do with it—I left the dirty work for Evan). It was disgusting and marked by the discovery of a wasp infestation.

The new ceiling is tongue-and-groove pine beadboard. We put it up using a nail gun and an air compressor, which was SO FAST AND EASY. I applied two coats of oil-based ZAR Wood Stain in Dark Mahogony, then a coat of ZAR Ultra Max polyurethane in a satin finish.

(And yes, that’s BLACK trim you see! More exterior renovation photos to come…)

Hella Jongerius has created a line of beautiful wall-hangings for the 2009 IKEA PS collection. Here’s Pelle, the rabbit, hanging in my upstairs hallway. Also available are Gullspira (the goat) and Mikkel (the fox).

From Hella’s website:

Hella Jongerius created wallhangings for the IKEA-Unicef programme, which helps women in India to start up small sewing businesses and enables their children to go to school. Sources of inspiration are the animals that feature in Swedish fairy tales. In the production process small scale craft production in India is combined with large scale industrial production by IKEA, while the images refer to the local roots of this global company.

The result consists of textiles of which not only IKEA and Jongerius will benefit, but also the craftswomen who left their traces in the making.

The textiles are made with a variety of materials and techniques, which gives the end result a rich look. The used materials are a mix of woolen felt, a woven woolen dobby and printed cotton. A bright colored polyester band with button holes at the top of the work gives a sturdy accent and serves to attach it to the wall. The parts are stitched together and embroidered by hand. The combination of colors, print and embroidered accents give each of the three designs an individual character.

Each wallhanging is made from beginning to end by one woman. On the back of the work is a label with the names of IKEA, Hella Jongerius and the embroidered name of the woman who made it.

Why a goat, a fox and a rabbit?
“They refer in an abstract way to animals featured in Swedish fairy tales. Animals have already been featured in much of my earlier work; they trigger first and foremost the imagination. An animal has the power to be familiar; expressing moods comparable to the moods of human beings, and at the same time an animal remains puzzling.”

An early sketch for the 2009 IKEA PS collection

The wallhangings join Hella’s previous work for the IKEA PS line, four Jonsberg vases introduced in 2005. They are still available for sale—and I own all four!

That’s the STICKA blanket from IKEA’s 2009 PS collection (which I blogged about back in January), designed by Kazuyo Nomura. The entire collection is FINALLY available in US stores! The blanket is beautiful. My mother bought it in the natural color with multicolored stitching—very cute.

This bed is an old full-sized BERGEN (pre-MALM) bed from IKEA. We stopped using it when we moved into this house and had room for a queen-size bed, but I’m glad we held onto it. The original finish was oak veneer, but I painted it white (two coats of good primer, followed by two coats of BM Simply White to match the trim). It looks so fresh and clean!

The wall color is Benjamin Moore Lacey Pearl (matte)—it’s like the world’s palest neutral gray, and I’m totally in love with it. Trim is BM Simply White (satin), with BM Toucan Black (satin) inside the fireplace.

Exceptionally beautiful poster by Elisabeth Dunker for Studio Violet. Love.

I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since I made a real post. I just needed a break. I’m eternally behind on emails, projects, sleep…everything. I can’t say I’m any more caught up now than I was four weeks ago, but sometimes you just need to have one less thing to think about.

Anyway, Fritz here would like to welcome you (and me) back, and show off one of our newly reupholstered chairs. He would also like to mention that he has not chewed on the new fabric at all—not even a tiny taste.

This is one of the two chairs we bought almost two years ago (!) and “temporarily” wrapped in linen with plans to have new cushions made. It sure took us long enough, but I love the new fabric SO MUCH. We had a local upholsterer do the work. For all four cushions (two chairs), it only cost $200 for the foam to be re-wrapped and new, zippered covers made with flat seams. The fabric is a commercial-grade Maharam wool blend, which we bought at an enormous discount from Modern Fabrics. I cannot recommend them enough as a resource—excellent customer service, great prices, and a pretty amazing selection of high-end remnants.

Months after I nearly developed a brain aneurysm assembling it, my David Trubridge Coral pendant is finally hanging in the front hallway! It’s fun to walk in the house and see something this HIGH DRAMA right away. The shadows are really spectacular in the evening, but even when the light is off, it’s still sculpturally beautiful.

For reference, this is the 23.5″ diameter Coral pendant. Even with 11′ ceilings, it’s plenty big. If you have low ceilings, I definitely suggest doing some measuring first to make sure you’re not going to be walking into it all the time—unless, of course, you’re planning to put it over your dining table!

I’ve had a Tord Boontje Garland light (this is the black chrome finish) for several years, but for the most part it’s just been sitting in a tangled clump in a box since we moved into the house. The standard way to hang it is on a bare bulb suspended by a cord, but with our high ceilings, the proportions wind up looking really skimpy and just too dangly.

After spending a solid hour detangling the thing last night, I decided to try wrapping it directly around the bulb on a flush-mount fixture in the bedroom. This is the white porcelain Benedict light from Schoolhouse Electric. The glass socket is really beautiful, so I wrapped the Garland just low enough that it’s still visible.

I’m really happy with the result, and I can’t wait for it to get dark enough to check out the shadows it casts on the ceiling! I used an Edison Double Loop bulb for added effect (the light cast by Edison bulbs is very warm, dim and soft, and the bulbs themselves are beautiful—they’re perfect for mood-lighting in fixtures that have visible bulbs). The Garland itself is quite affordable, and I think it’s worth upgrading the light source to something more elegant than the standard plastic cord set that comes with it—in fact, you can even order the Garlands by themselves ($76 with cord/$64 without); you’re not obligated to order the cord set. If you want the effect of a hanging pendant, the Lewis fixture from Schoolhouse Electric (with a cloth cord!) would look fantastic.

By the way, “arranging” a Garland light so that it looks like the product photos is a total nightmare. It takes FOR-EV-ERRR. This post (which I found in a fit of frustrated Googling) sums up the experience quite accurately!

EDIT: Oooooh, nighttime shots! I’m in love. The shadow effect is so dramatic with the Garland this close to the ceiling! The moth-to-flame feeling of this light is perfect for summer nights, isn’t it?

This is one of those DIY projects that kind of makes you feel like a jerk while you’re planning it, but the end result is so good that the shame is worth it. I’m really not a fan of knockoffs for a variety of reasons, but I just couldn’t resist.

It’s not exactly a secret that the design of IKEA’s $12.99 FROSTA stool is, um, heavily “influenced” by Alvar Aalto’s Stool 60, designed in 1933 (and currently retailing in the US for $250–300, depending on options). The materials and construction are virtually identical, with the primary differences lying in the curvature of the legs (admittedly more elegant on the original) and the color of the finish—the Aalto stool is available in a variety of colors and with laminated tops. (Yes, the Aalto stool is also available with four legs, just like the FROSTA!)

Anyway, blah blah blah, I decided to nudge our two FROSTA stools just a wee bit closer to looking like the real thing. I mean, why not, right?

The first thing I did was convert them from four legs to three. One leg from each got discarded (I may use them as shelf brackets at some point), and the other two were repositioned. I haven’t owned a protractor since 8th grade, so I did what you’d expect a graphic designer to do in this kind of situation and figured out the measurements by making a pie chart in Illustrator! (I could have saved myself some time by reading Martha’s post on the subject, though.) I didn’t use glue or do anything fancy, I just drilled a tiny pilot holes and screwed the legs in place. Totally easy, anyone can do it.

The final step was painting the top of the stools black. I bagged the legs as I did here, then taped off the edges of the top very, very carefully. I like the Delicate Surfaces painter’s tape for things like this since it’s thin and allows for a really tight fit to curves. Two light coats of my favorite Rust-Oleum’s Painter Touch Ultra Cover 2x (this is the semi-gloss finish), and the stools were done!