Timeless but Contemporary Interior Design
Choosing the Right Products
In June of 2011, I was approached by newlyweds through my website. They invited me to come and discuss the potential of their recently purchased home, as it needed “some design attention”. They had moved into their Southern Long Beach residence just outside Belmont Shore around March of that year. Luckily they were starting to familiarize themselves of what they liked and disliked and what their needs were for the future.
The husband, an engineer for a large, deluxe automobile company and wife, a trained engineer with a photography business asked for a contemporary home that could last the test of time, more open space to bring in sunlight and a somewhat respect for the neighborhood and its relationship to the beach.
What stood out in my mind was the fact that they wanted to use products that were durable and would be relevant and beautiful for possible decades to come. These clients wanted a design concept that would look amazing now and not regret in 15 years.
Honestly, my first thoughts were, “I need to use Carlisle Wide Plank Flooring in this home, I just have to, their product in this home will look incredible.” Now, I know this may sound far fetched but keep in mind, I have loved Carlisle’s wood floor product for years and had never had the chance to actually specify and install it.
This was going to be my moment; I already had several of their samples in my resource library so it was just a matter of me looking through them for the perfect one. I pulled a white wash Ash that I had fallen in love with about a year or two prior. When I presented the sample to my client’s they immediately fell in love with it as well. They had wanted something just like this and didn’t even know it existed.
Within a few weeks I took the wife out to the Carlisle Showroom in West Hollywood (now closed and in the process of relocating). As always, as soon as I walked in I blissfully smelled all that wonderful woods consume me. My client was extremely impressed as well. We sat down with Dan O’Neil and hashed out all the details. We went over style, size, finishes durability, maintenance, lead times you name it.
We walked away from that meeting knowing:
1) We would use white wash Ash wood flooring throughout most of the home.
2) Use white wash Hickory hardwood flooring in the Master Bedroom to make it special
Our design decisions were driven by two main components. One, the clients wanted a contemporary clean space and two, the wife wanted to use most of the first floor and stairway landing as a gallery space for her photography and other artwork the two had acquired together.
From my experience with contemporary design, the color of a room has really come out in the embellishments and finishes. No longer are we looking for bright accent walls or ornate decoration. In today’s contemporary design, the art of simplicity and attention to detail is what my clients have been drawn to. Carlisle’s flooring and the warm gray moments on various walls brought in a sophistication, intimacy and comfort. Not only was I extremely proud of how this project turned out but the clients have said “We love the final product!” I hope you do as well.
See the before and after photographs here http://www.avid-concepts.com/projects/broadway
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