Being an Interior Designer and having grown up in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton, I can appreciate the Tropical and colorful influences from the Bahamas and Caribbean Islands, with its history coming from the Traditional British Colonial style of interior design and architecture.
Blog about how to work with an Interior Designer and using the interior designer’s Presentation and Vision Boards to better show the client the interior design and architectural style for the home remodeling project.
The following blog describes what it is like when working in collaboration with Architects, Custom Home Builders, and the Interior Designer taking you from architectural design concept and style to Interior Designer’s Presentation Boards that show the clients vision for their new custom home. As well as the responsibility of each professional to help guide you through your interior design and home remodel.
Please follow my blind client’s interior design and home remodeling in Boca Raton, Palm Beach County from the initial meeting, presentation board of Spanish - Mediterranean interior design style and complete home remolding to the final completed Spanish - Mediterranean style home in the intercoastal water-way in Boca Raton.
Fort Lauderdale Interior Designer’s blog on Mediterranean style homes in south Florida. Read about the history of the Spanish Mediterranean architecture as well as the interior design style and how it has influenced our local communities such as Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Parkland, Weston, Southwest Ranches, Fort Lauderdale, and Ocean Reef Club, Key Largo
Learn what it is like working with an Interior Designer by viewing the Interior Designer’s presentation of the Spanish Mediterranean style interior design and home remodel of this home in Boca Raton, Palm Beach County. With the use of an Interior Designer’s Presentation Board, you will see all of the elements of this Spanish Mediterranean style home and follow the before and after through this home remodel
The following blog describes what it is like when working in collaboration with Architects, Custom Home Builders, and the Interior Designer taking you from architectural design concept and style to Interior Designer’s Presentation Boards that show the clients vision for their new custom home. As well as the responsibility of each professional to help guide you through your interior design and home remodel.
Please follow my blind client’s interior design and home remodeling in Boca Raton, Palm Beach County from the initial meeting, presentation board of Spanish - Mediterranean interior design style and complete home remolding to the final completed Spanish - Mediterranean style home in the intercoastal water-way in Boca Raton.
Beware, this client’s story has a surprise ending that will create and continue onto another blog -
My first meeting with John and Veronica was at their beautiful large condo over looking the Fort Lauderdale beach. They explained to me that this was their vacation home that they had remodeled two condos into one large one. John had also explained to me that during his college years, he spent a lot of time with his family in the Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton areas.
John told me that he had purchased an original Fort Lauderdale home on the Intercoastal waterway and had plans to knock it down and rebuild his vacation home. When I asked him what style of interior and architectural design he was considering he told me that they had just spent the summer in Tuscany and was looking to create an Old World / Mediterranean Italian Villa with hints of the Bahamas / British Colonial style.
I was extremely excited and once we had a signed contract, he introduced me to his team of Architects and Builder who told me that they were more comfortable designing within a more contemporary style. As anyone who has designed and built a custom home before, they know that their are many revisions before you reach your final dream home.
Below are the architectural floor plans when I started working with the team. As they say “First impressions make lasting impressions” or was that just my mother? - I must say, they did design a grand foyer - the problem was that it was to a walkway that looked out through a pair of french doors, to what I would imagine would be a round patio table and chairs next to a swimming pool shoved into the patio -
Upon my arrival, we began redesigning the entire floor plan staring with the addition of a living room - As Joan says “Put a LIVING ROOM, where a LIVING ROOM OUGHT to be”! We pushed out the bedrooms to the set back which allowed us a space for his office and opened up the living space and enhance the living room - FYI, the client asked me to design custom barn doors for the office and beyond I can see Pecky Cypress half paneled walls with the upper walls having a full Trope L’oeil mural of the Tuscan wine country, I would convert the walk-in closet as wine storage behind a glass and wrought iron door. With traditional custom built cabinetry the desk being in the center of the room and will have a hydraulic lift to raise the desktop to bar height for wine tasting parties - and of course all of this under a beautiful custom coffered ceiling with large built up crown moldings.
I also wanted the stairs open to the living room giving us the opportunity to use Mediterranean wrought iron railings and painted porcelain tiles for a little bit of Moroccan Style not to mention the view of the living room as you walk down the stairs. This layout also gave me windows flanking the doors that I knew I could later enhance once I started working on the interior design elements. By relocating the pool to the backyard it extended the patio area and gave us room for not only an outdoor kitchen but also a cabana bathroom.
I give my clients credit for including their interior designer while the architectural drawings are still being revised -
I am very detail oriented and a bit of a control freak meaning that with my architectural background (Note: I am not an architect only a designer) I can see in 3 dimension and I look for where we can use architectural elements and make feature walls. I also love tending to my clients needs and and reviewing all of the possibilities while creating their vision for their home.
At this time I can also design the custom cabinetry for the kitchen, bar, office / library, and baths - place architectural elements such as columns and arches, even the ceiling beams in the family room I have equally spaced to line up with the stone columns and french doors including electrical for the LED lights built into the beams to light up the wood ceiling. Speaking of ceilings, I love to work on the electrical and reflected ceiling plans - This allows me not only to spec out the location of chandeliers and sconces but also accent lighting, ceiling spot lights to showcase artwork, exterior lights including patio, pool, accent walls, landscaping, dock lights and even holiday lights if needed.
My floor plan showing the kitchen and bar layout as well as placement of the stone columns, soffit with lighting and crown at perimeter of the room
Thus far we have the basic lay-out and architectural floor plan with the front elevation - This is where I begin to start with the interior design of the Family / Great room and I design the custom kitchen cabinetry with an Old World, Traditional, Mediterranean style and influences, including the appliance locations, farm sink at the island, large stone hearth over the range including a pot faucet.
Inspiration for the bar stain glass window
In the Great / Family Room I designed a wall of cabinetry including a bar with a large stain glass window - What Old World Pub doesn’t have a stain glass window ?
Elevation of Old world / Traditional custom kitchen / bar cabinetry featuring stone hearth, columns and corbels with soffit and shell corbel detail
Francois Toscany Stone Range Hood with matching hearth for fireplace
Thus far we have the basic lay-out and architectural floor plan with the front elevation - This is where I begin to start with the interior design of the Family / Great room and I design the custom kitchen cabinetry some styles borrowed form the Old World - Traditional and Mediterranean including influences from an old 19th century Italian villa kitchen with stone range hood over the 66” Viking “Tuscany” range.
One of my favorite features in the Old World - Traditional kitchen that truly does give the interior design that Italian Villa style is the Francois “Toscany” stone range hood and fireplace mantle.
Stacked natural stone columns with shell corbels flanking all doorways and entrance to Great Room
Stone fireplace with matching carved mantle, flanked by columns with shell corbels
This client coming from Tuscany, Italy had visions of his Fort Lauderdale vacation home, we were combining both old world charm mixed with some Italian / Mediterranean elements - My client told me that he wanted the exterior walls to be covered in cut natural stone (Please see the front elevation)
I love to mix textures through out the home and bringing the outside in as well as extending the living space to the exterior.
I believe I achieved this buy incorporating the same stone on the grand fireplace with featuring a carved stone mantle that matches the range hood in the kitchen. I took this a step further by flanking all of the doorways and the entrance to the great room with matching stone columns with a carved shell corbel. These columns also support a decorative soffit with a two part crown molding that houses spotlights down on the beautiful draperies and LED strip lights that will aluminate the tongue and grove wood ceiling (Please see Kitchen elevation)
The picture to the left is a design inspiration the client sent me in regards to the large wood beams that they envision for their south Florida custom vacation home on the Fort Lauderdale Intercoastal waterway
With my clients extensive travels they find it necessary to use a dog create and it gives their dog stability and comfort - They sent me the picture to the left to inspire me to incorporate a built in create. Of course I took it a step further and not only added the Mediterranean wrought iron door but also added a matching display for china or wine storage siting on a black granite shelf.
Through out the process of designing my clients custom vacation home, they would refer to it as the “Dog House” upon my asking they explained that their current condo that they had remodeled by combining two condos into one large condo over looking Fort Lauderdale beach did not welcome their dog - Hence they bought an old original home on the Fort Lauderdale intracoastal waterway to knock down and build their “Dog House” - I Love It !
In order to submit the architectural plans to the city, I proceeded to design the swimming pool / hot tub and dock area. To allow for more usable patio space I relocated the pool / hot tub to be parallel to the back of the home with steps down to the dock level that has a seating area and water fall from the infinity edge pool.
I continued with the same design elements that was incorporated with the interior design being a tile decorative privacy wall with a shell fountain flanked by matching stone columns with hanging lanterns - as you can see through out the patio layout I have incorporated tile walls and stone columns toped with planters.
I recently finished the interior design and remodeling of my client’s new vacation home off Las Olas Boulevard and one bridge away from Fort Lauderdale beach, we created what I call a “Zen Balinese Contemporary” design. After that, I started a very fun Fort Lauderdale beachfront vacation home that was more “Modern Coastal Beachfront” with a Zen-style design. So, my plan was to spend the summer catching up on miscellaneous office work, website updates as well as some home improvements on my own eclectic home.
If you read the introduction on my website you will see that my first love for architecture and interior design was influenced by having grown up in Fort Lauderdale and the surrounding areas. I fell in love with both the Mediterranean, Spanish and British Colonial / Bahamas Revival that resides from Coral Gables to Boca Raton and obviously Palm Beach. By 1925 Addison Mizner was the primmer architect for Palm Beach and its wealthy inhabitants. Architects are still inspired by Mizner’s Mediterranean and Spanish influences. Even down at the Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo, I have seen some amazing Mediterranean / British Colonial / Bahamas interior design and architecture.
I began to go through my website and I began to mention any Mediterranean, Spanish, British Colonial or Old World interior design or architectural elements - Once again, if you have read any previous blogs you may know of my belief in the “Powers of the Universe” and Google of course! So, About 2 weeks later I received a call from a personal assistant, informing me that her employer would like to meet with me in regards to remodeling his Mediterranean home in east Boca Raton.
I should have known that my meeting with Carl was going to be a Karmic experience.
I find myself standing in a porte-cochere featuring large arches, framed with its 90’s white bands that match the two flanking arched windows - Before me is a pair of beautiful carved solid mahogany doors that have become badly damaged by both sun and salt. Most people don’t realize the damage from salt when you live so close to the ocean.
I ring the doorbell and hear the sound of yapping dogs, a gentleman wearing sunglasses answers the doors and with a smile he holds out his hand to welcome me with shake and introduces himself as Carl, then he informs me that he is blind.
HMMMM, Yes! a blind client - this is going to be an interesting afternoon.
I enter the raised foyer where I can see over a large living room featuring a wall of glass sliding doors and overhead transom window with a built-in drywall valance below.
The 12’ ceilings have a large 30” deep tray ceiling with a high-hat light in each corner, to the right is an unused open space with a large arched window and a small chandelier - on the oposite side is a pair of doors to an un-utilized room with a matching arched window - around the corner I can see into the great room.
Before picture of foyer
Before Piano Room
Before Living Room Right
Before Home Office
Before Living Room Left
Tray Ceiling
Terra Cotta Floors
All of the walls in mentioned areas and including the master bedroom and bath are a painted in a single layer rag faux finish in a golden ochre and framed by a 5” crown and baseboard that are stained in a dark cherry. All of the floors through out the entire home are the “Mexican Terra-Cotta” clay tiles with the ceiling painted a drab dirty off white.
We sit down in a pair of chairs that face out upon a very drab patio, it’s framed by large white storm shutters everywhere.
I see beyond a lifeless pool area but all along the back is a +/- 200 ft brand new dock on the Boca Raton Intercoastal waterway.
I start with the usual banter - Oh what a beautiful home you have, how long have you lived here? and what is your vision for your home ? the last is one is my favorites, its always interesting to see what comes back at me -
My perspective client tells me that he loves the Mediterranean interior design style and he wants everything removed and start from scratch. Needless to say that I am so excited and images of possibilities begin to run through my head. For me being an Interior Designer is like being a psychic, both in the sense that my inspiration can come from the space or from my client and often its from both.
I started with telling Carl that the living room tray ceiling with a high-hat light in each corner looks like an up side down pool table - all I could hear in my head was a line from the movie “Mommy Dearest” where Joan Crawford screeches “Tear down that BITCH of a bearing wall and put a window where it OUGHT to be” Mine was more on the line of “Tear out that BITCH of a pool table and put a grand wrought iron mediterranean chandelier where it OUGHT to be”
I saw old world Mediterranean chandeliers and sconces everywhere such as relocating the dinning room acanthus leaf chandelier to the front room and placing the grand Piano under it. The dining area needed a much larger chandelier to be in scale with the table and the large existing artwork, where I saw tall sconces flanking it. The family room / fireplace was badly in need of a chandelier as well. The kitchen hosted a large peninsula that said “I need pendant lights!”
Please note the half wall that surrounds the family room - seeing that dominate large stone fireplace I knew that I wanted to cover it with a natural stone and a beautiful marble top.
Before Dining Room
Before Fireplace Wall
Before Family Room
The master bedroom had the same dark ochre old world faux finish, cherry woodwork and dark wood furniture, with drapes made in a Burgundy Red with small gold scrolls that truly gave the room a morgue like feeling. I loved the scale of the room with its large bay window and doors to the patio. I wanted to brighten up the room -
When it comes to Master Bedroom the first two things that I take into consideration is -
# 1 ) Who is the client? Is it a Male or Female or a couple? M/F, M/M, F/F or perhaps M/F/F, F/MM ? and let’s give a shout out to our Non-Binary community too - Hey, you never know - and I love my eccentric clients.
#2) Generally speaking I think the master bedroom should serve two purposes - when you wake up in the morning the room should make you feel good and energized and at night it should bring you peace and serenity.
In oder to lighten up the rich look of the Mediterranean style I wanted to incorporate a British Colonial - Bahamas style, with a flare for the tropical Bahamas and a feeling of Mizner’s old Palm Beach estates.
Before Master Bedroom
Before Master Bedroom Sitting Area
After sharing all of my inspirations and visions for his Mediterranean style waterfront home in east Boca Raton we bided our fair wells, and as I was at the front door shaking his hand, Carl asks me, how can he be sure that I wouldn’t run off with his money -
WOW !!! This is a first, and I guess it is where Karma begins to come into play -
My reply to Carl was that even a blind man could see how excited I was about his project including all of my ideas that I shared with him - I wasn’t there for the money but because I love working with my clients and through interior design and home remodeling we can transform their home to meet and exceed their vision. I told Carl that my website reflects who I am and it shows my working relationships and creations with my past clients as well as their reviews. I explained to him about my beliefs in Karma and the Universe and perhaps were just not a good match, and that he should continue searching for an Interior Designer.
I believe it was the next day that he called to ask me to write up a contract. So now let the ride begin and I will share with you what it is like for an Interior Designer to work with a blind client. I will show you how the interior design process works for me where I get my inspirations. I have plans to incorporate the Mediterranean style as well as influences from British Colonial - Tropical Bahamas and all balanced with the feeling of South Florida.
AAAA
F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel tells of love and ambition along the Gold Coast of Long Island, New York. The novel was originally published in 1925 and was set during the Art Deco era.
The Art Deco period started in France after an exhibition on the modern machine age and showcased geometric, angular and streamlined motifs like zigzags and chevrons.
It is no wonder why Catherine Martin, wife of director Baz Luhrmann won two Academy Awards for the movie The Great Gatsby.
Ms. Martin's set designs shows us the most grand and elegant forums of the Art Deco period as opposed to the Deco hotels on Miami Beach that I grew up with and are more kitschy in nature with a tropical flare.
Consistent with turn-of-the-century mansions, the Grand Ballroom features a gold-filigreed ceiling hung with ornate crystal chandeliers, a marquetry floor with Gatsby's monogram inlaid, towering columns between windows, and a beautiful serpentine staircase.
Gatsby's bedroom is just as grand being two stories with its spiral staircase leading up to built-in clothing storage. The room is filled with richly polished hardwoods, a harlequin-pattern wall covering of silk crisscrossed with ribbons of wood, and a gray Art Deco style rug designed by Martin.
It is understood how the Deco style started in the 20's with inspirations of the modern machine age and stayed with us through the building of the Miami Beach hotels during the 50's.
Auntie Mame the movie (1958) has to be one of one of the most quintessential movies representing interior design, Talk about the ultimate high-end client - Mame changes her decor to match her mood and her outfits to match her decor.
Its been my philosophy in interior design is that the areas of ones home where you can introduce some visual drama is the dining room, guest bathroom and foyer - Well Mame's foyer certainly has all of that. Nora the nephew's caretaker remarks that the foyer resembles "The ladies room at the Oriental theater".
When they ring the doorbell, steam shoots out the dragon's nostrils and the eyes move - now that's a dramatic entrance.
As an Interior Designer it's fun to watch the revolving design elements in the living room.
The three main areas to watch is the ever changing fireplace wall with its flanking windows and treatments, the staircase and its banister railing and the entrance.
This must be Auntie Mame's serious brown phase where she has decided to wright her memoirs -
Please note the bookcase and that all of her books are covered in coordinating covers, come to notice Mame is covered in a coordinating color as well.
This is a very unique and divers interior design concept from 1958 that seems to have some contemporary elements including floor to ceiling beads that when pulled upon, to Mame's delight the sofa-bench rises to extraordinary heights therefore jilting her not so welcomed prospective new in-laws. The unexpected item that I can ignore is that not the fireplace has been converted to a glossy white Kachelofen which is an antique from of room heater from Germany and found in old castles.
The bedroom Auntie Mame offers to her nephew Patrick is called "The Marie Antoinette Room" Please click image to see my vignette titled "Marie Antoinette goes to Key West" on my Murals - Faux Finishes page.
Mame's bedroom offers up such extravagances as a round bed, fur chaise, ornate white marble fireplace with a roaring fire all sitting on pink carpeting.
Okay, honestly I am not a Catherine Martin groupie - but as an interior designer the idea of a elephant shaped house with a red and gold room done in a Morocco meets India motif, well that's just to close to me Bohemian heart.
I have always wanted to design a Moroccan media room and so with this as my interior design inspiration I design one for myself.
I cant help but to think that as an interior designer when I had a client come to me to design her office, I asked her what her favorite colors were - her reply was Red and Leopard print - (Oh my) Satine's reply must of been Red and Gold.
Some of the elements that I love in this set design are the wood cornices with the cut-out filigree work in front of the swag drapes adorned with large tassels. The hanging floor to ceiling beads with the beaded pillows are great accents and please note the hanging glass jardiniere chandelier - I have similar, about 25 that i have been collecting and will make a great collection lite by candles.
Once my Moroccan media room is finished I will be glad to revisit this post and share with you my thought process.
This truly is where movie set design and interior design come together -
The New York City's Plaza Hotel is honoring Zelda Fitzgerald who would have been 114 and was the muse for some of her husband F. Scott Fitzgerald's greatest work.
The Plaza Hotel teamed up with Catherine Martin who won two or her four Academy Awards for The Great Gatsby (2013) to design the Fitzgerald Suite.
Being an Interior Designer I love to borrow design elements from the past and as expected Ms. Martin has encapsulated all of the sexy glamour and nostalgia from the Deco era of the 1920's.
To add to the romance of room the chandelier centered on a framed antique mirror ceiling and was designed to sound like champagne glasses clinking, the bookshelves are lined with the complete works of both F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald right down to a Gramophone-shaped speaker ready for your iPod. As for the artwork adoring the walls they are portraits of the 2013 film's cast taken by the famed celebrity photographer Douglas Kirkland.
For the true Great Gatsby movie fans there are actual props from the set of the Baz Luhrmann film including the linens with Jay Gatsby's monogram.
When guest check into the 700 square foot Fitzgerald suite priced at a mere $2,795 a night (plus tax) they are welcomed with a Moet Imperial Gatsby : a champagne cocktail exclusively served at the Plaza as well a pair of silver flasks monogrammed with the Plaza's iconic logo.
As for the design elements I love the tone on tone color scheme - It should be noted that everything in this Deco-inspired suite is provided by Restoration Hardware right down to the paint on the walls which Ms. Martin said the color, Subtle Velvet Graphite, evokes a "wistfulness".
I particularly like the the picture frame molding on the walls with inlaid fabric panels that match the roman shades at the windows and the painted black boarder against the white frame really accentuates the architectural detail.
Please take note of the three fabulous Deco rugs and how they define each area in this small space.
It is easy to think how we can incorporate these timeless elements from the roaring 20's to a peaceful and harmonious space in our home today.
Elizabeth Taylor in BUtterfield 8 (1960)
As an Interior Designer I derive great inspiration from the movies and set design -
Here we see the great Elizabeth Taylor entering an all pink bathroom, and I mean all pink!
Everything is a textured pink, I am not sure if it is suppose to be marble (probably Formica) but all the walls, moldings, cabinetry and counter-top, right down to the towels are all exactly the same shade of bubble gum pink - everything except for the mirror frame, towel bars, bench and doorknob which are all a very 24 K gold. Even Mrs. Taylor's slip is a pale pink with a matching bubble gum pink lace trim.
I wonder if she is drinking a Pink Lady cocktail and to bad she doesn't have a Poodle, I bet we all can guess what color it would be - after all this movie was made in 1960 and is titled BUtterfield 8. As a side note Elizabeth Taylor won an Academy Award for her performance in this movie but it is my belief that the award was given to her for her performance in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) where it is said that she was over looked by the academy for being Hollywood's bad girl due to the affair and marriage to America's sweet heart, Debbie Reynolds husband Eddie Fisher. Elizabeth Taylor hated the film and referred to it as "Butterball 4" and was forced under protest to fulfill a contractual obligation to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer before being allowed to contract with 20th Century Fox to make Cleopatra - where we all know that Mrs. Taylor found her next husband Richard Burton.
Thanks to the set designers Gene Callahan and J. C. Delaney Elizabeth Taylor truly does look "Pretty in Pink"
Please feel free to view a clip from the movie showing the pink bathroom
