I’m so excited to be launching this new blog column! I’ve been trying to come up with a way to exercise my design muscle in a more liberal way (ie: sans budget), practice my rendering skills (ie: have some arts & crafts time) and get the chance to use some of the exceptional pieces that we keep in our ‘some day’ file (ie: put our Pinterest hoarding to good use). Then it hit me; why not just design for fun? Almost seems crazy, right? It’s tough to make time for pretend design when there’s so much real work to be done every day with our flesh and blood Clients (whom we love!) but I’ve decided to make it happen.
We’ll be scoping out lobbies of existing local buildings and re-imagining them. I’ll show you the existing space, our inspiration for the re-design, some of our finds to make the design work and finally, a rendering of the new and improved space. I’m specifically focusing on lobbies because there are so many great ones in Vancouver and they offer both a commercial space and some residential-style touches. Also it’s become a little bit of a hobby to photograph the exceptional ones when we’re out for a stroll in older neighbourhoods, hence the name; Lobby Hobby.
So, it is my great pleasure to show you our very first LH post:
This beauty is the lobby of an apartment building in the South Granville area. The shape of the space is great but the finishes need a major upgrade. And by the way; that’s not the camera fooling you, every surface in this space is pink. No joke. I was really drawn to the layout, the built-in bench and the stairs peaking out at the back; so, it made the cut!
For the re-imagined version of this space I really wanted to stay true to the mid-century era and keep the functionality of this modest space. The plan is to brighten it up with colour, bring the millwork and flooring up a notch, change out the lighting and really just give it a modern spin. Here’s our inspiration:
I love this space! This is part of an Australian home designed by Architects Owen and Vokes and Peters and styled by Canadian-born Annique Rousseau. Bright, open, airy, pops of colour, fresh and fun but still sophisticated (this is what Australian design is known for … I may have to move). This space also has the bench seating that we’re working with in our lobby as well as stairs leading out of the room so I thought it was a great starting point. Here’s what we’ll be using in our lobby to achieve this look (what we’re calling ‘the goods’):
1. Natural Walnut Flooring
2. Carrera Marble
3. Trees of Eden by Caroline Z. Hurley
4. Turquoise Buttercup Pillow by Mazizmuse Home
5. Ikat Pillow via Etsy
6. Coral Pink Pillow by Mazizmuse Home
And here’s how we see it all coming together:
The carpet in this lobby looks like it’s been here since the dawn of time … or at least before steam-cleaners were invented … so we’ll pull that up and get rid of the tile too. The natural walnut flooring will run throughout the space and we’ll use the same wood tone to re-face the bench seat millwork and to create that retro full-height slated stairwell partition from our inspiration image. For the record; in a lobby you want to use wood flooring that is commercially rated for durability. We’d also add a tile inlay at the entry but this is a fantasy and as such we’re assuming that high-heels don’t mar wood and that the transport industry has finally invented hover-dollies.
We’ll frame and accentuate the seating area and feature wall by running slabs of marble up the wall and across the ceiling. This has the added bonus of streamline the existing bulkheads on the ceiling and jogs in the walls. The marble will also be used as a base board since we want something durable (hover-dollies may be safe on floors but they can still dent walls!).
We’ll remove all the bead board and textured wall finish and add new smooth drywall painted out in a warm white (I like Benjamin Moore Cloud White). We’ll get rid of the existing walls sconces throughout and do some electrical work in order to add potlights to the new smooth ceiling (also in white). Our decorative up/down wall lights will be installed on the marble slabs to bring out the shine of the polished surface. We went for a brushed brass finish on these sconces to add a little gold glamour without being over the top. This also gives them contrast against the polished stone.
Next we’ll add our major pop of colour with this incredible oil painting by Caroline Z. Hurley. Great colours and the square shape is perfect for this space. Taking our cues from the painting we’ve added a few toss cushions to our bench seat. The two larger ones are made in a durable outdoor fabric which is great for cleaning and holding their colour.
In the end the space is functional, bright, sophisticated and modern. We’ve been true to the era and style of the building while bringing it right into 2013. Were we on budget? Well, it was unlimited, so yes! Jokes aside, this renovation wasn’t a total splurge. The marble ‘frame’ was our big ticket item and the design could easily be adapted to a more modest budget. What do you think? We’d love to hear your feedback on this design as well as the whole concept for the Lobby Hobby column. Your comments are always welcome and appreciated!