Katie Denham Interiors on Bath Crashers

My plate has been very full of late, and I do apologize for not posting sooner! Last Monday night was the airing of  a Bath Crashers episode which featured a Master Bath I designed for the show. As I mentioned, it was a very interesting learning experience to see how a show like this is put together.

As a designer, I typically have a client who has a budget, a wish list and a particular style in mind. In the case of the Bath Crashers show, the client was not the home owner. I did get the home owner's input, but really the show producers and the host of the show, Matt Muenster, were my clients. And there is no budget. That's right...no money. All materials had to be procured from vendors who were kind enough to donate their products. Another challenge was that, since Bath Crashers is all about the DIY, I was charged with thinking about projects that could be done by the home owners.

So, how does one approach a design when all of the materials and fixtures are to be donated? Well....the design began with the layout of the space, which is par for the course. But when it came time to specify materials, it got a bit more tricky. I would give my ultimate "wish list" to the producers, and they would in turn approach the vendors to see if they would be interested in working with the show. If not, it was on to the next vendor.....and a new tile design for floors, shower walls and counters, and new plumbing fixtures as well. Luckily, I had Toto at the top of my list for providing the toilet (they have excellent products!).....and lo and behold, they had just come out with a new line for the other plumbing fixtures that they were anxious to promote. Hello cool faucets and shower trim! And I have to say, the sinks are gorgeous! Caesarstone was also on my list as a counter top material that is maintenance free (the home owners loved that!), and they came through with the counters. We were almost home! The hardest thing to procure was the flooring and the shower tile. It took several designs until a wonderful company by the name of Jeffrey Court stepped up and provided beautiful marble tile for the floors and a Moroccan patterned glazed mosaic wall tile for the shower. 

One of my very favorite sources for affordable lighting (and lots of other fun things!) is a company called Direct form Mexico. They provided the star lantern which I just love. The pendant lights at the sink was one of the DIY projects I came up with. I started with hurricane lanterns from Restoration Hardware and had the homeowners turn them into pendant lights by wiring them with lighting kit available through any hardware store. They painted the cord black, and the ceiling plates we got through Direct From Mexico.

So, I started with the "after" shots, but what did it look like "before"? If you got to watch the show, you already know, but for those that didn't, this is the best shot I took of what the room looked like:

There were old oak cabinets, no floor due to a recent flood, brass fixtures, lighting and shower enclosure, and that funny little plant shelf in the corner. Oh....and perhaps it's just me, but in the eighties and nineties, there was this feeling that Master Bathrooms needed to be open to the Master Bedroom. I never understood that. If my husband wants to get up and use the bathroom at 4:30 in the morning, and I want to sleep until 6:30.....please give me a door to the bathroom!!! The home owners were thrilled to be getting a new bathroom, and a new door!

After my design was complete on paper, I did a sketch so the home owners could give final approval. I think the final result looked pretty close to my sketch:

It was my favorite part of the show when the host of Bath Crashers, Matt Muenster, unrolled my drawing and showed it to the owners. (My next favorite part was seeing my name first up in the credits!!! Just a little thrill for the day).

So a little behind the scenes peek:

I came on the last day of shooting after demolition, framing, rough plumbing and electrical had already been completed. Tile had also been done. The Master Bedroom was cleared of all furniture and turned into a staging area for contractors and their supplies, as well as the producers, cameramen and sound technicians. I have to say, everyone was so much fun the 12 hour day flew by.

Matt Muenster, the host of the show is there for the days of filming, and as soon as this shoot is done, he is off to the next shoot. Here he is installing the automated mirror glides that reveal the hidden TV:

Meanwhile, counter tops are being completed outside in the driveway area:

The troop from Holmquist Glass were ready and waiting to install the shower glass:

And here they are hard at work:

The wall cabinets were painted by the home owners the previous day and ready to install:

The whole process was filmed all day long, as well as the previous few days....all to be edited down into a half hour show.

I came in to do the final staging and "fluffing" of towels at the end of the day, which turned out to be about 7 or 8 that night. The crew was getting their final shots and then there was the break down and clean up....we were there til the wee hours....a very long day. But we were very well fed, and it was so much fun, I barely noticed. 

The final product with Matt Muenster:

And the happy new Master Bath owners:

The end result turned out to be very fresh and pretty:

A big THANK YOU to the team at Idea Factory, Bath Crashers and the DIY Network for making the experience so much fun! And to all of the contractors and subs who worked so hard to make it all happen.

For more information about this episode and future repeat episodes (just in case you missed it! Hehe) click on over HERE.

Sensible Style Kitchens and Baths for Home Sellers

This is a special edition of Sensible Style, one geared toward the thousands of homeowners wanting - or needing - to sell their average, everyday homes, condos or townhouses, the kind you find scattered through neighborhoods everywhere. (It's not intended for the mansion set!)

It's also a "preview" of a seminar I'll be presenting at the Del Mar Home Show on Friday, October 15, 2010, and of a possible e-book (or printed volume).

You can now also get a Sensible Style consultation for the home you want to sell, either in person in the San Diego area, or electronically in other parts of the country. Contact me at 760-705-8319 or jamie@jgkitchens.com for details.

As a house seller and house hunter myself, as well as a professional kitchen and bath designer, I can share tips from every perspective... How your home looks to a buyer. What reads well and what doesn't. How to boost the perceived value of your place, especially in its crucial kitchen and master bath areas.

My goal for this Sensible Style Kitchens and Baths for Home Sellers post is to help you sell your place quicker, and for more money. The tips here are all low-cost and can improve how your home shows to prospective buyers without a major investment of materials or labor.

In fact, most of the resources included in this post are available through The Home Depot, (except where noted). Most are regularly-stocked items there, too, though what is stocked varies by region.

One note: These tips are geared toward transitional and traditional homes, rather than contemporary. That's because more homes on the market fit into those two categories. There are certainly options like these available for modern homes, and I offer Sensible Style consultations for contemporaries, too.

So, let's get started on getting your home sold sooner, and for more money!


Paint: First, lasting impression

This is one of the first things buyers will notice about your place, and one of the most affordable to change. Realtors always rave about "neutrals throughout," but neutrals aren't the mainstay of the magazines, websites, catalogs and even the model homes buyers look at through the home selection process.

Even neutrals are showing up now in deeper, richer tones - e..g, coffee rather than beige, and new neutral definitions include woodsy greens like sage. The more your rooms resemble current, stylish home images, the quicker your place will sell.

Use color schemes shown in popular magazine spreads or at upscale retailers. Restoration Hardware has a nice, rich palette that I like to work with.

Choose a rich palette, like the Restoration Hardware selections, for an affordable upgrade.

For suggestions on which paints go with which cabinets and countertops, please check out this earlier Winning Color Combinations Sensible Style post.

Lighting: Let there be improvements!

I've replaced hundreds of bare bones light bars in six years of bath remodels. Do yourself a favor and replace yours if it looks like this one. Choose a model that works with the other finishes in the room, but adds some updated style. It's cheap. It's easy. It's one of the simplest improvements you can make to your bathrooms, especially the master!

You wouldn't be seen naked in your bathroom before a prospective buyer; why should your bulbs???

Add style with this World Imports Satin Nickel Bath Bar instead.

Flooring: Potential trouble afoot?

Flooring is often perceived as a big ticket item, and it can be in many instances. I'm currently renting a condo with ugly sheet vinyl flooring in the kitchen. Had I chosen to buy this place, that would have ka-chinged big time in my brain. Will your kitchen and bath floors resonate with your prospective buyers, so they'll be seeing good looks, rather than "gotta change this" when they walk through?

This old school resilient flooring won't resonate with buyers.

These Ceramica Exodus 12 x 12 Resilient Tiles by Trafficmaster would be an easy-install upgrade.

And this budget Marazzi Montagna Lugano 16 x 16 Porcelain Tile is an even better choice.

Bonus: If you opt for ceramic or porcelain tile flooring and add a coordinating backsplash, you'll up the perceived value of your kitchen even more. Many of the trims and mosaics that go with stock porcelain or ceramic tiles are also in stock for an easy, affordable upgrade.

This is one of the in-stock accent tile options that coordinates with the Marazzi porcelain floor tile. It can make a kitchen-enhancing backsplash an easy, affordable option.

Windows: Covering yourself

To me, nothing says cheap like aluminum mini blinds. (They also get bent easily by folks checking out your views.) Buyers look at them and imagine their replacements being a custom - i.e., expensive - change. It doesn't have to be. I like two-inch white faux wood blinds as a reasonable alternative to custom shutters. They'll look like an upgrade when you're selling, but many common sizes can be found in stock at home centers.

Aluminum mini blinds are outdated, unattractive and take away from your views.

Opt for 2" Faux wood blinds instead, like these DesignView Grandwoods in many stock sizes.

Another cheap-looking window treatment is plastic vertical blinds, especially on windows. (I see them all the time on patio doors.) You can use faux woods on windows, as noted above. I'd suggest long, wide fabric window panels as the most affordable option for doors. They're widely available in discount stores like Target, Bed, Bath & Beyond and Ikea, as are the rods to hang them on. Go simple and solid in a natural fabric like white cotton to offset your richly-colored, newly painted walls.

This Woolrich Grommet Window Pair from Target is a visual upgrade from plastic vertical blinds for your patio doors. Keep them open during showings.

Hardware: An easy upgrade

Cheap plastic hardware will make your cabinets look cheap themselves. No hardware (except on sleek modern cabinets) can have the same effect. Replacing them can be easy and affordable if you stay with the same spread, (i.e., hole to hole distance), to avoid repairs to the doors and drawer fronts. Or you can choose hardware that covers the old holes if you're changing sizes. I replaced knobs with bin pulls on my last home's kitchen drawers, which achieved the desired result without a drop of wood putty! Nice hardware can really dress up builder grade cabinets; consider it jewelry for your kitchen or bath!

You wouldn't spot these in a Parade of Homes tour home!

Dress up your cabinets with brushed nickel Amerock Inspirations Plain Pulls for a not-so-plain upgrade.

Faucets: Style turn on opportunity

Another turn-off is plastic-handled faucets in your kitchen or bath. They'll be noticed immediately and read low budget to your buyers. Sink faucets are very easy and inexpensive to change out.

They're cheap. They're ugly. And they're in kitchens from coast to coast.

Give your prospective buyers a sleek Delta Cicero pull-out faucet with soap dispenser, too, for an easy, richer-looking faucet impression.

The single-handle plastic knob faucet is in bathrooms everywhere and enhances none of them!

This Kohler Archer faucet easily replaces the abomination above and instantly upgrades your bath!

Tub and shower faucets are not as easy to replace, unless you can get ones that fits the existing valves. One way to tell if this will be possible is to note the manufacturer name on your current faucets, take a photo of them to your nearest home center and look at their special order books. If they show your model, they'll also show its valve and you may be able to find a new set that works with that same one. If so, that's an easy handyman replacement. (I did it at my last house for less than $200, including parts and labor.)


Details: Little ones can make a big difference

Though they won't deter a buyer, there are a couple of small details you can improve that will make your place look a bit richer. One is replacing the white plastic flush valve that comes with just about every builder toilet I've ever seen for one that matches your other hardware.

A decorative flush lever, like this Moen Banbury, will upgrade your bathroom instantly. Consider it for a powder room, and if your toilet is in a highly visible location in the master bath.

Another easy change is replacing those dreadful plastic shower hooks with better-looking metal ones that fit the style of your bath.

Shower Curtain Rings with Bearings or other coordinating styles and finishes, will improve the look for your bathroom.

Topping things off

Changing countertops can be an expensive proposition, but changing what's sitting on them doesn't need to be. Consider stainless steel countertop appliances and limit them to just one or two. Nothing else needs to sit out at all. Plastic drainboards and soap bottles are a definite detractor.

Your budget may not allow for stainless steel appliances, but a stainless steel toaster oven you can take with you can add countertop eye candy to your kitchen. This one by Breville at Williams-Sonoma features convection cooking, as well.

Other upgrades

Fluffy white bath towels and mat will read "spa" to prospective buyers and also contrast richly with your new paint color. So will brushed metal, natural wood (that doesn't clash with your cabinetry) or woven accessories, like bamboo tissue holders or wicker trash can. Remove anything that screams Walmart or Motel 6.

This Bamboo Square Bath Ensemble by simplehuman at Bed, Bath & Beyond will instantly add natural, updated style to your bath.

Final thought

Declutter. Declutter. Declutter. I was looking at an otherwise spacious townhome this week with ridiculously-overstuffed closets. It gave the impression that there wasn't enough storage in the place. Whatever doesn't fit in neatly, allowing both doors to open easily, needs to be stored somewhere else. The same holds true for linen towers, kitchen cabinets and bath vanities.

Details #5 - Finishing Touches

This is the final installment of a five-part, first week of the month series with The Decorating Diva. Each focuses on a single room detail that can make a huge difference in the success of that space's style.

Last month we looked at hardware. (See links for the full series at the end of this post.) This segment focuses on those last little details that sometimes go unfunded or get overlooked. Think about the last time you walked into a darling powder room, only to notice plastic clips on the mirror or an ugly white switch plate. Or try to imagine this bathroom with plastic towel holders? (As its designer, I try not to!)

Master bath by Jamie Goldberg Kitchen and Bath Design, LLC

Design is in the details. So this edition of Details focuses on finishing touches.


Mirrors

We look at them every morning when we comb our hair, but when was the last time you really looked at yours? Are the edges chipped or rusting? Does your mirror lack a frame? Mirrors glued to the wall are tricky and hazardous to remove, but can be framed for a richer look. Clip-on mirrors or builder grade medicine cabinet mirrors can be more easily replaced. For a couple of hundred dollars or less, you can give your bathroom a much, much better look!

For a great splurge, check out this beauty. (I want one in my next home!)

It's a mirror. It's a television. It's a stylistic and engineering marvel. It's a Seura!

I can see this Crate & Barrel Largo mirror really enhancing a bath with cinnamon cherry cabinets.

Pottery Barn's Kensington Mirror creates an instant bathroom upgrade

Installed Accessories

Chances are, your home has some permanently-installed accessories in one or more room that are taking away from their appeal. Examples include dime store kitchen paper towel holders, plastic flush levers on your toilets, plastic towel bars in your bathroom and builder basic switchplate covers. These are easy DIY upgrade opportunities on their own, or should be factored into any larger remodel plans you're making.

Flush out ugly tank levers with coordinating versions, like this Brantford model from Moen

Vent your home fashion frustrations with a stylish register cover, like this Scroll model from Restoration Hardware.

Switch to better-looking outlet covers, like these Porcelain beauties from Rejuvenation... Perfect for a retro bath!

Countertop Accessories

This is the easiest, most affordable, no tools or handyman required, update you can make to a kitchen or bath. If your canisters or drinking glasses are looking dated, visit your favorite home goods store or web site for an instant upgrade. They tend to be smaller, lower cost items, so changing out every few years isn't a budget buster. (Donate your old set to a charity, please!) They're also a great way to add color, texture and a new style component to your space.

Give your bath modern, international flair with Jonathan Adler's Berlin accessories

Add pared-down elegance to your bath with Pottery Barn's Quinn Beaded bath accessories.

Form meets function in these stainless steel canisters at The Container Store.

Countertop Appliances

What is your toaster or coffee maker saying about your kitchen? I'm tired... I'm old... I'm bargain basement? Countertop appliances are also easy upgrades, albeit a little more expensive. The first principle of countertop appliances, however, is store the ones you don't use daily. The only appliances that should sit out are part of your morning or dinner routine. If the food processor or stand mixer only gets used once a month or so, it doesn't need to take up room on your countertops. For those essentials you do use daily, consider models that add functionality and style to your kitchen.

Give your kitchen coffee bar style and flexibility with this Cuisinart Coffee on Demand machine at Williams-Sonoma.

Think of it as a toaster on steroids! This Breville Countertop Convection Oven, also at Williams-Sonoma, is so much more. I want one of these, too!

Breville also makes a top-rated, darned good looking juicer! Available through Amazon.com.

Enjoy the entire Details series!

Details #1 - The Lighting Edition
Details #2 - The Faucet Edition
Details #3 - Fabrics and Fibers
Details #4 - The Hardware Edition
Details #5 - Finishing Touches

Details #4 - The Hardware Edition

This is the fourth of a five-part, first week of the month series with The Decorating Diva. Each of the five Details editions will focus on a single room detail that can make a huge difference in the success of that space's style.

Last month we looked at fabrics. This segment focuses on hardware, in particular, the knobs and pulls that adorn cabinetry. (There's also great hardware available for your paneled appliances, pantry and entry doors.)

Never underestimate the power of heavenly hardware to enhance the look of a room. For example, consider how the simple, curved cabinet door handles echo the curve and finish of the appliance handles and tie in with the coastal simplicity of this kitchen.

Kitchen designed by Jamie Goldberg, AKBD, CAPS

Try to imagine this kitchen with naked doors and drawers, or with cheap plastic hardware. Either would totally detract from the otherwise pulled-together room. Cabinet hardware is one of the simplest -- and often most affordable -- ways to dress up a kitchen or bath or change its style to fit your new decor.

Here are some great knobs and pulls to consider, even if you're not planning a major redo. Small touches can make a big difference!

Wood and Metal Collection pull from Topex can take a plain jane door and turn it into a stylish slab style contemporary.

This Traditional Violet Glass Knob from Restoration Hardware can dress up painted white doors with cottage charm.

The new Italian Design Collection, also from Topex, can take your basic kitchen cabinets from blah to bellissima.

This Simple Bin Pull from Rejuvenation is timeless and will coordinate handsomely with a transitional Oil Rubbed Bronze faucet and creamy white cabinets.

At the other end of the style spectrum is Anthropologie's Mother-of-Pearl Knob. This beauty would elegantly bejewel a traditional style master bath.


I love the eclectic geometry of Du Verre's Marcel collection. Use it to add some fun and style to your standard kitchen or bath cabinets.

Consider alternative materials to add texture and taste to your stained wood cabinets. Here's a great look in leather by Atlas Homewares.

Consider these essential tips when updating your cabinet hardware:

* Buy at least one extra piece per style so that if you have an issue later, (which inevitably happens right after the series has been discontinued), you won't have to replace the whole room's hardware.

* Pulls are measured from screw to screw. Measure your existing holes before hardware shopping so that you can find new ones with the same spread. This will keep you from having to cover old holes with wood putty or backer plates.

* Consider the styles and finishes of the other hardware in your room -- e.g., appliance handles, door handles, faucets -- and consider coordinating your knobs and pulls for a more consistent look.


Enjoy the entire Details series!

Details #1 - The Lighting Edition
Details #2 - The Faucet Edition
Details #3 - Fabrics and Fibers
Details #4 - The Hardware Edition
Details #5 - Finishing Touches