We're starting with the master bathroom (from scratch), walk-in closet & a small front study off the master bedroom. There will not be any work done yet in the master bedroom itself (just these 3 rooms off of it) or the new mini-den due to permits. Basically we have an open permit for the 3 rooms I mentioned so we need to do that work before moving on......that and because our money tree in the backyard hasn't begun to sprout dollars yet. Over the weekend we made a special trip to Lowe's (and Home Depot....shhhh!) to scout out doors and windows.
The 82 year old doors in the rest of our home look like this.
We're sort of hoping to "update" the look on the 2nd floor; still keeping with the traditional bungalow style of our home but maybe making it kind of a "new traditional." As you can tell by the work we've done thus far, we prefer clean lines, lots of bright white and traditional materials.
New board and batten in the dining room 
Traditional tile in the mudroom
And a sneak peek at our fireplace remodel
Traditional tile in the mudroom
And a sneak peek at our fireplace remodel
The 2nd floor has lower ceilings except for the front study which has a nice vault. This is the space of our future master bedroom.
Although we do plan to eventually put a skylight in the bedroom (over on the right side), there aren't any actual windows in it.......just the 3 that are in the front study which will be connected to the master by glass paneled french doors. Because of the lack of windows in addition to the low ceiling, we plan to keep that space white in hopes of down playing the low ceilings by making the wall/ceiling one and brightening things up by doing so. To make it a bit more architecturally interesting we'd like to do some type of board and batten on the wall behind the bed. Maybe something like this.
We've also tossed around the idea of adding some wall sconce reading lights like these...
or maybe these.
And I'd love to have the Colette Bed from Crate and Barrel........
and this Dwell Studio duvet duvet paired with a white coverlet and shams.
The master bathroom will have this look, as I'm sure you recall.
And we're thinking about highlighting the height of the ceiling in the study with a natural wood, like this.
Do you get a feeling for the look we're going for? Bright, clean, crisp with contrast - color, but nothing too bright? More serene than the 1st floor, where we are using some strong pops of color. Now, here's where we need your help. Do you think we'd be making a big mistake if we shook things up a bit upstairs with natural clean pine doors (no paint) and black window frames? Like these......
Natural wood doors with white door trim (but not brass hardware).
You see we're worried that there is already going to be so much white up there, so if we do white windows and doors (like downstairs) that it will be a white overkill. Of course we'll do a glass french door for the study, but we even like the idea of frosted glass doors for the bathroom and closet too. I think it will feel so much lighter than a heavy solid (non-glass) door. We don't have our minds 100% made up though since we're concerned about the cohesion between upstairs and downstairs. We've mentioned some of our ideas to the contractor but while he's done great previous work, it seems it's all been pretty "safe" traditional Charlotte style -white trim, white windows, white doors - so he doesn't really "get" it.
We know that typically our choices are a bit more unique than the norm, and we like it that way, but we also know this house isn't forever....... So what do you think? Take the safe route that won't offend anyone, but also won't make us stand out in the crowd of mid-sized bunglows? Or go with our gut and pray that our efforts for being "unique" will be applauded?
Your opinions are greatly accepted and appreciated!
Although we do plan to eventually put a skylight in the bedroom (over on the right side), there aren't any actual windows in it.......just the 3 that are in the front study which will be connected to the master by glass paneled french doors. Because of the lack of windows in addition to the low ceiling, we plan to keep that space white in hopes of down playing the low ceilings by making the wall/ceiling one and brightening things up by doing so. To make it a bit more architecturally interesting we'd like to do some type of board and batten on the wall behind the bed. Maybe something like this.
We've also tossed around the idea of adding some wall sconce reading lights like these...
or maybe these.
And I'd love to have the Colette Bed from Crate and Barrel........
and this Dwell Studio duvet duvet paired with a white coverlet and shams.
The master bathroom will have this look, as I'm sure you recall.
And we're thinking about highlighting the height of the ceiling in the study with a natural wood, like this.
Do you get a feeling for the look we're going for? Bright, clean, crisp with contrast - color, but nothing too bright? More serene than the 1st floor, where we are using some strong pops of color. Now, here's where we need your help. Do you think we'd be making a big mistake if we shook things up a bit upstairs with natural clean pine doors (no paint) and black window frames? Like these......Black windows (and lighting) on white walls
Natural wood doors with white door trim (but not brass hardware).
You see we're worried that there is already going to be so much white up there, so if we do white windows and doors (like downstairs) that it will be a white overkill. Of course we'll do a glass french door for the study, but we even like the idea of frosted glass doors for the bathroom and closet too. I think it will feel so much lighter than a heavy solid (non-glass) door. We don't have our minds 100% made up though since we're concerned about the cohesion between upstairs and downstairs. We've mentioned some of our ideas to the contractor but while he's done great previous work, it seems it's all been pretty "safe" traditional Charlotte style -white trim, white windows, white doors - so he doesn't really "get" it.
We know that typically our choices are a bit more unique than the norm, and we like it that way, but we also know this house isn't forever....... So what do you think? Take the safe route that won't offend anyone, but also won't make us stand out in the crowd of mid-sized bunglows? Or go with our gut and pray that our efforts for being "unique" will be applauded?
Your opinions are greatly accepted and appreciated!
