Your bath and your Master Suite is really your private retreat…

As our clients know, we look at your space from a very different perspective.  We transform a standard box of an interior into something that is not only very functional but beautiful as well.  However, this doesn’t mean that you have to spend your life savings to get that luxurious feel – one that really speaks to your soul…

Here is what we did for Mrs. S.  
For example Mrs. S. was referred to us by a well known remodeling contractor in this area.  She was looking for someone to help her with her master bedroom.  The room already had a lot of good things going for it like the subtle striped professionally painted walls as well as nice quality, beautiful furniture.  Mrs. S. felt that she had gotten the room as far as she could on her own and that it need to be “pulled together to give it that complete feel”.   She told us that her budget was $4,000.  She also told us that she had a couple of design professionals at the house t give her recommendations on how to ‘pull the room together’ as well as cost estimates.  She was having trouble committing to working with any of these professionals because of what they were offering for the prices they were quoting.  As Mrs. S. said to us “I know that these things cost money, but I am getting quotes for new just window treatments and an upholstered head board for $4,000.  That’s my entire budget and I know that the room needs more”! – Mrs. S., Camp Hill PA.
Case Study #34: Mrs. S.’s Master Bedroom

Step 1:  Preliminary Design Meeting

• We visited the client in her home, and had an in-depth conversation with her on what she wanted from her bedroom.  
  
• Specifically, we discussed what her complaints were about the space.
  
• We listened to her initial thoughts about possible solutions, such as replacing the existing ready-made curtains with new custom window treatments.   
  
• After hearing her complaints, and after interviewing her at great length, we asked if she would consider foregoing adding a custom window treatment, which can very costly, if we could show her a way to work with what she already has—it just wasn’t being used well.  
  
• She liked the sound of that very much, because it meant saving a lot of money! 

Step 2:  Field Survey

• First, we made note of all the items that would stay in the room; the bed, the dresser, the night stands, and possibly the chair (with the idea that we would reupholster it)
  
• We looked at the room as a whole.  We identified areas that needed to be either modified or needed something added in order to complete the composition.  To us, a room is like a canvas.  The artist paints the canvas in layers, creating a rich, complete composition.
  
• We took informal pictures of the bed room and the bath.  

Step 3: Created Mrs. S.’s Luxury Retreat

• We came back to our design studio and with we had gathered during our field survey we outlined a proposal for some cost effective changes that would make a profound impact on the room. 
  
• As with kitchens and other rooms, there are usually two or three solutions, but here is always one really good solution.  
  
• We often have to research the proper materials and products that would be best suited for our client’s needs and wants.  In some cases, we actually have to back up and reexamine the space.

Step #4:  Accessory Shopping and Selection

• In this case, we spent about 3_ hours (without our client) shopping for the right accessories to complete the “pulled together look” that we were going for.  With our notes from our extensive interview with the client in had, we figured out which accessories were the best selection based upon what Mrs. S. likes, how they would fit in the room, and her budget.

Step #5:  The Presentation

Back at our clients’ home, we sat down and unveiled our presentation.  In this case, since no drawings were required, our presentation consisted of showing Mrs. S. the items that we purchased and how we planned to use them…

• We started with an overview of how we will “pull the room together” by adding a strong accent color – in this case, a deep red.   
  
• We then went through each element of the design.  For example, we explained why we chose to add red fabric to the existing ready-made curtains.  This gave them a brand new and custom look for a fraction of the cost and was a key part in pulling all the elements in the room together.
  
• We showed Mrs. S. samples of some cost effective fabrics.  When she made her selection we had our window treatment expert come to the house to take her existing curtains back to his studio to fabricate the new semi-custom window treatment.
  
• We had a custom upholstered headboard made with matching red fabric.
  
• We reupholstered the chair in the bedroom with the same red fabric and added some ready-made decorative red pillows to the bed.
  
• Now all we needed was to re-mat the large floral painting (that has special meaning to our client) in a colored mat that enhanced the painting and complimented the room, add the accessories that we had purchased, and viola! – the room was complete!!
  
• We also brought the red into the bath by painting the small bit of wall around the mirror and adding some sharp looking red towels.  Changing the knobs on the cabinets also gave them a more up-dated look.
  

Again, everything we did was based upon what the clients said and wanted back during the preliminary design.  

Mrs. S.’s reaction? – “I just LOVE my ‘new’ bedroom!  I feel like am walking into a luxury hotel room every time I come in here.  I can’t believe that you did all this in my budget.”

On the other hand, Mrs. K. wanted a complete Master Suite renovation:

 Case Study #27:  
Client challenge:

Ellen and Michael M. spent two years debating the pros and cons of renovating their existing home vs. building a new one. As Ellen told me “we love the neighborhood, the schools (they have 3 young boys) and we dread the thought of packing all of our belongings and moving.  We just don’t love our house like we did when we bought it”.  We told them that we here very often and explained that they can transform the house that they once loved back to a home that they can love again without up-routing their entire lives.  

During Their Preliminary Design Meeting:

• We visited in her Ellen and Michael home, and had an in-depth conversation with them about their short term and long term goals for their family as well as their needs and desires for their bedroom.  
  
• Specifically, we discussed what their complaints about the space and learned that not only was it “truly ugly” as Ellen said, it was the coldest room in the house since it is located over the garage.
  
• We listened to their initial thoughts about the possibility of moving to another house or even building a new home.   
  
• After hearing all their complaints, and guiding them through the process of weighing out the pros and cons of staying and renovating vs. moving, they asked for a couple of days to think about our conversation.

Shortly after our first meeting Ellen and Mike had decided that renovating their existing home made the most sense.  Aside from the huge inconvenience of moving, they had already built a large amount of equity into their existing home by paying down a good bit of the mortgage on it. 

Interior Dimensions solution: After interviewing both Ellen and Mike in great detail, we agreed to explore two options for the existing master suite.  In the first option, we would leave all the walls in their existing locations to save on cost.  In the second option we would explore completely gutting the suite and starting over with a blank canvas - but only of this truly and profoundly improved the function of the space.  

After much drawing in our design studio we came up with three floor plan layouts to present.  In two of the plans we worked with the existing wall layout.  In the third plan we recommended removing the wall that was formerly between the bath and the bedroom and rebuilding it on a 45 degree angle.  This opened up the bath area and made the bedroom more intimate and interesting.  But what really made a tremendousimpact on the new suite was that we added an additional walk-in closet.  This not only made excellent use of wasted space in the suite but it helped define and separate the dressing area from the sleeping are – a huge plus in adding that luxurious feel.

We also solved the heat problem by adding a beautiful fireplace in the bedroom and properly relocating a heat vent in the bathroom (Note: The cold needs to be combated at the point of entry.  This is usually under the windows in a home)

[More and more, we find that people want a private retreat to escape to at the end of a long day at work].

Client reaction:

They were ecstatic!  Both Ellen and Mikelovedtheir new master suite and their home again.  I remember the phone calls from Ellen during the final stages of the build-out.  In her excitement she would call daily and say things like “this isn’t like a five star hotel, it’s like a ten star hotel!”  “it is absolutely and totally awesome!!”

Although Ellen and Tim paid almost $8,000 for the design of their new master suite they were thrilled since they knew that they would have paid a lot more in moving costs and closing costs on a new house - not to mention the cost of the new house vs. the cost of the renovation plus the hassle of moving. 

By working with certified design professionals such as Interior Dimensions, you can “find space” within your existing square footage.   We came up with a simple idea to make the space not only beautiful but it is far more functional as well.