Many things have been happening at the Tate Residence
lately. We have finalized many of our
finishes and we will see them come to life over the next few weeks. It is very exciting but I must admit I am a
little nervous to see everything come together. I wanted to do a blog post about the
style/design of the Tate Residence.
I love this quote “Fashions go out of style,
but style never goes out of Fashion” I
think this same principle applies to interior design and architecture. We kept this in mind when picking our house
plan, In the area we live it’s not uncommon to see homes from the 1800’s or
even 1700’s. A classic home design is a
Center Hall Colonial with Georgian elevation..
We felt confident picking this for our home design because it not only
fit the region we are in but it stands the test of time as seen in the historic
homes and new construction. Simply put,
a center hall colonial, Georgian elevation will never go out of style. While there are other home designs we liked,
we felt that this was the most classic choice.
Which brings me to the “theme” of
the Tate Residence. Classic and
Timeless. This theme is most important
when it comes to picking hard finishes
(flooring, tile, cabinets, counter tops).
Paint can easily be changed as can curtains, and furniture but the hard
finishes in a home will be there for decades.
Since “trends” usually last about 5-10 years depending where you are
geographically, (trends start in California and NYC but usually don’t trickle to
us suburban folk until a few years in) if you commit to something that is a
current trend, chances are it will eventually date your home. By “date” your home I mean the hard finishes will scream which decade the house was built or updated. We decided
to keep our hard finishes as classic as possible.
Tate Kitchen- I have always loved white
kitchen cabinets so that was an easy decision (although which white paint to
use was an ordeal in itself) now on to door style, the most popular door style
is raised panel, this also applies to interior doors as well. We decided to go with a more simple clean
look called Shaker style. Since our
kitchen cabinets will be shaker that means that our interior doors need to be a
shaker style as well instead of the raised panel, this “theme” also transfers
over to our trim, we will have wainscoting in the foyer and dining room that
will match the cabinets and also the interior doors.
Shaker style interior door with shaker wainscoting
The picture above is done right, the door style is reflected in the trim, the picture below shows a raised panel door with shaker trim, while it doesn't look horrible, this would bother me to no end. Two hard finishes that don't match.
All these hard finishes need to be harmonious
in order to look complete. Now on to back splash, NOTHING BUT SUBWAY TILE.
Ever. No matter what. You can’t
pay me to put glass mosaic up (especially not with a patterned granite). Subway tile is the most classic of tiles
that there ever was. Period. If you want to get a little crazy put the subway
in a chevron pattern. But even that’s
too trendy for me. Remember our theme is
classic and timeless, chevron is on its way out. #ByeFelicia. It’s all about gingham (fabrics)
#ginghamstyle. But now I’m losing focus,
back to the hard finishes. Next up is counter top, we haven’t finalized our counter top yet as this is literally the
last thing that is done but we are pretty set on the color/type that we want to
go with. I originally wanted soapstone
(think of the material that the tabletops were made out of in chemistry class)
a matte black stone surface. It’s very
expensive and hard to come by around these parts so our next best option was
absolute black granite in a honed finish (matte finish). Many people talked me out of this option due
to the upkeep as it shows even the slightest finger print. So then I went to Carrera Marble and was
again talked out of that decision since it is so porous even a lemon slice
could etch the surface. The current
choice that nobody has talked me out of yet is a Cambrian Black Honed
Granite. It is a black granite but not
absolute black so it won’t show as many imperfections (I hope).
So why did we pick black counter tops? It was either black or white (Marble), when
your hard finishes are complete neutrals (can’t get more basic than black and
white) you aren't tied to any one color scheme or pattern. If I had a brown patterned granite, everything I did would have to correlate to a color that was in that
pattern. It then becomes the benchmark
by which everything else is picked (if you want a harmonious space) and chances
are in 10 years you aren't going to love your granite as much as you did when
you picked it. With a black and white or white/white kitchen the hard finishes can transition decade to decade and
complement each changing trend because they are complete neutrals. Classic and Timeless.
Below is a picture from one of the most famous kitchens- the kitchen from the movie Somethings Gotta Give (2003). A perfect example of timeless finishes. White shaker cabinets, soapstone counter top and subway tile back splash. Needless to say I'm in love with this kitchen. Even 11 years later this kitchen looks fresh and beautiful.
Now onto bathrooms, you might have
guessed it- white!!! I love the picture
of the bathroom below,
this bathroom looks like its brand new but in actuality the hard
finishes are from 1908!!!! Which just proves my point, classic and timeless
hard finishes can look brand new by updating soft finishes like paint, light
fixtures, furniture, curtains, pillows, rugs, etc. We have picked white hexagon floor tile and
white subway wall tile for all the guest bathrooms. For the master we are using Carrera marble
tile on the floor and white subway tile on the walls.
The only other hard finish I haven't mentioned is the floor, we are doing site finished red oak through out the first floor, I originally wanted to do some sort of distressed floor but alas decided that this was too trendy and went with the classic stained wood in a walnut finish.
I am still in the process of picking my two most important soft finishes, paint and fabric (for curtains). Stay tuned!!!!!
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