Modern Home Tour ~ Part 2
A few weeks ago I shared Part 1 of a Modern Home Tour. Â Today I am sharing the rest of the spaces, the guest room, the master bedroom and our two bathrooms. Â These areas are certainly ones that we use every single day and needed them to function well for us. Â I have always thought that decorating a bedroom with modern style while still keeping it comfortable, cozy and relaxing could be a challenge. Â I am very happy with how our bedroom turned out, but probably the one thing that makes the most impact on it feeling like an intimate space is the luxurious grey velvet curtains that cover the entire wall of windows. Â When I close those, it is like I am closing out the entire world. Â Of course, with them open, particularly after dark, I have that same fabulous water and city view which absolutely sparkles on a clear night.
The wonderful tufted leather bed and luxurious linens also add to the comfortable feel of the master bedroom. Â In the distance you can see my red desk. Â In our past home this only served as a desk, but when we downsized to this condominium a fateful event turned this into my vanity and my bedside stand. Â My advice is to ALWAYS live in a place before you start buying furniture, remodeling or decorating. Â We had not intended to live in this space before we remodeled, but circumstances led to us moving in for several weeks before the construction started.
During that time I learned that the master bathroom (where I had intended on putting a vanity) was the hottest room in the place due to the hot water pipes that run inside the walls of the bathroom up and down to all 30 floors. Â In our temporary state, I used the window sill as my vanity and learned that if it is too warm in the winter, I could just crack the window and in the summer the air conditioner blows right there. Â Another little secret is that all of my cosmetics can hide in baskets behind the grey velvet curtains. Â Tricky, right? Â One evening that first December I was sitting there curling my hair to go out and saw Santa Claus get out of a car! Â This really is a pretty fun place to do your hair and makeup.
This is the opposite wall in the master bedroom. Â The chest of drawers and the cylindrical lamp are from Room & Board (whom I absolutely love). Â The vintage pictures of Paris were bought in a shop in Winter Park, Florida some 15 years or so ago. Â The linens we chose for our bedroom are Hotel Collection from Macy’s. Â With our space being as small as it is we used the same gray paint for the walls and the same gray flooring throughout (except for the bathrooms). Â The flooring is a high end laminate, however, and we have not been all that happy with it. Â That will probably be redone sometime in the next few years. Â All in all we are very happy with how the place turned out. Â 
This is the wonderful storage space I had room to add since I didn’t put my vanity in the bathroom. Â I love all the storage space! Â Those roomy mirrored medicine chests, they came from Ikea! Â Everyone thinks they are some high-end expensive pieces.
Due to the age of the building, putting in double sinks was not feasible, but the good part was, that needing just one sink in each bathroom, meant I was able to find great deals on Overstock.com. Â Carrera marble countertops and the same Martha Stewart cabinets we used in the kitchen kept a clean and uniform look. Â
We knew we wanted to use an abundance of white subway tile, it is inexpensive and always looks clean and fresh, but the designers I worked with came up with this amazing tile that has narrow strips of cut stone on them. Â I love in the shower how it looks like it is flowing like the water.
We thought we might use a queen size bed in the guest room, but since we have guest suites in the building, we went with this West Elm daybed with a trundle. Â It is comfortable enough for guests and leaves a wide open room where my hubby uses the closet and we both have room for packing suitcases. Â I purchased the gray and white chevron bedding inexpensively and I keep waiting to find something I really love to dress that bed. Â 
We were so fortunate that the previous owner left this classic vintage chest of drawers. Â The finish was in bad condition, so we had it painted this lovely dark gray. Â 
I wanted to share a picture of these beautiful closet doors. Â We waited months for them to be shipped from custom made and shipped from California to Ohio, but they really were the perfect thing for the long guest room closet.
This is our guest bathroom. Â This beautiful mirror hung above my bathtub in a previous house, but found a home on this beautiful tile will here. Â For real function as a mirror there is another one of those Ikea medicine chests filled with anything a guest may need hung above the toilet. Â 
Our bathrooms, and showers, in particular are very oddly shaped in this building, but I think we did a great job using the existing shapes with new tiles and fittings. Â Our guest have a bathroom to use and the white subway tile makes them easy to keep clean.
Do you like a modern space or is it too cold for you? Â Would you use gray or is it already on its way out?
I look forward to showing you my traditional home as I renovate, decorate and style my new space!
I’ll be sharing this at the following link parties: Thursday Favorite Things | Pams Party & Practical Tips: Dare To Share | Inspire Me Monday
Chloe, this is a lovely home. I have a fondness for modern clean lines and I try and incorporate some modern aspects in our home. Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop. Watch for your feature on Monday xo
Thanks Katherine. I am so honored you will feature my home! I am such a lucky lady to get to have one modern place and one traditional. Now I just need to get started on the traditional one!
This is gorgeous!!! What a great job you guys did!
Thanks so much Kristin! I moved in my new (to me) coastal style home in Florida two weeks ago and am anxious to get started on that!
Hello-
I stumbled upon your blog. This will seem very blunt, but I have no other option as I cant say it to you in person. I went to school for 4 years to become an interior designer, I live and work as a designer in Manhattan. I absolutely live for my career, and have a deep passion for it. But to be honest, it bothers me when people who have no degree on the topic pass themselves off as being “passionate about a well designed home”, when you have no idea what that means. Your home lacks many qualities that we learn in design. For example…your entire house is grey. absolutely no designer anywhere would say that an all grey home, with no variety of colors and textures, is a good design idea. Everything is so matchy matchy in your bathrooms. The ultra modern vanity with the marble countertops…?????? Those are two completely different design styles thrown together. Anything other than white sheets and white towels is a big no no. Whats the sun mirror thing in your second bathroom? It doesnt even fit on the wall! A leather tufted bed? Oh my gosh, I just threw up in my mouth. I mean, I could go on for days. If you are going to have a blog that talks about design…please make sure you know what you are talking about. Its fine to be proud of your home. But when you post your home with pride, talking about “design”, when you CLEARLY have no business doing so, its insulting to those of us who know what the hell we are doing, and paid a lot of money and took a lot of time to learn it. Its like someone who isnt a doctor giving medical advice. Its insulting.
Hi Chloe!
It has been a treat “seeing” your modern home in these two blog posts and I am excited to watch as your “traditional” home evolves… It is clear that you love both your homes and have more than a passing knowledge of design. Your space is beautiful…
That said, I would maybe like to go a bit off thread and respond to Grace Kelly’s remarks above. As a professional interior designer myself based in Cleveland (it’s surely not Manhattan but we are not a cow town, either) , Ms. Kelly’s remarks could not be more off base; in fact, I do not understand the aggressive tone of her post (“I threw up in my mouth” – what is she, fifteen?)
All successful interior designers know that there are “no rules” in design (“only white towels and sheets?”) and – while there may be some fundamental principles regarding design – as long as an interior is pleasing and the client happy, I feel I have done my job. Monochromatic interiors, for example, are considered by MANY to be serene and sophisticated. (Toile and chintz isn’t for everyone). And I find it interesting that a designer working in Manhattan, where every inch of real estate is all but priceless, would suggest that maybe your personal aesthetic is too spare. (Are you suggesting more tchotchkes, Grace?)
I know my design peers here in Cleveland fall into essentially two categories – professional designers that help clients refine and shape THEIR vision (meaning the CLIENT’S vision) for their space and dictator designers, that browbeat clients into accepting what “they know” is best for the client. I suspect our posting friend is a dictator. Too bad.
In closing, I’d like to add that the “sun mirror thing” in your bathroom is amazing. In my Drawing 101 class, taken MANY years ago, our professor challenged us to draw “…all the way to the edge of the paper,” to create “…beautiful things not limited to paper size.” I kinda’ feel sorry for Grace Kelley – seems like she might just be someone that always stays “within the lines.” Again, too bad.
Your home is awesome, Chloe. Be proud – you should be!
Thank you Tim. I am proud, and pleased with how my condominium looks. It brings my husband and I joy each time we walk into it.
Tim,
I also find it interesting she said “absolutely no designer anywhere would say that an all grey home, with no variety of colors and textures, is a good design idea.”
I decided to put her bold statement to the test, and it didn’t take me long to find a famous AD 100 designer who does NOT agree with her. Charles Allem was interviewed about his Miami condo in 2006 by Architectural Digest and explained : “I don’t mind color in a large home, but in a smaller one, I stick to one or two colors and change the textures and that’s that.” At the time he was a Manhattan-based interior designer.
Source: http://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/allem-article-092006
It is also clear in Chloe’s home that she does use textures.
Chloe,
Your creativity and eye does not go unnoticed. Your condo is beautiful and I can’t wait to see what you do with your coastal style home!