Before and After: French Country Master Suite Renovation
Sheila Rich helps couple reconfigure dark, dated rooms to welcome elegance, efficiency and relaxation
After having their second child, a couple in New Jersey was ready to renovate their master bedroom. "These clients had lived in the house awhile, and we were renovating room by room," says interior designer Sheila Rich. "The house was built during an era when practically every room in the house had a wet bar and very little to no closet space. ... This was a poorly appointed master suite, with odd proportions, lots of wasted space and extremely inefficient storage."
The suite included a sitting room, bedroom and bathroom. Rich reconfigured the entire space, moving the bedroom into the former sitting room, changing the layout to include a hallway and his-and-her walk-in closets, adding storage and switching up the bathroom layout. The result is elegant, airy and romantic, but more important, comfortable and functional.
"Lots of giggles happen in here," Rich says. "Design needs to make a difference in my clients' lives; it has to work long after you're done and hold up against the needs of the family. I want my clients to call me back after we're done to get working on the next room, not to tell me that what I did isn't working."
The suite included a sitting room, bedroom and bathroom. Rich reconfigured the entire space, moving the bedroom into the former sitting room, changing the layout to include a hallway and his-and-her walk-in closets, adding storage and switching up the bathroom layout. The result is elegant, airy and romantic, but more important, comfortable and functional.
"Lots of giggles happen in here," Rich says. "Design needs to make a difference in my clients' lives; it has to work long after you're done and hold up against the needs of the family. I want my clients to call me back after we're done to get working on the next room, not to tell me that what I did isn't working."
Rich freshened up the colors in the wife's favorite palette of pink and green, using the owners' quilted floral bedspread as a jumping-off point. "The bedspread is the one large-scale print, and we used solids and mini-prints on everything else," Rich says. The style has an elegant yet comfortable French country look.
She added the recessed lighting and chandelier. "I believe in lighting a room evenly, but everything is on separate switches and dimmers," she says.
She added the recessed lighting and chandelier. "I believe in lighting a room evenly, but everything is on separate switches and dimmers," she says.
Rich added this 8-foot corridor, flanked by walk-in closets. French doors continue the French country look into the sitting room and block noise from the television without cutting off the space.
What remained was a space of 11 feet by 30 feet. "I added built-ins to bring the walls in 2.5-feet; this reduced the proportions to 11 feet by 25 feet," Rich explains. "It also added lots of much-needed storage." This includes a wall of shelves and cabinets, and a window seat across the room, complete with storage.
"My client loves to use a lot of personal family photos and things that are meaningful, not fluff," says Rich. "It's always nice to display personal things in private spaces."
"My client loves to use a lot of personal family photos and things that are meaningful, not fluff," says Rich. "It's always nice to display personal things in private spaces."
The sitting room serves as an oasis for the couple. "This is a sitting room for two; there are plenty of other places in the house for the whole family to watch TV together," Rich says.
"The wool rug is a beautiful large-scale Victorian floral, so I used mini-prints and solid fabrics on everything else," she explains.
"The wool rug is a beautiful large-scale Victorian floral, so I used mini-prints and solid fabrics on everything else," she explains.
Rich's clients lived in the house for a while and waited until after their second daughter's birth to tackle the master suite. The time helped them see what they needed from the renovation. Meanwhile, Rich worked with them on other rooms one by one.
The old shower stall was small, dark and outdated. "Reconfiguring the space made room for a state-of-the-art, spa-like angled shower with a large seat, shower head, body sprays, rain head and personal shower," Rich says.
The old shower stall was small, dark and outdated. "Reconfiguring the space made room for a state-of-the-art, spa-like angled shower with a large seat, shower head, body sprays, rain head and personal shower," Rich says.
French doors did not offer much bathroom privacy. Rich replaced them with a smaller wood paneled door, which allowed room for a large shower stall.
Rich reused the French doors on the linen closet, lining them with tight shirred panels in a pink mini-print to conceal the storage. The pile of laundry seen in the previous photos has been organized into lights, darks and dry cleaning in three hampers stored in the linen closet.
Porcelain and glass tiles and the clear glass shower enclosure bounce the light around, transforming the formerly dark space into a light and relaxing refuge.
Rich reused the French doors on the linen closet, lining them with tight shirred panels in a pink mini-print to conceal the storage. The pile of laundry seen in the previous photos has been organized into lights, darks and dry cleaning in three hampers stored in the linen closet.
Porcelain and glass tiles and the clear glass shower enclosure bounce the light around, transforming the formerly dark space into a light and relaxing refuge.
Not needing to create privacy from outside, the window treatments dress the walls while allowing views and natural light to warm the space. A 12-foot-long wood vanity, featuring two vertical medicine cabinets with glass shelves and interior lighting, provides the couple with the storage they need.
Glazed ivory wood and classic cabriole legs give the vanity a furniture look. The green tile borders around the beveled mirrors picks up on other tile accents.
Glazed ivory wood and classic cabriole legs give the vanity a furniture look. The green tile borders around the beveled mirrors picks up on other tile accents.
A more child-friendly corner tub replaced the old, sharp-edged version. The drapes' silk-like synthetic fabric is designed to hold up to steam, temperature changes and humidity.
"The ceiling light is from the same lighting group as the bedroom chandelier and the flush-mount light in the hallway; it's a semi-flush that meets all codes," says Rich. It adds an elegant touch and plays off the crystal knobs on the vanity and doors.
Rich agrees this suite has a bit of Dorothy Draper-esque spirit. "It's elegant, but it's got a little pizzazz!"
"The ceiling light is from the same lighting group as the bedroom chandelier and the flush-mount light in the hallway; it's a semi-flush that meets all codes," says Rich. It adds an elegant touch and plays off the crystal knobs on the vanity and doors.
Rich agrees this suite has a bit of Dorothy Draper-esque spirit. "It's elegant, but it's got a little pizzazz!"