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In Design:
Bravely Eclectic
In The Beginning
When your client has taste as brave as the design team, amazing things can happen. In this basement design, the space acts as a combined family space meets, daytime office, meets music room. The joy of a basement is that it can become all the parts your main floor is missing - and it lends itself well to nurturing our brave side.
This basement did just that by embracing an eclectic palette of patterns and colours to create a space that brings a smile to your face.
The Split
In this basement design we were challenged with what we aptly named "the split". The basement was split in half by a sunken living room above, minimizing our headroom in a large part of the basement and influencing the design in a significant way by cutting off half of the typical usable space.
As usual, basements require all of our creativity to embrace the oddities and make them into something spectacular.
Seems Easy Enough
We found ways to work around the posts, beams and low headroom and we created a space that was multi-functional, if not a bit long feeling.
We delved further into design to break up the length of the main space by incorporating cabinetry that acts as a division, without fully blocking one space visually from the other.
We recessed niches under the low beam as a means to incorporate future storage furniture and increase the overall floor area.
The Look
The look and feel of this space started with a combination of beautiful cement tiles and a striking palm leaf wallpaper. The colour palette grew from there with the cabinetry taking on a deep blue-green and the walls staying a neutral white to make the wallpaper pop.
Coffered ceiling areas hide beams and ductwork and we painted the interior of them a deep grey to create further interest at the ceiling, and to find additional ways to break up the spaces. Add in sculptural brass lighting and we have a winning combination that is fun and fresh.
Getting There
This rendered image shows the architecture of the space coming together - while the finishes remain fully neutral. The concepts are there for areas to include as features, but the details haven't yet been fully developed.
The next image shows the next iteration as the design gets closer to completion and the finishes, cabinetry and details are worked out.
Nailed It!
The key to bold palettes is to find ways to repeat them and make them feel like they belong. We used the colours from the wallpaper throughout the space and repeated it in recessed niches. The wallpaper itself acts as art in the niches and the colours are pulled into the floor tile in the basement bathroom.
Working with our customer, we were able to refine the space to reflect their family's needs, tastes and personality. And what a wonderful personality it is.
Repeating Elements
The basement bathroom was an extension of the fun, eclectic palette in the main basement. With beautiful cement tiles as the key feature, we kept the tile work in the shower simple and we mixed black and brass fixtures to reinforce our eclectic concept.
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