Kathryn Lemaster

Art and Design

Interview with Travel + Safety Podcast

“The podcast for those who want to play it safe while living dangerously” – if that doesn’t sound interesting I don’t know what does! Recently I had the pleasure of being interviewed over coffee and Skype by podcast personality Michael Beattie for his fun and informative show, Travel + Safety! Michael is an Italian and English native who ended up in California and now resides in the Florida Keys. Coffee Kat In this episode, we talk a bit about my upbringing, living in the “Natural State”, some design philosophy Q&A, traveling for work, and more! Michael was a true delight to visit with and I found myself wanting to ask him more questions than he asked me during our chat. While I can’t say much for my southern accent (which I didn’t realize was evident until I heard myself talk…) you are certainly in for a treat when it comes to Mr. Beattie’s British accent. 😉 Click the link below to listen to our show!

“TAS033: Experiencing the Incredible Lightness of Being with Kathryn LeMaster
”

  I hope you enjoy the show and learn a little something new, too! 🙂

House of Turquoise Feature: Before & After Reveal of Rustic Modern Bath

Ladies and Gents, thank you ever-so-much for coming by on this special day for a very exciting  before & after reveal!

I am incredibly thrilled to have the one and only Erin Olson Moser from House of Turquoise unveiling this project in terrific HOT style by featuring the after photos for the very first time today!!

This is going to be so much fun! I’m sharing the before photos and design plan here – then you can hop on over to House of Turquoise for the amazing after photos, photographed by Karen E. Segrave of KES Photo. If you’re coming over by way of HOT, welcome!! I hope you enjoyed the finished result and will relish your regressive design “meal” as you take a peek back at how it all began.

Meet my friends, the  Bollens, a wonderful young family with whom I had the pleasure of working on this project. Jessica and Daniel were new homeowners and ready to kick it up a notch or 10, functionally and aesthetically, with their master bathroom. Take a step back with me to their original master bath:

There were many reasons to bid farewell to the existing layout and finishes. From the brown tile and cave-like shower to the ho-hum single sink vanity, it was simply time for an update.

They opted for a DIY style design plan, as they are savvy do-it-yourself-ers. They also enlisted the help of skilled craftsman and builder, the talented Mr. Chandler Tedder, to oversee the remodel.

I wanted to include their wishlist items (make-up vanity space, double sinks, glass shower, display and hidden storage…) while incorporating their taste and style, which was one of my favorites – a rustic-modern fusion! After collecting their input, I set to work designing their dream bath and presented them with a design concept which included dimensioned drawings, a concept board with selection options, material samples and a resource shopping list.

Here is a sampling of a few of the new selection options to give you an idea of where we’re headed:

Below are the concept drawings illustrating the new design!

Can you image it now? Thanks to the Bollens and Chandler, who took it from a concept to a reality, Karen, who captured it, and Erin, who’s sharing it today… you don’t have to just imagine – you can go see it, right now!! Jump on over to House of Turquoise for the grand after reveal!!

 

Kitchen Remodel Before & After Reveal – Part 2: Design

Picking up where we left off in Part 1: Before… (if you missed the before photos, check them out here first!)

The Barber’s existing kitchen floor plan had several issues that were working against proper traffic flow and space clearances. Take the breakfast peninsula, for example, that divided the room in half.

The first step with any design is to think through the functionality goals, storage, and traffic needs of the users in the space. Notice the changes from the existing plan above (and before pictures) to the new design drawings below:

Much more open and aetheticly pleasing already, even in black and white, yes? If you’re curious about the details of the big changes we made, I’ve included them below! (If not, keep scrolling for details on the next part of the design.)

—-

1. Shrunk the island – by designing a custom, smaller scale island, we were able to allow the minimum clearance of 36″ on each side of the island while still keeping it a functional size, big enough to store the trashcan inside.

2. Swapped the peninsula for a windowseat – the space really opened up by omitting the large breakfast peninsula and replacing it with a built-in storage window seat and rustic farm table. Much prettier, too!

3. Relocated pantry space – the original location of the pantry closet closed in around you upon entering, the door swung into the traffic path, and the “walk-in” feature wasn’t even usable with items overflowing from shelves onto the floor. Instead, we reallocated the pantry storage space in two new built-in cabinets flanking the beverage station that have track system gliding shelves for easy item visibility and better organization!

4.  Utilized unused space in bonus room – the room at the north end of the kitchen was previously empty and cluttered all at the same time. One wall was virtually empty, while another housed an overstuffed bookcase and desk space. The new design took advantage of every inch of space, wrapping all three walls in custom cabinetry to include a desk with office storage, pantry space, a beverage station complete with ice maker and extra sink, as well as a china cabinet with a pass through. We packed alot of much needed functions into this tiny space that allowed us to do much more with the rest of the kitchen!

5. Opened up east walls, adding a pass through and bar – we created two openings in this wall that serve multiple functions. The first is the pass through in china cabinet to the dining room, and the second is creating a two-seater bar area under an arched opening created where the oven and microwave wall once stood. Not only do these openings allow visibility into the next rooms, creating the feel of a more open floor plan, but it allows light to flow through from room to room, which makes the kitchen feel bigger as well.

6. Added additional lighting – LOTS of additional lighting! In the before images, you’ll see the only lighting came from the pot rack/light fixture, a small chandelier, and a can light over the sink area. Combined with the sage green wall color that acted as a light sponge rather than reflector, it was a dark kitchen. We added about 8 can lights, pendants over the island, bar, sink, desk, beverage sink, as well as a chandelier over the breakfast table, as well as under cabinet lighting. The new illumination reflects beautifully off of the fresh white walls and dreamy-creamy cabinets.

—

Once the space plan and cabinet details were set, we could really jump into the “fun stuff” such as finishes, fixtures, and fabrics. When it came to creating the color scheme and overall aesthetic for the kitchen, we took cues from Tuscan and southwest inspired spaces and details.

The base of the color scheme started with wanting creamy cabinets with a cocoa glaze to contrast with warm wood floors, stained beams and stained island. The accent colors were inspired by Jessica’s favorite hue, turquoise. Selecting oranges as the other accent color followed suit as being the natural complimentary color to blues, as well as playing off of some inspiration pieces of pottery!

The print fabric for the pillows did a wonderful job of tying all of the colors in the room together – cream, espresso, turquoise, rust – as well as adding interest with hints of butter yellow and a splash of sage green!

What do you think about the new design? I’d love to hear your thoughts or answer any questions about it in the comments below!

Thanks for joining me today. Stay tuned for “Part 3: After” which I’ll be sharing a week from today!

Happy Mother’s Day weekend to all you mother’s out there!

Stay inspired,

-K

 

Kitchen Remodel Before & After Reveal, Part 1: Before

What fun it was having our kitchen remodel project be the Before & After feature in At Home in Arkansas Magazine for the whole month of April!

To continue the fun, we’re kicking off the month of May with our before and after blog series on this project, rolling out more before and behind the scenes photos, design drawings, as well as the entire portfolio collection of after photos by Karen E. Segrave, shared for the first time ever!

Let’s go back to the begining – the walk through and the before photos, which include some great action shots of the family at work! I didn’t want to disturb the cooking and cleaning while snapping photos and taking notes, as it was helpful to observe how the kitchen functioned (or in this case didn’t) for their big, busy family on an everyday basis.

Without further adieu, meet the Barber’s “before” kitchen!

(Upon entrance from the left/south end)

(Sink area to left)

(Cooking area to right)

(Breakfast peninsula to left)

(Study/Office beyond peninsula)

(Turning back toward entrance)

(Looking back toward entrance)

Note the many activities happening at once – dishes being unloaded, dinner cooking, grocery bags just unloaded from car to counters, homework being done in the midst of it all – can anyone relate? Multitasking is already a chore, but with the current layout of their kitchen, it was nearly impossible to have various activities going on simultaneously without bumping into someone or knocking something over. Though in need of style updates for sure, the first issue we tackled was function and space maximization. I’ll walk you through what we changed and why in the next post!

Thanks to my wonderful clients for being candid and willing for me to share where we started so that you could fully understand and appreciate the drastic difference of where we end up.

Stay tuned for the the next post, revealing the redesigned plan!

Groundbreaking News: UCA’s Greek Village

UCA – home of the Purple Bears – is soon to be home to 5 new sorority houses and an NPHC meeting center, kicking off the beginning of an all new Greek Village at UCA in Conway, Arkansas!

Did I mention this was also my home? Yes. I am a UCA alumni and I loved the four years I spent on their beautiful campus full of historic buildings and lush landscaping going through the interior design program.

This is why I was so thrilled when I was presented with the opportunity to come back to be a part of this monumental project! In the last month, I’ve had the huge honor and privileged of working with UCA, their builders and architects, to consult on finish spec options for the sororities to choose from for their new houses.

The process has been fast and furious, as well as lots of fun. Here’s a little snapshot of the product researching, sampling, selecting, and presentation board building that’s been going on around here in the last several weeks:

The goal of the finishes design is to have a versatile, neutral palette that leaves flexibility for the groups to personalize and make each space their own. By providing a clean and simple, sophisticated color palette, I want to help them create the perfect canvas as a foundation for the furnishings and decor to come.

Yesterday was an especially special day in the project – the groundbreaking ceremony at the Greek Village site!  Each sorority had their letters set up in the clearing near the location of their future houses – too cool.

There was a fantastic turnout, and after hearing from several speakers including President Courtway, the event wrapped up with the highly anticipated golden shovel ceremony. The president and board members scooped the first shovels full of dirt, then everybody jumped in on the fun!

I was delighted to be included in the festivites, especially standing among all of these great and talented folks from UCA, Nabholz Construction, and Caradine Architects. What fun!

It was like a bunch of kids in a sand box, just more organized. Let’s face it – playing in a dirt pile is fun. Especially with shiny golden shovels!

Of course I had to get a shot with two of the fabulous ladies I’ve enjoyed working with on the team from UCA: Diane Newton and Wendy Holbrook!

 What a day – and what a year it will be now that construction has officially begun. And by construction I mean our expertly excavated dirt piles. Luckily Nabholz will be setting up shop on site soon to take over from here. I’m sure they will appreciate the head start. 😉

Reclaimed Barn Beam Table Design Reveal!

Toward the end of 2013 I had the privilege of creating an original table design with the one and only Trevor Thurow! If you missed the beginning of this story, click on back to my post introducing Trevor as well as the first post on our table collaboration to catch up!

Picking up where we left off…

Once we decided on the top and leg design, Trevor worked up this awesome 3D rendering of what the table would look like using a standard trestle beam to brace the legs.

We decided to get even more creative with the center beam, so I worked up some concept drawings to make it more unique!

Trevor, being the artist that he is, came up with a trestle inspired by the first two options, S1 & S2. He worked many hours to bring our barn beam table vision from paper and computer screens to a perfectly crafted reality. Once the table was complete, then I worked many hours to capture the design through one of my graphite drawings.

Are you ready to see the finished product?

Introducing the first original design collaboration of Kathryn J. LeMaster and Trevor Thurow:

(Photos by Trevor and Jenni Thurow via Trevor Thurow Custom Furniture and Design)

How’s that for an original reclaimed barn wood table?! Side-note: I can’t get over those fabulous carved wood wine holders displayed above, also by Trevor. I’m telling you, the guy is a woodworking magician.

Thanks for joining us for this furniture design story. However, the story isn’t over yet, and YOU could be the one to help us write the ending! As of today, this one-of-a-kind table is available to come live happily ever after in your home (or maybe your friends home, if they beat you to it!) For more info and current pricing, please send inquiries to Trevor.

Have a wonderful weekend and stay inspired!

-K

Furniture Design Progress Report

In my previous post introducing Trevor Thurow Custom Furniture & Design, I shared with you how I would be working on a furniture design for Trevor to create something one-of-a-kind out of these spectacular barn wood beams:

We decided the best way to preserve the integrity of the authentic scraped texture of the beams would be to create something that incorporated as much length and as little cutting as possible. Thus we decided a dining table would be the way to go.

After sketching, researching, brainstorming and more sketching, the concept drawings were ready:

The concept was based on 45 degree or similar angles to create variations of diamonds or herringbone patterns. I wanted to try and create a “twist” like appearance to give the table visual movement – adding a fresh spin, creating a not-so typical farm table. These beams deserved a unique design!

These were the final concepts we decided to begin with:

As you can see from the below action shot of Trevor, construction is currently underway at his shop in Austin, TX. I’m so excited!!

You can follow Trevor’s updates on the project through his Facebook album, Barn Beam Dining Table. Here’s the most recent update from the album, the first table leg!

Way to go, Trevor! I just can’t get over the wood. The weather gray hand-scraped side or the fresh cut oak center. It’s absolutely gorgeous!

Now remember ladies and gents, this special piece will be looking for a good home once completed. If you think it might be the missing piece to your interior bliss… contact Trevor for more info. 🙂

Happy Monday!

-K

Master Bath Progress

So I’ve been missing from the blog this week – sorry about that! But I can promise you it’s been for a good reason.

As some of you may know, when we purchased our home last year it was a foreclosure. Needless to say, it needed alot of TLC and updates. We’ve been on a mission to bring it to it’s full potential ever since.

We took this last week to focus on  finishing up some house projects that we’ve been needing to get to for awhile, including landscaping, trim work, light fixtures and touch up painting. The biggest undertaking, however, was bringing our master bathroom from about 30% to 98% completion!

So are you ready to see what our master bath looked like before we got started last year? The below picture was taken by one of our neighbors (and now good friends) before the house was even ours:

(before)

Yikes! I’ll just point out a few of the problems with it that were apparent right off the bat.

The vanity was only 22″ deep and 28″ high, so small and low, not to mention a dated yellow oak finish and cultured marble moulded sinks and counter top.

The forest green walls were dark and depressing for such a small space and made the room feel smaller than it already was.

Come to find out, it was dark green paint over TWO different layers of old wallpaper. Yes. That was fun trying to take off. When it stopped responding to all traditional methods of stripping and started damaging the sheet-rock in the process, we ended up sheet-rocking over with a thin layer to get a  fresh, smooth surface.

Here was a picture from a couple months after we started remodeling once the new walls, floors (minus the grout), and 24″ deep by 36″ high cabinets were in:

(during)

Looking better! Now, if you remember from my previous post, Designer House Reveal: The Process, the inspiration for that project actually started with Dwell Studio fabrics I’d original picked out for our master suite. As we hadn’t finished our master project at the time, I used the materials in the show house instead and decided that if the items didn’t sell, I would re-purpose them in our project as originally planned.

So if you followed the Designer House project, you’ll recognize that some of the original items used are now in our master bath, including some of my original art!

Here’s how it looks after our big push this past week:

Quite a transformation so far, right?!

It still needs a few finishing touches including the final light fixtures over each mirror, drapery panels under the valance, and crown moulding. All in good time. Right now I’m just basking in the joy of having working sinks just feet away from my bed! Not to mention thick, coke bottle-like glass sinks. Ooo la la.

So that’s a sneak peek of what we were up to all week. Hopefully it makes up in some small way for my absence. 🙂

Have a wonderful rest of the week and stay inspired!

-K

Designer House Reveal: The Before

Today I wanted to share more “before” photos of the Patio Bath along with the initial observations I noted upon first seeing the space that helped shape the outline and “punch list” of my design. Please enjoy this room tour from my perspective!

In my previous post introducing the reveal, we left off here:*enter room* It’s very… coral? I love coral! Why don’t I love it in here? Ah – it’s a tall skinny room with inadequate lighting. The coral is closing in around me and I don’t like it in this application. Glass shower… that’s nice. I wish it were frameless. The frame lines make for so many right angles. I think I want to hide it. Something soft. Note: I feel uneasy. Change wall color. Something calm. Add soft billowing curtain to cover shower.

Speaking of inadequate lighting, what kind of lights are even in here? *look up* 1…2…3 can lights. One over shower, two off centered over vanity. Two windows is good natural light. But I want more overhead light. I love light. It helps the space feel bigger. It helps you see. And the right light fixture makes such an artistic statement. Note: Add fun lighting. Something on wall over vanity, something in the center of the ceiling.

*look down* Hm, nice travertine floor. It looks cold though. Maybe it is cold, from the air vent. Don’t love air vent placement. Don’t love tiny fluffy crooked rug. But I want something soft. How would two bath mats work in here? They’d fit, but I don’t love where how they would fit. I want to unify the space. I want one rug. I want a runner! Note: Look for skinny runners (not the marathon type, the decorative type.) Ask if it’s a problem to cover air vent temporarily for “show.” If that’s a no-go, can I cut out a hole in the rug for the vent? Hmmm…

*look back* More coral. Yep, definitely need a new color. Hey, those electrical outlets and switches stick out like a sore thumb. I want to hide them. And hey, are there no towel bars in here? How will I dry my hands? Note: tall floral arrangement in corner to distract from switching/outlets and towel ring next to them to dry hands on way out the door.

*look to right* I like the vanity color, and the cute little feet. What’s bothering me? Ah – the countertop. It’s cultured marble with a poured  sink and back-splash. Why does it look like plastic to me? I would love to upgrade that. That would be expensive. Hey, there’s satin nickel hardware everywhere. Shinier would look nicer here. Note: Go over budget and look at upgrading counter-top. Something white. Marble? Quartz? Change out all satin nickel hardware for chrome.

*look closer at vanity* While I’m thinking of upgrades… how COOL would a glass vessel sink with a waterfall faucet look in here?! I mean this is alright… it works. But something sleek and spa-esque would really help accomplish the feel I’m going for. Note: Pinch pennies to get new countertop… so that I can get a  glass sink and faucet. Yep, definitely want to do that.

*look to left* It already has wooden blinds… those can stay, you need privacy in a bath. One again, so many right angles. The window needs to be softened. Drapery? Floor panels are sort of impractical for a bath, but especially one with a shower. Cornice? Valance? Yes. Nothing overwhelming. Just a simple “hat” for the window to soften the corners and bring in pattern/color. Note: Pull images of outside-mount window treatment style options. Think about fabric. Call seamstress for quote.

*walk back to entrace and turn around for another look* Yep. The shower is fine but nothing special. Drapery in front of it would be prettier. The countertop will do, but if I can swing it, and new one and new sink/faucet would be fabulous! The mirror is too square for all of the right angles already happening in here. Maybe round? Definitely want to add a wall sconce over the mirror, or maybe one on either side of it. Hey, a giant piece of art or a grid of several pieces would look swell between the mirror and shower! Okay, yes, good talk with myself. I have something here. This could be great.

Stay tuned to read about the design process next!!