A tale of two master suites

I am drawing out two master baths this weekend. I don't do too many of them and I enjoy the challenge when I get one. The first is an exercise in more and my client wants me to use this image as an inspiration photo.

I don't like it, but nobody pays me to like what I design. When it's finished, it will be lovely and tasteful and my clients will love it. Their friends will too and for a lot of people, a master bath like this is something they aspire to.

Not me man, my fantasy master bath is one similar to the second design I am doing for another client. In my heart of hearts I'm a minimalist and so is client number two. Even though I will pour myself into both projects, project number two will satisfy me more because it strikes so close to what I like.

I like minimalism because it doesn't provide any distractions or places to hide. In a minimalist setting, some one's alone with his thoughts and for me that's a peaceful and enjoyable thing. I get it that not every one's wired that way but after years of considering why I'm so drawn to the kinds of room settings that a lot of people think of as cold, I've come to the conclusion that it's because I like my own company.

Anyhow, master bath number two is going to be as clean and unencumbered as I can make it. For years now, I've loved the shower systems made by Chicago-based LaCava. In particular a pan system they call the Tatami.

The Tatami is a series of fluted, porcelain blocks that sit in a shallow pan. This allows for a smooth and seamless transition from the floor in the room to the shower. Because this transition has been so smoothed out, it allows a designer to re-think the whole idea of a shower enclosure. The lower left illustration in this diagram shows how the Tatami works in cross section.

The shower set up I'm working on has a single, clear glass splash guard that will be about four feet wide and run from the floor to the ceiling. That's it. Just a single sheet of glass at the end of the room with the Tatami system on the floor.

This is sort of my idea for this shower. Sort of. Only in my plan, I'm going to use a single sheet of glass and leave it open at both ends. With a single shower head in the ceiling I can do this. Talk about minimalism. When this shower's not in use it will all but disappear.

Master bath number two is a lot more challenging to design because I can't rely on any of my usual tricks to make flaws in the structure of the room disappear. It requires me to think about every finish and every fixture because the few objects in the room have to work together to add to the sense that the room's empty.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with the vanity yet and I'm sitting here wondering this morning. I'm wondering how to pare down the idea of a bathroom vanity until it's just that, the pure idea of a bathroom vanity. How do I suggest utility without sacrificing utility at the same time?

There are times when I love what I do for a living, and having the opportunity to think like this on a Sunday morning is definitely one of those times.

So what do we think? Am I out of my mind? Anybody have a competing master suite philosophy?

More Saturday fun: how cool is this?

Check this out, This recipe and idea is from the website Kaboose. The crazy kids at the Consumerist swear that it works. Anybody game for a stab at this?

Plastic Bag Ice Cream

What you'll need:

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup milk or half & half

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

6 tablespoons rock salt

1 pint-size plastic food storage bag (e.g., Ziploc)

1 gallon-size plastic food storage bag

Ice cubes

How to make it:

Fill the large bag half full of ice, and add the rock salt. Seal the bag.

Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into the small bag, and seal it.

Place the small bag inside the large one, and seal it again carefully.

Shake until the mixture is ice cream, which takes about 5 minutes.

Wipe off the top of the small bag, then open it carefully. Enjoy!

Tips:

A 1/2 cup milk will make about 1 scoop of ice cream, so double the recipe if you want more. But don't increase the proportions more that that -- a large amount might be too big for kids to pick-up because the ice itself is heavy.

Other users report that it's an easy way to make sorbets as well, just use fruit juice in lieu of the half and half.

Everything's in transition

I work with the most talented tradespeople in the universe. This is from a jobsite I visited last night. At issue was a 45 degree transition between a Brazilian cherry floor in a dining room and a tile floor in the kitchen. The floors planks are set in a straight line and the tile's on the diagonal. I could have just run a 45 degree cherry threshold between the two rooms. I could have. But this is in an open floor plan home and this transition is pretty exposed. I hate 45 degree angles in architecture with a passion so hot I'm afraid I'll be consumed by it some day. There was no way in hell any floor I had anything to do with was getting a diagonal threshold.

So I took a Sharpie and drew and S-curve on the floor before either the wood or the tile went in. "There," I said, "That's what I want this transition to look like."

The flooring guy looked at me like I was possessed. I wanted the threshold to be made out of wood, but how do you put curves in a flat piece of wood? "I got it," Mr. Flooring Guy assured me. He said it with such a haughty confidence that I went right along. I love it, he didn't question my idea and I didn't question his skill. I call that synergy.

Anyhow, he made this threshold out of a solid strip of cherry and it is a thing of such rare beauty that I had to photograph it and run it here.

How to transition between materials in a floor can pose a problem some times. To my way of thinking, if there's some aspect of a room you'd like to have go away (like a 45 degree transition between flooring materials) draw attention to it. Making it look like it's there on purpose sets a tone, a bravado, that no one will ever question.

This project is in final punch out and will be fully complete in another week or so. I will run some photos of the whole thing once it's finished.

Give me more Mosaic Art Now!

On 26 June I wrote about an organization called Mosaic Art Now. Mosaic Art Now is a publication as well as a web presence and my first issue arrived two weeks ago. Wow. Mosaic Art Now is a four-color, 76-page survey of the best and brightest in the world of contemporary, fine mosaics. It's sitting on my coffee table, but it never stays there for long. I find myself picking it up and reading through it whenever I need a break of a lift.

Mosaic Art Now is edited by Bill Buckingham, Nancie Mills Pipgras and Michael Welch; three people with a passion for the subject that's as palpable as it is contagious. The publication is heavy on photography, gloriously reproduced photography. In fact the bulk of the pages are given to a gallery of fine art mosaics. In it, there are more than 30 pages of unbridled mosaic love. Add to that gallery a good mix of artist profiles and a really thorough mosaic marketplace and the result is a great resource and a welcome addition to my collection art books.

Mosaic Art Now, the publication, is available through their website for $12.95. If you're a fan of this at once ancient and modern art form, order a copy.

Here are some highlights form the gallery. Follow the individual links back to the artists' websites and support these artists!

Truth and Beauty Series #2 by Rachel Sanger, Rachel Sanger Mosaics

Night Shirt by Julie Richey, Julie Richey Mosaics

The Phoenix by Grace Bowers, Amazing Grace Mosaics

Dreamer by Carole Choucair Oueijan, Carole Choucair Oueijan Original Mosaics and Oils

Leonardo by Laura Rendlen, Laura Rendlen Fine Mosaics

Four reader questions with a snappy answer for each

Help! My toilet moves from side-to-side. It's not leaking. Should I be worried?

Yes you should. Call a plumber and get it fixed.

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Help! I am retiling the shower and bathroom floor. Does the tile texture need to be the same? Would a shiny gray and white marble floor go with a gray stone tile in the shower? Should it be stone w/ stone and marble w/ marble? What would be a better choice for resale?

Marble is a stone too and there aren't any rules against mixing stones other than that they look good together. Please don't get a high gloss finish on a bathroom floor. It's a broken neck waiting to happen.

With that said, few things are more glorious in a bathroom than natural stone floors. Since you're confused about patterns and colors, go to a reputable tile or natural stone showroom and look at what's available. Then talk to a designer.

And for the love of God already, enough with the resale concerns. That's so 2007.

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Help! I am buying a new house that needs a total kitchen overhaul. I want to go rustic, maybe rustic - contemporary. I have a clean slate so I need some ideas for cabinets, counter tops, flooring, color palette. I really want to do stainless appliances and I am so clueless that I don't even know what kind of faucet to go with? Should everything be the same element of can I combine stainless with a rustic pendant light. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

thank you,

Thanks for your question. My name is Paul Anater and I'm a kitchen designer. You may have heard of me since I'm the one you sent a question to. Mine is a noble profession and every day kitchen designers just like me take the timid hands of homeowners just like you and we put together renovation plans. You can find someone who can help you by Googling the terms Kitchen Designer plus the name of your town.

Smart aleckry aside, the country's crawling with good designers in need of clients to help. If you need a referral, just let me know where you are and I'll connect you with someone.

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Help! Is stone-look laminate in a kitchen tacky? I have old tile that would be a real pain to remove and am told I could float a laminate over it? The rest of the house has 100+ year old wood floors so I don't want to put wood laminate down (too obviously fake). What do you think?

Madam, you've already provided me with the answer to your question. Yes, stone-look laminate is tacky tacky tacky. Especially when paired with 100-year-old wood floors. Despite the pain involved, remove the old floor properly and have a new floor installed that matches the quality of the floors throughout your home. The road to hell is not paved with good intentions, it's paved with short cuts.