Rose V. moved to Tucson from Hawaii in late 2014, to be closer to her son. Rose lived an exciting life as a nurse in several far east countries, including Vietnam.

Rose met her future husband in Vietnam, and gave birth to her son and daughter in Saigon. Rose and her husband collected an eclectic variety of far east artwork during their many years together. Making this artwork work in a Tucson style home was a new and exiting challenge.

Rose was referred to us by the realtor who sold her the house. Rose was very appreciative for the referral, since she had no idea where to go for help.

General Changes

The home had walls which were quite pink. The tile and carpet also needed to be replaced. We repainted the entire interior of the home a Gourmet Honey color, with accent walls in the kitchen and living room.

We selected a beautiful Acacia engineered flooring for her living room, foyer, office, master bedroom and all the hallways.

Kitchen Makeover

The original kitchen had maple cabinets which were faded by UV rays from the kitchen skylight. We added a UV film to the skylight to still allow light in, without the harmful UV rays.

An example of the attention to detail we bring to all our clients are the spice and oil pull-outs to the both sides below the cooktop, and the tray/platter storage above the microwave.

Rose didn’t like the different counter heights. Making the counters all the same height allowed us to add additional storage around the outside perimeter of the main counter. Also, the teak island on wheels, which Rose brought from Hawaii works well for storage and prep space. Note the abundance of drawers for optimum storage

The Shangri-La polished granite with a beautiful mixture of green and ivory, along with an ogee edge, compliments the cabinets and flooring.

Master Bath Remake

The master bath didn’t quite meet Rose’s needs.

We removed the water closet wall, adding a pony wall to the side of the RH sink. We also deleted the tub, allowing a sitting area for dressing. We are removing many tubs for clients, as they are not used or are difficult to get in/out of.

We inserted large mirrored medicine cabinets in the wall above each vanity, deleting the previous side versions.

We also added a lighted make-up mirror with 7 times magnification for the detail work (I’m jealous).

Powder Room

Due to the client’s travels all over the world, we selected from her treasures a beautiful teak mirror. We added a very simple cabinet to play off the movement in the mirror.

We added a woven shade and some of Rose’s great artwork to balance the movement in the room.

Betty was very easy to work with, listened to my concerns about the house and presented great options to resolve them. I particularly enjoy my large granite island, and cooking in my new kitchen. The colors updated the home, complementing my treasured artwork from our world travels.
Rose V., Tucson

Those were the marching orders from our client Sue.

Not a request received every day. But being true to one of our core philosophies, our style is whatever the client wants. We have no preconceived notions of what is right or wrong for a client’s de cor.

Our Senior Interior Designer, Janice Williams, accepted the challenge with enthusiasm. Sue wanted both her master bath and guest bath updated to her taste.

Guest Bath

Sue wanted her Guest Bath to have the look and feel of a vintage French bathroom.

We replaced everything in the room. Janice spent a lot of time looking for repurposed metal for the vanity base, but could never find the right look. The resin material, which was made-to-order, resulted in just the right style, size and finish.

The counter is made from reclaimed wood. The mirror is an antique from the 1800’s. The tile floor was replaced, as well as the tub/shower. The new walk-in glass shower fits the desired look with the oil-rubbed bronze trim and plumbing fixtures.

Master Bathroom

Sue wanted her master bath to look like a Paris apartment. A far cry from her carpeted floor and leaking shower (well maybe the leaking shower was a bit of Paris?).

The master bath colors were extended from her bedroom colors – pink, black and white.

The tile colors/pattern were taken from pictures Sue accumulated from her many trips to Paris.

Sue’s cabinets were sound, so we painted them and added complimenting hardware. We always look for ways to save our clients hard-earned money.

Janice selected a quartz counter that looked like marble. Quartz is so much better suited for a bathroom than porous marble.

You can’t tell from these pictures, but Janice also reconfigured the closet and incorporated an empty space so a stacked washer and dryer could be installed, creating added convenience.

Janice listened so well to what I wanted the end result to be, and she nailed it. Every time I walk into my master bath I feel like I’ve been transported to one of the many places I’ve stayed in Paris. Janice and Interior Expressions made the whole process so easy and painless.
Sue Wilson, Oro Valley

hat is what Diane and John Smith, who were referred to us by Suz and Gary Mahler (Thank You), wanted us to do.

No problem, usually. Only in this case we had no access to the new house until closing. Let me get this straight, you want us to design all these changes/additions for a space we can’t see for a few months, other than the realtor’s pictures and a dated builder floor plan? OK, let’s get started!

Kitchen/Dining Area

Added three red pendants over the breakfast bar / sink area, and new stainless steel sink.

We coordinated the new sink counter with the existing breakfast bar counter.

The “twig” chandelier was replaced with a more fitting design.

We reused their ironwood table and replaced the uncomfortable wood dining chairs with our Comfort-Fit™ faux leather upholstered dining chairs. The fabric selected picked up the colors from the existing walls and tile.

These Comfort-Fit™ chairs have springs in the seat to make the Smith’s guests very comfortable during their frequent 3-hour dinner experiences.

A composite granite, single basin, under-mount sink was selected, along with brushed nickel plumbing fixtures; all to complement their new granite countertop.

Family Room Makeover

Many subtle changes were made the Smith’s family room and front entry to make the space more cohesive and accommodate the Smith’s entertaining.

First we designed and made a custom bar cabinet which shows-off their extensive stemware and provides ample storage below. “The bar cabinet is one of our most favorite things about the makeover”, said Diane Smith. John Smith added LED lighting under the upper cabinet to provide not only workspace light, but to highlight their stemware.

We added a new area rug to anchor the room. This rug gave us the colors to build off of for new and repurposed furniture. We recovered a set of shell backed swivel chairs in tight back swivels with a geometric Southwest print to give them a new lease on life (see lower left hand chair in after image above).

The arm chair in the middle of picture above was reupholstered with a stripe fabric and leather insert mimicking fabric at the state museum in New Mexico. We created a matching ottoman.

To accommodate the Smith’s request for a wine cabinet in a very limited space, we did what we always do…come up with a unique alternative. Kind of hard to see in the photo above, but highlighted in the hallway to the back bedrooms/office is a wine cabinet (recessed into an adjacent closet). We also created a place for Mr. Smith to display his shot glass collection above the wine cooler.

A finishing touch was the stand we had made for their mascot giraffe “BJ”, named in my honor (far left above). They always had trouble keeping “BJ” upright. Now “BJ” has a secure base and is much less likely to be toppled and become damaged. I feel honored to have a place forever in the Smith’s “free to travel home”.

Master Bath Remake

In the master bath we removed the unneeded tub (as we often do in homes today) and expanded and upgraded the shower. The Smith’s wanted his and hers shower areas, which we accomplished by expanding and angling the outer shower walls. A teak fold-down stool improved the functionality within the shower. You can’t see in these photos, but there are niches in each of the outer pony walls for soap and shampoos, improving user friendliness.

Regarding the sink area of the master bath, our original plan was to just replace the counter. But once we removed the old cultured marble top and saw the typical builder grade cabinets, we changed out the cabinets, which also allowed us to add a dirty laundry pull-out in the middle.

New sconce lights as well as additional can lights offer more user friendly lights. All these lights are dimmable of course.

 
Wow!! the dining chairs are just awesome…..you got me just what I requested…very, very comfortable dining chairs. The springs in the seats are great! The new dining room chandelier is great too…Great choices!
Diane & John Smith