Designer Spotlight: September 2023

Company: Bella Systems
Designer: Ashley Palias
Project: Bedroom Conversion

Client Request-
Transform a spare bedroom in the basement, into a dressing room exclusively for the Mrs. She needs a lot of long hanging and shoe storage! Also add adjustable shoe storage into an 18' long, super narrow closet of another room, to accommodate more of her massive shoe collection!

Design Narrative-
During the initial in-home visit, I met with the husband, and we walked through a few spaces, which included the shoe closet and the basement bedroom. The home had a very elegant and traditional style throughout. The basement bedroom was a very unique space, in regards to sizing and shape, so we discussed some materials and finishes, but opted not to work on designs together at that time. When working on the design at home, I carefully placed units around the room, while keeping in mind the corner angles and unique ceiling and crown molding elevations. 

After sending the first proposal, we reviewed the details over the phone, and discussed cost saving options, since they were shopping around. The client agreed to meet with me at our company's showroom (the best sales tool ever!). 

They really enjoyed being able to touch and feel more of the product, and found inspiration from the lighting and finish options we had on display. While at the showroom, they expressed their desire to incorporate a vanity, and have a place for a TV.  We made some tweaks to the design together, including 1-swapping out slanted shoe shelves for flat ones (to fit more shoes!), 2-opting against crown molding, which we felt would clash with the crown in the room and eliminate extra potential shoe storage, and 3-adding the lighted display case (just like the one in our showroom!). For timing purposes, I polished up the new designs on my own, and sent it back over to them later that week. 

The clients took a while to get back to me with an approval, as they are both high end business professionals, juggling work and home life, plus a renovation. The delay turned out to be a good thing though, because in that time, the Weekend Getaway finish became available in the raised panel thermofoil fronts! This new addition to our line up, matched the style of their home much better than the 5-pc shaker or flat front options we originally talked about, and they agreed!  A bit more time went by, and to be competitive, we offered a discount, but the husband told me the final decision to move forward with us was largely based on his wife's appreciation for my work and attention to detail. She used to be a design professional as well, so that compliment was very heartwarming! I look forward to working with them again in the future, since we did put a few spaces on hold -- Likely so they can see how many more shoe shelves they need! ;)

Materials-
3/4" Melamine shelving in Weekend Getaway finish.
1" MDF countertops in Aspen finish on island and vanity units
Stanwick raised panel thermofoil doors and drawers
Solid, Mirrored, and Clear glass doors
Dimmable LED lighting routed into vertical panels of display case
Dimmable LED strip lighting above vanity unit
Crystal knobs
Traditional base molding