Rosa Beltran Design

BRIARWOOD BATHROOM REVEAL

We're here with a new before and after bathroom remodel to show you and it's a a doozy!

Here's what we started with: a dark and dated bathroom with some intense mauve tile and no natural light.

First order of business was to remove the little wing wall between the sink and the toilet to make the room feel much larger, and then add a high window in the shower to let in some LIGHT.

Having at least one and preferably two sources of natural light in every room is a really good goal and pretty much a rule of thumb in architectural design. One trick I use if there are no windows and we can't add one like we did here is to add a high transom window above the doorway to borrow at least some natural light from other areas. Your ceilings need to be high enough for a small transom window to fit, but it's a great way to create a lightwell into a dark space if there's no other possible source of natural light.

Pretty big difference removing that wall made, huh?

Next step was designing a custom bathroom vanity to replace this gem ...

So we designed a walnut wood custom vanity with just a bit of mid-century style in the legs, and then later on a quartz countertop installer came out to the house to measure and fabricate the white quartz countertop. Here's the shop drawing and the vanity underway at the shop ...

And once more, the finished product ...

The tile we chose for the floor AND shower walls is a 12x24 honed natural marble from Emser Tile in a color called Metro Cream (all sources listed down below as well.) It's gorgeous and subtle and provides just enough background texture without being too dominant.

The wool rug is from the Clad Home showroom and the unique mirror is the Sean Dix Crescendo Mirror found here.

Our clients were pretty thrilled with this bathroom remodel and so were we. Here's the little feature Homepolish published about it when we first wrapped. There was a bedroom/office re-do involved too which we'll show you next time!

SOURCES
-12x24 honed marble tile
-custom RBD vanity
-faucets and towel bars Kohler Purist
-mirror Sean Dix
-all art and accessories Clad Home flagship store

FOLLOW MELANIE BURSTIN'S HOME MAKEOVER WITH EM HENDERSON!

So the first design assistant I hired when I came back to work after pregnancy and maternity leave 5 years ago was this cool girl named Melanie Burstin, a young actress and comedienne from NYC who'd been running an art gallery in Beverly Hills and really wanted to transition into the world of interior design. She made the bold and gutsy move of cold calling (actually I think it was an email I received) a bunch of interior designers around town whose worked she loved. Her ambition and fearlessness paid off, we met for coffee one day, and the rest is history!

Mel spent a few years learning the ropes at RBD, and quickly became completely essential as we grew the business exponentially when we transitioned from a small, tucked away design studio in Silverlake to our flagship store Clad Home on Melrose Ave in East Hollywood. I could NOT have done all of that without Mel, no way no how.

So it was exciting for all of us when Mel's next career step after RBD was straight into a job with superstar designer Emily Henderson. Pretty cool, right? Total follow-your-dreams success story.

Now Melanie is an EHD and Homepolish designer and her own stylish apartment is about to be featured in the Makeover Takeover series on the EHD blog. We're psyched because of course Mel remains loyal to our line of Clad Home custom furnishing for all her projects, and we love to see her work her magic with our stuff!

Here's the mood board for her newly re-designed living room (hey what's up with that super unique and different wood frame sofa? A Clad Home original, ya'll!)

A couple of other gorgeous Melanie Burstin-designed spaces showcasing Clad Home sofas...

Follow along with Melanie's Makeover Takeover here! (We'll post the progress updates as they unfold.)

xoxo,

ROOM REVAMP: CLEAN AND COZY DINING ROOM

Hello friends! Summer is humming along here in LA and we're happy to report that both RBD and Clad Home are bizzy bizzy with great projects and the coolest clients around. We're preparing for a couple big project photo shoots just around the corner and you know what that means: lots of new room reveals and juicy "before & after" posts!
We love the organic modern simplicity of this dining room, and we think the various elements in this space make it a great room for you to be able to recreate yourself.
Check it out...

1 / 2 / 3

4 / 5 / 6

The table is the most important, and often most expensive, part of your dining room. We picked out pieces from both lower and higher price points to give you some options for different budgets.

TABLE #1

TABLE #2

OPTION #1 ROOM TOTAL: $915
OPTION #2 ROOM TOTAL: $1464

Everything is sourced from box stores and online vendors to make it easy on you. We think this mix gives you a similar look for a fraction of the price of the inspo room.
Tag us on Instagram @rosabeltrandesign hashtag #roomrevamp to show us your take on this space!

xoxo,

COMING UP COGNAC: A ROUND UP OF OUR FAVE COGNAC LEATHER PIECES

Maybe you've noticed, I'm a huge fan of decorating with cognac leather. The warm, rich hue provides a for much brighter look than black or brown leather can achieve. Whether you mix it in with neutrals or deep jewel tones, it just always works.

Here's a vintage Danish Westnofa chair I scored on Craigslist, in my own living room from about 2 houses ago (still have and love the chair) ....

And a custom Clad Home tufted cognac leather daybed from our clients' Los Feliz English Colonial ...

A bit more cognac leather inspo ...

Here is a round up of our favorite pieces on the market in this gorgeous tone of leather:

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10

11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15

And don't forget that any piece from our Clad Home Upholstery collection can be done in leather too! (Or send us your own inspiration furniture to make a reality.)

Just for funsies, show us how you use cognac leather in your home by tagging us on Instagram (@rosabeltrandesign) using the hashtag #comingupcognac.

Cheers,

CLAD HOME SLEEPER SOFAS TOP PICK BY FELLOW DESIGNER EM HENDERSON

Woohoo! One of our favorite designers Emily Henderson just included a bunch of Clad Home designs in a round-up of her favorite sleeper sofas.

You've probably already caught on to the fact that at Clad Home we happily work with you to fully customize your furniture to your exact specifications (like, down to the last inch.)
We carry a constantly-growing collection of Clad Home designs on our website available for nationwide shipping, and we can also make your dream sofa, even if it's not one of ours. Just send us a photo for a price quote!
Here's how it works with sleeper sofas:
You can add a pull-out bed (full or queen size) to any sofa or sectional, and we won't price gauge you for it either. That's because we take our slogan #designforthepeople to heart, and we're serious about providing everyone with fine custom furniture at accessible, people-friendly prices.
With that in mind, we'll outfit your sofa with a traditional spring mattress pull-out for +$500, or a super comfy memory foam mattress pull-out for +$700.
(Incidentally, I've have plenty of guests sleep on my memory foam Clad Home sleeper sofa, as well as having tried it out myself, and I can honestly say it's far comfier than those horrible sleeper sofas of the past where you always seemed to have a bar in your back.)
Emily's top Clad Home picks are our Melrose, Rodney, and Whittier sofas:

MELROSE from $1020

RODNEY from $1325

WHITTIER from $1020

The last thing to keep in mind is that in order to hide the sleeper mechanism a sofa's feet must be only 1"-2" tall max, because the sofa frame beneath the seat cushion should be a minimum of 10" tall. Which means the style of feet may have to change a bit, but since we hand-draw each and every Clad Home order, you'll get to see a sketch of your sofa and approve the look of it before it goes into production. We'll help you to get the look and style of your piece just right!
We're happy to report that sleeper sofas no longer have to be ugly OR uncomfortable!
xoxo,

ROOM REVEAL: GALLEY KITCHEN MAKEOVER

We have a fun repeat client named Matt who we love working with because he's got great taste and lots of good ideas. Actually he started out as my chiropractor when I first moved to LA, and quickly became both a friend and a design client. (He's still my chiropractor, in case you ever need a good one in LA, and he's a gem ... Matt even made a house call to adjust me when I was about 40 hours into my loooong labor with Benicio!)
Anyhow over the years we've remodeled Matt's office both inside and out, and this time we tackled the galley kitchen of he and his boyfriend's cute bungalow in Atwater Village.

It started out very rustic and woodsy and terribly lacking in usable storage space ... but with great appliances! (Love that hood.)

Our first pick was this great budget conscious cabinetry from Semi Handmade Doors. They sell unfinished cabinet doors made to fit Ikea cabinet boxes. Matt had the doors professionally painted by a guy who came recommended by the cabinet company. It's a pretty foolproof way to design a budget kitchen that looks fully custom. The Ikea kitchen designers will help you get all your dimensions and layout just right, and then you send your plan over to the guys at Semi Handmade and they tell you exactly what you need to order in terms of cabinet fronts and filler/side panels!

In my opinion you can't ever go wrong with classic shaker-style cabinet doors ...

Since we didn't have to buy appliances we got to splurge on the marble tile backsplach which runs all the way to the ceiling. It's Calacatta Gold which has warmer veining and undertones than your usual cool blue-grey Carrara Marble. We got ours from a local showroom, but it's also sold here for $15/ft.
I love the the way Matt chose to install the tile all lined up rather than in the usual running bond pattern that you most often see with subway tile.

This is a really narrow galley kitchen, so lining it with lots of upper cabinets would have made it feel too closed in and cramped. Free floating shelves in solid walnut were a good solution for a bit of added storage.