Before
This is my kitchen counter. No, it’s not meant to be an advertisement for Palmolive (but if they wanted to be an advertiser on the site I wouldn’t say no). It’s an example. An example of how little things can make a difference.
After
Can you spot the difference between this picture and the one before?
I changed the dish soap holder from the original ugly store bought bottle to a proper glass soap dispenser. The dispenser cost 26 NIS and makes such a nice change for the counter.
We bought our house just before we got married. We had little to no money. We knew we wanted to renovate, but we also knew we wanted babies, and those are expensive (we had no idea just how expensive). By the time we closed on the house (there was a massive strike which lasted 6 months to thank for the insanely late closing date) we were married and I was pregnant.
Money at this point? Forget about it. So we took the cheapest of the cheap ‘shiputznik’ (renovator). It was our first renovation – for those of you in the same position please learn from us. The money will come, spend the extra needed to have your home done correctly the first time around!
The tile in our bathroom is an example of what notto do. Things I have learned from this? Grout is not your friend. Choosing a tile that can be placed side by side with little to no grout is much better. If you must grout, mosaics are good because they are already pre-spaced – less room for goofs by a horrible tile layer. If grout is necessary – get white for the bathroom walls. We were living in Tel Aviv and the decision for this was made by the shiputznik **rolls eyes**.
Not every decision in this house was a bad one. I designed this sink and shelf area because the bathroom is so small (it was originally just a pedestal sink, a shower with a hole in the ground, and a toilet). The wood is sealed with marine grade lacquer. The bowl is still big enough to be comfortable to shave (the requirement of my husband) but the oblong shape keeps it from jutting too far from the wall. The faucet is a kitchen faucet from Ikea. The one I originally wanted for the bathroom had two problems: 1) it was too expensive, and 2) the handle was on the top, which meant that little people wouldn’t be able to get to it very easily. Everything in this house has been chosen with little ones in mind.
The brush holder in the corner was made by me in a ceramics class.
Of course, there are the things I simply have to accept…
Look at these stairs. Do they look off to you? They are, and it drives me nuts. I renovated an old house, which means there isn’t a perfect corner or properly parallel walls in the entire place. There was simply no way for the contractor to get this to work, had he made the bottom stair parallel to the top then it would look strange with the floor below. Same thing for the one above. So the stairs had to be off. It isn’t as noticeable since they are of the same material, but I know it’s there. The solution (which was thought of too late) would be to make the stairs round. Or I could go the 80’s route and make them completely off angles on purpose – but I did the eighties the first time around. That was enough.
Shira Abel is the CEO and founder of Hunter & Bard, an award-winning public relations and design agency that works with scale-ups and enterprises on building their brand, awareness and thought leadership.
As CEO of Hunter & Bard, Shira oversees a team that manages public relations, marketing, design, and brand development for clients across multiple industries. She develops strategies for organically growing companies through sincere digital engagement and the application of behavioral marketing.
Clients include JELD-WEN, Benchling, Sixth Continent, Totango, Folloze, Radix DLT, Axa Tech, Allianz, and many more. Shira is also a sought after corporate speaker and marketing mentor, and has spoken at events such as Confluence and Content Marketing World, and taught at institutions such as Kellogg School of Management and S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research in Mumbai.
Read more about Shira’s company Hunter & Bard at https://www.hunterandbard.com
Ok, I LOVE the vessel sink on the floating shelf, I’ve been looking all over for how to do this! How did you support the weight of the sink on the shelf?
LOL – we cheated. You can’t see from the photo but it’s not a real floating shelf – there are holding thingies underneath (like my technical language?) and since the only way you can see it is if you’re specifically looking (since it’s counter height) no one notices it.
It may not be floating but it sure looks good mounted like that. I can’t wait to get my Vessel Sink. My husband is going to fabricate the rest. He always likes a challenge and This should inspire him. Hopefully 🙂
About the stairs….. I didn’t notice that they are off and I have been to your house. Even if it is off, I like it when things aren’t exactly 100% straight, it gives a human touch. Like the houses in Santorini where the walls aren’t even, Love that.
I like the wide grouting and the concrete look, your in fashion now darling its all the rage.