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Design

This Primary Suite Was Designed Around An Arched Stained Glass Window – See How They Made This New Room Feel Vintage

It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with this home’s open-concept kitchen/dining/living space but for me, this was the room, the main suite, that really took my breath away. The softness, the textures, the textiles! It all just feels like a deep exhale. If I didn’t need to eat I wouldn’t leave this room while staying here. It’s unpretentious yet is filled with so many special details. This view being maybe one of the biggest highlights…well until you see the other side:) Shall we??

First, let’s talk about this bed! I, of course, had to ask Anne (who co-owns ARCIFORM and Versatile Wood Products with her husband, Richard) where she got it from, assuming it was probably custom. I was wrong! She said, “The bed was a lucky find at the ‘Community Warehouse’ for $120.00. We purchased it way before the house was done, so were sleeping on this fancy bed frame in the middle of a construction zone for months. :)” WHAT?! That is why Slow and Steady usually wins the wildly cool and affordable vintage race. I also asked about the singular bracket on the top right bedpost to which Anne said was actually a curtain rod bracket to help with the wobbliness of the frame.

Striped Comforter | King Comforter and Sham Linen Set | Lumbar Pillow

Emily mentioned in yesterday’s post that she was kicking herself for not doing this white wall finish at the farmhouse. This awesome product is called General Finishes Water Based Milk Paint. Anne said she loves it and that it’s easy to apply (music to our ears!). What a beautiful way to add a wall color while still seeing the texture of the wood.

But let’s also take a minute to appreciate the bed styling! The warm gray and bright white look so beautiful together and feel like the Pacific Northwest Coast sky. That subtle strip adds some quiet interest and the bolder blue blankets give the whole look some more depth. It’s just stunning.

Does that lamp look familiar??? Does a basement guest room makeover ring a bell? But aside from that very cool lamp, let’s take a second to really appreciate that stained glass door! I confirmed with Anne that it was an exterior door in a previous life because there is clearly a mail slot. Do you also see that key?! Vintage is simply the best.

I had to put this photo in one more time because it’s too beautiful not to see it again. And it’s also a better angle of the stained glass door:)

Looking at these photos almost makes you feel like you’ve gone back in time when all you had and wanted was a good book, some candlelight, and a cozy bed. I also just really love how the Emilys styled that book stack with a candle on top:)

Oh, and how pretty is that contrast of the white walls and natural wood ceiling and floors? It makes it cozy instead of feeling too light and bright.

And HERE IT IS! The arched stained glass doorway. With something like this in a room, you really don’t need much else. This is what Anne said when I asked her about the process of finding all of the stained glass pieces for the house: “Bloomsbury Antiques in Portland is an importer of British Antiques and Architectural Salvage. I purchased all of the stained glass pieces from them and designed the doors and windows around what I found. The arched stained glass door with the arched window surround was a must-have for me, and I designed the spaces accordingly.”

It just gets better and better every time you look at it. Personally, I love that while it has so much personality, the design isn’t overly ornate making it a perfect fit for this home. Simple and special as we like to say over here:) But now let’s head into the actual bathroom…

Yep, even more beautiful! I love the four different materials used on the walls and floors – marble hex tile, zellige tile, white-washed wood paneling, and finally natural wood on the ceiling. They all work so harmoniously together yet add so much visually.

Now for a fun little cautionary tell from Anne: “Richard advised the entry to the shower not to have a curbless shower basin, as they tend to flood the space. I insisted. He was right, I should have figured out a curb for the space as we always have to squeegee the floors after we use the shower. On the plus side, the floors are always clean.”

There can always be a silver lining:)

I also asked Anne if she had any thoughts or favorite things about the bathroom and I loved her answer:

“I personally like how I used the shower curtain hooks as towel hooks as well. I also like how the shower curtain protects the wood window in the shower.  I can open it to my heart’s content and not have to frost the glass for privacy. I have a hard time selling this detail to my clients. I just love it.”

That was a detail I’m embarrassed I didn’t catch at first! What a simple but cool way to play with curtain length and get the privacy you want. Win-win!

For the grand finale, we need to talk about this vanity. I knew almost immediately it was a custom job. Not only because it’s beautiful but it’s clearly not your average vanity. Lo and behold their company, Versatile Wood Products, built the assembly based on Anne’s design. According to Anne, “Richard wanted something a bit more classic (I am the one that likes the more rustic aesthetic) so I squeezed a little traditional into the corner for him. :)” See? Compromise can be really beautiful.

The last question I had was a technical one in case any of you wanted to achieve a similar look. I want to know about mounting a sconce directly onto a bathroom mirror. Was it expensive? Is it really complicated? Here was Anne’s answer: “Cutting the holes is not the costly part, it is the part where everything has to align perfectly and the electrician has to attach the light fixture onto the mirror glass while fitting all the wiring behind it.” Doesn’t sound impossible but you do want to make sure you have people you trust doing it…like most everything in a new build or renovation:)

Well, I hate to say goodbye and please stay as long as you want looking at this gorgeous room. Lord, knows I will. See you next week with more spaces!

Love you, mean it!

*Design by Anne De Wolf of ARCIFORM and Versatile Wood Products
**Chief Lumberjack: Richard De Wolf of ARCIFORM and Versatile Wood Products
***Styled by Emily Henderson and Emily Bowser
****Photos by Sara Ligorria-Tramp

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Libby
11 months ago

Very beautiful and definitely unique. I would feel exposed having a see through bedroom door in line with a see through (frosted) bathroom door.
Looking forward to seeing more of the house!

11 months ago
Reply to  Libby

Hi, this is Richard, chief lumberjack! 🙂
What this post doesn’t show is the location. Those clear glass doors look out over Willapa Bay and the Pacific, so prying eyes are thousands of miles away. You can get a glimpse of the coast when viewing the picture with the rocking chair. On nice days, all doors are open. We even have an outside shower and tub.

T.
11 months ago
Reply to  Richard DeWolf

Okay, well now I’m just jealous! 😁

Nancy
11 months ago

Breathtaking! No other words. Ann, could you ask for the sources for the tile in the bathroom please. Thank you in advance!

SLG
11 months ago
Reply to  Nancy

I’m not Emily but I have spent many hours of my life shopping for tile across a few renovations 🙂 and fwiw, the floor tile looks to me like a 2-inch marble hex, probably carrera or something very similar. The Tile Shop has a lot of options that are almost identical to this if you wanted to do something like it. And the shower wall tile looks like maybe the same zelige as they used in the kitchen? (Source for that was in yesterday’s post.) It’s all so beautiful!

11 months ago
Reply to  Nancy

Hello! This is Anne 🙂 The tile is Zellige from Ann Sacks. Idris by Ait Manos in Nacre White.

Summer
11 months ago

I love the idea of the shower curtain across the window! Curious if having it hung at that height is enough to keep condensation from causing issues on that window. I assume it’s a wood window? We’re thinking of putting in wood windows above a shower, and are nervous about how to keep them from rotting. Thanks!

priscilla
11 months ago
Reply to  Summer

I don’t know the answer to your question, but this is what we did in our house. All our windows are wood but for the wide, high (for privacy) window in the shower room. That window is vinyl and it just blends into the tiled walls. No one would go into my bathroom and say, ugh, vinyl windows. What they say is, this is so pretty. So, for me, rotting issues aren’t an issue. It’s just one window and the tile and styling are so, um, let’s say bold, that it isn’t even on the radar. Hope this helps.

SLG
11 months ago
Reply to  Summer

I put a shower in a window in a recent renovation, and similar to priscilla, I used vinyl at the recommendation of our contractor. It looks totally fine, and I say that as someone who has a lot of strong opinions about windows, preferring wood ones, etc.
Fwiw, I grew up spending time in a beach house on the east coast of the US where everything was unfinished wood. The wood that got wet a lot (in shower rooms, etc.) invariably got black and yucky and had to be replaced every several years. So even with a poly coating, I’m personally skeptical about wood windows in a shower.

11 months ago
Reply to  Summer

Hi, this is Richard, the builder and owner…Chief Lumberjack and owner of Versatile Wood Products, the window manufacturer. We don’t have any condensation issues regarding the window. The shower area isn’t sealed in, there is space above the shower glass and below the shower glass, so the steam isn’t concentrated. Also, notice the deep jamb, water can’t run down the walls either. The reason we don’t have the curtain up high is because we get more light in that way and the water doesn’t splash up that high. Also, the curtain is outside the frame of the window, so anything dripping down it will go into the shower basin. Make sure it doesn’t drip into the sill area…that’s where it would fail.

Summer
11 months ago
Reply to  Richard DeWolf

Thank you SO much for taking the time to share all of that, Richard! That’s fabulously helpful! The window in our bathroom is one of the four main windows of the house, so vinyl was not an option for me in our situation… So excited to have some ideas for how to go about this.

If you happen to see this again, is any of what you shared dependent on the location of the exhaust fan?

Thanks again! All the windows in your house are stunning!

SLG
11 months ago

I am IN LOVE with these floors. Any chance Anne is willing to share what finish she used for them? I love that they don’t look shiny, like typical poly-finished floors.

11 months ago
Reply to  SLG

Hi, this is Richard, Anne’s husband and chief lumberjack. 🙂 Believe it or not, there is no finish at all. This is a beach house and we want to come and go and we know the dog will run in and out. Anne calls it Schloss Planken in her native German for castle planks.

SLG
11 months ago
Reply to  Richard DeWolf

Wow, that’s amazing! Thank you so much for sharing that info.

11 months ago

It’s just beautiful! I’d love to know what kind of wood was used on the ceiling? (I’m hoping to do the same in my bathroom). I love the window aspect, but surely the cotton shower curtain gets wet when you use the shower?

11 months ago
Reply to  Diane

Thanks Diane. We used the local wood that we felled and milled on site. I’d go as local as possible, but if that’s not possible or undesirable, do what you love. This is Coastal Spruce. 🙂

11 months ago
Reply to  Diane

Oh, and that shower curtain lets the water run down it no problem. It gets a little wet but not soaked or anything.

Amy
11 months ago

Thanks for the tip about the curbless shower — I always wonder if it creates a water problem when I see them in pictures. Wet rooms are wet, huh?

priscilla
11 months ago
Reply to  Amy

Our bathroom is approximately 6×8. We have a curbless shower made with waterproof Schluter products. Not that I work for Schluter or anything but, they make a foolproof floor pan in many sizes, parts that fit up the wall to waterproof, etc. It makes the water all go down the drain without going all over the rest of the bathroom. We have a rain shower, which i think also helps to contain the water, and a 27″ glass wall separating the shower from the sink. The water is totally manageable. And with a part wall, let’s say it’s 6.5′ x 27″, there is minimal squeegee work to be done after the shower. I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. Our contractor was delighted with the Schluter floor pan because he didn’t have to plan for the slope to the drain.

Amy
11 months ago
Reply to  Amy

Ours has never had that problem but it’s a linear drain off to the side, rather than in the middle. It’s great for a small space and more accessible for our in-laws with mobility issues when they visit!

11 months ago
Reply to  Amy

This is Richard, Chief Lumberjack responding.
The shower pan and water management isn’t the issue, I think it’s me. 🙂
If I had to do it all over again, I’d have the glass go closer to the floor…I think I dance in the shower and kick a lot of it out under there. We have well water that might stain, so a quick run over the glass and anything splashing out of the shower area is all we are needing to do.

andrea
11 months ago

yes, gorgeous!! and, I wonder how it’s possible to reach the sink when it’s set so far back…..

11 months ago
Reply to  andrea

Hi Andrea, Good Eye. 🙂
We always stand at the corner where the curve meets the flat front of the cabinet as that’s the natural place for this shape of cabinet for us, instead of perfectly perpendicular to the faucet. Works great!

Annie
11 months ago

Oh my goodness, it’s extremely exquisite. Less dramatic than the amazing glass is the beauty of the floors and the way they have gaps between them like original old boards. I really honed in on this because I am doing up a little house in the country and we’ve had to remove all the original wide plank floors. Because we are installing UFH, we have gone for engineered boards, but they all knit together seamlessly with tongue and groove which I dislike – it just looks too new in my Victorian cottage. I am in the process of trying to persuade my fitter to deliberately leave gaps in a haphazard way and to fake nail holes (am I mad?). He is resisting. I am wondering how Anne and Richard achieved this effect or are their boards not tongue and groove engineered boards. My husband and I are also Richard and Ann; I am taking this as a good floor-omen.

11 months ago
Reply to  Annie

Great to meet another Richard and Ann! Hi! Most everything we used was milled from lumber on site. These are what Anne, in her native German, calls Schloss Planken – castle planks. They are big boards with felt underneath. They are fastened with trim head screws into the floor joists. We have UFH to but it’s all done from underneath the home. We installed them all and if there was a high spot, we hand planed that spot down. Easy Breezy.

11 months ago
Reply to  Annie

“too” not “to” (don’t want you to think I can’t spell.)
🙂

Lulu
11 months ago

Well done Richard and Anne, it’s just lovely.

Molly Phillips
11 months ago

The mix of rustic and traditional is so well done. And thank you for not editing out the electrical outlets – I have been slowly replacing our light switches with Rejuvenation’s button pushes, but I didn’t know what it would look like if I replaced the ones that sit next to the GFCI white outlets in our kitchen. Seeing real examples is super helpful – especially when using similar backsplash colors.

Amy
11 months ago

Wow, that arched stain glass door is stunning. Anne and Richard are so talented!

Bethany
11 months ago

I’m generally a nosy person, so I am dying to know what is behind all the little doors?

Stephanie
11 months ago

Gorgeous and cozy and lovely. Every inch. Thanks for sharing with us!