When designing a residential living space, my design team and I always try to be mindful of who we are designing for. We spend time talking to our clients and looking at how they live in order to create something that is current and will be loved for a long time.

There are different things to consider when designing a commercial space. Such was the case when we were tasked with a re-design of the Glenerin Inn & Spa.

The history of the inn was interesting. The home was built in 1927 by the lawyer, Watson Evans. He and his family used this summer estate for lavish parties and gala balls for their friends and family.

Later it became a haven for post war children from the U.K. Eventually it was purchased by a large company in 1983 who designated it an Inn.

Since it was a home originally, each room was completely different. Some were small, others spacious. Some had sloping ceilings, others had window seats.

We carefully hand measured each room and created floorplans for each of the 30 bedrooms. We knew we had to establish common denominators for colors, furniture and accessories, despite each room being so different.

Our presentation to the owners of the Inn included several different looks but we knew they had to be on repeat X 30!

WHERE TO BEGIN

The Inn had natural stone everywhere and I felt that was the starting point. I believed that we could refresh walls, ceiling and woodwork by pulling a tone out of the stone which had a warm grey tone to it. We also happily loved the stone and felt it could be the base to add a fresh new look.

Adding a gentle homage to Art Deco in some of the details would also add some needed “glam” to the Inn.

We made sure that angles, fluted details, beautiful golden light fixtures and a bold but comfortable colour palette were used to emphasize the new design style.