Featured from Southern Living Showcase Home (see the rest of the project)
Wabi-Sabi (侘 寂) is a world view popular in Japanese culture that centers on the acceptance of imperfection. It was introduced in the 15th century by Buddhist monks whose cracked vessels were repaired with gold thus embracing and celebrating the flaw. The aesthetic is described as beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete". Wabi means peace, harmony, simplicity, and balance. Sabi is the natural flow of time or authenticity of aging. When we apply this concept to design, we are creating interiors that are designed with mindfulness, both using old and new objects.
photograph: Michael Sinclair Design: Chan & Eayrs
I call Wabi Sabi style, “Living The Mix” at Bridget Beari. Always using a touch of old with the new. Antiques, handcrafted objects, and wood tones. I tell people never to throw anything away until we have viewed it and searched for its purpose. It is our client’s home and using objects of meaning is important to them and always takes the design to another level. Whether that is an antique bed or a small vase, its the personality of room and tells a story.
roseandgrey.co
A Wabi-Sabi home embraces simplicity through its weathered and worn style. An old plaster wall with pealing paint is highlighted for its beauty not stripped to perfection. This gives the room a sense of peace and tranquility. This style allows you no stress. Don’t worry about that making things perfect. Just live! Stacked books on the floor, cracked teapots for display, pealing paint…. Remember there is beauty in imperfection.
photograph: Michael Sinclair Design: Chad & Eayrs
You may not want to go to extremes with this concepts but following some simple guidelines can help give your interiors that peace and harmony one needs to love your space.
Bringing Wabi-Sabi into your interiors helps infuse life, warmth and makes your interiors feel more real to you as well as others. Have you ever walked in a room and it just feels good? Let’s find out how that works by following these simple steps.
Bridget Beari Designs: Tulum Photograph: Joe Bernado
Use Natural Materials like wood, metals and stones. Embrace the warmth nature of organic textures as we did here in our Alys Beach project. The sink is placed upon a naturally weathered log with metal bowl and faucet. Such beauty in it’s simplicity.
Bridget Beari Designs: Alys Beach Photograph: Joe Bernado
2. Keep It Simple. Clear the Clutter. This is the easiest to do. Start with the goal of mindfulness. If it has purpose it stays. If it has meaning it stays. Only use what you need and what gives you joy.
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3. Embrace Imperfections. A cracked vase, a worn leather ottoman, a torn fabric: they all tell a story. In a world of Instagram perfection, just say it’s Ok as is and I love it! Mixing an antique chair in within modern upholstery gives room life and makes it feel real. How many room do you see that look cold and staged? Repurposing is another great way to achieve this goal. Using an old cutting board as art, an old ladder to hang towels or mix matched collection of pottery are prefect examples.
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4. Use Handcrafted Objects: local ceramic pots, handcrafted wood tables, hand made spoosn or cutting boards , there are so many ways to add these elements to a room and we have all sorts of local artisan pieces at the store or check us out online.
Photograph: Michael Sinclair Design: Chad & Eayrs
5. Bring the Outdoors In. Plants or anything natural like sticks work wonders to create warmth in an interior. If you kill every green plant, we have some wonderful faux greenry at the store. Trailing vines look amazing on a bookcase or coffee table. Small succulents can also give such life to a bathroom counter top and no watering is required.
Bridget Beari Home Store
If you are like me then decorating brings happiness and adding a little Wabi-Sabi just takes our client’s interiors to another level. It may be subtle in some cases but our design style is all about purpose and beauty! Try it yourself and let me how you did.
Our Atlanta project is featured on the cover of Traditional Home Magazine! Whoo Hoo! It was such a wonderful new build in the heart of Buckhead in Atlanta in collaboration with architect Peter Block and builder Shaba Derazi. We are thrilled Traditional Home picked another of our projects to publish and the cover was an added bonus!
Traditional Home Magazine Winter 2019
photo by Emily Followill
I thought I would share some photos that do not included Holiday decorations so you can really see the architecture and the interior design. This is actually the fifth house I have done for this amazing client but the first time I have worked with Peter Block, Atlanta architect. The collaboration was great - it was a real team effort from the selection of the lot, removal of the existing old house to the whole construction process.
Let’s start with the Exterior. A white on white French inspired home. Peter did an amazing job of capturing the light throughout the house. He is quite a master and I did my best to highlight his architectural features. I love this exterior color - Greek Villa by Sherwin Williams. It looks amazing on the stucco walls.
Photo by Peter Block
Here is the back of the house with the two wings - kitchen and master bedroom on one side and offices and guest bedroom on the other side.
The most interesting feature of the house is that you walk directly into the dining room. The dining room is also two story with the large vertical Ochre chandelier hanging between the two levels.
Many of the furniture pieces are custom made throughout the house. This begins with the dining room table, due to the size and the fact that it is square I had this table made from a large piece of walnut for the top and a custom metal base.
photo by Mali Azimma
Photo by Peter Block
I added a 10ft sofa in the dining room as the perfect place to rest before or after dinner with a glass of wine but even the children love to sit there to do their homework. To the left is a custom firescreen and an antique mirrored wall above the fireplace.
Beautiful plaster walls throughout the house.
Photo By Mali Azima
Photo by Mali Azima
This is the room behind the dining room that looks out to the backyard. 30 ft. ceilings, curved and plastered. We call it the Long Room - Gorgeous! Another custom fire screen and iron doors with curved tops. The high gloss black bar with the custom brass center cabinet is peaking out over in the right corner.
Photo by Mali Azima
Photo by Mali Azima
The kitchen is a beautiful space with the upper windows, raised fireplace and white oak cabinetry. It is filled with light as well as functionality.
Photo By Mali Azima
I love mixing materials like I did here in the kitchen - white oak, plaster, white gloss, stainless drawer fronts, and marble. It is one of my favorite kitchens.
Photo By Mali Azima
Photo by Mali Azima
On the left side of the house are his and her offices. Can you guess which is which?
Photo by Mali Azima
I love designing bookcases and built-ins. Each has its specific purpose and look.
Photo By Mali Azima
The powder room is quite a gem with the vanity and the floral mural wallpaper. Even in the fixtures we have mixed antiques with modern fixtures. I love the mix!
Photo by Mali Azima
The master bedroom is soft and serene with fully blackout curtains for a restful nights sleep.
Photo by Mali Azima
Photo by Mai Azima
The master bath walls are filled with this Tabarka silveer metallic fishscale tile.
Photo by Mali Azima
Another custom piece was this vanity I designed. The curved towers open to hold all of the clients makeup, and hair equipment.
Photo by Mali Azima
The children’s rooms: Bridget Beari Color - Sugar high gloss doors!
A custom bunk bed with a Bridget Beari Color- Inka Dinka in high gloss!
The house even has a pool table, bar area in the basement. These built-ins slide to hide the liquor and reveal art on the side walls.
Photo by Peter Block
I hope you have enjoyed our sneak peak behind the scenes of the Traditional Home story and a glimpse into one of our favorite projects of 2019!
Bridget Beari as HGTV’s Designer of the Year Nominee!
We are thrilled to be nominated for HGTV’s Designer for the Year in the category of Before and After Projects. This project took an outdated Colonial home and turned it into a home that is full of modern amenities, fun color, and style. This is the second home we have done for this client so we knew the look they wanted. We love when a client trusts the vision. This was a remarkable transformation so we hope that you will vote for us. Voting is daily until September 26th when the winners of each category will be announced. Look for button with the colored glass pendants!
Check out all the before and after photos below. Here is the link for voting!
Below are the Before and After photos.
Wrapping the brick in grey stained wood and slate tiles gives a softer warmth to the room. Our custom paint color Bridget Beari Colors Pia No. 31 looks stunning on the walls. Verellen coffee table, La Diff sectional, Gabby Home Barstools, Arteriors pendants.
This family loves to entertain so adding a more functional bar space was a priority. We also added a more interesting quatrofoil window. The mirrored Ann Sacks tile backsplash is a great way to add reflection and interest.
By painting the door our signature Bridget Beari Colors Caesar M47 black you see more of the outside. The charcoal Baron Boy M35 create a cozy room for both spring and winter. Soft and luxurious Belgian linen sofa by Verellen completes the look.
By far the most changed of the rooms, our Lexicon M25 gray color for the cabinets and SKLO glass pendants create a fun whimsical space but by adding the custom made stainless steel center island we have created a workable chef’s kitchen both beautiful and functional. The Ann Sacks tile backsplash and the touch of stainless trim finishes the look.
Adding the plaster fireplace and the dark Frangelica M46 accent wall gives the room the focal point it lacked before. Four Lee Industries chairs around center ottoman for an interesting conversation area punched by the Osborne and Little fabrics on the pillows and draperies.
Adding the faux steel fireplace surround and floating shelves gives this room the modern touch our clients wanted. Walls are our paint color Duchess M17. Accented with the Made Goods mirror and the Hickory Chair bed, chair and dresser. Not to mention the amazing accessories from our own home store Bridget Beari Home Store.
Walls came down to turn this chopped up space into a large bathroom with plenty of storage. A Hartmann & Forbes grass shade to soften the look but also provide a dark contrast to the white walls.
We hope you will take the time to vote for our firm to celebrate this amazing project.
Everyone likes a good before and after but our experience at the Southern Style Now Showhouse sponsored by Traditional Home in Savannah was extreme. We were given a space in the lower level of the home. Although as I was corrected in Savannah, there are no basements just garden levels. For us Virginians, its the basement. The space was the boiler storage area - unfinished and raw. We never physically saw the space as each time we were prepared to venture to Savannah we were told there was too much construction and no walls. So without ever seeing the space, we relied on photos from the developer and video chats. I am use to working like this on our Mexico jobs so remote designing is second nature but more planning has to be done to make sure things fit correctly and feel proportional.
Given that our small space opens directly to the patio, I decided that a potting room or garden room would be sensible and fun addition to this amazing house. As the owner would come from the garage through the patio, it should be used as a mudroom as well. Light, open and fully functional were my goals. Oh and did I mention that the ceilings are only 7ft. Well, 80" to be exact. This was just one of many challenges.
Before: Clearly a storage area with no finished walls or ceiling
Looking toward the soon to be storage closet and laundry room.
The exterior patio doorway
Can you see our boarded up window on the back wall?
Our goals for this space were to show color specifically our Bridget Beari Paint Colors, heighten the ceiling, give the space a function, and create some amazing nooks and focal points.
The ceiling design was one of the first decisions I made. A beadboard grid with built in recess lights at the intersections to lighted and heighten the already low ceiling.
I love to find ways to add color without having it all on the wall. In this room I added functional built ins in our Bridget Beari Colors. The lockers are Dewey and the potting cabinets are Biba from our Exotic collection with the addition of some Bridget Beari Papers Buscemi in grasscloth for the fronts of the doors.
To continue our vision of color we add the Tile Bar tile in this amazing turquoise color just in the back of the potting cabinets.
It is a real working potting room with a galvinized sink, storage cabinets, potting table ( which I designed and had made with the perfect hooks for hanging tools ), caulk board windows for taking notes and even a chicken cover for a chandelier from Thailand that you can hang herbs out to dry.
I also found the perfect English garden tools, white washed some terra cotta pots, clipped and dried some hydrangeas. What a perfect space for working on arrangements or drying bulbs. Even the floor was new with the tile from Crossville Tiles called Notrious was the perfect choice - dark with a large scale to make the room bigger and hide dirt.
The black and white floor cloth from Spicher & Co reminded me of Savannah, classic southern style and I even saw something similar in the Pink House restaurant while I was dining one evening.
As you walk down our hallway, there is a slight niche space across from the new elevator. I thought it would be lovely to have an upholstered garden wall with fabric from Zoffany and a domed wicker chair filled with pillows accenting all the colors of the room.
Even with the addition of the mini split at the last minute, I was able to redesign the lockers with this detachable top for access. Easy access and attractive as no one likes to look at the units on the wall.
I love the addition of old and new pieces - custom cabinetry, modern wallpaper, antique chairs, repurposed windows with chalkboard, even grain sack curtains.
I used all dried or real plants in the space to show a real working garden room. Most visitors commented that they wish they had a room like this in their own home. Doesn't every southern girl need place to do arrangements and gardening?
I love adding surprise focal points like adding the hand painted door in another of our Bridget Beari Colors called Bertie. Painted by a local Richmond artist Mary Terry.
Even the laundry room at the end of the hall we added some Bridget Beari Paper grasscloth called Scarlet O'Hara in Good Boy with these striking Metallic blue Samsung Washer Dryer and this amazing concrete top from Caesarstone.
It was such a pleasure and a challenge to be involved in this showhouse. I big thank you to Traditional Home for the invitation. It is was one of our favorite spaces. We can't wait until to comes out in the magazine next year.
