The Passionate Eclectic

Jenn and her husband Greg bought their funky Florida home a little over 10 years ago. At the time they were living in Toronto but had lived just outside of Sunny Orlando for a year and knew the exact location they would buy in should the opportunity present itself. My brother-in-law tenaciously scouted out the perfect house on beautiful Lake  Sybelia, and after a year of patiently waiting, they purchased their little piece of paradise.

But there was one hitch…my sister never saw the house in person…she had only seen photos of it on-line! How’s that for taking a leap of faith?

When it came to renovating their master bathroom, Jenn took another leap of faith and let my brother-in-law do all the design work! I saw their bathroom this past March when I was visiting and I would have to say he did a pretty spectacular job.

Here is what they had before:

Not completely horrible, just a little tired and dated. It’s actually a very large bathroom, with a big walk-in closet at one end and a “dressing room” on the other end they converted into an office for Greg.

These two have really great taste and both seem to like the same things…which is great when making decisions. I would say their decor style is best described as modern elegance with a touch of eclectic thrown in for personality. Greg wanted a very clean, simple modern bathroom, and did his research by honing in on high end European cabinetry for ideas.

Not surprisingly, Ikea cabinets were very similar to what he loved without the hefty price tag. Did I mention along with his great design capabilities he’s also very savvy when it comes to the financial side of things? Seriously savvy…that guy will research the best price for lettuce if you ask him to!

All jokes aside, this is how his smart and savvy bathroom design turned out:

Quite a transformation isn’t it? They didn’t move any of the plumbing which saved them some dough…but they did remove the little closet thingy around the toilet.

Those floating cabinets are my new favourite everything!! The drawers are deep and efficient and roll out like a dream. If you ever had doubts about using Ikea cabinetry in either your bathroom or kitchen, quit it, because they really are Swedish for Common Sense! Another savvy move Greg made was to opt out of using traditional countertops. He fitted his cabinets with the same panels that cover the Besta wall unit in their living room. I guess that makes him creative and clever as well as smart and savvy!

There will come a time in the near future when I will need a bathroom or two renovated, and quite possibly the best price for lettuce….thank-fully there is someone in our family who can help me with both!