House Beautiful

Casa Covet Living: People, we have liftoff.

Casa Covet Living Demo

Oh y’all.  It’s goin’ down.  That there picture above was sent to me last Monday. Boston Joe doesn’t mess around! PS: Boston Joe is our contractor who is a BOSS. Here are s’more of the current state of the interior:

(Master Bedroom)

IMG_4229

(Current Family Room looking into Formal Living / Front Door)

IMG_4226

Wanna see the plan we decided on??  Grab your magnifying glass…

Casa Covet Living | Floorplan Before & After | Stephanie Ballard Interiors

Here’s a bigger version… we’ll dig deeper into each space in a few:

Casa Covet Living | Floorplan by Stephanie Ballard

Howsabout a play-by-play of how each space / element is shaping up???  Since the layout is set and we’re now in demo mode, we’re also in hurry-up-and-choose-lighting-and-tile-and-flooring-mode.  Here’s how selections are coming:

{HARDWOOD FLOORS}

Karrie & Tim wanted a darker floor with some texture… and something that’s relatively indestructible since a) they have a lab named Kilroy, b) Kilroy has a friend named #GusGusforPresident who visits often, and c) Karrie is a self-professed Pig Pen of sorts.  This was one of our faves:

(Inspo)

Inspo Floors

I sourced these two options for them:

(Option A)

Walnut, Variable plank, Hand-Scraped Finish

IMG_2269

(Option B)

European Oak… has a bit more of a weathered but still sophisticated beachy look to me.

IMG_2271

(Winner: Option A!)

The hand-scraped walnut won out!  It was the closest to what Karrie had envisioned.  Both choices were SUPER reasonably priced for the quality.  The color of this one is also perfect.

IMG_2270

{MASTER BATH}

*These* beauts in all their glass tile glory have long-since been what Karrie & Tim both wanted for their master shower:

Master Shower | Casa Covet Living

Here are the tile options I pulled for ’em that are the closest match to their inspo…

IMG_2287

IMG_2300

Also pulled a slightly lighter color which was my personal favorite… this picture doesn’t even START to do it justice.  It’s a STUNNER and that hue of blue is completely unique.

IMG_2291

This is pretty close to what it would look like installed, which is about as close to perfection as you can get:

blue tile perfection | covet living

But alas… my pick was also completely pricey because it’s Glasshaus + has a completely long lead time, which rendered it completely out of the running.  (Sad face).  We also entertained the two at left:

IMG_2289

Both gorgeous, in a sea glass / coke bottled hue sort of way, but in the end we chose to stick to their original vision and go with the more unique, deeper Caribbean blue.  PS if you like the second from the left above (seafoam greenish), it’s available at Home Depot:

IMG_2408

IMG_2407

For the master bath floor, we have a few options…  wanna weigh in?

(TOP LEFT):  Linen-like textured porcelain floor, which I love, and which is also relatively inexpensive.  Porcelain is a great choice for bathroom floors because of its price point but also its durability – you can literally throw bleach on it and it won’t jack it up.  Not sure what sizes we’d cut it into or how I want it laid – gotta work that one through still.  Probably will do a larger format (maybe 6×12 cuts) and maybe in a herringbone pattern – to keep it from being to matchy-matchy and dizzying against the 3×6 glass subway in the shower.

(TOP RIGHT): Classic basketweave (Carrara).

(BOTTOM LEFT): 3/4″ white porcelain hexagon.

(BOTTOM RIGHT): Carrara-like 3/4″ penny tile (shown) -or- a white porcelain penny tile which – anything you do on a floor, especially a bathroom – you want to do in a honed or matte finish to prevent slipping.  Cuz aint nobody need to bust they hip or break a neck falling down & going boom in the bathroom.  You put something in a polished finish down and you might as well layer the floor with nanner peels.

Master Bath Flooring Choices | Casa Covet Living

Also thinking we’re gonna do these vessel sinks in the master bath… it gives it kind of a spa-like feel, which I love.  Haven’t added the sinks into their cabinetry drawings yet but you get the idea:

Casa Covet Living | Master Bath

(Plan View)

They’ve got some decent counter space (about 54″) in here to spread out stuff like Karrie’s rusted Con-Air curling iron from high school, my travel toiletry bag (just kidding Teem!  I’ll stay on my side of the house), and spray bottles of Poo-Pourri. Hey – don’t knock that stuff till you try it.  Someday it’ll put matches outta biz.

Casa Covet Living | San Diego Custom Cabinets

{HALL BATH}

Get ready to soil your drawers, cuz that’s what I do every time I think about what we picked for the Hall Bath… aka Guest Bath.  AKA my bathroom – bfjkdlsajfkdshjahfhdhsahaha.

Casa Covet Living | Hall Bath | Stephanie Ballard Interiors

We almost lost the battle for Hygge & West’s Pineapple in Mint wallcovering when I posted it on Insta, but I think we’ve since won him over.  (HOORAAAAAAY!)

Tim on Pineapple Wallpaper

As for the hall bath vanity, here’s what we’re dealing with: a) no linen closet in or outside of the bath, b) a small space, and c) a 41″ wide recessed area for the sink/vanity.  We entertained a pedestal sink BUT since we need little bit of storage, we decided on a freestanding vanity that’s open underneath so we can fill baskets with bath towels/linens for guests.  Like-a-zeese!

baskets under

I also suggested to Karrie that we have the countertop fabricated: a) with a little detail on the side, like this… just to keep from doing a run-of-the-mill 4″ cut-straight-across backsplash… but also to keep thangs from falling off the side, since we made the vanity freestanding and there are about 2″ of open space on either side:

Marble Vanity Corner Detail | Casa Covet Living

And b) with a wee ledge up top, like our good buddy Betsy Bracken (owner/shopkeeper of our favorite store, Bixby & Ball – aka the Mothership) has in her gorgeous bathroom (which Karrie and I may or may not have posted up in for an hour at Betsy’s Christmas party last year, with our jaws on the floor, like a coupla goons.  (PS: pics of Betsy’s home featured in Better Homes & Gardens is here.)

Betsy Bracken Bathroom | Better Homes & Gardens

{KITCHEN}

Vegas Peacock it is (!)  Thanks so much for weighing in!!

Casa Covet Living | Stephanie Ballard Interiors

PS we almost peed ourselves when this happened:

Joanna Gaines weighing in on Casa Covet Living

Here are the countertop & backsplash finishes…

  • Inset above range: Tabarka Signature, Oxford on Lavan
  • Countertop: Silestone (Lagoon) or Caesarstone (Carrara-like)
  • Backsplash / Field Tile: White, handmade ceramic 3×6 subway – we chose this vs. a regular flat subway because it has a little bit of undulation and movement… hard to see from the pic, but since we’re doing tiling the whole way up the wall behind the range and behind the sink, ye know – that’s a lotta ONE tile in one color, so it’s nice to add a little texture / interest.

IMG_3131
IMG_3132

Lighting for the kitchen:

Casa Covet Living | San Diego Custom Cabinets Casa Covet Living | San Diego Custom Cabinets

That’s about it for now!  Such a long post (sahhhreee) and so many moving parts! Thoughts on the master bath floor??

PS… she kills me.  BAhahdhdjksahda:

IMG_3133

xoxo!

Steph's Scanned Signature

4 Responses to “Casa Covet Living: People, we have liftoff.”


  • I love it all and I wanna help Boston Joe with his next demo-day!

    Option A (walnut flooring) was also my choice!

    My pick for master bath flooring is: 3/4″ white porcelain hexagon, but any one of them would look amazing! Just did’t know porcelain was durable…it won’t crack/break if something dropped on it?

  • Loved Option A walnut flooring and having a tough time deciding between the penny tile and the sample that looks like linen (leaning toward to latter). I heart the guest/Steph “ALOHA!”bath theme, and may need to pay rent/live in the hall bath if that’s what you have in mind. It’s stunning. The nod from Fixer Upper on Vegas (baby!) Blue for kitch cabs was so cool. I’m having fun. Thanks for including your readers!

    • Please to forgive: I was so overwhelmed with this post’s offerings that I thought the second hall b-room image was a second guest b-room when it was only for the vanity. All so lovely.

  • This is all perfection! Steph, can you come back to IL and re-do my house? (kidding bc my husband would probably leave me but omg I love it). Seriously though, it sounds like you consult? Where is the info available for your services?

Leave a Reply to JB from Jersey