Sneak Preview

I thought you might enjoy a sneak preview of Mitch and Nancy's home. I haven't had a chance to go thru and take detailed photos but I will very soon. Meanwhile, here is a glimpse of the design. The look is a combination of modern and traditional furnishings which we blended seamlessly. The home has a touch of Tuscany in the family room, inspired by the couple's recent trip to Italy. I sometimes refer to their project as the "Almost Fire Victim" since last year's Ramona fire came right up to their front door. Thank you Ray, who saved the home by doing one last drive-by before evacuating, and putting out the AC units which were fully engulfed!

(living room)

(living room - before)

(dining room)

(dining room - before)

(master bedroom)

(master bedroom - before)

(master bedroom)

(breakfast nook)

(breakfast nook - before)

Warm Welcome II

I met Ken and his wife while designing the interior of their neighbor's home. Although I had primarily been doing residential design, when Ken and Tanya approached me to do a facelift for Ken's office I heartily accepted. Doing a commercial project was a nice change complete with a whole bunch of new rules. Did you know you can't use residential base boards in a commercial office? Neither did I. It was a blast working with Ken and his partner Jeff, and I left with a new respect for the sedation dentistry practice. These guys are in the business of changing lives for the better. Who doesn't love a beautiful smile?

(before)

This project was "facelift" at it's finest. We gave them an "extreme makeover" without making any structural changes. If you're a doctor and you're reading this blog - please consider a facelift for your lobby, it can be done for less than you think!

Ken and Jeff wanted the same feel of the residence I designed next door to Ken - warm and inviting - but they also wanted something that would speak to their level of professionalism. Since these guys are top-notch doctors, they needed a top-notch look for their lobby. I replaced the teal carpet with modern patterned commercial grade carpet that had lots of warm tones mixed with charcoal. Then I had the whole place re-painted in warm tones. The lobby has lots of sunlight so the colors look beautiful. Towards the back of the office it is mostly fluorescent lighting, which didn't enhance the paint colors as well as I would have liked, but "it's the law" ... we have to have fluorescent lighting in an office.

The furnishings and accessories topped off the look, with unexpected twists here and there such as alternating fabrics on the ganging chairs and residential furniture for the curio and side tables. Now their clients look forward to an appointment with the dentist!

I used laminate paneling and countertop for the welcome desk to cover up what was existing rather than build a whole new desk. I also covered the oak trim at the half-height wall with a modern laminate, and had grasses installed in the planter instead of the ivy that was there previously. A charcoal carpet border was used to highlight the entry and hallways, and acted as a transition from the lobby pattern to the rest of the carpet.

There's this really great wall that you see right when you walk in the door, it acts as a transition from the lobby. I decided to highlight this wall with a deep brownish green paint color. Ken and Jeff had recently been featured in San Diego Magazine so I had the magazine send me extra pages and we had the article showcased in 6 matching frames. It looks great above the sleek console table which is a dark stain with a textured black top.

The consultation room is the place where clients discuss their dental history as well as proposed work to be performed on their teeth. Since this can be an intimidating topic, the doctors wanted the consultation room to be as comfortable as possible. I went for upholstered arm chairs since we actually had enough room for them. It's nice to be able to rest your arms when sitting for a long time. The gals in the office bring in fresh flowers every week which is a nice touch for the center of the table. Before and after dental photo albums are always on display. It's a great room.


I wasn't planningon it but I started a trend with this office that I have continued with office projects I have done since: hard cover books rather than messy magazines. It seems that whenever I go to a doctors office the magazines are read by lots of people and they end up crumpled, ripped and funky looking. The hard cover books were a great idea for this office. We chose subjects that reflect the personalities and interests of the partners, as well as subjects that would be of interest to the general public. Books about sports, golf, cars, nature... and of course, interior design books.

(hard cover books in a tray)

(side chair at office manager - matches lobby cabinet)

(closeup of consultation room chairs)

(closeup of carpet, laminate, french doors)

Elegant dental office...

Many times I've gone to the doctor and wished it felt more like home and less like a health institution. When Jeff approached me to work together on his new dental office, I was so glad he wanted to move away from the "dental look" and make it residential feeling with warm friendly colors and rich woods. Finally someone was speaking my language!

(photo from San Diego Magazine shoot)

Jeff's lobby turned out so beautiful I wish I could coin it as my "Diane Luna" look and design every doc lobby in San Diego exactly the same - but then everybody would look like Jeff and his wouldn't be unique. I can't decide what my favorite item is, I think they're all my favorite. The rust, brown and gray colored carpet we did in three different patterns, the combination of brown vinyl and berry-stem olive print on the seating, the rich paint colors, the natural ledger stone... button detail on the chairs, removeable trays underneath the coffee table, hardcover books instead of magazines...

...if I was Jeff's client I'd want to come early to my appointments just so I could hang out in the lobby!

Here is the berry stem fabric again, on custom chairs by the coffee bar. Don't they look like Starbucks chairs? They should - I took a photo of the Starbucks chairs and gave as concept to our upholsterer. I did two-toned woods throughout the office, which you can see on the welcome desk face. The granite for the welcome desk countertop is so beautiful, even though can't see it in this photo. Here is the carpet again, in the larger square version. We separated the different carpets down the center using hard surface tile for the traffic area by the front door. Helps keep things clean. There is a curved wall directly behind the receptionist that we are still debating adding an accent color to... not sure if we will.

Here is the view down the hall from the lobby. To the left you can see Jeff's logo that we did in copper laminate on black granite, with the natural stone repeated again. I used dark brown for the metal doors and casings, with a matching dark brown on the rubber base, which added contrast to our color scheme and acts like a frame which accents a gorgeous oil painting.

The hallway we designed to feel like an art gallery. We purposely kept the lighting dim and soft, no fluorescent. There are three Italian hand-blown glass pendants hanging from the ceiling as you walk down, and track lighting to fill in the dark spots and accentuate the photos. The canvas photography is of Jeff's actual patients. Their smiles are beautiful, thanks to Jeff! The arch details hold the building up, but we took advantage of them and added accent color and little alcoves (see detail photo further down). The wood beams look like they hold the building up... but in actuality they are just decorative. I painted the ceiling of the hallway almost-black, for a moody effect. It makes the ceiling look like it disappears.

The bronze statue of Casey at the Bat displayed at the end of the hall is representative of Jeff's fundraising effort called "Smiles for Life". There is a long story attached to the statue which I'll save for another blog post.

The consultation room is a place where clients feel at ease as they discuss the extent of the surgery to be performed on their teeth. As Jeff's specialty is sedation dentistry, many of his clients will experience "extreme makovers" to the structure of their teeth and life-changing improvements to their smiles. I did a commercial grade vinyl grasscloth wallpaper above a high chair rail done in a dark stain. The grasscloth sets off the portraits above beautifully. Around the walls below the chair rail we hung assorted frames, such as you might see on your family photo wall at home. The family feel was very appropriate for this room, as most of Jeff's clients are treated as he would his own family.

For the consultation room I repeated the same seating from the lobby with the berry stem fabric on the loveseat and the brown vinyl with button detail for the chair. It's a comfortable place for clients to sit and chat with Jeff and his team. Lots of "before and after" photos for clients to look at in the family photo album on the table.

Here's a glimpse from the hall looking back toward the lobby. You can also see the hygiene room to the right. Each hygiene room has beautiful burled wood laminate for the cabinetry with brown-black corian countertops. The dental chairs are charcoal color and so comfortable! The canvas photography is by Quentin Huffaker of Fallbrook, CA, who is a very talented photo-taker and client of Jeff's.

Another hygiene room, with Quentin's photography.

Architectural "pop-out" in the hallway, accent painted with textured wallpaper in the arch.

Treatment room seen from the hallway.

One of the photos taken for San Diego Magazine.

That's me... hanging the canvas art in the hallway.

Here is another San Diego Magazine photo.

I'm hanging art on the wall opposite the sterilization room.

These were extra shots, not chosen for the magazine.

I'll post the magazine article in another blog!