My Bielinski Home Building Experience, Pt. 2

By Paul Bielinski

I’m building a new Bielinski home! And if that isn’t exciting enough, you all get to follow along. In this four-part series I’ll share what that process looks like. This month we’re talking about style.

What was our process for selecting styles?

Our process started with an understanding of who we are and which styles spoke to us. We like to consider ourselves slightly cutting-edge, so contemporary and transitional styles fit us. Because of what each us does for a living, we had a good understanding of what’s trending when it comes to colors and products.

From there we worked with our Interior Designer at Bielinski Homes. Rebecca Wardon (of monthly inspo blog fame) worked with us step-by-step in a very methodical process from start to finish. It was not only great to work through a process with her, but also to have her expert advice when we needed another opinion or someone to break the 1-1 tie.

What are some of my favorite combinations? What were my thoughts behind those?

My favorite combinations include anything high in contrast. This can be achieved in so many different ways. For example, we decided to go with a clean look in our master bathroom which includes white cabinets, white countertops and white ceramic tile. We contrasted this with a reflective blue accent tile which will be featured behind the mirrors and an accent in the shower.
 
High contrast can also be achieved simply by painting. We are using a light gray paint in the main living area, but get ready to be amazed when you enter the master bathroom as you’ll be surrounded by the most amazing ocean blue you’ve ever seen (check out the above photo).

What were some of the things I had to consider as far as design and function are concerned?

Great design is definitely important to me, but remember, you need to live in the design, so function cannot be neglected. We gave a lot of thought to the functionality of our new home.

Take the kitchen. We love to cook and learned from our mistakes in our current place. Because of the amount we cook, we knew we needed a great vent hood over the range, but we had to decide what to do with the microwave since it is normally located there. So instead we found a microwave that worked as a drawer located in a base cabinet.

Then there’s the laundry room. We made sure to add plenty of storage space, both in the closet by outfitting it with multiple hanging poles at multiples levels and shelving for things like the toolbox and cleaning supplies. We also added a bench with hooks to store our everyday wear like coats, gloves, scarves and shoes along with packages that we receive from online ordering. Finally, we have two dogs so this area has room for dog beds, feeding dishes and we also installed a large farm sink. Since our dogs weigh 10 and 20 pounds, we can use this sink as a dog washing station. Have you ever tried washing a small dog in a large soaking tub? Never again.

We also gave thought to the bathrooms. We wanted our guests to have more privacy than they do in our current home so we created a shared bath that connects the two secondary bedrooms and is not accessible from the hallway. Finally, the master bathroom. We wanted it to be fully functional for two people who are preparing themselves for the day simultaneously. This meant having a dual vanity and a private room for the water closet.

To read about how we designed our floor plan check out Part 1 here. And remember to check back for monthly blog updates on my building process!