Toro Canyon is a large scale renovation in the Westlake neighborhood of Austin, TX. We began working on this home in 2018, and due to the size of the home and budget, we split the renovations into phases.
For this phase, we removed a ton of Texas limestone that covered most of the walls and archways. We also removed metallic wallpaper in the coffered ceilings. We smoothed the drywall to a level 5, squared off the 90's style archways, and installed new white oak flooring.
It wasn't in the budget to demo and resize the fireplace. Instead, we kept the original footprint and plastered the fireplace in American Clay. We used firebrick paint to darken the existing herringbone bricks inside the fireplace which immediately gave the fireplace a modern yet timeless look.
This phase included a tiny powder room tucked off in a private nook. It's a small bathroom with no natural lighting. We decided to embrace the darkness and created a dramatic and moody atmosphere with lots of texture. We used Portola's Roman Clay on the walls and designed a custom sink and mirror using calacatta viola marble. The side faucet allowed us to save space. We installed pendant lighting on the opposite side of the angled corner to offset the eye and create balance and harmony.
The far wall was just an open space with chunky limestone. Once we removed the limestone, we decided to add a library that would emphasize the 14' ceiling height and give that area a purpose and function. In the library, we designed a custom coffee table with the leftover marble that was used for the powder room sink.
The homeowners love to host, so we added a bar that leads you out to their backyard and pool.
The brief was to update the dated interior architecture from 90's Texan style to a modern, Scandinavian-inspired home that reflected the new homeowners' lifestyle and aesthetic. The homeowners wanted a grand entryway to their home that was also inviting and cozy for their families and guests.
The grand scale of this room was overwhelming. The ceilings are 14' high and the space itself is very large and open. With spaces so large, it can be tricky to find the right-sized furniture, as most furniture felt too small in scale. We wanted to have less furniture but larger pieces to fill the space. We brought the fireplace up to the ceiling to connect the ceiling and floor, and help make the space feel grounded. This also created a focal point, as it's the first thing you see when you enter the home. We created a library and brought the cabinetry up close to the ceiling. The darker color of the cabinetry brings your eye back down and creates focal points and focus throughout the large space.
In the powder room, we had the opposite challenge. The powder room is very tiny and wasn't deep enough to fit a standard-sized sink. We designed a custom sink made of viola marble to perfectly fit the tiny nook. We set the faucet to the side in order to keep the depth of the sink shallow enough.
Team:
Interior Design: Emily Lauren Interiors
Photographer: Madeline Harper
Materials Used:
American Clay Plaster - Fireplace
Portola Paints Roman Clay - Powder Room Walls
Cle Tile Belgian Reproduction Terracotta Tiles - Powder Room
Calacatta Viola Marble - Custom Sink, Custom Mirror, Custom Coffee Table
