Return to Miracle on 13th - The Primary Suite

When beginning to renovate their homes, our clients often focus on the communal areas of living, dining, and kitchen. It's a practical move. Since these areas are heavily trafficked, it makes sense to prioritize fixing them up when you aren't prepared to do the whole home at once. Secretly, though, we love when we get the go-ahead to redesign a primary suite! Putting care and attention into this highly personal space feels indulgent - a little treat for the homeowners. Our goal in this phase of the Miracle on 13th Street was to create an upscale, spa-like atmosphere for the upper floors and give our clients a tranquil retreat in the middle of the busy city.

The third floor spaces

We began with the primary bath - a dark space that could definitely use some love.

Primary Bath - Before Truthfully - it was not difficult to improve upon the home's existing bathrooms.

This room was neither bright nor big, and we decided to lean into its dark side & create another moody space. The goal here was to create a home bath with the luxury feel of an upscale hotel.

Primary Bath - Room Board

Glossy, dark blue tile makes the space feel moody and upscale, and brass fixtures pop against the inky backdrop. Jewelry-like sconces hang between the pill-shaped medicine cabinets, and handsome walnut cabinetry gives storage while keeping the vibe minimal. Abstract paintings by Michael Sanchez were chosen to pay homage to the color story of the rest of the home.

Primary Bath - Rendering We found a beautiful deep blue tile with variation and depth to the glaze and wrapped half of the room in it, embracing the moodiness of the space. To keep the balance between light and dark, we selected a bright waterjet mosaic floor tile with a large scale art deco geometric pattern. It's a small room with only a bit of floor, but the little touch of patterned marble does so much to elevate the room

and make it look polished and luxe.

Primary Bath - After The vanity wall with twin pill-shaped medicine cabinets are flanked by sconces that hang like earrings.

It's a stunning, dramatic moment when viewed from the hallway -

a vast improvement to the sconce that hung there crookedly before!

Our clients are minimalists, and weren't concerned about having lots of storage. We designed them a rich walnut vanity with an airy profile that helps to balance the space and keep it feeling clean & uncluttered. The drawers are purely for decoration; they conceal the plumbing and are finished with handsome brass knobs. The vanity was topped with a Calacatta Miraggio quartz countertop and twin undermount sinks.

Primary Bath - After

We reworked an awkward drywall nook by adding custom walnut shelving and closed drawers -

the perfect amount of storage for our minimalist clients.

Primary Bath - After The new shower door is a space efficient slider with handsome brass workings. We curated a suite of shower fixtures that looked high-end & hotel-esque, with modern knurled brass detail for the industrial moment our clients love. All of the upper floor bathrooms originally had hard wired electric heaters, and we found much more modern & sleek options that were less intrusive.

Primary Bathroom - After

Both the marble floor and shower bench

are heated for maximum comfort!

Shower Floor Detail We love when practical decisions become aesthetic ones - look how beautifully the drain is framed by the tile!

Moving from the bath towards the primary bedroom brings us through the hall of the primary suite, which contains the bedroom closets. We took what was a "slightly falling off of its tracks" sliding door and converted it to low profile double doors to make it look more custom and thoughtful. Beautiful cabinet handles & new trim give the closets a more dressed-up look.

Sometimes, moving pictures give the best idea of a space.

When we first started designing the primary bedroom, our clients wanted bright, neutral, & airy. Once we began reviewing inspiration images, however, they didn't like that vibe as much as they'd thought. The feedback was "We actually want more color!" Our job was to combine their seemingly contradictory desires for their bedroom - to have the feeling of bright and airy, but injected with impactful color & style.

Primary Bedroom - Before

This space had potential, but needed some tweaks to make the small space feel expansive and luxe

Primary Bedroom - Room Board

A colorful & bright, yet neutral refuge.

Primary Bedroom Rendering

The entire bedroom suite was upholstered in a super-soft wool suiting material made into wallpaper. The "blushy taupe" washes the room in warmth while staying neutral, making the entire space feel serene, soft, and finished. The wallpaper carries through the hallway into the bedroom to unify the spaces in soothing harmony. Closet doors next to the bed, wallpapered in the same material, are virtually invisible!

Primary Bedroom - After Intentionally scaled items make a small space feel bigger

For a small space, it's helpful to make things fit exactly. Fewer, more thoughtfully scaled items work better than cluttering a little room with a bunch of tiny things. We pulled out our small-space big guns to design this room, starting with a perfectly sized headboard upholstered in blue chambray. The color is a callback to the primary bath, and the custom fabrication allowed us to make the headboard fit tightly wall-to-wall. We also replaced the bedside lamps with hanging pendant lights. This great small-space trick allowed us to select smaller nightstands in handsome fluted oak with dark Emperador marble tops.

Headboard Wall - After Wine red looks SO delicious played off of the chambray blue headboard.

A textural, neutral art piece, hand-painted with cement accents, leans in to the earthy vibes

Our clients requested that the bed be finished with multiple pillows. We wanted to do this for them in a more modern way, and we added fun boucle ball pillows in a quirky hunter green accent color. The main palette of rust, clay, blush, and wine red was pulled from the Kelly Wearstler multicolored pillow sham -

a print that shares the shape & spirit of the bath floor tile.

Primary Bedroom - After

We added a bench at the end of the bed in the hopes that the family dogs would sleep there. The fabric has very subtle colors in the weave that pick up the rest of the colors in the room.

All of the rugs in this project have a traditional Turkish pattern to them that grounded the more modern elements. This version is a soothing neutral tone-on-tone that softens the rest of the room. This rug was hard-won, and delayed until the moment of install - due to, of all things, pirate attacks on the Red Sea!

The wall opposite the bed does not have a functional need - the closets are enough to store our clients' clothing without adding a chest of drawers. (The benefit of minimalism!) This felt like a good place to give our clients a moment of beauty.

Primary Bedroom - After The floating walnut shelf is a wink to the live-edge bar from Phase 1,

and is the perfect spot to perch plants, framed photos, or any personal objects of beauty.

The live edge bar from Phase 1

We love to design a home in harmony, even years after our first design.

You can see how the handsome neutral wallpaper and rich wood shelf echo each other in both spaces

Our clients love interesting photography that reads more abstract. The framed artwork is an arial photo of water patterns in a marsh/delta - a callback to the office art that is an photo of the nighttime tides from above.

The enigmatic abstract landscape - entitled "Erosion" - could read as any number of things

but is a view of river deltas from above

Primary Bedroom - After

The ripple-fold drapes, warm earthy color palette, and live-edge shelf

are motifs borrowed from the rest of the home

We sometimes have clients approach us with hesitation about splitting their project into phases, worried that segmenting the design process will lead to a home that feels disjoined. Although a whole home renovation has its benefits (economy of scale, for example!), it's often more practical for families to tackle the expense of revamping their home in stages. We take great care to make sure that our designs feel harmonious and true to the spirit of our clients, no matter how they choose to approach hiring us. Homes like Miracle on 13th and the Penn Valley Pearl prove that a primary suite can be addressed on a timeline that works for the family and still feel cohesive with the rest of the home. It's addictive to live in more functional & beautiful spaces - all the more motivation to continue to spread that love throughout the rest of the home!

The three floors of the Miracle on 13th St Brownstone - all living in harmony.

Designing homes comes with a certain amount of intimacy. You're coming into a family's personal space, getting to know them, their tastes and their lifestyle, in order to bring them the best version of their home. We grow very attached to our clients and are always so thrilled to be invited to bring more love into their home. Being trusted once more - it means we've succeeded in understanding you and making you feel seen.

Looking to work with a designer that "gets" you? Fill out our contact form here! Let's chat about how we can help you make the home of your dreams.❤️

Miracle on 13th St Brownstone Part 1: First Floor - Living, Dining, Kitchen, & Powder

Part 2: Second Floor - Hallway, Office, & Guest Bath

Build: Heirloom Built LLC

Photography Phase 1: Courtney Apple Photography Phase 2: Rebecca McAlpin