The “AZ Red Book” ran a wonderful article in their “Style” section featuring the 5 Excellence Awards I received in 2012 from the “ASID North AZ Chapter”. I’d like to invite you to read it and enjoy this exquisitely designed website (see link below):

http://www.azredbook.com/style.php?id=865

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/2215267/list/Crystal–Brilliant-Choice-for-Rooms

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/1543033/thumbs/pt=71dc1ff46c10a52d206a24a4879123f8/Houzz–Best-of-Remodeling-2012—Phoenix

This Month “Arizona Foothills” magazine features my clients Bob and Pat Bondurant in their “Living Section”. The article details the remarkable career of this icon in American race car driving and his lovely wife, partner in business, and tireless worker for local charities. The photographs in the article do not show the splendor of the home’s interiors which you can see in my website when you click this link:

http://www.ernestogarciadesign.com/portfolio/mr-mrs-bob-bondurants-residence/

The “Arizona Foothill” article can be accessed by clicking
this link:

http://www.arizonafoothillsmagazine.com/living/homes/3919-the-home-page-bob-and-pat-bondurants-fast-paced-home.html?start=1

http://latinopm.com/business/entrepreneur-of-the-month/outpacing-the-competition-13732

The requirements for remodeling this master bathroom were to give the space a contemporary look while keeping all existing plumbing locations, enlarge shower, improve lighting and give the space a “more open, light and airy feel”. The clients emphasized their preference for carpet on bathroom floor.

In a long and narrow space I designed an undulating vanity top. This curvilinear variation of counter depth changes your perception of space width as you walk towards the tub, creating a dynamic effect, which is multiplied by its reflection on the mirror and the rhythmical presence of rectilinear LED lighting strips.

The original soffit with fluorescent lights and plastic egg-crate was lifted up with an outline that mimics that of the vanity. Flushed with the now taller mirror, LED frosted glass lighting strips provide lateral illumination at any height while breaking down and modulating the mirror’s length.

For those of you who requested information on the paint color palette I used in this bathroom, here it is:

Walls: Sherwin Williams “Yellow Beam” 7123
Ceiling: Sherwin Williams “Lemon Drops” 7122
Doors/Trims & Cabinetry: Sherwin Williams “Crescent Moon” 7124

The marble used throughout is: “Primo Capuccino” (Please be aware that different stone sources might have different names for the same stone).

Please visit the link:

http://www.specsspaces.com/Article/ErnestoGarciaScottsdaleSophistication.aspx

BEFORE - A dated 80's Kitchen

AFTER - An inviting European/American Style Kitchen

KITCHEN RENOVATION – Interior Design Phoenix/Scottsdale – TRADITIONAL STYLE – Scenario #1

For this Kitchen Remodel I was hired by clients who love European/American traditional styles. The residence they purchased had mixed design features that didn’t suit their preference for the harmonious, comfortable and relaxed elegance that traditional styles bring to a home.

1) The first thing I did is create a more efficient layout for the space. Changing the “L” shape counter for a perimeter counter with a center breakfast/preparation island.
2) I equipped the island with its own sink, a vast preparation area, refrigerator/freezer drawers, recycle bins, utensils drawers and generous lighting from recessed cans right above preparation area. To define the breakfast counter: I used a long butcher block panel elevated from the main granite surface of the island and brought down pendants with shades to avoid glare and embrace our design direction.
3) To give the space a greater sense of height I sloped the ceiling and applied decorative wood beams to create a country kitchen atmosphere.
4) Regarding surfaces: I replaced the glossy small floor tile with a large size Vermont slate which gives the kitchen the texture and warmth it was missing. For the backsplash I selected a light handmade crackled tile and only placed inlaid rosettes and liners behind the cook-top (focal point).
5) As for the cabinetry, I changed the light maple for a rich raised panel mahogany door style, using crown details and adapting the layout to house state of the art appliances. There is an almost luxurious quality to the deep red tones brought up by the mahogany finish against the pale blue background of the walls.

This amazing transformation earned Ernesto Garcia, ASID an “Award of Excellence” from the “American Society of Interior Designers – AZ North Chapter”

How does a city with spectacular landscape influence the eye and imagination of an Interior Designer? Settled in a the “Valley of the Sun”, Scottsdale, AZ is surrounded by stunning mountains, majestic Saguaro cacti, exotic plants and flowers and a permanently brilliant blue sky… With such amazing backdrop: what defines a Scottsdale Interior Designer?

I guess it all depends on an individual’s sensibility and his sense of wonder, his capacity to take it all in with dazzled eyes.

For one Interior Designer in Scottsdale it is a daily discovery… For years, Ernesto Garcia has been collecting stones, branches and feathers that he finds in his hiking trips, as well as photographs of exotic flowers, unusual sunsets and Mason jars filled with ground from every corner of the state. ”They are my true treasures and my daily inspirations”, he confesses.

With such an “inspirational arsenal”, you could assume that his work would just translate into one specific vernacular style (something for which he is well known). However, the most remarkable thing about Ernesto’s work is that he has managed to transform the desert muse into all sorts of styles, from contemporary to traditional interior design.

By some internal metamorphosis, Ernesto can turn what he calls “the ostentatious beauty of Arizona” into the most cosmopolitan interior designs, showing how limitless and universal human imagination can be.

In the past few years the Arizona Interior Design scene has been gaining national recognition for its innovative energy and unbridled originality. Responsible for this new movement is a handful of courageous interior designers from which the most recognized of them all is Ernesto Garcia, ASID.

What is remarkable about Ernesto’s innovative approach to this new Interior Design AZ movement has been his ability to “integrate” the regional sensibility of the Arizona desert with an endless source of eclectic elements. Most importantly he has done so by creating harmonious and engaging spaces where the most diverse features of design coexist in a pleasantly organized “dialogue”.

In the middle of these visual statements his spaces have remained classic and profoundly innovative, forcing us to do a double take at every corner of the rooms he creates and ponder about his bank of ideas and how he manages to thread them together.

Altogether this master of the new Interior Arizona style has managed to reconcile, luxury with austerity, Americana with European, the Far East with High Tech, Pop Culture with High Art. Behind this abundant imagery and training there is an infallible intuition, all of which coexists in his design process, which never ceases to surprise us.