Remodel Masterclass: Jess' Primary Bathroom

Summary

Dear Alice | Interior Design

Episode: Remodel Masterclass: Jess' Primary Bathroom

Date: June 11, 2026
Hosts: Jessica Bennett (“A”) and Suzanne Hall (“B”)

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Overview

This episode is a deep dive into Jessica’s recent remodel of her own primary bathroom—a space she admits hadn’t changed in over a decade. Both personal and practical, the conversation serves as a “masterclass” on how thoughtful color choices, finishes, and a few special touches (including a custom sconce and authentic plaster walls) can utterly transform a space. Listeners get an insider’s look at how a designer approaches revamping her own home, the lessons she’s learned, and actionable advice for anyone wanting a beautiful and cohesive bathroom refresh.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Backstory: Why Remodel Now?

• Jessica’s Bathroom had not changed since her 2014-15 new build, featuring what she called a “light gray color that reads like primer to me today, to my eye.” [00:10]
• Deciding to update after prepping the space for a photo shoot: “It was just really, really sterile feeling and didn't feel designer to me at all.” [01:15]
• The “before” photo is described with vulnerability as Jess reflected on the disconnect between her designer vision and the reality. [01:45]

2. The Sconce That Started It All

• The launch of the new Hollis vanity sconce (described as “old Hollywood” with “diamond textured glass”) inspired Jess to upgrade the bathroom: “I cannot offend the new Hollis vanity sconce by hanging it on these gray walls. Mama's got to do something.” [01:56]
• Collaboration with artist Tyler Hunsinger of Iconography, who is described as a “chemist” for his color-mixing prowess: “He’s like, I'm put some like butterfly dust… then it'll sing.” [03:53–04:03]

3. Choosing Color & Considering Light

• The room’s north-facing windows make it prone to cool, gray light.
  • Jess’s research: “If you have a north-facing window, you're going to want to index for warmer color in that room.” [03:12]
  • Tyler adjusted the plaster mid-project to add warmth: “He added more yellow to it to get it to be a little bit warmer because the color was feeling a little bit mauve.” [03:40]
• Emphasis on using warmer, nuanced “nude” tones to counteract the cool light and to better flatter skin tone: “I knew, getting ready in the mirror, my skin color would look, I think, pretty and true and in light like this.” [04:44]
• Color inspiration came from favorite objects—sweaters, a YSL wallet, brass objects—to ensure harmony with existing floors and fixtures. [04:55]
• Pro Tip: “If you're living with a gray bathroom like I was, or… with a white bathroom, you can really change everything by just changing the wall color.” [05:16]

4. The Magic of Plaster—Including the Ceiling

• Strong advocacy for going beyond paint to real plaster, especially across both walls and ceilings for a lap of luxury and unified feeling.
  • “Another thing that we did that changed the game was we included the ceiling in the paint color.” [05:59]
  • Tyler’s advice: “If you can only do one thing, […] always do the ceiling. Because the way that light will rake across the ceiling, you're going to get so much credit for it.” [06:26]
• Ceiling Smoothing: “If there's one thing I can tell you… do not do a textured ceiling.” [07:09]
  • Smooth ceilings allow for creative finishes; textures limit options and can cast distracting shadows.

5. The Final Color Choice

• Color: Sherwin Williams “Familiar Beige” (6093)
  • “It is the perfect shade of nude. It's got enough pink in it. It's just a really beautiful, sophisticated, deep… neutral, but there's enough pink and salmon in it that it feels like a really beautiful, vintage space living.” [08:08]
  • Warm neutrals flatter both inhabitants and existing finishes: “I look so much better in this room than I did in my old bathroom.” [08:36]

6. Transforming With (and Not Fighting) Existing Finishes

• The new plaster color made the existing limestone floors and countertops come alive:
  • “It pulls out the nude tones in it, and because it's darker than all of it, it grounds the space really beautifully.” [09:46]
  • “I'm really not going to throw the baby out with the bath water. I'm keeping my shower…floor. Let's just…pray that this color will fix everything. And it did.” [10:02]

7. The “Artistry” of Real Plaster

• Real Italian plaster contains: lime, crushed limestone, and crushed marble. Color added on site and adjusted with changing light. [11:12]
• Troweling technique described for listeners interested in the technical: “They are putting it on with these trowels… layer by layer.” Burnishing gives it that glossy, hand-touched finish. [12:13–12:35]
• The effect as light moves through skylights: “The lights cascading through…you got a real feel for it.” [13:02]

8. The Importance of Ceiling Color and Skylights

• White ceilings can feel like an “eraser” in a finished room; color/plaster creates a “cocoon”: “The only way I can think to describe what it feels like now is… you'd put a blankie over your head and you'd make a fort, and you're just completely cocooned… It’s like that.” [14:00]
• “It just feels so all encompassing and cohesive and just really, truly magical.” [14:34]

9. Cabinet Hardware: DIY Aging Brass

• Jess quickly sourced Joan Cat cabinet knobs (Rejuvenation) in unlacquered brass [15:10]
  • “The brasses are so inconsistent across lines. […] I just looked up on ChatGPT, is there a way to speed up the AG process of unlacquered brass?” [15:29]
  • Aging hack: Suspend knobs above vinegar in a sealed container, let vapor do the work; Jess got her desired patina after approx. 3 hours per batch. [16:10–16:59]
  • “It’s amazing what ChatGPT will teach you.” [17:56]

10. Sconce Placement: Learning from Mistakes

• Important lesson: sconce placement needs to reflect the shape and straight edges of the mirror, not just the overall mirror height:
  • “I'm embarrassed to say… you shouldn't just consider the overall height of the mirror unless you have straight sides on all sides. […] You should really consider the design…” [19:31]
  • Remedy involved moving the sconces up and re-plastering to get it right.
  • “The sconces are beautiful. They’re really long, they have three light bulbs on each side. They feel like old Hollywood glamour when they're turned on. The light is right by my face where I get ready. So it's even better than the placement before.” [20:56]

11. Remodeling vs. New Build Mindset

• Remodeling allows you to “take off a little bit at a time and be thoughtful about it” rather than making rushed choices in a new build. [21:03–21:56]
• Living and learning from the space led to vital adjustments for comfort and design satisfaction.

12. Product Highlights and New Launches

• In addition to the Hollis Vanity Sconce, Alice Lane’s new Amelia Sconce (white “bubble” with brass details) and hand-blown Mira vases are now available in their “House Signatures” collection. [22:40–24:11]
• Jess encourages listeners to “live with plaster, do it,” strongly endorsing Iconography Finishing for artisan wall finishes—even mentioning they travel worldwide. [25:02]
• “They're just sort of the signatures of the home. I feel like when you pop flowers in a vase, it feels like you're home. [...] When you update the lighting from your old home to your home now, don't you feel like all of a sudden it feels like you?” [24:11]

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Memorable Quotes

• On the impact of finishing the remodel:
  “I cannot offend the new Hollis vanity sconce by hanging it on these gray walls. Mama’s got to do something.” — Jessica [01:56]

• Tyler’s artist approach:
  “He’s just like, I’m put some like butterfly dust and then we’re going to sprinkle this in. Yeah. It’s going to do this dance and then it’ll sing.” — Suzanne [03:56]

• Color lesson for north-facing light:
  “If you do have a north-facing window, you’re going to want to index for warmer color in that room.” — Jessica [03:12]

• On paint vs. plaster:
  “You can really change everything by just changing the wall color. You can just do it with color, or you can do it with plaster. Plaster is going to give you that movement and that feeling.” — Jessica [05:16]

• On ceilings:
  “If there’s one thing I can tell you, if you’re building right now, do not do a textured ceiling.” — Jessica [07:09]

• On DIY brass aging:
  “It’s amazing what ChatGPT will teach you.” — Jessica [17:56]

• The power of a cocooned space:
  “It’s like when you’d put a blankie over your head and you’d make a fort and you’re just completely cocooned and covered in one thing.” — Jessica [14:00]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:10] — Jess shares her vulnerability with the “before” state of her bathroom
• [01:56] — Hollis Vanity Sconce sparks the remodel decision
• [03:10–04:30] — Discussion on color, north light, and working with a true artisan plasterer
• [05:16–06:26] — The transformative power of changing wall and ceiling colors
• [07:09–07:59] — “Never do a textured ceiling” and practical builder advice
• [08:08–09:10] — The final color choice and why warm nudes work so well
• [09:30–10:23] — How the new color transformed existing elements
• [11:12–13:02] — Plaster techniques and their magic with natural light
• [15:10–16:59] — DIY tutorial on aging unlacquered brass cabinet hardware
• [19:00–20:56] — Lessons on sconce placement and elevation
• [21:03–21:56] — Remodel vs. new build: personal growth and design
• [22:26–24:11] — House Signatures: lighting and vase product launches

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Takeaways and Advice

• Start small—an upgrade like a sconce or color shift can spark a much-needed refresh.
• If your space feels “off,” consider your light orientation and choose warmer tones for north-facing rooms.
• Don’t feel compelled to replace beautiful stone or tile; the right color and finish can make old elements sing.
• Ceiling color matters—include it in your vision for a cozy, cocooning result.
• DIY hardware patina is achievable—even under a deadline!
• Don’t be afraid to tweak and fix past design “mistakes”—even professionals go back and correct details as they live in a home.
• Surround yourself with artisan work when you can for a feeling of real luxury and individuality.

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Resources & Mentions

• Iconography Finishing (Tyler Hunsinger) — for authentic artisan plaster work
• Sherwin Williams Familiar Beige 6093 — star color of the remodel
• Hollis Vanity Sconce, Amelia Sconce, Mira Vases — available at Alice Lane’s “House Signatures” collection
• Joan Cat cabinet knobs from Rejuvenation—shown in Jess’ bathroom

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Final Thought:
This episode offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at an acclaimed designer tackling her own “dated” space, full of practical lessons, color theory, product tips, and confidence to update a “sterile” or boring primary bathroom into a warm, enveloping, timeless retreat.

Transcript

[A]

Hello, everyone. Welcome to Dear Alice. Today's gonna be a really fun and personal episode.

[B]

I know, I know. Jess gets to take us to her remodeled bathroom.

[A]

Yes. Yeah, you guys, you've been seeing us. Sue and I sort of volley this back and forth throughout time. Sue bought a remodel. She bought a home that she needed to remodel desperately. Hers was built in the 70s and had never undergone a remodel. And I did a new build on my home in the year 2014. 15. And so here we are, 10, 11 years later, and I'm ready for some something new. I'm feeling it. I'm feeling the itch. So in, you know, the 2,000 aughts, we were doing a lot of neutrals. And my bathroom, my primary bathroom, which is the topic of today's episode, was this really lovely light gray color that reads like primer to me today, to my eye. And actually we shot my bathroom. So we're like, you know what? The pictures of my house are just like all of the different eras and looks and feels and different furniture. We've shot it, and it just looks like a garage sale. To my eye on the portfolio. Please don't go look at the portfolio and look at my house. It's still a work in progress. It's just had so many different personalities over the years. And the bathroom has never changed. And as we went to shoot it in January, because we were shooting the bedroom and a few products, I was like, oh, my gosh, you guys, I am this. I mean, so vulnerable. I'm going to put the before picture up right here so you can see. This was January of 2026. The walls are light gray, and it was just white, and it was just really, really sterile feeling and didn't feel designer to me at all. And we developed this brand new sconce for the bathroom called the Hollis vanity sconce. It's so beautiful and has this real vintage feel to it. Even the glass is this sort of diamond textured glass. And they almost feel old Hollywood to me. And I'm like, I cannot offend the new Hollis vanity sconce by hanging it on these gray walls. Mama's got to do something. And so I called up Tyler Hunsinger from Iconography, and I said, tyler, I think I need to plaster my walls. Do you have any time? Like, this is really desperate. And we've used iconography before here in the showroom. Our brand is on this big blue plastered wall with our brass lettering on it. And we've used him in every storefront we've had, and we've used him on special projects. I've just never had plaster in my own home yet. And I thought this was the chance where I've got to do it. I know it's time, it takes time and it's a lot of labor. And I thought maybe since it's such a small room, we could pull it off in time to do this. And sure enough, he had time. It was like the perfect timing. I can't believe that I'm living with plaster walls right now. We just barely shot it this morning, and now we're recording the episode on it. So anyway, we got plaster. I was talking with Tyler and I said, do you index a little bit lighter on the wall color or a little bit darker? Because there is so many layers of color.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And he said, go a little bit darker. And I also knew with burnishing it that we were going to get some reflection going and being really vulnerable in my home office that I just painted it went on quite a bit than I thought it would. And I've been bummed that I didn't go a couple shades light darker. So I wanted to get it right in my bathroom. Now, my bathroom has north facing windows. This is really important, you guys. What way your windows are facing is kind of changes the light in the room. My room always looks really cold and gray. Something about north facing light. And I had done a little bit of research. I don't know if I chat GPT it or I was listening to other experts talk about light and they said if you do have a north facing window, you're going to want to index for warmer color in that room. And what's fun about using Tyler from iconography is that he's an artist. And he even changed the color of my plaster midway through. And he added more yellow to it to get it to be a little bit warmer because the color was feeling a little bit mauve.

[B]

Yeah. We've always talked to him like he's like a chemist.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Any project, he's just like, I'm put some like butterfly dust and then we're going to sprinkle this in. Yeah. It's going to do this dance and then it'll sing.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You're like, okay, whatever you say. Yeah.

[A]

It's amazing. It's so fun to get to work with an artist. And it's really fun to get to work in your own space on it. And I had sue come over one night and she was like, of course, go with the darker color. So I was thinking I just wanted my walls to. To sort of just feel like cashmere, you know, hand touched, really artisan warmer, definitely, for that north facing light. And we ended up going quite a bit darker. I'm going to hold up my paint color. So Tyler likes to work in Sherwin Williams colors. He feels like it's true color.

[B]

Chroma he talks about a lot.

[A]

True chroma. Yeah. Where I feel like you're Ben. More colors, you can get all of these really beautiful in between, ambiguous colors. More muted, more tonal.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So this was true color. These are some of the concepts that I really loved. Different shades of, like sort of nudes, if you will. Some darker, some lighter, but just almost time worn, really soft. And I knew, getting ready in the mirror, my skin color would look, I think, pretty and true and in light like this. So I was sort of trying to identify what would feel like this. And so I went to my closet, and I even found a sweater that I like to wear. And I put that again against my countertops because I was keeping my same countertops. I was keeping the same stone on my floor. I even had a YSL wallet. There was a really beautiful new tone that I put up there with the paint. I knew the new sconces were brass, so I put a brass object up there. You guys, whatever you can do in your home to help you identify the feeling for the color, do it. And let me also say, if you're living with a gray bathroom like I was, or if you're living with a white bathroom, you can really change everything by just changing the wall color. You can just do it with color, or you can do it with plaster. Plaster is going to give you that movement and that feeling. And I cannot speak enough about how this room feels now. I feel so luxurious in this space. Another thing that we did that changed the game was we included the ceiling in the paint color. I had white ceilings before and plastering the ceiling. Tyler said, if you can only do one thing, he said, always do the ceiling. Because the way that light will rake across the ceiling, you're going to get so much credit for it. We experienced this in a project we did in Texas. We just plastered the ceiling blue in the pantry. And so much credit for it.

[B]

Yeah, Mike, we knew it was going to be plaster, and it was going to be like a lighter plaster. And then last minute, we pulled an audible and put a little bit more chroma in there and gave it something. And, like, he's right. Like, there is a raking of light that hits it, like, through this whole hallway, and you're just like. You don't see anything else. Like, you could be, like, cooking a giant wedding cake in there. I'd be like, how about those ceilings?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, they're stunning. They're so stunning. The way light reflects on them.

[A]

Oh, so magical.

[B]

That's such great feedback.

[A]

Well, and Tyler said we should do it because you have skylights. He calls it architectural piercing, where you have this light that comes down through it into the room, and the skylights are quite deep and tall, and this was going to be so much more labor for them. Also, my ceilings weren't smooth, which meant they had to be floated smooth. Love doing that to get the pl right. You guys, if there's one thing I can tell you, if you're building right now, do not do a textured ceiling.

[B]

It's.

[A]

Yeah, you're going to have to go back and smooth them out to do anything fun with them. Wallpaper, plaster, even just painting them, looking at them. Color of the wall.

[B]

Yeah. Your builder's always going to want to put a texture on it because it covers up any flaws or anything like that. But I'd rather even see, like, natural waves on a smooth surface than see texture on the ceiling. Yeah.

[A]

I am learning that lesson over and over again in 2025 and 2026. So if you're building, do not do a textured ceiling. Float those puppies smooth, because you're going to want to put color on them or you're going to want to put plaster on them. Paint. Plaster, Paper. Yeah. The world is your oyster. A mural, whatever it be. If you have a smooth ceiling to

[B]

begin with, even light reflecting off it looks better. Because if not, then you're seeing the shadow of all of the texture when it's on there.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So you can take it from me, it's not. Not great. And then they're going to say, put flat paint on it anyway. I just can't. Builders, come on.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Catch up. Get with the game.

[A]

Back to this color. I didn't even tell you what color it was, so what I went with was Sherwin Williams. This familiar. Beige sounds so boring, but let me tell you, it's color. 6093. It is the perfect shade of nude. It's got enough pink in it. It's just a really beautiful, sophisticated, deep note. It's neutral, but there's. There's enough pink and salmon in it that it feels like a really beautiful, vintage space living.

[B]

It really is. There's A life to it.

[A]

And you know what? I look so much better in this room than I did in my old bathroom.

[B]

Isn't it so much fun to get ready in a space that, like, you feel pretty?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I'm like, this feels like your makeup, honestly, like, put it up against your face.

[A]

If you have a white bathroom, you've got to choose a shade. And honestly, a shade of nude is a really perfect neutral. We know right now all of the neutrals are more beautiful that are warm. I'll have. I'll put a little video up here where I had to have it get along with my existing limestone floors. This looks great with everything. I even wanted to make sure it looked good for my existing bedroom. And you're not going to go wrong with nude.

[B]

It's like, the perfect purse color is the perfect color. Like, heel color. Like, it's just so lovely, and it pairs with everything really well. Yeah. What I was so, like, amazed. And you're probably going to get into this is just like what it did, what your previous color paint did with your tile, that taupey gray. Because you were just like, I'm so. It's really. It's such a beautiful color. Is it a limestone or a marble?

[A]

I think it's a limestone.

[B]

It's kind of like, again, it's kind of that ambiguous. Like, it could go gray, it could go brown, it could go taupe, kind of that Weimaraner color. And, like, it looked gray all throughout, you know, since. For the last 10 years with the other paint color. But what happened to it? When you put this plaster, it almost

[A]

is like this woody, beautiful, brownish gray note, but it's got more brown in it. And it. You can. It pulls out the nude tones in it, and because it's darker than all of it, it grounds the space really beautifully. And I was like, ah, I'm really not going to throw the baby out with the bath water. I'm keeping my shower, I'm keeping my slabs. I'm keeping the floor. Let's just put. Pray that this color will fix everything. And it did. Like, it really brought it into today. And then we mounted that Hollis light fixture to this. It just made it sing. Yeah. I mean, everything sings in there now. I even love getting ready in there even more. It's funny how you quit seeing your

[B]

own space until you're about to photograph it for everyone to see.

[A]

Exactly. Well, I wanted to say, especially if you're a designer, because you're working on so many people's spaces and you're you're fulfilling all of your dreams through other people. And then you come home at night, and you're just going through your routine of taking off your makeup, and you just stop seeing it. And so I just wanted to give everybody permission today to just see your space. It might just be wall color. It might just be that you work with a really talented artisan, like, I got to and really create something special. You don't have to do much more. I did, in the end, give a mouse a cookie, and I did replace my hardware just to bring it also up to speed. I could repl Replace my faucets, but I still love the architecture of them. I did something by Callista, by. By Kohler. They're in brush nickel. They oddly just kind of go away into the mirror. And it's kind of all about the hardware in the sconces right now. I'm really, really loving the update, and I can't say enough good about plaster. And to that note, I wanted to talk a little bit about plaster. Like, what is it? I know there's a lot of products on the market, but we are dealing with with a real product from Italy. So it is made up of lime, also crushed limestone, crushed marble. To be able to get this product. And then Tyler himself just puts the color into it and then adjusted it on site as he watched the light play with it.

[B]

Was that magical, you guys?

[A]

It's so magical. I feel so lucky that I got to work with him on my own. It's different. Like, working for a client feels a little bit different than working for yourself.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You just have so many times where you second guess yourself in your own space, and it's nice to have somebody with great taste that's done this forever. That can just make those audibles for you and make it even better. Yeah, in the process.

[B]

I love that. That's so cool.

[A]

We have a few process photos we'll show you. They first start by applying the paint color on your walls in matte. And so we got to get a feeling of what the color would look like on. And that was such a game changer. And I guess the matte paint helps the plaster adhere to it almost like a chalkboard. And then they go in. It looks like mud going on. And they are putting it on with these trowels. They just put it on layer by layer by layer, and then they work it onto the ceiling. And once they had enough of a base coat and once the walls had dried enough, then Tyler came in, and then he started to touch it and he's. He's the owner of iconography and a real artist. And the way that he, you know, moved it onto the walls and. And whatnot. And the more they move over the trowel, the more it burnishes and gets this sort of glossy finish. They finished the skylights first, so that gave me a sort of a first look at what the final project would be. And that was so fun because lights cascading through this and you got a real feel for it.

[B]

I've got to say, when the first layer was on to go check out the color, I knew you had skylights. Probably, like, from, like, when you started your plans, there were skylights on the plan. Da, da, da. Anyway, I forgot that they were there. I gotta be completely.

[A]

I forgot that they were there. Yeah.

[B]

Until, like, we were starting to study the colors. I'm like, oh, my gosh. I'm, like, looking at. Really analyzing the room, I'm like, we know that paint reacts so much differently on the ceiling plane. But then, like, to be able to call attention and highlight just those shafts going all the way up to your roof to let light interact with that whole dance. Like, I was like. And he had started. I think he had started to, like, put that on there. I was like, oh, my gosh, these are incredible. You bought a new house.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You bought a totally new house. Because I'm like, I've never experienced your bathroom the way I did. Like, after just around 1.

[A]

There's something about a white ceiling where you don't feel it. It's, like, not part of the room. If the rest of the room is wall color and that's a white ceiling, it's like somebody took an eraser and erased that part of the room. You know, it didn't exist. And the only way I can think to describe what it feels like now is. Do you remember when you're a little kid and you'd put a blankie over your head and you'd make a fort, and you're just completely cocooned and covered in one thing. It's like that kind of like that

[B]

scene in the holiday when he puts on the twinkle lights and he's tinted with his little girls. We all want to, like, be in that moment.

[A]

And Jude Law is in there with me, ex. Getting ready every morning.

[B]

You know the one.

[A]

It's so satisfying to be in this space and to have it plastered and see the movement. And I think the color feels so natural and yet still original. In my house, I don't know. It's Just a bathroom. I did have them include the potty closet in it, but it just feels so all encompassing and cohesive and just really, truly magical.

[B]

Expensive in there.

[A]

It does look a lot more expensive. Yes, definitely. Really quick. I've had a few people ask on the hardware where I got it from. This is the Joan Cat cabinet knob from Rejuvenation. Yeah, I got it from Rejuvenation. I had to go get something quickly.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I got the. It's only available in polished nickel or unlacquered brass. So I did the unlacquered brass. I thought it'd be beautiful with the new Hollis bathroom vanity that we just did. The. The vanity lights, but they're so yellow. Suze has made this comment on the podcast again and again and that is that the brasses are so inconsistent across lines.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's really hard to get the right thing. So I just looked up on chat GPT, is there a way to speed up the AG process of unlacquered brass? Because they show you on the website what it looks like this year and what it will look like four years from now. And I was like, well, I need the four year solution tomorrow for the

[B]

photo shoot on Wednesday.

[A]

Exactly. And so they say what you do is you get a container, fill it up with maybe like an inch or two of vinegar. They said white distilled vinegar. I didn't have those things. I needed to do it. Now. I did have apple cider vinegar, which they said you could do. And so I put two cups down inside this big Tupperware of vinegar. And inside the cups I put my hardware.

[B]

Empty cups.

[A]

Empty cups. They cannot touch the vinegar.

[B]

I'm so fascinated. Keep going.

[A]

And then you snap the lid on. So basically the vapor of the vinegar will age the antique. The antique. The brass.

[B]

I'm amazed.

[A]

I know so much chemistry going on between Tyler tweaking the color and all of the mud.

[B]

Playing with beakers. Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

So then I was like, well, I've gotta make it so that all of these are the same color. So I'm setting timers. I'm trying to keep track of this. Because you could only what I started doing was I just sort of dumped a bunch of knobs in the cup.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The vapor didn't hit it regularly. So then there was darker spots than others. So what you want to do is want to stand them up regularly. So it's only. I can only fit two nubs, two knobs per cup per vat of snapped on lid of vinegar. So I had two of those going and then I'm just setting timers and I think probably what I ended up doing was about three hours.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Was sort of the magic number to knock the yellow off these things. It almost was starting to move into polished nickel. It took the yellow. Oh, interesting. And almost rosed it a hair. If they went a little bit longer, they'd start to go bronze, which I wasn't going for an oil wrapped bronze look. So I kind of hung out in that rosy sort of area. Definitely not yellow. Definitely wasn't silver. But anyway, they turned out really pretty. I love the shape. They feel so vintage. I did the large ones on my doors and I did the small ones on all my drawers.

[B]

They remind me of toggle buttons, like on a great coat.

[A]

Like on your grandma's coat or something.

[B]

I love that, that. How many rounds of three hours did it take if you're just doing four at a time?

[A]

Let's see. I have 22 knobs. So you do the math. Yeah.

[B]

All weekend.

[A]

It was all weekend. It was my special project for sure.

[B]

Guys. It was so funny. I like opened up Instagram on Monday morning. And you posted. I was just like, what crap project of just the same exact name? That's so much fun.

[A]

It's amazing what Chat GPT will teach you. And Jane's like, it's not going to work. I have a 21 year old that's very cynical and it's like, you shouldn't be using Chat GPT anyway. And also, don't say that you're using it. Say you're using Gemini or something.

[B]

Is Chat GPT like the AI for old people or something? I guess it is.

[A]

It's perfect for me and my knobs. It worked out great. So anyway, we got the knobs tightened on, got the old mirrors put back up, which was really great.

[B]

Another thing that I just absolutely love is the orientation. Because the fun thing is that you again, you kept your tile, you kept your mirrors. Like this all started with a sconce.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

It all starts with a sconce.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And then you like to snowball to.

[A]

Right.

[B]

But the length, like. Let's talk about the holos sconce. I don't know. Are we ready to go there? Let's do it. Let's talk about the holos sconce because like, I'm obsessed with them. I don't know the linear nature of that. With your existing mirrors, I'm just like, it's always amazing how like working with some of the things that you had if they were done in good taste, adapts to new things and completely reinvents it. Y Like, I love the orientation in which you hung your sconces to your mirrors. Talk about that for a second.

[A]

Yeah. Okay, so my. So in the previous photo, when I had gray walls, if you look at the sconce placement, that was done for the height of the mirror, the overall mirror, and then we installed them and installed the mirrors. Well, what my mirrors do is they have a straight edge and then they start to have this beautiful arculation and sort of make this sort of ripple. Y almost reminds me of, like, women's hair or something. This beautiful ripply effect toward the top. So the really only the straight sides happen at the bottom sort of 2/3 of the mirror.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And what I noticed was I really always hated my. My sconce placement for 11 years. And I was like, like, by golly, you know what I'm gonna get right? I'm gonna paint the walls. I'm gonna get the sconces in line with the straight portions of the mirror, which meant that the sconces were gonna hang out in the bottom 2/3 in the mirror instead of the overall height. The architecture of your mirror, the design of your mirror really matters on where those sconces come in contact with the straight portions. And so I'm embarrassed to say, I had my electrician come and I centered it on the straight portions, and they look too low. And so what I needed to do, because the sconce sits so heavy and you can't really see even the bottom of it, that by cheating it up 2 inches beyond where the straight portions are, that ended up being the right place. So we actually had to come in and re plaster the holes in the wall on the bottom. And I felt so dumb. I'm like, I should know this. I'm a professional. But there really are these little nuances that when you are doing elevations that you shouldn't just consider the overall height of the mirror unless you have straight sides on all sides. You should really consider the design of the mir those sconces come into contact, especially if you're a designer, because, like me, it's going to bother you for 11 years before you get it right. So we got it right, which is really awesome. And the sconces are beautiful. They're really long. They have three light bulbs on each side. They feel like old Hollywood glamour when they're turned on. The light is right by my face where I get ready. So it's even better than the placement Before.

[B]

I love that. One nice thing is you were talking about this, like, how much, like there's like mistakes that were made 10 years ago. Because when you were building a new house.

[A]

House. Yeah.

[B]

And you're having like your contractors asking you for all these decisions. You have to make them right away. And you're just like, I guess we'll do this, we'll do this, we'll do this. You want to be thoughtful about it. If you have the time and the money to just, you know, just pray and ponder on every decision. Five, you can, like, really concentrate on those decisions. But so often you're having to make those decisions quick, which doesn't allow for some of the thoughtfulness. You know that like probably I know that you have and wanted in these spaces. That is the nice thing about coming back and remodeling a space. Even if you do some things, like a little bit, if you're building a house, you're just like, I'm not ready to commit, but I'm. He needs a color and I'm going to go acid green, cold. Hold for a second. Live in the space. Understand what it does and how you want to feel. I'm like, I feel that's the nice thing about a remodel is to be able to kind of like take off a little bit at a time and be thoughtful about it. Whether you're in a new build or new old house. You can like go back and you can remodel these spaces to feel more like you.

[A]

Yeah. And also knowing the light in the room.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Just learning that that room always felt cold and what is it. And looking that up online, what is it about north facing rooms and that they're. You need to index your paint colors to be warmer than you would in, you know, your normal east facing room on the front of your house. That even taught me from living with it what I needed to tweak moving forward besides my sconces being the wrong height and the room color not being warm enough. So it's fun to just finally fix it and get it right this time.

[B]

I love that.

[A]

I just wanted to get on here and say I wanted to share the images with you guys. Obviously wanted to share the new product. The Hollis vanity sconce just launched and they're available now. These are so great. I can't wait for you guys to get these home. We have another sconce that we designed and is available now too. This is the Amelia Sconce and it is a really darling white bubble with a waistline and then we've got this brass bullnose. This is all brass. The whole fixture. Wherever you see metal, we've got a bullnose sort of waistline that pinches these two bubbles. And then it's got a circular back plate with a bullnose edge. Really cute in a bathroom.

[B]

So darling. Yeah, I love those.

[A]

This could be in a kid's bath or even hallway sconce. We're hanging it above the dresser here in room. I even think this would be great in like a hotel lobby.

[B]

Yeah, powder bath maybe.

[A]

Yes. Yeah, totally. So the Amelia sconce is available now. And then we did these Mira vases. Mira M I R a. We actually shot these in my bathroom. We love a vase here. I just feel like there's something about having natural foliage, whether it be foraged or more of a floral arrangement. This is hand blown glass and it's seated so you can see it picks up the light. You know what's funny? I have tulips in mine in my bathroom at home. And my daughter Jane came in, she's like, what are those in bright

[B]

discriminated.

[A]

I poured Pellegrino in it and then, and then put my tulips in there.

[B]

My tulips like bubbles.

[A]

Do you like sparkling or flat? And the tulips said sparkling please. So anyway, it does look carbonated. These are so pretty. So the seated glass and then they have these really beautiful hand blown elements. These pretty like blobs on the outside that just feel so artisan. So this is the miravase in small and then large. And those are available in the new collection called House Signatures.

[B]

So pretty.

[A]

They're just sort of the signatures of the home. I feel like when you pop flowers in a vase, it feels like you're home. When you slide a picture frame in the picture, it feels like you're home. I think when you update the lighting from your old home to your home now, don't you feel like all of a sudden it feels like you. Yeah, they're just so personal. I even feel like that about the Amelia sconce. Even though I chose the sconce that was there before. I'm suddenly like I'm back. Like I feel so much like myself. So anyway, House Signatures is live now, the new collection. Get out there and check it out. And thanks so much for tuning in for the bathroom remodel. I hope fun for you guys as you picture your own spaces and little tweaks that you can make. If you can live with plaster, do it. Check out iconography finishing. They're the ones that did my space. They're so talented. Can't recommend them enough. And they do travel. They worked in Rome. They work crazy.

[B]

They're international.

[A]

Yeah, they. They work anywhere. They do really big, beautiful projects. They'll do small ones too. But I'm really grateful that they took the time and helped me on my space. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Also, if you're loving the podcast, be sure and click on your favorite listening platform. And while you're there, give us a review. We'd love a five star review and make a comment. We love reading your comments. If you guys have any episodes that you wish that we would do, just send those to Dear Alice alicelanehome.com We read through all of those. They give us great ideas. They help us know what you guys want to know. Give us a follow on Instagram at Alice Lane Home and Alice Lane Interiors and we'll catch you guys next time. Hey, thanks for listening. If you like our show, please leave a five star rating.