CORAL GABLES RESIDENCE
This Coral Gables home was designed for a client
who loved coastal interiors but also wanted
to keep vintage pieces and antiques.
A traditional coastal palette felt too light for those elements,
so I guided the design toward a Coastal Mediterranean direction,
which allowed warmth and antique character to live naturally in the space.
01
The Kitchen
The kitchen pairs Taj Mahal quartzite with Emperador marble.
This combination, creamy softness with deeper moss tones, creates a contrast that
feels layered and unexpected.
The Emperador marble brings in the client’s love for antique elements, adding a sense
of depth to the space.
It frames the stove wall and continues between the cabinetry, turning the range into
a strong focal point
and giving that area a more intentional, almost framed look.
I also mixed dark chocolate brown wood tones with hazelnut and ginger-toned wood,
something most people would avoid because they think it may feel like “too much” or
not go together.
In this case, the combination of two marbles and two wood tones adds, contrast, and
character without overwhelming the space.
Instead of feeling busy, it feels thoughtful and well balanced.
This kitchen does not read like a typical kitchen.
It feels like every material was chosen with purpose, and that is what gives it so much
interest and personality.
02
The first-floor bathroom
The first-floor bathroom continues the green palette through honed green marble,
installed in a custom 12 × 24 tile layout with both vertical and horizontal placement.
This creates more patterns, movement, and visual interest than a standard tile
installation.
The shower was designed with function in mind. The dual shower control valves are
placed immediately to the right when you open the frameless glass door, allowing
You have to turn the shower on before stepping inside, so you do not get wet while
adjusting the water.
As soon as you slide open the pocket door, the first thing you see is a dramatic half-
moon mirror with backlit LED lighting that nearly spans the full height of the wall.
Behind the mirror, and extending to the left, is a high-gloss, highly reflective dark oil-A
rubbed bronze panel that adds depth, drama, and a more elevated entrance moment.
Starting where the mirror begins, thin individual wood slats in a ginger tone add
warmth and contrast against the dark bronze. The reflective backing still comes
through behind the slats, creating a layered effect that feels rich and intentional.
To keep the room from feeling overly green, the water closet is fully wrapped in a
metallic, artsy, hand-painted wallpaper, including the ceiling.
This creates a completely immersive moment when you enter.
The wallpaper was chosen intentionally to add surprise, warmth, and artistic depth,
with green, brown, and layered painted tones that connect back to the rest of the
space.
The combination of honed marble, reflective bronze, ginger-toned wood, and metallic
hand-painted wallpaper gives the bathroom a rich, unexpected, and visually dynamic
feel.
03
The cabana bathroom
The goal was to create the feeling of stepping right back into the pool the moment you walk in, while also incorporating the client’s love for cobalt blue.
I used cobalt penny tile on the floor and small arabesque-shaped mosaic tile on the walls, which adds more interest and also brings in the antique feeling the client is drawn to.
The floating vanity is made up of three push-to-open drawers
using scalloped paneling in the same cobalt blue.
To intentionally break up the color, I added a Talavera sink basin, tying in the client’s love for hand-painted tile, sunflowers, and details that feel joyful and full of personality.
A curved gold-framed mirror was also intentionally selected because
Curved shapes feel more artistic to me and less expected.
The shower niche was designed with the same level of intention,
using an 8-inch thick divider wall that allowed me to create
a 6-inch-deep niche instead of the standard shallow size;
The shower niche begins 48 inches above the finished floor and runs continuously to the ceiling with soft, warm LED lighting on both sides, drawing the eye upward and giving the space the illusion of more height.
Using the same cobalt blue in two different tile shapes,
while also painting the ceiling and doors in a satin finish,
keeps the space feeling fully immersed in blue without making it feel flat.
I specifically chose a satin finish on the painted surfaces so the recessed lighting would spread across the ceiling and walls, creating a glow throughout the space while also casting light down onto the tiled walls and accentuating their detail.
The combination of materials, shapes, color, and lighting makes the entire cabana bathroom feel layered, immersive, and full of life.
04
The primary bathroom
The primary bathroom was designed to feel energizing,
anchored by a wall of Flicker Gold 1/4" x 1" Polished Glass Mosaic Tile
that reflects the natural light coming in from the newly designed
5-foot-wide horizontal window in the shower.
To continue that sense of light and length, I designed
a 10-foot-long recessed shower niche with LED lighting
at both the top and bottom, casting a subtle glow onto
the Calacatta Gold marble surface while also making. The bathroom feels longer and more elevated.
The wet room includes 2 shower heads with handhelds
and a ceiling-mounted rain shower.
This gives the client the option of a quick shower
or a more relaxing experience.
Above the tub, I added a brushed brass heated towel warmer,
So when you step out, you have a warm towel waiting instead
of that cold shock.
The open water closet was also positioned very intentionally
So the toilet is not the focus of the bathroom and is not the
First thing seen when someone enters, while still giving privacy
to the person using it.
At the same time, by continuing the same glistening TileBar
mosaic wall tile from the vanity all the way through the wall
Behind the water closet, the space still reads as one continuous
design when viewed from the shower or tub.
The result is a bathroom that feels bold, functional, luxurious, and thoughtfully connected from one end to the other.
05
secondary bath
This bathroom was inspired by the client’s son’s love for Art Deco and mid-century
modern styles. The goal was to create a space that felt bold, layered, and full of
detail.
The right and left walls are finished in 24 × 24 blue terrazzo tile, while the showerThe
accent wall combines small 3 × 3 terrazzo mosaic tiles in different colors and tones,
along with marble, to create even more texture and interest.
The floor is a small honed Carrara penny round marble, which is slip-resistant and
adds another layer of detail to an already expressive space.
To push the design further, I used a dramatic Arabescato marble slab not only as
the vanity countertop, but continued it through the bathroom and into the shower,
where it also functions as a ledge for shampoos and soaps.
This move was both functional and aesthetic, because it creates the illusion of a
longer and larger space.
The floor-to-ceiling ginger-toned wood entry door is framed on both sides by
hammered pewter panels, which catch and reflect light from the shower window,
while a full-length mirror behind the door adds even more depth. The shower itself
is enclosed with three glass panels, including two 20-inch fixed side panels and a
center reversible door that can open inward or outward, a choice I made very
intentionally so the door would not interfere with the vanity or toilet.