Social media influencers and home DIYers, Lauren and Tyler Bouldin are known for sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly while in the midst of renovating their 1830s home, known as The Forge House, in Central Pennsylvania. Tyler’s dry humor and Lauren’s eye for design resonate with their 2.3M followers as they take them through their ongoing three-year restoration. As you can imagine, this isn’t an easy endeavor but with the help of StarMark Cabinetry, we were able to give The Bouldins some vanity relief!
StarMark Cabinetry is a custom line under the MasterBrand Cabinets’ portfolio. This brand wasn’t just chosen for The Forge House for its quality, function, and beauty, but also for its customization. Lauren needed these vanities to fit perfectly into the unique space that was given and StarMark helped do just that!
Lauren and Tyler gave us an exclusive interview about their design process and how StarMark fits The Forge House’s aesthetic perfectly!
Tell us about yourself and your design process for The Forge House.
We have been on a three-year journey of restoring The Forge House, an 1830s historic home in central PA, the Bouldins told us. Our goal for the interior design of this home is to do a blend of traditional and modern touches. When picking out items for the bathrooms that are longer lasting, such as vanities and tile, I wanted pieces that are functional and adaptive to design changes. I wanted pieces that would not only fit the home but that could really thrive throughout the years.
What were the must-haves, the nice-to-have, and any never-want-to-haves?
Both vanities we chose needed to be custom-sized because of the nooks that were already pre-established in these rooms. We also needed a chase cutout drawer in the guest bathroom to clear the plumbing. This gave e us maximum storage in that drawer. I was thrilled with the fact that we could customize the size of this cutout. We also were able to add a pullout drawer in our “kids” bathroom to help with storage space. The nice-to-haves would be the in-set drawers. This look really elevates the vanities. I also loved the fact that I could pick custom colors for the vanities to fit my design for each room. I don’t have any never-want-to-haves.
What StarMark cabinetry did you choose for the renovation and why?
For the kids’ bathroom, we went with the Knottingham Maple Black with inset construction. This was a custom 53” wide vanity and custom apron front to fit our vanity top overhang. I chose this style for this bathroom because the center doors add a more traditional look. The flat drawers tie in the modern design. This bathroom has a black-and-white theme throughout it. I have hand-painted black and white pattern tile on the floor, subway tiles on the shower walls, and a solid black backsplash with concrete countertops. The black vanity really is a statement piece in the space. It ties in well with all the design elements in this room.
In the guest bathroom, we went with Ballinger Maple Custom Color Dusky Blue from Benjamin Moore – Custom 38” vanity width, inset construction, and a higher apron to accommodate the vanity top. I wanted the overall design of this space to be warmer, lighter colors, and more elegant. This room does not have a window so keeping the space bright and airy was important for me. I designed this bathroom around the color I chose for the vanity. I wanted the vanity to be my solid pop of color and I layered other elements in the room to highlight it. The Ballinger profile has a softer look with the rounded edges and the inset drawers are the perfect touch. Our concrete countertop also has a scoop bowl. The wall molding I added has a rounded profile as well to tie these elements together.
What would you do differently?
I wouldn’t do anything differently with my vanities. The one thing I wish I had done differently that affected the vanities was making sure the floors and nooks were level before installing our cabinetry in The Forge House. We had to add our own toe kicks to both vanities because they were not sitting level on the floors. When dealing with such old framework it is hard to accomplish this.
What are a few tips you’d share about starting a bathroom renovation/cabinetry project for those who don’t know where to start?
I would say contract MasterBrand/Starmark. When it comes to renovating a bathroom there are a lot of choices that need to be made. Choosing the right vanity is very important. There are a lot of vanities that are made out of MDF or particle board. Those won’t last you more than a year. With the amount of water and dampness in a bathroom they will start to fall apart. We installed one in our barn when we renovated this space initially and it did not hold up for more than six months. So the lesson we learned is to spend money on items like quality hardwood vanities, tiles, and hardware. Choosing quality pieces will save you in the long run. You can always change paint color or wallpaper but the items that you want to last 10+ years is where you should put most of your budget.
We encourage you to follow along on Lauren and Tyler’s TikTok (@ouroldhouse) and Instagram (@theforgehouse) pages as the restoration continues!
Start your own restoration journey at StarmarkCabinetry.com.
