Accessories

Expert Interior Design Secrets to Styling Shelves

September 14, 2020

Styling shelves is a great way to give your unique items the attention they deserve. Framed photos, books, and decorative pieces that you might otherwise keep stored away find a place at the forefront of the room, where they catch the eye.

Decorating marries style with substance. You can take something that seems purely practical and make it a stylish part of your room’s design. Shelving makes it easy to create a striking atmosphere in a room.

However, shoving everything you own onto some shelves doesn’t always work. You have think about what you want to see when you look at your shelves—and the answer isn’t a wall full of junk. Follow these simple rules to create stunning shelves.

Clear Everything Out

Shelving units are the perfect way to show off your favorite items, but you still have limited space. Choose carefully what you want on display. That doesn’t mean you need to throw everything else out, but tidying the space goes a long way.

After spending so much time curating your shelving, you don’t want to ruin the effect with unnecessary clutter.

Start with Empty Space

Before you start filling your shelves, look ahead and imagine how it might look when you’ve finished.

There will almost always be some empty space exposing the back of the shelves. Consider painting this space or filling it with a fabric or wallpaper. These finishing touches can add new layers of depth and contrast to the shelving unit.

Choosing Books

Start with the books when you’re styling shelves. If you’re a collector, try grouping them by color. If you have a limited book selection, add bits of color throughout the shelf. Using colors sparingly will make the books you have stand out.

You can stack the books or line them up on the shelf, but never have less than three together or they’ll look sparse. At the other end of the spectrum, avoid putting more than twelve or fifteen books together, or you risk making your shelves look too crowded.

Don’t be ashamed of buying a book for looks alone. Sometimes beautiful book covers can really make your shelving unit pop, and that’s what you want.

Add Sculptures and Vignettes

Sculptures and vignettes can add a lot of character to shelving units, but only if you use them correctly. While pairing smaller sculptures with books will draw the eye, larger sculptures should stand on their own. Putting large pieces in with books or other items can make the space look cramped.

It’s easy to fine unique bits and pieces to add to your shelves. They add personality to your shelves and function as conversation pieces when you have guests.

Balance is key when you’re choosing what to put on a new shelving unit. It’s tempting to fill them with everything you own, but attractive shelves take some thought. Make sure that everything on them has a purpose. By styling shelves with carefully selected items, your room can become its own piece of art.

Choosing the Right Appliances for Your Kitchen

August 17, 2020

Kitchen appliances can make or break a kitchen remodel. There are so many styles, features, and technology options available it’s easy to become overwhelmed. Then, there are always budgetary concerns—picking the right appliances would be easy if money were no object. Even so, it is possible to design the perfect kitchen with a little forethought and your priorities firm in mind.

choosing the right appliances for your kitchen

Here are some things to consider when choosing kitchen appliances to ensure you fall in love with the heart of your home.

Ovens & Cooktops

A high-performing, quality oven is crucial. Because ovens can have many features, it is best to focus on those you’ll actually use and the food you want to cook. A good oven will have a fan to cook food faster and more evenly. You’ll also want an oven with bake, roast, and broil features for all your baking needs.

Picking a suitable cooktop is important for both the practical purposes of remodeling your kitchen as well as aesthetic purposes. Just like your oven, you need a cooktop that gets the job done, but it certainly doesn’t hurt if it looks good, too. Try to pick a cooktop that takes up appropriate space and fits your overall color scheme.

Most cooktops have four burners, which is pretty standard for home cooking. However, if you like to entertain guests and large crowds, you may want to pick a cooktop with more burners. Then, you have to consider how easy it is to maintain. Whether you’re a clean-as-you-cook or cook-at-the-end type, you’ll most likely want clean-up to be easy.

Refrigerators

There are three fridge installation types:

Built-in
Freestanding
Fully integrated

These three options all come in a range of sizes and styles to suit your needs. You will also want to consider performance and configuration. Performance-wise, you need to choose between a single-compressor or a double-compressor unit. A single-compressor unit works twice as hard to maintain both the fridge and freezer. While double-compressor refrigerators cost more, they allow you to keep food fresher for longer.

One of the most popular refrigerator configurations is the French-door style with a side-by-side fridge and freezer. Make sure you don’t go too small when you’re choosing kitchen appliances. When you buy your fridge, you want to have enough room for your typical food storage. For two people, consider a fridge size of 12 cubic feet.

Sinks & Dishwashers

Your sink tends to be the focal point of your kitchen. Some popular sink configurations include:

Single, rectangular basin
50/50 double-bowl
60/40 double-bowl
Three-bowl

Once you know your ideal configuration, the next step is to compare materials. The material you choose affects whether your sink is resistant to scratches and stains, how you’ll clean the sink, and your kitchen’s overall look.

As for your dishwasher, you want to choose something that is efficient and fits into your kitchen seamlessly. If you use a dishwasher often, choose one that has deep-cleaning features and a variety of options. Running volume is one of the most important factors. Find a dishwasher with a low decibel rating so it won’t keep you and your family up all night.

General Tips for Choosing Kitchen Appliances

No matter what appliance you’re shopping for, there are a few general tried-and-tested tips that can help:

Don’t be afraid to mix-and-match. You don’t have to buy all your appliances from the same collection or brand.
Tailor your budget allocation to your lifestyle. It doesn’t make sense to spend a big chunk of your budget on a double oven, for example, if you rarely bake. Forget what a traditional kitchen “should” have and get what you’ll use.
Time your remodel. Many appliance retailers hold annual sales around the same time every year, such as Memorial Day or Black Friday. Time your remodel to line up with these sales to save more. Buying your appliances as a package from a single retailer also often comes with a discount.
Know your space. As appliances of all types come in standard sizes, measure your space, and note any size restrictions. It can help to draft your kitchen on graph paper. Also, note any ventilation or power requirements and where they are in your kitchen.
Stay neutral. That bright blue retro fridge may look amazing right now, but will you still love it in 10 years? With big-ticket items like appliances keep to neutral colors—silver, black, or white—so that if you choose to redecorate in the future, you’re not choosing kitchen appliances all over again. Paint colors and cabinet handles are much easier to change!

Let There Be Lighting!

November 24, 2019

Lighting designs are such an important part of how your final interior design comes together – and floor, wall-mounted and table lamps are all an integral part of that plan. Unfortunately, for DIY designers, lighting and lamps are often completely overlooked in lieu of paint color choices, new furnishings, window coverings and all the fun things that are Front-and-Center of your design. However, your lighting design determines how all those gorgeous new furnishings and accents appear upon completion – especially when the available natural light begins to fade.

The following tips will help you choose the right style lamps for your living spaces so you can show them all off to your best advantage.

Bring on the Lamps! Light Your Living Space in Style.

First a little Lamp 101 to review the various options available to you:

Chandeliers. The right chandelier(s) can be a focal point in any room in your house, from the traditional dining room to a luxurious bathroom. They can be incredibly formal, like their antique crystal ancestors, or fun, funky and modern.
Pendants. Another ceiling mounted lamp, these come in an infinite array of styles and are usually hung with two or more in an arrangement over a table, bar or countertop.
Floor Lamps. These are most often seen in living and family rooms. They cast a nice ambient glow and can also be used next to a chair as a more direct reading light. If the lamps are anywhere away from a wall, invest in floor sockets to keep the cord out of your traffic and visual flow.
Table Lamps. The bases are your accessory (the shades can be as well) and the lamp is your light source. The lampshade you select will determine how direct or diffused the light will be so choose wisely. Table lamps are used most often in living and family rooms, dining room sideboards and perhaps on an entryway table.
Sconces. Don’t forget about sconces. They are an elegant way to highlight a particular work of art, a mirror, your fireplace mantel or a favorite reading nook. They are often used in the bedroom in lieu of bedside table lamps.

So those are your basic lamp options. Now it’s time to figure out what goes where.

Living room. Usually, living rooms will have at least one ceiling mounted light fixture (this can be a great place for a chandelier) and an assortment of floor and table lamps. Pay careful attention to room proportions so the lamps suit the dimensions and room height – and that tip goes for all the rooms. Be thoughtful about how each light will affect both standing and seated parties – try to avoid a glare. Typically, a formal living room will have more formal fixtures, but not always. Find lamps with bases that complement your decor. A great lamp base can be a focal point in and of itself.

Dining room. Depending on the size of your dining room, one chandelier or a series of pendant lights may suffice. If you have a larger space, consider smaller table lamps on your sideboard and/or recessed cans on the ceiling. Dimmers are particularly important here although, in truth, dimmers belong just about everywhere.

Bedroom. The bedroom usually has one standout ceiling mounted fixture and a mix of lamps. Perhaps a floor lamp or two in your seating area and sconces or nightstand lamps for the bedside. Larger bedrooms should also include recessed cans on dimmers.

Jazz Up Your Stairs

November 24, 2019

When most people think about stair design, they consider the architecture – straight, sweeping or spiral – as well as the trim work on the handrails, posts and banisters. However, there are other things you can do to make your staircase a creative, colorful and interesting part of your interior design.

Jazz Up Your Stairs for a Unique and Noteworthy Addition to Your Interior

Your staircase can be decorated simply, using art or wall murals, or you can get more creative, using paint or tile work on the stairs and/or the risers themselves. I will share some beautiful, unique and stunning examples of how a staircase can be as much about art as it is about function.

The Walls. The simplest way to decorate your staircase is to adorn the wall that runs alongside it. In most cases, you are looking at a rather large expanse of space that runs upwards of two stories or more. By using this space to hang art work, at the very least, you will make this blank canvas much more interesting to look at. Here are some examples:

Wall panels and art. In this modern home, the white glossy wall surface would be boring and unanchored without a little something to give it dimension. The wood veneer panels add warmth and an earthy weightiness while the artistic panel adds a splash of passionate color. In a more traditional home, this area of the wall can become an art gallery, the family photo collection, or a combination of the two.

Murals. Who doesn’t love a gorgeous mural? They are one of my favorite types of wall decoration and the blank wall behind the stairs is a great space for one. The right landscape scene can add depth or space in a smaller stair area. Otherwise, you can opt to have a little fun.

The Stairs. One of the simplest ways to decorate your stairs is to paint them. You can paint the entire set of stairs – including both the treads and the risers – or you may want to paint a faux runner, which is a nice way to add a little definition and interest. I like the look created when homeowners opt to paint the treads a separate color from the risers. For a traditional look, you might go with a black, dark grey or navy. For a more eclectic look, you can choose a bright color, or a series of colors.

If you are feeling really ambitious, or you want something totally out of the ordinary, your treads and risers can be painted with more complex colors, shapes and patterns to really make a statement.

The Risers. Another trick is to decorate the risers, which are the vertical, flat surfaces that run perpendicular to the treads. In Spanish and Mediterranean architecture, these areas of a staircase are often decorated with beautiful tile mosaic. Using tiles every other riser, or every few risers, is also an option. It can add the oomph you are looking for without the more ornate effect created when the tile work is used on every single one.

You can also paint the risers, similar to the treads, using the same color, contrasting colors or by making them a work of art all by themselves. If you like the idea of artistically painted risers, but not necessarily the price tag that comes with custom art work, you’re in luck! You can purchase vinyl decal riser designs from a variety of patterns and themes.

A Splash Of Black

November 15, 2019

For many DIY designers, the color black is daunting. While it works easily in very modern designs, it can be trickier to implement in a traditional or transitional interior designs when the homeowner is one that prefers color. I find, however, that adding a splash of black here and there adds contrast, depth and sophistication in just about any room.

Adding Black to Your Interior Living Spaces

Here are some ideas on how you can add black in a way that makes a statement, but doesn’t steal the show or detract from lighter and brighter colors, or from a softer and more delicate style:

A Table. How about adding a black table to the room. A black dining room table provides a blank slate for table runners, centerpieces and striking table settings. However, the dining room chairs will prevent it from being overwhelming. Black is also a good choice for coffee tables or end tables. In many cases, rather than standing out, black tables actually fade into the background because of black’s ability to minimize a profile.

The Kitchen Island. I love the way it looks when homeowners decide choose black or another dark color for their kitchen island. Not only does it provide contrast in a space where walls of monochromatic cabinetry can be boring, it can help small kitchens to feel a bit larger because the black cabinet base almost disappears, leaving the illusion of a floating island countertop.

Coffered Ceiling Recesses. Coffered ceilings are a gorgeous addition to almost any room. Not only do they add interest and draw the eye upwards, they also help to make small room seem larger and short rooms to feel taller. Painting the recessed panels black will dramatize this effect.

Paint the Trim. Do you have a picture window – or a series of windows – that frame a desirable landscape scene? Painting the window trim black will showcase the outdoor scenery. If you like the effect, consider painting the baseboards, door trim and crown molding black as well – talk about defining a space. Plus, although black is a dramatic color – it’s a neutral color – and should blend with just about any color scheme in the room.

Paint the Back of Your Bookcases. Do you use your bookcases for more than just a book house? Book cases and shelving offer a space to display collections and collectibles. Painting the back of the bookcase black is like dropping a black velvet curtain behind your belongings, which will make them stand out even more.

Use Black Flooring. Just as a black dining room table, or black bookcase backs, highlight the items displayed against them, black floors do the same. For example, I enjoy the contrast created when a traditional, white farmhouse kitchen design lives on a black slate floor. Live in an older, bay area home with beat up floors? Consider painting them black and watch as your furnishings gain new life and definition.

Invest in Art. There are two ways you can use black when it comes to art. The first, like the bookcase and flooring ideas above, is to paint an accent wall black and then show off your favorite canvases. That’s what we did in this metropolitan condo and you can see how black highlights, rather than detracts, from the art on the walls. Or, you can invest in a piece of art that features black, like the striking this San Francisco living room design.

Don’t be afraid of black. Instead, learn how to embrace the sophisticated ways it can dress up and enhance your interior design.