DIY

The Art Of Flower Display

August 31, 2019

With the return of spring comes the return of flowers – and flowering branches – which can make a tremendous addition to your interior design. While vases are lovely, sometimes it’s fun to think outside the vase, finding unique containers in which to show off your garden’s bounty.

10 New Ways to Display Your Flower Arrangements

While you’re in the process of spring cleaning and organizing, start thinking in terms of reduce-reuse-recycle to find eclectic ways to use a variety of containers and vessels.

Teacups in saucers. In addition to being a sweet way to show off individual blooms or small clusters, this is also a good method for getting that collection of antique teacups and saucers out on display. They look sweet on shelves or small end tables or you can line them up as a centerpiece for the dining room table.
Children’s rain boots. Kids grow in and out of their galoshes so quickly, but you can put them to use year after year as a watertight floral vase. It’s a fun way to add color and interest and a little something different to the mix. They’ll work indoors but will also serve as a clever springtime addition to porches or hanging from the front window ledges.
Recycled bottles. Use colorful or beautifully shaped bottles solo or in groups. Rinsed out bottles make a lovely home for a tall, stalk-like blooms. You may want to anchor them on the bottom with tacky putty in case they’re top-heavy to protect glass from toppling over and breaking in a strong breeze.
Watering cans. Have a watering can that has rusted through? Turn it into a flower container with a florist’s frog in the middle to retain moisture and hold flowers in place.
Colorful pots. Rather than planting a pot, insert a frog and use the pot as a display for groups of stalk-like flowers or tall cut grasses.
Conch shells. Are you a fan of beach house décor? Put those conch shells to use by flipping them open-side-up and sticking a bloom or two inside. With a little arranging, you can come up with some gorgeous looks, including cascading blooms or sweet succulent gardens. These are a fun surprise on book shelves or window sills.
Jars, jars and jars. Even if you are a serial-recycler, it can be tough to throw away all those jars left over from foodstuffs. Once the labels are soaked off, however, those empty jars make a perfect vessel for displaying flower arrangements or a single, stunning blossom. You can also use them to starting new plants from houseplant cuttings – kids will enjoy watching the roots begin to sprout and grow. You can tie a ribbon or colored raffia around the necks for color and a little traditional flair.
Printed tin boxes. Prop open the lid of an old tin box and you have the perfect container for flowers. Tin boxes come in all shapes and sizes and are a fun theme as you coordinate the right tins for the right locations and rooms.
Pitchers. I have found stunning pitchers for a song at local thrift stores and flea markets. You can store them easily in a box in between times and use different sizes, shapes, patterns and colors to suit your seasonal needs or the whimsy of your moods.
Coffee Cans. A coffee can will serve as the foundation for a myriad of external decorating motifs. From asparagus spears, upright and tied with a bow, to twigs of various shapes and sizes, seashells, glass beads and more. Get creative and enjoy transforming old coffee cans into shabby-chic delights.

Creating A Closet In A Closet-Less Space

July 28, 2019

Whether you find yourself in a historical Bay Area home, where clothes were often stored hanging from hooks on a wall, live in a smaller home, where space is of the essence and closet-space is scarce, or you’re interested in converting a den into an additional bedroom – you may need to be a little creative when it comes to closet space.

The following ideas can help you create a closet where there isn’t one. Some work well for renters, who will want to take their solutions with them, others involve more permanent changes. In any case, these tips will expand hidden storage options for you and your guests.

Build a Real Closet. An after-market closet addition is your best move if you have the room for it and you own your home. If you rent, and you feel there is enough living space post-closet, your landlord may be willing to spring for it – especially if you do all the legwork to plan and design it. A bedroom closet add-on is a fairly inexpensive construction project in the big picture, especially because it will significantly increase the value of the home. In the state of CA, rooms can only be called “bedrooms” if there is a permanent closet. Thus, your current 2-bedroom home will instantly become a 3-bedroom home, which is pretty significant when it’s time to put the home on the market.
Purchase a Gorgeous Armoire. You can never regret the purchase of a gorgeous armoire. For now, it can be the closet you wish you had. Down the road – in another home – it may become the entertainment center that elegantly houses that ugly TV screen when it’s not in use, or it could become your next favorite linen closet in a master bathroom renovation. The point is, armoires are versatile. And, they hold their resale value – so there’s that.
Create an Exposed Closet Rung. Next time you’re out on a hike, look for a sturdy branch, about three-feet or more in length and bring it home. Trim it to its core, paint it any color you like, and suspend it horizontally from the ceiling using chains, rope, ribbon, or whatever material makes sense with the existing décor. If you combine that, with an attractive dresser beneath it, you gain clothing storage for both folded and hanger-worthy wardrobe options. Don’t want to spring for a new dresser? Cheap and attractive versions abound on Craigslist and a quick coat of paint will fix them right up.
Get Yourself Some Bed Risers. You can purchase bed risers for a song and in a range of heights. Once your bed is elevated, you have just given yourself the gift of significant storage space. Now, you can free other closets of the seasonal and lesser-worn items, storing them in storage bins in your new, under-bed closet.
Invest In a Loft Bed. Loft beds are pretty genius, especially if you have a room that is both small and tall. Once the bed is elevated to those lofty heights (pun intended) you can create a walk-in-closet of sorts underneath. If you have a more modern design, an exposed closet might work just fine. If you’re more of a traditionalist or the exposed space winds up looking cluttered, hang a beautiful expanse of fabric around the perimeter of the loft. The underneath space can also create room for a small home office. If this is a kid’s bedroom, divide the under-loft space in two, using one for their clothes and shoes and the other for their own personal hideout and quiet space.
Use a Pre-Fab Closet Organizing System. You can also use a pre-fab closet organizing system. These will give you the hanging, shelved and/or drawer space you’re looking for. For stability, mount the system to the wall. If you feel inclined, a builder or certified handyman will have no problem installing “walls” on the sides for a real closet look. Then, using a curtain rod system, you’ll be able to enclose the space tastefully.
Create a Closet Nook Just Outside the Door. Depending on the shape of your hallway and room entrances, you may be able to enclose a small nook and then install shelving and a small section of rod to hang nicer clothes. Again, you can choose to hide or expose the space using a rod and a curtain or piece of fabric.

Tips For Optimizing Storage Space

May 17, 2019

Adding and/or optimizing storage space is a straightforward concept in larger spaces, but that’s certainly not the case when you live in some of the Bay Area’s smaller apartments, townhomes or bungalows – especially when your home’s footprint was designed 50 years ago or more.

Smaller spaces require smart design tricks and multi-use furnishings. The combination of these two things will ensure your smaller home offers enough storage for your belongings – assuming your possessions are maintained in moderation of course…

Step One in Optimizing Storage Space Means Eliminating Things You Don’t Need

The first step in creating more storage is to ensure you aren’t hanging on to things, furniture or furnishings you don’t love, need or use anymore. For many of my clients, this is by far the most difficult and complicated part of the entire design process. If you live in a small space, however, this purging and cleansing is imperative.

Take pictures of sentimental items you’ll never use or display again for posterity’s sake and then pass the “real” versions on to someone who will. In the meantime, I recommend reading, Creating Space in Your Bedroom Closet, and, Getting That Kitchen Organized. Both posts share similar themes, and the tenets and tips shared in each can be applied to any room in the house. There’s no point in spending time designing or purchasing/building specific furniture pieces to house stuff that doesn’t need to be hanging around anymore.

Think About Built-Ins

The interior spaces of your exterior walls need to be insulated to conserve energy in the home. The interior walls, however, might be able to be co-opted into storage space. In many cases, you can gain at least 12- to 18-inches or so, optimizing storage space and storage depth by designing and building shelving or storage niches right into the interior wall spaces. The additional woodwork or painted trim will also boost your interior’s appeal.

This use of interior wall space takes an expanse of unused air space and makes it significantly more functional as you make it into:

Built-in book and display shelving
Medicine cabinet and toiletry storage in the bathroom
The back half of built-in cabinetry, minimizing the air space/square footage required to stick out from the wall’s surface
Your movie or music collection

Built-in shelving and storage will also be more appealing to future buyers down the road.

Swap-out Dysfunctional Furnishings

When you live in a small space, it’s essential to furnish your home with multi-purpose pieces. This includes things like flat trunks that serve as both coffee tables or end tables as well as storage for out-of-season throws, pillows, and accents. Perhaps your window can be augmented with a window seat and a hinged cover that will store serving plates, china, or other useful items that aren’t required on a daily basis. That decorative serving cart or tea cart you inherited from your grandmother can become the home bar, freeing up much-needed kitchen cabinet space. An ottoman should open to store books or blankets, can be used as additional seating when guests are over and can be topped with a stylish serving tray when required for an end table or coffee table.

The more you take advantage of functional furnishings that accommodate storage, as well as day-to-day furniture needs, the more streamlined your home design, will be. Custom furniture pieces are often the ideal way to go because they’re built to suit your household’s specific design, needs, and dimensions.

Take Advantage of the Corner Pockets

Are your corners sitting empty or largely unused? This is a waste. From furniture designed to fit into corners (bookcases and entertainment centers come to mind) to relocating plants from a straight wall location to a corner pocket, using corners or other difficult spaces effectively will add extra space to your main living areas.

Use Customized Cabinet and Closet Design

I can’t speak highly enough about the wonders of custom closet and cabinet design. While the initial price tag may seem high to you, the payoff is invaluable. These companies, such as the tried-and-true California Closets will analyze what you have (preferably after you’ve done the sorting and purging recommended in Step One) and will be able to transform your closets and storage spaces into personalized wonders where there’s a place for everything and everything has its place. By using every square inch of your home’s cabinets and closets, you will be able to store much more than you were before, and it will all be neater and tidier to boot.

Taking the time to optimize your storage space will enhance your overall interior design by creating more space and cleaning things up. The result is a more functional home and one that remains uncluttered as a result.

10 Ways to Add Gold to Any Room

April 26, 2019

Gold metallic accents add warmth, light and elegance to a room. While some people are just fine with ornate gold furnishings and accents that rival those of Marie Antoinette’s Versailles, others shy away from adding gold accents to their interiors for fear of overdoing it.

There is, indeed, a fine line between the right and wrong ways to add gold to your living spaces so these 10 ideas will help you to do it with grace and style.

10 Ideas for Adding Gold to Any Living Space

Accent pillows. If you’re wary of using gold, start small and then add piece by piece. Accent pillows are a good place to start because if you don’t like the look, you can always switch the pillow shams. In this contemporary living room design, which lends itself towards shabby-chic, we used gold-accented pillows on the couch to help increase the impact of the chic.
Use gold upholstery. You can find beautiful upholstery fabric in various shades of gold as well as varying degrees of shimmer. Use an old chair(s) or couch, or look for a used one with good bones, and reupholster it. It won’t overpower the space and provides the foundation for adding other gold elements as you want to.
Picture frames. Gold gilded frames will help your art to stand out from the wall but also adds a hint of shimmer and formality.
Gold art. You can purchase a 3-D wall hanging that is already gold, or spray paint one yourself. Either way, you end up with an eye catching piece that can stand alone or complement other gold accents in the room.
Go(ld) all out. For the middle of the list, we recommend embracing your gold inspiration and designing an all-gold room. If you haven’t done it before, you may want to enlist the assistance of a professional interior designer to make sure all of your golden hues work together. The result can be stunning.
Mix it with silver. Gold and silver can be blended well when done with foresight. Metallic furnishings are popular in other cultures so finding the balance between gold and silver in my clients’ living room allowed them to display a variety of pieces they had collected on their travels without clashing or becoming too “blingy.”
Use it in an all-white space. If you are taking the plunge and designing an all-white space, gold is the ideal accent. It adds warmth and enhances the ethereal quality inherent in all-white designs.
On the ceiling. As long as we’re discussing the ethereal, take a look at this gorgeous formal living room that used metallic gold stencils on the ceiling, along with an absolutely unique and perfectly ornate light fixture. The blue backdrop only adds to the appeal. Even without the tasteful gold accents in the room below, this ceiling would be worth emulating.
Light fixtures. And that brings us to light fixtures; because gold reflects light with a warm glow, it makes a desirable finish for lamps, chandeliers and other light fixtures.
Highlight wall trim and molding. Take any crown molding or decorative wall trim and paint it gold and you will see it in a whole new way. The gold is rich and lustrous and it also helps to highlight the light and shadow of the patterned wall trim relief so it is better displayed. This works even when there isn’t a single additional gold accent in sight.

Where To Begin When Redecorating A Room

April 13, 2019

The idea of redesigning or redecorating a room is the easy part, making it happen requires a methodical, step-by-step approach. The overarching goal of the project is to create a space that is not only stylish and functional, but that reflects your household’s personality and lifestyle.

Steps to Designing and Redecorating a Room

There is most certainly a free-form and creative flow that’s part of redecorating a room, but it is woven through a very methodical structure. This is why an interior designer is such a valuable piece of the puzzle, especially if you are starting from scratch or have never worked through a complete overhaul before.

If you aren’t interested in working with a professional interior designer full-time, do consider hiring one for a single or a small series of design consultations. This is a budget-friendly way to glean professional tips and suggestions that will make all the difference in your finished project.

Either way, using a method-based, step-by-step process will allow the artistic pieces fall more naturally into place.

Step One: Know Your Style

Do you really know your own style? Or have you been copying your style all these years? Or, do you have such a mishmash of furniture and accessories you’ve collected over the years that it’s hard to see your way through the layers of style preferences?

Now’s the time to cleanse the design palate, so to speak, and figure out where your current style tastes really live. This is a place where a design consult can be helpful. I’ve even had clients move everything but the absolute essentials out of a room so it can sit as an empty, blank canvas for a while as they figure out what they’re really after.

Read What’s Your Interior Design Style for assistance if you’re truly stumped and need a little kick-start.

Step Two: Know Who Lives There

I’ve had stay-at-home mothers of three children, ages 2- to 8-years, come to me to design their living room. They present me with photos and idea books showing gorgeous living rooms in monochromatic whites, pale grays, and blues. The spaces are pristine and almost celestial (read “serene”) in their appearance. In this instance, I realize I’m not seeing the space the woman realistically wants to create, I’m seeing a picture of a space she wishes she could create because she’s absolutely dying for a moment of peace and order in her life.

The most successful designs are those that not only match your style but are specifically suited to the people (and pets!) who will live there. That aforementioned living room is not going to be an option for most young families, but we can find a way to design just the right space for your household (and perhaps carve out a little niche in a walk-in closet or something to create your miniature, kid-free, celestial-like living space).

Fabrics, colors, textures, durable or unbreakable accessories – all of these will depend on the Who factor.

Step Three: Know Your Budget

Budget is important because it will decide what tier you select from at every stage of the game. Be honest will every rep or salesroom you enter about what your budget is so they know where to guide you. Blowing your budget is extremely stressful and will take the wind right out of your redesign sails.

If you plan to do any remodeling while you’re at it, make sure to leave a 15% “safety net” in case anything unexpected crops up along the way.

Step 4: Reacquaint Yourself With the Floor plan

This is one of the reasons some clients like to clear out a room as much as possible before redecorating a room (especially living, family or bedroom spaces). It can be difficult to see your room any other way but the way it’s arranged right now. Your new design, however, makes anything and lots of things possible again – most certainly new furniture arrangements.

I recommend using a simple, online floor plan program, like This One, so you can play around.

In the meantime, make sure you carefully measure every dimension in the room. When it comes time to shop for furniture, accurate measurements make all the difference. You can take your sample floor plan with you. Expansive design rooms with ultra-high ceilings will make a humongous sofa look moderate in size, so you don’t want any disheartening surprises on delivery day.

Step 5: Play with Colors

Now it’s time to play with colors, creating a palette that best suits your style and the space. There are plenty of ways to go about this. If you’re starting from scratch, you can choose a favorite color palette and select furnishings around that. Most of the time, however, I suggest choosing your very favorite piece in the room, be it an area rug or a work of art, and then work to develop an accommodating color scheme from there.

Step 6: Choose Your Furnishings

Now it’s time to select your furnishings. Always max the budget with larger, staple, lifetime pieces – such as couches and chairs. You can always reupholster (or repaint) them in future decades, so the bones of a piece really matter. With that in mind, don’t be afraid to buy used or even seemingly beat-up furniture if you can sense there’s high-quality behind it. I’m often amazed at the “free” furniture I see on streets or on Craigslist – – reupholstering goes a long way.

Step 7: Make sure you include some oldies but goodies

Finally, a “brand new” room doesn’t always have a homey or comfortable feel, so do include some oldies but goodies into the mix. Beautiful antiques can always find a home, even in the most modern or contemporary of designs. If your family doesn’t have any heirloom or vintage pieces already, be on the lookout at flea markets and garage sales (or Craigslist, of course) to find a quality piece or two that will help to settle you newly designed room.