Furniture

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.

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!

Your Interior Design Budget: Planning for Expenses

July 20, 2020

If you’re planning a new project, it’s easy to get caught up in mood boards and Pinterest ideas and forget one crucial detail—the cost. Creating an interior design budget might not be the most exciting step in making your house a home, but it is one of the most important.

Even a few extra dollars here and there can add up to an unexpectedly costly project. How do you set an interior design budget, then?

Step One: Establish Your Interior Design Budget

Determine what your actual budget is and be specific. Avoid rough ranges like “a few hundred dollars,” and opt for a hard figure to set as the maximum budget for your project instead. You can spend less than this amount but not more.

Your interior design budget also needs to be realistic—be brutally honest with yourself and set a figure you can afford comfortably. Keep in mind that you don’t have to design your home’s entire interior in one go. You can take it room by room to make the best of your budget. Start with the areas you use the most or that bother you the most.

Step Two: Budget Your Goals

Once you know exactly how much you have for your project, make a list of your goals. Ideally, you should have two lists: “needs” and “wants.”

The need list should include things the space has to have. For example, if you are remodeling your kitchen and your sink needs replaced, that’s a need. Come up with estimates for your list of must-haves to create mini-budgets, and don’t forget labor costs! It can help to price-check actual items at this stage to avoid sticker shock. Many people underestimate how much simple household items cost.

After your needs list is complete, take your estimate for those improvements, add another 10 to 15% as a cushion, and subtract those costs from your total budget. Whatever is left is for your “want” list.

Step 3: Make a Plan and Stick to It

Armed with a firm budget and a list of what you want to achieve, the next step is to plan your project. Set a timeline for each improvement on your list and what you’ll need at each stage.

It’s also helpful to draft your design at this point. That way, you can visualize what needs to be done and when throughout the process. For instance, you don’t want to bring in new furniture before you paint.

If you’re undertaking a major overhaul and haven’t done much interior design in the past, it can pay to work with a design professional. An interior designer can offer insight and ideas that are incredibly helpful when it comes to taking your ideas from dream to reality. Plus, they often have insider knowledge to reduce your budget without impacting the quality of your results—you might even be able to score more items off your wants list!

Making The Most Of Your Open Floor Plan

October 1, 2019

I’ll be honest; I’m particularly fond of the open floor plan trend that just keeps on trending. To be sure, there are advantages to compartmentalization – especially when it comes to privacy and/or hiding the mess from guests. However, in my experience, the pros of open floor plans far outweigh the cons.

Ideas For Getting the Most Out of Your Open Floor Plan

Open floor plans offer several advantages: they are spacious or can provide the idea of space in smaller homes, they are great for families – allowing parents to keep their eyes and ears on children of all ages – and open floor plans are the best idea for serial entertainers.

With all of those benefits in mind, the following ideas will help you to enjoy an open floor plan design to its fullest and will make future redecorating easier.

Be proactive and practical. Before you get started choosing colors, furniture and fixtures, you need think about the practical realities of the space you have to work with. What areas do you need to have (food prep, dining, toys, living room, pet areas, etc.). How many people will be using these spaces on a regular basis? What’s the square footage of the available space? Which dimensions need to be respected in terms of moving around the kitchen comfortably, scooting chairs back to eat while leaving enough room for others to pass by, the general walking flow of the space? The more practical you are at the outset, the better use of space, function and flow you will enjoy when the design is complete.
What are you living with now? Changing major structural components like load bearing walls or posts, windows, exterior doors, etc., can be quite costly. Unless you have an unlimited budget, it’s best to identify structural limitations now so you can design an open floor plan that integrates with existing features. An experienced interior designer can be a lifesaver if you are struggling to “make it work,” because she has the ability to picture various configurations in her mind and, odds are the designer has created an open floor plan with similar features or limitations in the past. Even if you don’t plan to hire an interior designer for the long-term, paying for a consultation or two is well-worth the investment.
What are your priorities for the future? Now that you’ve listed your practical reality, it’s time to live in the dream world. What are your priorities for these spaces in the current moment? How will your household change in the next five years? What about the next 10 or 20 years? What type of energy, space, or functional/playful aspects would you like the home’s living spaces to facilitate? Your open floor plan will evolve more fluidly if you design flexibly and in a way that minimizes any modifications or transitions that may arise in the future.
Unified but segregated. Here’s where things get really fun. In an open floor plan, everything is visible and sort of layered against everything else. This means there needs to be a certain level of continuity or agreement between the colors, patterns, textiles and furnishings in the individual spaces. At the same time, clearly defining each area from the rest helps to set the tone and mood. A monochromatic paint scheme is one way to accomplish this, using textiles and furnishings to add a different tone or subtle energy differences to each space. Or, you can choose complementary colors that look great together but set color boundaries between the kitchen and family room, and between the living area and formal dining room.
Focus on transitions. How will the spaces transition from one to the next? One of my favorite ways to do this is to have a unified hard surface flooring material for the entire space. Then, area rugs and even layered area rugs can be used to anchor specific seating areas, to define spaces and to create different moods or tones – soft, warm, cool, contemporary, traditional, cozy, formal, etc.
Layouts and arrangements. Most rooms are laid out or organized along either linear or axial arrangements. Linear arrangements will create zones or living areas that are arranged along a straight line. These are quite flexible and the key is to keep it all in alignment with that invisible guideline so things remain balanced and proportional. Axial organization means arrangements that use two or more differing center-points. For example, the kitchen and dining room are arranged around one line while the family, reading or toy areas are arranged in alignment with another. Axial arrangements can be a bit trickier but work well in larg spaces. The path and access ways between the two become a focal point on their own.

A Family Room Perfect For Family

July 12, 2019

Family rooms are a place to gather, socialize, play, relax, snuggle or hunker down for movie nights. The bulk of these activities require a comfortable and casual atmosphere but that doesn’t mean they can’t be stylish.

Tips For Designing a Family Room Space That is Stylish & Comfortable

The following tips will help you create family room that is usable and can take a beating but maintains the look of a well-designed space.

Don’t wait. Is your family room a conglomeration of old college apartment furniture and/or horrid family hand-me-downs? This is such a common mistake families make with the idea, “we don’t want to design a nice family room until the kids are grown…” While the sentiment is understandable, it’s based in the false concept that children will destroy everything. The key is to design a room with furniture and furnishings that are attractive and completely durable. Ditch the tattered furniture and start anew. It’s good for children to learn a healthy respect for their surroundings, so you’re helping yourselves and them when you provide a beautifully designed space for them to play in.
Think about your lifestyle. Don’t design your family room around a magazine spread you liked. That living space was designed for that household. DO start creating idea books that include the colors and styles you like. In the meantime, sit down and list your family’s lifestyle. What’s the family room used for? Who does what where? What types of food are or aren’t allowed there? This will help your designer select furnishings and textiles that complement your lifestyle and allow the kids to be themselves.
Choose some fun colors. If you are more of a neutral designer, that’s great. A neutral base is a good idea for family room spaces since they evolve over time. Plus, neutral fabrics work well with the natural wood and durable furniture materials you’ll want to select so they can handle day-to-day use. However, it’s a good idea to pick a few fun or brighter colors to liven up the space. Try taking a color or two from your favorite art piece in the room and building your palette from there.
Put durability and comfort high on the list. Always put durability and comfort-ability high on the list. Aesthetics will fall into place. Save more delicate, expensive or less-comfortable furnishings for the lesser-used formal living room. Make sure the key players in the family have a chance to sit on, drape/lie down on any couches or chairs you buy so you know the pieces will be comfortable when they’re delivered.
Look for multi-use pieces. Family rooms require storage for books, toys, movies, blankets, eating trays, etc. Therefore, keep an eye out for furniture that has more than one function: ottomans with storage, cabinets that can serve as end tables, couches with reclining sections and so on.
Check out indoor/outdoor fabrics. You’d be amazed at how far indoor/outdoor fabrics have become. Now that outdoor living spaces get almost as much attention as their indoor counterparts, manufacturer’s are designing upholstery fabric that can be used in either location. You can have design-worthy prints and patterns that clean up easy, can handle a pet paw or four, and won’t fall apart with a single kick from an errant shoe-bedecked foot.
Create different zones. If you have little ones of all ages, try to create different zones. Find an attractive trunk/toy box so a play area can exist alongside the movie/gaming zone. Arrange furniture for good conversation flow. Find a way to hide the TV whenever possible so play and socialization trump screen time.

Ready to manifest a family room or home design that looks amazing and can stand the test of kids…er, um…time?