Archive for the ‘Design Trends’ Category

It’s not as easy as it seems to photograph your home. More goes into it than a click and a flash. If you’re trying to show home improvements in before and after shots, it is especially important to photograph the room in it’s best light for the after shot. There are some tips to accentuate the positive changes you have made. These photographs are meant to emphasize what a wonderful job you’ve done transforming the drab to fab!

A side-by-side comparison shows the vast changes you can make to a room.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re starting to feel a little cramped, or you have a small room in your house you’ve always felt there was more to do with, pay attention! We have a few suggestions to help maximize your space and turn your small room into a big hit!

Remove Furniture/Streamline Your Design: There’s nothing that makes a small space feel more cramped than having too much stuff. This includes both big fixtures (furniture, heavy window treatments) and eliminating clutter (knick-knacks on shelves). The more you can utilize things like table skirts, cabinets, or other out-of-sight storage, the more orderly and open your space will feel.

Lighten the color: Dark, warm colors have a tendency to make rooms feel cozy and intimate. The opposite is also often true, where light colors make a room feel open and airy. To maximize the effect, use soft blues and greens. The reflective qualities of these lighter colors tend to brighten a small room nicely.

Hang Some Mirrors: Mirrors reflect both natural and artificial light to make a room feel bigger and brighter at any time of the day or night. Using a mirror to reflect the outdoors or a focal point of the room will make your room feel more open. This beautiful oversized mirror is a perfect accessory, and it reflects a focal point of the room, the fireplace.

Plain Fabrics: Over-zealous prints have a tendency to take up a lot of visual space in a room. Instead, opt for lighter colors and simpler designs. If you already have a dark couch or armchair, a slipcover is an inexpensive way to revamp your color scheme.

Think Vertically: Simple steps like hanging curtains all the way from ceiling to floor, rather than just to where the windows stop. This elongated look gives the visual effect of lifting the whole space. To maximize a small space, homeowners should also try to buy or build cabinets that reach all the way to the ceiling, or nearly there. Not only will it increase your storage space, but it will help lift the room.

apartmenttherapy.com

Today we want to help you finally tackle those garage sale, antique store and flea market finds and turn them into the beautiful showpieces you imagined them as. Refinishing old furniture is not only a more environmentally friendly option than buying new, it is also a way to incorporate family heirlooms or sentimental pieces into your current design scheme. Not to mention, refinishing an old piece assures you that you’ll end up with a one-of-a-kind look!

A old side table transformed via DecorHacks

You’ll want to start the refinishing process by wiping down your piece with soapy water so you can get a good look at it. Are there layers of paint or stain that need to be removed? Are there some gouges that could use some sanding or putty? Talk to your local paint professional to determine what steps you need to take to make sure your piece is ready to accept new paint or stain.

Before and After

Here is a refresher course from Kim Yeager, owner of Lark Nest Design and self-proclaimed “junker”, tips for refinishing furniture:

• You can paint metal. You can do a paint makeover on metal but the surface should be primed. Pieces with lots of curves lend themselves to a spray-on primer that comes in a can. Read the rest of this entry »

Whether you’re operating on a budget, looking to give your furniture a new twist, or trying to add “pop” to a room, painting your furniture is a fun DIY project that gives you the ability to accomplish all or any of these things!

Ombre shading is a big trend in clothing, decor, even hair. You can adapt the look to painted furniture by adding a soft gradient to an update an old dresser. Using a fan deck, grab a sample pot of each color and paint away! Typically the top drawer, dresser top, sides, and feet are all the lightest gradient color.

Don’t forget: where there is paint, there can be stencils! Forget the fusty, country blue geese you may be envisioning. Adding a contemporary stencil design is a great way to add fresh style and personality to your painted furniture. These old wooden chairs turned “wild berry” are a great example. We highly recommend you take a look at the before and after pictures, too.

Using a bright color on a once-basic colored piece adds focus and style. For instance, this kelly green cabinet is the perfect amount of accent to a black and white foyer. The before and after on this project is quite remarkable as well.

If instead of a new and bright look, you’re looking to age or distress your piece, look no further. The Pretty Handy Girl blog does an excellent job explaining different techniques and methods to perfecting a worn look.

Wallpaper – it’s “in“, or it’s “out“, but most recently it’s been “in”. Businesses, designers and homeowners have all embraced the resurgence of wallpaper and there’s lots of beautiful, modern designs out there right now to fit every taste. But, of course, trends are always changing and we’re loving that traditional wallpaper has been able to remained current in the design world by being used in nontraditional ways!

Wallpaper – it’s not just for your walls!

Furniture: Desks, dressers, end tables, night stands can all be jazzed up with some wallpaper. Design Sponge gives a great tutorial on how to apply wallpaper to furniture.

Design Sponge

Interiorholic

Apartment Therapy

Create Art: Scraps of wallpaper are perfect for creating budget-friendly works of art.Insert your favorite wallpaper into a beautiful frame or use molding to create your own frame.

Better Homes & Gardens

Adore Home Magazine

Backing: Add an unexpected burst of color and pattern to bookcases and shelving with wallpaper. Apartment Therapy offers this tip for applying wallpaper to the back of bookshelves, “Try papering the backerboard to a bookcase before attaching it — or try papering small panels that can be inserted into the back of a built in. That way you can remove them easily to change it out.”

Apartment Therapy

Simplified Bee

Ariel's DIY Bookshelf Surprise via Apartment Therapy

Click here for instructions for Ariel’s DIY Bookshelf Surprise

Raise your hand if you made a New Year’s resolution this year!

All month long we’ll be bringing your tips and advice to help stick to your home improvement resolutions. We’ll be covering topics such as adding getting your home organized and adding color to your home. Today we’re talking about the topic of streamlining.

As with fashion, you don’t want to “over-accessorize” your home. But editing and streamlining can be difficult, especially if you have emotional or sentimental attachment to some of the things in your home.

The process of streamlining can often be made easier by having a friend or family member come over to help. They can look at your space with fresh eyes and can offer support and encouragement to do the right thing when it comes to “editing.”

Apartment Therapy offers some great interior streamlining tips in their post, “How Not to be a Hoarder.” Here are some of our favorites:

• Remove furniture that blocks hallways and walkways and choose smaller items that fit into the space, allowing room to breathe.
• Lose furniture that you don’t use, like tables designated only to hold piles of stuff that should be tossed anyway.
• Clear out stuff from under the bed and under pieces of furniture that you can see. It might be a space-saver, but it looks and feels messy.

Streamlined, or minimalist, design focuses on clean lines and an abundance of space. Only the essentials are allowed to be a part of the design plan.

Now let’s take a look at what a clean, minimalist, streamlined room can look like! Could you imagine living in a clutter-free space like this or does it feel too empty for you?

HomeDecorInteriorDesign.com

Home Design Lover

Elle Decor via Apartment Therapy

InteriorHolic.com

For those ambitious DIYers who want to go beyond the traditional wallpaper and paint options for adding a personal touch to your home, have we found a project for you!

Painter’s tape wall design!

Create your own pattern, pick your own paint colors and create a one-of-a-kind design that can serve as a subtle backdrop to a room or as a stunning focal point.

We’ve found a couple of different ways to go about creating your painter’s tape wall design:

This Herringbone wall design looks expensive and chic, but really all it took was some painter’s tape and a couple coats of paint. Sara at Sara’s Closet explains how she created the design on her blog.

Sara's Closet

Instead of a traditional headboard, this homeowner created a bold racing stripe on the wall behind the bed and carried it all the way across the ceiling and over to the other side of the room. Via Apartment Therapy.

Apartment Therapy

But you don’t need to adhere to some strict geometric pattern when working with painter’s tape. Nikki at Ambitious Procrastinator created her design by simply “going to town” with painter’s tape. No rhyme or reason to her design, she just went with what felt good to her!

Ambitious Procrastinator

Morgan over at Pepper Design Blog also went free-form with her design, creating shapes out of painter’s tape and then applying them organically to her hallway wall. We love that she applied chalkboard paint below the chair-rail of her design!

Pepper Design Blog

Pepper Design Blog

If you’re thinking about doing your own painters tape design project, be sure to invest in some good painter’s tape and paint.

Here are our picks for best design books this year!

Dazzling Design by Amanda Nisbet
In her first book Dazzling Design, New York interior designer Amanda Nisbet presents a dynamic selection of work drawn from fifteen years of practice, taking readers on a journey through her bold explorations of color, texture, pattern, and other indelible elements that comprise her distinctive style. Nisbet reminds readers that home is for living in, and a designer’s job is first and foremost to answer a client’s needs, wishes and dreams.

Follow Amanda Nisbet on Facebook and Twitter.

Young House Love: 243 Ways to Paint, Craft, Update & Show Your Home Some Love by Sherry Petersik and John Petersik
This book contains over 300 pages filled with tons of ideas, projects, and step-by-step tutorials for showing your home some love (in the same don’t-take-yourself-too-seriously DIY spirit of their blog). There are big picture decorating ideas all the way down to small sprucing projects and quick fixes – all written with the same dorked out, budget-friendly, and ceramic-animal-lovin’ approach that you’re used to from the Pertersiks.

Follow Young House Love on Facebook and Twitter.

The Home Within Us by Bobby McAlpine and Susan Sully
Architect and designer Bobby McAlpine creates idyllic houses that wed historical precedent with gracious modern living. This book presents more than twenty houses in a variety of settings that illustrate concepts running throughout McAlpine and Sully’s work. Juxtaposing intimate spaces with lofty entertaining areas and combining unexpected materials, such as stone with thatch, are among their hallmarks.

Follow McAlpine Tankersley Architecture on Facebook and Twitter.

New Classic Interiors by Alessandra Branca
Growing up in Rome, Branca was always surrounded by exquisite art and architecture. She learned early on that beauty is meant to intermingle with everyday life, and to this day her interior designs, while abiding by classical principles, comfortably accommodate her clients’ lifestyles. “You can’t just do something that looks pretty,” she says. “It has to work.” In this book, Branca generously reveals her step-by-step creative process, offering invaluable guidance to anyone who wants a home that is both gorgeous and livable.

Follow Branca Interiors on Facebook and Twitter.

Happy New Year!

All sentiments that are sure to come your way this holiday season via the traditional holiday card. As these treasured expressions of holiday cheer arrive in your mailbox, be sure to display them in a way that honors the sender (In other words, don’t just throw them all in a basket!).

Here are three creative ways to display all of those holiday cards:

Card Tree (Via Martha Stewart)

I love the simple elegance of this DIY card tree. Pick your own ribbon and accessories to incorporate this display into your own decor. Go chic with a brown or crimson satin ribbon or go for a whimsical touch with some gingham or holiday fabric. The branches add a rustic touch and give this card display the height and grandeur to make it a stand-alone piece. How beautiful would this look in an entry way, a dining room buffet or on the family room mantle? Directions to make this holiday card tree can be found here.

Martha Stewart

Holiday Card Wreath (Via KatyDid and Kid)

If you want to save your mantle or counter space for other holiday decorations, display your holiday cards with this hanging holiday card wreath. The kids can even get involved with this simple project. This is also a fun way to display those holiday ornaments that just don’t fit on the tree. Directions to make this holiday card wreath can be found here.

KatyDid and Kid

Ladder Christmas Card Display (Via Executive Creations)

Put that old ladder in the garage to good use as a holiday card display! If it’s looking old and dingy, give it a quick coat of paint, but don’t be afraid of the rustic, weathered look. Attach some bungee cord in an X pattern to allow for more card hanging, and add some hooks to the sides so you can hang stockings or other ornaments. Directions for making the ladder Christmas card display can be found here.

Executive Creations

Do you have a creative way to display holiday cards? We’d love to hear from you! Share your ideas in the comments section!