Design Inspiration

I had the great pleasure of attending the “Design Chicago” conference at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago in October.  A trip to the Mart is always an inspirational event.  It doesn’t matter what your profession is everyone needs a shot of inspiration to help them look at what they’re doing in a creative, new way. 

Each year the Mart has what they call the “Dream Home”.  Nine designers are selected to design a room.  They push design concepts to the limits by using materials in a new way and selecting furniture and accessories that are new to the market.  It is not designed to flow like a model home but instead inspire your creative side.  Click here to take a look at it: Dream Home.

As I strolled through the showrooms I was stimulated by:

Scalamandre’ – beautiful fabrics

 Gorgeous foosball table by Maitland-Smith

Grange – a bookcase wall system with sliding shelves to hide a flat screen TV

Martin Wood – painted accent furniture

Baker – new designs by Barbara Barry

I ended the afternoon with a seminar by my friend and colleague Lee Russ, who spoke on “The Height of Luxury: The rise of Art Deco and Haute Couture”, reminding us that the people and events of an era create the design trends for that period of time. 

Attending such an event exposes me to the new trends in home furnishings and provides creative ideas to carry through with my own clients.   Above all it will help me look at each project from a new perspective.   

Mock Roman Shade Construction

Are you ready to construct your window treatment?  Do you have a fabulous fabric to work with?  Lets get started.  
1.  Determine the width of the board.  It should be about 6" wider then the window frame.  3" will overlap on each side.  At this time you may also attach the "L" brackets.  
2.  Measure and cut the width of your fabric.  The width needs to include a seam allowance of 1/2" to 5/8", and enough fabric to wrap around the corner of the board.  
3.  Pin the face of the decorative fabric to the face of the lining fabric.  Sew the two pieces together at the sides and bottom edge.  Turn it right side out.
4.  Cut and sew contrasting ties.  They will be as long as the length of your shade and finished width will be about 2".  You will need 4 separate pieces. 
5.  Staple the raw edge of the fabric to the top of the board, and wrap the fabric around the edge of the board.  The ties will be attached at the same time, one tie is placed on the back side, one on the front side.  Depending on the width of your window, they will be 5" to 6" from the edge of the shade.  
6.  Now you are ready to mount the window treatment to the wall.  Remember when hanging any window treatment you want as much window exposed as possible.  The bottom edge of the Roman Shade should hide any type of blind or shade that is on the window when that blind is open.  
7.  Tie a knot with the contrasting ties, bunching up the fabric to your desired length.  Congratulations your window treatment is complete!!!

  The board is attached perpendicular to the wall, like a shelf, with the "L" brackets 

on the bottom.  Do not attach the board to the wall until the fabric has 

been stapled in place.    

The top of the board should look like this, with your fabric neatly wrapped

around the corner of the board.  

Impressive Window Treatment - Minimum Sewing!

The Mock Roman Shade is one of the easiest window treatments to create even for the person with limited sewing experience.  If you are able to sew a straight seam you will be able to make it.  Here is a list of items you will need:
1.  1" x 4" board.  The board will be mounted above the top window frame and should extend each side of the window by at least 3".  If you do not have a saw, have the board cut to size at the store.
2.  "L" brackets and screws.
3.  Staple gun.
4.  Face fabric, be daring use a bold print.  A window treatment is only as beautiful as the fabric that is selected.  One yard length is usually enough.
5.  Lining fabric, the same amount as your face fabric.

Go out and secure your supplies and next week we will talk about the construction.  Have fun choosing a fabric that will make a statement and really be impressive in your room! 

Help, My Walls Are White!!!

 White Walls

 Fabric Inspiration

 Vital Yellow Walls

Sherwin Williams 6392

     Help, my walls are white, is a cry I hear often.  People always seem to be afraid of color and afraid of choosing the wrong color.  As a designer and home stager, entering a home with white walls is common.  I see homes that have been builder white for years.  

     Recently, I have been helping a client put together her new space after downsizing from a larger home.  The seller had painted the walls white so the first order of business was to choose paint colors.  

     Here is a side note to everyone who will be putting their home up for sale, do not paint your walls white.  Color on your walls will be a memory point for potential buyers.  There are a lot of homes on the market and buyers view many before they make a choice.  A buyer needs something to help them remember one space from another, wall color will help.  This is especially true in newer developments where the floor plans are all very similar. 

     Back to my project at hand.  As stated in a previous blog about painting, there always needs to be a reason for the color you choose.  In this case the paint color is a beautiful soft yellow that picks up the background color of the bedding.

     What makes a room interesting is the combination of color, pattern and texture.  Carry through the theme but do not over power a room by cluttering it with too much of the same thing.  The accessories you choose should make a statement.  We found the bird at a discount store and it picked up on all the colors found in the bedding.  You will have to wait to see the finished room, it is still a work in progress.        

Transforming Ordinary Into Fabulous

As a designer I can tell you that what brings life to any room is color, pattern and texture.  Without these three elements, used in the proper amount, a room is downright boring.  One can take an ordinary piece of furniture, such as this plain chair from IKEA, and make it fabulous!!!!  Find a fabric that speaks to you and use it on a chair, or a pillow on the sofa, a window treatment, or somewhere in the room where it will have an impact.  Just adding one new item to a room will have a tremendous impact.  Visitors will think you have re-done the entire room.  Don't you just love the color and movement of this fabric?   

Stimulating Creativity With a Visit to NeoCon

I recently attended NeoCon (National Exposition of Contract Furnishings) at the Merchandise Mart, in Chicago, IL.  As a designer it is so important to keep the mind stimulated and creativity fresh.  Attending  a design exposition is one way it can be done.  It was great to see new product and talk to the various company representatives.  One product that caught my attention was "paperstone", counter tops made from recycled paper.  Now the recycled paper counter tops have been on the market for a couple of years, but when they first came out there was a problem with the color fading.  This has been perfected.  Paperstone is a sustainable composite surface, a "green product".  It is made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper and proprietary petro free resins.  The product is distributed by Northstar Services.  On display were tops made from shredded money, playing cards from Las Vegas and the most interesting one of all, coffee beans and burlap sacks from a coffee company.  I was told the tops could be made from just about anything.  One of the designers I went to the show with asked if fabric scraps could be used and they said absolutely.  Just think of all the possibilities!!!  To find out more about this product visit the web site:  paperstoneproducts.com     

Choosing The Correct Paint Color

Color is a very important element of a room, it helps set the mood.  Color will bring your space to life and add interest, so don't be afraid of it.  Some people have an eye for color, others not so much.  When I worked at Betty Johnson's Interiors in Kohler, WI, we were lucky to tour the Baker Furniture Company in Michigan.  We were told that no man over the age of forty works in the artistic finishing department because men over the age of forty loose their ability to see color values.  Sorry guys, I don't mean to insult you, just make sure you consult a woman before making your color selection.  One of the most common mistakes I see people make is choosing a color that is much too intense in comparison to the furnishings of the room.  In order to avoid selecting the wrong paint color for your home, here are some important points that will help make the decision easier.

1. Never choose a paint color in the store without taking a paint chip home to view in your room. 
2. Instead of buying paint to sample on your walls, ask the paint dealer or your designer, to order you several 8-1/2" x 11" samples of the colors you like.  (These samples are a trade secret.)  Tape them up on the wall and view them during different times of the day.  The samples are free to the dealers and it will save you the cost of buying paint that you will end up not liking.  
3. Even the most simplest colors of beige and white will vary tremendously from cool to warm and reflect light differently in your home.  
4. Be careful of the finish.  Unless you are trying to create a special effect, a high gloss paint will give your room a cheap, tacky look.
5. The color you pick needs to relate to something in your home, a pillow, artwork, bedding or an accessory.  There is a large palette of paint colors to choose from and it is much easier to pick the paint color to match some item in your home then it is to pick fabric or artwork to match your paint color. 
6. Dismiss the idea that dark colors will make your room feel smaller.  

Good luck and happy painting!

Welcome to the birth of my design blog.

     What can I say, I am an Interior Designer and I love what I do!!! It is a wonderful feeling to be able to say that about one's profession.  I look forward to starting a dialogue with you on design ideas that will be useful to you in your own home.  Having worked in the design field for 17 years, I have been very fortunate to have acquired experience in all facets of the profession.  From high end residential (where I started), commercial work in the hotel business, model home merchandising along with the public spaces that it entails to real estate home staging, I have learned a lot.
     I acquired my Bachelor of Science degree, with a major in Interior Design, from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  What sticks with me more than anything from my education is to always design for the ideal.  Start out by looking at each room as an empty slate.  Ask yourself, if I could do anything and have an unlimited budget how would I approach this project?  The most creative ideas will be generated when you look at it from this perspective.  You want to give your mind the opportunity to explore all the possibilities, then go back and look at your budget, the conditions you cannot change and make the adjustments.
     It is my goal to give you interesting and helpful information that will lead you to making your house the home you envision it to be.