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Out in the Open – Transitional Style for Open Concept Living Spaces

Friday, August 27th, 2010

If you’ve just bought a condo or purchased a loft or moved into a bachelor/studio apartment for the first time, it might have never occurred to you before how are you going to decorate a space where all the “rooms” run one into another. Do you have to stick to one wall color? How do you arrange the living room furniture? Are you going to be stuck with the kitchen in your peripheral vision while you’re watching television? Even though you have considerably less space to work with when decorating a bachelor or studio apartment than you do when moving into a condo or a loft, the principles for making an open concept floor plan comfortable and inviting will be the same. Choosing an interior design style like transitional for an open concept home, will give your living space a contemporary synergy while honoring certain traditional elements that add sophistication and a chic sensibility.

 The good news is you can choose only one for the whole space or not; it’s really a personal preference. You do however, want avoid painting the same wall two different colors even if they are a part of two distinctly different areas, like the dining room and the living room, unless it makes “sense” visually. However, picking an accent wall and choosing to paint it another color, especially a bold one, will give your transitional style living space definition, while letting you introduce more color into your interior design.

It’s important to mark out individual areas of an open concept home: having clearing defined areas, each with a specific purpose, prevents the furniture from appearing “lost” or “jumbled.” Transitional style living room furniture and dining furniture include traditional decorative and architectural elements as interpreted by contemporary design principles is a great way to decorate a condo, loft or studio apartment, because you can select furniture for the different open areas, that while still transitional in style, possess a slightly different look or feel. Even though everything is out in the open, some other ways to create the sense of separate rooms are:

  • Use a different area rug for you dining area than the one chosen for the living room
  • “Divide” up the space with strategically placed open shelf bookcases or decorative folding screens
  • Hang artwork on the walls that emphasizes what the particular space is being used for (pictures of Parisian cafes or outdoor bistros in the dining area)

When choosing furniture for an open area living space, select furniture pieces like a coffee table or an entertainment center that includes hidden storage. Dual or multi-purpose furnishings such a hallway bench or an ottoman coffee table will increase your storage options in the long run, giving you more place to tidy things away – something that is ultra important in an open design condo, loft or apartment.

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Posted in Dining Room Furniture & Design, Home Decor Design Ideas, Home Decor and Design Ideas, Interior Design Styles, Living Room Furniture & Design | No Comments »

Mix and Match or Mishmash? – Eclectic Style Dining Room

Friday, August 13th, 2010

Eclectic style is appealing to many people because it isn’t just one style, but rather a pleasant mix and match of a number of different elements and influences. And because it’s the one style that is unashamedly not bound by rules, it is a good place to start if you’re consciously decorating a room or living space for the first time. While there may not be prescribed rules for eclectic style, when planning a dining room interior design, there are some general guidelines to keep in mind so that everything works together and even though different elements are involved, the overall effect ends up harmonious.

Balance

A dining room can often end up naturally eclectic. When furnishing a dining room, of course the most important piece of furniture is the dining set. You chose contemporary style for your dining area because the lines were casual and relaxed, and you could easily blend it with the kitchen which had been already decorated. Once the dining table and matching chairs have been bought and used for awhile, you might want to repurpose a dresser as a sideboard or add an armoire or china cabinet that was given to you by a favorite aunt. The styles don’t match, but that’s okay. It’s eclectic. The first trick to eclectic style decorating is balance – balance the contemporary dining table with your aunt’s traditional china cabinet; the oversized traditional cabinet with a transitional sideboard; the bold wall color with earth-toned or neutral upholstered dining chairs.

Furniture

Furniture for an eclectic dining room should include a variety of profiles, lines and finishes. But again, keep balance in mind. While you want to mix and match more contemporary furnishings with traditional reproduction pieces, you will want to do so in moderation. Yes, there are no rules, but for eclectic style to really work, moderation and even restraint can save your dining room interior design from becoming too busy or even making the space feel claustrophobic.

Finishing Off

Eclectic style allows you to create the exact mood that you want for your dining room – it can be formal in the traditional sense; chic with a causal vibe; laid-back or dramatically sophisticated. Layering is important: a clever blend of textures, colors and finishes give an eclectic style dining room meaning and depth. When accessorizing, don’t forget to pair a collectible pottery jug with an antique-style porcelain piece; window treatments, rugs and furniture fabrics are a mix of materials like silk and wool; and a variety of finishes like distressed wood finishes matched with wrought iron and brass lamp bases.

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Country Living Cottage Style – Cottage Style Dining Room Ideas

Friday, July 30th, 2010

Today in the last part of this 3-part mini series “Country Living Cottage Style,” we’re focusing on the dining room. A cottage style dining room reflects lazy days spent by the lake or a place to come back to after a long trek through the woods or down a winding  lane in farm country. It’s comfortable, cozy and completely charming. If done “right,” it will give you the impression that time is not so important and this wonderful evening with family and friends is not going to end any time soon. Cottage style is eclectic and can be as casual (taking its cues from country) or as sophisticated (incorporating more traditional influences) as you want it to be.

When choosing a color palette for you cottage style dining room, pick earth tones, preferably more intense shades than lighter – the yellows and golds of autumn leaves; the greens found in moss, forests and grasses; and the browns and reds of the earth itself.

Another option is to start with antique white or soft cream. Then add a bold accent color or paper one wall with classic floral wallpaper in a bright hue. This will provide an ideal background for a two-tone dining table like the one that is part of the Jofran 7 pc.Round to Oval Dining Set. While two-tone finishes are often found in country style dining rooms, it also works well in a cottage style dining room interior décor design, adding visual interest and texture.

Cottage style furniture is typically made of wood, but as demonstrated by the Stanley Furniture Portofino Ivory Wood and Metal Table, iron is a natural element to throw into the mix. The metal base of the dining table includes traditional scrollwork that looks great when paired with wood. Popular woods used in the construction of cottage style dining furniture are pine, oak and ceder. Common finishes include pine, antique white, distressed and washed. It’s not uncommon for cottage style case goods such as sideboards, buffets, dresses, china cabinets or hutches to have beadboard panels or louvered doors.

Consider adding a large dresser to your dining room – it will perfectly emphasize the comfortable and versatile nature of cottage style while giving you an ideal place for storing tableware and displaying items like jugs, baskets and decorative plates. It is also an ideal way to re-purpose a now unused dresser from a redecorated bedroom.

A cottage style dining room is ideal for a home with children because it is an eclectic style, allowing you the freedom to be a laid-back or as formal as you want it to be. It’s easy to get that certain look that will make your dining room the place to entertain (with or without the kids around). Just remember to mix and match collectibles with more traditional reproduction pieces; when dressing windows use at least two different patterned fabrics like pairing gingham with floral; and finally, when accessorizing, don’t forget to include some natural, organic elements such as ceramic bowls, pottery jugs, heavy iron or stone candlesticks.

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Inspiration from the Tropics for a Master Bedroom

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

For many of us, the bedroom is the one room of the house where we physically and mentally shut the door on a busy world that constantly demands our time and attention. The master bedroom especially should be a retreat that will relax, refresh and revive you. Don’t let space and your budget, (or lack thereof), stop you from designing the master bedroom that you deserve. There are ways to create the look of a luxury tropical resort without spending a lot of cash. When decorating a master bedroom, the overall look should be tranquil, comfortable and luxurious, so taking inspiration from the tropics makes perfect sense.

Traditional style as adapted by colonists, particularly British colonists of the Victorian Empire is the perfect example of how tropical materials and motifs were incorporated into bedroom furniture construction and design for a look that spells the ultimate in style and sophistication. The Tommy Bahama Home Island Estate Barbados 3 Drawer Chest brings a tropical feel into the bedroom interior design through the use of leather wrapped carved wood posts made to resemble bamboo. The lamp has a woven rattan shade, a common material found in tropical areas of the globe. It’s the little details that add up to a master bedroom that will be your own personal tropical retreat.

In a master bedroom, the bed will be the natural focal point of the room. Popular choices when choosing a bed for you master bedroom are the four poster bed, the canopy bed or the sleigh bed. Because of their imposing and commanding profiles – soaring posts for the poster and canopy beds, a covered frame top or draperies for the canopy bed and the sinuous “S” curves of the sleigh bed panels – any one of these types of beds will provide the perfect stage for layers of pillows and accent cushions in exotic fabrics silks and brocades. Ditto for when choosing bedding to dress the bed. Bedding and upholstered accent chairs or bed benches can also include exotic animal prints.

For a master bedroom to be inspired by the tropics, bedroom furniture should be constructed of tropical woods such as teak, mahogany and ebony or have rich, medium to dark finishes. Case goods like dressers, bachelor chests and nightstands commonly include pineapple motifs, faux bamboo posts and cane or rattan panels. Bedroom furniture accent pieces, including bed benches and armoires, can have louvered or open lattice doors or accents. Do you ever dream of retiring to your own tropical island? Well, just open the door to your bedroom.

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Country Living Cottage Style – Cottage Style Bedroom Ideas

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Interior design for a bedroom should be soothing, comforting and inviting, which makes cottage style perfect for the room that is the place where you relax and restore yourself after a busy day. A cottage style bedroom has a lived-in look that shares many similarities with both shabby chic and casual country. But cottage style has that little extra something else that reflects the timeless charm of a seaside inn or the nostalgic memory of a long-ago family vacation by a mountain lake.

Start with the walls. Colors typically found in a cottage style bedroom include the yellows of lemons, buttercups and sandy beaches; the blues of a summer sky, a seascape and twilight witnessed from winding country road; and the greens of summer grass, forests and country apples. Soft pastels in milk paint are a good choice. Using painting techniques such as glazing or stenciling are also some other ways to give the room a cottage style atmosphere with a little touch of country thrown into the mix.

The cottage style palette can also be brought into the room through furniture pieces like the Riverside Furniture Splash of Color California King Panel Bed. Cottage style furniture is commonly made of wood. Beds and other types of bedroom furniture like dressers or a chest of drawers might have beadboarding, decorative molding or scalloped aprons. Headboards and footboards commonly have round finials. Finishes are often distressed for an antiqued or lived-in appearance. While wood is the construction material of choice in a cottage style bedroom, a tufted headboard in off-white, cream or a soft pastel such as rose or mint would not be out of place.

When choosing fabrics for dressing the bed, window treatments and/or an area rug and accessorizing, cottage style does possess a certain country air. But expanding on traditional country choices, cottage style fabrics are a happy mix of fabrics: ginghams with silk, wool with velvet, plaids with patterned or striped linens. While they can also include classic floral motifs, cottage style bedding colors tend to be brighter and more intense.

The time to really solidify the cottage style look is when accessorizing by adding those details that matter. Use ceramic bowls to hold jewelry; spare change or small miscellaneous items. Select lamp shades with a floral pattern in pastel shades complete with ruffles or bows. Include candles or hurricane lamps for that real cottage style touch. Mirrors should be decorative with molding or metalwork accents. Cottage or country artifacts like enamelware jugs or porcelain wash basins are perfect cottage style accessories.

Visit again next week for the final part of this mini series where we’ll take a look at the cottage style dining room. Also if you feel so inclined, send me some interior design style suggestions for upcoming min series: I’d love to hear what styles you would like to explore further.

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Making Your Living Room Pop

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

While the living room is typically the place where you relax in front of the television, entertain family and friends, or just veg out in the recliner by the window on a rainy day, in today’s housing market many of the rooms in our homes designed to be dual or even multipurpose spaces. From an interior design point of view, the living room has always been a “multipurpose” space, in that it is intended to accommodate a variety of activities as opposed to say a dining room where eating is the predominant activity. Keeping this in mind, living room furniture like a sofa, accent chairs, a coffee table and other occasional tables should be versatile, functional and stylish but above all it should be comfortable and fit your lifestyle.

Pick a Style

To create a living room that is cohesive and esthetically pleasing, pick a style that reflects your lifestyle and personal tastes. Like stopping in to take a look at the trendy boutique in the mall before you start in on your “real” errands? Perhaps contemporary or modern is the design style for you. Do you find yourself admiring the Victorian furniture in a period film? Then traditional style will be a good choice for you. If you like the clean lines and sleek look of modern or contemporary furniture but also find some aspects of traditional appealing, transitional style is ideal, because it combines both contemporary and traditional design principles for a look that is sophisticated yet inviting. There are no hard and fast rules: maybe you’ve decided on a contemporary style décor but need to find a place in your living room for the antique curio cabinet you inherited from your great aunt. By combining different styles together that work for you, you create a look and feel that makes your home unique.

Arrange the Furniture

Once you have bought your new living room furniture or have decided what furniture pieces you will include in your living room interior design, you are ready to move the furniture into place. Decide what will be your principal focal point in the room: a fireplace, French doors, a library wall unit or an entertainment center are all ideal candidates for a main focal point in a living room. Then arrange the living room furniture accordingly, starting with the largest piece of furniture. Your lifestyle will also determine how you will arrange the furniture: if you’re a family that enjoys regular movie nights, then it will probably be important to you that the sofa is directly opposite the entertainment center and that the coffee table is wide enough to hold a couple of bowls of popcorn and a number of beverages in addition to all of the remotes.  You will also want to take into account traffic flow: this simply moves that you will have enough room to move around the room easily without bumping into things; ditto for being able to open and close the doors and drawers of case goods.

Accessorize!

 The whole point of accessorizing is to make the room personable and cozy. In a living room or family the proper lighting is important. You will need a nice balance of table lamps for task lighting and an overhead fixture for ambient (general) lighting. Choose artwork that features colors already in the room, as well as being bright and colorful. When accessorizing a living room, you want to make it homey and comfortable without being cramped or cluttered. Think functional with style like baskets for added storage on a shelf or underneath a coffee table or console table. Place decorative candlesticks and one or two detailed picture frames on a fireplace mantel. These little touches will personalize your living room and make it “livable.”

If you are in the process of furnishing a new living room or updating your living room furniture, send me a picture of how it turns. Still not sure what style you should choose? Write in; maybe I can help.

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Global Warmth – Global Style Bedroom

Friday, July 9th, 2010

Whether it has a sophisticated look or a tribal village vibe, global style is eclectic, taking cultural elements from all over the world and merging them into a colorful, exotic palette that is richly textured. While the appeal of global décor style is to incorporate the artifacts and collectibles from your own world travels, it’s not a prerequisite. With local shops and boutiques bringing the world to our own back door, it’s easy to design and decorate a global style bedroom.

Since it can be bright, colorful and “noisy,” when decorating a global style bedroom, it is important to emphasize diversity while create a relaxing and rejuvenating bedroom environment. The appeal of this eclectic style can be largely attributed to how color is used and layered throughout the room. Choose where you would like to concentrate the color: if you would like to use a bright and bold color palette for the walls, plan on more neutral or softer shades for your bedding, curtains and area rug; when accessorizing with bright colors and fabrics, paint the walls with earth tones or neutral tints.

Once you have picked your color scheme, you are ready to select the global style furniture that you would like for your bedroom. In addition to cultural diversity, global bedroom décor focuses on natural woods, fabrics and organic elements. Think tropical woods like mahogany, teak and walnut for beds, nightstands and other types of bedroom furniture; fabrics like silks and wool for curtains, accents pillows and rugs; and organic elements like shells, wicker rattan and sea grasses for decorative accents on furnishings, lamps and accessories. No matter how sophisticated a décor look you are striving for, the overall effect should include subtle rustic elements that have a hand-crafted appearance.

To accessorize a global style bedroom, layer texture upon texture. This can include handmade wood candlesticks; a bedside lamp with a brocade shade in rich colors with gold braid; an upholstered chair or bed bench in woven fabrics of natural materials. Many shops, retail stores and boutiques offer unique collections of area rugs, sculptures, carved wood boxes and accent pillows that are original artifacts or reproductions with a tribal or ethic design elements. You don’t need to be a world traveler to enjoy the eclectic appeal of a global décor bedroom to get the bedroom interior design that best expresses your style and personality.

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Talking Workspace Contemporary Style

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Since computer desks come in a number of sizes, ranging from compact to executive, you can design your new home office around any space that is available. Whether you will have an entire room at your disposal, a niche off a hallway or a corner of the family room, you can have a contemporary style home office or workspace that is practical, functional and inspirational.

First Things First

Decide where you will put your home office or workspace.

Make a list of office furniture you would like to have in the space, such as a computer desk, filing cabinet and office chair.

How many people and are they right-handed or left-handed? If you’re designing a home office or workspace that is going to be shared, a desk like the Bestar Executive U-Shape Wood Office Set could be the perfect solution when addressing handedness and two people sharing.

Prepping for Your Home Office

The contemporary home office blends the functionality of a business office with the warm ambiance of your home. Because the color palette for a contemporary style home office can be neutral or bold or anything in between, and the lines of contemporary home office furniture are sleek, smart and functional, the result can be a pleasant work environment with a modern, upbeat look.

If you have a choice, select a hardwood or laminate floor in a light to medium wood finish. This type of flooring will also add to your contemporary design. Use it as a “foil” or backdrop for an area rug in bright colors with a geometric pattern.

Accessorizing Your Home Office

Take some time to consider what kind of window treatment you would like for your home office. Especially if it has its own room, the curtains or other type of window treatment you select should pull all of the other décor elements in the space together so that it is visually cohesive.

If your home office is part of another room, you may wish to differentiate it from the rest of the area by an area rug or decorative room divider.

Shed some light. A mix of contemporary task lighting such as a desk lamp and/or a floor lamp combined with some kind of ambient lighting like a flush mount ceiling fixture will provide a good balance for when you’re working at your desk or your getting something from the bookcase or file cabinet. design of your modern office.

A wall clock or a desk clock is a must-have item to keep you track and on time.

Don’t forget to hang some pictures on the wall that will not only give your home office a finished look, but ones that will also provide inspiration. For that special touch that will make the space unique to you, place framed photographs of family and friends on the computer desk and the shelves of the bookcase.

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Global Warmth – Global Style Living Room

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

Global style is a comfortably eclectic way to decorate a living room. Because it’s a design theme that celebrates travel, you can pair a modular style sofa that has a contemporary European cosmopolitan vibe with an end table like the Butler Specialty Designer’s Edge Hammered Copper Drum Table that has the appearance of hand-crafted artifact from a far-flung region of the world. A global style living room emphasizes natural fibers, both as an upholstery fabric and a construction material for furniture. Natural fabrics and organic elements such as silks, velvets, horns, shells, wicker and rattan are used to layer the living room in texture, creating visual interest. A global style living room can range from the highly sophisticated to the casually exotic.

Decide where you would like to put the color. One of the “textures” used in the process of layering a global style living room is of course color. But too much can make your décor “shout” and while you want the space to be interesting and energizing, it shouldn’t be overpowering or busy. If you choose a neutral color sofa, then add color to the walls and tie the sofa into the décor design with brightly colored or intricately patterned cushions. If you go the other route and paint the walls a paler or neutral shade, select a richly colored sofa, armchair, recliner and/or loveseat.

When accessorizing a global style living room, select oversized pieces like a sculpture, vase or urn that will make a statement. Wall art should be large-scale and display exotic or tribal themes. Accent cushions, candles and other miscellaneous trinkets should be arranged throughout the living room in such a way that warm, spicy shades are balanced with a delightful mix of soothing neutrals and organic elements.

The living room furniture you purchase for the room should be predominately made of wood, typically exotic or tropical woods such as teak and mahogany. For an “authentic” global feel, one or all of the living room furniture pieces should have wicker, rattan, shell or stone decorative accents or panels. The Kenroy Home Capri Oil Rubbed Bronze with Shell Accents Table Lamp is a perfect example of how organic elements can be easily incorporated into a global style living room design.

A global style living room has the air of belonging to a well-traveled citizen of the world. It has an easy, eclectic look that can be as sophisticated as you want it to be. A tribal drum provides inspiration for a coffee table; a handful of shells are transformed into a stylish table lamp; natural fibers woven into an intricate zigzag pattern makes an area rug a focal point of the room. But it is the unique way that a global style living room is layered that transforms it into your own creation.

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Global Warmth – Global style dining room

Friday, June 25th, 2010

If travel appeals to or you like to memorabilia from around the world, global style might be the interior design for you when decorating a dining room. Like shabby chic or French country, global style is an eclectic decorating style that takes its influences from around the globe. And for this reason, it is also known as international or world style. A global style dining room can reflect a trip to a Moroccan bazaar, market day in a village in India or a street market in Sri Lanka.

Gobal style is a growing interior design trend because it appeals to our sense of adventure, exploration and curiosity about the world around us. This trend’s popularity is also due to the “global village” our world has become – no corner of the globe seems beyond our reach. And as we move from one place to another, irregardless of borders, the cultural mosaic of any one particular geographic area is constantly evolving. Inspiration for a dining set like the Stanley Furniture Sunset Key 7 Piece Cinnamon Bay Dining Set tables can be found in objects from some exotic location of the world. And because of this, global style is rich in textures, colors and shapes. Decorative motifs like palm leaves, pineapple tops and exotic animals or tropical flowers are common.

When choosing dining furniture for your global style dining room, think natural fibers for upholstered dining chairs, window treatments and area rugs; teak, mahogany and other tropical woods for furniture pieces like a dining table, buffet or china cabinet; bamboo, rattan and tortoise shell as accent materials for tabletops, case goods and chair back inserts. While the overall appearance of global style furniture can range from the sophisticated to the rustic, its predominate characteristic is a hand-crafted look that comes from the use of a distressed finish, natural materials such as cane or rattan or matched veneers in a distinctive pattern.

Wall colors can be as bold or as muted as you desire. Reds, purples, oranges and golds would be a good starter palette for inspiration for a global style dining room. Accessorizing is easy – choose framed prints (or select pictures from your own collection of photographs) of exotic locales. Upholstered chairs can be made of brightly colored woven fabrics; fabrics for window treatments might be made of silk, brocade or damask. Layer the room throughout with objects de arte like ceramic elephants, Indonesian masks and oversized iron candlesticks. As with any eclectic style, and global style is no exception, the way you design and decorate your global style dining room will be totally unique to you.

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