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From the Design Files of Heather B – From Bachelor Pad to 3-Bedroom House

Monday, May 17th, 2010

Design Question

I just recently bought a home in [this city] and have moved from my one bedroom apartment into a 3 bed/2 bath/pool home, with hardwood floors and 1960s style bathrooms (all ceramic tile at weird angles). I have some cheap furniture which I brought in from my apartment but there is not much — literally, just have a small couch, chair, coffee table, bed, dresser — and I am not interested in keeping it.

I want to begin to furnish my home but I do not want to just start purchasing furniture without some sort of plan. I want to develop a theme for my home and furnish it accordingly. Interior design and decorating is not my forte, to say the least. I am a young sales professional and want to furnish my home to reflect this. Basically, I am looking for help with a theme or style. I tend to be minimalistic but also want my home to be comfortable. Thanks so much for your help.

Design Answer

I don’t know why, but when I read your question the words “1960s bathrooms” and “minimalistic” brought to mind jazz. Jazz music is all about improvisation, slick riffs and saxophones that have their own special language. But you don’t have to like jazz to create the look for your home that I have in mind. Minimalist is typically associated with modern style – it doesn’t have to “cold” or “bare.” Transitional style, a combination of traditional and contemporary styles sounds like it also might be a viable option for your living space.

Make a Plan

Make a plan for each room in your home. It sounds like there might be bathroom renos in your future. Don’t forget to incorporate any renos into the long-term vision for your interior design plan. It should include the following for each room you wish to redecorate and/or furnish:

Select a style or theme. An interior design style refers to the overall appearance of the furniture, while a theme is more the look and feel of the room based on a particular personal interest like a favorite sports team, sport you like to participate in or other hobby or interest. For that chill improv vibe whenever someone walks into your home

I would select transitional furniture or modern furniture in warm wood colors.

What needs to be done? If you’re not happy with the room’s wall color, while the space is relatively empty, now would be a good time to paint or wallpaper. In keeping with either modern or transitional styles, choose soothing neutrals such as beige, white or taupe or earth tones such as sand, light browns or sage. These color palettes will also apply when choosing window treatments, furniture and fabrics.

Measure each room so that you will know exactly how much space you have to work with.

Make a List

List the furniture pieces you would like to buy. For the bedroom, your list might include a platform bed, two nightstands, a double dresser, floor mirror, new area rug and new blinds.

Set a budget. Knowing how much you are willing to spend on each item you need to purchase will be easier on your wallet. It might also be useful to setup a timeline that corresponds to your budget so that you’re not purchasing everything at once. It sounds like you want to project a certain image – you will probably be looking for furniture items in the mid-price range. Consider buying what you need in sets, such as a bedroom set, sofa set or a dining set. It’s more economical than purchasing each piece separately.

Make it Happen

Once you know roughly what kinds of things you want for each room, it will be easier to comparison shop. Don’t forget about e-tailers – the internet furniture market has become very competitive, which is great for the consumer because you can find some really good deals online.

You mentioned a pool – if you can see the pool from, let’s say your living room or dining room window, and definitely plan on making it a focal point of the room.

When you are ready to place the furniture in each room, start with the largest items first. Don’t forget to take into account traffic flow and space for opening doors, drawers, etc.

Hope this is helpful in giving you a starting point. Thanks for writing in. Come back next Monday when we tackle another interior design question. Keep sending me those emails and don’t forget to include pictures if you can.

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

From the Design Files of Heather B – Teen Bedroom on a Budget

Monday, May 10th, 2010

Design Question

Hello, My daughter is 15 and very unhappy with her room right now. She would like a total makeover, but I simply don’t have the extra cash to buy new furniture or even used. The furniture she has in her bedroom right now is still perfectly good, it’s just hand-me-downs and while I can sympathize, I don’t really know what to do about it. I’ve been trying to wait it out and see if she will just forget about it, but so far no such luck. Do you have any ideas as to how to make a room look better without spending hardly any money? I’d appreciate any help you could give me. Thanks

Design Answer

At that age they are very fashion/current trend conscious, and especially for a teen (to an extent, it applies to all of us), it’s REALLY important to have a space she can call her own and that she likes the way it looks and feels. You might be butting heads at the moment. But why not “join forces” and turn a less-than-ideal situation into a mother-daughter project where you can both help each other? By including your daughter in the “solution” you’ll be able to transform her room into a place that you both can be proud of.

If you haven’t done so already, explain that regarding the household budget, there are priorities and unfortunately new (or new to your daughter) bedroom furniture is not on the list.

If she baby-sits or has an allowance or some other source of income, ask her how much she is willing to contribute to the redecorating project. Match it if you can.

The following are some suggestions as to how you and your daughter can do a bedroom makeover without having to spend too much money:

  • One of the cheapest ways to help your daughter make the space her own is to paint. See if someone you know has painted recently; maybe they’d be willing to give you whatever was leftover.
  • Pick a theme – a bedroom with hand-me-down bedroom furniture can be mismatched and feel cluttered or unorganized. A theme based on a favorite color, hobby or talent will give the room some cohesiveness.
  • If the bedroom furniture pieces are different colors, consider re-staining or painting the furniture in the room all one color. Ditto for hardware – see if the door and/or drawer handles can be replaced so that all the case goods in the room, even though they might be different styles and colors (if you decide not to paint them) will be visually connected to each other.
  • Excluding the furniture, have your daughter make a list of what she would like in the room – inexpensive things (look for bargains) such as new picture frames, new bedding or a lamp can have a positive impact on the room’s overall décor.

Good luck with your mother-daughter redecorating project!

Keep sending me your design questions, and especially if you’re asking for advice regarding wall color, tips on rearranging a specific room etc., include pictures if you can.

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Posted in Bedroom Furniture & Design Ideas, Home Decor and Design Ideas, Home Decor Design Ideas | No Comments »

From the Design Files of Heather B – Lighting Fixture Dilemma

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

Design Question

What type of lighting fixture would you place over a Tommy Bahama glass dining table (48″) with black cushions, in a room that has alternating panels of wood and mirrors? Also, the room, although narrow, has no tables – any suggestions?

Design Answer

This is a very cool looking space! Your instinct about the lighting fixture is a good one – it doesn’t really suit the style or mood of the room. Because the dining area and your living room are virtually one space I would suggest that you select a chandelier or pendant lighting fixture that matches the color of the ceiling fan, if you pick something that is predominately made of metal. (I can’t really tell from the picture if it’s brass, gold or brown.) Due to the number of reflective surfaces in the room, I’d try to avoid anything with mirrors or a really shiny metal finish.

Something like the Landmark Lighting Cirque 3-Light Pendant would fit in with the current décor design. The shade, comprised of different circles of colored shells, brings another layer of texture into the room. It is casual yet has an air of sophistication.

Since the dining set is made of natural material like rattan, choose a lighting fixture that will complement the “coastal” or organic appearance of your dining table and dining chairs. Even though it’s specifically designed for the outdoors, the Shady Lady Outdoor Atmosphere Pendant would be ideal for your dining area.

As for your second question, I definitely would not add a coffee table; it would interrupt the flow and lines of the space, which I think are perfect – it’s inviting and comfortable looking. I would suggest nesting tables. They come in a set of at least two, typically three different sized tables designed to fit one underneath the other. The great thing about them is that they can be stored in one place, like at either the right or left side of the sofa, and moved around the room as needed. Again, selecting nesting tables like the Hillsdale Pompei Nesting Occational Tables continues to add organic materials to the living and dining areas.

Hope these suggestions have been helpful.

Keep sending me your design questions, and especially if you’re asking for advice regarding wall color, tips on rearranging a specific room etc., include pictures if you can.

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

From the Design Files of Heather B. – Living Room Wall Color Question

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Design Question

I have light oak wood floors in my new home, light golden oak trim, and currently the walls are beige. My couch, loveseat and recliner are mahogany brown leather. The house is a somewhat contemporary feeling home on the inside, but looks like a cedar cabin from the outside. We sit on 1-acre of wooded land near a river. We love the river and also love the ocean, so we thought we might want to give the room a beach theme using some of our river and ocean cruise photos.

However, I am really stuck as to what color to paint the walls as the living room is very small with only 7 ft. ceilings, but it does have four good sized windows facing east, south and west. We’d like to carry colors/theme from living room throughout the home. Any advice you can offer would be fabulous. Thank you!

Design Answer

I remember when I was choosing a paint color for my apartment living room and hallway, I just couldn’t decide – I knew I wanted yellow, lemon rather than gold toned, but other than that I was at a loss. I admit, I was obsessing about it, and finally, a friend, trying to be helpful, said that if I really hated it I could just repaint over it. But that was the whole point – I don’t want to have to do that; I wanted to get it right the first time (and not have to do it again for at least a decade!) especially since it I knew that it is the wall color that sets the mood of the room.

blue water green H20

Like me when I was choosing a color for my living room, you have a starting color place in mind – water, translation blues or greens (colors from Benjamin Moore). Once you have a color family in mind, you can begin narrowing down your choices by focusing on the colors that are already in the room, such as the rug, window treatments and fabrics including accent pillows and the sofa, in this case dark brown leather. Also include any new elements you might be adding to the living room like wallpaper, paneling or an upholstered accent chair.

Take as many fabric and material samples with you as possible when you go paint shopping. If you don’t have any samples, take pictures and bring those along with you. They will at least give you an idea of how the color you are considering will work with the other elements in the living room. You mentioned that the trim was a light, golden oak, but not the windows or doors (if there are any in the room). When painting a living room, white, off-white or a pale shade of the main wall color is typically used to paint the moldings, doors and windows.

Especially since your living room has four windows, you will want to test the color you have chosen to see how it will look during different times of the day, including how it will appear at night with artificial lighting. Also consider the paint finish and how it will look in the room. For example, a matte finish will reflect less light than a high glossy finish.

After selecting a paint color, take it for a test drive. Paint dealers usually will sell sample amounts of a color that you can apply to a wall to see how it will look. Once it dries, put different pieces of furniture against it to see how they will look. A paint color can look different in the can than it does once it is on the wall and has dried.

Thanks for writing in. Stay tuned next Monday when we tackle another interior design question. Keep sending me those emails and don’t forget to include pictures if you can.

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From the Design Files of Heather B – Living Room Help

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Design Question

My living room needs some expert advice. I have a 3-seater leather sofa that is a rich burnt orange or terracotta color. There is a dark chocolate brown leather chaise lounge, a painting in a dark chocolate brown frame that has got shades of pink and orange and a dark chocolate coffee table in the living room as well. I would like to add two small grey/sage green fabric chairs with small polka dots scattered all over it in orange and light grey and putting a side table between them. I would also like to add an area rug. I am hoping that I did not make a mistake. I am just trying to move away from what we used to do before, which was to buy the whole sofa set, put a coffee table and voila! I like very cool colors (blue is really my favorite) but I have been attracted to orange for a while.

Design Answer

Palette3

It sounds like you have all of the pieces of the puzzle but you just need to tie them all together. Cool colors are a good choice for the living room furniture you have described. But because of the small gray fabric accent chairs and the fact that there is currently nothing blue in the room, I wouldn’t pick that color for the walls or area rug. I would select cool tones in more neutral or earth tones that will complement the leather sofa and bring out the pattern of the side chairs.

Neutral shades and earth tones chosen to work with the sofa will also provide a rich canvas for the chocolate brown coffee table. Any of the colors in this palette (from a selection of paint colors by Sherwin-Williams) will work well with the wall art too.

As mentioned above, an area rug should blend all the other interior design elements in the room together.

The Calvin Klein Home by Nourison Loom Select Woven Bands Area Rug Collection in Brown has warm terracotta tones that will match the sofa. It also has a hint of green that might work well with the accent chairs.

The Couristan South Beach Area Rug Collection in Sahara Tan is predominately earth toned but with hints of color that give it some texture. The geometric pattern is very contemporary, in keeping with the style of the living room.

The Brink & Campman Area Rugs- Luna Collection Stripe 90607 has a bold pattern but the colors in it are muted enough to work with the décor and the chosen color palette.

Thanks for writing in. Stay tuned next Monday when we tackle another interior design question. Keep sending me those emails and don’t forget to include pictures if you can.

To view other entries in the “Design Files Of Heather B.” series, click here.

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