Bold Ceiling Colors

Interior designer Jennifer Ott writes at Houzz, It'standard operating procedure to paint your walls a color while keeping the ceiling white. We've been told this makes the room feel larger and brighter. While there's no doubt a white ceiling will brighten a room, certain ceiling colors can actually make a room appear more expansive. The key to using a bold or dark color on the ceiling without the space becoming cave-like is to make sure you have adequate lighting or limit the adjacent wall colors to white or another light hue."

Two ceilings that wow me:

Contemporary Kitchen by Other Metro Architects & Designers Vered Blatman Cohen

Transitional Porch by Houston Interior Designers & Decorators Laura U, Inc.

Beautiful Counter Top

Denise McGaha Interiors has the photo of a green counter top that wows:

Learn A New Word

"Bobeche"

Thanks to interior designer/stylist Scot Meacham Wood, I 've learned a new word. Bobeche is the little cup at the base of the candle.  It's usefulness is a hold-over from an earlier time when the bobeche would catch dripping wax from the burning candles.  In modern pieces, especially in the crystal fixtures, they are also used to hang decorative prisms.  As a more decorative element, it is also used at the top of the fixture - just below the mounting "hanger loop."

Kravet Fabrics And An Old Sofa

I love the creativity of taking a classic, but tired sofa and applying some fresh ideas.

"What was once a shell of something beautiful, has been transformed into a striking settee with a great sense of humor. We used rich chenille Kravet fabrics to make a statement from any angle and the convenient double sided seat cushion gives it a new personality everytime it is flipped over."

Don't Be Afraid Of Color

Came across IBB Design and an article on color. This room grabbed my attention:

Zillow Digs of the Week

My Zillow email arrived today and this time featured:

Shannon Ponciano
Architecture, General Contracting, Interior Design, Home Building, Portland, OR

Vidabelo is an interior design company that works with both residential and commercial clients on projects of all sizes. Whether you are building new construction, remodeling, or simply need a few hours of design advice, please call or email to set up an initial consultation.

Website: http://www.vidabelodesign.com

Help For Job Seekers

We have over 90 million unemployed people in the U.S. who have given up looking for work and many more millions who have exhausted their long-term unemployment benefits. Now the unemployed have an ally: Glassdoor.  Glassdoor shows you which companies are hiring, with over 6 million reviews of companies and what it’s like to work there. Since finding a job can be helped by your connections, you can see who you know at a particular company based on Facebook or other social media. It’s all in one place on their website and there’s a mobile app for iOS or android.

Here’s a specific example: BuildDirect's Glass Door page.

The site has five reviews currently, along with tabs for Overview, Salaries, Interviews, Jobs and more. As you scroll down the page, you’ll notice the recent news section.

Suppose the idea of working for BuildDirect is appealing or you just want to find out more information, you can then go to BuildDirect’s Crunchbase page. This page describes BuildDirect or any company in the database. Crunchbase gives you the names of the officers, the social media links, recent news and anything else the company wants you to know to make a decision to apply. I found the video by the CEO describing his company very enlightening.

BTW, BuildDirect took a look at the channel for the construction industry. The channel starts with the manufacturer, then the wholesaler, the distributor, next is the retailer and finally, the contractor or end user.  The industry consists of thousands of manufacturers all over the world each with its own marketing and sales departments, spending money on trade shows, advertising and agents.

BuildDirect thought that was a very inefficient and devised a new business model where they become the front office, so to speak, for the manufacturers. BudgetDirect would be doing the marketing, sales and order fulfillment. It’s an intriguing model and has been receiving considerable venture capital interest. This new model could increase the profit margins for manufacturers and lower costs for consumers. Something I’m all for.

Great Design!

Domitalia’s Bouchon chair system, designed by Radice & Orlandini Design, has won the Good Design Award for worldwide design excellence by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design.

The award, established in 1950, targets projects every year that stand out for their high quality and high creative and innovative content.

Bouchon is a simple project aiming at a formal, evocative and extremely straightforward language. The bottle cap chair, for example, has acork seat that is actually pressed into the metal structure without the use of screws, taking advantage of the natural fiction of the material. The iconic reference to a sparkling wine cap is immediate and comprehensive.

- See more at: http://furniturecore.com/hfbusiness/HFBNow/ArticleId/10383/domitalia-bouchon-chair-wins-2013-good-design-award.aspx#sthash.1wP0A5kP.dpuf

Floating Chesterfield

That same article in The Las Vegas Review on home trends 2014 featured this Chesterfield sofa:

A Chesterfield-inspired sofa is taken to new heights in Viper, part of Sunpan’s Club Collection. It’s stocked in two bonded leathers, peanut (shown) or gray. The cantilevered base is stainless steel.

Light It Right

Couldn't help but notice that Portland's Heidi Semler was quoted in The Morning Call. "Light it right" says something may be missing in your home and it's not a painting or a piece of furniture. It may be light.

"In general, light and airy beats dark, which often equates with dreary, says Heidi Semler, an interior designer in Portland, Ore. Living in a perpetually rainy climate, Semler often uses lighting strategies to brighten rooms."

[...]

"Another issue could be lack of task lighting. "If you haven't changed anything about your lighting in years, you probably should," van Koolbergen says. "As we get older, we need more light in work areas."

"Task lighting under kitchen counters helps tired eyes, Semler says. Track lighting can also help illuminate those tiny washing instructions in a windowless laundry room."

You can reach Heidi Semler Interior Design, LLC in Portland, Oregon at(503) 222-7600 or email her at heidi@heidisemler.com

The Las Vegas Review Journal featured an article about home design trends for 2014. Included in the article was Stanley Furniture and their Coastal Living Cottage collection which  features a palette of colors that draws inspiration from the varied landscapes of the coast. The sea, in all its many moods, plays a central role, as do the dunes, marsh grasses, shells, sun and boardwalks of America’s coasts.

"It’s acceptable inland, not just limited to the coast,” said Julie Smith Vincenti of Nine Muses Media.

Valentine's Day

Mike and I wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day and celebrate the day with this lovely poem;

Love's Philosophy

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

 

The fountains mingle with the river
And the rivers with the ocean,
The winds of heaven mix for ever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single,
All things by a law divine
In one another's being mingle--
Why not I with thine?

See the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister-flower would be forgiven
If it disdain'd its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea--
What is all this sweet work worth
If thou kiss not me?

 

Congrats Lori Brock!

Did you get this email from Zillow?

All That Glitters is Not (Only) Gold

As the 2014 Winter Olympics kick off, all eyes will be on the precious metals our U.S. athletes are sure to take home. But gold, silver and bronze can translate to your home, too.

Metallics are a popular design trend as accent pieces and light fixtures show off shiny hues.Check out some creative ways to add metallics to your home.

Bronzed Beauty Aged bronze accents make a neutral room feel warmer. Iron elements, including a wrought-iron chandelier, tie the room together. See more from designer Lori Brock.

15 Most Common Decorating Mistakes

Aisha Sultan - Special to the Daily Herald asked designers in the American Society of Interior Designers Missouri East chapter how to prevent decorating mistakes that can be costly and unsightly.

1. Painting the walls before choosing furnishings.
2. Buying pieces out of proportion.
3. Choosing a rug that is too small for a room.
4. Inadequately lighting a room.
5. Hanging window treatments too low.
6. Scattering collections all over the house.
7. Decorating each room in a bubble.
8. Not using family photos in the living spaces.
9. Thinking every wall needs a piece of art.
10. Hanging art too high.
11. Using all matching furniture.
12. Being swayed solely by looks without giving as much consideration to how a piece of furniture will function or feel.
13. Pushing the furniture against the walls.
14. Keeping too much clutter on furniture.
15. Discarding existing pieces too quickly.

Let me add one more to the list:
#16. Hire an interior designer. You will save time and money!

A Guide to Southwestern Interior Design

Decorating your home in the Southwestern style primarily reflects the atmosphere and heritage of Arizona and New Mexico. The natural colors, elements and accents that were inspired by the Native American Indians, Spaniards and Mexicans are distinctive of the design. Some of the amazing characteristics of a Southwestern home are open door plans, flat roofs and extensive gardens and courtyards.

Color is Everything

Homes depicting a Southwestern style use extremely subdued colors that imitate the regions mesas. The earthy tones of brown, tan, cream, terracotta and white lay out a beautiful background for the bright spots of color brought in with Native American Indian plants, textiles and accents. One of the most powerful colors with the Native Americans is azure, and it is known for having amazing powers that ward off the evil spirits. This makes it a favorite color to use on exterior windows and doors. All the Southwestern colors reflect the true beauty of nature, like forest green, lemon yellow, salmon and slate blue.

Simplicity is Important Too.

Simplicity is one of the most distinct characteristics of the Southwestern style in a home. All furniture should be made from the natural elements and should be unpretentious and simple. Natural textile coverings, rough-hewn wood adorned in exquisite carvings and soft leather are all excellent choices to go with for furniture. Large hammocks in the courtyard and big, fluffy pillows on the floor offer great alternatives for seating arrangements. All rooms should have a feeling of space and follow a natural flow. Most of the furniture is pulled away from the walls, and it focuses on creating smaller groups of furniture to get more use out of the space.

Adobe, or Something Like It

Adobe gives a home the “look” of a true traditional Southwestern residence. The walls inside are roughly plastered on top of the adobe. In its place, you can use smooth stone or stucco. Tiles are hand-painted and lend warmth and color to the normally drab walls. The hand-painted tiles are often used to cover the kitchen backsplash area and for other individual accents throughout your home. In many cases, murals representing spiritual stories and rituals are found in Native American homes. Other murals might mirror the Native American environment. To create a colorful focal point in your largest room, try covering an entire wall with one of these murals.

Flooring

The most common flooring material used in Southwestern decorating is honey-colored terracotta tiles. It’s always fun to add some visual interest by arranging them in square, lozenge or brick layouts. Another flooring choice is parquet or light wood flooring, especially if the flooring has wide, rough planks. To go with something a bit more colorful, you can lightly dye the flooring using a cobalt blue dye. Always make sure you leave the grain on the wood visible. Without sacrificing any style, brick and stone can also be used throughout the house. For additional accent, toss some Native American Indian rugs all over your home in traditional patterns and colors that will be sure to brighten up any room.

Accents

Additional accents can decorate your Southwestern style home nicely. Dried flowers, wrought iron, candles, sculptures, hand-painted pottery and animal skins make lovely accents for a Southwestern style home. Basically, you’ll know it when you see it- take a chance or two.

You can find all kinds of decorating ideas for a Southwestern style home by searching retailers on the Internet or by watching home decorating shows. Or of course, you could visit the Southwest! The Southwestern United States is filled with furniture stores that specialize in Southwestern design, and you’ll love the sunny weather too.

Gracie Gardner is an interior designer and writer born in Colorado but currently living in Tucson, Arizona. She has written articles about furniture, healthy living, design, and much more.

A Page Devoted to the Modern Kitchen

Take a look at the Kitchen Trends for 2014 on a separate page. "2014 is the year of finding ways to save time, space, and money (through energy savings) in kitchen design. This infographic breaks down every part of the kitchen – from cabinets to flooring, to countertops and appliances – to show you how it all comes together to create the concept of a “social kitchen”, a space that’s both stylish and practical."

Update: Check out a comprehensive article on Modern Kitchen: 7 Standout Decor Ideas which I think you will truly appreciate and add value to your awesome article.

You can check it out here: https://www.luvmihome.com/modern-kitchen-7-standout-decor-ideas/

Two Thirds of US Lamps Could Be Replaced

First, the government banned 100 watt incandescent light bulbs. Now, beginning in January, 2014, a ban on the manufacture or importing of lamp using 40W or 60W light bulbs is in effect.

According to research conducted by the US government agency, Energy Star, 70 per cent of the estimated 4 billion light fittings in the US continue to use inefficient lamps, so the impact of the phase out is anticipated to be significant.

Making big strides in the replacement of lamps is expected to be LED bulbs.

It’s estimated that if every house in the United States replaced just one incandescent lamp with an Energy Star alternative, it would be the equivalent of taking 800,000 vehicles off the road in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.

Landfair Furniture + Design carries beautiful lamps fromUttermost, Global Views, Nova Lighting, and Raschella. Call Beverly today.

Downton Abbey Collection Coming In January

Susan Dickenson, in "Home Accents Today," tells us that the Downton Abbey inspired collection of home decor from Heritage Lace will be exhibited at AmericasMart in Atlanta, in early January.

The Heritage Lace collection captures the color, texture and tactile appeal of fine laces, sheers, linens, velvets, burlap, natural wovens and embroideries that would be right at home in Highclere Castle - and fit right in with modern tastes and sensibilities.

TODL Features Raschella

Table Lamp - #37

Lighting Collection (view entire collection+)

Cat: TL1573

Size: 17" x 31"

Brand: Raschella Home Decor, Inc.

Phone: (866)333-8005

Fax:

Website: Raschella Home Decor, Inc.

Pantone's Color For 2014

By Kara G. MorrisonThe Republic | azcentral.comThu Dec 5, 2013 12:28 PM

Color authority Pantone has crowned Radiant Orchid, a light purple hue, as its 2014 color of the year.

Soon, store windows will start sprinkling orchid-hued products in their displays. Fashion to home furnishings will likely reflect the color’s growing popularity.

The same was true of emerald, Pantone’s 2013 color of the year, and Tangerine Tango, a bold orange that took the honor in 2012.