I have not been able to figure out how to remove this old blog and replace it with my new one!!
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Thursday, February 4, 2010
Saturday, March 21, 2009
New Blog
I am abandoning this blog for a bigger and better one! Please follow me as The Design Coach at http://www.milwaukeeinteriordesigncoach.com.
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Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Is Green The Only Color OutThere?
The country is having a love affair with the "green" movement. This movement has touched every aspect of our culture including interior design. Protecting the environment doesn't mean we are stuck living with the same old stuff forever. There are ways to redecorate our homes without adding to the landfills.
Recycling is a simple solution. You know the old saying, "One woman's trash is another woman's treasure". Donating your gently used furniture to resale stores like Goodwill helps on many levels (you get rid of your sofa and get a tax deduction, someone else gets a great buy and you support their mission).
Have the old sofa reupholstered. If the style is still good and but the fabric is wearing out, have it recovered. You know it fits in your room and the family finds it comfortable. You only have to choose a new fabric (easier than choosing a new style and a new fabric). If the prospect seems like too much work, hire a designer, that's what we are here for.
How about a Swap Meet? Replace your family room sofa for the one in the living room. Trade with your best friend. She gets your sofa for 12 months (or forever) and you get hers. Create a furniture lending library in your neighborhood or with a circle of friends. This can work with artwork, accessories, rugs. What fun to be able to update your room every year for very little expense and save the planet at the same time.
Recycling is a simple solution. You know the old saying, "One woman's trash is another woman's treasure". Donating your gently used furniture to resale stores like Goodwill helps on many levels (you get rid of your sofa and get a tax deduction, someone else gets a great buy and you support their mission).
Have the old sofa reupholstered. If the style is still good and but the fabric is wearing out, have it recovered. You know it fits in your room and the family finds it comfortable. You only have to choose a new fabric (easier than choosing a new style and a new fabric). If the prospect seems like too much work, hire a designer, that's what we are here for.
How about a Swap Meet? Replace your family room sofa for the one in the living room. Trade with your best friend. She gets your sofa for 12 months (or forever) and you get hers. Create a furniture lending library in your neighborhood or with a circle of friends. This can work with artwork, accessories, rugs. What fun to be able to update your room every year for very little expense and save the planet at the same time.
Monday, March 31, 2008
The Entertainment Armoire: The Family Room Dinosaur
So many things influence and affect design. It can be something as simple as a celebrity wearing a particular color or as complex as the emerging “green” movement. Technology, believe it or not, can have a huge impact on design. Manufacturers will produce MP3 players in the hottest colors to keep up with the hip and trendy. Accessories for your phone are all the rage.
Furniture, on the other hand, changes at a much slower pace. We don’t usually think of upholstered pieces and case goods as disposable. Furniture is expensive so when the consumer makes a purchase it is well thought out and intended to last for many years. Wide, flat screen televisions have had manufacturers scrambling to come up with a new storage system.
Remember when TV’s were so large they were housed in wood cabinets that would match your décor? They were a piece of furniture and had a prominent place in the family room. Eventually cabinets went out of favor and TV quality improved, but they were still cumbersome and frankly quite ugly from the side and back views. We all watch it more than we should, we just won’t admit it. For years designers have had the challenge of how to decorate around the TV. Look at any shelter magazine and you will rarely see one in a photo. It’s easier to move it out of the room for a photo shoot than to have to design around it.
The solution presented itself in the form of the ‘entertainment armoire’. They were available in any style, color, wood selection and size. Consumers bought these huge cabinets to solve the ‘how do we hide the TV’ dilemma. It just posed a new problem for designers. A television was one thing, but now we had the challenge of arranging furniture around a huge cabinet that stuck out into the room.
Thank goodness for technology. TV’s are bigger, but since they are skinnier they take up less space. Furniture designers are creating attractive, small scale cabinets and console tables. Or you can hang your TV on the wall (I don’t recommend installing it over the fireplace). It can even recess into a dresser.
The new challenge will be what to do with all those armoires. Maybe they will move back into the bedroom as they were originally intended before houses had closets to store our clothes!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Help! How do I update my bathroom without gutting it?
Since talking about my own bathroom re-do, I've had several requests for help.
"My small bathroom need help. The fixtures are pink! What can I do with the room without ripping out the old?"
"My guest bath has gold ceramic tile! Everything else is white. I need some advice on how to update the room without a major overhaul."
It's always tough to work with a color you aren't particularly happy with. Not impossible, but I understand the dilemma. There are several ways to approach the problem. You can either embrace the color and highlight it or try to play it down.
Retro is becoming very popular. If your bathroom fixtures have that old 70's look, why not run with it? Pick a neutral color for the walls like a soft beige or pale gold. Never paint your bathroom stark white. It doesn't do anything for the skin tone. The whole point is to make yourself look good. Choose towels, shower curtain and rug in a complimentary color (opposite on the color wheel) or complementary (another color that just looks good with it). If the tiles or sink are gold, try adding avocado (complimentary) If they are pink go with grey or black (complementary). Look for a shag rug and frame some of your old record album covers for artwork. Browse the resale shops for old 70's style dishes for soap and toiletries.
If you decide you can't relive the old days, then you need a new focal point. You will need something to take the eye away from the porcelain fixtures or tile. This could be an unusual wall treatment: wallpaper or a dramatic faux finish. Choose drapery and shower curtain fabric or a rug with a fabulous pattern or texture. Purchase luxurious towels with beautiful trim or buy inexpensive towels and add your own. Find something unique to hang on the wall. By adding a few unexpected accessories, the eye will be drawn away for the outdated tub. Give your guests something new to marvel at.
Don't forget lighting when working on a bathroom project. You can easily change a light fixture without calling an electrician. Never, ever use florescent lighting in a bathroom. Remember the goal is to make your refection look great.
Just because bathrooms are small spaces doesn't mean they have to be boring. Doesn't matter if you go with dramatic or serene, your goal should be the same: a room you can be proud of!
"My small bathroom need help. The fixtures are pink! What can I do with the room without ripping out the old?"
"My guest bath has gold ceramic tile! Everything else is white. I need some advice on how to update the room without a major overhaul."
It's always tough to work with a color you aren't particularly happy with. Not impossible, but I understand the dilemma. There are several ways to approach the problem. You can either embrace the color and highlight it or try to play it down.
Retro is becoming very popular. If your bathroom fixtures have that old 70's look, why not run with it? Pick a neutral color for the walls like a soft beige or pale gold. Never paint your bathroom stark white. It doesn't do anything for the skin tone. The whole point is to make yourself look good. Choose towels, shower curtain and rug in a complimentary color (opposite on the color wheel) or complementary (another color that just looks good with it). If the tiles or sink are gold, try adding avocado (complimentary) If they are pink go with grey or black (complementary). Look for a shag rug and frame some of your old record album covers for artwork. Browse the resale shops for old 70's style dishes for soap and toiletries.
If you decide you can't relive the old days, then you need a new focal point. You will need something to take the eye away from the porcelain fixtures or tile. This could be an unusual wall treatment: wallpaper or a dramatic faux finish. Choose drapery and shower curtain fabric or a rug with a fabulous pattern or texture. Purchase luxurious towels with beautiful trim or buy inexpensive towels and add your own. Find something unique to hang on the wall. By adding a few unexpected accessories, the eye will be drawn away for the outdated tub. Give your guests something new to marvel at.
Don't forget lighting when working on a bathroom project. You can easily change a light fixture without calling an electrician. Never, ever use florescent lighting in a bathroom. Remember the goal is to make your refection look great.
Just because bathrooms are small spaces doesn't mean they have to be boring. Doesn't matter if you go with dramatic or serene, your goal should be the same: a room you can be proud of!
Monday, January 14, 2008
New Year -- New Interior
Something about January inspires me to redecorate. Maybe it's because once the Christmas decorations are put away, the house becomes a clean slate. I have so many Christmas collections on display all over my house, I have to pack away my usual accessories! Before I bring them back out, I really look at each room to determine where or how I can make quick and easy changes. The weather in Wisconsin will be cold and dark and snowy for several more months. I need something new to keep me going until the spring thaw.
This week I will tackle an upstairs bathroom. Since we need new towels anyway, why not change the shower curtain, window treatment and even the walls? The room was previously decorated in the "Lodge Look" style. Pine branches painted on the walls, an oar and fishing tackle accessories, blue/green plaid tab curtains. It worked well and suited the boys in the family. But now I'm on my French kick. I have a beautiful fabric leftover from another design project that will be perfect for the shower curtain and window. It's a watercolor design featuring French doors with rustic shutters and iron balconies. Every house and apartment in France has them. Every single one. It is such a charming look. I would love to replace my bedroom window with a narrow French door that opens into the room and add a beautiful iron railing. But that's another project!
For the bathroom I will color the walls in a soft buttery yellow. I will look for old shutters with peeling paint for the window. If I can't find them right away, I will paint them right on the wall in green. I already collect architectural cast-offs, so I have several iron pieces to choose from to hang as art. For Christmas, my mother and aunt each a painted water color picture of French windows with shutters for me. Neither knew the other was doing it and neither has seen my fabric. What a wonderful surprise. Since we all traveled to France together last fall, they were well aware of my new found passion for anything French.
Blue and green towels and some new rugs and a few hours to paint and sew and the room will be complete. Then I will move on to another room. I could use a new chair in the family room and my office needs shelves and artwork and...
This week I will tackle an upstairs bathroom. Since we need new towels anyway, why not change the shower curtain, window treatment and even the walls? The room was previously decorated in the "Lodge Look" style. Pine branches painted on the walls, an oar and fishing tackle accessories, blue/green plaid tab curtains. It worked well and suited the boys in the family. But now I'm on my French kick. I have a beautiful fabric leftover from another design project that will be perfect for the shower curtain and window. It's a watercolor design featuring French doors with rustic shutters and iron balconies. Every house and apartment in France has them. Every single one. It is such a charming look. I would love to replace my bedroom window with a narrow French door that opens into the room and add a beautiful iron railing. But that's another project!
For the bathroom I will color the walls in a soft buttery yellow. I will look for old shutters with peeling paint for the window. If I can't find them right away, I will paint them right on the wall in green. I already collect architectural cast-offs, so I have several iron pieces to choose from to hang as art. For Christmas, my mother and aunt each a painted water color picture of French windows with shutters for me. Neither knew the other was doing it and neither has seen my fabric. What a wonderful surprise. Since we all traveled to France together last fall, they were well aware of my new found passion for anything French.
Blue and green towels and some new rugs and a few hours to paint and sew and the room will be complete. Then I will move on to another room. I could use a new chair in the family room and my office needs shelves and artwork and...
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