Interior Design Blog
Changing back to the interior design for your home. Check the interior design blog below.
Interior Design Blog - Livingroom
Interior Design Blog - Diningroom
Interior Design Blog - Bedroom
Interior Design Blog - Livingroom
Interior Design Blog - Diningroom
Interior Design Blog - Bedroom
Parts of the cabinetry
I have had this glossy GE Monogram brochure opened and folded back to a particular page for months. I have no idea when I got it in the mail. It has traveled from one pile to another pile to another, I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this. It's a reasonable attempt at organization...isn't it?? 
This first image of the red/cream kitchen just struck me immediately as strong and stunning. I know I would design the cabinetry in a different way, much different. Parts of the cabinetry "speaks" to me, much does not. But, as I often try to communicate to my clients, it's the "feel" of the room, not any one element, that makes a kitchen special. That's the secret ingredient to a wonderful kitchen. It may not be the countertops, or the cabinetry, or the appliances, but all of it and much more working together, each with an important place in the design to collectively evoke a feeling that the owner wants to feel. Each piece is another layer in the entirety of the design. Each piece plays a key role.
As a kitchen can be an expensive proposition, enormous focus, and justifiably so, is placed on those three elements...cabinetry, appliances, and countertops first and foremost. And that is as it should be. BUT, as we see in this first image, the other layers of paint, yes, simply paint, accessories, and the use of texture, is, well, everything. I don't know about you, but this first kitchen speaks to me. The others are wonderful for other reasons. The message is, every part of the design has valuable work to do. First, however, one must dig deep to explore and discover what one wants and needs to be surrounded by to feel great joy, and comfort, or, for that matter, stimulation! More about that process soon.
Thanks GE Monogram for permitting the use of these images. As stated above, careful selection of appliances in terms of function AND design is also a critical layer. Very critical. These appliances work to enhance the design of the kitchen. That's the goal. Enjoy!
This first image of the red/cream kitchen just struck me immediately as strong and stunning. I know I would design the cabinetry in a different way, much different. Parts of the cabinetry "speaks" to me, much does not. But, as I often try to communicate to my clients, it's the "feel" of the room, not any one element, that makes a kitchen special. That's the secret ingredient to a wonderful kitchen. It may not be the countertops, or the cabinetry, or the appliances, but all of it and much more working together, each with an important place in the design to collectively evoke a feeling that the owner wants to feel. Each piece is another layer in the entirety of the design. Each piece plays a key role.
As a kitchen can be an expensive proposition, enormous focus, and justifiably so, is placed on those three elements...cabinetry, appliances, and countertops first and foremost. And that is as it should be. BUT, as we see in this first image, the other layers of paint, yes, simply paint, accessories, and the use of texture, is, well, everything. I don't know about you, but this first kitchen speaks to me. The others are wonderful for other reasons. The message is, every part of the design has valuable work to do. First, however, one must dig deep to explore and discover what one wants and needs to be surrounded by to feel great joy, and comfort, or, for that matter, stimulation! More about that process soon.
Thanks GE Monogram for permitting the use of these images. As stated above, careful selection of appliances in terms of function AND design is also a critical layer. Very critical. These appliances work to enhance the design of the kitchen. That's the goal. Enjoy!
New Home Buyers
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| From The Hollows at Northshore, Lake Travis, Austin, Texas |
Current trends with new home buyers and builders center around building an environmentally sensitive home. This can be accomplished by taking advantage of a site's inherent ecological characteristics, carefully selecting building materials so energy is efficiently used during the lifetime of the home, and many other methods. This focus is also known as green building.
In this age of everything green, it is wise to analyze your building, design and selection process with a fresh approach and put together your own green team. I suggest we take a whole-house systems approach to building green. Commit to educating yourself on the many details and benefits of owning a green, durable and energy-efficient home and then we can communicate this understanding and belief to the team players. Together we can deliver a home design that is healthier to live in and more energy efficient.
The builder is the green team coach and quarterback. It is this person's job to assemble the most knowledgeable team players, to understand the cost benefits of each system feature and to help educate the owner as to which features are most beneficial while balancing the owner's budget and design criteria.
The green team's players are your suppliers and subcontractors.
Your green team is owned by the client (if you are building custom), or by the builder (if building a spec). The owner makes the main decisions that affect the budget which have a major impact on both project costs and long-term energy efficiency.
The Building Designer is the green team manager and assists with designing green in many areas. He may minimize the size and quantity of north-facing windows while maximizing the number of windows that face south, thereby increasing the passive solar efficiency of the home. He might explain the advantages of spraying sealant around all windows and doors as the most economical investment for saving fuel. The designer and builder should understand the energy benefits and cost implications of different insulation methods such as fiberglass batt, blown wet-spray cellulose, blown-in blanket-spray fiberglass and polyurethane foam insulation. He may also specify gravel or a brick paver driveways, then the site will have less impervious coverage and less impact on the surrounding areas for runoff and flooding.
One excellent resource for improving your knowledge of green building is the U.S. Green Building Council (usgbc.org) which runs the LEED for Homes program; LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
Each green team member must do his part to build green. The knowledge of each team member will determine the extent to which your finished home is environmentally sensitive. Although it is the builder's responsibility to be ready and able to advise the client of the costs and benefits of each selection, it ultimately is the owner's decision to select green features.
Green building is here to stay and it will be the standard practice of designing and building in the near future. We are in the beginning stages of transitioning to green and it will take time, patience and commitment to do it right.
Rob Sanders Custom Home
Rob Sanders Custom Home & Building Designer recently completed work on two projects under the City of Austins "McMansion Ordinance" requirements. The first project (4514 Depew Avenue) is a 1-story home with a 2-story garage apartment behind it (facing an alley). The second project (4810 Rowena Street) is a new duplex in Hyde Park. This duplex was designed on a previous single family lot. The lot slopes with many trees that had to be saved. This was achieved, along with meeting the proper guidelines for Impervious Cover, F.A.R. (floor to area ratio), and Setback/Articulation as required by the Austin McMansion Ordinance. The project also met the rules of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association. If you fall under the McMansion jurisdiction (Central Austin) and need plans for a new home, remodel or addition, please consider the services of Rob Sanders Design.
Let Rob Sanders Designer
My passion for design indicates to a homeowner that I take complete interest in developing their dream. I realize creating your custom home is a very personal and exciting experience that I enjoy as much as my clients. We begin a special relationship the moment I come to understand your lifestyles and functions as a family. I strive to make our experience together memorable, showing great pride and purpose in the home we create. Let Rob Sanders Designer help make your dream a reality!
New Home Design
Rob Sanders Designer believes it is most important to listen carefully to the clients, and to understand their lifestyle, as well as their likes and dislikes. In this way, he is able to gain a much clearer picture of what they want to have in their new home design
A luxury home
A luxury home is more than just a place to live. It is an expression of the owner's taste and unique lifestyle. That is why I treat it as my own home. I work well with my clients because I listen to their needs & ideas. I understand their necessities. I design a house that fits their idea of a home - not just mine!
New Modern Bedroom Interior Design
modern bedroom designs 2010
modern bedroom interior designs
new modern bedroom designs ideas
Guide to Buying Living Room Furniture
Choosing the right decor for your living room can seem like a hassle. Finding the right pieces to compliment each other and coordinate with the color of your walls and carpet may seem overwhelming but there's no need to fear. With the right guide to buying living room furniture, you can be well on your way to a unique and organized space that is well worth spending time in.
The first thing that you will want to consider before purchasing living room furniture is the size of your living room. The size of your living room will help you determine the type of upholstery, the size of your furnishings and what accent pieces you should or should not buy. If your living room is larger, you'll want to avoid smaller furnishings. Maximize the usage of your space by adding a more upholstered couch and love seat. You'll still want to leave walking space which is comfortable enough to maneuver around but you can certainly fill up open areas with more accent pieces such as coffee tables, end tables, lamps and art work.
For a smaller living room, instead of purchasing a full sized couch, a smaller love seat and perhaps a recliner is more practical. This helps keep your living room from looking cluttered and over stuffed. You can purchase petite sized end tables and coffee tables instead of larger ones to help fill nooks and crannies. Smaller pieces of art can also be purchased in order to decorate your walls without making them look as though they are overbearing.
Once you have determined the size of the furnishings that you need in your living room, it is time to determine what your living room area will be used for. If you know that your space will be used for more family time such as movies, games and entertainment, you should look into products that maximize storage. If you are the type to host overnight company, a hide-a-bed couch is a recommended investment or a daybed that can be doubled as a couch during the day and a bed at night. There are also ottomans available which can be used for storage available with a removable top. Adding a desk to your living room can be beneficial, especially for larger living rooms as you can then maximize your entertainment area by adding a home computer to your room.
After you have taken the stops to decide the size and type of furniture you will need it is then time to decide on color and style. There are many styles to taken into consideration such as contemporary, modern classic and more. You can also choose whether or not you want to coordinate the color of your furniture to that of your walls and floors or whether or not you want to accent and compliment the colors. Colors help determine mood. This is another thing to consider when decorating. For smaller spaces it is recommended that you decorate in lighter colors to make your room look larger whereas darker colors will make a larger space appear smaller.
Feng-shui is a type of decorating style that uses colors to enhance a certain type of mood. A great idea for those who enjoy Feng-shui is to buy a low sitting coffee table which can also be doubled as a dining table. Place pillows on the floor as seating for your guests and enjoy lunch or dinner in your mood setting living room. Earthy colors bring a sense of inner peace and comfort. Darker colors inspire passion and a more wild sense of living. Cool colors brighten up your living space and make you feel more relaxed and free of stress.
Whether you want to go wild with color or coordinate all the way to the end, there is a simple way of buying living room furniture [http://www.goods2clear.com/index.php?c=50] based on the tips in this guide. Once you have decided the size of your living room and what it will be used for, the rest is cake as they say.
Stylish Living Room Ideas From Our Home to Yours
Decorating our home has become a labor of love for my wife and I. By far, our favorite room to decorate has been our living room. This space has become the centerpiece of our home, in addition to being the room we spend the most time in. We've used color, a mix of traditional and contemporary furniture, wall art, and eye-catching accessories to create a stylish living room design that is still functional and comfortable. We hope by giving you some ideas from our own living room we'll spur your creativity and point you in the right direction to making your living room your favorite room.
Paint
When we moved into our house, the walls were off-white. Not bad, definitely versatile, but not for us, and definitely not for our furniture and accents. We used our favorite wall color, Sherwin Williams Latte , and...WOW!!!! The room just popped! When your paint colors complement your furniture and accents, and your furniture and accents complement your paint colors...you win. Your style starts working for you.
Maybe you live by the water and nautical fits your style. In that case, blues, whites, greens and yellows may work for you. If you live in a downtown loft, you may want an industrial look with white and silver elements. If you're in search of the perfect country look - try some softer, blues, reds, browns, and maybe some yellows.
We choose a neutral color scheme for our living room. Brown is Jen's favorite color and I love all the tones and colors you can mix into a neutral scheme - like red, gold, bronze, maize, and orange. Next we're going to mix in a bit more black.
After the color was set, we had to think about what to put on these walls...
Wall Decor
Just so happens that in one of our previous homes, the walls were about the same color. It was time to sell and there was this empty space above the mantle. What would be just right there? Wrought iron? Something black and white? Some professional wall art?
We had the color scheme...our favorite latte, a little red, a bit of of gold...we knew the size...then we saw it in the framed art and wall decor section at Kirkland's. The frame was the perfect thickness...the colors were just right and the size looked like it would fit pefectly above the mantle. Sometimes you just have to go for it.
With all the online resources these days, it's really easy to find pieces that go with your colors, before you even leave the house.
Lighting
When it came to add lamps to our decor, we had to figure out the answers to some pretty important questions.
Where was our primary light source? For us it was recessed lighting over the mantle. In other words, not alot!
Did we want to separate a TV watching area and a reading area? Not really, because there just wasn't enough room.
What kind of lighting did we want to use? Add a light to the ceiling fan - table lamps - floor lamps? Eventually we combined table and floor lamps with a style somewhere between mission and contemporary. Believe me, these two styles go together better than you might think.
Furniture
Our living room has two focal points, the fireplace and our TV armoire. Unfortunately, the armoire ended up next to the fireplace, simply because of the cable jack. It does work there quite well, but ideally we would have liked to move it around to some different places to get a feel for where it worked best. Just goes to show you that sometimes you have play the hand you're dealt.
As for the rest of the room, our favorite piece is our sofa table. It's not behind the sofa, though. We use it as an anchor piece against one of our walls. There are lamps on both ends and it's filled with photos of both our families. It's always a great conversation starter.
I hope what you've gotten out of this article is that style is not confined to a single term; like contemporary, traditional or country. Style is your state of mind and what appeals to you.
My wife and I aren't professionals. We just know what we like. When we run into a problem, we face it, break it down, and decide what looks best. With good information and a little bit of time to spend, you can make your living room "the" room that everyone talks about when they come to visit.
Todd Marsha is just a regular guy who enjoys living room decorating with his wife. You can see more suggestions on creating a great living room at Stylish Living Room Ideas
Using Colored Rugs in a Living Room
Oftentimes we use bright colors as accent pieces, throw pillows, or even splashes of art on the walls. Occasionally we get up the nerve to paint a wall or even an entire room a bold brilliant color. But just as often we neglect to see the floor as a viable option to hold bright color. Bright colors bring energy and life to a room. Using a bright colored area rug will vitalize a living room and give a look to the space that people will remember.
Bright emerald or rich cocoa will perk up a tired room. You may choose to use an oval rug or a rectangular one. You may decide that a plush rug works better for your space than a tightly woven rug. Whatever your choice in texture or sizes you should be able to find a rug that you like in the color you desire. You can build your living room decoration around the colored rug. You might find accent decorations in similar or complimentary colors.
You may find that the rug provides a base of an entire decorating scheme, or perhaps you already have a decorating theme that you love and a colored rug will finish off the room. In the room I remembered with the bright red rug, they built the decorations around the red rug. Patriotic decor hung on the walls and red pillows sat on darker couches. They even found a coordinating oversized red chair that they bought to go along with the rug. The brightly colored rug freed them to make other bold choices in a room that was not structurally special but because of the decorating theme became visually spectacular.
When you decide to add to a living room, or decorate from scratch, try utilizing a boldly colored area rug and see what possibilities open up for you. You may be surprised at the way your entire space changes because of the decision to decorate with a boldly colored rug.
Sarah is a lover and writer of all things about home decorating. Her tip for keeping your room modern is to lay modern rugs or flokati rugs on your floor and change them often.
Furniture and Color Scheme For Living Room
Living room is the face of your home so it must be decorated in utmost style. While doing so keep in mind your own personality and try that project in which you are comfortable otherwise all your efforts will go in vain. Many accessories like rugs, carpets, wall decorative, beautiful round wall mirrors, curtain tie-backs, tassels will ameliorate your room. But do you know what will bring the immediate effect. Yes, it is the color and living room furniture so you must decide these carefully.
What Should be the Color Scheme?
There are so many colors to work. Some look good on wall other on floor and some on furniture. But how to create a sync of these three. To start with do overburden yourself with the technicalities of this anymore. Look around and learn from the nature. In your garden you must be having different colors of flower. Look how nature has given the shading, which color it has picked and what different color combination look like. After this find out what looks soothing to your eyes.
Doing this will give you the confidence to look at the color wheel for more accurate color scheme. One basic funda of using color is - never exceed more than three colors in a room.
Living Room By Color
Contemporary
To have the contemporary space use the soft hues of colors on the walls and the floor of the room.
To have the contemporary space use the soft hues of colors on the walls and the floor of the room.
Achromatic
In achromatic color scheme black, grey and white are used to give a modern appeal. The modern living room can have this color scheme.
In achromatic color scheme black, grey and white are used to give a modern appeal. The modern living room can have this color scheme.
Monochromatic
In a monochromatic color scheme tones of same color are used for a soothing effect. Like you can choose the different tones of green, red or blue colors on the walls of the room.
In a monochromatic color scheme tones of same color are used for a soothing effect. Like you can choose the different tones of green, red or blue colors on the walls of the room.
Analogous
In analogous color scheme, the colors next to each other in the color wheel are picked. For a seascape theme you can pick the green and blue color and for Mexican theme go with the red and orange colors.
In analogous color scheme, the colors next to each other in the color wheel are picked. For a seascape theme you can pick the green and blue color and for Mexican theme go with the red and orange colors.
Triadic
In this every fourth color in the color wheel is picked. Like if you are picking the red color then you have the yellow and blue along with this.
In this every fourth color in the color wheel is picked. Like if you are picking the red color then you have the yellow and blue along with this.
Complementary
Pick the colors that are at 180 degrees that means they are just opposite to each other. Blue and orange, red and green, mauve and yellow etc comes in this group.
Pick the colors that are at 180 degrees that means they are just opposite to each other. Blue and orange, red and green, mauve and yellow etc comes in this group.
Living Room Furniture
Here also you will have to look for the color scheme and style before buying. There are many kinds of styles that you can bought. The most common ones are traditional, contemporary, English, French, Victorian, Asian and Vintage. The difference lies in the material used, its finish, carving, weight, color and sleekness.
Here also you will have to look for the color scheme and style before buying. There are many kinds of styles that you can bought. The most common ones are traditional, contemporary, English, French, Victorian, Asian and Vintage. The difference lies in the material used, its finish, carving, weight, color and sleekness.
Traditional living room furniture is bulky and carved where as contemporary is sleek and light in weight. In Asian living room furniture you will find the impression of traditional and European style is mostly made from heavy wood. So based on your taste and theme pick the best suitable living room furniture.
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