Susan Marocco Interiors
  
May 2010

Greetings!   

This month we will discuss a truly neglected part of the home - the stairs, and the impact different carpet treatments can have on the overall design feel of your home.
Stairs - The Forgotten Accessory
 
Stairs are, perhaps the least thought about focus when furnishing a home.  They can be thought of as an accessory, one of the key elements that pull the entire home together.

How you decide to "dress" them becomes a statement about the design style of where those stairs take you.

How you decide to treat them greatly influences the feel of the rooms surrounding them. It's hard to escape them.

They " welcome" you home as you open the door, and lead you to the bedrooms as you go to sleep.


Style
The style you choose can work as a bridge between the many styles that often end up in a home.  Adding a stair treatment to your home will "finish" the space.  Leaving the stairs bare can make a well designed home look like the stairs were forgotten.

Options
There are numerous options to choose from, but we will focus on just a few.

For a casual country look, a cotton runner in a stripe or check lends that homey, comfy appeal.

Cotton Runner for a Country look
Cotton Runner


For a more transitional look, a wool carpet, perhaps in a small pattern.
 
Wool Carpet
wool carpet

For the formal entrance, an oriental runner accessorized with stair rods lends an elegant aura.

Oriental Runner
Oriental Runner
 
Have you looked at your stairs lately?  Are they dressed or bare?  Are they adding to the look of your home?  At Susan Marocco Interiors we help our clients figure out the best design for their stairs in order to add to the overall look and feel of their home.  If you are contemplating or in the midst of a design change in your home, remember to add the stairs into your plans.

Ask the Designer
Q: When we moved into our newly built home, our budget was exhausted, so to save money we decided not to add a back splash in our kitchen.  Now that we are ready, before we start our project, what should we consider in the process?


A: When choosing the tile or stone for your back splash you of course must take into consideration the colors and textures that are already in the kitchen.  For instance if the cabinets or flooring are a dark wood, you may want to consider a lighter back splash to offset the dark finish. Also place tile/stone options up against your counter tops to ensure the harmony of colors.

But the most overlooked aspect is the placement of the lighting receptacles and how they will impact your design.  Before you finalize what you are going to purchase, draw a 
sketch of your back splash dimensions. Critical - at what height are the switch plates? Will there current location be in the middle of your design, perhaps cutting right through a major focal point? Better to discover this before you start to have a contractor lay the tiles.  If you find the light switches are not in the ideal location, an electrician can move them up/down or even sideways to make them less visible.




Each month we feature a question in the Ask the Designer section.  If you have a question you want answered, please submit your question to Susan.

 
Design News

Castles of New Castle House Tour - May 20, 10:30 am. Tour of 4 homes followed by a luncheon at Crabtree's Kittle House.  Contact Betsy Towl, (914) 238-4666 [email protected].

25th Annual Lasdon Park & Arboretum Memorial Day Antiques Fair-  85 booths, 10-5pm.  May 31.  Phone - (914) 273-4667

Lasdon Memorial Day Antiques Fair


Martha Stewart Garden Tour  - Sponsored by the Bedford Historical Society.  Tour the gardens, and join Martha for cocktails at her Cantitoe Farm home.  June 4th  5-7pm.  


Martha Stewart Garden Tour


Katonah Museum of Art - "The Art of Contemporary Puppet Theater".  Through June 13th.  Puppetry around the world, includes marionettes, shadow puppets and hand puppets.  (914) 232-9555  Katonahmuseum.org. 

Puppet Family Day


Neuberger Museum of Art
- "Living with Art: Collecting Contemporary in Metro New York" Through August 14th.   (914) 251-6100  

Neuberger Show

About Us
Susan Marocco Interiors is a full service interior design firm, staffed with professional American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) who have the training and expertise to plan, schedule, execute and manage your project from concept to completion. Our firm creates interiors that are elegant, distinctive and comfortable.  Our inspiration comes first from listening.  We then meld our skills and experiences to our clients' wants and needs.  We develop design solutions that reflect their taste and lifestyles.  Our website has a variety of pictures of the work we have done for many of our clients and you are more than welcome to view them.
 
To find out how Susan Marocco Interiors can help you with all your design needs, please contact Susan at 1-914-234-7066 or via email
Thank you for your readership, input and questions.  If you have any thoughts or suggestions on how to make it better, we are always eager to listen.  If you would like to speak to us about your Interior Design needs, we would be please to be of service
    
Wishing you all my Best!

 Susan Marocco
www.SusanMaroccoInteriors.com
Tel: (914) 234-7066
Fax: (914) 234-0003


P.S.  I'm off to Paris in a few days - ohhh la la! 
YSL retrospective at the Petit Palais, antiquing, and pasteries at Ladur�e