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| Home is Where You Come Alive - Designer Tips, Tricks, & Trends | August 2010 |
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Greetings!
Welcome! In this and upcoming issues I'll be sharing lots of helpful and interesting information to help you create the place you love coming home to.
This month I'll cover
the third most common design mistake that I see, I'll share some of the newest trends I recently saw at the Las Vegas World Furniture Market, and we'll look at another "Before & After".
I hope that you enjoy this issue and that you'll become a regular reader. If you're not a subscriber, please click on "Join Our Mailing List" under quick links so that you won't miss our next issue.
Warmly,
Pamela Jaffke
Innovations Interior Design
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| Common Interior Design Mistakes & How to Avoid Them | Beginning last month I began a series of the most common design mistakes that I've encountered. I've been an interior designer for twenty-four years, and in that time I've seen people make the same mistakes over and over when designing the interior of their homes. I'd like to share the most common mistakes with you and give you some tips on how to avoid making them in your own home. We'll cover a different mistake in each issue.Mistake #3- Placing Your Furniture Against the Walls.
One of the most common mistakes I see is all of the furniture in a large living room or family room pushed up against the walls with a big empty space in the middle. And sorry, having kids is no excuse! The problem is that there's no conversation area. You want people to feel comfortable in your home. If you can't sit down and talk in close proximity then there's a problem with your furniture arrangement.
Floating some of the furniture will create conversation areas and will also create balance and harmony in your room. When you float a piece of furniture, like a chair, for example, be sure to anchor it by placing a small table or a floor plant next to it. Better yet, if there are floor outlets, add a lamp. If your room isn't especially large, a great way to pull furniture away from the walls is to place a sofa table behind your sofa. This not only pulls the sofa away from the wall, but also creates an area where you can place lamps, plants, and other accessories, which will make your room more functional, interesting, and beautiful.
In a very large room you can create two or three furniture groupings - perhaps a TV watching/conversation area, a reading area, and a study area with a small desk and chair, or a play area for your kids.
Above is a client's living room that I designed floating the entire seating arrangement. It works extremely well in this room. Notice that each chair is anchored by a table and lamp or a floor plant. The furniture is sitting on a rug that matches the arrangement of the chairs, which adds to the unity and balance of the room.
If you re-arrange your furniture after reading this article, please send me a 'before & after' and I'll post it on my blog. |
Sneak Preview of Upcoming Home Decor Design Trends
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If you haven't read Part I of this series, please visit my last blog post to catch you up
on my latest trip to the Las Vegas Furniture Market. Barbara, my office
manager, and I had a fabulous time scouring hundreds of showrooms
scouting out the latest and greatest new trends in home decor. It was interesting to see lots of new finishes in wood furniture. For the past several years I'd seen mostly dark woods. This time we saw a lot of lighter woods in honey and chestnut hues. We also saw lime washed, natural weathered, sandblasted, and reclaimed woods, all of which tend to have a lighter and grayer finish. There's now a finish for everyone's taste.
We were happy to see that one of our favorite lines was back again.
They produce a line of preserved botanicals. These are real plants and
florals that have been preserved through a special process that
maintains their colors and textures. They are perfect for adding color
and bringing the outdoors in without using artificial plants or live
flowers and plants which are more difficult to maintain. Another fun find is a whimsical and colorful line of lamps made from
cocoa, banyan, and allibangbang leaves. All of their products are
ecco-friendly. I love their innovative designs, especially the gecko
sconces, which can be hard-wired to your wall.   These uniquely beautiful lamps come in a variety of styles. Let me know if you're interested in adding some to your home.We saw lots of fresh, new home design trends and innovations, and I
look forward to making them accessible to you through the new shopping
link on our website which will be coming very soon. In the meantime,
we're here to help you create the home that feels like the best place
you want to be. You may not like some of the new trends, and that's
okay. I'm here to help you to create a home that reflects your
lifestyle, your passions, and your personal taste. No project is too
small, so drop me a line and let me know what you have in mind. |
| Before & After Photos |
I love sharing "before and after" photos. It's so much fun to see the changes in a room. I love seeing the reaction of my clients when we complete a project, but seeing the actual before and after photos is incredible. You can see a slideshow of "before & after's" on my website under Portfolio, but I'd like to showcase one in this newsletter each month where I'll comment on the project.
This is the master bath of clients who live in the Summit area of Valencia. The original bath was divided into two separate rooms - the dressing area which included double sinks and tub, and the area behind the door in the mirror reflection shown in the "Before" photo above, which had a small shower and toilet. The clients wanted to open up the bath and have a much larger shower. I came up with two designs - one which involved enlarging the bath by moving a wall into the master bedroom, which included a tub and shower, and one which didn't involve moving that wall, but only included a large shower, no tub. The clients decided to go with the plan that didn't include moving the wall. I was able to create a separate room for the toilet by removing part of the closet that was to the left of the vanity. By removing the walls that created the shower and toilet room I was able to really open up the space and design a large multi-function shower with body sprays and two shower heads. The design is very contemporary as desired by my clients. We kept the areas under the vanity open, but installed medicine cabinets over the vanity for storage. The bench to the right of the vanity has drawers that open for storage and a solid surface top for sitting to dry off after a shower. For more photos of this project please click on this link. |
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