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| Home is Where You Come Alive - Designer Tips, Tricks, & Trends | September 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 fourth most common design mistake that I see, I'll share some tips for how to bring Autumn into your home, 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.
Very soon I'll be leaving for Italy for 3 weeks. I can't wait to share my experiences with you next month, especially on the design I see in Tuscany.
Warmly,
Pamela Jaffke
Innovations Interior Design
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| Common Interior Design Mistakes & How to Avoid Them | Beginning in June 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 #4- Too Much Matching
A very common mistake that I often see is rooms that contain many matching items. For example, a living room with matching sofa and loveseat, matching end tables and coffee table, and matching lamps. While this may be an easy way to decorate your living room, it will look like you went to a furniture store and bought a matching set. This is exactly what you don't want to do! You want your home to look like you lovingly selected each and every piece over a period of many years. Now you don't really have to take years to complete your living room, it will just look that way.
I find that some of my clients have a hard time accepting the fact that everything doesn't need to match. I'll recommend unique tables that are balanced in size and scale, but that each have their own personality. I will match a sofa and loveseat, but will then add an interesting chair and uniquely different lamps. Lamps are what I consider the jewelry of a room, and you can have some fun selecting lamps that are traditional to whimsical to funky, and everything in between. Very soon the shopping area of my website will be available where you'll be able to find the most amazing lamps, as well as beautiful accessories and accent furniture.
In the photo below notice how I used unique tables made of different materials. The lamps are also all distinctly different, but everything works together. The sofa, chairs, and ottoman have different fabrics, but the dark wood finish and accent pillows tie everything together. The scarlet draperies, dark shutters and art frames also help to unify and balance the room.
If you have a room that currently suffers from
being "too matchy-matchy", change it up with some unique lamps, plants,
and accessories. This can be done without spending a lot of money. Combine that with my suggestions below on bringing Autumn into your
home, and your home will look fresh and stylish for the coming season. If you change up the look of one of your rooms, please send me 'before & after' photos, and I'll post them on my blog. |
Bring Autumn Into Your Home
| Autumn is by far my favorite time
of year. I think it's partly because I grew up in Connecticut and went
to college in Maine. You can't beat the fall colors of New England.
One of the things I like best about Santa Clarita, CA where I now live
is that we get a beautiful taste of autumn - colorful leaves that last for weeks and crisp evenings that make me want to light a fire in
the fireplace and curl up with a good book.
So how do you make your home feel more like
this beautiful fall season? Start with a cozy throw for your family
room or living room furniture. Get something really soft and warm that
feels good to curl up with. Try to get one in a warm autumn color that
will accent the colors in your home. Try pumpkin, eggplant, scarlet,
cocoa, persimmon, burnt orange, or saffron. Some new throw pillows for
your sofa or sectional in some of these colors will also add a warm
touch. Next, get some colorful gourds. You can find them at the market
in all sorts of shapes and colors. You only find them in the fall, so
bring some home and display them in your kitchen or dining room. Add some baby pumpkins, and place
them in a basket, in a glass container, or arrange them on a table or counter with some colorful leaves.  Get some scented candles. I love the handmade candles from Amiata Soap & Candle Co. Scents like vanilla bean and pumpkin spice smell wonderful at this time of year. Try some new placemats in
a warm, fall color, and maybe some new serving pieces in these same
colors. Also, bring home some of the wonderful mums that grow at this
time of year. You can pick them up at the market. They add beautiful
colors and help bring the outdoors inside. You get the idea. Have some fun with it! Please let me know what you've done and how it makes you feel. Then make
yourself a cup of hot cocoa, wrap yourself in that cozy throw, and curl
up with a good book! |
| 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. Below is the family room of one of my clients. They have a large family room and wanted to take advantage of the space by adding extra seating. The wall of windows in the 'before' photo is to the right of the door as you enter the room. There wasn't enough space for furniture without blocking the entrance to the room. My clients had mentioned that they would like some additional storage, so I came up with the idea for a window seat with storage below. Their home is on a lake, and they wanted a beachy cottage style. We used pillows with lots of different patterns and colors and tied them in with the rest of the room. Click here to see more photos of this project. My clients were thrilled with the end result.
 "Before"
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"After"
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