Category Archives: Design Inspiration

Build Style and Function into your Kitchen

Posted on by

How do you decide what you want your kitchen to look like? Today’s classic look includes stainless appliances and granite countertops, but within that mix you have a wealth of choices.

This kitchen vignette from the Fulton Homes design center blends white and dark painted cabinetry with a rich stained wood floor. While many people may worry about having a wood floor in the kitchen, it can work well as long as you protect it with a good polyurethane finish and wipe up serious spills immediately. Wood flooring is actually a floor with give so it’s great for a cook’s feet at the end of a long day of cooking and cleaning.

The wipe-clean painted white cabinets use differences in depth to create personality. That is enhanced by the intriguing dark painted island in the center. More and more kitchens are taking advantage of a mix and match approach to help kitchen cabinetry integrate with the rest of the home, and this is a good example. Fulton’s crown molding for cabinetry is also designed for customization, as shown here with the special addition of dentil trim.

A generous fridge, the large gas range and a double oven makes this space ideal for a serious home chef. The tile backsplash is decorative and also easy to clean. The island is ready for a couple of bar-height chairs, so that friends and family members can chat or help. Come visit our design center on one of our browse nights and experience this inviting kitchen for yourself.

 

Does Your Front Door Make a Great First Impression?

Posted on by

When people visit your home, they start to get a feeling for the place before they even walk inside. The outdoor landscaping in the front yard, the look of the outside of your home, and the entranceway as they walk up to your front door all color their first impressions. Don’t forget, your front door makes a statement about what they’re going to find inside.

Have you thought about the impression you want your front door to make? The photo above shows two door styles available in the Fulton Homes Design Center. The door on the left is strong and formal. The panels give it a Mediterranean look. On the right, the door is more casual with an Arts and Crafts flavor. The glass panes add a welcoming touch to the outside and natural lighting inside. Both are beautiful, bold and still send very different messages about the home inside.

The photo on the right shows other Fulton door options. The first door makes a bold statement. The style, as well as the bronze door handle and ornaments, creates an old world look. The next door is more conservative, but the simple design is still striking.

Whichever style you choose, you will want what people see when they walk into your home to connect with that door. An important part of your home’s style is consistency. As you make a selection, you may want to consider how you plan to decorate your foyer to help link the outside and inside of your home.

Every one of these front doors says something about the house and the people who live in it. Have you thought about the message your front door sends? It’s about style, but it’s also about the impression you want your home to present to the world.

Making a Great Room, Great

Posted on by

If you enjoy having the whole family together, want plenty of space for parties and gatherings, and want to be able to cook dinner or fix a snack without being cut off from everyone else in your home, a great-room design is perfect for you. But it’s very easy to end up with a disconnected look if you don’t plan your overall space design.

In spite of the roomy space, this room feels integrated and comfortable.  It provides a generous kitchen, an island that allows people to pull up and eat or talk, an expansive fireplace area, and a flat-screen television for entertainment. What elements help this room pull it altogether?

Color: The soft beige and brown throughout, help the entire room feel coordinated. There is a rich rust color on the kitchen wall to the left that is echoed in the niche holding the television. The granite, tile and carpeting all have shades that link together. The dark wood tones of the cabinets show up in the darker elements in the family-room area such as the mirror and table toward the back. Color is one of the strongest tools for integrating spaces.

Flooring: The kitchen floor tiles appear again as part of the fireplace surround, which makes the room feel even more cohesive. The carpeting provides a subtle separation between functional areas with no distracting breaks in the sight lines.

Lighting: The entire room is well-lit with ceiling spots – one of the best tools for providing useful and interesting lighting throughout a great room. The kitchen pendant lights and the fireplace sconces are from the same design group, further helping each room to feel connected with the other.

The architectural features and overall style of this great room helps create a space that really works. Make sure you think about integration when you plan your great room design.

Splash Up your Guest Bath

Posted on by

With a smaller bathroom that serves as your guest bath, it’s fun to add elements of interest to make it stand out.

This bath to the left, from the Malibu model in the Shoreline community, takes advantage of wallpaper with a strong color and design. While this paper would overwhelm a large room, it makes this small bath pop with color and personality.

A pedestal sink such as this one by Kohler makes the space feel larger because you can see the walls and floor underneath it. A traditional vanity absorbs more visual space. Unlike many pedestal options, this sink provides plenty of room to hold soap.

Choosing a ring to hold the towel also adds interest and has a look more appropriate to the smaller space than a bar towel-holder. The ring keeps the towel away from the switches and mirror but convenient for drying hands.

Finishing touches such as the framed mirror and coordinated light fixture pull everything together. Kohler also includes a toilet with a design that matches this sink, helping to further integrate the space.

The guest bath on the right, from the Tehama model in the Victoria community, shows another more traditional way to add interest. Tile wainscoting adds charm and the wallpaper helps create a coordinated look. The same mirror, faucet and light fixture look completely different in this bath, demonstrating how these versatile options can work well with your personal taste. The pedestal sink is a different style, but still easily provides space for soap.

When working with a guest bathroom, don’t dismiss the design possibilities. These small spaces can give you a chance to experiment with color and other features to create a small jewel box of charm that show off your personality and style.

 

Cool Colors for Hot Days

Posted on by

We’re halfway through the summer and as our utility bills rise and the sun never seems to set, there are things you can do with your home’s decor to help you and your family beat the heat. Here are a few suggestions.

Bring cool colors into your home. Cool colors include blue, green, purple and pink. These colors help us perceive a space as cooler in temperature. Most rooms have a combination of warm and cool tones. Consider removing some of the warmer color accessories, pillows or linens – red, yellow and orange – and replacing them with cool colors for the summer. A few small changes can make a big difference in the color balance of a room.

Add more white. White is a cool tone, and the more white you have in a room, the cooler it feels. How about covering your sofa or upholstered chairs with white canvas slipcovers? These can be washable, making summer spills less of a problem. Take a look at the room below to see an example of how fresh and cool white can be.

Eliminate clutter. What looks warm and cozy in the winter can feel stifling in the summer’s heat. The less your eyes have to rest on, the more open and cool a room feels. You may also want to remove a few accessories or even small furniture pieces.

Add fresh elements. Flowers, plants or even fruit in a bowl can help a home feel cooler. You may also want to put those fresh items in vases, pots or bowls made of cool materials such as crystal or silver to double-up on cool images.

With just a few design changes, you can help your home feel cooler all summer long. Look for opportunities to bring a cool feeling into every room of your home.

Area Rugs Define Spaces

Posted on by

An area rug can serve as artwork for your floor. On top of wood or tile floors or even carpeting, area rugs define conversation spaces and pull colors together while adding texture.

This birds-eye view provides some insight into how an area rug can enhance a room’s look. The rug is primarily rust and brown, and it has tones ranging from light to very dark. This variation captures and connects every other element in the room.

The lightest tones in the rug are reflected in the maple coffee table and the fireplace surround. That light wood wouldn’t work as well if placed directly on the warm mid-range wood flooring, but the rug allows it to serve as a dramatic contrast.

The black of the fireplace opening and tools connect with the dark outlines of some of the leaves in this rug. Two different shades of rust making up the sofa and chair hang together well thanks to the choices of color in the rug itself. Finally, the rug clearly defines the living space in this part of the home, providing a frame for the furniture.

The photo to the right demonstrates another way an area rug defines space. This corner is created by focusing on the space left where the rug’s border ends. A comfortable reading chair under a window becomes a special private nook, with a couple of tables for a cup of tea or a pair of reading glasses.

When you use area rugs to highlight specific design features in your home, the extra layer adds charm to your décor.  Contact us or come to Browse Night and take a look at our new line of beautiful and well-constructed Feizy area rugs or just to get more insight into how area rugs can complement your design plans.

Quick and Easy Refreshers for Boring Rooms

Posted on by

At first glance this room is attractive enough. The space and the furnishings are new and the flooring is beautiful. It also has lovely architectural details. But the owner seems to be hesitant to add much in the way of personality to the room and this makes the design safe but also rather boring.

Any room can become more interesting with a few design refreshers. Let’s take a look at a room that incorporates some of these options and see what you may want to include in your own home. This room is modern also, but a few different choices make it much more interesting.

Paint: One wall is painted a dark rich brown. Comparing the two rooms, the brown wall softens the space and adds warmth.

Pillows: Something as simple as adding a splash of color or style with contrasting throw pillows makes a real difference. Take a look at how the pillows in the photo above disappear because they match the sofa. The pillows to the right pop!

Art: A large piece such as the one displayed here adds drama and interest to any room. Or you may want to add several smaller pieces in an arrangement. No matter your preference, art allows your personality to shine in your home.

Accessories: This image on the left shows how just a few accessories can add to the appeal of a room. The simple ladder-style bookshelf holds a few books and an interesting bowl and lantern that look as though they came from other countries. They open up the opportunity for conversation: did they pick them up on their travels? Do they collect folk art?

Look at your home objectively. Have you chosen to create rooms that disappear into the background or are you willing to add color and personality to make your home shine? How about taking a chance and adding one or more of these ideas to refresh your home décor?

Bring a Taste of the Outside Inside with Fresh Flowers

Posted on by

With the Arizona summer barely half over, we can look forward to the future days to come when it will be more pleasant to spend time outside. One good way to bring the feeling of the outside into your home is with fresh flowers.

Shop your favorite florist, pick some from your garden, and check out the flowers available at your grocery or warehouse store. Look for flowers that are perky, with buds only partially open so that they will last.

Put flowers where you spend most of your time. Take a look at this home office to the right. A small bunch of flowers like these gerbera daisies tucked behind the computer monitor add a bright spot to your space. Gerberas are available in a rich variety of colors in one bouquet.  You can also look for flowers with a nice, fresh scent to add a real perfume to your room.

 

If you’re uncomfortable making your own flower arrangements, go simple. The arrangement at the top of the post is made up of only yellow tulips, all cut to about the same length. Even simpler, how about tackling the easy option to the left. This also uses gerbera daisies, but by using only one or two flowers per vase, you create an almost sculptural look. This is also an inexpensive option since you only have to use a few stems.

For those of you who would rather buy flowers, one bunch can be affordable, so don’t hesitate to experiment. If they don’t turn out the way you imagined, they will still be beautiful. Even the process of arranging flowers can be relaxing and enjoyable. Give yourself a present of fresh flowers every now and again, and bring the best of the season inside.

Family Room with Forest Flair

Posted on by

Do you love the look of trees and leaves? With just a few touches you can create a hint of woodland style in your home. Let’s take a look at how this was accomplished in this family room, found in the Harmonique model at Fulton Home’s Ashcreek Community.

You might want to start with a hand scraped wood floor such as the one shown in this room. The rich mid-tone brown and the interesting surface bring a woodsy feel right into the space. The colors of the room also create the right mood, with numerous browns, rusty oranges and lighter tones calling to mind a forest with a hint of fall and plenty of sunshine.

Notice the preponderance of leaves throughout the patterns selected for this room’s décor. From the traditional acanthus leaves bordering the rug to the more daring selection of curtains with a variety of stylized leaves on a very dark brown background, the more leaves the better.

The art also echoes the forest with embossed leaf images hanging between the windows and the framed vines to the left of the fireplace. Lots of greenery wraps up the image, providing a sensation of being among the plants found on an outdoor hike through the trees.

Some people may feel that this much emphasis on leaves may make too much of a statement. But for those who love the woods with its engaging look, style, and mood, this room creates a sense of comfort. If you feel you may be part dryad, indulge your love of trees and leaves with a room like this. It will be a constant source of pleasure.

Glass Block Creates Great Door-free Shower in Luxury Bath

Posted on by

With today’s larger master bathrooms, new design details can add to both style and functionality. This bath’s shower, from the Malibu model in the Shoreline community, is a great example.

Using glass block to replace traditional shower doors or curtains creates a dramatic design element. The shower’s size and layout also makes it particularly functional for couples, because the dual heads enable both to shower at the same time.

Notice the small step into the shower area. This is not just a design element. The minimal slant toward the drain the step provides keeps the water away from the rest of the room. The minimal-threshold also helps make this home work as owners get older, part of the new approach of “aging in place” that smart homebuilders such as Fulton consider with their designs.

This bathroom has all the elements needed for two. Separate vanities and sinks provide the space for couples to stay out of each other’s way while still being together. Both have plenty of storage, and the layouts are different enough that they complement each other rather than looking like twin spaces.

Design touches such as the mirror frames and the specialized trim on the tile in the shower and above the vanities add a luxurious touch to the space. The cabinetry, tile and glass block work together to give the room a rich and spa-like style. Altogether, this master bath is very functional, but the special design elements create a bath that is also inviting and comfortable.