If you’re getting ready to set up a home office, it may seem like a challenge to balance the professional environment with residential warmth. A few careful decisions can make that balance work for you.

The right flooring helps a space feel like home while still holding up to the demands of an office environment, particularly the standard wheeled chair or chairs. Laminate, when the quality is high, can handle this well. If you would rather have carpeting or wood, be sure to place a chair mat under your desk to help protect your floor. Mats range from a strong plastic to a very attractive bamboo available in a number of catalogs.

The next step is the walls. Paint the room anything other than office white. Try a sky blue or soft green to create as relaxing environment for your work. Trim a white board in framing or spray paint a bulletin board to make your office different. A number of furniture and lifestyle stores also carry beautiful choices for bulletin board/white board/chalkboard combinations.

Art makes an important statement in your office. Let your art reflect your dreams or goals. Have some beautiful photos to take a break and admire when the day seems too challenging. A few thoughtful touches can make working in your home office a joy.

Reader Question:

What types of lighting are best to use in a bathroom?

Answer:

The lights at the vanity are most important. The lights need to be bright enough to see, but not so bright that your skin looks unhealthy. Fixtures located at eye level on either side of the bathroom mirror are most effective. Theatrical-style lighting stripped along the sides and across the top of the mirror are also effective. Selecting the right bulb type is extremely important. Colored or coated bulbs can help improve the appearance of facial features. Can light bulbs are convenient, but are not a good source of lighting because it casts shadows across the face.

Hope this helps!

Bedrooms provide a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of a mix of darker tones. Let’s take a look at this room scene and talk a little more about how mixing woods can create a beautiful room. A wood floor starts the room’s ambience, complemented by the other tones in the furniture. Because this floor has some contrast built in, the dresser and bed can connect to the floor through the floor’s darker elements.

On the other hand, the picture frame on the back wall and the chair in the foreground stand out because of their complete color and tone differentiation from the floor. This room demonstrates that a wood floor does not limit your furniture options.

The designer took some chances with paint color, and the end result was worth the risk. The mid-tone cool grey provides an effective contrast to the warmth of the wood, while the gold ceiling contributes to the rich feel of the space. Woods always look better against a background other than white. Colors and neutrals add energy to wood floors and furniture.

To keep the space from feeling one-note and dark, the light moldings, canopy and bedding brighten the room and give just the right amount of contrast. The end result is a classic bedroom that invites you to relax in luxury.

Jumping visually from your sample choices to your final floor or kitchen or bath can be a real challenge. If you find it hard to visualize, the process is even more difficult. Here’s a quick tip that can make your decision process simpler.

For example, flooring is easier to visualize if your sample is actually on the floor. Once you narrow your choices, place the samples you are considering on the floor and stand right at the edge of each one in turn. How do you feel about the color, tone and texture of each now that you’re looking at from the installation distance and angle? Everything from the contrast inherent in a tile, wood or stone floor to a color or tone shift as the light hits carpet from the floor will help you make your final choice.

Take the same approach when it comes to kitchen and bath selections. This is a bit more complicated. Position every piece in as close to the final installation angle and distance as possible. (You may need several people to help with this!) Step back and see how they come together.

Visualizing is all about taking a few small pieces and imagining a complete room from them. This is always complex, but taking this simple step can give you a whole new angle on your space. We are here to help you through the entire process.

Everyone loves to lounge in overstuffed furniture with lots of pillows. Traditional and country styles encourage and welcome visitors with a wealth of soft surfaces and curved lines. This is a great look, but when it’s not balanced with some hard-surface elements, the room can feel almost out of focus.

Balancing that softness with a few hard-surface elements helps a space stay welcoming while allowing people to fully appreciate all of the softer elements. Think about how crystal and silver stand out in contrast to a soft damask tablecloth – one wouldn’t work as well without the other as a balance.

If you want to add a few hard-surface pieces to balance a room, consider accessories with clean lines in metal or glass. A square side table with one glass vase creates an opportunity for the eye to pause in a sea of softness, and provides the contrast that enables a visitor to enjoy all of the surfaces in your space.

To see part 1 in this series, please click here.

Do you find that voices echo when you walk into one of your rooms? If so, chances are you have a space with an imbalance of hard vs. soft surfaces. This situation happens particularly often with a modern approach to design.

The modern look generally starts with a sleek tile or wood floor. The new ebony wood tones lend themselves particularly well to a contemporary space. Add in wood furniture with simple lines and tailored couches and chairs, and a space can feel almost sculptural. It can also feel less inviting than you want. A few simple additions will improve this situation.

A number of soft elements fit well with a modern look. Consider rugs with thick textures in contemporary patterns or textures. Add in a wall hanging such as a contemporary quilt, tapestry or weaving that provides softness while still complementing the modern style. Finish up with a few floor pillows in a simple style to soften the floor area and provide extra seating.

Just a few touches can warm up your modern space, keeping the sculptured look while adding an inviting feel.

Small can be beautiful. Your choices actually expand because the small size allows you to spend more per square foot without breaking your budget. Now is the time to visit those areas of the store you’ve been avoiding because of cost.

Consider an old-style two-color tile floor with a lot of personality. Installing a pedestal sink creates the perception of space because you can see more of the floor. With the smaller walls, how about tiling the back wall? The wall opposite the door has the most impact, both in the room and outside in the hall. Another choice is a floor-to-ceiling panel of some beautiful tile behind the sink. Paint the rest of the walls a similar color, so that the space doesn’t feel split.

If you choose a shiny tile and a glossy paint, the whole space will shine. Or you could choose a matte finish textured tile pattern and use flat paint that highlights one of the tile colors on the rest of the walls. Don’t eliminate the possibility of wallpaper. One double roll will probably finish the space, so you can splurge. If it’s a light paper, consider papering the ceiling too.

Bring some decoration into the space with a beautiful and unique mirror. One nice accessory in the same style pulls the room together without making the space feel crowded. Finish with a fun light fixture – something that shines, maybe even a small crystal chandelier.

Think jewel box, take some design chances, and make your guest bath something to make you proud.

Have you noticed that some kitchens are lovely but don’t really catch your attention, while others have that “wow” factor? The difference is contrast. Even if you would rather stick with neutrals in your kitchen’s design, using a variety of tones will give your cooking space impact.

For many people, their first inclination is to pick everything according to their preferences without thinking of how each piece interacts. For example, people who prefer light tones will be drawn to light cabinetry, flooring, countertops and backsplash tile. With these choices, you do get a light, bright kitchen. But with no contrast, the space has only one design note – light.  Even adding color won’t change that limited palette.

The same thing happens for people who prefer the dark tones. If they choose dark cabinets, countertops, etc., their kitchen will resemble a cave – cozy but not as inviting as it could be.

This doesn’t mean that you have to make choices you don’t care for. Something as simple as a dark countertop combined with stainless steel appliances can anchor a lighter kitchen and add an inviting design feel. Dark cabinets and countertops work well together as long as you go light on the backsplash and floor. Lose the cave and create a wonderful space.

When it comes to cleaning your carpets, you have a couple questions to consider: do you steam or dry clean? Do you perform the cleaning yourself or have it professionally done?

When done well, steam cleaning is likely the best process and most often recommended by carpet manufacturers. “Done well” means that the water is hot enough, the technician is appropriately trained (IICRC Certified is best), the cleaning agents are correct for your carpet and the equipment—particularly the vacuum—is in good working order. A fully functioning truck-mounted vacuum should recapture around 95% of the moisture introduced into your carpet. This will dramatically increase soil and waste removal, while reducing drying time.

It is important to recognize that if you desire steam cleaning, most home maintenance tools don’t always measure up. While highly touted by their manufacturers, they typically can’t produce enough heat, power or suction to sufficiently clean your carpets. They may suffice for spot cleaning, but for a true deep extraction cleaning, you’ll be far better served by spending your money on a cleaning professional operating from a truck-mounted unit that produces real steam. In order for steam to get to your carpet, the water needs to be heated to around 250 degrees, to account for the drop in temp from the unit to your carpet!

It is critical that the carpets don’t get too wet, and that all the cleaning agents are completely removed. Overwetting can cause backing separation or leave ripples in your carpet. Not removing all the cleaner may leave residues that can cause rapid resoiling.

Have you ever thought about what you can do to create a luxurious feel in your home?

Recently, Home and Garden TV’s Design Star had two teams create model condos for Donald Trump with a luxurious feel. One team really got it – the space was amazingly luxurious. The other team simply lost sight of the goal, the condo was mediocre at best, and two of the three team members were eliminated.

Let’s take a look at what the winning team understood, and what you can do to create a sense of luxury in your home.

Luxury is all about texture, color and sheen. From a texture standpoint, carpeting, fabrics, and rugs that combine and layer textures create a feel of luxury. For carpeting, think plush or the rich variety of sculptured options available. No matter your flooring choice, thick, soft rugs layered on top add a sense of lavishness to your décor.

When you’re picking fabrics, select silks and wools, which combine a wealth of textures with fibers that take color like no other fabrics. A dupioni silk has a natural depth of color because silk takes dye so well. Add in the nubs and uneven weave natural to that fabric, and it’s the very essence of luxury. For contrast, add in a faux fur throw or a leather or suede pillow.

For accessories, it’s time to kick up the sheen factor. Mirrors and metallics of all kinds create that sense of sumptuousness. Consider mercury glass candlesticks, a mirrored dresser or a collection of small mirrors with different shapes and frames along one wall.

Just pick up a few fabrics and accessories and you can take your space to a new level of luxury.