Tag Archives: Home decor

Home Office with a Home Feel

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If you are one of the growing number of people who work from home, or if you would just like an office to handle household accounts and work on your computer, you may want to include a home office in your new home.

The challenge is to keep the room functional while still fitting with your home rather than looking like a commercial space. This room, from Fulton Home’s Malibu model in the Shoreline community, does a good job of managing both.

The desk provides plenty of work space, even with the laptop sitting on it. A few drawers facing the chair will hold current papers and office supplies without creating the office-feel produced by file cabinets.

There is plenty of light in the room. The ceiling fan provides ambient light and a bit of breeze to chase the mental cobwebs away when you’re thinking too hard. The nice large window gives plenty of natural light during the day and the floor lamp serves for task lighting at night.

The desk chair is not a traditional office choice, but it provides a home touch that benefits the room. The informal wing chair to the side makes a useful companion chair – moving across the desk or behind it for the convenience of a visitor.

The nicest feature from a home office standpoint is the bookshelf/china closet to the right. With its glass cabinet doors books become decorative as well as functional. The three drawers at the bottom provide space for more office supplies or papers.

Only a few years ago, the look of this room would have been hurt by scads of wires and cables. Now, thanks to Wifi capabilities, the most you may need is a cord to the nearest electrical outlet for the laptop if you want to conserve its battery.

To keep your home office as inviting as this one, look for furniture you can repurpose the way they did in this room. With some art and window coverings this room is inviting as well as useful.

Décor – Bedroom Lighting

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The exaggerated height of the bedside lamps in this bedroom makes the lamps a standout feature in the room. The black headboard anchors the bed area while the tall lamps appear to soar. Bedside lighting can be more than functional; it can become a beautiful design element in the bedroom.

 

Bedside lighting is essential in the bedroom. Whether it is for a master bedroom, a guest room or child’s room, having a light next to the bed is a must.  Even if you have overhead lighting, reaching the switch to turn it off or on might not be convenient from the bed. Adding a lamp to the bedside table or nightstand will make flipping on or off the lighting in the room more convenient.

 

Lighting in the bedroom, like most rooms in the home, should be layered. Overhead lighting is great for getting dressed or looking for a lost earring in the carpet. It can be bright and too harsh for other times. Pairing an overhead light with bedside lighting creates lighting zones and layers of light.

 

Reading in bed or using the laptop is better done with bedside lighting that can create pools of light rather than washing the entire room in light. Stylish bedside lamps can be sat on the nightstand or mounted as wall lamps bedside the bed. Either provides adequate lighting for reading in bed. Look for a pair or near pair of table lamps that are keeping in scale with your nightstand and headboard for stylish and functional bedside lighting.

Elements That Make For A Special Family Room

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Plan ahead and you can create a family room that provides everything you and your family need for an evening’s entertainment.

This built-in cabinetry to the left makes the room a one-stop shop for games, movies and music. The television has a home theater sound system built into the room through inconspicuous speakers set in the ceiling.

The glass doors under the television allow family members to control the cable or satellite system, the DVD player and the Ipod-based sound system with several remote controls. These remotes are hidden from sight when not in use thanks to the drawer in the middle of the coffee table.

Board games join a WII system complete with accessories, all tucked in the cabinets to the left and right of the flat-screen television. The generous space in front of the coffee table and the plush rug encourages kids and adults play games on the floor or engage in sports and exercise using the WII.

This wall of cabinets provides plenty of storage and the lighting is bright enough for afternoon activities such as homework or other projects. With a quartet of matching drawers and cabinets across the bottom of the built-in cabinetry, each school-age child could use one cabinet for storing school books and homework, while school supplies could live in the drawers above.

With a wealth of storage space and plenty of comfy seating, this room provides everything a family needs to enjoy the room. This is one good example of how Fulton builds homes with families in mind.

 

Decorating for Teen Girls

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The old adage that boys are easier to raise than girls is perhaps never truer when it comes to decorating their rooms.  Teen girls can change their style as often as they change their outfits—and that can be a lot. Decorating a room that will keep our teenage daughters happy can be tricky but isn’t mission impossible. Getting input from the teen is important but you have input too. After all, it is still your house.  Working together on decorating your teenage daughter’s room will make you both happy.

 

Keeping the major things neutral and timeless will help the room to grow and change as your teenager grows.  If you are investing in new furniture and flooring be sure to select pieces that can work for several different styles.  Wood floors will never go out of style and can be topped with area rugs that suit this year’s color scheme.  Wall color is a great way for your daughter to express herself. And paint is inexpensive and easily changed as her mood or style changes.

 

Forcing your modern loving daughter into a traditional room won’t work for either of you.  Start by having your daughter pull together images from blogs or magazines of rooms she likes. Create a dialog about what will be possible.  Set a budget and allow her to make some of the design decisions. Bedding and accessories are great for adding a certain style and look.  Keeping furniture to classic forms means you can have more fun in the fabrics and colors of the room.

Classic White Molding and Trim

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Some design elements are classics because they’ve withstood the test of time and trends. White painted molding and trim are classic because they work in so many different types of interior styles.  White painted trim can make both the wall and floor color pop, acting as a frame for a colorful wall. Painting baseboard molding white also helps transition the floor color to the wall color. The white molding acts as a palette cleanser between the floor and wall or two different colors if used as a chair railing.

 

Of course there are other options for molding and trim colors besides white. Some styles like Craftsman or Mission prefer that wood trim, molding and paneling be kept natural stained wood.  There was a time when painting wood molding, wainscoting or trim was considered a design faux pas. That isn’t the case in today’s design world.  To make molding blend in with the wall color or wallpaper it can be painted the same color. It can be painted a highlight color from patterned wallpaper or even a contrasting color to the wall color. These approaches will have a very different visual effect than white painted molding, but can be equally as beautiful.

 

The type of paint used on molding is typically a gloss or high gloss oil paint.  These types of paint can stand up to the wear and dirt better than a flat paint.  The shiny, glossy surface will also draw your eye to the architectural detail created by the molding, baseboard or trim.

Decorating with Rustic Contemporary Style

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When you first hear contemporary and rustic together you may think they don’t fit. How can the clean, sleek lines of contemporary style work with the imperfect, rough surfaces and designs of rustic style?

 

 

This is a surprising style combination that does indeed work, and work well together. The saying opposites attract certainly applies to contemporary rustic style.

 

This living room is a beautiful example of the two styles working together to create a new and interesting style.  Contemporary rustic style isn’t the same as eclectic style, which marries a few different styles into a single room.  Contemporary rustic is much more streamlined and has its roots firmly in contemporary style.  Rustic additions add a handcrafted element to the smooth, machine made surfaces of contemporary furniture.

 

The sleek contemporary chaise in this living room is paired with a rustic low bench that is used as a coffee table. A roughly carved bowl and primitive sculpture create a vignette on the table. Other rustic elements in the room include the floating shelves. These shelves appear to be made of reclaimed wood, a popular material in contemporary rustic design. In fact, reclaimed wood floors are a popular choice for contemporary spaces.  The reclaimed wood floors add texture and interest to the minimalist designs of contemporary style.

 

Mixing styles like rustic and contemporary is about finding harmony between the two styles.  This room is successful because it retains its contemporary style but includes a few handcrafted rustic elements. This rule would work for global or ethnic accents in a contemporary space, too.

Home Decor – Purple Grows Up

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Purple is becoming a popular decorating color in all areas of the home.  You may have never considered decorating in purple but it is a big trend.  Yes, lavender and pink have been a popular color combination for a girl’s bedroom as long as girls have loved purple, but now purple is growing up.

 

Sophisticated shades of purple from deep plum to whispery silvers with lavender hues are showing up in living rooms, dining rooms and master bedrooms.  This color can work in either masculine or feminine or gender neutral spaces.  It is lovely in a room with a cool, tonal color palette such as this dining room.  Or it can be paired with its cool color sisters of blue and green.  Mix lavender with gold accents for a complementary color palette that feels sophisticated and serene. Plum and browns create a rich, dramatic feeling room.

 

The lavender chairs in this modern dining room have a little more pink or red in the color than the walls and this allows them to pop despite this being a monochrome palette.  The pendant lights have more blue undertones and being a darker hue helps them stand out.

 

Even monochrome room needs a few neutral shades to help balance the color.  The light wood and jute rug in this dining area act as both a neutral shade and a contrasting color because they have yellow undertones that give them some warmth.  Black or white would also work in this space.  A white parson’s table would be great with the modern chairs and pendant lights.

 

Setting the Stage for Good Design: Room Layout

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Creating a welcoming room begins with the furniture arrangement. This living room is a great example of a balanced room layout. It’s easy because the room is essentially a square, which lends itself to a balanced room.  Let’s take a look and see what works in this room, and what could be changed.

 

First, the fireplace is situated between a pair of windows, becoming the focal point of the room.  This way the seating can be set up to face both the view out the windows and the fireplace.

 

Second, the seating arrangement is nicely focused on the fireplace with a pair of sofas facing one another for conversation. Two chairs face the fireplace and are situated in close proximity to each other and the sofas, creating a tight arrangement that is perfect for socializing.  The coffee table anchors the seating arrangement.  It is large enough for drinks, snacks and even board games.

 

These are things the room gets right, but the design stops there.  Finishing touches are missing; the things that make a room feel like home need to be added. Blank walls are begging to be filled.  Accessories need to be added. A rug would center the seating area. The black and white palette could be kept or color could be added in the form of accent pillows, books, vases, objects and throws. Accessories would also add texture to the space.

 

Building off the basics is easy if you get the bones of the room established first.  This is where a drawing of the room can come in handy before you begin moving around the furniture. Plan first—move second.

How to Create a Eclectic Modern Living Room

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Eclectic is a big buzz word in design right now. Seamlessly mixing styles to create a space that feels collected and personal takes a good eye and a sense of balance.  Eclectic is not just throwing together a hodgepodge of things and hoping they work together.  Successfully mixing styles is a matter of creating harmony with elements that do not match.

 

Adding eclectic style to an existing décor can help break up the feeling of a furniture showroom where everything matches.  The furniture showroom look and sets of furnishings for the dining room, living room or bedroom feels a little outdated. Don’t worry if you have a living room or bedroom set, there are easy ways to give your room an updated, eclectic look with accessories and lighting.

 

This living room is a great example of an eclectic modern room.  You’ll notice that the chairs and sofa all match and were probably bought as a set.  The coffee table is also modern and its clean lines complement the sofa and chairs.  These coordinating pieces give the room a strong modern base on which to add eclectic pieces.

 

Accent pieces, lighting and accessories are used to introduce eclectic style in this living room.  The Chinese cabinet brings in a bit of global style. The traditional crystal chandelier adds a formal touch and a bit of glamour. Patterned accent pillows are a great place to bring in patterns from other styles, too.

 

So if you want to achieve an eclectic style, start with what you have as the base. Build on it by adding in accent pieces, accessories and lighting in different styles to make the room reflect your personality and interests.

 

Traditional Dining Room Decor

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Formal dining rooms often follow a pattern in their design. Many formal dining rooms have a traditional style even if the rest of the home is more casual and comfortable.  In many minds, the dining room should be formal and for many of us formal means traditional.  This is the room where we dress up for dinner and celebrate holidays and milestones.

 

Achieving a formal feel in the dining room is often done with traditional design elements and furnishings.  Even if your style is more modern, these traditional elements are the foundation of any formal dining room.  You can take the traditional elements and modernize them to suit your taste, but you’ll find that you use the same pieces as a traditional style dining room does.

 

The dining table is the focal point of the room. Surrounded by a set of six, eight, ten or twelve chairs, the table is centered in the room by a light fixture, most often a chandelier.  The chandelier is typically hung thrity-something inches above the table, low enough to relate to the table and high enough not to interfere with the sight lines from the chair.  Other pieces in a traditional dining room include a sideboard or buffet and often a mirror above it.

 

This dining room has all the classic elements of a traditional dining room. Crown molding, a chair rail and picture molding below add a formal feel to the room.  The large area rug ties in the striped pattern of the wallpaper and the colors of the table and chairs.