A Royal Residence

In honor of the new addition to the Royal Family across the pond, let’s give a stately nod to some regal touches to add to make our own castles feel a little more majestic.  No jeweled crown is required to put an imperial spin on the space we live in.

When you think high-class, you can easily think high-end.  But there are plenty of options short of the lofty price tags.  Take classic furniture pieces with European roots like armchairs, buffets, armoires, and bureaus, which can all be found in second hand stores and other options other than retail outlets. You can take the “good bones” of old pieces, as they say, and give them a makeover to the extent you desire.  Sanding, painting or staining, recovering, and reupholstering can all go a long way to giving an older piece new life with real appeal.

If the proof is in the pudding, then the design is in the details.  Decorative accents can go a long way to giving an individual piece or an entire room a look and feel of quality and upscale style.  Think button tufts, nailhead trim, turned wood furniture legs, rolled arms, extensive carvings, and other dressy finishes.  Playing up these accents and clustering decorative furniture together can provide a more pronounced impression for the grouping.

Up the ante with more formal decorative pieces in little touches throughout your home.  Hang a Venetian style mirror over a foyer table or dining room buffet in place of more casual canvas art.  Use a polished tray to hold remotes, magazines, candles, or coasters on a coffee table in lieu of a woven basket.  Display China pieces or pretty ceramics in open or glass kitchen cabinetry or shelving.  Embrace more decorative finishes over contemporary clean lines.    

You also cannot go wrong with the more stereotypical approach in your decorations if that suits your space.  A chandelier style lighting fixture over your dining table is automatically going to give the room a more formal feel.  A portrait mirror with a decorative metallic trim is going to look more elegant that a wood framed one of the same size.  Forego a drum shade for a scallop, bell, or empire shape for your lamp instead.  Accent pillows with silhouette prints like candelabras, chandeliers, and crowns are all cheeky show pieces that state you enjoy a little grandeur.

You may not sip tea with your pinky up in the air, but if stately style suits you, show it off with luxury and lavishness fit for the palace you call your place of residence.      

DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star July 28th.

     

What Lies Beneath

Flooring is a big design choice for your home. It literally covers a lot of ground and makes quite the visual impact.  If you moved into a home with someone else’s design selections in place, you may be wishing for a change.  With some budgeting and some creativity, you can make it happen.

Hardwood flooring comes at a high price, but wood laminate flooring can provide you with a similar look and texture for less.  Laminate works well for any room of the house, but if you would love the look and want to really keep the cost down, consider smaller areas only like bathrooms, walk-in closets, and hallways. 

If you have tile or laminate in a large space like the living room but would like to create a cozy and inviting, anchored seating area, you have an option beyond an area rug.  I love rugs, but with their set dimensions, you can feel limited on size and shapes.  Just recently, I ventured into carpet floor tiles to replace a rug in our high traffic laundry room and garage entry.  You can buy individual carpet tiles online you attach to each other with peel-and-stick adhesion.  Because the carpet tiles can be cut to fit wall-to-wall, you can cover less desirable hard flooring with a style you handpick.  Or you can create a custom size area rug or hallway runner that fits perfectly amid your seating areas, furniture groupings, and walkways.  You have the option to blend individual pieces, offered in a variety of solids, stripes, gradients, and graphic prints, to create a custom design.

Another flooring technique we will be seeing more of, as it has certainly hit others areas already, is seeing flooring material being carried right up the wall. Using subway style tiling and wood pieces as a wall finish in bathrooms and kitchens in particular is a popular technique on home design television.

With a fresh take on what lies beneath, you might just kiss the ground you walk on.             

DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star July 21st.

             

Beat the Heat: Summer's Indoor Projects

We know it’s going to be another scorcher out there.  Amid the climbing temperatures, stifling humidity, and scorching sun, looking for things to do indoors sounds like a pretty good plan.  If a few random projects could make your summer more productive, try these on for size:

Organize a Closet – Yes, I started with a biggie, but turning boredom into bustling results could be well worth it.  Try on clothes for fit, make piles to donate or sell, hang your clothing up by color, give your folded laundry and shoes new order, and arrange accessories to be easily seen and retrieved.  A pretty closet can be a thing of real beauty. 

Sort Your Stacks – Go through DVDs, CDs, and books, arranging your keepers by category - or alphabetical order if you’re feeling scholastic – and making a stack for donation or resale at a local shop.  You may find a great summer read that’s been stashed away or get motivated to organize a group movie night.

Paint Something – New hooks for entryway storage, picture frames for a cohesive gallery look, or a wrapped canvas ready for a movable wall decal can all be quick and easy afternoon projects with just a brush and some acrylic paint. 

Tend a Garden . . . in the Kitchen – Some small pots, pea gravel, and kitchen herbs can bring a little of the outdoors in and provide fresh additions to your summer meals.  Enjoy basil, rosemary, thyme, or another favorite variety, all while watering right at the kitchen sink. 

Take Pictures – Capturing a great outdoor scene is customary.  Why not turn the lens around and focus on things inside, like taking a snapshot of your life today.  Get artistic with a dressy pair of shoes, a stack of recipe books, a keepsake piece of furniture, or the lamp that shines down on your bedside table.  

Beef Up Your Cold Storage – If you’d like to enjoy that delicious field corn or family summer dish a little longer, make extra batches for freezing and eating later.  If you’re already working in the kitchen, you might as well make it count twice. 

Go, Go Gadgets – Wrangle all of your chords together and make them user friendly, perhaps tying individuals in tight bundles and labeling or color coding them.  Sync your music player.  Charge all of your electronic devices to start fresh.  Organize your remote controls in trays where they are used.        

Turn on the Tube – I admit I can watch the same reruns over and over again in my favorite TV series.  But this is a great time of year to tune into, we’ll say, more productive television, and watch cooking shows to find a new recipe to try, home makeover shows to inspire a DIY project, and travel shows for a little future vacation inspiration.

The beach is a great getaway.  But if you had something a little cooler in mind, beat the heat and make your air conditioned time count with projects fit for the great indoors. 

DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star July 14th.

Going Old School Summer

There is nothing like a throwback to simple summers past to round up a little seasonal fun for the boredom bunch hanging around your home.  If the kids could use something less electronic to fill their day, rely on go-to activities with some old school flair.  You remember, don’t you?   

Sidewalk chalk can keep them entertained outside for some time.  Use the driveway or patio as an oversized canvas for a creative display.  Fill the cups in a muffin tin with water based paints they could use in their masterpiece as well.  One water hose and some drying time, and there’s a fresh slate to work with all over again.   

Blowing bubbles has gotten fancier over the years with better solution and more complicated plastic wands.  Stock up on some bottles, introduce a fan, and watch the fun fly.  Additionally, anything water related is a great time passer at home.  Soaker guns can offer a little cool-off backyard competition, as can an ice chest full of carefully filled and tied water balloons.  Bring a little bit of the beach to your place by using bags of playground sand to build your own dune.  Traditional plastic buckets, shovels, and molds will give them a taste of being oceanside.   

For the youngest in the bunch, craft projects can keep them entertained indoors.  The bird feeder made with toilet paper rolls, string, peanut butter, and bird seed is a classic.  A craft store beading aisle is chalk full of supplies for making necklaces and bracelets by hand.  Scrapbooking paper, brads, tape, and colored straws can become pinwheels.  And crosscut sections of vegetables like potatoes, okra, and celery make surprising stamps for ink pad art on cup towels.   

What’s an old school summer without fitting snacks?  S’mores are the quintessential build-your-own treat with a toasty outdoor twist.  The build-your-own set up also is perfect for ice cream sundaes, hot dogs, burgers, and taco salads.  For a sweet afternoon snack, make your own popsicles, mixing juices and diced fruit in paper cups with craft sticks to freeze in the centers.  

It doesn’t have to be bright, shiny, and new to be a summer ton of fun.  Kids today may or may not have experienced some of these time-honored activities.  This is a chance to make sure they can add to their memory bank the simple things you used to enjoy in summers gone by.     

 

DesignInMind column; appeared in the Valley Morning Star July 7th.