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Ten years ago, a client of ours purchased a prize lot in a beautiful neighborhood along the river. She always imagined the great room in the home she was building to be filled with sunshine and views of the sparkling water.
If only her architect had known.
Read moreAt a recent house call, my client handed me a photo of a room from her childhood home. When it was taken, the shelving concept was not the subject matter. Instead the grainy snapshot from the 1980s was focused on a group of happy, good-looking people, sitting together in a family room on what might have been a Sunday evening after dinner.
As she looked at the photo and talked about adaptations to the design, she was suddenly overcome with emotion and we were both a little surprised when tears came to her eyes.
Read moreWhether your are an accomplished gastronomer or someone who catches meals on the fly, a kitchen that functions smoothly and pleases the senses is probably at the top of your design wish list. What design tactics should you follow - beyond the ‘work triangle’?
Read moreAfter almost two decades in design, I have become an expert at intelligent space planning, but as the owner of a modest home, the tricks I've learned for making the most of tight spaces are particularly close to my heart.
Read moreWe all have them, those unfinished projects that accumulate because we ran out of steam for one reason or another. Waning house projects, in particular, add to the figurative clutter in our lives.
Read moreThe one role in your professional life that you may not have been prepared to take on is that of movie producer, but those skills are important now as we navigate new norms that have us opening up a virtual window into the private sanctity of our homes.
Read moreI have had more than a few clients who wanted to stay put during a big renovation and in every case, there was a minimum of ever-growing frustrations and, in one memorable instance, a complete meltdown that was damaging to the working relationship between the homeowner and contractor. I’ve never had a client say they were glad they stayed put, but I’ve heard many say they would never do it again.
Read moreBeginning in March, I was spending a lot more time at home. Zoom meetings with clients, colleagues, and collaborators helped normalize the new strangeness of working from home. It began to really sink in for me that another hard worker in my home was the upholstery I had invested in almost twenty years ago - as well as a few beloved pieces that had been in my husband’s family. The solidly built frames were more than able to serve us for decades to come, but the fabrics needed a change. My taste have shifted over the years, rugs have come and gone, and our art collection has only become more dense, offering new inspirations for texture, color, and pattern. Recovering just a few pieces this summer breathed new life into my home - and reminded me that a question client’s often have is about whether or not to reupholster their own pieces.
Read moreWhen I ask clients how I can help, they most often tell me they need my vision to pull things together. Whether you are starting from scratch, working with a fair amount of things you already own, or as is most often the case something in the middle, your primary concern is how does it all jigsaw together to become one cohesive look.
Eclecticism is a term designers use to describe a mix of furniture periods and styles, trends, colors, and textures. From the proud victorians to a relaxed present day style, eclecticism is by no means a new idea…
Read moreAs a new homeowner and a designer, I can tell you that good interior design is all in the details, but these nuances can often be addressed with simple, cost-effective changes.
Read moreNot all kitchens are equal, but size does not have to be a limitation. To be honest, I am a big fan of smaller kitchens, which is tantamount to treason in some areas of my profession. I have tried larger ones on for size and they work against my instinct for tight organization. Maybe you also prefer an intimate and efficient work area for creative cooking. Or if you are a cottage dweller like me, you might be limited by the scale of your house to a modest kitchen. I can’t promise to make people who don’t like cooking into enthusiastic home chefs, but with my professional insights, I can make your small kitchen into a room you’ll love. In this second part of my Design 101: Small Kitchens blog series, I will get into all the nerdy details of good proportion, good lighting, and how to use pattern.
Read moreMaybe your home is older and the kitchen was small from the beginning. It might not be in your budget to expand the space or doing so would steal too much space from another area. Or maybe, like me, you’ve just come to realize that a big kitchen is not necessarily a good one. Here are some helpful ideas for making the most of a smaller kitchen.
Read moreI can still remember spending days as a child in our den with the windows open, the sunlight and cool breeze flowing over me as I read, using my very large golden retriever as a pillow. We spent many days joined at the hip. I remember Chancey as part of our daily activities.
So when I meet our clients’ furry friends I know how important it is for us to consider them in the design of our client’s homes. We’ve compiled our top tips to help you include your four legged companions without sacrificing style worth showing off.
Read moreImagining your dream home is fun; building it is not. As an interior designer with a background in project management, I know just how intimidating it is for homeowners to face a new home build or home renovation with all the decisions, timelines, and the bottom line hanging in the balance.
Whether you want to avoid design choices you’ll regret or costly fixes near the end of construction, your project should start with a way to stay on track without fear.
Read moreUp until very recently, when I thought about a house with ‘good bones’, I came at it from a place of how the home looked to me.
I asked my colleagues Leesa Mayfield of Leesa Mayfield Architecture and David Logan of Vintage Building what the phrase ‘good bones’ meant to them. In our third installation of our A Home With Good Bones series, we discuss the construction techniques and next-level choices homeowners can make whether they’re starting from scratch or renovating any age of home.
Read moreUp until very recently, when I thought about a house with ‘good bones’, I came at it from a place of how the home looked to me. I asked my colleagues Leesa Mayfield of Leesa Mayfield Architecture and David Logan of Vintage Building what the phrase ‘good bones’ meant to them.
In our second installation of our A Home With Good Bones series, we discuss the literal ingredients of a fine house, the materials that provide for lasting performance in both old and new homes.
Read moreFor anyone who grew up with a lot of it, or even just a little bit, but it was not their taste - or certainly for anyone who has ever stripped it on their own - wallpaper can be viewed with a little skepticism. Yet it has never been more relevant, more transformative, or varied.
Here is my advice for picking wallpaper that will please your senses year after year. But, first, the things you need to get over.
Read moreAfter almost two decades in design, I have become an expert at intelligent space planning, but as the owner of a modest home, the tricks I've learned for making the most of tight spaces are particularly close to my heart.
Read moreUpholstery is the most hard working furniture in the home, providing enduring comfort and establishing the personality of the room through its stylings and fabric. No one wants to regret this choice either on delivery day because the fabric doesn't compliment the room or a couple of years down the line because the sofa hasn't held up to wear and tear.
Read moreThis blog is not about what kinds of rooms or how many should be included in a large house blueprint. The one piece of advice I always pass along to my clients is to build their home not for future owners or by any standard but their own. Choose your spaces because you think they will enrich your home life, not because other houses in your neighborhood have them.
This blog post is for people who want a large luxury home where every space is useful and all of the details and proportions make the right statement.
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