Easily update a room with these few steps:
September 15, 2008
- Color - Paint entire space or just one accent wall.
- Lighting - Add new lamps or work in recessed lighting within the space.
- Furniture - Try adding slipcovers to existing pieces that have great shapes or what we like to call “good bones”.
- Accent Pieces - Create a presence or impact a space by placing items that are alike or small collections together on a wall.
- Minimize Clutter - Less is really more-your eye should not jump quickly from one place in a room to another. De-clutter and let all the pieces within a space have their own time in the spotlight.
House Plants
September 11, 2008
Succulants thrive in climates with high temperatures and low precipitation; going long periods of time with no water. Succulants are year-round, indoor/outdoor plants-they can be left on the front porch in the heat of summer and then brought inside during our cooler months of fall and winter where they will continue to thrive. The following are four selections that make great houseplants according to Lisa Thompkins, landscape designer and horticulturalist at Charlotte’s Pike Family Nursery in Ballantyne.
- Aloe Vera - Spiky-yet-decorative perennials have medicinal qualities.
- Sedums (Stonecrops) and Sempervivums (Hen & Chicks) - Semps carry round or rosette shapes while the fine tecture of sedums’ five petals can fill in any area in a flower bed.
- Yucca and Agave - Yucca have variegated greens-and-whites and greens-and-yellows. Agave has aloelike greyish or green sword-shaped leaves. It only flowers once in its lifetime.
- Christmas cactus - Blooms at the holiday season with a gorgeous flower, either red, pink, white or purple. These cacti thrive in bright, indirect sunlight and create buds when exposed to six- to eight-weeks’ worth of cooler temperatures.
**Source: Charlotte Home and Garden Magazine-Fall 2007 Home Elements. Pgs. 31-35**
Color in Design
September 9, 2008
“Colour trends develop, and are largely due to fashion trends and historical and social reasons. Recently, the trend has been to use neutrals and accent with colour,” says Harley Anstee, managing director of long-established Australian design firm Nexus Designs. But as we all travel the world and move around the globe more easily, changes in the use of color in our personal spaces are eminent. People are traveling to other countries that use color inherently within their homes and places of business and bringing back with them some of those influences and using them as inspiration within their own homes. When chosing color there are no right or wrong combinations; it all just comes down to individual tastes and about expressing yourself within your own home. When working with clients to create the interior palette of the home, I talk with them about collections, travel experiences and current positions in life. I have found that once the “interview” process of color is complete both myself, as the designer, and the client have a much better understanding of the usage and need for color within the interiors of the home. This becomes the basis or “start’ point for the design plan; I have found with having the plan and visuals to help guide both myself and the client the plan becomes easier to execute and complete in a more timely manner.
Sources: TrendsIdeas.com September 2008-Australia