With the advent of technology and our increasingly interconnected society, the possibility and plausibility of working from home is rapidly rising. Documents can be shared and worked on cooperatively in cloud applications, and meetings and brainstorming sessions can be held via video conferencing. Even if a home office is not a primary work space for you, it is likely at least a part time work space and a location from which to manage personal finances and household activities. There are many advantages of an office at home, and let’s face it, you can’t beat the commute!
Luxury Bathroom Remodeling
Create your perfect bathroom while avoiding the
"design fad" trap
You might renovate your bathrooms once in the time you live in your house…maybe twice if you stay there for more than 30 years, but in any case, whatever you do will need to have staying power. Having worked on dozens of bathrooms with clients over the last 25 years, we have the benefit of much experience. We have seen many trends come and go and have learned to discern which are fads and which are new classics.
Here are some things to consider when creating your perfect bathroom:
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Trade Secrets: 4 Ways to Transform your Space with Paint
Well, it's groundhog day and apparently we have 6 more weeks of winter. Honestly, no matter what the furry rodent says, we in New England KNOW that winter weather is capricious right up to (and sometimes into!) May. But spring is coming...eventually!
The good news? Trapped inside during winter is the perfect time to spruce up your house in time for the spring flurry (no pun intended) of activities. And one of the most effective ways to make changes is with paint.
There are many places where new paint will make a big difference:
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The Well-Designed Room
A well-designed room is alchemy…part science and part art.
Sure, we want our rooms to look good, but more importantly, we want them to be comfortable – to LIVE well. And the essence of comfort in a room is feeling good there. Comfort is about more than the cushion fill in the sofa. It also includes the convenience and functionality and welcoming FEEL of the space. Good design serves the occupants of the room, not the other way around.
Whether starting from scratch or reworking existing spaces, here are a few essential processes and principles:
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High Style, Low Maintenance
Low maintenance…we appreciate it in our relationships, but we adore it in our interiors! As long as we can get great style, low maintenance versions of natural materials are an enticing alternative.
I love natural materials but they require extra care – they are susceptible to staining, fading, scratching, and wear. Sometimes we just don’t have the time or patience or lifestyle (or house denizens!) to accommodate the care often required by natural products.
Luckily, technology is keeping pace and there are now products available that imitate nature well, but are MUCH easier to keep looking good.
Here are 3 of our favorites:
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Trade Secrets: Do's and Don'ts for Hanging Draperies
Trade Secrets: the do’s and don’ts of hanging draperies
It has come to my attention that in the wonderful world of decorators, most have jumped on the bandwagon of "hang ‘em high". I refer to, of course, the trend to hang the curtain rod for drapery panels well above the window to elongate the proportions in a room. And this does, in fact, work. BUT… like most things, this cannot be applied universally willy-nilly.
The advice is grounded in the notion that a longer line creates an unbroken vertical that makes the perceived height of the room taller. And while this is absolutely true, there are caveats.
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Is a chaise sofa the best solution?
Whenever we start a project, one of the first things we need to determine is how the room will be used, how many people will be using it at a time, and what are the possible needs we should consider when selecting and arranging the pieces for the room. And with the multipurpose spaces like the “great rooms” that are breeding in new construction and rehabs like rabbits, many rooms need to have the flexibility to serve a lot of functions. After all, if a room doesn’t function comfortably and well, what good is it? We WANT you to love your room and that means it needs to work perfectly as well as look good doing it!
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Should I hire an interior designer?
Should I hire an interior designer?
The short answer is YES. If you want to ...
Save time
A designer should have the experience and know-how to diagnose what is bugging you about your house and come up with several possible solutions tailored exactly to your situation. OR you can spend your precious free time scouring websites and magazine articles looking for someone with your exact design dilemma who found a viable solution you like and then assessing all the options for implementing it and trying to figure out which is the best real value. The choice is yours, of course.
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Four Key Ingredients for Outdoor Living Spaces
As the spring weather slowly warms up and freezing rain and snow appear to be left behind for the next few months, it is time to turn our attention to the upcoming season of road construction outdoor living. Designing spaces to live outside and revel in the warmer weather is even more important here in the northeast where we celebrate that we survived another winter and the gray, pre-spring months!
On my “must have” list for anyplace I live, is a slice of outdoor space. Whether you have a pocket sized balcony, a patio, a covered or screened porch, or a deck, make the most of it so you can enjoy the beauty of nature for a few months.
Arranging an outdoor space uses the same principals as arranging an indoor space – scale, color, and balance all apply. Here are a few key ingredients to keep in mind:
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Trade Secrets: Five Tips for Choosing the Perfect Rug
A well chosen area rug can pull together a whole room. While there are many ways to approach decorating a room, starting with an area rug you love is one of the most logical. The rug you choose can set the design direction for the whole room and choices are available for every possible situation, from a trendy flokati to a classic oriental, and everything in between. That said, here are some guidelines to help you with your choices wherever the rug selection falls in your process.
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Trade Secrets: Sofa Shopping Simplified
Sofa shopping can be intimidating. Choosing style details can be overwhelming, but comparing quality can be even more so since upholstery has a whole set of its own vocabulary, and the quality levels vary from store to store and even within a store or brand. Largely, price is an indication of quality level, but not entirely...there is some murky territory in the middle where many popular brands mix a few quality elements in with cheaper materials or construction so they may sound higher quality than they really are. Upholstered furniture can be found at pretty much any price point, so how do you determine how much to spend?
The answer to that question depends on a number of factors…
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Getting ready for the spring market? – Staging Tips from a Pro
Part of what sells a home is it’s feeling of hominess. Stripping a home of its character and emptying the rooms does not create the emotional appeal needed to sell a home. Careful editing and thoughtful arrangement does.
Here are a few key steps toward marketing your home in its best possible light:
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