A moment in scale

If you read my post from last week, When good design goes bad, you’ll notice that I have a pet peeve for scale. It is a designers strongest arsenal but it is often the one thing that falls flat in most designs. Get it right and the room sings, get it wrong and it turns into American Idol…the bad version.

Today as I perused a few websites I came across a great example of a room that sings and one that…..well didn’t make the cut of yours truly. Here is my quick moment in scale:

1) Poor scale

One kind design

Observe the over scaled chair, mirror and chest. All perfectly good in such a large scaled room…..until you place it with buffet lamps. Yes they are tall and the color shades thankfully pull a bit of weight but not enough to make the scale RIGHT.

2) Excellent scale

Suzanne McGrath

Tall ceilings combined with a large chest and mirror seem second fiddle to the well proportioned lamps. Bold in color, tall and speak volumes (pun intended) compared to the previous example. A much better choice when getting RIGHT! Wouldn’t you agree? Can you see the difference??

What are some of your biggest challenges when handling scale?

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5 Ways to Brighten up a Dark Room

Is your home surrounded by trees and large foliage, making it cool in the summer, but also leaving your rooms feeling dark and gloomy? Do you have a favorite, small room that suffers from having only one window? Perhaps you live in a downstairs apartment whose only windows are located above eye level.

AB Home Interiors

Dark rooms like these are a decorator’s challenge, to be sure, but you don’t have to live with a dark and somber room. Afraid that brightening your room is going to be too expensive? Think again. Here are five, tried and true (and affordable) ways to lighten up any room:

1. Add greenery. A few plants or flowering bushes in pots add a bright and lively air to even the dingiest room. Stick with plants that thrive in limited light, such as spider plants, ferns, snake plants and flowering bromeliads. Combine these interesting shapes for a dramatic effect.

2. Reflect a bit. Mirrors trick the eye into thinking that a room is larger than it really is. Plus, they take a little light and magnify it ten-fold. Is your room narrow? Consider adding a floor-to-ceiling mirror at the end of the room. Most glass retailers will cut mirrors to order or you can also use mirrored tiles from a big box home improvement store. Is your decor more traditional? Scour estate and yard sales for a large mirror in a gilded frame for a more formal approach.

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3. Paint it white. Though often mocked (unfairly, we think) as being suited only for apartment living, white walls add a fresh, bright look to any room and make the most of the light that you have. Paint is also one of the least expensive ways to redecorate. A gallon of white paint costs around $30, and even less if you wait for a good sale.

4. Control the clutter. We all have clutter. Those knick knacks that you collect on vacation, piles of books you intend to read, craft projects waited to be started. However, clutter makes a room seem more closed in and dark. Banish all but a few, well-chosen items to drawers or cabinets. Plus, be mindful of adding new items to your newly brightened room. Clutter can sneak up on you.

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5. Limit the furniture. Dark, wooden furniture, while attractive, can darken a room and make it feel smaller than it actually is. Avoid over-furnishing your rooms. Instead, choose one exquisite piece to be the focal point and surround it with lighter-colored, less-substantial accent pieces. And, contrary to what your father might tell you, don’t be afraid to paint wooden furniture white or other light and bright colors. A garage sale chest of drawers or bookcase with a coat of ivory paint can become an attractive–and bright–place to store linens, books or hobby items.

Don’t resign yourself to living in a dark space. Brightening up a room doesn’t have to break your budget. Plan carefully, add a little paint, and limit the pieces you add to the room. Your dark dungeon will be transformed into a light and airy retreat in no time.

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Elli, a writer for your local security She was born and raised in Colorado and now enjoys skiing, playing tennis, and hiking in the mountains of Salt Lake City, Utah.

How to update your home without the cost of adding on

According to this article by STL today, in order to get the best return on your home there are five remodeling projects that get you the most bang for your buck. But like most cities, Nashville is a city with a lot of history, style and small homes. Maxwell coffee started here, Vanderbilt’s, and of course, country music. At the turn of the century many every day folks lived in wonderfully small bungalows, not in the suburbs where many of today’s urbanites find sprawling square footage! Thankfully, because of our history we have some of the most quaint neighborhoods and homes that I have ever seen. Edgehill, Sylvan park, 12 South, Berry hill, Downtown Franklin, just to name a few. Several of my client’s live in these beautiful areas, and they take pride in their wonderfully small bungalows. But how do you maximize and update a cracker jack lifestyle, two kids, and a dog when trying to salvage your homes original charm? It’s hard to imagine a massive remodel, that includes exploding that home’s charm out into the garden, just to suit the needs of your 21st century lifestyle. So what do you do if you live in a smaller space and a remodel is not an option? Heres how to get an update without the cost of adding on!

1) Taller doors

Tall doors

Taller doors give the illusion of more space in your home. Have you ever walked into a small family room that had vaulted ceilings? Often, when there is added height, the space creates it’s own optical illusion and you don’t feel cramped. Same goes for the doors. Taller doors give you the illusion that there is more space, and they also allow more light to flood into the space. An added bonus is painting them something special. Like the photo above, this home’s kitchen is very small, however, the beautifully tall, GREEN, doors take your attention away from the obvious, and makes the space spectacular! Here is a great place to find stylish doors, that are tall and affordable.

Designer tip: Can’t afford to replace and remodel your doors from 6’8 to 8′? Add pediments, antique windows or mirrors above your doors. It will give you the added affect, and won’t break the break.

2) Raise the drapes

Tall drapes

Just like raising the doors, raise your drapes all the way up to the bottom of the crown. Drapes add softness to a space, and draw your eye upward. For additional illusion select colors for your walls, trim and drapes in a similar color.

Designer tip: Add features to the top of your drapes like grommets, ribbon, or buttons. The added texture creates shadowing and more weight to the top of the drape.

3) Extended cabinets

Taller cabinets

Instead of choosing the ever-popular and standard 42″ upper cabinet, opt for the 36″ cabinet and top it with a 12″ upper with glass. As with the drapes and doors, it extends the eye up and the glass adds sparkle. The 12″ uppers can have lights placed inside them, grabbing the eyes attention with light. It is a great way to display some of your more special china, and also makes your space look more custom.

Designer tip: Already have a good kitchen in place and not about to remodel your kitchen? Paint your ceiling the same color as your wall, and add rope lighting or LED ribbon to the top of your cabinets. It will be harder for the eye to discern where the wall and ceiling meet, and the lights will help expand the space up.

4) Mirrors

Vintage mirrors

Mirrors add sparkle, grab and bounce light, and reflect objects from different angles. They are superb weapons for a small space.

Designer tip: You can never have enough mirrors!

5) Rug

Small Rug

Instead of choosing a small rug, go for the largest one that your room can fit. The photo above is a great example, by Southern Living, on making a too small rug, work.

Large rug

Many homeowners want to put a small rug in their small room, for fear of covering the floors! Above, this photo is a great example of extending the eye with a sisal rug, and then adding color and texture with a beautiful hide. If the rug option you have is too small for the room, layer it with one or two rugs to add texture and color. Otherwise the eye will only devote attention to the rug thats in a small room.

What are some of your favorite tricks?

Ready to get your room started? Contact us. We offer an array of services to meet your design needs whether you live in our area, or out of state. Click here for more info!

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images: houzz, kitchen cabinets, elements of style, simply seductive, emily clarke

Style and how to get it in 3 easy steps

When it comes to style decorating, sometimes homeowners get overwhelmed.(OK a lot overwhelmed!) They obsess trying to make their homes look like the magazines, or that TV show. But the warmest, most charming homes, are those with personal mementos that show your personal style off. (Won’t find that in a magazine.) In fact, I attended a magazine staging for Better homes and gardens last December and the entire shoot focuses on how the room looks through the camera lens. Flowers adjusted, lamps tweaked, and furniture placed just right. Literally everything is just so! Now I am a huge fan and reader of BHG. Their style is relaxed, easy and accessible to the everyday homeowner, however, remember that people don’t live in those pages.

How do you get that room from the magazine, but put your personal style in it? Here are three of my favorite tips.

1) Family photos

Family

There is nothing more personal than family. And who shares the best memories of happiness, love, sadness, and humor with you? Your family does! Turn them into your best decor and show them off. Nothing uplifts and supports you like family, honor them by making them a show piece in your home.

2) Color palette

Color

Nothing is more personal than color. Sure there are always those colors that are considered on trend. But most people have a color that they love, and while the intensity of that hue may change over the years, most homeowners stick to it. For anyone who has taken my design class, I talk about my mother and her love affair with mint green.

Mint paint. Moms FAVORITE color

Everything in our house when I was growing up centered around this color. Everything! The house trim, the tile in our kitchen, the floors…. Even today she has mint green bowls, dishes, a Kitchen Aid mixer, furniture, all of it mint green. Mom has never veered from the mint green ideology. If it’s mint, she loves it! When I SEE mint I think of her. That’s personal style! Color is intrinsic to who we are and it inspires us and our homes.

3) Art

Personal art

You have heard me say it before, I love art. And nothing is more personal than art. The art that you like, may not be what I like, and vice versus. Art is one of the best ways to add personal style to your home. Art inspires you and is uniquely you. A great way to show off your style, and make your home special.

What are some of your favorite tricks?

Ready to get your room started? Contact us. We offer an array of services to meet your design needs whether you live in our area, or out of state. Click here for more info!

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images: The birds papaya, house tweaking, desire to inspire

Art 101-Why art is synonymous with a well lived life

According to wikipedia: Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects ones senses and intellect. As I often say here on this blog, interiors done well equal a true lifestyle. And what is a lifestyle? A home that inspires and influences your mood!

My biggest arsenal when decorating: ART. I.love.art! I cannot tell you what makes a piece special, or why one costs more than another, but I can tell you that art, like a well lived life, influences your mood, and emotions. Nothing can make a home more personal or special than the art that you put in it.

Case in point: Three years ago my hair stylist went to Alabama for a weekend get away with her three sons. Before this trip her and I had many, many conversations about interior design and art. “Why oh why does art need to be so expensive?” she’d say. “And why oh why would someone pay thousands of dollars for it?” “I just don’t get it!” she’d screech.

Well on this particular trip she found herself immersed in the art district (thanks in part to her eldest) and like fate, she was whacked in her flabby dabs by a sculpture that made her weep. Never had she experienced such emotion over what she’d declare as “an absurd blob, deemed as art for a ridiculous price”. Her three sons, 17,19,and 22 years of age had never seen their tough, single mother cry in such a way over “an absurd blob…deemed as expensive art.” Those boys worked out a deal with the art dealer and saved for an entire year to buy that sculpture and gave Tracy (mom) an absurd blob on Mothers day 2010.

To this day when I tell a client that very story my eyes well up with emotion. Not only did the sculpture bring her to tears before she owned it, but now knowing how important it was for her sons to buy that art for her, it means ten thousand times more to her now. Those three gentlemen not only negotiated a deal with the art dealer to make payments for a year, but worked as a team to save up $3800 for their mama to have something extraordinary! How many young men do you know that would do that?

Art may seem like an absurd amount of money. Or it may be completely reasonable. But have you ever cried in the middle of a Target because a pillow or vase was just too much? Or screeched with laughter in the middle of a Costco because you were so moved by their Starving artist plate series? Probably not. Genuine art moves us in ways that cannot be explained. And each piece speaks to all of us differently. What peaks my interest may put you to sleep. What is important about art that speaks your language is that living in a home that screams authenticity rather than HGTV, allows you to live your best life.

Every time Tracy passes, “Three Sons” (her blob named after her sons) in the entrance of her home, she cannot help but smile from ear to ear. When she is having a bad day she sits with it, and on a good day she speaks her praises to it. Art transcends and transforms you. Just like Music, it can completely change your life. And sorry ladies, but plastic ivy from Michael’s, or a cheap vase from TJMAXX can’t do that!

Art by Carl Plansky

This beautiful piece of art (shown above) from Carl Plansky, compliments of, Young House Love, is a beautiful display of using art correctly. So many homeowners feel that they have to put tons of stuff in a hallway to make it pretty. Beautiful, large art is the perfect compliment to add a splash of color, and interest. And I don’t know about you, but this piece would definitely elevate my mood!

AB HOME, October showhouse

In our most recent show house, this painting by Marabeth Quinn, brought this antique console to life. Paired with modern, turned-wood lamps, and a mirrored bar tray, the homeowners loved it so much they bought it!

AB HOME, Living green in green hills Show house

Here, in the Living green in Green Hills show house I placed this beautiful piece of art in our hallway to add a wonderful splash of color, interest and whimsy. This painting was such a success, Marabeth, the artist, got more attention and acclaim than anything I did with the interior. The interior designer, whO?? But as luck would have it, Marabeth and I became wonderfully close and this past April she and her husband decided to move to Hawaii and as a gift to our friendship she gave me her most famous trademark piece,”Wonder”, that now hangs in my conference room:

AB HOME Interiors

For three years I would randomly call her up and tell her the studio had been robbed and the only thing they took were her paintings. Of course it was a cheap effort to get a piece of her magic, and a quick giggle amongst friends…..although I was tempted many times to take one home to see if she would notice. My efforts finally paid off and I swear I go into the conference area all the time with Harley just because it makes me so freakin’ HAPPY!!

Your home should influence and uplift your mood. It should breathe every interest you have and show you off. Nothing does that better than Art. It doesn’t matter if Suzy down the street doesn’t agree with your selection. If that piece of Art changes your mood for the better, your day will be more productive and in harmony with your intent. That my friends is a lifestyle!

Do you have a favorite artist, or painting that you love?

Ready to get your room started? Contact us. We offer an array of services to meet your design needs whether you live in our area, or out of state. Click here for more info!

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images: Young house love, AB HOME Interiors, AB HOME Designs, Amanda Burdge

Mondays clever tips to beat the organizing blues

I saw a quote on facebook last Friday that made me chuckle. “Why is Monday so far from Friday, but Friday so close to Monday?” Very good point indeed! Todays tips are clever tricks to repurpose everyday items into organizing workhorses.

1) Kids unused toys

Dollhouse organization

I just love this. From country living, this family repurposed their daughters old dollhouse into a functional yet whimsical storage shelf for their everyday nessesities in the laundry room. Super cute, great repurposing and very clever.

2) Antique blanket rack

Bathroom

From Marthastewart.com, here a clever use for a blanket rack. This homeowner uses her rack to hang towels for the kids. Not only is this pretty and unexpected, but also more functional than an ordinary towel rack.

3) Cookie sheets

Instant mudroom

From doll store crafts, this easy to make, instant mudroom is a clever way to repurpose everyday cookie sheets. Fill with river stones from a home improvement store and voila, you have yourself an easy to use tray to place wet or muddy shoes right off the most used door in your house. The best part? Easy to clean too!

What are some everyday items you use in a clever new way?

Ready to get your room started? Contact us. We offer an array of services to meet your design needs whether you live in our area, or out of state. Click here for more info!

Want more designer tricks, tips and trade secrets, delivered to your inbox, all for FREE? Click here for our monthly newsletter!

Harley the AB HOME kit kat

“Yup the human claims to have built this so called office, but we all know it’s MY empire.”

Think I’m awesome? Me too! Find me on facebook!

A moment in scale

1) Poor scale

2) Excellent scale

5 Ways to Brighten up a Dark Room

How to update your home without the cost of adding on

1) Taller doors

2) Raise the drapes

3) Extended cabinets

4) Mirrors

5) Rug

Style and how to get it in 3 easy steps

1) Family photos

2) Color palette

3) Art

Art 101-Why art is synonymous with a well lived life

Mondays clever tips to beat the organizing blues

1) Kids unused toys

2) Antique blanket rack

3) Cookie sheets

Sign-up! Get the latest monthly news from AB HOME

Grab us

AB HOME Interiors Featured on Houzz

AB HOME admin

Our work is copyrighted. Please contact us for more info.

Podcast

A moment in scale

1) Poor scale

2) Excellent scale

5 Ways to Brighten up a Dark Room

How to update your home without the cost of adding on

1) Taller doors

2) Raise the drapes

3) Extended cabinets

4) Mirrors

5) Rug

Style and how to get it in 3 easy steps

1) Family photos

2) Color palette

3) Art

Art 101-Why art is synonymous with a well lived life

Mondays clever tips to beat the organizing blues

1) Kids unused toys

2) Antique blanket rack

3) Cookie sheets

Sign-up! Get the latest monthly news from AB HOME

Grab us

AB HOME Interiors Featured on Houzz

Popular Posts

AB HOME admin

Our work is copyrighted. Please contact us for more info.

Podcast