Design Coach

I’m the type of person who, instead of buying a card, would rather spend the additional money on the gift.  That being said, when I do send cards, I make my own.  I design Christmas cards every year and special cards for special events.

Of course the best cards are the ones made by your own children.  Nothing beats a childish scrawl that says “I love you Mommy”!

If you want to send something really personal, make your own Valentine’s Day cards—write your own Love Letters.

I  do mosaic pieces with old book or magazine pages.  The ideas are limitless with a little paper, glue and a copy machine.

For Love According to Webster I enlarged the definition of love I found in a dictionary, cut card stock to fit and glued it to the front.  With a red pen, I quoted Elizabeth Barrett Browning “How do I love thee…?”

For Let Me Tell You the Ways I used the same dictionary definition, just enlarged it a couple more times and cut individual words out.  Glue them in a particular order or randomly.  Choose words that are appropriate for the person receiving the card.  A little glue stick on red card stock and you has an original work of art!

Tags: Color, Design Tips, Interior Decorating, Interior Design, love, Valentine cards, Valentine's Day

The question I am asked most often by clients, friends and in general conversation is “What color is ‘In’?  It’s a simple question with a difficult answer.

The Color Marketing Group (CMG) is an organization that forecasts color trends two to three years in advance for  industry and manufactured goods.  Paint companies will create their annual color palette for the upcoming year and fabric weavers will chose shades and hues based on CMG directions and predictions.

Ever get frustrated when shopping  for bath towels to match those you purchased a few years ago?  Chances are you were disappointed to discover that the current shade is not quite the same as what you already own.  Instead of ‘silky moss’, for example, it’s now ‘pine needle’.  Out with the old and in with the new.

The good news is interior trends and colors don’t change as fast as fashion and paint stores have the ability to reproduce any color under the sun.

In December, Pantone, a company that provides color standards for the design industries, chose turquoise as the hottest color for 2010.  That’s right, turquoise.

My advice is to look at the latest color fads and trends but stick with colors that fit your Signature Style.  Just because someone says turquoise is the color of the year, is no reason to change your own color palette.  Remember fads come and go quickly.  If it’s a color you truly love, by all means, introduce it into your home.  Buy some new throw pillows or bath towels.  You shouldn’t have any trouble finding turquoise  towels this year!

Pittsburgh Paint and Glass Color 2010 Color Trends:

Home Harmony Collection

Sherwin Williams created their own color palette for 2010:

Tags: Color, Color Trends for 2010, Design Tips, Fabric, Interior Decorating, Interior Design, Paint, Pantone, Pittsburg Paint, Sherwin Williams

The 14th of February is a day devoted to celebrating love.  You can express your affection to that special person in the usual way (go out to dinner, box of candy, over priced flowers) or with a little imagination and for a lot less cash, celebrate at home.

It doesn’t matter if you are planning dinner or a leisurely breakfast, make it cozy and intimate.  Food in front of a roaring fire is always romantic especially if you are seated at a low table with floor pillows.  You can use a coffee table or in this instance an old wood trunk.  Cover it with a table cloth or a piece of red fabric.

There isn’t a single heart or flower in this setting.  Instead of placemats, I pulled out old Scrabble board games  Write a message or spell out your feelings for each other with the tiles.

An old muffin tin is the perfect size for extra letters, votive candles and candy (no expensive and fattening box of chocolates here!).

The valentine card is vintage, but the XOXO says it all.  Use dinnerware you have left over from Christmas.  Square red plates set “on point” complement the square game boards.

Little copper napkin rings surround softly folded white napkins.  Dinner should be simple.  After all, the emphasis should be on dining, not cooking.  Chinese take-out allows you both to share.

Add a couple of floor pillows and you have a romantic evening ready to surprise someone you love.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning said,

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”

I say spell it out!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Tags: Brunch, Color, dinner party, Dinnerware, Entertaining, Fabric, Interior Design, party planning, Pillows, Place settings, Tablescape Thursday, Valentine's Day

New Year’s Design Resolutions

I never make traditional New Year’s Resolutions.  I know myself well enough to know that the beginning of the January isn’t sufficient motivation to make me follow through.  So I make lists of things I truly want to accomplish and will enjoy doing.  Some are personal, some business related and others pertain to design and my home.

Personally, I will continue with my French lessons, but make a point of spending more time practicing.

For Business I plan to blog more regularly.

Design Resolutions:

I changed the floor in my guest bath in December, so now I want to make a few more changes.  The black and white tiles have inspired me to create une salle de bain à la française.

My home office is located on the landing space on the second floor.  It originally was a bedroom before additions were made; now you need to walk through to get to the bedrooms.  I have a window with a backyard view,  book shelves and a large desk. But I’m considering creating a real office space in an unused bedroom.   A room that will inspire creativity and where I can get organized.  I envision a space that will become my own personal design laboratory.  In a family of men, I can carve out a truly feminine room!

I would love to hear your design resolutions.  Let me know!

Tags: Bedroom design, Design Tips, Home office, Interior Decorating, Interior Design

Once my Christmas decorations are down and packed away, I’m ready to tackle a new design project.  As usual, I want instant design gratification—I want something new right now.  The house is rather dull and dark after a month of light, color and holiday spirit everywhere.

The easiest, fastest and no cost decorating idea you can do is to replace the soap in your bathrooms.  Chances are someone gave you new soap or bath products and lotions as a gift.  Get them out and use them right now!  What are you waiting for?  Put them in a new dish and you are ready for guests.  Put them in a fun container in your own bathroom.  Soap is meant to be used not saved.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in someone’s home to see a dish of lovely soaps for display only!

I love anything French or lavender scented.   My mother gave me box of dainty French milled soaps.  Another friend gave me soap from Italy. They both smell wonderful. I have enough to share (some for me, some for the guest bath!).

Tags: Bathroom design, Color, Design Tips, Display, French design, Furniture arranging; space planning; design on a budget; no cost decorarting;, Homer Laughlin, Interior Design, Soap

Just because Christmas is over doesn’t mean you have to pack away all your decorations.  Snowmen and snowflakes are great for the holidays, but they can also brighten your home during the long winter months.  I live in a northern climate  where we get lots of snow, cold weather and more dark than daylight.   Snowmen are the perfect indulgence for this endless season.

• Take them off your mantle and tuck them into little nooks and crannies.  Just by moving them around the house, you’ve created a something new.

• Move part of your collection to the bathroom or bedroom.

• If you’re expecting guests this winter, display them in the guest room for an unexpected touch.

• Set the table with snow friends.  Position one at each place setting at a winter party.

• Gather your men with a little quilters batting or fake snow on a tray for a centerpiece.

• Make paper snowflakes (or have your kids do it) to hang in the window.  Line the snowmen on the window sill.

• Fill the empty corner in your kitchen with snowmen.
  

• Don’t pack away the snowmen dishes you used at Christmas time.  Fill them with appetizers at your next football party.

You can’t fight winter, might as well enjoy it!

Tags: accessosires, Bedroom, collecting, Design Tips, dinner party, Display, Entertaining, Furniture arranging; space planning; design on a budget; no cost decorarting;, Interior Design, party planning, snowmen

Here’s a simple last minute napkin ring project you can do in a snap and your kids can help too.

• Start with a paper towel tube and cut into 1 ½” pieces.

• Cut a plaid or other pretty ribbon to fit.

• Glue the ribbon to the tube.
  
• You can either wrap it around so the inside is covered or simply apply a piece to the front and the inside.

• Glue sticks work best.  If you use spray glue, be sure to spray in a paper bag to avoid getting glue everywhere.

• Tie a bow around a little bell with 1/8” ribbon and glue to the front.

Voila!  You have an instant festive touch to your Christmas table.

Tags: Brunch, Christmas decorating, Color, Design Tips, dinner party, Entertaining, Furniture arranging; space planning; design on a budget; no cost decorarting;, Interior Design, Place settings, Tablescape Thursday

Red and green may be the traditional colors of Christmas, but why not try something different?  Blue and white are perfect for a Hanukkah meal or New Year’s Eve late night dinner as well as Christmas brunch.

Start with at pale blue snow flake table cloth.  Add snowflake dinner plates and a salad plate or soup bowl in a coordinating pattern.

Keep the monochromatic scheme going with blue glasses.

The napkin is an ikat design tied with a snowflake and little ornament.  I love to incorporate little gifts for my guests at the table.  They can take them home as a remembrance of a lovely time.

The centerpiece has white pine and poinsettias, but giant snowflakes or paper whites would work too.  Just stick with blue and white.  A sparkly garland looks just as festive on the table as it would on a tree.

Enjoy your holiday by sharing your time, your table and a meal with family and friends.  It doesn’t get any better than that!

“The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.”

Burton Hillis

Tags: Brunch, Christmas decorating, Color, Countdown to Christmas, Design Tips, dinner party, Dinnerware, Entertaining, Fabric, Furniture arranging; space planning; design on a budget; no cost decorarting;, Goodwill SEW, Interior Design, party planning

Patrick’s bedroom was finished just in time for his party.  (We were hanging his posters as guests were arriving!  Who doesn’t work best under pressure?)

My husband wasn’t sure about the gold paint on the walls, but will admit it was a good choice.  The color is in the bedskirt fabric and makes the red chair and navy bedspread really pop.  Everything doesn’t have to be matchy-matchy.  Get a little daring when picking paint.

But the walls needed something more than posters, so horizontal stripes turned out to be the perfect solution.  I taped off random widths and bought small paint samples in navy, red and green (also found in the fabric).  Painting stripes is a putzy job, but the results are worth it.

It took me a while to come up with an idea for the valances.  I ordered cellular shades for the windows, so privacy and sunlight weren’t a concern.  They needed to be masculine and simple.  I used the red quilted fabric and added a strip of the paisley at the top.

Instead of the usual drapery hardware, I went to a big box hardware store and bought two 40” lengths of galvanized pipe.  Instead of the usual drapery rings or a shirred header, I went with grommets for something different.  I poked around the electrical section of the store until I found some fittings that worked as finials.  Pat has a unique drapery treatment and that cost only a few dollars.

His bed and desk/TV swapped places in the room.  We had to buy a new desk since the old one sort of fell apart as we moved it.  We chose a desk instead of a TV stand because a desk is taller.

A few coordinating throw pillows, his movie posters and closet door handles and the room is complete.

The quilt was made by his Grandma a few years ago.  The colors are perfect for the new room.

I wouldn’t have put his two DVD shelves next to each other, but it’s Pat’s room and that’s where he wanted them.

I think I will  look for a floor lamp and give it to him for Christmas.  Also a bulletin board for his calendars and notes.  A room is never really done, it’s a work in progress and that’s OK.  Rooms should evolve and change as people and seasons do.  But it will be sometime before we make any changes (quite sometime!).

The room turned out just as we wanted and Pat is very happy.

Tags: bedding, Bedroom, Bedroom design, Color, Design Tips, Drapery, Furniture arranging; space planning; design on a budget; no cost decorarting;, Interior Design, Paint, window treatments

Who says stocking are the only thing you can hang at the chimney?  Mittens may not hold has many goodies, but you get a pair!  Vintage or new hand made mittens and gloves to fit all fingers look charming when grouped together on a garland.

I happen to collect red mittens, but you can choose a color you love.  If you don’t have a fireplace mantle, drape a garland from a shelf for the same effect.

Surprise Old St. Nick with something new this year!

Tags: Christmas decorating, Color, Countdown to Christmas, Design Tips, Furniture arranging; space planning; design on a budget; no cost decorarting;, Interior Design