Infloormation

Check out this video on design from Shaw. It will inspire you!

A home office at its best works as well as any company-based operation, but looks and feels like home. A few simple approaches to your home office space can help you manage that balance.

Starting with flooring, a number of choices match residential styles while still handling the constant beating of a wheeled office chair. The best choice is a top quality laminate floor, which can echo the charm of wood while still operating successfully in an office.

Tile is generally not a good choice – the uneven nature of the material can cause problems with file cabinets and bookshelves, and make your chair uneven constantly. Carpet and wood seem like a bad choice, but a chair mat in either plastic from your local office superstore or a more appealing bamboo – available in catalogs – will take the abuse, keeping your original floor safe.

Warm up the space with wall colors that don’t say “office.” A sky blue or a soft green helps keep stress away while you work. You may need a bulletin board or calendar, but expand your thinking to make these items special. A standard bulletin board from an office supply store gets a whole new look with your choice of spray paint. Choose art that represents you, your dreams and aspirations, and things that make you happy.

HGTV’s Design Star always provides food for thought, and a recent episode featured a Donald Trump condo highrise. Participants were asked to create condo models that provided a sense of luxury. Their budget was quite small, but that’s alright, because luxury is not just about money. Let’s take a look at a few steps you can take to add to a sense of luxury in your home.

So many different elements can add to a sense of luxury. When you look at a space, consider a rich mix of textures, colors and sheen. On any type of flooring, adding deep-pile rugs in a variety of complementary colors creates an almost Moroccan sense of luxury and style. Even a small rug in a corner, or draped on a table, can become a sumptuous feature.

The right fabrics enrich a space. Don’t stop at one set of curtains on your windows. Start with a light linen sheer, add a set of silk dupioni panels in a medium neutral and finish up with velvet curtains in a dark rich tone. Even simple windows will shine with this treatment. Add a fake fur throw and maybe a leather or suede pillow. Mix your fabrics and textures to enliven and enrich your space.

Bring some bling into the room with accessories. Mirrors and metallics provide a variety of sheens and create a lavish look. Don’t stop with the walls when considering mirrors. How about picking up a mirrored nightstand or dresser? You can shop for shiny features for your space, or just check your cupboards. Chances are you have some family heirlooms in silver or crystal that deserve to leave storage and go on display. If not, look for shiny possibilities in home stores, as well as thrift and antique shops.

Luxury is not just about money; it’s about making the most of your space with the right choices.

When it comes to the environment, our extensive use of wood and wood products can directly affect our planet’s forests. Only a few decades ago, consumers could never know if their wood floors were built from lumber that damaged this valuable global resource. Because of this, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) was started in 1993 to set and certify standards of responsible harvesting of our world’s wood. Today, the organization is recognized in over 50 countries and by every major environmental group.

Now you can quickly assure yourself that your wood purchase is environmentally sound by buying only FSC-certified products. This will not limit your options. Many manufacturers and distributors proudly display their certification.

Wood with the FSC certification has not been cut in natural forests or other habitats around the world, has not been exposed to hazardous pesticides, and has not caused damage to any indigenous peoples. The United States Green Building Council relies on the FSC certification to ensure that wood products meet their standards.

It’s the small steps we make every day that will help protect our planet through the generations. You can be part of making the earth continue as a rich and healthy resource for all of us for generations to come by looking for wood floors, and other wood products, that have the FSC certification.

One key to a well-designed room is a balance of hard and soft surfaces. In our last blog post we looked at what happens with too many hard surfaces. But on the other hand, too much softness can create a room with no definition.

Carpet is a good flooring choice for traditional spaces, and rugs are a natural complement. That provides a rich source of softness. Add in a few overstuffed chairs and a couch, a bevy of pillows and throws, and before you know it your room loses dimension in a cloud of softness. Traditional curved tables and cushioned dining chairs add to the general squishiness of the space.

Now this type of room can be very comfortable and livable. Just a few hard-surface choices, however, will sharpen the design and provide the positive contrast needed to showcase the softer elements.

Consider adding some glass or metallic accessories with clean straight lines. Using wood shutters or shades adds a nice hard surface, and the shades still allow you to add curtains. Another option is to do some editing – maybe removing a few pillows or an ottoman. Space between soft things gives the walls a chance to become hard-surface elements in a space.

Contrast in a room can make a space feel more interesting and well designed. One often-ignored area to consider is balancing hard and soft surfaces in a room. People often have a style preference that leads them in one or the other direction for surfaces, and this can accidentally lead to an unbalanced space.

Modern styles lend themselves to hard surfaces. Tile and wood flooring complement a modern look. Simple tables and dining chairs without cushions contribute to the modern feel of a space. Even modern upholstered furniture leans toward a tailored style rather than something oversized and cushy. This can lead to a room that feels sculptured, but also comes off as cold.

A few simple touches can fix this without compromising the modern look. Consider one or more rugs in contemporary styles. A thick monotone shag or wool or leather can both anchor and warm up a space. A contemporary weaving, quilt or tapestry hung on one wall provides art for a room while adding softness. That beautiful shaker-style table can benefit from a simple table-runner that adds a splash of color and texture without making the space feel traditional.

You don’t have to lose your modern look by adding softness. Instead, these additions can help showcase your contemporary style while adding valuable contrast to your space.

The last tip from Rita Wilson’s wardrobe suggestions to convert to home advice: “Be grateful.” It’s a good one to end with, and one we often forget in the daily challenges of our lives. It’s particularly valuable when fixing up a new home or renovating your current one.

We know that making choices, finishing up paperwork, and dealing with all the details of our homes can be challenging and frustrating. That’s why it’s particularly important now to take a step back and spend a moment appreciating what you have.

First, just be grateful to have a home. For many people across the globe, that’s an impossible dream. Next let’s appreciate all of the people who are working to make your home happen. From the builder and installers to the salespeople and designers who help you make good choices, it takes some version of a village to get you settled in your new place or fix up your current one. Finally, how about looking at the amazing range of options the manufacturers give you for making your home uniquely your own. Twenty years ago, many of your choices were simply not available, or only for the highest-end custom homes.

So don’t compare your budget to others – that way lays certain disappointment. Instead, revel in the options you do have, and enjoy the amazing privilege of making your home work for you. Be grateful for the opportunity, and enjoy every minute of it!

To see the other tips in this series, click here.

Let’s combine two of Rita Wilson’s wardrobe tips in this blog, because from our perspective in home décor, they focus on the same issue. “If you travel a lot, have a packed toiletries bag ready to go,” and “There are one thousand stylish things you can wear while traveling…” How do we connect travel and our homes? When it’s time to travel to another home, we want to be able to sell this one easily.

Now don’t get up in arms when we talk about selling your home. Hopefully,  right now it’s the last thing on your mind, and it should be. Your focus needs to be on creating just the right combination of elements to make your home perfect for you. All we’re saying is put it in a corner of your mind as you make your decisions.

The average homeowner stays in a home for five years. Life changes can lead to the need for a new home. When that happens, choosing a fixture or permanent home product that would not appeal to the majority of people may inhibit your ability to sell.

Love blue? That’s just great. However, choosing a bright blue countertop in your kitchen may not be the best idea. How about letting paint and accessories satisfy that color need instead? When making these choices, your salesperson is a great resource for balancing your unique preferences with your potential resale goals later.

Make your home work well for you – both while your living in it and later if you want to sell.

To see the other tips in this series, click here.

It’s been fairly easy to make the connection between Rita Wilson’s wardrobe tips and our homes so far in our previous posts. Our next tip is a little tougher, but I think we’re up to the challenge. “Enjoy new bedclothes at least once a year,” concerns refreshing our PJ’s or whatever we like to wear at night. Well, our homes can get as tired as our wardrobes if we’re not alert.

First off, do you regularly maintain your home finishes as the manufacturer recommended, or are those instructions filed away never to be looked at again? Put another coat of polyurethane on your wood floors, clean your carpets twice a year, and seal your granite and these valuable products will last longer and look better.

The other factor is regular home updates. This needs to be done much less often than your wardrobe, but it’s an important part of maintaining an inviting home. Have you ever spent time touring open houses of older homes? So often the finishes are original, even if the house is 20 or 30 years old. People moved in and never changed anything again. Setting aside a regular budget amount, no matter how small, will give you the opportunity to redo or replace any home finishings or furnishings as they start getting tired or worn.

Whether we’re talking about PJ’s or plush carpet – pay attention to maintenance and keep your home special and inviting, now and for years to come.

To see the other tips in this series, click here.

Rita Wilson’s sixth fashion tip focuses on your face: “simplify your makeup if you wear makeup.” When you meet someone wearing too much makeup, it can distract from the face, and the person, underneath. In the same way too much furniture and too many accessories can distract from the wonderful bones of your home.

Is your fireplace hidden behind a chair and a mantel covered with knick knacks? Do you have windows with nice views that are blocked with too much furniture in the way? Does your collection of snow globes cover your tables to the distraction of the rest of the space?

To determine whether simplifying would be useful for you, stand in front of one of your rooms and see where your eyes go. Do they pause at certain focal points, or travel all over the room, never having a place to rest? Too much decoration can move your space from designed to cluttered. If you think you may be too Victorian in your choices, try removing pieces one at a time until your rooms start feeling relaxing and spacious. Maybe you don’t need three shades of eye shadow. Maybe for you, just a touch of blush and lip gloss and you’re ready to go. Find the same balance in your home.

To see the other tips in this series, click here.