Infloormation

Laundry is part of life, and most homes have a simple laundry room with limited space. Have you taken a look to make the most of your laundry room options? This small room works well because it’s well thought out for functionality.

First it’s light and appealing in a simple way. The window adds so much appeal both because of the view and the abundance of natural light. As a room that you walk into and out of constantly, the window reduces your need to turn a light off and on all the time.

The floor is so smart. The small tile mirrors bathroom tile and is neutral enough to provide for almost any color approach in the room. Tile can also handle the potential water issues if your washing machine floods. The second smart decision is the drain in the floor. This will protect the rest of your home’s floors from any machine mishaps.

The simple decision to hang a rod over the machines provides a place for finished ironing or hanging dry any clothes that can’t take the dryer’s heat. A second circular hanging clothes rack over the ironing board handles smaller items. One option offered in this room comes from the window – opening it on nice days can add fresh air when drying clothes.

If you have the room, take advantage of your utility space to add both additional functionality and some design touches to make the room more than just for laundry. If the space is small, look for opportunities to create additional storage for clothes drying and folding. With a little effort, you can make this weekly task both easier and more enjoyable.

Your visitors begin to develop their perceptions of your home before you ever open your front door. Your front door is their first impression, so what can you do to make it a good one? How about taking a look at these doors and applying some of these ideas to your own home?

Let’s start with the first photo. This entryway has everything lined up to make it special. The dark color on the door contrasts well with the cream walls, making it a significant entrance. The two-step lighting keeps the actual entrance area bright while the sconces set the outer steps in a light shadow that expands the sense of contrast.

The tiered steps set in brick expand the feeling that the front door is framed by the house itself. Everything about this arrangement draws the eye to the front door as the focal point of the home.

Now, take a look at the second photo. With this brick townhome something needed to be done to emphasize the doors, keep some similar features and yet make them different. Subtle differences in the wood surrounds and the brass door features contribute, but the decision to use two door colors really sets them apart.

Take a step outside and look at your front door. Are you happy with it? If not, consider simple upgrades such as paint, door knobs, or even a wreath. Change your light fixtures to add personality, and take a look at improving the surface of your walkway or entrance landing by using tile or stone to make it more memorable. If you make a few changes, you can really improve the first impression people have of your home.

When you decorate your home, it’s almost as important to consider how each room works together as how the rooms themselves work.

These photos show a home where the transition from room to room is critically important. With French doors set to allow visitors to see four rooms at once, the challenge is to balance variety between the rooms with enough consistency that you know that it’s the same home with the same design aesthetic.  Let’s see what this homeowner did to address this.

First, the homeowner chose mid-tone wood flooring for the entire first floor living area. This eliminates the threshold impact as you move from room to room and creates a cohesive design approach. The next step was adding a number of Oriental rugs. For each red is the primary color, but the amount of red, the size of each rug and the designs vary throughout the rooms. This balance of different and yet the same keeps the décor interesting.

Another choice was to alternate light and dark walls from room to room. The dining room shown in the second photo is a rich red. The entryway is painted white, contrasting with the dark wood paneling in the living room. On the other side of that room, the warm cream tones of the sunroom continue the contrasting design approach.

Finally, furniture and accessories grab colors and bring them across this selection of rooms. The red of the dining room shows up again in the red cabinet that graces the entryway. Once again red comes into view with the chair in the sunroom.

Think alike and yet different as you consider your room transitions and you will add interest and variety to your home.

When you choose new flooring, furniture, paint, home accessories or any other design element for your home, the sheer number of choices can sometimes feel scary.

One trick that can help you find the right option for you is to wait and see which choice haunts you when you walk away.

You may have already made a choice subconsciously, but all the options in front of you make the decision confusing. By walking away and looking at something else, the right selection may just stay in your mind.

By stepping back and letting yourself recover from the confusion of choices you face, it’s much easier to select the one option that you want for your home.

Here are the steps to take to see if you find yourself haunted by the right choice.

• If you’ve narrowed down your search, review each option briefly before walking away.
• Spend some time looking at unrelated options. You may even want to go home and postpone the decision until tomorrow.
• As you think about and do other things, see if one choice seems to stay in your mind. This may mean that you visualize it, or that you find yourself worried that you choice may not be available when you get back.

The value to this approach is that you only have those things you love, that you can’t bear to leave behind, in your home. And as you look at your home and realize that you picked out just the right pumpkin, or home design element, you will not be haunted by the ghosts of bad decisions past.

As more and more people work from home, finding space for a home office has gotten more important. If you have a spare bedroom it’s easy to add an office to your living space but if you don’t, where can you set up without interrupting regular living space?

One great option is a formal dining room. You already have a large table for working, and plenty of chairs. The simplest way to make the conversion is to set your laptop on the table and get working.

You can be as basic or as complex as you want. Do you need file space? One simple solution is to pick up a rolling file cart at your local office supply store. Want more? Look for a wooden file cabinet that coordinates with your dining room furniture and will fit in a corner.

Need space for office supplies? If possible, try to find a drawer or cabinet in your kitchen or dining room buffet. Internet access and printing is easy with today’s wireless options. Does your dining room lighting meet your needs? If not, pick up a floor lamp to add the brightness you need.

If you find yourself using the office enough that it’s time to get a comfortable office chair on wheels, be sure to protect your dining room floors. While it may make a great office, you don’t want to do permanent damage to your formal dining room flooring.

When you’re ready for a family gathering, simply move the “office” to another room out of sight, and you’ll be ready to entertain.

Are you having trouble deciding on the right layout for your living room? Sometimes it’s difficult to see the full design of a space. One way to help you look at your home with new eyes is to take photographs. Step back to give the broadest view or use a camera lens to include the entire space in one shot.

Once you do this, you may find that something that looks good close up doesn’t work as well from a distance. This room is a good example.

The sofa and art work very well together. The mix of neutrals with a few pops of color creates a warm and inviting feel. The concrete floor is an effective choice for a modern space, and with that cool grey flooring, an area rug really makes a difference.

Just as this photo shows what works well, it also shows the design mistakes. There are two in this room: the choice and placement of the area rug and the placement and accessorizing of the coffee table.

Picture this room with a lighter area rug in a warmer lighter shade, and positioned with the length running parallel to the sofa. Add a dark wood coffee table with a shape similar to the one in the photo but with fewer accessories.

With a more limited budget, simply turning the rug and table 90 degrees and moving them closer to the sofa would be a great improvement. But whether you want to make a large change or a small one, taking a photo gives you the insight to make a room what you want it to be.

One of the most common decorating mistakes homeowners make is having all the furniture hug the walls rather than take advantage of the whole space. This room shows an extreme example of this situation.

The light wood floor sets a wonderful tone. The window trim and the room’s molding carry the warm wood theme, as does the furniture. With just a few changes and additions, this room can meet the potential provided by the architectural decisions.

A colorful area rug would suit this room well. Consider a combination of greens and blues to reflect the view out the windows. A cream sofa and dark brown chairs would echo the wood and wall shades while providing contrast.

The row of wood furniture doesn’t show off the potential of each piece. Breaking up the four pieces and moving them around the room would be a better use of both the function and look of this furniture. It would also be nice to keep that right window unblocked by pieces such as the television.

The art seems like an afterthought. Bringing the pieces down to eye level could help. With the large view through the windows, art could be eliminated or kept to abstracts to keep distractions to a minimum. Customized wood blinds to match the wood frames or the flooring would provide light and privacy management without compromising the look of the windows or their vistas.

Take a moment to step back and look at each room in your home. Does your furniture and accessory placement take full advantage of your home’s potential?

Would you like to use discoveries you’ve made on your travels to personalize your home but you’re not sure where to start? Let’s take a look at one approach that works well.

This room carries off a number of elements from other countries while still feeling cohesive and inviting. Careful initial planning created a space that is well-designed for a variety of styles.

To begin with, the wood floor invites flexibility. This floor has a rich mid-tone that will work with any other type of wood or materials such as metal and fabric. The simple coffee table is a good fit with the floor. Having a tone similar to the floor and simple lines, it allows accessories to play the most important role.

The large upholstered furniture pieces also provide a simple background to the more intriguing international elements. The light cream walls and black trim suit the space well.

One very smart decision by these travelers is focusing on more than art and accessories with their purchases. The light fixture, carved chair and bench in the hall are all from other countries. The light fixture is the most striking – catching the eye and setting the mood. The chair is a nice foil to the sofa and coffee table with its strong character. The light lavender seat complements the purple/pink cushion on the ironwork bench. Thanks to the other neutrals in the room, this room can and does carry a number of different colors.

If you like to travel and want to bring special pieces home, plan your décor to support the interesting souvenirs from other places that will make your home unusual and inviting.

This dining room is striking yet simple. The clean lines and limited color palette help you appreciate every element.

Let’s start with the flooring. Choosing a light neutral tile allows a great deal of flexibility for decorating. The white walls also open up the options.

The decision to go extremely modern works well in this room. The dark ebony wood table and chair frames bring the rich tone that’s needed to keep the room anchored. The white leather chairs are simple with just enough design to them to add interest. Then there’s the big finish – red.

By adding red to two chairs, some artwork and the three bowls sitting on the table, the room moves from bland to daring immediately. This choice tells you that the home’s owner doesn’t want to play it safe.

It might be tempting to carry more red into the room, but it would be gilding the lily. By choosing only a few pieces in the exact same shade of red, the statement is modern and clean without becoming boring.

Although the look is contemporary and fresh, the tile floor and wipe-down leather chairs make this room easy to maintain even after quite an elaborate dinner. It is also child-friendly. The simple look opens up a rich variety of possibilities for table linens and serving elements. It would also be really tempting to kick it up even further with a bouquet of red poppies to add to red’s pop in the room.

Most of us will never get to see our kitchen this way, but there’s a lot to learn about design by taking this bird’s eye view.

To start, although this kitchen is not large, it’s easy to spot the “work triangles” this kitchen offers. There’s an easy transition from the shelves to the sink to the dishwasher on the middle right. The fridge is not in view but its position just to the left as you face the stove puts it in easy reach.

The other great thing about this kitchen is the counter space. With the upper cabinets limited to two tall pieces in the corners, there is plenty of room to spread out and work. Wood has become a popular counter surface lately, and the extra-deep counters to the right do double duty for kitchen work and family snacks.

The floor is vinyl, and very effective in terms of bringing the room together. The range of tones it displays echoes the light cabinets and counters. Most of the color comes from the array of vegetables by the sink, but the yellow tube lights and pink toaster add personality to the room.

The high ceilings and openings into other rooms keep this kitchen from feeling cramped, and the design makes the most of the space and the light available. Altogether this kitchen is well designed and appealing for any cook.