Design Tips for Any Room

Over the past couple of months, my close friends and family have been soliciting my help and ideas for decorating a variety of spaces.  First off, let me just say that I am both flattered and humbled to have so many people asking for my input when it comes to decorating.  I am by no means a professional and really don't have any training in this area, I am just a lover of pretty aesthetics and constantly reading/researching to keep my finger on the pulse when it comes to interior design.  

When thinking about my method for going about designing a space, it's really a combination of both process and tips to keep in mind.  I know it can seem daunting when faced with designing a space, so for today's post, I wanted to share a few of my best practices for going about designing a space.  These tips have helped me to tackle decorating projects of various sizes and specifications, so I thought it might be a good idea to document these tips for you all and of course my own reference!    

Start with the Rug 

The floor is literally the foundation of a room, which is why I find it to be a natural starting point.  I know that some people have tile or wall to wall carpet, so selecting an area rug is not really applicable in those instances.  However, the majority of individuals are faced with at least one room in their home where it's necessary to buy a rug.  So this tip is geared towards those individuals with an area rug room or rooms (like myself).  

When decorating a room, I like to start with selecting the rug.  Whether I'm looking to add a neutral area rug or a colorful oushak, it's so much easier to lay the rug down prior to furnishing.  Doing so will prevent you from having to deal with moving furniture in and out of a room unnecessarily.  In addition, the color and style selection for your rug will also serve as a guide for selecting additional colors to incorporate into the room. Ex. Should you opt to have a colorful oriental rug, you can use the colors of the rug as a guide for selecting additional fabrics.  

Furniture Positioning

Furniture placement in a room is really a balancing act between practicality and achieving a pleasing aesthetic.  Placement of a chair or side table for instance, should serve a purpose and fit the space (not look crammed or block a walkway).  With that being said, I think it's important to note that you also should consider the safety of the furniture piece when deciding on its placement.  I am imparting these words of wisdom because I have recently dealt with a serious case of furniture sun bleaching.  Sun bleaching is exactly what you are probably thinking it is, excessive exposure of fabric to direct sunlight will cause the colors to fade and the fabric to tatter/fray.  I had placed a blue arm chair by a window in my bedroom so that we could have a place to sit while getting dressed.  Unfortunately the window has incredibly strong afternoon sunlight that ended up bleaching the fabric on the arm of my chair (see before and after photos above--chair victim is the closer of the two in the second photo).  

Measuring

I would have to say that measuring is probably the most important part of designing a room.  Measuring the space will help you to determine what pieces will fit based on the dimensions of the room and ultimately create a room that is properly scaled.  Length, depth, width, height, etc... all super important measurements to consider when constructing a space.  I really cannot stress enough how important it is to take the time to measure out your room and furniture when designing a space.  Furniture is a major investment and the last thing you want is to spend all of this money purchasing a piece that isn't the correct size for the space.  For more information on this topic, see this post on my before and after for redesigning my living room space to fit the scale of the room.  

Lighting

Another aspect of the room design that can really elevate your space is lighting.  I am a major advocate for investing in quality room lighting.  Whether it's lamps, ceiling fixtures and/or sconces, installing the right lighting fixture that complements the aesthetic of your space will help you achieve a beautiful finished look.  

Here's the scoop on a few favorite lighting fixtures installed in my home: 

Since we live in a loft, our living room has wonderfully high ceilings that could support a show stopping fixture.  I adore the Focault's Orb fixture from Restoration Hardware and it has really given my living room the most perfect ambient lighting.  For the bedroom, I opted for Pottery Barn's Hundi Flushmount mini lantern in our dressing area (which I installed myself--super easy to do) and the hardware on the lantern paired perfectly with black iron hardware used for the window treatments.  Lastly, our most recent addition was the 20th Century Filament Sconce installed on our stairway wall.  I opted for a more minimalist look when it came to this fixture because I didn't want it to distract from the beautiful artwork.  These bubble glass style lighting fixtures are really popular at the moment and I can totally understand why!  Modern, sleek, elegant, unique and really versatile.  

Finishing Touches

In my mind finishing touches include knick knacks on side tables, ginger jars on window ledges, coffee table tray decor, wall hangings and even throw pillows and blankets in certain instances.  These are the easy and often interchangeable add-ons that you should wait to purchase until after the bulk of the furnishing is done in a space.  Reason being, you never know how a room will end up coming together.  Maybe you see a chair on one wall one day and then decide that it would actually look better on the opposite wall the next day.  Finishing touches are just that, the very last things that you should be concerning yourself with when decorating a space.  You'll have the best idea of what final finishes you need to fill in spaces once the bulk of the furnishing is complete, so I strongly encourage you to hold off on the tchotchke purchasing until the furnishing portion of your decorating project is complete.  

Home Decor Accents for the Holidays

Thanksgiving is over and I have finished cleaning up/putting away the last of the decorations and tablescape pieces (whew!).  While Christmas preparations are the obvious next step (today is Cyber Monday after all!), we are technically still in the month of November, so I wanted to share some initial holiday decor pieces that have helped to create a festive space without going full blown "Merry Christmas" just yet.  

Fur Throw Blanket

I love creating a warm and cozy space during the cold winter months.   I have had my eye on these fabulous luxe fur throw blankets from Restoration Hardware for some time now and over the weekend (thanks to Black Friday) finally pulled the trigger and bought one for my living room.  OMG so worth it and am kicking myself that I didn't get this furry piece of heaven sooner!  This throw blanket comes in an assortment of colors and is the perfect cozy addition to any space during the winter months.  

Nest Fragrances Birchwood Pine Candle

Nothing beats the smell of pine at Christmas!  Since we aren't getting our tree until next weekend, I am filling my pine void at the moment with this Birchwood Pine candle by Nest Fragrances (*Currently on sale at Bloomingdales today for $30!).  This candle is almost a dead ringer for that delicious pine tree smell and definitely the best pine fragrance I have found on the market.  A current obsession of mine and a must try for anyone who loves the smell of winter pine. 

Poinsettia

Poinsettias are the quintessential holiday plant and a staple decor  item in my home every Christmas.  I am dreaming of the day when we have an outdoor space and I can flank my front door with giant planters filled with poinsettias, but until that day my window sill will do just fine.  I found this poinsettia at Safeway for $3 and outfitted it in my CB2 Bennie Low Vase Planter.  Home Depot also has a great selection of Poinsettias for sale and here are a few additional planter options I happen to love (option 1 and option 2).  **Tip- if your plant is too small for your planter, you can place aluminum foil in the base of the planter to help your plant fit the space.  

Wreaths

There are so many types of pre-made wreaths available right now, making it extremely difficult to pick just one.  For a traditional pre-made wreath, I go to Costco.  They are large, fresh, fragrant and cost $15.99.  If you are in the market for a boxwood wreath, like the one pictured above, Trader Joe's has boxwood wreaths for $9.99.  I chose to embellish my boxwood wreath with a few gold berry picks and a homemade red bow.  If you haven't tried making your own bows, I strongly encourage you to give it a whirl.  They are actually super easy to make and I think they look 10-times better than the store bought equivalents.  More to come on holiday bow making in an upcoming post so stay tuned! 

In all honesty, we are going to get our tree this coming weekend and I am counting down the minutes.  I love the look and smell of a fresh Christmas tree during the holidays and waiting hasn't been easy!  While these festive touches have certainly helped to bring that bit of holiday cheer into my home, I am ready to get rolling with some serious holiday decorating!

Dining Room Design

Thinking about decor topics for the blog recently made me realize that there was one glaring area I had yet to cover....the dining room!  It's funny because I have posted endless tablescapes and party ideas, but never took the time to talk about the basics for designing this space.  Surprisingly there are quite a few aspects to consider when designing a dining room.  Below I have compiled a list of what I would consider to be the most important aspects for creating both a functional and comfortable dining space.  

Lighting

• Measurements- A dining room light should be no more than 12 inches less than the width of your table.  In addition, it should sit approximately 30 inches above your table for a standard 8 ft ceiling.  If your ceiling is higher, the rule is generally to raise the lighting fixture 1 inch for every additional 3 feet of ceiling height.  If you haven't bought furniture for your dining room yet, the easiest way to figure out the appropriate chandelier size according to Ballard Designs, is to add the dimensions of the room together (e.g. a 10'x14' room = 24" chandelier diameter).  For those of you who are curious, here is a link to the lighting fixture I chose for my dining room.  
• Dimmer- dining is all about ambiance and a big part/the most important (in my opinion) is lighting!  I highly recommend putting your dining room lighting on a dimmer switch, so that you have the ability to create a softly lit setting instead of being forced to choose between the intense on and off lighting.  Dimmers are relatively inexpensive and easy to install (*According to Home Depot, you can install a dimmer switch in 45 minutes).  

Table

• Shape & Size- When buying a dining room table it is important to consider the table size your room can accommodate.  According to the Martha Stewart Homekeeping Handbook, you should allow for approximately 36 inches of space between a chair and a sideboard, and 42 inches of space behind a chair that is in a high traffic path.  Keeping these measurements in mind and the number of potential guests you would like to be able to seat at your table, should give you a very good idea of the table size you can accommodate in your space. (**Full disclosure- I bought our table with our future house and not our current condo in mind, so I am currently not abiding by Martha's Rule.)
• Table Orientation- Since I am in charge of hosting parties in our house, it is important to have our table positioned so that my assigned seat is closest to the kitchen.  Right now we have a round table, so the seating orientation isn't important since every seat is the same, and I just take the chair with the closest kitchen proximity.  However, when we move into our forever home, our current table will be moved into our kitchen and we will have a rectangular table in the dining room, so the end seat will have to be positioned in a manner that makes getting up and down from the table fairly easy.  
• A few additional considerations:
  • Pedestal vs. Legs- I am a fan of a pedestal table, because it provides guests with additional leg room and allows for greater flexibility with when it comes to creating additional seating.
  • Purchasing a Table with a Leaf- Our current table is a fixed size, because as I mentioned it will eventually be our kitchen table.  Purchasing a dining table with a leaf is a great idea when possible because it allows for you to create an intimate setting regardless of the number of guests.  Hosting 4 people at a table meant for 12 can make dialogue a little strenuous.  Having the ability to collapse your table down to a comfortable square or small rectangular shape will keep the table comfortable and intimate.  
  • Chair Size- One thing you will notice when purchasing a dining table is that the maximum number of seats a table accommodates varies depending on the size of your chairs.  Chairs with arms take up more space and the same goes for chairs with upholstered seats.  Because I opted for more plush dining chairs, my table is maxed out at 6 seats.  Had I opted for more minimalistic wooden chairs, I could have probably accommodated 8 seats.  
• Glass Top- This is something that I totally would have never considered had it not been for my sister.  Back when we were shopping for our dining table, I had FaceTimed my sister to see what table she had selected.  While showing me her table she pointed out her glass top and said that it was an absolute must have.  Not only does the glass top dress up the table, but most importantly it protects it!  Ring marks, spills, candle wax, you name it- not a problem thanks to my glass top!  I ordered my glass table top from a local glass and mirror company and it has been one of the best investments I have made to date and something I highly recommend for any dining table. 

Decor

• Flooring- I have an open loft floor plan, so I opted not to have a dining room rug because I felt that a rug would break up the space, making my dining area appear smaller.  However, if your dining room space is in need of a rug, I recommend referencing this Ballard Designs Rug Buying Guide.  You want to make sure that you buy a rug thats big enough to accommodate your guests pushing their chairs back and not feeling like they are going to fall off the rug ledge.  This guide is a great reference for determining the appropriate rug size for your space.   
• Additional Furniture- There are two pieces of furniture beyond the table and chairs that I would consider to be dining room worthy, the side board/china cabinet and the bar cart.
  • Side Board/China Cabinet- having a piece of furniture in your dining room that you can use to hold glassware, dinnerware, flatware and linens is extremely practical and very convenient.  In addition to the storage, a sideboard can be great for setting up a buffet in the dining room.  In our apartment, we have placed our Torrens Bar Cabinet under the staircase for easy access to our stemware (this piece has some seriously impressive storage capacity) and it also makes for a fabulous buffet table.  
  • Bar Cart- this is a piece that I have on my wish list at the moment because I think it is so practical (and chic) to have in a dining room.  Whether you are serving dessert, coffee, after dinner drinks or even for water and wine during the meal, a bar cart is an extremely helpful piece of furniture to have for both service and storage.  Stay tuned for a future post on bar cart styling!
• Keep it Minimal- Personally I believe that less is more in a dining room when it comes to decor.  Reason being, this is a room where food is served.  Food in itself is a very busy and distracting thing, so why create additional stimuli overload by adding all sorts of crazy wall decor and tchotchke displays??  Similar to the concept of "food looks best when served on a white plate," I also believe it is enjoyed best in a room served with minimal decor.  A plate is meant for eating just like a sideboard top and bar cart are meant for serving.  Refrain from cluttering those spaces with unnecessary knick knacks.  

Today's post definitely dug into the nitty gritty of dining room design, and it wasn't until we moved into this house (and actually had a dining space) that I realized how important all of these details are for creating a functional and comfortable space.  This post is a collection of the best tips I have picked up throughout my dining room design journey.  I love the way our dining space is coming together and am looking forward to putting the last few finishing touches on this room (like our future bar cart!).  More to come, so stay tuned!

Giving My Living Room a Mini Make-Over

For today's post I wanted to share a glimpse of my latest home decor updates.  We have been in our home for about a  year and a half now and it was really at the one year mark that I finally started to feel reinvigorated to begin the fine tuning process with our living room home decor.  As I have mentioned in previous posts, when we initially purchased our condo there were the immediate needs that had to be addressed like the bathroom renovation, painting, replacing appliances and window treatments.   

Around the start of early spring, it was actually our dog Dolly who decided to kick off the second round of decorating by destroying our living room rug with a series of accidents that weren't really her fault (I'm going to stop there with describing, but hopefully you get the gist…).  The biggest lesson learned thanks to Dolly: Even though they are significantly less expensive than wool rugs, avoid purchasing jute or sisal rugs if you own pets or have children.  One false move (aka stain) and the rug is done.   

Replacing the living room rug was all the inspiration I needed to feel reinvigorated to kick off this mini project.The second round of home decorating was focused on fine-tuning the living room, primarily adjusting the furnishings to better fit the space.  After an almost 7-month long revamp, my living room is finally coming together and looking like everything was meant for the space. 

Scale

My living room decor has been evolving ever since my husband and I first moved in together.  Our first place together was small and had low ceilings.  Even though we were beginning to purchase furniture together, we made an effort to avoid purchasing furniture to fit our first place.  Reason being, it was temporary and our nice new furniture pieces were permanent, so our new furniture would need to work in our next house.  At the time of our move, we had simply transferred the furniture from our old living room to our new living room.  While certain pieces like our couch, bookshelf and media center fit in the living room perfectly, our pair of blue professor's chairs were too small for a room with such tall ceilings.  

Swapping out the chairs for a larger/taller pair was necessary to fit the scale of the room.  When shopping for the chairs, I knew that I wanted the chairs to be a little less predictable, so I opted for a winged-back chair in the corner for a little height and then a larger club chair on one end of the coffee table.  To tie the chairs together, I had them upholstered in the same mocha vintage velvet fabric.  The new chairs fit the space beautifully and luckily we have been able to re-home the little blue chairs in our bedroom and loft.  

Function & Comfort

In addition to designing a room that's proportional to the space, it's important to make sure that the furnishings are both comfortable and functional.  The first issue I needed to tackle was the rug.  Our living room is a high traffic area and we have a dog.  When we first moved in we opted for a chunky jute rug because it fit the space, was neutral in color and cost $199 for an 8x10.  While at the time it did the trick, it was a temporary solution.  

When the time came to replace it (exactly 1 year after we bought it…thanks Dolls!), I knew I needed to find a rug that was comfortable, durable, neutral in color and easy to clean.  I ended up finding our rug on final sale at Restoration Hardware, which was a little scary since I only had pictures to go off of and wouldn't be able to return it.  Luckily it turned out great and it is the perfect foundation for this space.  

The second function/comfort component of this living room re-do that needed to be addressed was the coffee table.  Our original coffee table was a piece that I had inherited from my parents and painted gold to match the decor in our first house.  When we moved, the length of our new living room was slightly smaller and so it immediately became apparent that the coffee table was too large for the space.   

We entertain frequently in our living room, so it was important to find a table that would still have a substantial surface area, but would afford additional leg room for those guests seated on either end of the coffee table.  After a long search we ended up purchasing the Clairemont Oval Coffee Table from Crate & Barrel.  I love the unique oval shape, sophisticated mirrored shelf that provides additional storage and the fact that it is 6 inches shorter than our old table, giving guests plenty of leg room.  

Finishing Touches

My sister has always had an eye for home decor aesthetics.  When she was first decorating her NYC loft with her husband, I remember talking to her throughout her decorating process trying to gain any insights on decorating and how to put a room together.  The one phone call I specifically remember was when she told me that she was on a hunt for tchotchkes, "because finishing off a room's decor aesthetic is all about the knick knacks."  It was a slightly funny way of saying it, but boy was she right!  Sure, there's a lot of thought that goes into picking out fabrics and furniture pieces for a space, but I have spent significantly more time arranging and rearranging my throw pillows, living room bookshelf and coffee table decor.   All of these little items are essential pieces for bringing any space together and it takes time to get everything situated in a way that finally works. 

I am not sure if I am happier about the way the room turned out or the fact that I am finally done with this project.  It was certainly a great experience with plenty of lessons learned, but the best part is definitely the fact that I get to come home every day to this cozy and completed space.  Now it's time to get going on to the next project!  

If you have any questions regarding today's post, I would love to hear from you!  

Selecting the Right Throw Pillows

My initial vision for my living room back in our first apartment, involved a color palette of navy blue, white, gray, beige, gold and orange…yes ORANGE.  I was attempting to be daring by using pops of orange for my bit of fun color.  While it did seem to work OK in my first living room, the orange did not translate to my new living room at all (note…orange is an extremely difficult color to decorate with).  

Realizing that orange wasn't going to work, I knew that I needed to replace the throw pillows.  This was news that my husband was less than thrilled about because if you have ever purchased throw pillows from a store other than Target or Home Goods equivalent, you know that they are quite the investment.  Regardless, it had to be done, so I immediately got to work researching fabrics and perusing both stores and catalogues for pillow inspiration.  Below is a breakdown of how I went about selecting the various throw pillows for my new living room.  While picking pillows for a space is certainly challenging, tackling the project in the following order made much easier.    

Main Attraction

While perusing an interior design store in North Carolina last summer, I came across a fabric that I was OBSESSED with.  It was the Schumacher Chiang Mai in Aquamarine, gorgeous, bold, great colors and very expensive.  I had to pass on purchasing the pillows from that store, but never forgot that fabric.  It wasn't until April that I started getting into Etsy (if you haven't checked out this site, it's a must!).  I searched for Schumacher Chaing Mai throw pillows and voila!  There were a number of vendors who made the throw pillows I had been wanting, for a fraction of the price I had been quoted in retail stores.  Sold and sold!  

**Just as a side note, most Etsy pillows are made to order, meaning you cannot return them, so I would suggest purchasing a swatch of the fabric first or taking time to think it over because pillows are an investment and you want to make sure you are buying something that you absolutely LOVE. 

Solid Color Accent Pillows

Originally I had purchased a pair of navy blue studded velvet pillows from West Elm to frame my orange patterned throw pillows on the couch in my old apartment.  While they were fine at the time, the size was always a little off and with the purchase of the Schumacher Chiang Mai pillows, it became obvious that they were just too small.  Fortunately I was able to successfully re-home these pillows in our master bedroom and finally give our bed a chic, updated and finished look.

For the new living room solid color framing pillows, I knew that I wanted to tie in the texture of our new living room chairs (vintage velvet).  At the same time I wanted to avoid going with the chair color (mocha), because it would have created a sea of brown in our living room (way too matchy matchy for me).  I purchased a variety of color swatches from Restoration Hardware to see which color would look best and to my surprise it ended up being the Slate Blue (aka- a fancy name for Teal).  The Restoration Hardware Slate Blue Vintage Velvet pillows tie in beautifully with the teal in the Schumacher pattern and the texture of the chairs.  

**Tip- When purchasing pillow inserts for square throw pillows, buy inserts that are a size larger than the pillow cover to achieve a fuller/more voluptuous aesthetic.  

Lumbar Accent Pillows

My discovery of Etsy for designer fabric throw pillows didn't stop with my Schumachers. To complete the living room pillow collection, I needed to find a pair of lumbar pillows for my accent chairs.   I wanted to find a fun print, but more monotone since my main attraction pillows were so bold and multicolored.  I ended up finding the most perfect fabric option, Kelly Wearstler Bengal Bazaar Ikat Print pillows in both Indigo and Teal, from one of my favorite Etsy Vendors, Little Design Co.  Betsy Little is the owner of this shop and I absolutely adore her and her taste!  Her style is fun, fresh and very chic, and the craftsmanship in her pillows is top-notch (all qualities important qualities when looking for a great pillow vendor).

 Naturally, even with samples of both the indigo and teal, I couldn't decide on which color to use in my living room.  I ended up getting a pair of both the teal and the indigo because I realized that both colors would work well in either the living room and/or the bedroom (and fortunately both rooms were in need of lumbar pillows).  Once the pillows arrived, I engaged in an exhaustive game of musical pillows and finally landed on having the teal lumbar pillows in the living room and the indigo pillows in the bedroom. 

I am over-the-moon ecstatic with the way both spaces have come together and even happier to finally be done with my throw pillow search…well at least for the time being!