Archive for the ‘interiors’ Category
Last week’s look at the summer home got me thinking about lounging and relaxation areas within the home. Although we tend to lounge around in bed or on the sofa, a great place to spend time thinking, reading or just taking it easy is a well-appointed window seat. This space offers both comfort and a connection to the outdoors – light to read by, and possibly a bit of a breeze. Window seats come in all shapes and sizes, although they typically top off at around 18-20 inches off the floor for the easiest use. The seat can span from wall to wall, or just sit within the confines of the window. Typically you would include either a cushion or some pillows for comfortable seating. Any style is possible here, from down-home country to rustic simplicity to sleek and modern, it all depends on how it’s finished.
Window seats can be built into the architecture of a space, carved out of a thick wall, pushed out from the main space, or just added as a bench area. One great way to create a window seat area along a straight wall is to frame your window with shelving or cabinetry. This can be floor to ceiling, or just a mid-wall height, something that will be able to visually enclose the window space. Then add a bench-level seat between – it can be a slab piece suspended between the two, open shelving, drawers or lift-up storage. Add something soft like a cushion or pillows to make the space really inviting. If you have the room, your window seat can be nice a deep to accomodate a twin mattress, and double as a sleeping area! Any way you make it, a window seat is a cozy, inviting addition to your modern home.
(above) Rustic Stone and Plaster
Amy wrote this post. She is the designer and owner of FormFire Glassworks, where she creates modern lampwork glass beads and jewelry, and by day designs custom homes for a small firm in Southern California. You can follow her twitter @formfireglass.
The end of summer always makes me want to extend that time just a bit more, even though the hectic nature of my life doesn’t really change throughout the summer months. But it reminds me of family vacations, going to camp, or staying in a cabin. I reminisce about those times when we live more simply – you know that little twinge when you’re at the beach, lake or mountains without all your ‘stuff,’ and realize that you really don’t miss it much at all. Our closets are pared down, our kitchen is basic, and we tend to live according to the sunrise and sunset, actually enjoying all those moments in between. Truth be told, those times always make me want to chuck all my stuff out the window when I get home. There is a kind of rusticated austerity, a fundamental simplicity to that type of space that you can bring into your home, even mixing those pieces with your current favorites.
Think simple construction – thick pieces of wood, exposed hardware and spaces limited to just those items that are a necessity. Metal accents, especially in an imperfect finish, make a great accessory, in chairs, tables and decor items. Natural finishes and rougher textures keep these pieces warm and inviting. Try scaling back a little – pick a room and take out a piece or two of any size. It can be something cluttering a bookshelf, or it might be as large as a piece of furniture. Try moving it out, and see how you feel about it. If you miss it, it might be worth keeping, but then try another. See if you can do without all those extras. Try living more simply and recapture the ease of those summer times.
(above) Picnic Table
Cot on a Deck + Wood Bench and Hooks
Stool as Nightstand + Bench Blocks
Amy wrote this post. She is the designer and owner of FormFire Glassworks, where she creates modern lampwork glass beads and jewelry, and by day designs custom homes for a small firm in Southern California. You can follow her twitter @formfireglass.
Last week’s look at the use of concrete in the home directed me towards a more relaxed look at the color palette. Today we’re going to focus on blue – not the retro, upbeat aqua that we’ve discussed before, but true blues from sky blue to cobalt to navy. Blue tones signify serenity and intellectualism, and can bring a sense of peace and calm to your interiors. Even a bright cobalt blue evokes thoughts of water and purity.
All of these variations of blue can be used throughout the home, especially when paired with neutral backgrounds of white, grey, beige or brown, including stained wood. As long as there is enough of your neutral, mixing different shades of blue can be a great way to find variety and texture within a limited color palette. And don’t forget that depending on the blue you choose, that shade can become your neutral color, adding pops of orange, green or yellow to accent your space. The sky’s the limit!
(above) Reclaimed Blue Board Cabinets
Light Blue Barn Doors + Cobalt Accessories
Sashiko-Pattern Wallcovering + Velvet Chairs
Amy wrote this post. She is the designer and owner of FormFire Glassworks, where she creates modern lampwork glass beads and jewelry, and by day designs custom homes for a small firm in Southern California. You can follow her twitter @formfireglass.
After last week’s look at how to incorporate collections into your home, I am shifting gears pretty drastically and taking a look at a specific material that can be found in virtually every home – concrete. Let me begin by clarifying a bit of vocabulary. This is not cement. Cement is the powder used to create concrete, along with water, some type of aggregate rock pieces, and chemical admixtures that produce concrete of differing quality and density. Typically, concrete is found in the home as either part of the foundation, be it a slab floor or footings that carry the structure into the ground, or exterior slabs like patios, driveways and sidewalks. But concrete has become a popular material for home interiors as well. Its versatility and formability has brought it inside to be used for walls, floors, countertops, furniture and accessories.
Concrete can be finished with pigments to provide an integrated color, can be stained, polished, and ground. White concrete is available, although at a significantly higher cost. Different materials can be added to concrete items, such as shells, glass shards, and stones, and pieces such as metal bars can be set into the concrete before it dries to provide a place to put a hot pot on the counter. Concrete counters have been popularized because of the ease in creating drainage areas that slope into the sink, as well as the ability to make integrated sinks of any size and shape. Although the rougher texture of standard concrete can be a gorgeous foil against sleeker materials like steel and glass, my favorite combination is with natural wood. There’s something about the two together that always appeals to me. But a polished concrete floor has none of that unfinished quality, and can be a great way to refinish a floor whose original surface has become a bit dated. It may be a material you have overlooked that deserves a second glance!
(above) Concrete Walls with a Wood Kitchen and Dining Room
Full-length Trough Sink with Cutting Boards + Thick Double Lavs
Polished Concrete Bed Surround + Pre-cast Concrete Vessel
Amy wrote this post. She is the designer and owner of FormFire Glassworks, where she creates modern lampwork glass beads and jewelry, and by day designs custom homes for a small firm in Southern California. You can follow her twitter @formfireglass.
The last time we looked at an interior obsession, we were focused on the attic. Although most of us don’t have the height to create a new space out of our attic, we do look to that area for storage. One item that we tend to store away is a personal collection. These can be anything from tableware to paintings, furniture to photos, items we have collected over time, or ones that were handed down to us by relatives or friends. Today, I’m hoping to inspire you to revisit those old collections and think about displaying them in a new way. Although some collections are by their nature placed piece by piece around the home, furniture and large-scale paintings come to mind, my favorite method for displaying a smaller scale collection is by grouping. The most important consideration is that there be some connection between the items. They can be pieces from the same manufacturer, pieces from different manufacturers, but in a limited color palette, items of a similar type, anything that pulls them together and gives them some visual cohesion.
Collections can be placed anywhere within the home, although certain types lend themselves to particular locations, though that shouldn’t limit their placement. A collection of tableware such as Russel Wright or Fiestaware might be perfect for a shelf or hutch in the kitchen or dining area. A book collection would be at home in a library space, but also in a living room. A collection of houseplants (which grouped together makes watering them SO much easier,) would be great wherever you have good light. Photos can be grouped along a wall expanse, and are super when unified by either color, for example, black and white, or by frame style to tie together disparate images. I especially love collections of vases or similar housewares, and prefer a variety of shapes and sizes to make the grouping interesting. If you have a smaller collection, or one that has many similar pieces, think about lining them up to showcase each piece. And remember that necessary storage of collections can be not only practical, but a visual treat as well as in the case of wine bottles. So pull out those items you’ve packed away in the attic or closets, and think about some creative ways to show them off.
(above) White Vases and Objects
Plants on a Palette + Greenery on a Side Table
Photos on a Ledge + Grouped Black and White
Amy wrote this post. She is the designer and owner of FormFire Glassworks, where she creates modern lampwork glass beads and jewelry, and by day designs custom homes for a small firm in Southern California. You can follow her twitter @formfireglass.
Now, I love a good interiors book as much as the next design-obsessed girl sipping tea at the local bookstore, BUT one thing I am not a fan of is sifting through piles of books featuring fancy interiors that feel exactly the same.
That is why I am IN LOVE with Holly Becker and Joaanna Copestick’s new book Decorate. It’s perfect for the gal with eclectic tastes (like myself) because it features a variety of styles.
It goes against the grain of your typical coffee table interiors book and gets right down to the ideas, tips, and recommendations (1,000 of them to be exact). Learn how to decorate a home that is as special and unique as the interiors photographed in this book’s pages; make the most out of small spaces; discover your style and create a mood board; and SO much more.
I recommend reading this book with a pen and paper nearby because there are plenty of tips you are going to want to write down (if you don’t want to mess up the beautiful pages with dog-ears and hi-lighter). And aside from the pro tips and interior ideas, there are endless pages of gorgeous photographs, showcasing varying home design styles, for you to drool over. But, I’m not sure you can really get the true feel for Decorate without flipping through it’s pages yourself. So, I took eight photos (to celebrate Holly’s insanely popular blog Decor8) of my favorite interiors and ideas so you can take a look inside…
You can pick up Decorate on the Chronicle Books website right here for just $35, which is a total steal (its almost 300 pages). And if you would like to hear more about Decorate, follow the remainder of the blog tour…
Here are the rest of the stops on the Decorate blog tour:
Friday, July 8 – In Honor of Design | Monday, July 11 – Simply Grove & Haute Design | Tuesday, July 12 – Elements of Style | Wednesday, July 13 – Apartment 34 | Thursday, July14 – Mrs. Lilien | Friday, July 15 – Mint
Do you own Decorate already?
What do you love most about this book?
Leave your response in the comments below.
Last week we spent our time looking down at our feet, focusing on wood flooring. Today we shift our gaze upwards, to the highest part of the house, the attic. If we actually have an attic area, it is typically used to store our extra items – boxes, holiday decorations, and other things that we rarely access. But taller attic areas can be transformed into wonderful living and working spaces! I once worked in an office that was housed in an attic space under a mansard roof – the center area was standard height, and the slanted areas were left open to extend the floor area. Years ago, while dating my husband, we took a trip to Tahoe to visit his aunt, and stayed in ‘his’ room: a tiny, galley-shaped attic space, where the bed was tucked deep into the slanted roof, surrounded by built-in shelving. It was a cute space, and he had wonderful memories of times he had spent in that room. Flooring, wallboard and some ceiling finishes can transform an awkward space into a wonderful retreat.
Attic spaces, as long as a portion of them is tall enough for walking around, are such cozy rooms. In houses with a steeper-pitched roof, there is often plenty of space for a window, either at the gable end of the room, or built right into the roof itself. A greenhouse-style skylight wall can make a smaller space feel wide open. Spaces can be finished simply with flat surfaces, or structure can be exposed and emphasized. Attic spaces may be only big enough to house a bed, or can accommodate a full studio or office. It’s a fun way to add that extra little nook to your modern home.
(above) Office and Books
Tucked in Retreat + Skylit Space
Amy wrote this post. She is the designer and owner of FormFire Glassworks, where she creates modern lampwork glass beads and jewelry, and by day designs custom homes for a small firm in Southern California. You can follow her twitter @formfireglass.
