Boring Landscape? Simple Ideas to Make it Shine!

Can an interior designer give you advice for the exterior of your home? You bet they can! Many of the same principles apply, and it’s all about creating an environment of balance, scale, proportion and harmony. Everything from choosing the paint color, to adding decorative elements to your landscape ~ these are the details that will set your home apart!

Develop a Theme ~ Would you have a French baroque style in one room of your home, and modern in another? Probably not. The same theory applies when designing your landscape. Consider the style of your home, whether it be cape cod, contemporary or old world, and select plants and accessories that compliment that style.

Vary The Height ~ Just as you might do in a grouping of accessories on a fireplace mantle, vary the height of plantings in your landscape. If you’re planting in a bed against a fence, put the taller plants in the back, and terrace down to shorter plants in the front, as shown in this example from Sunset magazine.

Add Some Weight ~ Adding “weight” is a common design term to signify the balance of scale and proportion in a room. If everything is the same size, it doesn’t look quite right! Something needs to stand out among the rest, so when working with your landscape, be sure and have a dominant focal point in each planting area, and vary the diameter of the plants, as well as the height.

Do The Unexpected ~ I love that the fountain in this photo is actually placed in the planting area. It softens the rough concrete edges by having rocks and plants tucked around it. I’ve done the same thing in my yard with potted plants! It adds an element of interest, but also adds height by elevating the greenery off the ground.

Check back weekly for more home improvement and decorating tips! If I can give you any assistance with your design and decorating needs, please don’t hesitate to call or email me. Many times a single consultation is all that’s needed to pull your project together!

Everyone deserves a home they love ~ Inside and Out!

Fall is Coming! Is Your Home Ready?

That crispness in the morning air and dew on the lawn tells me that fall is on the way! We all know that once it’s cold and rainy outside, we tend to huddle indoors and pay less attention to the maintenance of our homes. With that in mind, now is the time to get your home ready!

Furnace Filters ~ Though filters should be checked more than once per year, it helps to use fall as a reminder for this basic maintenance. Your furnace is the blower unit for both your heating AND air conditioning, so it’s been working all summer long! Change the filter often for maximum performance and energy efficiency.

Standing Water ~ The rainy season is coming, so if you have open containers on your property such as flower pots or bird baths, they’re going to fill up. This is the perfect breeding ground for algae, so turn them upside down or store them out of the weather.

Sprinkler Check ~ Save water and money by adjusting your sprinkler settings. Either reduce the number of days you’re watering, or the amount of time set for each station. By the time winter comes, you should be able to turn them off completely!

Clear the Debris ~ I’m very certain that no one wants unwelcomed guests, meaning pests and rodents. Extra clutter around the perimeter of your home is the perfect hiding place to escape the colder weather, so get these areas cleaned up. This will strongly discourage rodents from making a home on your property!

Seal the Gaps ~ Another place rodents like to hide out is in the attic. Walk the perimeter of your home and look for openings that would allow them access into your home, and get them sealed. Even a quarter-sized opening is large enough for a rat to squeeze through! Believe me, I’m speaking from experience when I tell you that if you get one, you’ll have a whole family in no time.

Check back weekly for more home improvement and decorating tips! If I can give you any assistance with your design and decorating needs, please don’t hesitate to call or email me. Many times a single consultation is all that’s needed to pull your project together!

Everyone deserves a home they love ~ Inside and Out!

Make Decorating Fun, Not Stressful!

It’s not uncommon to feel overwhelmed about decorating, especially when you want to work on every room in your house! After a consultation with a recent client, she wrote me, “ … I no longer feel paralyzed with inaction on what to do next to get the right look and feel.” This was a wonderful compliment to me, but also made me realize that I sometimes take for granted that decorating decisions aren’t stressful for me. No matter how small they are, making changes in your home is exciting, so my mission is to take the stress out and bring the fun in!

Set Your Priorities ~ If you want to make changes in several rooms in your home, step back and make a decision. Trying to tackle them all at once has your mind running in too many directions, so decide which rooms are most important (but no more than two!), and focus on those first.

Get a Plan ~ Before you dive in and start buying furniture and accessories, make a plan for your room. Ask yourself some questions: How do I need this room to function? What pieces of furniture do I need to accomplish that? Where do they need to be positioned in the room? Draw a layout of your room and play around with furniture placement. If you do it to scale, this will also determine the SIZE of furniture that will fit in your room.

Listen to Yourself ~ While function is very important in your spaces, so are aesthetics! We are most happy and productive in spaces that make us feel good, whether it be a bedroom or home office. So, listen to your heart when it comes to the cosmetics of decorating your rooms, and create spaces that will make you smile every time you walk in!

Check back weekly for more home improvement and decorating tips! If I can give you any assistance with your design or decorating needs, please don’t hesitate to call or email me. Many times a single consultation is all that’s needed to pull your ideas together!

Everyone deserves a home they love ~ Inside and Out!

Upgrading Your Kitchen ~ Where To Put The $$

Did you know that a kitchen upgrade or remodel is one of the best places to put your home improvement dollars? Not only is the kitchen the hub of the home, but an upgrade will also reward you when it comes time for resale. Though there are plenty of men doing the cooking these days, women are the ones who fall in love with beautiful kitchens!

In a perfect world, we could all afford to completely demo our kitchen and rebuild from scratch. That not always being an option, here’s some ideas of how you can freshen up your kitchen for less! When making your choices, think about beauty AND function.

Refresh the Cabinets ~ Depending on what you have to work with, there are a few ways of doing this. If you have older cabinets with plain doors, my favorite advice is to replace the doors and drawer fronts. This is easily done, and provides an instant upgrade. If you can’t match the existing finish on the cabinet bases (which is likely), then refinish or paint everything to match. Replace the hinges and door/drawer hardware, and you’re done!

In the kitchen shown here, the existing cabinets were saved, yet completely repainted for a fresh Country look. Beaded board panels were added to the island cabinet, and new pendant lights installed. A very inexpensive upgrade!

Replace the Countertops ~ No surprise here! Though granite has been the desired surface for many years, there’s a myriad of choices for countertops, and it’s an instant upgrade to your kitchen. And, don’t stop there! While you’re at it, replace the sink too. Most kitchen sinks are under-mount (meaning the edge of the sink is underneath the countertop), so now is the time to put in a fresh one.

Upgrade the Appliances ~ One can rarely afford to keep up with the constant changes in technology, but if you have appliances that are 20 years old, the money to replace them are dollars well spent. Gas cook tops and ranges are usually preferred over electric by avid cooks, and stainless steel has been the favorite finish for several years running.

Check back weekly for more home improvement and decorating tips! If I can give you any assistance with your design or decorating needs, please don’t hesitate to call or email me. Many times a single consultation is all that’s needed to pull your ideas together!

Everyone deserves a home they love ~ Inside and Out!