5 Affordable Ways to Upgrade Your Bathroom

Do you want to make some changes to a bathroom in your home, but not do a tear it down to the studs? Here are some quick tips on how to make some relatively easy, inexpensive changes for a whole new look.
• Look for remnant pieces for flooring: Since a bathroom floor can be smaller in space, (especially if you’re doing a guest bathroom or powder room) most flooring stores sell remnant pieces-pieces that are left over from other projects. You can often get a deep discount here.
• Update your mirror: Re-use the mirror, but frame it out with wood or trim pieces for an updated look.
• Look for remnant pieces for your counter top: Think marble, quartz or granite is too expensive? Think again! You can get remnant pieces, like flooring, for much less expensive than buying the entire slab.

• Use pre-made cabinets: Big box stores like Lowes, Home Depot and Ikea have affordable ready-made vanities, medicine cabinets, and towel racks.
• A new coat of paint: A gallon may be all you need! Color doesn’t cost anymore than white! So choose a fun color to tie in your flooring, cabinets and countertop. Be sure to use a higher sheen like satin, as there is more moisture in the bathroom.
Be sure to keep samples of all your color and product selections, and after all is said and done; pick up new towels, a shower curtain, rug and accessories.

As spring approaches, it seems everyone gets excited for exterior as well as interior painting projects. Adding color to your home can help to change the overall feel of the space. Here are some questions I ask when doing a color consult. The answers to these questions are a starting point of selecting the best colors for your interior.

1. How do you want to feel in the space?
2. Are you trying to recreate a feeling from a vacation? If so, what?
3. How do you plan to use the space?
4. If you’re entertaining in the space, how often and how many do you accommodate?
5. If I were to peek in your closet or china cabinet, what kind of colors and patterns would I see?

So I mull over these answers and consider them when choosing colors. For instance, if you were trying to recreate your trip to France, I would consider reds, golds, blacks and greens. If your closet is full of neutral colored clothes like blacks, brown and grays, I may consider sticking with a neutral or monochromatic color scheme. If you throw a lot of dinner parties, I might consider deep, saturated colors in hues of red or blue. Red is warm and welcoming, and blue can be stately and make you feel tended to. I also take into consideration your art and furnishings that are staying in the home.

So often, people don’t know where to start when it comes to color and they get completely overwhelmed. With consideration of the answers to these questions, you may know more than you think you do!

I was inspired by lots of color today at the Pike Place Market in Seattle. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day! In Sur La Tab, a fantastic kitchen store, there were so many colorful things to see. It’s easy to get over whelmed by all the color. I love color, but not sure I’d want all my appliances and dishes to be so bold in color. Do you prefer colorful dishes, or more neutral dishes and color on the walls of your kitchen? Personally, I have a little of both, some colorful dishes, and color on my walls and even my floor.

Lots of colorful accessories! I do like splashes of colorful accessories in my kitchen. I tend to prefer reds and oranges….

Even the vegetables at the market were picture perfect. I daydream about how fun it would be to get fresh veggies, fruit, fish and flowers daily if I lived in the city.

In all my years of going to the market, today was the first time to stumble upon the gum wall! Who knew about this? It’s so colorful-and while I wouldn’t want to touch it-it is artistic in it’s own right. There were hoards of people taking photos of it.

Our day at the market came to a close as we ate hot donuts, and I couldn’t resist this photo through the window of the market.

Do you always know what the trends are and follow them to a “T”? Or, do you go quietly about you own way, developing your own style? I have to admit, as a designer, I am always aware of the design trends and hottest colors, but I often head the opposite way from those trends. After all, I don’t want my clients’ homes, or my home for that matter, looking like every other home on the block! I love the individuality that people add to their homes, and, well, sometimes you need to think outside the box to do this. I also want to do long lasting designs for clients, so I think long term when deciding on the colors for their space.

My kitchen floor

As you probably know, the Pantone color of the year for 2012 is Tangerine Tango. Or, in other words, orange, which happens to be my favorite color (for quite some time, I might add). So, it puts me in a quandary, as I don’t want to be perceived as trendy. (No, I really didn’t go out and get all of these orange things recently…) So, even though I have an orange entryway, kitchen floor, ipad cover, wallet, office chair, and so much more, I’m sure, I will embrace them! Even orange was my color when I took the House Beautiful Color Quiz!

It is a beautiful color, though, isn’t it? Maybe it’s just meant to be.

We’ve had quite a few snow days here this week. I always appreciate during this kind of weather that we live close to our cute little town. That means walking distance to a market, coffee shop, restaurants, a wonderful bakery, and some great snow hills! Kids have been in and out all week, coming in for hot cocoa to warm up from the chills of the snow. While some of my friends have had cabin fever, I am enjoying the kids, long walks in the snow with my dog, and the overall slower pace of life. I’ve even managed to get quite a bit of design work done by holing up in my office for a few hours at a time. Shh….don’t tell, but I’ve appreciated the extra time with all the activities that have been cancelled. Hey, I could get used to this!

I love how peaceful it is with the white trees drooping in with the heavy snow. No wonder so many people like a white interior in their homes, it can be very peaceful! (I had a wonderful picture to upload, but was having technical difficulties!)

I have to admit, I’m envious of bloggers who are so eloquent, and blog regularly. For some reason, I like the idea of blogging, but become shell shocked because I feel it has to be so educational. While I think that’s important, that sometimes takes the fun out of it, and makes it less personal. My goal for this year is to be a better blogger. I vow to blog more often, even if it’s not always as design savvy as it should be. Wish me luck!

Everyone has some kind of an entryway in their home, even if you don’t officially have one-you can certainly still make an entryway.  When family and friends come into your home, the entry is the “landing pad” so to speak.  Everyone comes in there, takes off coats, shoes and hangs their bags.  It’s where you say hello and goodbye, and it’s the first impression your guests have of your home.  What do you want it to say about you?

First, think about color.  I recommend a welcoming and vibrant color that encourages socializing, evokes warmth, and beckons you to come in and stay awhile.  Using a warm color such as red, orange or yellow can help to achieve that.

Next, think about how your entry will function.  Is it only used when guests come into the house, or is it used every day by family members?  Is there a closet, or do you need a place to hang coats?  Do you need a chair or bench to sit and take off shoes? Or do you need a table to place mail, keys, etc?  All good things to think about.  I also like to add “objet d’art” and décor items such as books, or a basket.

Your new entryway will welcome your guests!

Images courtesy of HGTV

What is the best way to select color for the exterior of your home? I find that many people get stuck and overwhelmed with the selections of colors available….thus sometimes not making a decision. Here are my tips;
1. Choose the main house color first.
Do you prefer a darker or lighter color for the main color? A good way to gage this is to see what homes in your area interest you-and look at their colors. I am particularly drawn to warm neutrals
2. Choose the trim color;
If your main color is light, choose a darker trim, if the main color is dark, choose a lighter color for the trim. Contrast is always nice. Get out of the same hue-for instance, don’t choose a mocha color for the main color and a camel for the trim-mix it up a bit!
3. Choose an accent color;
This can be used for the door, planter boxes, shutters, etc. Since it’s a smaller area of paint, don’t be afraid to do something fun.

I LOVE what I do.  And while I would not consider myself a workaholic, (ok,  maybe a work horse!) I feel I could eat, sleep, and live design in some capacity all the time.  It never fails, that as I prepare to travel to Michigan with my family on our yearly trip there-I get bombarded with new, past and present clients wanting consultations.

The nice thing about having my own business is that I can set projects “on temporary hold” if I give my clients plenty of notice.  I have lovely clients who understand this.  And besides, it’s not like I’m a globe trotting traveler (although that does sound fun!) so my projects aren’t interrupted that often.

Even though I may be physically away from my clients and my studio during my travels-design is still close to my heart while I’m away.  I always read a design bo that I’ve been itching to read (this trip it was Color; A Natural History of the Palette-it’s a fascinating read).  Another way I stay connected to design is I find inspiration for current projects by photographing houses, buildings, interiors-anything that might inspire me.

One particular trip to MI I was inspired by the wood floors at the lakeside cottage we stayed at.  I loved the eas of care-and how my  kids could be sandy and soggy from thr beach, but everything could be swept up quickly.  Could you imagine this with a carpet?  Yuck!  This particular inspiration gave me an idea-not for a client-but for our own home.  Sure enough, about 4 months later we had ripped out all the carpet in our home (stairs, and bedrooms too) and installed a lovely, high quality laminate.  While we don’t live at the beach, we love the ease of it, especially with kids and pets running around.  Still one of the best things we’ve ever done in our home…

So, what inspired me on this trip to MI, you ask?  Light, beachy colors of the row of cabins along Lake Huron-sweet!  Also, at Michigan State, there were two tall cement buildings-and instead of being painted, they had cleverly had different colors of paints poured over the sides-and of course it dried that way.  How unique-an urban graffiti if you will!

It’s wonderful to travel, but it’s always great to get back home.  And I’m ready to get back to the business of color! Can’t wait to infuse some of  my inspiration into my designs.

I have a fascination with color wheels-in fact, I think it would interesting to start collecting them.  Color is a huge part of my life, and where ever I am I always notice color.  Today at the orthodontist’s office (our first visit for our daughter) among the photos and the x-rays they were taking of my daughter-my attention drifted off onto a bulletin board “Is that a color wheel?”  It was nifty looking, different than any I’d seen.  It looked like it was on a clear cd, and you could overlap the colors.  However, this was not a typical color wheel-it was an American Orthodontic Color Wheel.  Who ever heard of such a thing?  The dental assistant told me it was for selecting what color of rubber band (s) to have for their braces.  Hmm, if she had been gone any longer when she went to find the Dr. I very well may have slipped that into my purse for further studying in the comfort of my favorite leather chair.  But no, I didn’t think that would be a good first impression to make.  So there I left it, maybe I’ll see it again next time we’re there!