Eye Candy For the Home!

Originally posted in 2008.

flickr

We often hear that every room should have at least one focal point. Exactly what is a focal point you may be asking? A focal point in a room is a place that naturally draws your eye to it. It is the place in the room that creates the most interest and where you can make your talents shine.

Sometimes the focal point is an architectural feature like a beautiful bay window overlooking your garden or a lovely or commanding fireplace. The true nemesis for most decorators and designers is that it is often the TV. Ugh! Some rooms have more than one focal point. The first room below is an example of that.

You have a fireplace, a big window and a TV. In this room the sofa is facing the TV but there are also views of the fireplace from the sofa and other chairs are placed to also enjoy the outside. The more focal points the more fun you can have making it all come alive. 3 is probably the limit though as more than that and your eyes are just confused.

In this room it is the TV area that ranks first, fireplace and then the outside. Form needs to follow function. What that means is what you do in the room is just as important or more so that the aesthetics. The trick is mastering both.

This was one of the most challenging rooms I have ever done. It is a long and narrow room and the fireplace is placed in an odd place. Not centered but at the end of the room. Logistically the TV had to be the focal point because if I used the fireplace all the furniture would have been at the end of the room and very unbalanced. Why do builders do things like that? Arrgh! I remember my frustration and that Laura did about five other rooms while I struggled with this puzzle.

This room is in one of my most favorite houses of all times. Staging this house for sale was amazing. This house was eye candy at every turn and sold the first day on the market. One of the many things that I love about this room is no TV and thoughtful architecture. That made placement of the furnishing so easy and created a very welcoming home.

If you are decorating a room with none of these possibilities then you need to create a focal point. As an example you can choose a beautiful piece of art, a beautiful mirror with a table or buffet beneath it and a pretty floral arrangement. A focal point is eye candy. It should automatically pull the eye there.

Entryway Focal Point

This kitchen area has the most beautiful garden outside the window which is the focal point but you also have to make it look great on the inside. I could have moved right into this house.

Other things that can serve as focal points are what are called "case goods" in the industry. They would include large pieces of furniture like a grand piano, an armoire, buffet, etc. In a bedroom the focal point is almost always the bed.



The thing that cannot be a focal point is an upholstered piece like a sofa or chair. Why? Because they disappear when you sit on them. Makes sense, right? This room's most outstanding feature was the pair of antique overstuffed tiny sofas. This small room had no focal point other than the window looking out to the street. That wasn't too interesting so the room is designed with the two little sofas facing each other with exceptional art above each as the focal points of the room. It is so cozy and comforting.

This was a fun room to decorate. Here the window and armoire are the focal points because the TV is in the armoire. It was fun to come up with something that made this room a little different by placing the drop leaf table behind the sofa.



When arranging your furniture in the room~follow this simple rule for best results. Choose or create a focal point and then address your focal point with your largest piece of upholstered furniture. You can be creative and do your own thing of course, but if you neglect these two things your room will always feel a little off. Have fun creating your own little world at home! It is a great place to be and the stage upon which you live your life! Enjoy it!

Recycling Our Old Bathroom After 32 L-O-N-G Years

We have recently remodeled our ancient bathroom and added 55 square feet to the footprint. We went for a 'tiny barely can turn around in it' unused space, to what you see below in about 3 months. It was a lot of fun to design it, and mostly fun when the construction was done and the decorating could get underway. I had been accumulating things for quite some time but it is always fun to put the icing on the cake.

View from the door

Love the crown on the window tops
Click Click for a bigger view on all photos

The tub!

The fun tub caddy

The shower faucetry for the tub

The fun stuff on the window sill
The glass picks up the morning sunlight so beautifully!

The sink~love it!The sconces up close ~ They can point up or down!
Restoration hardware cannot be beat!The baffles for the can ceiling lights. There are five. Home Depot!!

More fun light catchers on the other window sill.

Our garden boy from the nursery
wanted to bring the outside in!
He has a little nest with eggs on his head
~urging spring to be ours~

My beloved funny angel with the glass eyes~Angelo~
Yes, I have been robbing a lot of other rooms!

Sunflowers snagged from our bedroom!

Corner of the sink and window that faces
the pond and waterfall outside. Toto Sink

Outside view above the tub

On the shower wall behind the tub. The towels and little architectural element holding the place where Laura's La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life) sign will go when she is done making it. Check out the glass rod on the chrome towel bar holders. Be still my beating heart!

The throne as I know the kids will want
to see every square inch!
We got a tall one for people over 5 feet.
Toto

The Fresco we received from some past tenants of my mom's when they moved! So Italian..I have loved this thing for years~ it finally has the proper place to be.

Close-ups
Our cottage has lots of brick so love the glass
tile root beer colored brick trim in the shower.
We got the flooring and tiles from The Floor Club!

The shower 4x5 feet and no door..love that part!

Grohe Shower Fixtures

Another tub shot
Barclay Cast Iron Tub
With Chrome Feet

The art work~ 2 etchings by a street artist
in Venice. Given to us by our daughter, Laura.
Artist: Ugo Baracco
If you get yourself to Venice see his work
on the pathway leading to St Mark's Square on the right!
He is amazing!

Our Italy trips have influenced our remodel of
both our kitchen and bathroom this year.Can't really capture these with a camera
too well but they are so neat!

The colors are perfect and they were purchased
long before this bathroom was conceived.

Ahhh, Venice! Who Can Forget Her?

Usually I would start with the art work as inspiration for the room but everything was selected before I saw these and Laura was sweet enough to part with them. They were in her garage in a tube just waiting to be whisked to America and framed! Lucky us!

Can I just tell you how happy we are to have this bathroom and to finally be done with the construction. Our contractor, Steve, and Jim worked themselves silly over it and it was a bit like giving birth. Now that the labor is over.. it is time to be thankful and to enjoy! I don't know what our favorite part is...it changes daily. What do you like best?

Bring On The Bling! Your Closet~ Your Home!

From Blissfully Domestic
(My additions in orange after the article)

"Shoes, handbags, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, scarves. Seriously, I have a teeny bit of an obsession when it comes to the peripheral portion of my closet.

Mainly, because I am cheap. And the thrifty fashionistas secret weapon is understanding that the most frugal way to stay "current" is to let your accessories do all the work. Remember this:

Buy classic clothes that flatter and pair them with trendy accessories for a look that is always in style.

The End."

Unfortunately, while accessories are the easiest way to keep up with the latest fashion trends, they can also be the most overwhelming to figure out. It can be difficult to determine how much is too much, which colors "go" and which ones don't have to.

Everything You Need To Know About Adding Accessories To Your Wardrobe

1. Make A Statement - but just one.

Photo Source

Our grandmothers used to call them "signature pieces". Of course, they usually meant the strand of pearls you never left home without. In today's style world we've moved beyond the classic strand and you now have a wide range of Statement Pieces to choose from.

Experiment with a large attention getting bracelet or a brightly colored necklace. Maybe you'll finally put on those leopard print shoes or chandelier earrings (that I am not giving up no matter what is supposed to be "in").

Whether you're an accessory hog or just learning to be more brave with your style, it's always smart to let one bold piece have center stage.

2. It doesn't have to match - it just has to "go".

Fans of the show What Not To Wear will have heard Stacey London use this phrase over and over again. Because it's true. You aren't limited to your shirt and pants when it comes to picking out colors for your accessories. In fact introducing a new color can be a great way to create a pulled together look.

I find that the easiest way to do this is to start with a fairly neutral outfit. An all black dress or a mainly solid top paired with denim provides the perfect blank canvas for your more colorful shoes or jewelery.

How do you know which colors "go"? Think in terms of color palettes. For visual tips (and new ideas!) you can use an online tool like this one at COLOURlovers.

3. Accentuate The Positives That No One Notices

The most timeless way to use accessories is to pull out a color that is already somewhere in your wardrobe. A slight cautionary note here: this is only a good idea if you are already wearing quite a few colors! A black dress with black shoes, black bag and black jewelry is only appropriate for a funeral. If you're the widow.

A better way to draw from your existing color palette is to match your jewelry (or shoes, or bag or scarf or whatever) to a color that isn't otherwise understated in your outfit. I have a pair of yellow shoes that I absolutely love with what is mostly a burnt orange top. The yellow in the shirt is barely noticeable, but adding the Cannot Be Ignored shoes creates an overall look that is both warm and striking.

As a rule, you don't have to use colors that are exactly the same when you're picking up on details. Keeping it in the family is usually your best bet to make this style tip work.

And that's it.

No - really. That is truly everything you need to know to start playing around in the accessory aisle with confidence. As with almost everything in life, the key is to relax and keep it simple."

I was thinking about this article and the similarities between interior design and fashion are amazing. I am in complete agreement about buying classic and adding the bling. By accessorizing with fun items in both your home and your wardrobe you can really step it up and make your look more unique.

I have a real thing about not having everything match. Matchy ~Matchy is very boring. Too much sameness is ho-hum. Asking yourself if it goes together is a better criterion to use in making your determination if something works, than asking does it match.

To me one of the things that makes something striking is a little element of surprise or whimsy. Change it up a little and you can have a lot of fun, stay relatively current and create your own signature style.

Like the article says, one reason to think this way is that accessories are the least expensive way to decorate anything~your home or yourself!

When you make an effort to look your best~you tend to feel better about yourself too. I like Fly Lady's thing about getting up and getting ready for the day the first thing in the morning. If not, the day tends to slip away from you. When I do that, I feel crummy and out of sync all day long.

The same goes for our homes~a morning routine that spruces things up and sets things in order makes for a better day~everyday.

Just like your home, the way you dress yourself affects how you feel and how you feel affects just about everything in your life. You don't have to be beautiful, or thin, or rich, or exotic looking or young to look good. You just have to make an effort and put some thought into it. Being your best self is an important and fun thing to do.

The same goes for your home. Be it ever so humble~make it beautiful. It doesn't take a lot of money or talent, as much as it requires a desire to live your best life.

Be reasonable though, OK?

Just kidding~If you Like It~

There is Something Good About it!

Claim it and make it YOURS!

Now This is SWEET!

Imagine my surprise today when I received an e-mail advertising Room With A Past's upcoming sale. I blogged about them once before. Each month they send out this e-mail and then they attach some pertinent info.

Apparently they have started a blog themselves. I was reading the second entry on the page and found this post featuring my blog! Whoa, such great advertising for me here in our local area. I love this place, these sweet ladies, and the blogsphere! Such kindnesses as sharing information in our areas of interest and business is simply SWEET! I cannot wait to hop on over there this weekend for their sale. It is a real treasure hunt every time!

If you live locally~
Why not add their blog to your blogroll or reader?

You might also like:

I've Been Tagged

Fun With Photos

Hazie Jo Entertains Herself

LinkWith

Staging An Occupied Home For Sale

This is the home we staged last week. I am just experimenting on making a slide show with SmileBox and you are my Guinea Pigs.


Staging an occupied home presents challenges that a vacant home does not. You have to work with what they have, keep the home livable, and bring in things from the warehouse to enhance it. All this happens after an extensive consultation and "to do" list for the homeowner which includes items for removal, cleaning up, de-cluttering, new purchases, repairs, etc.

In the best of all worlds, they follow my written instructions to the letter and everything goes according to the design plan I have worked up from my photos. Often we come and find things not exactly the way we had hoped and then the order of the day is ~ adjust and smile.

We decorate the entire house in one day. It is hard work but very fun too. I could not do this without the help of my assistants, Emily and Maureen. They are the best! Nor could I do it without the technical assistance of Jim who helps me move all the heavy things to the houses and de-stage it when it is sold.

Once the written report is done I take that and my photos and begin the process of deciding what I have that will work in each room in the house. The tricky part is coordinating a feeling with colors, art work , accessories, floral and plants, linens, dishes, etc. that will pull the house together.

For this house we brought over two very full van loads of accessories from our warehouse. I spent about $50.00 to buy things we didn't have, but that is minimal and normal now that we have a pretty substantial inventory. As it turned out, I didn't even use the items but, that is OK...there is always another house. (Hopefully!)

What made this home more difficult was the colors in the main rooms are so muted. As an example the sofa is a salmon and muted blueish gray, patterned fabric. It is very hard to make that "pop" as the overused term goes. One of the best colors for making a house come alive is red and that just would not work in this house. Also things like wallpaper in the dining room remained in place although removal was recommended. The chandelier, a favorite treasure brought from their larger home was installed here, but is way over-scale for this room. That meant finding dishes in our collection that were the right colors to blend with the living room and somewhat plain, and having a shorter centerpiece than I would normally use so it wasn't nearly touching the light fixture. Every detail has to be considered. So, come on in and take the tour!



Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our objective is to make the house look inviting and spacious and well cared for by the owners. We also try to make it look like real people live here so it does not have the sterile quality of a model home. We want the prospective buyer to think they would just love to live here where everyday is restful and wonderful! We realize they have probably been working like crazy to get their home on the market too, so when they come here we want things to look and feel done! We want them to feel like they would be leisurely stepping up...!

What do you think? Did we do it?

Faye's Vintage Cottage

This is a cottage with million dollar views from every window. This view is out the kitchen window. The house in on a large piece of wooded property with a creek running through the backyard. It is a paradise for sure.

It is such a blessing to love the work you do. This little cottage is the epitome of why I love decorating living spaces so much. The cottage was actually built by my husband's grandfather over half century ago. For years his uncle owned the house next to the cottage and we would visit often.

When it was time for Uncle Bob to sell, a sweet young family bought it. They happened to be members of our church and so over the years, Jim and I have gotten to know them very well and love them a lot. The cottage has served many purposes over time, but now it is at it's best~a guest house and hideaway for Faye when no one is visiting. Last week she and I shopped and worked on the house to make it oh, so welcoming and fun. She did a post on the renovation and you can see it here. Double click on Faye's photos to see the details.

Somehow we both missed getting photos of the dining area in the kitchen. There is a round table with a white and navy tablecloth and a pretty blue and white floral centerpiece and four black chairs. They sit right in front of a bank of window with a patio view. Here a a few photos of room Faye has already shown you from different angles.

She has concealed her treadmill with a
lovely screen just to the right of the couch.

I love the little niche here in the bedroom!


This vantage point with a few more details added in.

Close up of the dresser top. Double click for close up.
The antique comb in the foreground and the sparkly purse
were a few of our finds.
The cobalt blue accessories are perfect in here.

This is a very restful room. The 2 million dollar house we decorated for sale last summer does not even come close to comparing to the coziness and charm of this little cottage. Thank you, Faye, for a wonderfully memorable experience and fun day together! Faye's husband, John, came home right as we were finishing and accused us of totally girlifying the cottage and turning it into a chick pad. Yup, we did it all right! Guilty as charged!

As we were finishing up I couldn't help wishing Jim's Grampa could see it today. The cottage has come full circle! Faye is a very lucky lady and I have to admit, I felt a little green with envy for such a lovely hideaway of her very own ~and right next door to her big house. What would you do with a great space like this one?