Interior Design Inspiration: Gustav Klimt Decoration and Detail

As the book cover above shows, Gustav Klimt was way, way, way over the top when it came to design and decoration. This is an approach to style that our interior design students can take a cue from in their own work, and it's used by many successful designers working in residential design today. You'll see echoes of Klimt's minute attention to decoration when you read about interior designers who define their style as "More is more" or "It's all in the details." Klimt would agree. I was inspired by Tashen's sumptuous book, Gustav Klimt: The Complete Paintings. "Paintings" is a bit of a misnomer, however, as the cover work of art is from the spectacular Tree of Life frieze composed of Carrara marble, gold and silver mosaic, colored ceramics, enamel, mother-of-pearl, semi-precious stones, sheet metal, and gold leaf in the dining room (below) of Brussels' Palais Stoclet, probably one of the most beautiful homes ever designed (the overall design and architecture was by Austrian architect Josef Hoffmann, executed by Klimt and other artists and craftsmen from the famed Wiener Wekstatte or "Viennese Workshop"). Historic interiors great artists like Klimt inspire us to create a more detailed and layered room scheme. The marble walls, the glassy surfaces in Klimt's mosaics, and the highly-reflective dining room table were meant to create a magical world of glittering light when a multitude of candles were lit on table candelabra and the wall sconces. It's that kind of thoughtful attention to appearance and the harmonious interplay of all elements in a room that we teach and would like our students to internalize.

If you're interested in learning more about interior design and decorating strategies, we encourage you to explore the Sheffield School, New York, NY. Sheffield began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.

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Decorate Your Outdoor Rooms: Hot Tubs

A hot tub on top of your pool: Zoe Walker and Neil Bromwich designed the Sci Fi Hot Tub within its own inflatable iceberg

If I could bottle the warm, sunny weather we had over Memorial Day, I would - it was flawless! It got me thinking about how our interior design students and homeowners everywhere should be adding outdoor rooms to your list of must-decorate spaces. The trend in recent years has to bring the outdoors indoors and to also bring the indoors outside with livable extensions of the home. Good home decorating enhances the function of a room, and so too should you consider the function of an outdoor space.

More traditional hot tub, but well designed: Bullfrog Spa 151R SportX

I'll be exploring outdoor room decorating in upcoming posts, but I thought I'd start with hot tubs. Having just come back from a trip to Amsterdam, I made a special side trip to see the Weltevree showroom and check out the Dutchtub, a sensational lightweight, portable hot tub that uses a wood fire to heat your water in what amounts to sitting in a giant colorful teacup! 

Wood-burning, portable, back-to-nature alternative: Weltevree's Dutchtub

Privacy helps with hot tub placement: Weltevree's Dutchtub Loveseat

If you're going to add a hot tub to an outdoor room, make sure it's convenient to other amenities for bathing and pool use. Is there a cabana or changing room handy? (A converted part of your garage might make a good cabana.)

A lightweight, inflatable solution: Oval AiriSpa portable hot tub

Do you want the hot tub to be on a deck, handy to in-and-out traffic from a family room? (Make sure you don't have a wood-burning Dutchtub on a wood deck - for obvious reasons!) Wherever you position the hot tub, make sure the outdoor room has lots of privacy, with plantings, hardscape, and fencing designed to shield bathers from prying eyes. Finally, plan for safe evening lighting to make the passages between hot tub and home accessible; there's nothing worse than groping in the dark or tripping and falling down after spending a relaxing time in a hot tub. 

Evening relaxation with built-in lighting: HotSpring Limelight collection hot tubs

Click on any hot tub photo for more product information, and add a hot tub to an outdoor room for summer entertaining, after-work stress relief, small intimate parties, or close encounters of the romantic kind. 

If you're interested in learning more about interior design, we encourage you to explore the Sheffield School, New York, NY. Sheffield began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.

Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter.

Event Planning: You're Going to Love This Peachy Kids Birthday Party!

Love the simplicity of this peachy 4th birthday party from Michelle Sterling for her daughter, Avery. Click here to see Avery’s 2nd birthday party. And this is perfect timing as a number of you asked for more “realistic” DIY birthday party ideas, in addition to those planned by moms who are event designers. We couldn’t agree more! This one is adorable and do-able. The best kind.

The inspiration for the entire party started with that fuzzy orange cat, affectionately known as “cat ball” around the Sterling house. These guys have been a favorite of Avery’s since her first steps. One actually makes an appearance in her 2nd birthday photos!

How cute is this idea for a party activity? Cheerios and lifesavers on pretty ribbon, inspired by an idea in this book. Easy enough for small hands of all ages.

Click to read more ...

So What's Going on with Rugs These Days?

Bidjar Muted Chrome rug by Jan Kath

There's one subject we love to teach in our Sheffield School Complete Course in Interior Design: spotting trends and how to incorporate trends into a client's overall decorating scheme. We don't want to be slavish to the "latest thing," knowing that it will be kicked to the proverbial curb next year, leaving the client with a tired "so last year" interior. 

Grafitti-inspired Tagged rug by Jan Kath

The secret, of course, is to carefully incorporate accessories and other easy-to-replace pieces that are trendier with more solid signature furnishings in a room. You won't want to trade out a sofa or dining room table, but you won't mind swapping artwork, a vase, or a rug to keep the room current and fresh.

3D plush Mienterra rug from the Terra collection by Stepevi

Which brings me to rugs. If you've been an astute observer of industry trends lately, you might have noticed that rugs aren't following the norm. Like many design categories, they're breaking out, and now we have many companies coming out with categories called Contemporary Rug Art. Art you walk on? Well, why not?

Caucasian Silver Frost from the Deluxe Collection by Calle Henzel

We know that flooring is a basic design component in any room. They provide color to a room, texture, and utility. Utility? Try living in a New York City apartment where everyone is piled on top of one another; if you have wood floors and you don't have rugs down, you'll soon get complaints (so utility can equal both comfort underfoot as well as vital sound proofing).

Aldo Taccono Intense rug from Second Session Collection by Calle Henzel

I've chosen some of my favorite modern rug art pieces, and you can click on each image for more product information. Stay current with rug trends (and other design trends)! It's surprising how much things are changing.

Rugs from the Diamond Dust / Nordic Raw collection by Calle Henzel

If you're interested in learning more about interior design and decorating trends, we encourage you to explore the Sheffield School, New York, NY. Sheffield began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.

Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter.

Interesting Creative Ad Campaign: Jewelry Designer Cross-Sells Custom Decor

 

Minneapolis jewelry designer Ann Lambrecht is a busy creative professional, and at the School, we love tracking the careers of creatives who are doing business out of the box. Ann loves to travel, and her globetrotting ensures that she brings home to her studio beautiful and exotic materials to incorporate into her work, like a necklace featuring antique wedding beads from Timbuktu (top photo) or the many elements in her Brass Ritual Bracelet Collection (second photo, below), which includes elements like vintage glass trade beads from Ghana and African brass trade beads.
 

 

But here's the "out of the box" part. Ann is one of the featured spokespersons for the Budget Blinds franchise. She's been featured on their website (see below) as well as in full-page ads in interior design magazines like Elle Decor.
 

 

The ads call Ann a "world traveler, jewelry designer," and they feature her funky, international, tribal-look jewelry with Budget Blinds' roller shades and drapes. Ann is also quoted in the ad, in a direct tie-in between jewelry and interior design.

It's the custom touches that make my jewelry - and my home - so unique.

And this is yet another way that jewelry designers are expanding their brands into the related worlds of fashion and interior design.
 

 Sheffield School began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.

Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter.