Mirror, Mirror on the Floor!

(Perth Mirrored Chest from Hayneedle)Which furniture is the fairest of them all?  All right, it’s not Snow White but since Hollywood has been churning out endless remakes of this fairytale, I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon and transform it to an interior design fairytale – my kind of bedtime story!

My client, Miss Dina Dithering, (all names changed to protect them) can’t decide on the style of furniture she wants in her home.  First she wants contemporary then she wants classic.  Last week she loved the silver colors; this week it’s only true blue.  Do you have one of these clients?  We can’t move forward; we’re stuck in a murky, sticky swamp.

I offered her some tempting styles:  how about Scandinavian? Georgian? Arts and Crafts?  NO! She cried, “That style is too cold; that one is too expensive; the other is too heavy!”  And down the line, she crossed them all off.

(Mirrored Chest from Elizabeth Austin)Oy vey, help me. And then like a fairy godmother on speed dial, my vendors came to the rescue!  I was showered with some glorious photos of mirrored furniture. Ahhh, glamorous, contemporary or classic, and they reflect any color in the room. Here were some selections that I showed to my client. The above two were chests: the Perth chest from Hayneedle a more neoclassically-styled chest and the Elizabeth Austin chest, a contemporary version with etched circles.

(Amelie Lingerie Chest from Neiman Marcus)To introduce some old-world glamour into the bedroom, I showed her the Amelie Lingerie chest from Neiman Marcus.  The lingerie chest has a warm golden burnished finish.  Another classically-styled furniture is the Bethel Mirrored Vanity which shows off Greek swags and rosettes with gold painted details.

(Bethel Mirrored Vanity)After some further hemming and hawing, Miss Dina Dithering finally picked a few of the pieces to complement the rest of her furniture in a very eclectic design.  When you want to provide a touch of glamour and an unusual contemporary note, go ahead and bring in mirrored furniture to mix with the usual wood pieces. You may finally get a happily ever after! 

Interested in learning more about furniture?  Take a look at Sheffield School's Complete Course in Interior Design.  At Sheffield, you will learn how to transform a space, create color schemes, and select furniture, lighting, and accessories. 
 

4 Favorite New Home Product Designs - from Groopti

I'm a huge fan of giving talented product design newcomers a chance to bring their creations to market - but there are so many steps involved in translating a "thing" from a design on paper and turn it into a manufactured product.

Groopti.com was created last year to help newbies bring their designs to market; the Groopti design team comes up with modifications that help turn ideas into manufacturing processes that are economical, energy-conscious, and in many cases eco-friendly - and they provide an online marketplace to help the designers sell their wares.

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When You Want to Shop for Interior Design Online

 

 Shopping online for furnishings and home goods? Well, good luck to you. Some people need to sit in a chair or sofa in order to experience what it would be like to use the furnishings in everyday use situations. But most people love the convenience of online shopping, and it's a great way to shop around from store to store while saving gas, driving time, parking, and in-store jostling. Do you remember when most people went into book stores to buy books? Now 60% of all books are bought on Amazon.com - and online stores are growing in popularity and sales that outrun their brick-and-mortar counterparts.

In a recent guest post I wrote for Williams-Sonoma Designer Marketplace - which, by the way, is an excellent collection of advice for anyone interested in interior design - my partner and I checked out Pottery Barn online; he selected some favorites and we applied three criteria for picking out excellence in interior design purchases in an online experience. Read the Williams-Sonoma piece here: How to Shop Online for Your Clients. (It actually applies to purchasing home goods for yourself, too.) Check out the items we loved during our online shopping spree, and click on the photos in this article to see my current favorites from the store. Happy online shopping!

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Feng Shui Clearing & Energy Shifts

Franca Giuliani - Lately, I'm finding that using one or more modalities collectively is the most successful way to harmonize a space. Therefore, when I'm working with a space I acknowledge its feng shui, I acknowledge the occupants’ 9 Star Ki, and I space clear.

Space clearing allows one to tune into the space and release any charges or disturbances that are caused from either earth energies, metaphysical issues, or technological reasons. It allows for the space to become clear and balanced, thus providing greater benefits to occupants. One of my teachers said it best:

Applying feng shui adjustments to any space without clearing it first is like putting fresh flowers in dirty water.

The space where we reside holds much more than what we can see with our eye. Did you ever wonder what was on the land where your home is 200 years ago? Was it a place of battle? Are there geological fault lines running through your bedroom? Was there once a family’s prairie house right where your living room and kitchen are? What did someone experience while in this space? Is there anything left from previous occupants that might be affecting you today?

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Make Your Own Furniture Finishes

If you're into perfect details - and that covers our interior-design-loving readers - then there will be times you'll want to tightly control the finishes on some furniture pieces. Let's say you're padding your client's budget and using flea market or auction furniture ... or you pick up unfinished wood furniture and want to make it look old. Knowing how to refinish a client's furniture will come in handy.

Faux painting and distressing will help turn something new into an old master. The following video from St. Paul, MN shows you how custom woodworkers create something that looks old and beautiful from something brand new and raw. Distressing furniture may well be in your future as a handy, I-can-do-it-all designer; try the techniques in this Designed & Made Custom Workworking video.

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