Beautiful Habitat: March 2014

Friday, March 21, 2014

Spring Cleaning to Spring Decorating | Changing Your Energy

I started this post before Spring was officially upon us. Now that Spring is here, it's all the more relevant. Enjoy! I've been feeling the pull of spring... and of spring cleaning. I've recently cleaned out my closet and the basement. I've started a new to do list with the many areas I'd like to tackle around the new home.
Interior Decorating Tips

This all got me thinking. What is it about spring that sparks this in us? Why do we feel called to "spring clean"? It's all about changing our energy. Decluttering, cleaning, organizing, refreshing; it all breathes new energy into our homes and we feel better for it. So dive into your spring cleaning and boost the energy level around your home. You may even be inspired to take your spring cleaning a step further with some spring decorating. Here are quick and easy ways to add spring to your decorating and change your home's energy.

Add a New Color of Accessories

The two bedrooms below would've looked fine before, but the addition of a pillow in a bright complimentary color (yellow and orange respectively) works to change the energy of the spaces.
Interior Styling Tips from an Expert

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In living rooms designs , you can make a new color work by adding it in at least 3 places. In the room below, we see emerald green evenly added throughout the room. To make your space look really polished, find a coordinating item the pulls in the old color and new color.

Transitional Living Room by Minneapolis Interior Designers & Decorators Martha O'Hara Interiors

Move Things Around

Try a piece that you bought for the bedroom in the dining room or living room. Sometimes we are too stuck in a rut. Just moving things around can spruce up a space. If that item doesn't work in a different room, the change should at least get your creative juice flowing; changing your energy.

Try a New Lamp Shade

And if you really want to boost the energy, paint the lamp a new color inspired by bright spring tones.

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Those are easy an inexpensive tips to help add a Spring Time Energy to your home this month. If you are ready to change the energy more permanently, Beautiful Habitat can help you create a design plan. Contact Us today.

For more Spring Design and Decorating inspiration, check out the following posts:

Happy Spring!!!

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Open Plan Kitchens

The majority of kitchens in America are "open plan", meaning the kitchen opens onto at least one other room in the home - dining room, family room, etc. Some home designs are very open, where the main living space is nearly one continuous open room. Others have more boundaries between spaces. We are each comfortable with a certain level of this openness and certain boundaries.

I had not given Open Plan Kitchens a lot of thought until I moved to London nearly 10 years ago. I was used to Colorado and the American West - big open spaces and big open floor plans. Most English homes and apartments have a very different way of living - each room is it's own separate box with 4 walls and a door. This is often because the buildings are older and were originally built this way. However, even newer buildings follow this plan, primarily because it is a comfort level for the British. Just as I am more comfortable in wide open spaces, they are often more comfortable in enclosed, cozy spaces. It's what we've always known. But I didn't know this when we first moved. Let's just say my first hour of house hunting was quite an eye opener! And I learned a lot about myself and how much I crave open spaces in my home. We did find a beautiful flat with an open Kitchen, Dining Room and Living Room. It was perfect. We were happy!

Many in England have started to embrace more open floor plans, particularly around the kitchen, but they are still a smaller percentage of the housing market. There is a possibility that my family and Beautiful Habitat will find ourselves back in London again, so I'm dreaming of open, open, open kitchens. Here are some inspirational interiors featuring very open kitchen designs and ways to include features from each to create your masterpiece.

via Comfree Ontario

via Homedit

via Rugdots.com

via Trendzona

via creative-furniture

Get the Look : 1. Wooden bar stools from Cymax 2. Chalkboard Paint DIY Tutorial on The Handmade Home 3. Metal Basket (Set of 4) from Wayfair 4. Hanging Lamps from Shades of Light 5. Pull Down Faucet from Home Depot 6. Iron Wall Clock from Lamps Plus 7. Le Creuset Cookery in Dune can be found at Cutlery and More 8. Wooden Countertops and Islands from John Boos

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Love it or Leave it| Sofa at the Foot of the Bed

The bench at the foot of the bed - it's a staple in bedroom design, particularly in master bedrooms. It's the perfect spot to put on your shoes, decorative bedcovers can be folded down onto the bench, it helps to fill the space in larger rooms. I've even been known to add a bench in rooms designed by Beautiful Habitat.

Custom Bedding Design by Tennille Wood, Denver CO

via Beautiful Habitat

Lately I'm seeing the bench replaced by sofas, settees and chairs - furniture pieces with backs.

via Knight Carr

And then I started to see sofas morph into full seating areas such a this room below.

via Mrs. Howard Personal Shopper

What do you think of this trend? Love it - it's an out of the box use of the space; it creates more function; it uses the space better? Or leave it - it closes off the room too much; it distracts from the bed; I'm not holding board meetings in my bedroom? What are your thoughts of sofas (or other furniture with backs) and seating areas at the foot of the bed?

via House and Home

via Furbish Studio

via Design Shuffle

via Pinterest

via Design OCD

via Lonny

via Atlanta Homes

via House Beautiful

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Design Inspiration | Future of the Home Library

I'm working on a Home Library design in a beautiful, traditional home in Denver. Few homes have these beautiful, inviting, bonus rooms, and I fear that even fewer will in the future. Libraries, public and private, really are a treasure. I was recently in New York and had a chance to admire the public library building. How could I be anything but inspired by this beautiful architecture and detail? The woodwork, the windows, the chandeliers... all adding elegance to a highly functional space.

Interior Design Inspiration from World Travels

What is the future of our printed word? E-books have outsold printed books since 2010 and the margin grows each year. Will our printed books really go away? I think not. Most people still prefer the touch and experience of reading a real book. What is the future of our libraries, public and private? Whether your library is a proper separate room, or a bookshelf in your office, bedroom, or living room, most homes do have a library. Those shelves tell a brief story of who we are, our hobbies or interests. In some cases our books are artwork, or nostalgia. What is the future of these cozy spaces once designed to house our reading treasures?
Design Inspiration

What do you envision when you hear the term "library"? I envision warm enveloping chairs and a cozy environment. The kind of place you really want to curl up and read. Good lighting is essential. Some might prefer a table or work area. And some may require a place to put your feet up. Following are beautiful Library Spaces that are inspiring me today.

Interior Decorator Boulder CO