Jamie's Question

Hello! I am moving into a new house and love a French country/Tuscan look...but am on a strict budget. Wondering if you know of any online stores where I can find this style while not breaking the bank..I am specifically looking for a kitchen rug and vases/decoration for the kitchen.

Thanks a million!

Jamie

Dear Jamie,

Congratulations on your new home! How fun for you!

I will be the first to tell you that a strict budget is not my strength. I work much better with very large budgets! With that said, let me share with you one of my favorite inexpensive sources. It is called House in the Country. They have a huge selection of beautiful art. I love the source not only for their low prices and large selection, but also because of their flexibility. Each piece is available in different sizes. You can use a collection of several pieces in smaller sizes, or one large one. In kitchens I like using the art on easels on the counter, or a larger piece on an easel above the cabinetry in a vaulted kitchen. The pieces can come bordered, or not, framed, or just canvas wrapped. You can ask me for pricing, or click on "find a retailer" for a local source. I like to start with art, and then find supporting accessories that bring out the color and feel of the art selected.

For your rug? I like Classic Home. They are wool and jute. They, like House in the Country, also are the style that would go great in a "provincial, Tuscan" home. Again, I am a dealer, or you can just Google "Classic Home rugs" and see some other sources out there. If you have specific colors and sizes, let me know and I can find some nice ones for you. Stay away from polyester. They always look so cheap. I would suggest going with a less expensive wool or jute. The rug pictured below is a printed jute, which is a very cool look, for not a big price.

The pictures on the post are from House in the Coutry, and the rug is from Classic Home.

V is for Vacation

Hi Readers! I have been on vacation, but now I am back. I appreciate your questions! Keep posted as I unpack my bags and answer them!

U is for Up.

ABC Wednesday, U is for Up! I looked up, and this is what I saw... This past weekend some girlfriends and I went to San Francisco for the day. Usually when I go to San Francisco, I go to the design center, maybe some antique or stone sources, and head home. This trip was different. We spent the day shopping and eating! Very fun! From an interior design standpoint, the highlight was Neiman Marcus. I took these pictures from their entry. It is truly spectacular!


I love the detail. Notice how they have a different balustrade pattern on each level; and yet with the finish consistent, it goes together beautifully.


The lighting adds a lot. Imagine the view above without it. It absolutely would not be the same. We can learn so much from great interior design, even in a commercial setting, that we can use in our own homes.



What did we learn from Neiman Marcus that we can use in our homes?

1. Consider stained glass for your house. It is a beautiful option on a sidelight at your entry door. (Take down that tacky sheer!) It is also a great choice for a bathroom window, where you want privacy, but still light. Any window where the view is not fabulous is a window to consider. Clerestory windows are also traditionally some that use stained glass. There are very talented artisans out there that can customize the look for your home.


2. Don't be too "matchy matchy." Don't buy "sets" of matching end tables and coffee tables, or sofas and love seats. Instead, have variation, that is carefully selected, making the interior go together beautifully, and be far more interesting than matching sets.


3. Don't forget the lighting! The room is not finished until lighting is casting beautiful shadows and highlights.
   
   

The picture above, I took of a plaque hanging in the entry, telling the history of the beautiful stained glass dome. When items have a story, we love them even more- another lesson for our own homes!

What elese did I learn in Neiman Marcus that I can use in my home? My shoes are "cheap" evidently. I felt uncomfortable even looking. I was wearing "Merrills" and I could tell the clerks didn't even take me seriously. :)

Happy ABC Wednesday, go to Mrs Nesbitt's to see other great "U's"

OK- this post is for any of you who are lucky enough to have a home older that 50 years. Where I live, here in nothern California, that was hard to find. I did try, don't get me wrong. I found several great houses that were built in the 40's- but they all had the same problem - a one car garage. My husband does woodworking, and needs a large garage for his "shop" (as well as our cars of course :). Anyway- this post is for you lucky people.

Are your wood floors not in great shape? Not the color you want? Full of holes where some crazy person installed carpet on top of them? Paint them!

My Green Pick for the Day

Going Green is a huge trend in Interior Design. I love to see it done in such a way that it inspires creativity, like the "Miss Rio" Ottoman does.

This Ottoman is called the "Miss Rio" and is made from the soft rubber of recycled flip flops. The raw material is used without further manufacturing, in its natural "flip flop" state. Miss Rio is also manufactured by otherwise unemployed craftsman in the local community in Brazil. I also think it is such a great design. Not only is it a conversation piece in your home, it is fun, colorful, and unique, and makes you feel less guilty for throwing out perfectly good flip flops, because you wanted a new color for the new season :)

Available from DWR. Designer: Karin Wittmann Wilsmann

The Nightstand

I love it when attention is paid to detail. I recently completed re-decorating a bedroom for a client of mine. (When the window treatments are hung I will photograph it for you.) Her new bedroom set had nice large nightstands that we very diliberatly decorated. Do you want a beautiful nightstand? Let me give you some of the same ideas that I gave to her.

• Purchase appropriate sized lamps. I would say that the most common mistake is buying lamps that are too small. Do you need a good lamp source? I really like Uttermost.



• When you are laying in bed, your head should be BENEATH the rim of the shade; 36 inches or so is usually a good height.



• Your lamps should be a good proportion to your bed. So, king-sized beds require larger lamps than full size beds. They should also be a good proportion to your nightstand (which in turn should be a good proportion to the bed :).



• Find a beautiful alarm clock. The photo above would not be the same with a $15 digital alarm clock radio from Target. Williams Sonoma Home has some lovely contemporary ones. Timeworks has some great traditional ones. Keep your eye out at gift shops. They are not everywhere- but it is fun to have something to search for, right?



• Make covers for the books you have out. (In a nice paper- that coordinates with your room.) Necessary, no- this is just an idea. It gives the nightstand a clean uncluttered look. Books can be a great tool to make things the right height. I use them all the time. Imagine the nightstand in the photo above without the books. The flowers would be too small and too short. If the flowers were larger, the designer might have used two books instead of three. Books are very helpful. I like to keep nicely covered books as "tools" on the nightstand, and the actual books I am reading "in" the nightstand.



• Carefully select a couple of well-chosen accessories. Picture frames, a plant of some sort, a beautiful box. I am a big box fan, as they can also help to hold your hand cream, or whatever else you like to keep on your nightstand.



• Have your accessories at varying heights, again kept in good proportion to your lamp and table.



• Be careful to have it not too cluttered - keep it simple and clean.

There- I just gave you a Saturday project. Now take a before and after photo, and show us how you did your own "extreme nightstand makeover"!

Thanks to Veranda 2008 for the photo. Designer: Deborah T. Lipner

Rose's Question about King Size Bedding

Hi Christine!
I stumbled across your blog while googling and heart you already!! I hope you can help me!

I have a king bed and am having a hard time figuring out how to "dress" the bed, or make it in the morning. I bought 3 euro shams that go in the back and then have our regular 2 pillows we sleep on in front, and then 2 king shams in front of those bed billows and 2 decorative smaller pillows (varying shape).

Can you help me understand the best way to dress a king bed? All the pics on the internet are dressing queen beds!!

Thanks!


Rose

---

Dear Rose,

Great question! This is such a common area of mistakes for people, although, the answer is quite simple.

Make sure you have the right-sized pillows. This is usually the area where people go wrong. I touched on this last week a little, I will go over it in more depth for you today.

A queen bed is 60 inches wide. For this size you use two standard pillows, each 30 inches wide.

A king bed is 76-78 inches wide. For this you would use two KING size pillows, each 36 inches wide. Notice this does not completely cover the distance of the bed, leaving 4-6 inches. You can center the pillows, spaced evenly on the bed, or push them to the center, leaving the extra space on the outside edges. DO NOT have the pillows on the outside edges, with an empty area in the center. Easy huh?

Euro shams are 27 inches wide. You can use two on a queen-sized bed, (a total of 54 inches in width on a 60 inch wide bed), or use three on a king-sized bed (a total of 81 inches in width on a 76-78 inch wide bed.) This might seem like is shouldn't fit- but it does. You just move them very close together. Most headboard styles are wider than the mattress size, and this is not seen as a problem at all. What to avoid? Some decorative pillows that look like Euro sizes are actually only 20 inches wide. These are too small for a king-sized bed, unless being used as a decorative front pillow.

There are a hundred "correct" ways to make a bed, but I will tell you how I might do yours.

1. Euros in the back- just like you said.


2. Make sure the "pillows that you sleep on" are king-sized pillows- they go next. If they are standard size, (not king size) it will not look right.


3. I would center the king-sized pillows the distance of the bed, and then put your more decorative king-sized pillows with shams in front of them.


4. Finish with your smaller pillows. Keep in mind that sometimes the size of the small decorative pillows is not a good proportion to a king size bed, and ends up looking "off." You can rectify this by adding some midsized decorative pillows, or omit the small ones altogether.

Did I answer your question? If you have any follow-up questions, please let me know. I would love to see before and after pictures of your bed! Check out the photo in this post- it is a king-sized bed that sounds similar to yours.

Thanks,

Christine

Thanks to Veranda June 2008 for the photos Queen bed- designer- Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz, King-sized bed- Jilian Pritchard Cooke

ABC Wednesday T is for Timeless

• Everyone, whether on purpose or not, chooses a color scheme in their home. When choosing your colors, it is so tempting to go with the current "trend." For one thing, that is what you find when you go shopping. All of the accessories at Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, and Restoration Hardware, seem to tell you what colors to choose. When light blue is popular, that is what you see everywhere to purchase. This heavy marketing, also makes us "like" these colors. What's wrong with this? Nothing. Especially if you can afford to re-decorate every 5 to 7 years. However, I feel like the best Interior Design is timeless. When you look at a home, and cannot tell when it was decorated, that is good design. Was it last month, last year, or ten years ago? On the flip side, when you see a home with a country blue and peach thing going on- you know it's been around since the 80's. Jewel tones- the 90's. And in 10 years, we will look back and know that the multiple shades of blues and green depicts this time. How do you pull away from the marketing all around us, and select a truly "timeless" color scheme? Or, do you want to?
  Which personality are you?
• 
  • Stylish Susan You like to follow the trends and keep your home looking right out of the latest magazine. So go ahead, decorate with the current trend if you want to- but leave your big expensive items out of it. Get a fabulous, neutral sofa, with some timeless leather chairs, and add your color in your paint and accessories. Sure you'll be re-decorating every 5 years, or 1 year, or maybe even every season, but you love to shop, and like a fresh look in your home. (photo from Pottery Barn)
  
  
  
  • Traveling Tess You like to travel. Do you have a favorite place? Italy? The Virgin Islands (my favorite!), Paris? Use a city or location as color pallet. What do you picture when you picture the place? When thinking of Italy do you picture terra cotta colored roofs, white stucco, and blue water? That- is a great color pallet! Go with it! If you love it- it will never go out of style. (photo from Architectural Digest)
    
    
  
  
  • Collecting Chris You have a collection, (or two), that you love! Maybe it is Vintage Coke, Wedgwood plates, African art, traffic signs, whatever! Take you blue and white plates, add a little red and yellow if you like, and you have a fabulous, timeless, color combination.
  
  Art Fan Ann. Do you have a favorite artist or painting? If you don't already- go to some galleries, fall in love with a painting, and so doing, find your color scheme.

• Outdoor Olivia You love to hike, and bike ride. You are happiest outside. Your perfect vacation is backpacking in Yosemite, or cliff climbing in southern Utah. Take one of your favorite places, and translate the colors of the leaves and water into walls and furniture.

• Neutral Nancy- No one said you have to use color at all. A neutral pallet, whether warm or cool (like the photo at the very top), will always be a timeless choice. You like to keep it neutral and add your interest with textures and different shades.
  

Give it some thought. Choose your color scheme- don't let it choose you!

For more great T's go to Mrs Nesbitt's Place.

Nannette's Question- Screens

Christine,

I found a folding screen that I really like, (about 60 x 80) but I am unsure of how and where I could use it. What do you think?

Thank you,

Nannette

Dear Nannette,

Screens have been used in interior design for literally thousands of years. But instead of using them for tea ceremoniesor as enclosures for Buddhist rites, today they can be a great "tool" in decorating a room.

Screens are a great way to soften and or fill a corner. They also can be a good background tool to use if you wish to put a piece of furniture on an angle in a corner. This could be a love seat (like the photo) or a bed. They also could act as a headboard on a flat wall (for a mattress narrower than the width of the screen). They are also good to use as a soft room divider if you are trying to use a large space for multiple purposes. In my own home I have mounted a screen on a large wall, as art work. My screen is a hand painted scene, but this could also be done with any upholstered, wrought iron, wood, or mirrored screen.

Buy your screen! Have fun with it! Send us pictures!!

- Christine

Thanks to Veranda June 2008 for the photo- designer: Deborah T. Lipner

Cool New Find

LOVE this company! It is called Central Station Original Interiors. They have a clean line, and industrial feel. I think it is fun to include a piece or two from a line like this in a more traditional interior. It is that "unexpected" element that creates interest in a room.

Michele's Question- Window Treatments

Hi Christine,

I really like your website. You have lots of great ideas. I'm sure that
you will have some good ideas for me. I have this valance in my master
bedroom. I am tired of it and want something different. What would you
suggest? I have also included the windows in the adjoining master bathroom.
Those also need a change. I am excited to see your suggestions!

Thank you,
Michele

PS. I decided to send you a photo of my family room valance that I hung "temporarily". I appreciate your suggestions!

Dear Michele,

Wikipedia describes the KISS principle as follows: “The KISS principle (acronym for "Keep It Simple, Stupid") states that design simplicity should be a key goal and unnecessary complexity avoided. It serves as a useful principle in a wide array of disciplines, such as software development, animation, journalism, photography, engineering, and strategic planning.”

I would like to add to this list: window treatments. Creativity has it’s place, but most of the time, that place is not on your windows. Rarely do I design a room with decorative “valances” of any kind. In 7 out of 10 rooms, I use the following: beautiful panels of some kind, and Roman shades of some kind. With that said, there are a lot of different styles of panels and Romans, such as the inverted pleat shown in the top photo, and the simple sheer in the green bedroom above.

When not doing a sheer, make sure you choose a fabric that is going to “drape” well. Fabrics that are too thin, or light weight, are usually poor choices. Use a high quality liner fabric as well. Make sure your panels are always a light neutral color from the outside of your home. Have your drapes “weighted” There are several different methods. Usually they are sewn into the hem of your window treatment. This makes all the difference in having your window treatments lay nicely.

If you have found that your room has mostly solid colors, drape panels are a great place to use a large pattern. Remember that the fabric is generally “bunched up” and the pattern will simply be a means of inviting different colors and interest into your room.

For your second room, where the windows are over a bath, do not use panels. Only use panels when they can come all the way to the floor. In bathrooms and kitchens, generally speaking, I like using Roman shades. (Simple ones again- not 80's poofy ones).

I know what some of you want me to say. (My husband included ) You want me to say that it doesn't matter how much you spend. I am afraid this is not so. With window treatments, in most cases, the more they cost, the nicer they will look. A Kia is not as pretty as a Lexus. Buy the best window treatments you can afford. I don’t want to scare some of you- but spending $600- $1000 per window is not uncommon. (Especially in a living room where you might be using silk). If this is your budget- go to The Curtain Exchange (or have them custom make from your local top Interior Designer). OK- if that freaked you out- keep reading. You can have beautiful window panels for $300- $600 per window from Restoration Hardware, (or having them custom made again from your local favorite interior designer or drapery shop). Still out of your realm? Go to West Elm- or shop a lot and find a good sale. The other day I was in the “EXPO Design Center” and found some great panels on clearance for $89 each. If you do not plan on being in your home a long time, it might not make sense to spend a lot of money on window treatments. If you are in doubt? Ask me. I am here to help! Remember- your friends will lie to you and tell you that what you selected is nice whether it is or not- me- I will tell you the truth. Plus- who says your friends even know what they are talking about?

I feel like there is still more to say- on coverage, length, fullness, etc.- but that will have to wait for a future post. Just remember: KISS and
SACS (Still Ask Christine, Silly)

Thanks for the question!

- Christine

All pictures (except Michele's :) are from Veranda 2008

Top photo and green bedroom: designer- Jillian Pritchard Cooke

Bottom two photos: designer- Elizabeth Locke