Author Archives: creatingyourspace

Farm to Table Inspired Kitchens

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The farm to table movement in food is always influencing the way we think about and design our kitchens.  The return to locally grown produce and farm raised meats has increased the popularity of farmhouse style in the kitchen.

 

Farmhouse style sinks are one of the most popular sink designs in recent years. The farmhouse sink is a deep and wide sink that can work with a number of kitchen styles, including modern and contemporary.  The clean lines and rectangular shape of the farmhouse sink fit in with most cabinet styles as well.

 

Flooring inspired by old farmhouses is also a big trend. Reclaimed wood floors, some from antique barns, gives any kitchen an instant vintage feeling. New wood floors can be found with a rough, hand-hewn finish that gives them the look of reclaimed or antique wood floors.  Wider floor boards are also popular in kitchen floors.

 

Linoleum and marmoleum, a green product, can also work for a farmhouse or vintage kitchen floor. Offered in sheets or tiles, these floors can add color and pattern to a vintage or farmhouse inspired design.

 

Beyond floors and sinks, cabinets and islands are getting the farmhouse treatment.  Furniture that can work at adding storage like an armoire or wood cabinet can take the place of a walk in pantry in a farmhouse kitchen. Farmhouse tables can stand in for a kitchen island.

 

Baskets, bowls and crates for storing and displaying farm fresh produce can be placed on kitchen counters, islands and shelves to add color to the kitchen.

Choosing the Right Size Area Rug

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Hardwood floors are the perfect backdrop for an area rug. Hardwood floors are durable and stylish but can be hard and cold under foot. They don’t invite you to sit down and sprawl out to play a game on the coffee table or watch movie like carpet does. An area rug is the perfect compromise between the beauty of wood and the comfort of carpet.

Once you decide you want an area rug for your hardwood floors, you’ll want to make sure you select the right size for the space. Measure your room and then measure your seating area. Buying a rug too big for the room is a mistake you don’t want to make, nor do you want a rug that is too small.

 

If the area rug is too large it will hide all the beautiful wood floors. Too small and the rug will feel like Aladdin’s magic carpet. The right scale area rug should allow some of the wood floor at the perimeter of the room to still be visible. For a seating area, the area rug should accommodate the furniture so that each piece can be on or touching the rug. For a dining room, the rug should accommodate both the table and the chairs when they are pulled back.

 

If you are unsure what size rug to purchase, measure before you buy. You can also tape out the standard rug sizes on your floor to see how each size rug will fit in the space.

Putting Pattern on Your Walls

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Everywhere you look today there are patterned walls.  Blogs, shelter magazines, and design shows are all featuring pattern on the wall. These patterned walls can be done with paint, stencils, fabric and wallpaper.  Which material you choose is a matter of personal choice and how much time and effort you want to put into this trend.  If you’ve ever removed wallpaper from the wall, you know it can be more work removing it than installing it.

 

Wallpaper is the classic choice for adding pattern to walls. Wallpapering a room can be done by a DIYer but it isn’t a simple task.  Do your research before running out and buying the paper and paste.  There are many tutorials online about installing your own wallpaper. If you do it yourself, start with a single wall or a small space.

 

Paint can be used to make patterns on the wall that range from simple stripes down with painter’s tape to elaborate stencil patterns that resemble hand-painted wallpaper.  Painting a pattern on the wall can take longer than hanging wallpaper but is easier to cover up and less expensive for materials.

 

Fabric can also be applied to the walls for instant pattern.  Simple starch and water will hold the fabric on the wall. This is a great option for renters who can’t wallpaper or paint.

 

Complement your patterned walls with a patterned area rug for layers of pattern in the room. Or keep it simple with solid colored carpet or area rugs on wood floors.

Wine Storage in the Kitchen

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Americans are having a love affair with wine to the point that wine storage is becoming a standard feature in kitchen designs.  Whether you are a wine connoisseur or the occasional wine drinker, you’ll want a place to store your bottles in your home.  Wine cellars, wine fridges and wine racks are the most common ways to store wine in the home.

 

Wine connoisseurs who have the space will probably have wine cellars in their home with proper temperature control. If you don’t have space for a proper wine cellar, a wine refrigerator is probably your best choice. These small refrigerators can store both white and red wine at the perfect temperature. Wine refrigerators can be installed in a kitchen island or row of lower cabinets. These refrigerators can also be installed in a bar area or pantry if your do not have the room in the main kitchen. Adding a wine fridge definitely will give your kitchen an updated feel.

 

If you are a more casual wine drinker or want to display your bottles, a wine rack on the counter can serve your needs. Do not store wine or liquor above the refrigerator as the heat can destroy the wine. Better to create wall or counter storage as seen here.  Built-in wine storage is a nice feature in a kitchen and along with stainless steel appliances, stone counter tops and wood floors can give your kitchen the look of an update without a huge renovation or remodel or the cost that come with it.

Boy Friendly Home Spaces

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With kids clothing and decorating, the general consensus is that girls are more fun. Girls’ clothes have more options and styles than boy’s clothes. You could go as far as to say the same thing is true for boy’s rooms.  Basic blues and green, brown and maybe some orange accents are typical “boy” colors for decorating boys’ spaces.  This doesn’t mean that boy friendly spaces have to follow the rule or be boring. Creating a great space for your son can be just as much fun as decorating for a daughter.

 

Popular themes for decorating boys’ rooms revolve around common interests for boys: sports; robots; space; transportation; dinosaurs; and comics.   Using a theme from a favorite classic movie or game can be the jumping off point for decorating a boy’s room.  Pick up colors and patterns common to the theme and use them for bedding, walls and flooring.

 

This boy’s room doesn’t have a theme décor yet still feels perfectly suited for a growing boy. Navy and white curtains are a classic pattern in a classic color combination that can outlast the latest obsession with space, boats or sports. Using classic patterns on textiles makes the design more versatile so it can grow as your son grows.

 

Keeping the floors and walls in classic neutrals can also help the room grow with your child for either gender.  Wood floors with area rugs provide ideal surfaces for play, setting up trains, racing cars or making a fort.  Versatility is the key when decorating a kid’s room.

Transitioning Between Flooring

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Having a single type of flooring throughout a home or story means you don’t have to worry about the transition between two types of flooring at a doorway or opening. If you have more than one type of flooring, creating the smoothest transition between materials is important to give your floors and home a polished look.

 

Transitioning between different types of flooring can mean going from hardwood to carpet between the hall and bedroom or from carpet to tile between the bedroom and bathroom. Sometimes the transition will be between hard surfaces like tile and hardwood.  Each of these types of transitions may require something different to protect the materials.

 

This picture illustrates a smooth transition from tile in the kitchen to hardwood in the hall. There is a nice and tidy line between the two materials. Having similar colors between the tile and wood also eases the visual transition as well as the texture transition.

 

Some homes use raised threshold between rooms and different types of flooring. When used with wood flooring, the door threshold, sometimes called a saddle threshold, is made of the same type and stain as the wood floor to aid in continuity.

 

How you transition between two types of flooring is both a personal choice and what is best for the longevity of the materials. Carpet will have different considerations than tile or wood. For decisions involving flooring, it is always best to ask your flooring retailer or installer. They can recommend the best option for both you and your flooring.

Silver in the Kitchen

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Silver is the choice for metal surfaces in the kitchen. Cool silvery hues like stainless steel, chrome, and nickel continue to be popular finishes for ranges, hoods, sinks, faucets and hardware in the kitchen. The influence of commercial kitchens with their stainless steel surfaces can be the source for this popular metal in today’s residential kitchens.

Stainless steel appliances set the tone for all other metals in the kitchen. When your largest appliances like the fridge or stove are stainless steel, they demand that other metals in the kitchen coordinate with them.  Of course you could add other metallic finishes to the room like oiled bronze or brass, but using silvery finishes with stainless steel gives the room a more unified appearance.

Silvery chrome and nickel work well with stainless appliances and sinks.  Chrome and nickel come in a number of finishes including satin and polished.  The more shiny the finish, the more the metals will stand out and sparkle in the space.

Silvery metals also work with any number of cabinet and floor choices. Dark wood cabinets and floors get a pop of sparkle with silvery chrome or nickel pulls.  The silvery pulls are like sparkling jewelry against the wood, like a sparkling bangle or necklace is against a little black dress.

These metals also look great with glass front cabinets and marble counters veined with grey.  Using silver against grey and white is a sophisticated look for the kitchen. It is also a great look for a bathroom.

Lighting Tips for an Open Floor Plan

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This open floor plan living, dining and kitchen space is a beautiful room that is nicely laid out into the different activity zones. There is a nice flow between the different areas created by the color palette and furniture arrangements.  The flooring is the same throughout the space, a must for flow in open floor plans.  It doesn’t matter if the flooring is wood or cement, use the same type throughout an open concept home.

 

There is one concern we have about this space and that is the lighting.  There appears to be only one source of light from the central ceiling fixture.  While the fixture is a cool design, a single overhead lighting source does not make for the best lighting for any room.  We’d love to see some recessed lighting as well as pendant lights over the island in the kitchen area and another chandelier or pendant light over the dining room table.  Creating lighting zones is just as important as activity zones in an open floor plan.

 

A floor lamp next to the sofa would also create another layer of light in the room. Having lighting sources that are overhead and closer to the seating level create a nice ambiance of lighting. A small table with a table lamp could also work in the living area.  For floating furniture arrangements away from the wall, install in floor outlets to avoid running cords where you walk.

 

In addition to different types of lighting, put your overhead lighting on dimmers to create even more lighting options for the space.

Design Element: Animal Print

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“Lions and tigers and bears… oh my.” In the design world this quote is more aptly put “leopards and zebras and cows.”  Animal prints have been longstanding design elements that have become classic patterns. As with any pattern or design, these patterns come in and out of fashion.  Cowhide, zebra and leopard seem to take turns being the “it” pattern when it comes to both fashion and design.

 

What makes these patterns real classics is that when used in small doses, they can work in both traditional and contemporary spaces. A zebra skin rug, the darling of shelter magazines a few years ago, is a much stronger design statement than a needlepoint pillow in a zebra pattern. Playing with size and scale can make these animal prints feel bold or refined. Where they are used also affects the power of their impact.  A pillow or rug in animal print becomes an accent. A sofa or wall covered in animal print is more of a statement. When working with animal prints it is all a matter of scale.

 

This black and white living room is centered by a classic zebra skin rug. Unlike many other African animals, zebras are not endangered. The rug’s bold pattern is the only pattern in the room so the eye is drawn to it. Using only black and white furniture creates a strong graphic look to the room that feels very contemporary. If you paired a zebra rug or cowhide rug with more traditional furnishings you would achieve a very different result.

Warm Contemporary Designed Bathroom

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Warm and contemporary are not usually thought of as going together. Contemporary design, with its minimalist decoration and clean lines, is often referred to as being cool or cold. This bathroom is a great example of a contemporary design that can feel warm and inviting. Despite the lack of flourishes and a plethora of stone surface, this bathroom has a warm feeling.

 

The warm neutral color of the wall above the sink has enough tint to counterbalance the cool grey of the marble tiles in the shower.  Continuing the same warm cream from the wall onto the counter creates a wide swath of warmth. Both the stone countertop and wall color are complemented by the warm wood of the vanity.

 

The lack of flourishes and clean lines actually puts more emphasis and color and materials in this bathroom.  Wood grain, wall color and the stone all stand out as key design elements. The marble of the shower or the warm wood of vanity could either be put on the floor for a cohesive overall design. Another choice would be to carry the countertop and wall color onto the floor.

 

Adding an orchid brings in a beautiful organic touch to the cool surfaces and straight lines of the room’s designs.  A single natural element like a plant or vase of flowers stands out in a sleek space.  The orchid adds a pop of color as well as visual interest. Wood accessories would also add organic, natural warmth to the cool stone that dominates this bathroom.