New Years Glamour!

Happy New Years! Here’s to 2013!

As I get ready for the evening, I wish I was sitting in a fancy dress in this perfect vanity chair by Jessica Charles with a mirrored vanity for Currey and Co. A space to pamper yourself and get ready for the day (and night) is so important. For busy women, it is necessary to feel confident and ready for the day  in order to accomplish and be productive.  Considering my  ”Dream New Years Eve” Vanity, I flanked the Currey and Co vanity with elegant scones and wismical floral wallpaper.

I imagine this space to be feminine, clean, and clam with lots of metallic mirrored finishes, accenting with Tiffany Blue in the wallpaper. The Lexi Vanity Chair inspired my glamours New Years Eve pampering space and it  was recently feautred in the Winter 2012 Issue of Beautiful Kitchens. What a beautiful chair!

We have this chair in the showroom at Furnitureland South and I love it! Here is a close up of the chair on our floor upholstered in a different fabric.  I took a close up of the geometric print fabric to highlight the detailing with the self welt and contrasting gray tones in the fabric.

I will add this chair to my wish list, but I hope your pampering space makes you feel as glamours as I know this chair would make me feel!

I wish you a Happy New Years!

A Little Twist on Holiday Decor

Everywhere you go is a sea of red and green! Big red bows, ornaments galore, and little twingling lights decorate every home on the block. Christmas decorations are beautiful, but sometimes can be a little too expected and familiar – espeically for special events and parties!

As designers, we can not help but think outside the box and for Christmas that means putting a twist on traditional. Last week, my design partner in crime Missy, and I had such a fun time heliping her client make her home sparkle and shine with christmas decor for a big holiday party.

First impressions count! With such a beautiful front door, it demanded a full and fresh wreath. We assembled this real wreath with pinecones, apples, lemons, limes, and oranges! Here I am using wire to secure fresh fruit to our wreath.

By Incoroporating fresh fruit and pinecones, gave the wreath a little unexpected surpirse. It turned out beautiful!

With dinner parties, decoartions in the dining room should be elegant and tasteful. Centerpieces can be a challenge. If centerpieces are too big,  there is no room to move your elbows – yet alone reach for the salt! Too smallof centerpieces, they will get lost in the food. Tall centerpieces or centerpieces with light visual weight are perfect!

Here we chose silver candelabra with unique gold polka dot candles with a small wreath around the center. Fillng the tray with fresh kumkauts, cherries, lemons, limes, apples, and unshelled nuts was a fun little surprise. The various fruits and nuts gave our centpieces some interest, texture, and more color to the table.  Accenting the candelabras, we used a mercury glass tea candles for a little extra ambiance!

Missy and I had a fun time personalizing the garland on the stairs. Missy’s client and her family lived for several years in England and we wanted to incorporate their family history. By sprinkling the garland with touches of England, we created a little personal moment and conversational element! Look at the little red guard ribbon, and double decker bus ornament- what a fun little touch!

For one of the Christmas trees, we used a light pink tulle. The soft and delicate nature of tulle is perfect balance with christmas tree brances. Christmas tree lights bounce through the fabric and it definitely made the tree sparkle!

For parties, always bring in fresh flowers! Missy arranged these red roses, white fresias, and a star of Bethlehem in this simple glass square vase.  Adding the star of Bethelehem complements the red roses and white fresias beautifully and it’s significance and name is perfect.

It is easy to pull out your box of christmas decorations and decorate the same way as last year, and the year before, and the year before…. but be different! Put a little twist on your holiday decor!

Missy and Annie’s Christmas Decorating Tips:

• Use your home’s architecture and home furnishings to create focal points to showcase grand decoration displays
• Don’t go overboard! It is easy to decorate too much, but remember less is alaways more
• Try to be different and make your decor personal to you and your family
• Move around furniture, even to different rooms- its fun to mix things up for Christmas
• Always be fresh! Artificial and fake decorations lack flavor, aroma, and liveliness!
• Don’t just use red and green! Accent your decorations with some of your other colors in your home
• Have fun decoarting witth your family and always have a plate of cookies nearby!

We had a great time decoarting together! The house was beautiful and the party was a success!

What is your favorite Christmas decoration “moment” in your home this season? Which decoration makes your the happiest?

Going BIG and Going HOME

 Raymond Waites Design Competition, being bold without going “over the top”

Since when do you have to choose between “Going Big” or “Going Home”?  When I entered my design in the National Raymond Waites Master Bedroom Suite Design Comeptition, I decided I wanted to GO BIG and GO HOME. With an appropriate balance of color, scale, texture, light, and pattern, you can make a big statement in your home, without going over the top. The best part of this competition was: total freedom.  As an Interior Designer, I loved the opportunity to design whatever I could dream — but I knew my design must not only be beautiful and comfortable, but also be something livable.

My inspiration for my design  guided me  to my concept for the master bedroom suite, “Humble Baroque”

“Humble Baroque”, a soft blend of Italian Baroque and vernacular French inspires this master bedromm suite.  When simplifying tand tailoring the Baroque, something more natural, more humble us revealed.

As the design progressed, I designed the floor plan, with all the bells and whistles!  The master bedroom suite floor plan below is shown with a minibar, elegant fireplace, French doors to balcony, his and her walk in closets, walk in shower, large Jacuzzi, and custom his and her vanities! With such a large master bedroom,  the space needed more visual interest such architectural details including barrel vaulted ceilings and detailed arched windows.

Sometimes in grand interiors, the furnishings can be too ornate or over scale, and probably not  be comfortable in a home, yet alone a soothing master bedroom suite. With such a grand master bedroom floor plan, it was important to me to keep the furniture an appropriate scale while maintaining the traditional and eclectic style.

As a nationwide competition, my design was judged against other beautiful and amazing projects. However, when the judges called me and awarded my design as first place, the judges told me that they chose my design for not only the impressive and striking features, but more importantly my delicate balance of functionality, comfortabilitly, and grandeur styling.  Designing this traditional and elective mix master bedroom suite presented me with many challenges, but I had so much fun with it and all the hardwork was worth it as always!

Do you think you can GO BIG and GO HOME?

Designing a beautiful space that is functional and aesthetically pleasing to your lifestyle can be a delicate process. Please contact Annie Beuker at anniebeuker@furniturelandsouth.com

Den Makeover

Like many of my clients with families, designing their space whether it be a great room, dining room, den, or bedroom, becomes a delicate balancing act. Not only do they need function, but they are are craving high style and fashion! Many homeowners with families often express to me the challenges they face with trying to create the “look” that they want without sacrificing the comfort and durability.

 

My client Stephanie came to me with that exact problem. She has an active family with three kids and they spend a lof of time in their den. However, her furniture arrangement was not supporting her family’s lifestyle. Her current arrangement with a sofa and a loveseat, made it difficult  for the whole family to find a place to sit comfortably for palying games, watching movies, and hanging out together. Stephanie came to me knowing she wanted a sectional, but was having a hard time with the scale and stylying of the sectional – forget about coordinating the chair, rug, and cocktail table! She was overwhelmed.

One of my design partners, Stephanie James, joined me on our client Stephanie’s “Den Makeover”. Stephanie James and me teaming up as designers is like pairing peanut butter and jelly or grilled cheese and tomato soup – it’s a a winning combination! We had so much fun bouncing ideas off each other and helping our client Stephanie design her dream den all in one afternoon!

Stephanie came prepared for her visit to Furnitureland South with dimensions and pictures – my favorite! After discussing her needs and lifestlye, we talked about her style and what she was invisioning for the space. Here is where we began …

Floor Plan Sketch

After we discussed the appropriate scale of furniture for her room, our search began! It can seem overwhelming wandering through the 1.3 millions square feet of furniture, but the process is simple. Start with your key pieces and go from there.  Being able to make decisions and not looking at too much furniture is important so Stephanie James and I wanted to show client Stephanie  three great options. The sectional and matching chair from Huntington House won Stephanie’s heart for its comfort, ability to customize, and great quality!

With the sectional decided upon, we started our fabric search, my favorite part! Stephanie (client) wanted something netural, but not too neutral. Stephanie’s family really lives in this sectional. The fabric must be durable, soft, comfotable, cleanable, and fresh. Done! We chose this beautiful french color gray fabric with a tiny chevron pattern. Once Stephanie James and I began with pillow fabric search, our regular peanut butter and jelly sandwhich went gourmet! Collaborating and bouning ideas off each other, provided client Stephanie with several stellar fabric combinations. Look at the winning selection….

Stephanie James and I had a great time work with client Stephanie! I am excited to see her new den come to life! Stay tuned for the before and after shots!

What do you think? What is your favorite piece?

Color Me Crazy!

This weekend I was blasted with color – quite literally! Have you heard of the Color Run? Its an awesome 5k that is truly just for fun! I ran in the race this weekend in Charlotte, NC with one of my best friends and we had such a fun time! As you run through color zones, you’re blasted at with color paint!

As I was running, I was thinking about how color makes people happy. The Color Run is known as “The Happiest 5k on the Planet!” – and it is because of color! We are all are drawn to and even crave color. Everyone has a different emotional feeling to colors and it really can change how we feel. Ever since preschool, one of my favorite questions to ask someone is “What is your favorite color?” By understanding someone’s favorite color, I can learn a little bit about the person – especially for intereiors. As we suround ourself with color, we can feel energetic or mellow, calm or excited, optimistic or depressed, or even hungry or not!

Caitlin Wilson Design- Courtney Apple Photography

This interior from Caitlin Wilson Design definitely makes me happy! The Tiffany blue color is both energetic and soothing. With such an eclectic mix of textures and finishes, the space makes me feel inspired and interested. The pop of pink accents add a punch of the feminine touch.

House Beautiful

This living room makes me feel both relaxed with a splash of sophistication! Blues and greens tones together echo nature with colors of the sky, ocean, trees, and grass. While combining different patterns, the room is full of life! This room would leave me feeling refreshed and rejuvienated.

House Beautiful

What a styling space! Combining the truquoise blue, bright orange, earthy green, and a charcoal gray creates an eclectic mix of color. While bringing a sense of  glamour with high gloss lacquer surfaces, the colors and the textures of the fabrics gives me a feeling of luxury. Regal truquiose with the punch of orange makes me feel excited, while the earthy green and charcoal gray tone down the intensity with feelings of warmth and reliablity.

Pinto Designs + Associates, Kim Sarget Photography

White screams all things clean, fresh, and pure! Bathrooms are wonderful in white. This bathroom and vanity area play up the white, cream, and gray tones. While using light colors, the clean and simple lines encourage the “purity” of the space. Getting out of the shower and pampering myself in this space would definitely have me feel serene and ready for the day!

Decor by Denise

Red is a great color for a dining room! Not only is red a color that brings drama, intensity, romance, but is also an appetite stimulating color! Like this dining room, the deep shade of red on the walls create an intimate dining experience!

Color can change the way we feel and our mood so much! What is your favorite color to be surrounded with?