Accessories Add Sparkle!

With money on our minds these days (and who isn’t thinking about cash?) one of the best ways to get a fresh look with out a large expenditure is by updating and adding accessories. Accessories can add personality, character and texture to any room.

Groupings of like items can provide dramatic visual impact and single accessories such as a large vase with an interesting finish, can sparkle as the focal point of any room. My favorites this season are from a company called Cyan Design whose design philosophy is
“beautiful things for beautiful lives.” Cyan Design offers unique sculptures in iron at attractive prices as well as glass containers and bowls that have dynamic fresh looks. Their glass pieces can be applied as shelf décor because of their sparkle and lightness.

Texture and warmth can be added easily with wonderful baskets from Palecek. This company offers unique shapes and textures as well as rich finishes that make them an extraordinary collection of basketry. One such grouping of these woven works of art can go a long way toward make a statement of textural interest that can enhance a table or shelf.

If making the most of your interior design budget is on your mind, Call us about our interior accessory packages with pricing from $850.00. Our Interior Design Office is located in Palm Desert. We provide interior design services to the desert communities of Palm Desert, Rancho Mirage, La Quinta, and Palm Springs.

Inside-Out Living!

As the summer months are upon us, thoughts turn to outdoor activities and the spaces to enjoy them.

Outdoor living areas are an essential part of today’s lifestyle, and indoor/outdoor living spaces with continuity is essential to a pleasing flow and design. This is especially so in the desert communities of Palm Springs, Palm Desert, and Rancho Mirage, where out relatively mild weather allows us to be outside more of the year. From Tuscan style to contemporary, outdoor spaces considered essential to harmonious living, dining, entertaining and relaxing. Expanding the overall livable square footage of a home is easily achieved if these outdoor spaces are considered and designed from the beginning of the design process.

The best interior design creates a smooth transition from indoors to outdoors is choice in materials. An interior designer will often select wall finishes, flooring, paint colors and fixtures that will carry from the interior space to the outdoor living areas. For example, repeating a granite or stone slab material that was chosen for the kitchen counter or interior wet bar, to the exterior fireplace surround creates continuity. Wall treatments such as Italian plaster, natural stone and faux finishes can also be used indoors as well as outdoors to further design continuity.

Today’s outdoor rooms are not your average backyard spaces. They are extensions of your interior living space that can be enhanced significantly by an interior designer. These spaces incorporate televisions, fireplaces, wet bars, and in some cases even outdoor kitchens. This integration of outdoor living rooms, kitchens, televisions and entertainment systems, bars and even outdoor showers; are essential components in creating a lifestyle experience to which most home owners aspire.

Comfortable seating is a must- and of course, a functional and relaxing dining area, which is just as important to plan for as the architecture. Choices in furnishings and colors to coordinate with the interior of the home will further a feeling of continuity, making the outdoor living space seem like an interior extension.

Thoughtful planning by your interior designer that incorporates architectural overhangs, heating, lighting and comfortable durable materials are the foundation of effective outdoor rooms.