Outdoor Decorating Ideas

March 25th, 2009

  Design The Perfect Outdoor Space  

 

 

By Cynthia Aiken

 

 

Whether it’s a place at the beach, a city loft with a roof top French Country garden, or a mountain top getaway overlooking a woodland garden beside a mountain brook… we need our own private outdoor sanctuaries. By planning and designing your outdoor rooms; you will be able to enjoy the fresh air and beauty of being outside. So let talk about how to design an outdoor room.

 

 It’s that time of year when we move our lifestyles outside to enjoy our wonderful southern climate.  But with the mild winters we experience, the use of outdoor rooms has become fairly commonplace year around. For example, porches have become an integral part of our homes. Many of them are covered in such a way that we can enjoy fireplaces, decks and terraces most of the year.

 

By creating our own private outdoor spaces, places we can unwind from the busy lifestyles so common today, and find a place to grab a moment of relaxation. One can easily grasp the romantic concept of an Italian country home soaking up the sun by incorporating a Loggia to the back of your home. It’s the perfect outdoor living room and space for outdoor dining. It’s also fun to plan an outdoor room, whether we put a fresh coat of paint on grandmother’s antique wicker or give a fresh new look to a treasure found at a local flea market; whatever creates a cozy unique space, a room of our own. Adding a touch of the French County Interior Design to your outdoor room can also really make a warming statement.

 

 

So many outdoor sanctuaries now have soothing water features so why not plan to create an outdoor room that really captures this natural form of relaxation. A water feature will draw you out into the yard.  It just makes wonderful sense to have a place at home where we can go to enjoy our own private retreat and with all the durable fabrics that are now designed to withstand any kind of weather, we can be as comfortable outside as much as we can inside. Our outdoor gardens and living spaces have become just as essential as the spaces inside our homes. So we should always look for inventive ways of expressing our Outside Decorating Ideas in a functional but pleasant manner.

 

It is always interesting to visit the High Point furniture market in the spring to get a feel for what’s hot for the coming year. This year the influence was on outdoor living. We now have so many wonderful choices for outdoor furnishings that look great and continue the comfort we love so much. Weather resistant and UV stabilized fabrics made of 100% polypropylene make outdoor entertaining easier than ever. There are so many beautiful worry-free performance fabrics; our outdoor rooms can now be as beautiful and comfortable as our indoor rooms. This is welcoming news for us Southern Interior Designers.

 

Create outdoor spaces that beckon you to come and sit. Create more comfortable and inviting porches, patios, and yards. As a designer, I encourage my clients to always have places in the home that make you feel good, places you will use; because, if you do, you’ll love your home even more..  Extend indoor comforts outside to increase your home’s living and entertaining space. Adding outdoor rooms will increase the square footage of your home, and bring a much higher resale value. Finish a porch, deck, or patio like a living room, using fabrics and finishes that can withstand the elements. It means so much when you find a place where you can feel that sense of solitude, whether it’s a small table in the garden or a shady setting for summer lunches, or a special place to start a busy day with your morning coffee, or an area for hosting a large dinner party… Outside entertaining is not only special, it can be magical. You’ll feel like you’re being transported to another place by using simple outside decorating techniques.

 

But an outdoor room doesn’t have to be elaborate. It can be as simple as a pair of Adirondack chairs positioned under the canopy of a vine covered trellis, just a simple haven where one can enjoy the outdoors. It’s not necessary to travel to the beach or the mountains to find a sanctuary. For many of us it can be a room in our home or a secluded shade-covered edge of our garden.   A porch also brings back the home-sweet-home feelings and memories of childhood.

 

I’m dedicated to designing rooms that function. If a room is friendly and comfortable, people will use it. Whenever you feel you need more living space, look just outside your door, you’ll find the perfect space for outdoor living by adding the magic of the outdoors to your home.

 

For more information and more outside decorating ideas; please visit my Interior Designer Catalog  at http://www.cynthiaaikeninteriors.com . Together we can create something great.

 

 

Email me at caiken1@windstream.net if you would like to discuss a decorating idea or dilemma.  This is another in my series of home INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS from your Atlanta Interior Designer; I hope that you use them to help you create an outdoor room for your home.

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DECORATING SOUTHERN STYLE

March 22nd, 2009

Written by Cynthia Aiken

I recently made a trip to one of the beautiful southern towns of Georgia for a design job. While driving around I really enjoyed seeing the old southern homes and the care they had been given to preserve their beauty.  These beautiful old homes were perfect examples of Colonial, Greek revival, Federal-style, Victorian and even the 1940’s Cottage Style. Reflecting much preservation, it was as if time had stood still. It gave me such pleasure to see these wonderful old southern Cottage Style homes and to know how much our lifestyles have changed over the years since these homes were built, yet I realized the similarity in the styles of homes being built today to these old southern landmarks.  I realized how much my southern roots of growing up in Atlanta has influenced the French Country Decorating direction for my interior design ideas, ideas that I would follow for the next 25 years. I don’t consider my Country French Design style as totally traditional, but I do feel I always start with a southern traditional style adding my signature need for comfort and modern day livability. I truly am a southern girl at heart and I think it shows in my style of French Country Décor, I love taking traditional elements and updating them to make them feel more modern by incorporating contemporary paintings into room settings making rooms classic, clean-lined and invitingly casual. I am a big believer in the mix. Mix freely. A single object on a tabletop or a single work of art on the wall can be nice, but for me, mixing collections provides the most excitement. I just like to mix things. Excitement is the perfect description to add to any classic room to make it comfortable and livable, casual yet sophisticated.

Many southern homes warm elegance is a textbook definition of the term “Southern hospitality”, this is the perfect way to live. So many of our design decisions now are based on the styles of long ago. French Country Decorating is in.  We’re seeing styles in the direction of everything looking old. The trend is back for natural elements such as slate flooring, stone and rock for interior surfaces and an old brick floor can add vintage charm to any room. Anything old and anything natural is in. That’s why flea market shopping has become so popular and French Country Furniture manufacturers are recreating vintage styles for furniture, bedding and home accessories. Pre-washed fabrics and slipcovers are bigger than ever. If you take a look at our attitudes of today, you’ll realize the values of yesterday are becoming important in the way we now live and the way we raise our families. This spills over into the way we decorate our homes and the way we entertain in our Cottage Style homes. You’ve heard the expression, “I love the way this house lives”. 

Grand but unpretentious is a great definition for Southern interiors. We seem to be rediscovering a classic style with the added technology for the modern lifestyles of today. I love to start a design project with southern elegance, add some less formal pieces like old wicker, a painted piece, an old dinged and dented pine table, big overstuffed upholstery with lots of ottomans and you’ve created a space with true casual elegance, a space that is really comfortable to live in, a great space for entertaining and raising a family. French Country Kitchens are in…..Look at the styles of our large country kitchens that everyone wants in a new home today. We’re recreating the Country French Kitchens of years passed with large farmhouse sinks, bronze hardware as well as different finishes for cabinets and lots of built-in cupboards with glass doors.  Today’s kitchen with every modern convenience can still retain the personality and integrity of a vintage feel with natural wood cabinets with old-fashioned iron pulls. Stone floors and stone walls were something you saw in old homes and is a look we are recreating for our kitchens of today.

Lighting is another area where we’re seeing an antique influence. Lanterns have become an important style for lighting. I love to use exterior lanterns for interior lighting. A large square outdoor lantern hanging over a square dining table is the perfect combination giving a bit of casualness to an otherwise formal dining room. This can be a simple style, bringing back the look and craftsmanship of a blacksmith’s creation. I always advise going bigger rather than smaller for any light fixture, both inside and out. Lanterns are also great as entrance lighting. Black iron or oil rubbed bronze are perfect finishes for this style.

We are seeing the classic style of Cottage Style homes for bathrooms of today. Freestanding tubs, roll-top designs on claw feet are very popular now, more than the big jacuzzi tubs we’ve seen in the past.

Big Porches furnished as outside rooms are an influence from old southern homes and if you have grandmother’s antique wicker it’s even more authentic adding a certain charm to any porch.

 

The Country French and classic south is also spilling over into landscaping as well. Cobblestone type driveways and terraces, old stone pathways leading to an outdoor garden. Just look at the influence of our outdoor gardens, the popularity and attention our outdoor spaces have gained in recent years comes directly from old country homes. Old-fashioned perennial flowers are the latest rage.      

 

Visit my site to see our Interior Design Catalog. Packed full of great ideas.

 Email me at caiken1@windstream.net if you would like to discuss a decorating idea or dilemma.  This is another in my series of home INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS from your Atlanta Interior Designer; I hope that you use them to help you to decorate southern style. 

 

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HOW DO YOU LIVE IN YOUR KITCHEN?

March 22nd, 2009

By Cynthia Aiken

Kitchens of today have become the most important room in our homes. It’s the space where we spend a lot of time. The kitchen has become an important spot for entertaining our guests as well as sitting down with the kids to do homework. It’s where we spend time together as a family and entertain our friends, where everyone ends up at a party. So as we design our new kitchens or renovate our existing ones, we need to take a good look at our lifestyle. Whether you like a modern look or a more traditional style, function and the way the room lives is very important.

As an Atlanta Interior Designer, I think it is important for us to live in every room of our home. I asked several of my design clients: “How do you live in your kitchen?” Here are some of the answers I got. A young couple living in the city said: Comfortably! I want my kitchen to be used without concern of spilling something on the floor or scratching the countertop, so my guest can enjoy the place without any worries. A young family with school age kids said: It’s where we spend time together as a family and entertain. We eat dinner here with our two boys almost every night, and we sit down for breakfast every day-even if only for 10 minutes. It’s a place where the boys can do their homework and I can prepare dinner and we’re together

When modern is mixed with traditional a timeless kitchen is created appealing to the minimalist, it also feels at home in a historic neighborhood: The homeowner does almost everything in the kitchen – pay bills, read the newspaper, chat with friends, listen to music while cooking, sit with a cup of tea or glass of wine. It’s the most-used room in the house – the center of our home she said. Another client said she wanted a kitchen that’s functional yet elegant and family friendly for her three kids and a dog so we selected honed black granite countertops which never show smudges or fingerprints like a polished surface does. The homeowner said it’s the center or our household – meals, homework, art projects, and, of course, it’s where everyone ends up at a party! 

A young professional couple wanted to create a French Country Kitchen that opens to the garden. Large corbels were used below a concealed range hood accented with crown molding making a grand statement. Creating a gathering spot in the Country French Kitchen, a 14 foot Cottage Style farm table provides plenty of space for daily activities or entertaining friends. Antique terra-cotta pavers add patina and a sense of age, wears well and stays cool in the summer. An oversized outdoor lantern style light fixture hangs over the Cottage Style farm table creating a focal point and helps the kitchen seem like an extension of the outside patio. This couple likes to read, check e-mail, and catch up while preparing dinner. There’s always music playing, and occasionally friends stop by for a glass of wine. When we entertain, everyone is in the room preparing food. She says. The French Country Kitchen doors are open to the patio and the entire area becomes an indoor/outdoor entertainment space. 

Because kitchens are often visible from the front door, it’s important to create a Country French Kitchen that looks less utilitarian.  A wall of cabinets floor to ceiling with glass doors accented with carved corbels will accent any wall adding a look of a custom piece of Country French Furniture bringing in a sophisticated style. We’re seeing kitchens with two to three different finishes. Mix a stained finish with a painted finish showing varied heights for wall cabinets. If you live in a 1920’s cottage, knocking down a wall will open up the kitchen to the Cottage Style living and dining areas and will help three separate spaces function as one making a tiny cottage live large.

There are so many countertop materials to choose from for French Country Decorating, polished granite is a popular style and now we are mixing honed granite with a chiseled edge creating interest. Countertops of CeasarStone quartz are available in a range of colors and are extremely low maintenance and never need resealing. They are stain, crack, scratch and heat-resistant. Poured concrete countertops can be a less expensive way to go. For base cabinets, use decorative legs rather than a standard toe-kick, making your cabinets look more like freestanding pieces of furniture. Use a large leggy table for a center island; drill a hole through the center of the leg to hide any wiring for a clean polished look. This island style keeps a French Country Kitchen very open.

Mix textures for a cozy look. You’ll never want to hang basic drywall overhead again when you’ve lived with the patina and texture of a wood ceiling. Whether you use wide grooved planks or thin strips of beaded board, the wood adds an Cottage Style architectural element and feels authentic and not brand-new. For a sophisticated look, use less wall cabinets and hang framed paintings on the wall, accent windows with treatments not usually found in a kitchen, such as full-length curtains creating a lived-in, living room feel. A must for any kitchen being designed today are wall cabinets with lots of glass doors with finished interiors, possibly accented with beaded board.  We’re seeing lots of aged copper, adding a touch of old world patina. A farmhouse sink is a popular accent either in soapstone, or copper. When designing a new kitchen, you can mix styles and finishes and even cabinet companies for a French Country Kitchen with lots of style and interest.

As you can see, our French Country Kitchens have taken on a whole new style of living. It’s the heart of every home. Working with an interior designer with the knowledge of Country French Kitchen design can give you the details and style you are looking for to create a kitchen you’ll love to live in for many years to come. So, before you start any decorating project, think of your lifestyle and how you will live in the room.

 

 

Marble Hill Design Showroom

Big Canoe Design Showroom

Dawsonville Design Showroom

Cumming Design Showroom

Alpharetta Design Showroom

Buckhead Design Showroom

Email me at caiken1@windstream.net if you would like to discuss a decorating idea or dilemma.  This is another in my series of home INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS from your Atlanta Interior Designer; I hope that you use them to help you create a kitchen you can live in.

   

 

 

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INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS

March 22nd, 2009

CREATING A COMFORTABLE COTTAGE STYLE HOME    

 Whether it’s a French Country Cottage used as a seaside escape, a rustic mountain English Cottage, a woodland retreat overlooking a wonderful view, or a lakeside cottage just for summer getaways, they all have a common spirit. It’s almost guaranteed that if you have a cottage by the water or a wonderful view, you’ll be spending a great deal of time outdoors. Nonetheless, once inside you’ll still want to be able to gaze upon the view that drew you to this special place. As with other types of cottages, windows are an important feature. Often windows are left bare for a look of simplicity. Cottage Style Interior Design evokes a feeling of serenity and a sense that, for the moment, time is standing still…proving that simplicity can be both inviting and elegant.

Cottage Style Interior Decor conjures a feeling of quiet contentment, recalls sweet memories of summers past, and sparks a longing for a simple and relaxing life. The dictionary defines a cottage as a dwelling of a small home of a peasant or farmer, often found in Europe centuries old. And from this lifestyle a certain manner of decorating has emerged – one that is gracious yet unpretentious, free of any formal constraints, a style creating a snug and cozy home. French Country Decorating has become the trend in recent years, because we are looking for more comfortable rooms and the perfect place to relax. “Cottage Décor” is a free spirit. There are no rules, but there is an underlying sense of playfulness and ambience. Since the main objective is relaxation, you should outfit rooms to be welcoming, comforting, and casual enough that you can kick off your shoes, curl up on the slip-covered sofa, and devote time to simple pleasures. French Country Décor can be informal with just a hint of elegance, or it can be completely casual and laid-back. Often, an air of romance pervades. As a designer, I have a passion for the cottage style of decorating. I love the mix of casual elegance with a touch of Country French and English Country, then I like to throw in a little bit of rustic, especially if you are in the mountains.

A lakeside cottage is big on theme accessories. A wooden canoe is a great way to draw the eye up toward a vaulted ceiling. As with any cottage, Cottage Furniture for a lakeside home should cater to comfort in a casual and carefree style. French Country Window Treatments hanging from large oars are a perfect accent for a lake house. The façade of a cottage usually makes a decorative contribution to the front porch. Adding comfort and beauty means accessorizing porch chairs and other seating with not only plump cushions, but colorful pillows and throws as well. For a rustic décor, Navajo prints, checks, and deep-colored floral patterns are an excellent choice. Stripes and large, bright floral designs, on the other hand, are better suited to a Cottage Style seaside escape or a farmhouse in a rural setting. No porch would be complete without flowers or greenery.

There is something mystical, even spiritual, about being surrounded by towering evergreens, a French Country Cottage nestled in the woods or in the embrace of a mountainside is at one with nature. The interior of a woodland cottage pays tribute to the great outdoors. Each room should have a focal point. In a rustic living room or great room, that focal point is usually the fireplace. While some fireplaces are typical in size, others can be quite massive in a mountain cottage. When decorating in a mountain style you can go in many directions. The great camps of the Adirondack’s has contributed much to the rustic style we use in decorating today.

By adding a bentwood chair or a piece of willow French Country Furniture, you can create a woodsy style to any room. I love to mix a few rustic pieces to a cottage style, and you’ve created rustic elegance. I like to use a willow canopy bed painted white mixed with painted pieces, accenting the windows with French Country voile sheer fabric and you’ve created a light, airy space with a rustic mix. It’s a refreshing look.

French Country Interior Decorating and collecting seem to go hand in hand. While many accents are indicators of style, collections reveal the personality. Your collections will give your cottage its individual character. The cozy comfortable style of cottage living is so popular today. It’s a great design to live with for a comfortable lifestyle.

Email me at caiken1@windstream.net if you would like to discuss a decorating idea or dilemma.  This is another in my series of home INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS from your Atlanta Interior Designer; I hope that you use them to help you create a comfortable cottage style home.

 For more decorating ideas or to browse our interior design catalog that feature lots of Mountain Cottage and French Country Furniture just click here.

 

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Decorating a Home for Living

March 22nd, 2009

DOES YOUR HOME REFLECT YOUR LIFESTYLE?

Written by Cynthia Aiken

Does your home truly reflect who you are, what you love, and the way you really live? Your home is a reflection of your personal lifestyle. Whether you entertain friends for formal dinner parties, or you’re a family raising small kids or you possibly live with man’s best friend, your home should live easily to match whatever your lifestyle may be. Decorate your home to match the way you live. If your love of gardening is at the top of your list of things you enjoy, you may want to have a wonderful outdoor room, just off your main indoor living area. This calls for durable fabrics and finishes that hold up to the elements of outdoor living. Different areas of your home get different types of use. For example, you may want to veto linen fabric for a sofa in a high-traffic family room or silk in an everyday dining spot. Instead, upholster the sofa in a sturdy cotton blend that will stand up to stains, spills and hard wear.

If you still have small children under foot, consider the ease of living with durable fabrics and floor coverings for the daily wear of small children. Furnishings covered in durable fabrics are a must. Mellow tones can be very forgiving. It is wise to select a sturdy childproof French Country cocktail table, as this will get lots of wear and tear. Distressed woods are perfect to live with while raising a family. A good solution is a pine table that looks better with age the more dings and dints it acquires. Choose a Country French table with drawers for storage and easy access to the things kids love to use daily, this also gives easy cleanup in a hurry.  

If your four legged best friend shares your home, you may want to choose rugs or carpets in deeper tones to make living with pets more enjoyable.  Patterned oriental rugs or carpet in tones of straw are the perfect color choices for durability. Add slipcovers and cushions with washable covers so you and Rover won’t be afraid to put your feet up.  I once had a client with two four legged kids who were blonde cocker spaniels. These four legged babies were the love of their lives and had the run of the house, so when we selected new sofas, we selected a light caramel color to match the dogs. Since the sofas were the dog’s favorite place to lounge, I suggested ordering extra sofa fabric edging with bullion fringe to create a large throw for protection which could be thrown in the wash. When guests arrived, no one ever knew they were sitting on the dog beds. Fabrics are like people, they have distinct personalities, some refined, some easygoing.  Does your home live the way you do? Don’t fight the lifestyle you have. You’ll enjoy your home so much more if you decorate in a style that fits the way you live.

 

Weather the Elements…..I love a room with the sun pouring through the windows. I feel closed in when all the windows are covered to protect furnishings from the sun. Instead choose fabrics that will stand up to the elements. New synthetic materials simulate the look and feel of natural fibers, but they weather the elements beautifully. If you have a sunroom filled with windows, choose a fabric that will hold up to fading. Faded hues are a perfect solution for rooms filled with sunlight. You can choose a color for the walls or just design a room around tones of ivory using the artwork of nature as your only color. Ivory slipcovers accented with colorful pillows create a perfect fresh air style and a solution for fading. I always use ivory, never use white for upholstery. Ivory has a natural feel; white is too stark, creating an unnatural and unwelcoming feel to a room. We even have choices for outdoor rugs made of fabrics designed for the outdoor elements; these are great solutions for a room filled with sunlight.

I like to live in a place where you can put your feet up, and you don’t have to just tiptoe around. The minute you walk into a room, you immediately know if you feel welcomed. If there is one thing I like to achieve in a design project, it is to create a room that welcomes you in and a space that is easy to live in. If these things are achieved, you will always love your home, and your guests will enjoy visiting. The ultimate compliment is for your guests to say, ”This room just feels good.”

 

Want to see some great interior design ideas? Visit my website at http://cynthiaaikeninteriors.com  to visit our interior designer catalog. The best kept secret in interior design.

Email me at caiken1@awindstream.net if you would like to discuss a decorating idea or dilemma.  This is another in my series of home INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS  from your Atlanta Interior Designer; I hope that you use them to help you create a home that reflects your lifestyle.

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INTERIOR DECORATING IDEAS AND TIPS

March 22nd, 2009

INTERIOR DECORATING IDEAS FOR YOUR GEORGIA COTTAGE

 

 Written by Cynthia Aiken

When you think of Style, what do you think of? Do you think of your own personal style in a sense of how you live in your home?  Whatever your style, it should be the transforming of rooms with four walls, furniture with four legs into a home that is unique, personal, and a rewarding place for you to spend your time. Your personal style could be Country French or English Country, Traditional or Modern, Mountain Lodge or Cottage Style.  Decorating, contrary to popular opinion, isn’t easy.  It takes work – the hard work of knowing what you love.  Cottage Style Design is a marriage of the chic and the comfortable, the beautiful and the truly livable.  Home is a word that says warmth and familiar surroundings.

As a Atlanta Interior Designer, I guess my signature style is rich colors and comfortable surroundings. I couldn’t live without color.  I love layers of color, texture, and pattern, carefully controlled so that nothing looks too matched.  Colors that re-create the amber glow of firelight and candlelight are so pleasing to live with.  Every French Country room should have a little romance.  The color glow of candlelight adds romance and coziness to any room.

Create a since of intimacy within a spacious room.  When the seating area is anchored by a large patterned rug and the sofa is placed directly in front of the fireplace, it creates a sense of intimacy to a room. English formality paired with curl-right-up comfort is a great combination for any room.  Choose a sofa deep enough to curl up in, “though you want your feet to touch the floor when you’re sitting up.”  Last on the list of decorating decisions should be drapery fabric, which should never steal the show.  I like window treatments of the same texture weave as some of the upholstered furniture or a fabric similar to the color of the walls.  The focal point of the room should be where the people are…. curled up in front of the fireplace.

Look carefully at decorating magazines.  Clip what you like, make files and educate your eye.  I always ask new clients to start a file; look at pictures of rooms you like.  What do you want to see as you enter your home?  In decorating, it’s important to create comfort and elegance.

What Color Do You Like?….

I love color, but I also love to have a room in my home that has no color.  There is nothing more pleasing to live in than an all white room.  I used to think white was too luxurious, too un-inviting.  Then I realized that true luxury is something beautiful to look at, no matter what the color.  It’s important to have different shades of a color.  Otherwise, a room looks too thought-out and it doesn’t have any style of comfort.  Essential to any wardrobe are accessories, and accessories are equally important to the wardrobe of a room.  In summer, accessorize a white room with cut glass, crystal and silver.  In winter, create a cozier setting with piles of books and cashmere throws.  Let silver tarnish so it will softly reflect candlelight. When a room isn’t overstuffed with furniture, I like to fill a wall with Cottage Wall Art.  For example, above a fireplace I love an oil painting, as big as you can fit.  The texture combined with the architecture of the mantel or surrounding stone is a perfect combination.  A mirror surrounded by four botanical prints avoids geometric precision.  The prints can hang a few inches below and above the mirror.

I love decorating with red; you should always have a red chair or red pillows in a room because red makes shy people feel better.  Red creates energy, passion, and love of life.  I love English Country homes where pieces have been handed down for generations.  Create rooms to have an illusion of inherited character by choosing pieces that don’t match, such as a leather chair, another chair tufted, with little castors on its front legs.  Side tables in a mix of shapes and woods give the feeling that you’ve collected the pieces you live with.  Mix painted aged black finishes with aged ivory finishes, and then add a piece of painted green or red.  This mix of finishes will change a stuffy, formal room into an inviting cozy space.

Whatever style you like, choose the things you love, and remember your home should always reflect your personality and your lifestyle, and should always be comfortable.

Visit my website to see photos of some of my designs. Just click here to see my catalog.

Email me at caiken1@windstream.net if you would like to discuss a decorating idea or dilemma.  This is another in my series of home INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS from your Atlanta Interior Designer; I hope that you use them to help you create a home interior that makes your home comfortable.

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HOW TO MAKE YOUR HOME COMFORTABLE

March 22nd, 2009

Written by Cynthia Aiken

Behind every beautiful interior is a sure sense of personal vision. Whatever your decorating style, make it comfortable… make it a space for every day living. Whether your home accommodates a busy family or just you. From bungalows to city apartments, from a romantic French Country home to a place in the mountains, the way you choose to live should be an enriching and comfortable environment.  You should create your private retreat in your own unique way. It should be a space that is personal, and incredibly comfortable. Decorating, contrary to popular opinion, isn’t easy. It takes work of knowing what you love. Home is a word that hums with familiar, warm emotion. Decorating is a word that evokes perfection and order. Cottage Style is a marriage of the chic and the comfortable, the beautiful and the truly livable.

Creating an aged look for fabrics creates comfort – wash a chintz fabric in hot water to dull its sheen, or add a bit of bleach to fade it. Black tea mixed into a tub of water when whites need to be aged. These are just a few ways to create comfort. Vintage fabrics used for a slip covered chair will completely change a room from a stuffy uninviting space to a room filled with the look of comfort and welcome. Treat yourself to a special time, pull out your fine china and silver for everyday use. Old-fashioned elegance is using silver and crystal for dinner, even if dinner is hot dogs and linen napkins unironed and silver mismatched.

Flea market finds bring comfort into any room. I like put-your-feet-up Country French coffee tables. A room with several ottomans has comfort written all over it. Exact color match creates a stiff feeling and requires a sure hand in decorating. It looks like you tried too hard. I love to mix different tones of a color. I never use exact shades. This mix of tones will create a more relaxed feeling to your room. Exact shades of a color will create a fixed and fake atmosphere. Different tones will create a look and style of comfort. I like to throw in some coral colors to a room with lots of reds. This doesn’t mean you can just throw any colors together and they work. You know if colors mix well. They just have a good feeling and you will know it works.

If you look closely at a fine piece of Cottage Wall Art, you will notice the artist will use lots of colors to complete her canvas. Look at a room the same way an artist looks at a canvas. An empty room becomes a designer’s canvas. Add a vase of fresh cut flowers to a tabletop. This gives the feeling that you’ve just walked through the French Country Garden. What a casual comfortable emotion and you will feel it in the room. I love to mix wood Country French Furniture finishes and textures in a room. I often use an old pine table with painted wicker chairs accented with a dark wood sideboard.  Completing the background of a room with a dramatic wall color of a pepper red is the perfect combination for a comfortable room with lots of dramatic details. A dining table accented with flowers of hydrangeas completes a country garden style.

Whenever you can bring in a casual style to a room, you will add comfort. Formal Chippendale dining chairs with the backs slipcovered completely changes a formal style to a more casual room introducing a look of comfort.  I like to throw in an aged chipped finish to a room, it’s something unexpected. A rag rug accenting the floor to any room says comfort and charm. Shinny silk fabrics just don’t seem to work any more for upholstered pieces. They say, “Look at me, I’m pretty, but don’t sit on me, just look”.

A good way to make a bedroom more casual and comfortable is using French Country Decorating to dress the bed with layers of blankets mixed with a matlesee’ for the main bed covering, accented with large European pillows using lots of different fabrics. A shorted bed skirt or no bed skirt at all will create Cottage Style charm. I like to change bedding in the summer to something lighter such as cutwork cotton accented with pillows of brighter colors. One of my favorite designs for a Country French summer bedroom is a mahogany rice bed dressed all in white cotton cutwork, something that you can just throw in the wash. One of my clients recently told me, “I don’t want my home to be pretentious, I just want it to be inviting and comfortable.” We’ve all had the formal styles in the past. The look of decorating today is that of comfort with good taste. Be brave and mix things up a little. You’ll love the way it looks, and you’ll love the way it feels. 

Want to see some real designs? View my website.

Email me at caiken1@windstream.net if you would like to discuss a decorating idea or dilemma.  This is another in my series of home INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS from your Atlanta Interior Designer; I hope that you use them to help you create a home interior that makes your home comfortable.  

 

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INTERIOR DESIGNERS IN ATLANTA

March 22nd, 2009

INTERIOR DESIGNERS IN ATLANTA KNOWS IT MUST FEEL GOOD TO COME HOME.
Written by Cynthia Aiken

If someone asked you to describe your Atlanta home, what would you say? One may say their home is a timeless piece of art, another may say their home is a place to kick off their shoes, relax and just enjoy being home. Whatever the description of your surroundings, it should be a reflection of you and a place you love to come home to. Our interiors are important to the overall happiness of how we live in our home.  Create a place that feels good to live in and you’ll always want to come home. Do you like dark rich colors, or do you feel more comfortable surrounded with neutral tones? Before starting any Atlanta Interior Design project, it’s best to think about what you like and what makes you feel comfortable. If you have a vision, but don’t know how to make it a reality, get a professional to help you complete your vision.

In the long run, it’s less frustrating and often you spend less money and the final result will be a space you love.

Do you know what you want in the interior of your home? If you’re looking for a gathering place for your family, a comfortable Cottage Style hearth room off the French Country Kitchen could be a space everyone loves to use. There are certain rooms that are the heart of the house, a place where everyone congregates, a place for your guests to gather, sit and talk, a place that should feel good. The Country French Kitchen / Cottage Style hearth room is usually that gathering place.  A room comfortably furnished, a place to just hang out. As pictured a warm and cozy French Country Decor hearth room just off the kitchen is accented with a linen fabric with reds and corals bringing a spark of color to a neutral color scheme. A hand-painted wallpaper covers the walls, accented with Cottage Furniture such as a pair of comfortable leather and linen chairs and 2 leather benches in front of the fireplace complete this inviting space. The room is accented with rich original French Country Wall Art creating a warm and cozy surrounding. The kitchen repeats the linen Shumacher fabric on the windows and the backs of the alligator leather barstools. Red accents are the perfect combination to the timber and wood ceiling, giving this rustic timber home a Country French twist, a room that feels as if it’s been kissed by the sun. Your home should reflect a warm and relaxed ambience… It should reflect you. As a Atlanta Interior Designer I like to create rooms that are cozy and warm with color, creating an inviting atmosphere. When these things are created, your surroundings will always welcome you home. Despite the grand scale of a home you can still ensure a homey feel, a cozy atmosphere, a place where you and your guest feel comfortable.

If you feel closed in and uncomfortable when surrounded with dark or bold colors, then a neutral color scheme will be the perfect choice, keeping it light and fresh. It’s easy to bring in a dramatic color with fabric to any neutral room. Fabrics and home interior art can change a dull room to that of a rich and cozy surrounding.  If you like a more formal style… Understated Elegance could be the perfect combination for you by selecting more formal pieces of furniture and accessorizing with things like silver and crystal. If it’s a more rustic style, a lodge look, you’re attracted to, the tone of rich wood and a heavier style of furnishings could be a good choice.

To create a soothing and light space, choose light tones with a punch of color. I think French Country Master Bedrooms should be a place where you love to spend time. My favorite tones for a relaxing bedroom are neutral textured tones accented with a punch of color such as an antique rug to bring in color. This combination creates an inviting room of understated elegance where you’ll love to spend time. 

I love to hear my clients say, I enjoy my house, I would rather stay home than go out and I always love to come home. How do you give a house character? Give a house French Country charm and the character will come. Take a small room, add a couple of comfortable Country French overstuffed chairs, add a wall of books and you have a library, a room that’s cozy, comfortable and welcoming. With the right vision a well-decorated room can make a big impact and create a really comfortable home you’ll love to come home to.

 

Visit our Interior Design Online Catalog to dream and plan the ideal home for you.

Email me at caiken1@windstream.net if you would like to discuss a decorating idea or dilemma.  This is another in my series of home INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS from your Atlanta Interior Designer; I hope that you use them to help you create a home that it fells great to come home to after a long day.

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Interior Design for the Dining Room

March 22nd, 2009

HOW TO CREATE A COZY ROOM FOR DINING….. By Cynthia Aiken

 

Dining is one of life’s little pleasures –

A dining room glows with details that are formal, but not too serious…Keep it casual.

Easy elegance of French Country Décor and theatrical touches set the tempo for a casually divine dining room. I prefer traditional elements with a bit of surprise.  I like to relax a formal setting.  The trend in our generation is not to be formal, but we do like nice things.  Formality fades when furniture finishes are causal and rooms are planned with extra comfort, personality, and even some fun in mind. It wasn’t so long ago that everything in the dining room matched. The table; the chairs; the chest or china cabinet and the sideboard all matched. Everything was chosen to match in both finish and style.  For a casual French Country look, have chairs that are each different.  Instead of hanging just one chandelier above the dining table, try two.

If you love French Country Cottage coziness but your taste runs to beloved furniture classics rooted in the eighteenth century, take heart: You can have it both ways.  Add a few rough-textured French Country furnishings to offset the formality of your traditional pieces. Even mahogany fits in well when it is neighbored with informal pieces, such as a pine bench, a painted folk-art chest, or a casual wicker chair.

You should always have a rug big enough for your dining chair to fit on as you pull the chair out to be seated.  If a rug is too small there is a solution, add a strip of carpet around the outer edge with rug tape to join the border to create a larger rug for the space.

Dining rooms should feel alive. Not static.  “I always try to do something to introduce a different and a humble quality.”  I  love to introduce a pine or painted French bench in front of a window or at the end of the table and fill it with wonderful pillows. I once used two black painted Cottage Style benches at both ends of a waxed cherry table and added four French Country side chairs in a painted aged ivory finish.  The look was sensational; perfect for a dining room and toned down enough for a breakfast room.

Enduring style takes more than beautiful fabrics, elegant furnishings, and a soothing palette. Comfort and practicality make any room inviting.  The Cottage French Style Dining Room should be all elements combined into one.  Entertaining in your home is once again becoming a memory of a lifestyle.  It’s important to create a room that welcomes your guests, makes them feel comfortable.  Your dining room should be a place for relaxing with friends after a wonderful meal, without the urge to leave the table as soon as the meal is completed for a more comfortable chair.

I love to create an informal French Country Décor background for a room that otherwise could be very formal and stiff. I love the mix of hand plastered walls combined with furnishings that can go in either a formal or casual direction.  I love a dining room that feels very mellow.  Think about it, the surroundings definitely set the mood for the event of dining.  Using fabric covered side chairs mixed with host chairs in a different fabric and style can create an interesting mix in any room.   Plastered walls accented by a large original oil painting of the countryside is the perfect combination of a style that is interesting, stately and inviting.  Painted French Country Furniture such as a bench in the window filled with decorative pillows gives much interest to a dining room.   The opposite end of the room is a large hand waxed pine buffet introducing yet another finish.

Gone are the days of formal dining rooms designed purely to be used only several times a year.  Cottage French Style Dining Rooms are being designed with a less formal style by mixing woods, fabrics and finishes.  A room that says welcome… come sit… a place where your guests feel relaxed and comfortable.

 

Visit our online catalog for the best in Interior Design Ideas.

Email me at caiken1@windstream.net if you would like to discuss a decorating idea or dilemma.  This is another in my series of home INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS from your Atlanta Interior Designer; I hope that you use them to help you create a cozy room for dining. 

 

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How to Decorate with Wall Art

March 22nd, 2009

Home Interior Art Ideas

 By  Cynthia  Aiken

 

Home Interior Art is the single most important accessory for decorating any space. Art brings color and texture into a room. Wall art is what pulls the entire room together. When I decorate a space, I can’t wait to hang the artwork, it’s where the room comes to life. All the details of a room can evolve together to achieve a perfect ambiance when you make the right choices for art. Fine art plays an important role to the design of a room, it’s a very personal part of my design, this is where the personality of the space is completed. As an Atlanta Interior Designer, I know how important the artwork is to finish the space. It is also the best way to bring in dramatic color and texture.  Luxury is something beautiful to look at.  Original art is a luxury, but it doesn’t have to be expensive.

Look around the room; find the most important places for wall art. These pieces of art will have the most influence in the room, so put a lot of thought and make choices you really love.   There are many different mediums to choose from when selecting art. Original oils are the perfect choice to use over the fireplace, this becomes the focal point of the room.  If an original oil painting is not in your budget, you may consider an artist-enhanced gicle’. A gicle’ is a signed and numbered print on canvas of an original painting, the artist will paint over the print adding texture and brush strokes. A good gicle’ looks very much like the original.

I like to place  art in unexpected places; for example, in a room filled with windows I like to hang art on a window frame in the center of the window.  Botanical prints look good when you hang them from floor to ceiling on a narrow wall. A small oil painting in a wide frame looks good when hung above a doorway. Using small paintings in bookshelves mixed with accessories is a great look. 

When you see the same pictures on the wall month after month, year after year, the eye has no surprises and loses interest. It’s important to move your pieces around from wall to wall as well as from room to room. I have a friend who is an artist; she is always selling paintings and moving new pieces as she replaces paintings that are sold. I always have a refreshed feeling as I enter her home because interest is created by her change of art.

As pictured, a keeping room furnished in a French Country Cottage style using brightly colored fabrics is completed with a poppy landscape adding a strong punch of color and focal point to this room. The hand striped walls of a guest bedroom are accented with a large original floral oil painting. A room with a collection of the same theme creates much interest and shows a personal side to decorating. The walls of this paneled study are filled with different oil paintings and hand colored prints of dogs.  This room creates much conversation. It’s okay to mix different mediums in the same room. A collection of Home Interior Art becomes a gallery wall; interest is created with different style frames.

 

View our large collection of Interior Wall Art by Clicking here.

There are lots of galleries for selecting art.  If selecting the perfect art for your home is overwhelming, I suggest you work with a professional with the knowledge of choosing the perfect piece of art for your home.  This is another in my series of home INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS from your Atlanta Interior Designer; I hope that you use them help you decorate with art. 

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SOUTHERN STYLE Decorating

March 22nd, 2009

By Cynthia Aiken

Inviting looks for the season!

The holiday season is a time we go back in our life reminising of memories passed down from our families.  It’s a time for family and friends and a time for entertaining in our home. It’s a time for sharing memories and creating new memories.

The holiday season is my favorite time of the year, so i start decorating early as to stretch the season.  Decorating your home for the holidays can be overwhelming. Don’t try to decorate everything at once. I concentrate on one paticular area at a time.  I start firsh with my table top decorations. Then i decorate trees for different rooms, garlands for the staircase then the outside decorations. Decorate a different area  each day.  Within a week your decorations will be complete then you can sit back and enjoy what you’ve created. 

The secret of organized decorating for the holidays is how you packed them away the year before.  Always store your holiday treasures in boxes labeled for each area. This way you can go immediately to what you are looking for without digging through each box.

Bring in fresh greenery – a simple live wreath hung in the center of a  mirror. Add a bow of a wonderful fabric ribbon to match your décor.  This is also a wonderful look for a large window.  Hang the wreath in the center of the window inside your room. You won’t believe the difference it will make. A simple green wreath hung at the foot of a metal bed adds just the right touch of the holiday season to any guest room.  I’ve collected santa’s for many years.  I feel the excitement of a child each year as i pull them out placing them through out my home. I love to use christmas books for table top accessorizing throughout my home during the holiday season.  Just seeing books of christmas stories sitting on a table really put you in festive mood.  Children’s books are wonderful for decorating bringing back childhood memories.

The dining room is the heart of the home during the holiday season.  Your table is an important part of decorating.  I like to take a small swag to hang on the back of each dining chair by a ribbon. I like to place a bright christmas ornament on each place for a dinner party as a party favor. For a natural centerpiece,use what you find on a stroll through your yard and grocery store aisles.  Choose a footed glass dish and arrange the bowl with oranges & apples.  Add enough water to fill halfway, then tuck in berry sprigs, ivy and fresh flowers, such as small red and orange roses.  All centerpieces should be kept low, so guests can see over the top while dining. Don’t forget to spruce up the hanging fixture. Decorate a lantern or chandelier with ribbon in any high-ceilinged room. Consider a wreath hung from ribbon around a bell jar or similar-shaped fixture.  Create a simple, elegant centerpiece of silver and green for the table. You don’t have to be a floral designer for this arrangement of fresh-cut evergreen and round silver ornaments accented with silver candlesticks.  Create a sugared fruit display, dip individual pieces of fruit in egg whites and roll in superfine sugar.  Don’t overcoat – allow the fruit’s natural color to show through. Line up several silver tumblers filled with low flowers down the center of your table and interspace them with votive candles.

Mixing in live greenery with fake will give the impression you have used live greenery everywhere. Fresh berries, rose hips, and greens from the garden. Wreaths are a traditional way of welcoming guests, and a perfect way to dress up your house for the season. A large basket of greenery with berries and pinecones compliment any entrance.

A crystal bowl filled with christmas balls with christmas bead garland is perfect for any table top. Some accessories can easily be made into a holiday decoration, a good example.  Tall grass topiaries adorning a mantel with a ribbon tied to the front with a bow with a large christmas ball hanging in front creates a festive addition to any topiary and becomes an additional decoration.

Bunch ornaments together for visual impact on a large tree.  Your collected pieces won’t get lost in the expanse of green and go unnoticed.

This is another in my series of home interior design ideas from your atlanta interior designer; I hope that you use them help you decorate your home for the holidays.  

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CREATING YOUR OWN GARDEN STYLE ROOM

March 22nd, 2009

 

Garden Style Room Decorating

Written by Cynthia Aiken

Gardening is one of life’s little pleasures. I am an Atlanta Interior Decorator by trade, but my first love is gardening. When the weather is good and I have some free time, you will always find me in my garden. Working in my garden gives me a sense of relaxation, and peacefulness. This is the same feeling you should get as you walk into a garden room or outdoor porch. When I design a garden room, I like to use old wicker, vintage furnishings and floral fabrics. Use outdoor garden furniture inside your home. Flea market finds are perfect, and take on a new look when painted and covered in new fabrics. An old wrought iron glass top table painted white, used with fabric covered chairs in a light crisp fabric work wonderful together. If you are planning a garden style room, think of using flooring in slate, outdoor stone or brick.  A wood floor painted in a diamond pattern or stenciled is a great look and adds a feeling of freshness.

I like a garden room with light crisp fabrics and painted cottage furniture, with the sun pouring through the windows. By using light fabrics you don’t have to worry about them fading. Walls painted white, a ceiling painted a pale sky blue and light fabrics create a refreshing look. The same look of fresh linen in the summer. Leave the windows uncovered and let nature from outside surround your room. A stained glass window hanging inside window of a sunroom adds a dimension of architecture to the room.  I love a color scheme of green from the outside and white with accents of color. A Master Gardner once told me she never uses red in her garden. I’ve followed this rule in my outside garden as well as interior garden rooms I create. By using shades of pinks and corals, you create a soothing color pallet. I like to plant scented geraniums at the base of a large ficus tree in my sunroom. The fragrance is enjoyed year round and you get the feeling as if you are walking through your garden. Treasures from a flea market painted white take on a new look. An outdoor sundial makes a great accent table.  Homes today are designed with outdoor rooms, such as covered or screened porches with fireplaces. With the mild winters experienced in the south, these rooms can be enjoyed year round.

When choosing fabrics for outdoor use, it’s important to select weatherproof fabrics such as sunbrella and fabrics that will hold up in direct sun light. I like to select fabrics for outdoor porches in colors that spill over from rooms inside.  When designing sunrooms and outdoor rooms, comfort is important, so keep in mind furnishing a room of comfort that you and your guest will enjoy, a room that says, “Come in, sit, be comfortable and enjoy the view.

Remember to visit my website formore articles and photos.  Just click here for more great design ideas.

 

This is another in my series of home INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS from your Atlanta Interior Designer; I hope that you use them help you create that great garden room for your home. 

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Creating a Private Getaway

March 22nd, 2009

Ideas by one of Atlanta’s Award Winning Interior Designers
 Written by Cynthia Aiken

A getaway does not always necessitate a journey to a beach house or a weekend home in the country or a rustic lodge in the mountains. For many of us it can be a room in our home or a secluded shade-covered edge of our garden. I like to use design to create a place where I feel as though I ‘m a guest in my own home.  It means so much when you find a place where youcan feel that sense of solitude. It certainly is a good antidote to the visibility and social routine of a busy life to have a place in your home that is magical, a place where you can be transported to another place. With a strong emphasis on comfort and simplicity, a tranquil spot in your home is a must.  We all want the rose covered cottage style with the picket fence. We all want a spot in our home that creates this feeling. By using cottage style decorating techniques, a slipcovered chair in the corner of a room or a window seat filled with a mix of overstuffed pillows can create a special and magical space.  A shady setting for summer lunches, a place for family games, a covered porch, a place to curl up with a good book on a rainy afternoon can relieve the stress of a busy day.  A porch can be an outdoor family room. Rusted iron is a wonderful compliment to any outdoor spot. Painted wicker with colorful pillows says welcome, come and sit. You’ve heard the saying “Home is where the heart is”, I think this is very true and a very important part of decorating.

Tucked into the corner of a room an antique drop-front writing desk can double as a lamp table adding a touch of nostalgic memories, a place for retreat and relaxation. A quiet serenity and a sensual richness flow through the house when you add romance to a room. Anything that has a vintage style creates a sense of getting away to the past, white sheer window panels becomes a romantic treatment for any window. Relaxed wicker seating paired with a rustic pine table creates a casual spot for dining giving the feel you are miles away from the city. A magical spot can be a romantic setting in a candlelit gazebo in the garden on summer evenings. Lazy days, porches, croquet, and lemonade create a cottage inspiration style of the 1920”s with a nostalgic feel of a picture perfect Fourth of July picnic. The simplicity and unpretentiousness bring back the home-sweet-home feelings and memories of childhood. White bead-board paneling, vintage fabrics, quilts, and a mix of colors in overstuffed cottage style furniture to enhance the charm of a by gone era of a getaway cottage. An additional refuge within any house is a simple but luxuriously appointed bath, with plush terry towels, French soaps and a porcelain handheld shower. This relaxing retreat is the perfect solution to the busy lifestyles we all seem to have today. A private getaway corner is a place that makes you feel welcomed, it’s a place where you can relax and travel back in time, a place to relive fond memories. It is important that we all have a space in our home that creates this feeling of comfort and welcome, our own private getaway without leaving our home.

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Email me at caiken1@windstream.net if you would like to discuss a decorating idea or dilemma.  This is another in my series of home INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS from your Atlanta Interior Designer; I hope that you use them to help you create your own Private Getaway. 

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INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS

March 22nd, 2009

COLLECTING IS ONE OF LIFE’S LITTLE PLEASURES

 Written by Cynthia Aiken

All of us enjoy the “hunt”, wandering through street markets and fairs, browsing in antique furniture shops and bazaars in the hope of finding a treasure, which may or may not be valuable, but a treasure, which will certainly enhance a room. Collecting can be a fun experience. I have always collected blue and white porcelain. The joy of blue and white is that it can cater for all tastes and pockets. You can enjoy priceless jardinières and pots that are valuable investments or you can salvage broken pitchers or chipped bowls to use as flowerpots and vases – worthless in commercial terms, but much loved and treasured objects in daily use. If you are prepared to buy damaged or repaired blue and white china, you will find pieces for next to nothing that would be worth a fortune undamaged.

As an Atlanta Interior Designer, my clients often ask, “ I have this collection, but how do I display it?” China perfectly positioned on a hutch is one of the most traditional but still most successful ways of displaying such objects. How you choose to display your collectables is just as important as the collection itself. A small collection of decorative objects looks larger if it is arranged on shelves with a mirror backing, and in a small room this will also give the illusion of more space. A hutch is one of the prettiest ways to display china, if space is limited, use a wall-hung plate rack. I once had a very small dining room in a weekend cottage, I hung a very large pine plate rack and filled it with layers of blue and white porcelains, it made the room feel more spacious and created a lot of interest.

One of the most effective ways to display glass is on glass shelves in front of a window. The light coming through the window gives the glass so much more life and clarity than when displayed against a solid unreflective background. Keep the shelf supports to a minimum and your glass collectables will appear as if suspended in mid-air.

The most dramatic way of displaying home interior art is to create a gallery wall. Hang art from floor to ceiling. Ignore the color scheme totally and fill the walls with a rich collection of oil paintings of all shapes and sizes. I particularly recommend heavy frames creating an effect of dramatic richness. Even if pictures have a common theme, their style and medium can vary enormously. Detailed watercolors, faded prints, contemporary and period oil paintings of related subjects create an interesting collection. A guest bedroom decorated in a dog theme creates an inviting space for guests.

ollecting plates can reflect an English country design. It’s a very relaxed easy style – English Country Style is very easy to live with – It’s a classical style.   Whether new or old, plates add a comforting look to any room. Plates are one of the collectibles especially important to creating a cottage style decor. All of the plates need not be the same pattern. In fact, it’s the mix of patterns and sizes that creates a collected-over-time appeal.  Charm a tabletop by displaying your favorite hand painted plate upright on a stand. Turn a skinny strip of wall into a canvas for cottage style by hanging a row of plates vertically on a wall. A collection of plates of varying sizes becomes the focal point of a room when the plates are mixed with antique botanical prints or hung surrounding a mirror.

Personal collections always welcome you home. The more personal the details, the better, a tabletop filled with small, framed family photos recount the past and relate a story of personal history. Frames do not need to match or repeat the same finish. Create a look as if you’ve spent years collecting.

When decorating with collections, keep your collections together, if spread around they don’t make much of an impression. A beautiful room can be transformed by beautiful collections. I try to have a vision through my clients’ eyes so that the end product reflects their personalities. I love to incorporate the collections my clients have. I design houses that have some drama and originality, but I never sacrifice comfort. Personal collections create a comfort zone to any room.

Visit my website for more great ideas.

This is another in my series of home INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS from your Atlanta Interior Designer; I hope that you use them help accessorize your home. 

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INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS

March 22nd, 2009

ACCESSORIES CAN MAKE A HOUSE A HOME - Written by Cynthia Aiken

More than any other element in design, home décor accessories can make a house a home. Accessories are the most important ingredient in making a room come alive. The way you select and arrange accessories reflects your personality. It matters little whether your treasures are flea-market finds or fine antiques. It makes no difference if you’re starting fresh or just freshening up. Rearranging objects you already own is the least expensive and most satisfying way to redecorate.  Focus on what’s special to you. Incurable collectors all believe you can’t go wrong when you favor what’s meaningful over what’s merely popular. Whether it’s pillows or home interior art, if you choose pieces that strike a chord within you, somehow they’ll work together in your home.

Neutral hues are the most accommodating to show off collections. A soft, natural palette has endless potential and can change your collectibles or even the season. In a neutral room, add some blue-and-white porcelain, and suddenly you have a blue room. Set out a few bouquets of pink tulips in the spring, and you have a pink room. Neutral color schemes are great if you have your home on the market.  Today we value comfort and casual style more than ever before. The trend is reflected in an easygoing way with home décor accessories and home interior art. It also accounts for the appeal of informal balance. Informal balance is achieved with objects that don’t necessarily match.  Good design has everything to do with pleasing proportions, and accessories can change visual scale for the better. It’s not enough to arrange a tabletop; the space beneath a leggy table needs to be considered as well. As pictured a leggy console used as a bedside table is the perfect place for accessorizing the floor space beneath and adds interest to the room.

Large spaces, particularly those with high ceilings, call for large scale interior art. A tall fireplace or a two story room needs a painting to balance the room and the fill the space. I find most people feel more secure to go smaller than larger when it comes to making a decision as to the size of artwork. Often times it’s just a matter of handholding with a client to go with a bigger piece of art for a space, the end result is always pleasing.

A collection of large blue and white porcelains arranged on a console table can create the perfect balance for a tall room. Fewer large pieces fill a large space much better than lots of smaller pieces. Larger home accessories create a less cluttered look. Furnish a dining room as you would any other room of the house and create new possibilities. An upholstered love seat bench tucked in a corner provides warmth to a room of hard surfaces. A small tea table in front makes a cozy spot for afternoon tea or morning coffee.

Forgo the typical formula of furnishing a kitchen and  think of the kitchen as simply another well furnished room of your home. A decorative table lamp and artwork teamed up with the essential appliances give a gourmet kitchen a new level of welcome.  

Nothing in your home reveals more about you than the way you accessorize your personal surrounding. Your collections are fundamental to creating an environment that reflects something of yourself, your dreams and your past experiences. Your treasures are as distinguishing a feature as your signature. 

Want to know more just follow this link to my interior design catalog and idea center.

This is another in my series of home INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS; I hope that you can use them accessorize your home.

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A WINTER HOUSE – A COZY LOOK

March 22nd, 2009

Written by Cynthia Aiken

A switch to cozier slipcovers on the sofa and vases filled with wintry flowers and greenery will help transport you to another place.

As someone raised in the South – a region rich with a long tradition of hospitality – I learned early on that the most memorable homes are the ones in which you feel welcome. From the moment you step over the threshold, and often even before you do, these homes seem to embrace their inhabitants, visitors, and living itself. You instantly feel a sense of ease in everything from the overall home décor arrangement of a room to the smallest gestures of comfort. And while any house should be warm and welcoming, this feeling is essential in a winter house that you often share with guests. “Ah, there is nothing like staying home for real comfort.” Jane Austen

Though you may greet people with the words “make yourself at home,” you can extend this invitation in many unspoken ways as well. Guests first experience a sense of welcome outside as they come up the front walk and then when they enter the foyer.

One of the most remarkable interior décor aspects of a winter house is its ability to draw people together, and I find that there are three main common areas where everyone naturally tends to congregate: the living room, the dining room, and the kitchen. These bustling centers of activity are the heart of your winter house (or any house for that matter – what is it about the kitchen?) Everyone wants to gather there.

THE LIVING ROOM…..

The living room is the first real room you enter. I love the main seating area to have all the furniture essentials to make a comfortable space: a comfortable sofa, chairs placed for conversation and a coffee table. The biggest requirement for a living room in any house is lots of seating, with the main requirement being that everyone is comfortable. Some of the best INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS include varying chair sizes, shapes and fabrics to ease the formality of the living room, as does the addition of plenty of ottomans and footstools for putting your feet up when you sit down. When a room has all of these essentials, the mood is relaxed.  I like a slight mismatch here and there to keep things from looking too “done” a room that says, come in, sit and relax.

Books are among my favorite possessions, and they are an absolute necessity, because reading is a classic winter-house activity. A coffee table layered with books will completely change the feeling of any room to that of comfort saying “welcome, come in, make yourself at home and relax”.

THE DINING AREA….

Almost any meal is a cause for celebration in a winter house. Of course, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Eve are the ones we think of in winter, but there are also more intimate dinners and luncheons celebrating the gathering of old friends which are meaningful. Large or small, these gatherings say so much about the hospitality of our homes and contribute to the warmth of time we spend in our house in the winter.

THE KITCHEN…

Good things come from the kitchen of a winter house: I just love having something alive, green and fragrant growing indoors when it’s cold outside. Potted herbs such as fresh rosemary are attractive, fragrant and useful. As a reminder of nature’s sleeping beauty outside.  As the outdoor garden is barren in winter, we have the opportunity to create a winter garden indoors. Having things inside that are fresh, green, and alive is a special treat and is an absolute necessity. A simple boxwood ring around a hurricane brings in the outdoors and a wonderful winter fragrance to any room.

POWDER ROOMS…

Powder rooms may be small in square footage, but they can – and should – have a big impact. Sometimes it’s a lot easier to experiment in powder rooms; after all, they are only visited for a few moments. If you’re brave enough to try out bold designs in these small rooms, it will enable you to take more risks in larger spaces.

A SPACE OF ONE’S OWN…

Private quarters or guest retreats…

All houses need quiet spots where you can get away from everything and everyone. This retreat might be a separate room, such as a study, or simply a corner in an existing room. A window seat with lots of pillows will create a cozy corner to any space. It’s the perfect spot to curl up with a good book or just look out the window to view a winter landscape. It’s not the physical configuration that matters, but the feeling created there.  When guests are staying with you, they should be able to enjoy their own private moments. You can make guests feel special in their own spaces through your decoration, linens, accessories, and thoughtful extra touches. Aim for a feeling of comfort for the duration of their stay with little luxuries like a bed tray. When planning your guest rooms, ask yourself, “What will make your guest comfortable? Have you slept in your guest bedroom lately? It’s the only way to discover what works and what doesn’t. No matter how beautifully a guest room is decorated, it must be inviting, comfortable, and well stocked.

So when you think of winter, think of making your home interior cozy, inviting and a fun place to be… A place where guests feel comfortable… A place where you can’t wait to walk through the door and feel the warmth and coziness of just being home…  A place where memories are made.

This is another in my series of home INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS; I hope that you can use them to make your home a cozy winter retreat.

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HOW TO CREATE French Country Cottage STYLE IN AN EXISTING ROOM

March 22nd, 2009

By Cynthia Aiken

The French Country Cottage style home interior relaxes a room and introduces the look that’s happy and humble with items to be touched. It’s the look of a comfortable lived in room. It is also a look of memories, a look of vintage. It’s a look that says, “Come in, sit, take in and touch everything.  Create a cottage corner filled with lots of things to touch and see. Start with French Cottage Furniture such as an overstuffed chair, then add vintage textiles, home interior art in framed prints and of course, flowers fresh from the garden.

Add a little Romance…The rough edges of the world outside your door soften when you come home to romance. When it comes to romance, decorating is easy to master, just follow your heart. Start with a pure white palette; add billowy, flowing sheer fabrics or lace panels to the windows. Think of wedding dresses and christening gowns, and you’ll know why a pure white-on-white scheme touches the heart. 

Add a little Provence…The classic French Country Cottage rooms create another interpretation of cottage style. Using the rich colors of a Provence landscape by using mustards, terracottas, poppy reds and brilliant celestial blue create the perfect combination for a French country style. French Country Decorating style has a free spirit that encourages mixing of what you love. Texture is key to Provencal style. Plastered walls create the perfect backdrop for any room.  Mix French Cottage Furniture finishes – light, dark, painted finishes, and distressed finishes will give your room a sense of age.

Add a little coziness…Because French Country Cottage style is one of the most intimate of interior design, it makes sense to introduce a cozy appeal with decorative details, such as Painted French Country Furniture, pillows, and lots of color.  Comfortable furnishings are always at the top of my list for any room. The other essential – an ottoman or sturdy coffee table you can prop your feet on after a tough day.  Mention cottage comfort, and you immediately think of sink-down seating, cloud-soft fabrics, and cushy pillows.

Add a mixture of fabrics…The most loveable quality of French Country Cottage style interior design ideas is simply mixing lots of patterns and fabrics.  Of course, standard guidelines for good design apply. But to get your rooms in just the right cozy mood, go ahead and stretch your imagination. Cottage design is essentially a happy, fresh mix of different patterns that mimic an almost childlike sense of play.  When mixing lots of patterns, vary the scale, using large, medium, and small prints. Mix a wide stripe on a sofa with a small pinstripe at the window, floral fabrics mixed with small checks and large plaids. Small home interior art such as geometric prints and solid textures, which I call filler fabrics, create a nice blending of all patterns.  Contrast a room full of patterned fabrics with plain painted walls. A bold mix of patterns can turn a secondhand chair into a witty cottage accent.

Add a little wicker…Wicker brings an outdoor palette inside your home. Nothing is better that a wicker chair for adding a touch of nostalgia. It’s no wonder that wicker turns up in so many cottage style rooms. It’s just as at home on the front porch as in the living room. I like to introduce a pair of wicker chairs to a dining room. They can add a less formal look of cottage style to an otherwise formal room.

French Country Cottage style is forgiving, flexible and fun. Classic shapes of chairs and sofas can easily be refreshed with new fabrics, slipcovers, or even accent pillows as your rooms and taste evolve. Just let go, do your thing and have fun. The cottage style is layering of things you like. It’s anything that could be from a by gone era. A cottage style room is inviting and comfortable, a place where guests are instantly at ease the moment they enter your home. 

 This is another in my series of home INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS; I hope that you can use them with your French Cottage Furniture and French Country Cottage décor.

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Accessorizing A Room

March 22nd, 2009

 Written by Cynthia Aiken

Home décor accessorizing is one of the most personal aspects of decorating. There are no formulas, no special magic, no right or wrong way. Just what is right for you? The personality of your home should express your personality and lifestyle. Accessories can pull the room together and create a warmth and coziness. 

The home décor accessories used in a room gives a personality and creates a mood to the room. Books are beautiful things.  I like to use cocktail table books for decorating.  I tell my clients to purchase books that reflect their interest. People’s lives are expressed in little details in the same way a room’s personality is expressed with the home décor accessories used to compliment your room. You love flowers? Show them off. You have dogs in your family? Use them as a theme in your decorating. Do you like to needlepoint? Then bring out those pieces and have them framed or made into pillows. The paintings we cherish, the books on the bedside table all proclaim who we are. And nowhere is this more apparent that in decorating. What we select for our walls, tabletops and bookshelves says who we are. When you hear people say your home looks like you, you should feel you have succeeded. Coco Chanel said, ”An interior is the natural projection of the soul…”

The personality of a room hinges on its objects and accessories. Just for fun, play “Who Lives Here”. Look at your room, does it tell the personality of the owner? Do you have family photographs around? Photographs are very important for accessorizing your home. It’s what tells you details of the lifestyle of the person living in the home. Now look at your own house with new eyes. Is it saying what you want it to? Does it express you? Maybe the carpeting from a previous owner has always bothered you. Why not get rid of it, and enjoy bare floors and the hunt for a pleasing replacement? Perhaps some colorful pillows or a soft throw would make your sofa more inviting.  Sometimes the simple addition of a fresh candle can boost a tired room.  Home décor accessories are the most telling additions we give to our homes.

There are a few basic rules for placement of objects. Balance and Shapes are important, see what works well together. Round with rectangular? Narrow, high objects with long, low ones? As for size, generally keep taller and heavier items in the rear. Mixing textures is always interesting; a pile of old books on a marble topped table. Break up matched or themed sets with something unrelated. An example: the silver tea set placed, not on a silver tray, but on an oval oak one. Display like things together can make for an interesting grouping.

Home interior art has a way of setting a tone in a room. A collection of prints can turn a hallway corner into a small gallery. A narrow wall can become a dramatic gallery by hanging a group of prints from floor to ceiling. 

Shelves are another place for display that will capture the eye. Objects give a house character. We accumulate things over time. We cherish them and display them prominently. Enjoy moving your favorite things to new places. Display the things you love in places where you can see and enjoy them.

  These are a few of my INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS… I hope you use them to make your home a showplace.

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Faux Finishing Interior Design Ideas

March 22nd, 2009

Lets try Faux -By Cynthia Aiken

If you create the perfect background to a room, then it follows that the rest of the  Décor will fall into place.

The easiest way to create a dramatic look is with a faux finish. And the best thing about faux finishes is that there are a multitude of techniques to choose from. As an illustration, to create an elegant French Country look use a faux finish that reflects light, as is the case with a hand striped finish using a tone on tone color e.g. a stripe of shine and a stripe of a matte finish. This finish will look fabulous in both a dark tone as well as a light color. Places in the home where this technique can be used include the dining room and the bedroom. I’ve also used this finish to break up the length of a long hallway creating interest by using wide stripes. In fact, wide stripes are more elegant than narrow stripes. The additional benefit is that this approach is more cost effective than filling the wall with art.

Anita Bellinger, a fine faux artist and neighbor in Big Canoe, GA says faux finishes we’ll be seeing more of in coming years are metallic finishes and waxes. Today Anita does an incredible job of creating the illusion of very elegant Venetian plaster. It looks like polished stone, is very refined, and makes a powerful statement. Even though you know it’s a faux finish you can’t resist touching it to make sure. Another benefit of this approach is that it makes an otherwise mundane color spring to life.

Done correctly faux finishes can be a wise investment.

Glazes are another finish that makes a dramatic statement. This is a great finish for trims and wood ceilings. You see glazed finishes on kitchen cabinets, where they are ivory or cherry glazed with chocolate or charcoal. Glazing can be an easy solution to soften white trim and is much faster than repainting. An example, built-in white bookcases flanking a fireplace can become unique pieces of French Country Furniture and a focal point to any room simply by glazing the white finish.

Using glazed French Country Furniture against a faux finished wall is a terrific look. For example, I love to create an old world plaster finish in a kitchen or a keeping room and then used glazed woodwork or furniture to compliment the look. The two together creates a more cozy and mellow felling. Visualize this in an old European farmhouse where the combination oozes character of a French Country Style.

The master bath is the perfect place for creating a French Country look. Don’t be afraid to deviate from the norm. You may create something unforgettable.

Tromp l’oeil is a term for a mural that deceives the eye. This technique can be so realistic that often you must touch it to be certain it is not real. For example you will often see a piece of furniture painted on a wall that looks three dimensional and actually creates the illusion of a genuine piece of furniture. Tromp l’oeil is a great solution if you want to hide something. Like a door that is rarely used. Paint a mural over the door and it becomes art. You’ll probably forget that the door is there. Certainly visitors will never know. 

You will be surprised to find that most finishes are very reasonable; often the cost will be less than wallpaper. Some finishes are easy enough that with the proper tools you can crate them yourself, but if you want the right look, I’d recommend a professional. And most artists are happy to create a preview board for your approval so there will be no surprises when the job is completed.

Please visit our website for some of our top articles on interior design.

As an Atlanta Interior Designer, I love to work with faux finishes. It makes the fabrics and the design of the room more distinctive. 

Email me at caiken1@alltel.net if you would like to discuss a decorating idea or dilemma.  This is another in my series of home INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS from your Atlanta Interior Designer; I hope that you will try faux finishing on a wall somewhere in your home it is inexpensive and very effective.  

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Interior Design by Atlanta’s Award Winning Designer

March 22nd, 2009

Do Not be Afraid - By Cynthia  

 

There are many Interior Decorating ideas that can show you ways to change the look of a room by incorporating just a few new things such as  accessories.

 

For example, cottage wall art can be a transforming addition. It’s a great way to add color to a room that otherwise has a neutral feel. A contemporary piece of art in an otherwise traditional room can dramatically change the look of a room.

 

An existing room can take on a new personality just by adding a new piece of French Country Furniture. Or the addition could be an antique piece that still accomplishes the objective of refreshing the look of a space. Just changing the finish can dramatically alter your look.  To illustrate, adding an entertainment center in a waxed pine finish to a room that already has lots of formal dark woods can result in an understated look of casual elegance. Certainly a room with different finishes will create more interest than one where all the furniture finishes are monotonously the same.

 

Aged finishes and Painted French Country Furniture create warmth and welcome and can take on a French Cottage Style  or English appearance. A dark wood tone dining table with aged ivory chairs, as an example, could be an inviting combination.

 

Most of us are constantly working on our clothes wardrobe. We want an updated look to the clothes we wear. The same is true of our homes. Rugs, interior art and other accessories can keep our surroundings in style. And decorative pillows can change the look of a sofa and create a dramatic focal point in any room.

 

Today’s style has evolved to a less formal look; more understated than luxurious. There’s more emphasis on comfort and warmth as we make family and friends feel welcome and relaxed. Home interior designer  finishes help us achieve this effect. And color and finishes should reflect our environment whether we live in a mountain home, the city or on the seashore. As we walk through the front door of our home, we should have sense that we are in a special place.

 

Look into faux finishes and hand stripes to alter the look of painted walls. Consider some of the new and popular colors such as coral, spring greens, chocolate browns and ice blue.

 Check out my new website by just clicking HERE.

Email me at caiken1@alltel.net if you would like to discuss a decorating idea or dilemma.  This is another in my series of home INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS from your Atlanta Interior Designer; I hope that you use them to incorporate new things into existing rooms. 

 

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