It is the aesthetic choices – art, colors, materials and styles that define our personalities.  Our homes, then, should be a reflection of who we are and filled with things we love and delight in.  That’s one of the first rules of accessorizing.  Regardless of taste, a home can be captivating if it tells the stories of those who live in it.  That said, there are some basic principles of home accessorizing that if followed, will lead to a well designed interior. 

          The first step is to identify a focal point, which could be a main furniture piece or architectural detail, and play it up to create more emphasis.  For example, a fireplace mantle would look great with a display of great pottery, or a dramatic mirror with floral arrangements flanking it. The scale of items is important to consider, chunky with chunky, delicate with delicate. Beds and sofas can come alive with custom throw pillows in beautiful colors, patterns and trims.  An interesting throw and dust ruffle can also be added

Built-in shelves lend themselves to a multitude of options for accessorizing with collections that add a variety of elements – textures, shapes, colors, sizes, lines, and materials.  Group like items together, remembering that simple is best, using odd numbers of items – groups of three frequently work well.  Try using items of varying heights and shapes.

          Be bold with wall pieces whether it is framed art or wall sculptures.    If the wall space is wide, use a wide framed piece.  Avoid putting tiny framed pieces on a big wall.  When installing artwork remember not to hang it too high or low.  When arranging groupings of art the center of the arrangement should be at about 5 feet or so with anywhere from  two to six inches between each piece.  Give larger pieces breathing room on all sides.  Use symmetry for identical pieces and try to create balance with different sized pictures. 

          Plants bring the outdoors in and provide a calming effect, help clean the air and sometimes add a pleasing fragrance.  Fresh flowers really bring a room to life.  However, if your lifestyle does not include the time to nurture and care for real plants, good quality silk botanical  can be an acceptable substitute. Create a sense of depth by placing tall plants behind sofas, chairs or tables.  Use smaller plants in little nooks and crannies that would otherwise seem bare.  You can also use up-lights to illuminate plants and create interesting shadowing on ceilings and walls.

Home accessories are usually small and relatively inexpensive, making it easy to gather far too many items.  Keep it simple and use only what you and your family really love.  Successful accessorizing is about your life, and less about “a look”.

Call 716-627-4697 for Interior Design and Decoration, Consultation, Design to Sell, Commercial Interiors and Residential

In our last blog we talked about dressing up your home with interior millwork or trim, I happen to be looking through some design magazine and I came across a couple good examples of how interior details like trim, can add interest, turning an ordinary room into one that makes a statement.

Interior Design: Details

Whether you moved yesterday or five years ago, you may struggle with turning your home into that dream house you always wanted.  Spaces may seem out of proportion, cold or dull no matter how many times you rearrange the furniture or paint the room.  Perhaps the element to transform your home hasn’t occurred to you: TRIM

Whether you call it woodwork, architectural molding or plasterwork, room details like casing around doors and windows and room “furniture”  like wall paneling or fireplace mantels are often the key to bringing out the best in a space.

The walls and ceilings in many homes today are finished with drywall, a material that creates absolutely flat walls with crisp corners and edges. Painted off-white, the effect is clean and bright, but perfectly smooth white walls can also seem glacial.  By adding trim where walls meet ceilings, you can transform those flat boring walls, and take on a look of  classic elegance.  The photo to the left uses a molding that contains a row of small, blocky shapes called dentils. This profile can play the starring role in any home.

We hardly notice the trim details around  door openings, but they act much like a picture frame that surrounds a view.  Take a look at the photo on the right, here the wide door opening frames a classically proportioned fireplace, seen through the second almost identical doorway.  The trim detail unifies the spaces, creating a flow from one room to another.

Trim transforms spaces. It can be decorative or simply frame a view. It can create a sense of balance in an oddly shaped room, enhance small and large spaces, conceal flaws, define or separate spaces.  Adding details to your home through the use of trim can add that little extra interest your home may be missing.  So the next time you’re thinking “How can I improve my home?” Think trim, there are endless possibilities.   

Design Development- Interior Design

Have you ever wondered about Feng Shui?  What is it?  How Does it work?   This weeks article gives you the basics of Feng Shui, so you can begin to incorporate it into your home.  Think about what type of energy you’d like to have in your home, and see which element help you achieve your goal. 

Improve your environment and improve your life!  That is the simplified idea of what Feng Shui can do for you.  We know that we feel better and operate more effectively in the right atmosphere.  Becoming aware of the basic of Feng Shui will help you correct area of your home that aren’t working right for you and allow you to create the right environment for you and your family.

Feng Shui incorporates five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Each element invokes a different mood or attribute. When you incorporate all five elements into every room design – enhancing specific elements according to your unique objectives, you can create a customized space that is beneficial for your family’s personal needs and goals.

• Wood represents the rising sun. It has an active energy, and it evokes the power of creativity and expansion. You can use wooden objects to promote motivation, inspiration, and passion. To add more wood energy to a room, use vertical shapes.

• Fire is seen as the most powerful of all the elements. Fire represents energy and passion. To increase the fire element in your space, add candles, animal prints, and shades of red, pink, and purple.

• Earth / Soil resembles the secure energy of the setting sun. It generates an overall feeling of balance and stability. If you feel disorganized or unfocused, your space could use some earth elements. Look for anything in earth tones, and use images of calm landscapes.

• Metal affects mental clarity and logic. The right amount of metal in a room can help you feel organized and focused. To enhance a space with the metal element, choose round or oval shapes; use white, gray, or silver colors; and use metal materials, like steel, iron, or aluminum.

Water influences spirituality and emotions. A balance of water brings about inspiration, wisdom, and insightfulness. For water energy, add deep colors, reflective surfaces, and wavy shapes. Water features, such as aquariums and fountains, also work well. 

With the understanding of the basic characteristics of the Feng Shui elements, you can begin to design your home in a balanced, comfortable way. Play around a little, adjusting your rooms until you create the perfect atmosphere for you.

Have you been thing about hiring an Interior Designer, and not sure why and how one can benefit YOU?  We have come up with briefly summery to help you make that important decision.

Why Hire a Professional Interior Designer:

In addition to in-depth knowledge product knowledge of products, materials and finishes Professional Designers have training and expertise to plan, schedule, execute and manage YOUR project from start to finish.  We know and work closely with many vendors, contractors and other service providers, coordinating and purchasing services to procure materials, furniture, accessories and art, some of which you might not be able to find on your own.

When you hire interior designer, you get the benefit of an experienced professional who can solve problems, help you avoid costly mistakes and, most importantly, create an attractive, affordable space designed specifically to meet your lifestyle needs.

Call Schaper Associates Today, for more information on how we can assist YOU in your next project.

Green is associated with nature,  and so it is calming and restful.  In fact, green is one of the most restful colors.  It reduces activity of the nervous system and relieves muscle tension. 

A green room will promote balance, stability, and security.  It is a wonderful color choice for bedrooms and living rooms.  As always, don’t go crazy with one color.  Too much green is thought to make people too complacent or laid back.  To counteract these feeling ( and to add real drama and flair),  add splashes of red or orange. 

Green is a creative option to use as a neutral, in place of traditional creams and tans.  As you can see by looking in a florists window, green goe s well with almost any color.

The last few residential interior design projects we have worked on used the new technology of Home Automated Illuminating Systems.  What a great concept, lighting affects how our surroundings look, feel and function- a lighting control system maximizes the benefits.  Visualize waking up in the morning as the lights gradually turn on and the window shades slowly open.  After a late evening out, imagine pulling into the driveway, pressing a remote control on your vehicle’s visor, and having a path from the garage door to your bedroom instantly blink on.  The most complex are integrated “smart” home automation systems that use sensors and preset scenarios to activate interior and exterior lights, window treatments and systems to control heating, cooling, security and auto.  With smart automation, a central processor communicates among the various components and can be remotely controlled via phone or computer. 

It’s important to choose the right system for your needs.  You want to have control over lighting, not have it control you.  The best systems combine several types of customized lighting- control devices

Whether you’re building new home or thinking of integrating into your existing the technology exists; there’s always room for lighting controls.   No matter the system you choose, lighting controls have many advantages: convenience, increased safety, enhanced security, energy saving and over all comfort.

Interested? 

It was fun sharing some of the do’s and don’ts of  interior design,  so I thought that I’d come up with a few more to share . 

Did you know that too many chair and table legs can make a room “nervous”.   A skirted piece or two will make it feel grounded.  The most indestructible fabric for dining chairs is leather or vinyl, especially if you want white.  The fastest way to make over sliding closet doors is to wallpaper them.  Love your closets, paint them, paper them, hang pictures in them to inspire you, and definitely light them.   Small scale furniture only makes a small bedroom look smaller, try a high bed and tall headboard.  Your room will grow.  Lastly, curtains are like a runway dress.  The taller the better.

Did you see our piece  Big and Practical Advice?   If not take a look, at our post there’s some really Big and Practical Advice!!

Visit Us at schaperasscoaites.net for more information about How we can  Help You Achieve the comfort and look you desire.  

Ava living: Featured Residential Beach Chic Interiors:   

The Design Selection Team at Ava Living has chosen our “Beach Front Haven” an outdoor living space as a featured interior design project for their Beginning of Summer Celebration!!  The Feature will appear from Monday June 21 till July 27^th.   

Schaper Associates is proud to announce the launch of our new interior design website.