Posts Tagged ‘Interior Design’
Pangaea’s 9 Elements of the Perfect Man Chair
Friday, November 11th, 2011
Men are starting to claim more and more territory in their homes these days, but their classic spot in the living room is their throne, or as I like to call it, their “Man Chair“. Since they typically like to keep it until it is worn to the springs, here are the top nine elements that will make a new chair so appealing to the man in your life that he’ll actually let you get rid of the overstuffed, raggedy monstrosity sitting in the middle of your living room — I’m talking about the chair — not the guy!
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Tags: Bedroom, chair, Design Tips, furniture arrangement, Interior Design, loft, Lofts, Man Chair, modern design, Seating, Throne
Posted in Bedroom, Design Tips, Furniture, Home Office, Interior Design, Living Room, Lofts, Seating, Top Ten, Trends, Uncategorized, Upholstery | No Comments »
Pangaea Interior Design’s 32 Creative Ideas for your Nightstand
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011
When finding that perfect bedside table there are SO many things to consider, and who says it even needs to be a table? Well I certainly don’t. If you have been spending hours shopping around to find the perfect side tables to hold your bonbons & that nightly glass of wine, check out all the things to consider when finding your dream nightstands.
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Tags: Bedroom, bedside tables, Design Tips, end tables, furniture arrangement, Interior Design, Lighting, Night stands, pedestals, Space Planning, storage, task lighting
Posted in Bedroom, Colors, Cool Ideas, Cool Stuff, Design Tips, Furniture, Interior Design, Lighting, Shopping, Trends, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Pangaea Interior Design’s Fall Premiere Season: Where to put your TV
Friday, November 4th, 2011
If you are a TV addict and you want to make sure you don’t miss a minute of your favorite shows, there’s always a way to sneak a TV into any room, whether you want to watch your soaps in the Kitchen or bath tub, sitcoms in the living room, or sports in your man-cave.
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Tags: bath tub, Bathroom, Bedroom, Design Tips, Dining Room, Fireplace, Flat screen, furniture arrangement, home theater, Interior Design, Kitchen, Living Room, Lofts, man cave, modern design, Space Planning, storage, tv, tv placement
Posted in Bathroom, Bedroom, Cool Ideas, Design Tips, Dining Room, Fireplace, Home Office, Interior Design, Kitchen, Live/Work Spaces, Living Room, Lofts, Mistakes: Avoiding & Fixing, Seating, Space Planning, Storage Solutions, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Pangaea Interior Design’s 16 Favorite Chairs from High Point Market
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011
After shopping the 10 million-plus square feet of High Point Market last week, the soles of my tennis shoes are still smoking! I’m sharing with you my favorite chairs, everything from updated wingbacks, to traditional dining chairs to uber contemporary swivel chairs! Check out these hot designs from Vanguard, Hickory Chair, American Leather and more!
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Tags: American Leather, arm chair, Bernhard, Bolier, chair, Copeland Furniture, dining chair, Dorya, High Point Market, Interior Design, Modloft, Star International, swivel chair, Tara Shaw Maison, Taylor King, traditional chairs, traditional design, upholstery, Vanguard
Posted in Dining Room, Furniture, Interior Design, Living Room, Seating, Top Ten, Trends, Uncategorized, Upholstery | No Comments »
Wall Texture: Beyond Paint & Wallpaper for Creative Wall Treatments
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011
I love to see walls with unique textures! Not a faux finish which just looks textured — but the real deal that you can feel! Check out this collection of inspirational ideas for deeply textured wall treatments using glass, metal, wood, wall coverings, fabric and more.
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Tags: copper, Design Tips, drapery, fabric wall panel, glass art installation, Interior Design, interior design portland, upholstered wall panel, upholstered walls, wall coverings, wall texture, wall treatments, wallpaper
Posted in Bathroom, Cool Ideas, Cool Stuff, DIY, Living Room, Uncategorized, Wall Treatments | No Comments »
Portland Interior Designer Shares How to Float Your Bed – Loft Style!
Wednesday, July 20th, 2011
In Portland, lots of us know how to float a boat — plenty of water for that! But this post is about how to float your bed! If you live in a wide open loft or have an extra large bedroom, floating your bed away from the wall can be an option for you — or maybe even a necessity! I have tips on how to handle your bedside tables and lighting when you decide to float the bed.
Tags: bed, Bedroom, floating bed, houzz bedrooms, Interior Design, loft, loft bedroom, Pangaea, Space Planning
Posted in Bedroom, Cool Ideas, Design Tips, Furniture, Interior Design, Lighting, Live/Work Spaces, Lofts, Space Planning, Uncategorized | No Comments »
10 Design Strategies for Art Lovers
Thursday, June 9th, 2011
If you are an art lover, you know that buying and living with art is so rewarding! But did you know that what you do with your interior decor can actually boost the impact of your art?
Tags: Art, color, color palette, Design Tips, furniture arrangement, Interior Design, interior design portland
Posted in Art, Colors, Design Tips, Furniture, Interior Design, Lighting, Sculpture, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Portland Interior Designer Shares 5 Tips For Successful Change to Decor
Monday, April 4th, 2011
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes!!
Great song, isn’t it? If anyone knows how to make changes, it’s David Bowie! Some people just have a knack — other people — not so much.
When it comes to your interior decor, making changes can give you a real lift — or it can be a big disappointment if it doesn’t turn out well. So it’s no wonder that people often hesitate to make desired changes. We hold such hopes that the change we plan will be exactly what we need — and simultaneously worry that we will make a big and costly mistake.
Have you been putting off making changes to your home? Worried it won’t turn out right? Not sure where to start? Can’t do everything you’d like right now so you think you shouldn’t do anything? The strategy you use to implement those changes can make all the difference. Read on for my …
5 Tips For Success in Changing or Updating Your Decor
1. Make a List of ALL the Projects You Plan To Do Now and Eventually
When I start with a new client I ask them to write down this list for me. It keeps me from inadvertently advising them to do something now that will create problems for a future project I didn’t know they were contemplating.
Once you have this list, prioritizing and deciding where to start will be much easier. You may realize there is a project you need to complete before one that you’d like to do right away. But knowing this can save you from having to re-do work or from finding that a project will be more costly because of poor planning. Going over this list with your interior designer or contractor can help you sort out and avoid any potential trouble spots.
2. Enlist the Aid of Your Interior Designer Right From the Beginning of Your Projects
An experienced interior designer will help you plan your projects so they are done right the first time saving you time and money. If you are planning a remodel it should be your interior designer helping you to select your tile – carpet – counters – cabinets – paint and so on, NOT your building or paint contractors. Now before my contractor and house painter friends get all insulted — this doesn’t mean that I don’t think a contractor can have good taste or that a house painter can’t have a great eye for color. But your contractors are not involved with the big picture. They will not also be helping you in the selection of your upholstered pieces, window treatments, art and accessories, so their choices may hem you in when you get to those later parts of your project.
I talk to people all the time who are sorry about choices that were made in the selection of finishes in their remodel or new construction and are now calling in a designer because they can’t find things to go with their tile, carpet, ________ (insert whatever your big mistake was). A few hours of consultation right up front can save lots of grief down the road.
3. Don’t Throw Good Money After Bad
Never continue to work with a mistake. If there is something in your space that was a mistake and you try to “fix” it by using your other decor decisions to make it better, you just end up compounding the error.
You’ll be most tempted to do this when you have two items you love — but that just don’t work together in the same room. Because you love both things, you try to convince yourself that
Sometimes the fix is easy — move that new clashing chair into a different room or reupholster it. But sometimes you have to bite the bullet and make a serious change — like when a counter top clashes badly with the flooring. Making the tough decision and fixing the mistake will keep you from sending more money down the drain with attempts to force clashing elements to work.
4. Know When To Be a Don’t-Try-To-Do-It-Yourselfer
DIY television shows abound. They make everything look so easy, don’t they? Watch enough HGTV and you’ll almost feel guilty that you’re not installing bathtubs — laying hardwood floors — and building custom upholstered furniture from scratch. Sometimes in our zeal to save money, we take on projects that are better left to a professional.
Do you think I’ve never made this kind of mistake? Oh no … I’ve learned many lessons the hard way. I know how to set tile — oh yes, I do! But tiling my own floors with Saltillo paver tiles took me months! A pro could have done in a few days. On top of that it was heavy – dirty – physically grueling work and my back will never be the same.
I’ve done just about every DIY project you can imagine in my life before my Interior Design career. Many projects went well. Some projects turned out beautifully, but cost me way too much in time and energy or unexpected expenses and then some projects just didn’t turn out as well as they could have — which is why I now have a very good grasp of what is better left to a pro. Remember to put a value on your own time and energy and to know your strengths and limitations. Get help when it makes sense.
5. Mock-Up Whenever Possible
Do you have a hard time visualizing how a new element in your decor will look along with everything else? You are not alone! Most people can’t see in their mind how the new chair will look with the old sofa — or how the new counter top will look with the floor tile. It’s hard enough to visualize when you’re only changing one thing — but when you are changing all kinds of things in a room, it’s impossible for most people.
I help my clients by creating various mock-ups of the elements we want to combine so that as closely as possible, they can see how things will look together. I actually have 3D software I can use to give clients a very good picture of what their project will look like when it’s finished. If you don’t have access to 3D software, here are things you can do to help yourself visualize.
- Get samples or pictures of the items you are selecting and put them in the room where you plan to use them so you can see them next to all elements in the room.
- Take photos and samples of all your room elements — fabrics, paint colors, tiles, furniture you already have — with you when you shop. Although you might remember what your 3 year old sofa looks like when you are out looking for accent chairs — it is enormously helpful to be able to have a photo of it right there in the store when you are looking at the chairs under consideration.
- Using photos side by side of furniture and other elements is a tool I use all of the time to help clients visualize. I’ve even used a photo of their room and pasted a picture into it of a new piece of furniture. Anything you can do to give yourself a “picture” of what items will look like together will help you make better choices.
You May Also Like …
Throw Pillows To The Rescue: Fixing a Common Design Mistake
Interior Design Starts With an Inspiration Piece
Tags: Design Tips, Interior Design, portland interior designer
Posted in DIY, Design Dollars, Design Tips, Interior Design, Mistakes: Avoiding & Fixing, Shopping | No Comments »
Interior Design Trends at Las Vegas Design Market Winter 2011
Thursday, February 10th, 2011
Thought I would share this video highlighting the interior design trends at the Las Vegas Design Market. I particularly noticed so many natural materials such as live edge wood pieces and bleached wood in furniture. Enjoy the video!
Tags: color, color palette, design trends, honeysuckle, Interior Design, Las Vegas Design Market, Lighting, Living Room, modern design, pantone, portland interior design
Posted in Colors, Cool Stuff, Furniture, Interior Design, Lighting, Living Room, Shopping, Trends, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Natural Inspiration for Interior Design Color Palettes
Tuesday, December 28th, 2010
You’re probably wondering why I have a picture of birds on an interior design blog. Trust me — there is a method to my madness. And before you go there — no smart remarks about my design advice being for the birds!
Last week a client was talking to me a few days before our paint color consultation at her new home. When I asked her if she already had furnishings that would affect our color choices, she shook her head and said “I know, I know. I’m doing this absolutely backwards. I know I’m supposed to pick the furniture first and paint is supposed to be the last thing — I get it. But it’s going to be a long time before I can buy new furniture and I can’t stand the thought of being surrounded by white walls.”
Have you been in that position? Choosing paint colors for a new home or remodel can be daunting if you don’t have anything yet to work from. But you can use anything that has a beautiful grouping of colors to be your guide — even if it won’t actually be something in your house later.
So, now about the birds. The above photograph by Andrew Zuckerman is of 2 Lear’s Macaws. I was completely smitten with their blend of blue, aqua, soft gray-violet and hints of coppery tones. Below are photos of things I found that could be put into a room that would carry off this color scheme. Remember, I saw the birds first, then chose things that went with their colors. The chairs pick up the soft blue-greens, the draperies bring in the gray, and the artwork and the vase both have multiple colors found in the Macaw’s plumage. The colors below the photos are some possible directions you could go with paint colors.
If you’re looking for color inspiration, it’s okay to think outside the box. Design magazines aren’t the only place to find great ideas! Check out Andrew Zuckerman’s book “Birds” for some wonderful photography and some color inspiration. If Macaws and Parrots are too colorful for you there are Hawks, Owls and Eagles for some beautiful ranges of neutral colors.
You may also like:
An Inspiration Piece for Client’s Interior Decor
Art: Interior Design Starts With an Inspiration Piece
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Tags: color, color palette, Design Tips, Interior Design, interior design portland, paint, paint color, paint consultation, portland interior design, portland interior designer
Posted in Colors, Cool Ideas, Design Tips, Interior Design, Shopping, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »