Can a beautiful home make you happy?

“Think of all the beauty still left 

around you and be happy.” 

Anne Frank  

Living room makeover by Rivalee Design

When you walk into a bedroom with clothes on the floor, closet doors bulging, and covers half off the bed, does it set your teeth on edge?  If so, you are not alone.  When I walk into my office and things are in disarray I feel my shoulders tense and my ability to focus goes down the toilet.  Everyone has their own idea of what disorder means (for some, the kitchen counters should be empty but stacks of papers are fine, for others, the bathroom needs to sparkle but making the bed matters not at all) but at some level we all respond to order and beauty, and should give it the priority it deserves.

In the book “Women and Stress” Jean Lush writes that “beauty and a sense of order in your home are functional.  They have a purpose and are not unnecessary luxuries.  Creating beauty around us gives us a sense of accomplishment, charges us with energy, and reduces tension.”

Many of my clients wait years to call me because they feel that spending money on their home is wasteful, self-indulgent and worldly, but as a result they spend those years feeling like their home is unfinished and for many it means that they don’t have friends and family over to enjoy their home because they feel embarrassed.  

“Beauty is not just for the rich and famous.  It is right for everyone and fundamental to emotional health” writes Lush.  And beauty need not be expensive.  It’s about prioritizing the items in your home, getting rid of what is not needed, and making the most of what you have.  Of course, it usually involves a can of paint and a good vacuuming, too, because while things don’t need to be sterile, they should be clean enough that wrestling on the floor with your kids doesn’t give you a face full of old cheerios and dog hair.

Frank Lloyd wright taught his students that beauty dissolves conflicts, quiets us within, inspires us, creates a sense of happiness and serenity, refreshes us, and consoles us in times of depression.  “Beauty,” he added, “is not unnecessary or impractical.”

If life has you feeling overwhelmed, try spending an afternoon getting one room in order.  Take at least 10%, if not 50%, of the Stuff to Goodwill.  Open the windows and close the closet doors.  There is a good chance that you’ll feel better afterwards, and be better prepared to face some of the harder tasks in your life.

Choosing an area rug - Size Matters

“I don’t understand sizes anymore.  

There’s a size zero, which I didn’t even know they had.  

It must stand for: “Ohhh my God, you’re thin.”

Ellen DeGeneres

A perfectly sized rug can transform a room and enhance its décor; a too-small rug, however, can have the opposite effect.

The number one mistake people make when choosing an area rug is buying a too-small rug!  Even a naked floor is better than a too-small rug, because while a naked floor makes a room look unfinished, a skimpy rug looks cheap, sparse, and choppy.  Read on to learn how to choose the size for your rug, whether you should pay up for a wool rug, and why you should buy a pad for under your new rug.

SIZE 

A rug should anchor the room in which it lives.  Never ‘free float’ an area rug - the idea is to tie the room together.  In the living room it should come within at least a few inches of the feet of all the chairs and sofas, and ideally extend well under and even a few inches behind each chair and sofa.  In the dining room choose a rug that is big enough that when a chair is pulled out to be sat in, its feet stay on the rug.  A good rule of thumb is to add three to four feet to the length and width of your dining table to figure the size of your rug.  It should be small enough, however, that other furniture in the room (such as a buffet) stays off the rug.  In a bedroom the rules are more flexible, but a rug either next to or under the bed should provide a comfortable three foot path all around the bed.

Overall, it’s better to go too big than too small, within the confines that you need to keep air vents and radiators free and that you should still have a nice border around the edges of the rug - at least 6 inches, up to several feet in a really generous room.  Imagine yourself looking down on the room from above and pretend the rug is a picture - it should have a floor ‘frame’ around the outside in proportion to the picture itself.

WOOL vs MANMADE

Once you choose your size, you need to determine the quality of the rug you want.  There are many beautiful synthetic rugs on the market nowadays, and they are often much less expensive than a wool rug.  A synthetic rug can be a good value if you want something a little more ‘disposable’ - perhaps you want to decorate a teen’s room in zebra stripes and you know it’s just a phase.  Know, however, that the rug will lose it’s luster over time (say, 3-7 years depending on the use), and unlike a wool rug, can’t really be revived.  A wool rug, if cared for with professional cleaning occasionally, can last a lifetime, and even become an heirloom.  In other words, unless you are choosing something really trendy, overtime your money will be better invested in the wool rug.   They clean beautifully, look and feel great, and stand up wonderfully to heavy foot traffic.

RUG PADS

Finally, you want to protect your new rug with a rug pad.  It will extend the life of both synthetic and wool rugs by reducing the wear and tear.  It will cushion the step for more comfortable and quieter walking.  It will make a rug on a hard surface safer (not to mention easier to vacuum) by making it slip-resistant.  If you are placing a rug over carpet, a carpet-to-carpet mat can keep spills from soaking through to your carpeting, and also prevent the area rug dye from transferring to the carpet.  It’s more important to have a pad under a rug on a hard floor, but in many instances the carpet-to-carpet pad is also a good use of money.

Recovering from divorce through design

Credit: scottsnyde

© scottsnyde - SXC

“If you're going through hell, keep going.” Winston Churchill 

So, you’re newly single.  When you look around your home, do you see your future, or only ghosts and broken dreams?  As painful as divorce is, it is also the beginning of the rest of your life, and if you can embrace this idea you will find a whole new world of possibility waiting for you.

I've been there.  I have faced the pain and embarrassment of knowing that I failed at marriage, and the terror of knowing that every plan I’d made is void and I need a new plan.  I have also faced living in a home that reminded me of that lost life everywhere I looked.

So what did I do?  I repainted every wall, craigslisted some of the furniture, and created a home that said ME instead of US.  And once I was done, I felt like I could start my life again because everywhere I looked I saw a beginning instead of an end.

So, when you are ready to leave the pain and past behind, why not start with a fresh coat of paint?  There is nothing so therapeutic as physical activity, and I can almost guarantee that this will help you restart your life emotionally, mentally, and even physically.

If you have kids you will have to be sensitive to their needs, too, of course.  You can ask them if they want to redesign their room.  Some kids will really need the stability of everything staying the same, and you will need to take things slowly, and just do one room, perhaps your bedroom and master bath, at first.  Other kids will leap at the idea and enjoy this new project with you.  Either way, it’s smart to create a box of mementos of their other parent, even early love letters and photos, for your kids to have for later as they ask questions about your marriage and what happened.  Some of my most treasured items from my own childhood are the cards signed ‘mom and dad’ from the years before my parents’ divorce when I was seven.  

Still, your children learn from everything you do, and if they see you embracing a new future (instead of bashing the past) they can learn optimism and courage, and from you will understand how to make the best of even the hardest situations.

How much should my remodel cost?

“A budget tells us what we can’t afford, 

but it doesn’t keep us from buying it.”  William Feather

Money is on everyone’s mind these days.  Maybe you’ve decided you have the funds to attack that home remodel you’ve wanted, or maybe the leaking roof has “decided” it for you.  How in the world do you decide how much is appropriate to spend?  

Inviting a designer, decorator or contractor into your home without having first considered your budget is a waste of everyone’s time.  A home can be improved for as little as the cost of a gallon of paint, or for hundreds of thousands of dollars.  When your designer or contractor asks what budget you have in mind, they are probably not trying to figure out how much money they can get.  They are trying to determine both what kind of project you have in mind, and also if your dreams can be realized within the limits of your budget.

Your first meeting with a designer should be about three things.  First, do you even like this person?  Can you work with them?  Both the homeowner and the designer should be asking themselves this question.  If the answer is no, there is no point in moving forward.

Second, what is your dream?  Don’t hold back.  What is it you really want to feel in this room?  How do you want to use it?  Why are you wanting a change?  What would you love to see?  If you’ve always wanted a bay window, say so.  The designer will let you know if it can or can’t work with your space or your budget, but needs to know up front what you wish.  If you can, be prepared with photos you’ve printed from the internet or torn from design magazines of rooms and elements you love.  Pictures help make sure we are all speaking the same language.

Third, budget.  The budget may not be set in this first meeting, but it needs to be aired.  There is no expectation that you know how much things cost (that is the designer’s job) but we need to know what kind of budget we are looking at.  Now, if you tell me you want a full kitchen remodel with all new appliances, floors and cabinets, and that you have $10,000 to work with, it gives us a starting point.  I will gently tell you that your budget won’t cover what you are wanting to achieve, and then we can discuss whether you want to change the project parameters or the budget parameters.  But we have to know if we are looking at a $300,000 budget or a $20,000 budget.

Do be conservative with your numbers and tell your new designer a number that represents 80% of your true budget.  This is appropriate because you want to have 20% of your budget in reserve for the “unexpected problems” that always sneak in.  But do your homework first and have a number in mind.  Then ask your designer if your dreams can be realistically met within your budget.

So, how do you set a budget?  According to keidel.com a full kitchen remodel project should be valued at no less than 5% of your home’s value and at no more that 15%.  In a kitchen remodel 50% of that amount should be allocated for cabinets.  This is the most expensive room in a home, and is a good place to start when thinking about numbers for the rest of your home.  Click here for another great article on kitchen remodeling budgets. 

New year, new home!

“As you grow older, you’ll find the only things you regret are the things you didn’t do.” Zachary Scott

Here comes the New Year and there is no time like right now to rethink, refresh and redesign your home!

These days, like many people, you are probably staying in more often.  It may mean you’ve had a chance to notice that dingy paint in the kitchen or made more aware of that door that won’t close right.  Back when the economy was booming you might have thought to sell your home, but now it is likely your going to stay put.  Why not feel great about that?  

Small changes in your home now mean that you’ll be able to enjoy your home more (you won’t believe what a fresh coat of paint can do) and also means you’ll be in a great position to sell your home if and when the time comes.  All those little, nagging projects can get front seat priority now.  And with the job market so tight, you can have your pick of great contractors and possibly even get great deals on materials.

"We're in an era where, rather than stretching for a trophy home, we can think about ways to modify the houses we're already in to make ourselves happy," says Daniel McGinn, author of House Lust, a book about how America became obsessed with McMansions, vacation houses, and "investing" in real estate during the boom. 

If you are ready to chat with us about redoing some aspect of your home, all you have to do is contact us!

For more reasons to put time and money into your home now, check out this article by “This Old House.” 

Painting your bedroom with dark paint

“Who is more foolish, the child afraid of the dark, or the man afraid of the light?”

Maurice Freehill

If you want to create an instantly dramatic room, consider painting it with a dark, moody color - nothing says bold and dramatic like a stormy midnight grey or a deep metallic charcoal! Dark colors are also a natural choice for a room that needs to have some masculine energy, and the strength of that deep, masculine color can be balanced with soft creamy fabrics if it’s a ‘his and hers’ room.

Did you know that it is much easier to make a room feel finished and anchored with dark walls and light accessories? Starting with white or light walls, most people just end up adding lots of clutter trying to make the room feel ‘done.’ A room with a bold color needs very little ‘stuff’ to make it feel complete. Yet many people hesitate to paint their walls dark for fear it will make a room feel small and gloomy. The trick is to pair that dark paint with bright linens, art and even furniture; the high contrast actually makes the white seem even brighter and draws your eye to the light things in the room!

If you do choose to paint with a deep color, I offer four suggestions:

1. Consider starting with a tinted primer. Primer is less expensive and can not only mean fewer coats of the higher cost paint, but it will also even out the wall imperfections so that your finished product looks better.

2. Try a little bit more expensive paint. I frequently use Aura by Benjamin Moore when painting a dark color because it never needs more than two coats.  A dark color will highlight a bad paint job, so make sure you finish the job!

3. Choose the least amount of sheen (how shiny the paint is) you can get away with in the room. If it’s an adult’s bedroom or guest room, go flat/matte. Dark paints look best with little sheen.

4. Be generous. If you are going to do just a single coat using standard paint, don’t bother. A poor paint job looks awful - if you are going to put the time in to decorate your home, put in the extra couple of hours you need for that second, or even third, coat - it’s worth it!!!

So take a risk, and as I remind all my clients, it is only paint. It’s not really much of a risk and might just give you incredible reward!

A primer on paint - what sheen should I choose?

Not only do you have to decide what color you will paint your walls, you also have to decide the sheen of the paint. The "sheen" is the shininess of the paint and has a big effect on the look and durability of the paint job. It also affects coverage (how many coats you'll need).

In general, the less shiny the finish, the more sophisticated the final look. However, the inverse is true for durability - in general, the more shiny, the more durable and washable. You should also know that the sheen can change how a color looks to your eye and may appear darker or lighter with a glossier finish.

There are four basic levels of sheen: flat or matte, eggshell and satin, semigloss, and gloss. With some manufacturers, they have both eggshell and satin (eggshell having slightly less sheen) and some also have a high gloss in addition to the standard gloss.

Flat Paint

Also called "matte," this finish is generally non-reflective (though many top quality flats still have a very slight sheen) and is the most forgiving in that it can hide surface imperfections, including scratches and small dents. A flat paint also has the greatest hiding capability allowing for fewer coats of paint.

Flat paint is a good choice for large interior ceilings and for walls in living areas that don’t get a lot of abuse. It is not recommended for areas with high humidity and water exposure. My favorite matte finish paint is Aura by Benjamin Moore - it looks like velvet in the darker colors!

Eggshell or Satin

Both eggshell and satin paint have slightly more sheen than flat, satin having more sheen than eggshell.

I use satin or eggshell on kid’s room walls, kitchen and bathrooms because they have better stain resistance than flat paints and can be scrubbed more vigorously. It also resists humidity well, though your bathrooms should still have good venting.

Satin can be a nice choice for trim if you don’t want it too shiny, and it is a great choice for exterior use since it readily sheds water and resists the effects of the sun.

Semi-Gloss Paint

The next highest sheen, semigloss, is even more resistant to dirt and scuff marks, and easier to clean. It’s traditionally used in kitchens, bathrooms and on trim, windows or doors. As satin paints have improved I don’t tend to use semigloss on walls any more because it looks a little too plasticky to me and really highlights imperfections in the walls, so I reserve it for trim, windows and doors. Still, it can be a smart choice for a kid’s bathroom.

Gloss Paint

Gloss paint it highly reflective, very tough, more stain resistant and easier to clean than any lower paint sheen. Because of its highly reflective nature it will really highlight surface imperfections. Gloss paint can be used on trim, doors and windows, but choose it carefully as this type of paint will produce a "plastic" coated look on smooth trim and doors. That can be great if it is the look you want.

Other notes

This information all refers to water based paints. Some people really prefer to use oil paint for doors, windows and trim as it is more durable and because it dries more slowly, brush marks have time to even out. Bear in mind that oil paint is much more toxic and must be used in a well-ventilated area, and that it must be cleaned up with spirits instead of just water. Anther option for that higher durability is to choose a latex "enamel" - these have more binder content than other types of finishes and so are harder, more stain and scuff resistant ,plus are more washable than other interior finishes.

This information is also meant for guidance on painting the interior of a home, but each paint sheen is also available for exterior use. I recommend a satin sheen for exterior walls because it sheds water well, but still looks sophisticated. Just keep in mind that the shinier the paint, the more it will shed water and resist dirt pick-up. For exterior trim you can stick with satin, or go to a semi gloss or even a gloss.

The ability for a paint to hide an existing color is directly affected by the sheen of the new paint. In general, flat paint covers the best, gloss the worst. So, say it takes two coats of flat paint, you’ll want three or more coats of semi-gloss or gloss for perfect coverage.

Remember that every manufacturer will have a slightly different definition of each sheen, so be sure to look at the samples for the specific brand you are buying before committing to a given sheen. The samples on paint chips are usually given in a flat sheen.

Happy painting!