Organize Your Foyer & Entryway

In an effort to help you organize your homes I will be touring through a typical American home, giving tips on how to organize each space, working to blend form and function and create the perfect home! The entryway is the first room that you see when you enter a house. The entry in each home is configured very differently. This space can range from a large open foyer with a spiral staircase to a modest entry with two simple walls. No matter what you have to work with the entry must be a welcoming place. Here are some tips to get a perfectly efficient and effective entryway:

• Effective task and ambient lighting
• A cozy place to sit
• Umbrella holder
• Coat hooks and or a closet
• Baskets, bins and cubbies for small items
• Command center to organize mail and keys 
• Area rug or door mat to wipe off wet feet
• Art work display wall
• A mirror

This geometric wallpaper is wonderful for the foyer, wrapping the wall paper up onto the ceiling draws the eye up where the pendant light makes a bold design statement.

Pinterest

These cubbies and coat hooks are a great way to maximize storage in a small entryway. Use a bold complimentary color scheme in a small space such as an entry or powder room for big design impact.

House Beautiful

 I love these tangerine lockers for the entry. Added shoe storage maximizes each locker space.

Pinterest

A quick DIY:  Use a metal tray or a large cookie sheet to make clever boot storage. 

Place small pebbles at the bottom of the tray, use as boot storage to drain excess water from rain boots.

Pinterest

 The architecture in this space is outstanding! The skylight brings in much needed natural light to this stone entryway. Simple and functional decor is all you really need for any entryway.

Pinterest

 Create a command center in your entryway using a chalk board, key hooks and mail slots. 

Use this as a drop spot for mail and other necessities until you can sort and file appropriately!

Consider refinishing an antique armoire and using it as storage in your entry.

Pinterest

  This entry has pin boards for leaving notes and pinning important mail items. 

Drawers create storage that can be hidden from view. Always look for a rug that will withstand the elements that come in from the outdoors.

Pinterest

 If you have a large and open entry way use a small round pedestal table in the center of the space to display a fresh bouquet or even an indoor plant such as the one below.

Pinterest

 Provide seating for guests to leisurely put on their shoes, 

these cool chairs act as art in the space and serve a purpose too!

Pinterest

 An entry is the perfect place to add a built-in cubbie and coat system. You can create a custom design or assemble store bought systems to serve this purpose.

Pinterest

 If you have over head cubbie storage consider putting under counter puck lighting to illuminate the space below. Great use for free standing antique furniture pieces and a gorgeous natural fiber runner. I love the look of a wood paneled ceiling in a foyer!

Pinterest

This entry has a little bit of everything you need! A mirror, pendant lighting, basket storage, shoe and coat storage, a cozy place to sit and a striped rug. 

Pinterest

I am accepting design clients for projects beginning in February. I love a good design challenge and believe that beautiful and functional design can be created in any size space.

Email me at Blaiseadkisondesign@gmail.com with all of your design questions and for pricing information! A simple 1 hour consultation could be all you need to turn clutter into function in your home. I look forward to hearing from you, enjoy your weekend!

Decorating With Pantone's Color Of The Year 2012

Every year Pantone chooses a color of the year. Here is how they describe their process for selection:

"The color of the year selection is a very thoughtful process. To arrive at the selection, Pantone quite literally combs the world looking for color influences. This can include the entertainment industry and films that are in production, traveling art collections, hot new artists, popular travel destinations and other socio-economic conditions. Influences may also stem from technology, availability of new textures and effects that impact color, and even upcoming sports events that capture worldwide attention. For more than a decade, Pantone’s Color of the Year has influenced product development and purchasing decisions in multiple industries, including fashion, home and industrial design, as well as product packaging and graphic design."  

Color Of The Year 2012: Pantone 17-1463 Tangerine Tango

Pantone calls Tangerine Tango “Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it. Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a

high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”

"Energize interior spaces with Tangerine Tango patterned home accessories. Pillows, bedspreads and tabletop accessories in this high-impact hue add spice to any room. Or incorporate Tangerine Tango appliances and personal electronics for an unexpected pop of color. Looking for an inexpensive way to perk up your home? Paint a wall in Tangerine Tango for a dynamic burst of energy in the kitchen,

entryway or hallway."

 Tangerine accents in the home office...

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Tangerine accents in the bedroom...
This custom headboard is gorgeous in the orange trellis fabric. I love the nickle nailhead accents.

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An easy way to incorporate tangerine into your home is by using paint. I love the look of this bold color for the dining room and kitchen. Tangerine looks wonderful with rich wood textures and gold and copper accents. This amazing light fixture definately makes a statement in this tangerine room.

Via

What a beautiful and simple way to display plates in the dining room. I love it!


Via

 Tangerine is an invigortaing color and is great for the kitchen. Accent pieces are easy to change up making it affordable if and when you tire of this bright hue.

Via
 

Unknown Source

  Paris based architects Jacob + McFarlane quite literally designed an office building in Lyon, France in all Tangerine. Although the color is not typical for an office building I find it playful, creative and a beautiful place to work! See full story and images at Daily Tonic.



Daily Tonic

Daily Tonic



Daily Tonic

Daily Tonic

Sources for Tangerine furniture and interior accessories:

1. CB2: Knitted Orange Pouf 2. CB2: Parlour Chair & Ottoman 3. CB2: Format Acrylic Tray  

4. Ikea: Mongstad Mirror 5. CB2: Dozer Pillow 6. CB2: Formosa Tray

7. Ikea: Malm Occasional Table & Storage Unit 8. CB2: Club Sofa 9. Ikea: Kasset Magazine Boxes

10. Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer 11. Ikea: Reidar Chair  12. Oomph: Southport Side Table

What do you think of the color? Love it or leave it? I would love to hear all of your comments.

Design Tip: Drapery

 As an interior designer I frequently get asked how to choose drapery, how many and what size panels are needed, what length they need to be and where to mount the hardware. Today I wanted to answer these questions in my design tip of the week:

• Drapery panels should be 2 1/2 to 3 times the width of the window, each
  panel should be 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 times with width of the window. The wider
  and fuller the drapes the more dramatic they will appear.
• Drapery panels should end either: above the window sill, directly below the window
  sill, end an inch above the floor or pool about 6 inches at the floor for a dramatic,
  full appearance.
• Drapery rods should be 8-10 inches longer than the width of the window so
  that you can mount them up to 5  inches to each side of the molding.
• Make sure you have space for sometimes large finials or end caps at each side!
• Always make sure you have drawback space to open the drapes completely
  to let in the natural light.
• Mount drapery hardware 4 or more inches above molding to visually add 
  height to the ceiling and to show off beautiful crown molding.
  
  
  The dark color and deeply gathered creases give these drapes a dramatic and tailored look! The hardware is mounted at a height to emphasize the molding. Not much space to tie them back...

Remodel with us

The combination of tailored drapes and the valance gives a formal and traditional aesthetic...

Coco + Kelley

I have always loved when drapery hardware is installed hidden in a cove above the windows. The hardware seems to disappear and the drapes look like they go on forever! These end about 1 inch above the floor and are a semi sheer to give visual privacy yet maintain the natural light in the space...

Elle Decor

These drapes are fantastic! I love everything about them...

Lonny

  Drapes can be hung in an alcove on a continuous rod to trick the eye into
thinking the window wraps around the entire alcove!

House Beautiful

 These drapes are long and pool at the floor which gives a comfortable, warm feel to a space...

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Comfy and casual...

House Beautiful

These crisp white drapes are providing a partition between two spaces, I think it is a great way to divide a room or enclose an area (a studio apartment!) and what a fun way to tie them up!

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 Drapery can be a great way to bring in pattern and texture into the design of a space. By using bold horizontal stripes it gives the appearance of a wider window...I think these are so cool!

Janie Molster

  All in all drapery can be a great way to warm up a room, give privacy to a home on a busy street, dress up or dress down a room or add pattern to your design. There are so many options and this is just a mere tip to get you started in the right direction! I love comments and questions so please email me anytime at Blaiseadkisondesign@gmail.com! I look forward to hearing from you!

And on a sweeter note here is the cookie of the day Chocolate Hazelnut Cutout Cookies courtesy of Sunset Magazine. I plan on making these over the weekend, yummy...

Makes 54 sandwich cookies - Total Time: 2 Hours, 15 Minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 3/4 to 1 cup chocolate hazelnut spread such as Nutella

Preparation

• 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with a stand mixer until well blended, or whirl in a food processor. Add cornstarch and flour and beat on low speed, or whirl, until dough comes together and is very smooth.
• 2. Divide dough in half. Roll each portion between sheets of parchment paper into a 1/8-in.-thick round. Stack and freeze rounds on a baking sheet until dough is firm enough to cut, about 20 minutes.
• 3. Lift off parchment, cut dough with a floured 1 1/2- to 2-in.-wide cutter, and transfer to ungreased baking sheets, spacing slightly apart. Gather scraps, refreeze, and re roll as needed.
• 4. Bake cookies until light golden, 10 to 14 minutes, switching pan positions halfway through baking. Transfer to racks to cool.
• 5. Spread half of cookies on flat sides with a generous coat of chocolate hazelnut spread, then top each with a second cookie.
• Make ahead: Up to 3 days, stored airtight.

Enjoy the cookie of the day and check back this weekend for more yummy recipes!

Creating The Perfect Planter

I hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as mine! This week I went to Grays Gardens and picked out some plants for the planter on our front porch. In order to design the perfect planter there are three main things to remember, they are:

1. Choose one thrill, this is a plant that will steal the show. Something with bright colors, berries, flowers or height. For my planter I chose Cranberry Cottoneaster Shrub with tiny red berries for the color and texture as well as an Orange Sedge grass which adds height and whimsy!

 2. Choose one spill, plants that will cascade over the sides of the pot adding drama! I picked Wojo's Jem, Vinca Vine. I planted three plants close together to fill out the space and spill over the sides of the planter.

3. Now choose a fill plant, this should be a number of plants to fill the empty space between the other plants.  I chose White Pansy's, I planted five of them to fill out the planter.

Put them all together and you get a beautiful planter for any season!

So the trick to designing the perfect planter is...1 thrill, 1 spill and 1 fill...think of this next time you find an empty planter in your garage. Do you see our red door in the background? I love how it turned out! Check back for the full photo shoot of our entry progress.

Have a happy Friday and a relaxing weekend,

Design Tip: Gallery Wall

Hello Everyone, I can't believe it's Friday already! Today I wanted to share a few tips and some beautiful  inspiration on how to create a gallery wall in your home. On numerous occasions I have had people ask for help to come up with a design for displaying their photographs or children's art and here are a few guidelines I like to use to create the most unified gallery display. I am currently trying to figure out what to do with the bare walls in my hallway and I have been searching for inspiration on Pinterest.
Here are a few tips for designing a gallery wall:

-Search for inspiration photos on Pinterest of gallery walls. Choose a layout for your frames: grid, stairway, in a row, clustered together or displayed on a mantle shelf.

-Frames can all be the same color but vary in texture and size or you can choose a number of frames in two different colors such as: silver and black or brown and gold and vary the sizes. Arrange them so they balance each other across the display. To achieve a sophisticated look stick to either all black and white photos or all color photos.

- Create paper stencils that are the same size of each frames and play with the layout on the wall using blue painters tape, so you do not damage the walls.  To hang you can hammer a nail right through the paper and rip it off once the picture looks be in the desired location.
 
- If hanging in a grid, the frames should all be the same size and color. Hang them close together - and about 2″ apart.  Make sure the distance is the same between the sides of frames as well as above and below the frames.


-If using shelves be sure to vary the heights of the frames- using some tall vertical ones and some smaller horizontal ones. You can also hang some on the walls and place some on the shelves so add dimension.

-A couple weeks ago I read a blog post by Janell Beals from Isabella & Max Rooms where she suggested hanging frames using OOK Picture Hanging Hardware. She says that it is the best hardware to hang frames and I can't wait to try this myself, thanks Janell for the great tip!!!

Here are some of my inspirational images for gallery walls:

Simple black and white photos give a symmetrical classic look when displayed with large

mattes in the same size frames. In this photo the matte and the frame seem to

disappear into the background giving all of the attention to the photographs.

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When displaying photos on a stairway use the form of the stairs to guide the bottom of the frame display. Every 2 stairs measure approx 2 feet up and make sure the frames stagger the same way the stairs do.

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You can also layout the frames on the floor to achieve the proper
composition before hanging them on the wall.

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These black and white photos and frames create a very balanced and clean composition...

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By using identical frames, varying the size of the photographs and hanging them close together
it gives drama. It looks like an actual art gallery display, check out that glass ceiling!

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This display looks like a collage, the photos are all the same subject and seem to tell a story.

The colors are balanced and it is beautiful! Also a great way to display children's art in your home.

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Another way to display photos is using a ledge or mantle. Group frames
in varying heights, widths and colors and evenly distribute them across the display.

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I will post photos when I find frames for my gallery wall so stay tuned...
Have a great weekend!