Designer's Notes

Designer's Notes

Mirrors can really create great impact in small rooms without natural daylight, such as hallways. Adding a unique table and an interesting statue would be the added bonus for a conversation piece.

  

Shown here, the mirror adds dimention to the hallway, and the statue adds the interest I mentioned above.



An entry hall with a center table is functional for placing handbags and packages. Art and sculptures can be showcased in this area for impact.



A colorful work of art against stark white walls is the point of departure for accent colors in this residence. A mirror and a small console are always right in any entry hall; a great place to plop your keys and cell phone as you get ready to relax. A bulky and simple baseboard is in keeping with the contemporary architecture.



A collection of pretty white pottery and rocks on this vignette is quickly contrasted by a leaning flea market painting and industrial metal stencil. A large bundle of wild flowers is a very cheap and easy way to utilize a large vessel. It doesn't always have to be roses. Go for the weeds.



For a large entry way you can place a marble checkerboard floor accentuates the length of this entry hall. When the room permits, a center table makes for an elegant reception. This is the perfect location for a floral centerpiece.

Accenting your Fall Tablesetting

Delightful Detail

Inscribe your guests' initials on a pretty leaf for an unusual place card. Use a metallic paint pen for a polished look.

Orange You Glad

For another nature-inspired touch on your table, stud oranges with cloves in guests' initials for fragrant placeholders.

Rich Textures

Combine a variety of materials for a sumptuous table. Here, glass, metallic, and iridescent finishes lend festive glimmer.


I loved these creative ideas I found on my homeideas. Adding these small touches can make a fall tablesetting so special and memorable.

Design Cures

Home Rehab

Designer Phoebe Howard of Mrs. Howard and Max & Company worked her magic on this coastal space -- to rid the condo of light-barring walls and cramped, cheerless spaces.

The Quick Fix: Infuse life into a small room by combining a variety of textile patterns in similar tones -- like the polka-dot, honeycomb, and geometric fabrics shown here.

Custom Kitchen Island

The designer installed oak floors stained dark to resemble old European hardwoods, then she enlisted help to design a kitchen island and bath vanities to distinguish the condo from the run-of-the-mill builder's special.

The Quick Fix: Craft your own kitchen island using a favorite antique piece as inspiration. This one was made with a wooden shiplap back and bracket feet.

Looks Built-In

The Quick Fix: Customize a kitchen corner with a tailored piece like this banquette that looks built in and saves space.

Versatile Palette

For the homeowner's requested palette (Brown, yes; wicker, no), Phoebe took a cue from the faux wood screens and incorporated natural-tone furnishings spanning from bleached driftwood to stained teak. "It's amazing how warm and cool brown can be, " Phoebe says of the anchoring color. "That's perfect for a family who uses a space year-round."

The Quick Fix: Enliven a plain-Jane drywall surface with a textural faux-bois wallcovering. Its vertical lines create the illusion of height within the 8-foot-high space.

Slimming Shutters

"In Condos like these, you have to work a little magic to make the space seem wider and taller. Sort of like when you want to look thinner -- you put on stripes that are going the right way." -Phoebe Howard .

Graphic Print

Beef up plain drywall with heavy trim, and let a bold geometric print be the starting point for a room's entire color scheme.

Mirror Magic

In this all-white master bathroom, the cabinets get a special treat with glued-on mirrors which reflect light in a windowless room.

I love these rooms and the palette used is calming. via

Fall Colors/Part 2 of 2

A Taste of Wine

Designer Shelly Riehl David uses a vibrant color palette in this hideaway bar tucked under an elaborate staircase. Yellow-green walls soften the deep brown cabinetry and pink-striped barstools. Hues of forest green and wine in the barstool fabric display a warm, seasonal flair.

Rich Browns

The chocolate-brown wall color adds a gorgeous contrast against the light-wood bookshelves and fireplace surround. Deep-red draperies and coordinating accessories of bright red add a playful pop of color to this traditional living room. Design by Judith Balis.

Rusted Walls

A sheer gold curtain adds instant warmth and privacy to the separated living and dining rooms. A traditional fall color palette of rust, gold, brown and tan make this Asian-inspired space comfortable and soothing. Design by Vanessa DeLeon.

Pumpkin and Asparagus

Designer Christopher Grubb uses an asparagus-green wall color to add to the eclectic feel of this grand living room. A separate, and warmer, conversation area uses hues of pumpkin orange and brown for a more comfortable and cozy color palette. Orange paisley pillows deliver a touch of contrasting color to the all-white sofas.

Dining Styles

Informal dining room, the skirted table can be used for a buffet style
dinner as well!!



Living/Dining open concept, great style for apartments or media rooms.


This french country  dining room takes a cue from an old French farmhouse, with a beautiful French Directoire chandelier as the focal point.


This Greenwich, CT, dining room designed by Markham Roberts makes a strong case for symmetry: The table and Gustavian chandelier are centered directly on the fireplace, and a pair of English Regency-style cabinets with Japanese lacquered panels flank it.



Designed by Betsy Burnham, this modern dining room features an eccentric yet artful collection of Nymphenburg porcelain figures. The upholstered chairs are from Artistic Frame.



This dining room, designed by Paolo Moschino, feels European, with walls painted in a custom white botanical chinoiserie pattern and the ceiling dominated by a 19th-century French bronze and crystal chandelier.



Designed by Jeffrey Bilhuber, this dining room features Louis XIII-style chairs, which add sumptuousness to the dining room. He chose the stained bamboo table by Dominic Gasparoly for its strong, quiet form. The Calder-inspired mobile is from Mondo Cane.

Open and Airy Rooms

In Venice, Calif., this living and dining area opens up on three sides: to the lap pool on the west with sliding glass doors; to the north courtyard with pocketing glass doors and to the south garden and guest house through pivoting metal doors.



Architect Scott Joyce designs a chic Hollywood Hills home with an entire rear facade consisting of glass walls that accordion open to create seamless outdoor/indoor living room.



A unique Palm Springs home features a white living room designed by Luis Ortega. The interior contains a mix of contemporary materials and natural elements, playing homage to American modernism.



Architect Max Strang designs an outdoor living room with a panoramic 360-degree view. Featuring "ipe" wood floors, an amazing ceiling of rusted industrial steel and furnishings from Bali, the space feels like a high-style tree house.



This Malibu great room with its eye-catching smooth stucco fireplace has a wall of bi-fold doors, which open to make the indoor and outdoor spaces feel like one. The glass-tiled pool is surrounded by a teak deck featuring a concrete BBQ and Viking appliances.



In Newport Beach, designer Mark Cutler creates a room that was designed to make the most of its waterfront location and enjoy a cottage-like feeling with a European flair.



Architect David Hertz designs an amazing glass-walled beachfront home in Venice, Calif., with an incredible roll-down window that opens the living room completely up to the outdoors.



Designer Mark Cutler creates a loggia at a Beverly Hills estate featuring an outdoor living and dining area in yellows and greens inspired by a Tuscan villa.

Markus Johansson’s Cirrata Lamp

Who knew that a behind-the-scenes look at design could reveal a process as multifarious and complex as that of making a major film? And a Tim Burton film at that. The comparison holds in regard to Markus Johansson's Cirrata Lamp, especially when one sees the dozen or so miniaturized prototypes that culminated in this over-sized lightpiece that resembles a gigantic octopus.




The large lamp’s name refers to a suborder of octopi characterized by an internal skeleton and a set of two fins—unusual qualities in an octopus and ones which actually make it more vulnerable to predators. Perhaps Johannson chose the name for this reason, because Cirrata’s increased vulnerability prompts it to favor deep, dark spaces.



In such depths the creature can avoid predation, and one imagines Johannson’s imaginative vision of Cirrata profited from this biological fact. It seems likely as well, that the designer chose the hard—and heretofore less malleable—material of Corian for similar reasons, not the least of which is the intriguing way in which it absorbs and reflects light.



Using a high-heat forming process in which he molded Corian around wooden boxes, Johannson was able to stretch the material out into the luminously-long and many-appendaged parabola of Cirrata: “a body with many arms which sweeps along and lights up the depths.”

The Raft Table by Andre Joyau

Chunky wood beams make beautiful, simple furniture that is elegant and modern. They also make furniture that is nearly impossible to move, but thats another story.
I am continually drawn to this type of furniture for its straight forward design that feels timeless, for the moment.
Reclaimed beams and salvaged wood are materials that come up a lot in the search for sustainably designed furniture, which begs the question - where is this material coming from? Reclaimed wood is a finite resource, and I wonder what happens when the material runs out. I also wonder what is being taken apart for these pieces of wood to become available for reuse. Although started with the best of intentions, at some point old structures that could be saved will, or already are, being taken down for the sake of reclaimed stock.



Moving on. Andre' Joyau, the founder of the company and head designer, uses reclaimed beams simply with contrasting materials to create his line of rustic contemporary furniture. The Raft Table is a series of assembled reclaimed beams that have been connected, hand waxed and balanced on solid cherry footers. The finished product has the quality of old wood without the splinters and with all of the backaches. Imagine delivering this baby to a 5th floor walk-up, I think not. The chairs that are featured with the Raft Table have a complimentary aesthetic that gives the set a Japanese feel.





About the Designer: André Joyau is a small, cooperative studio of designers and cabinetmakers that is based out of Brooklyn, NY. The group believes in creating fine, modern pieces marked by attention to detail and enduring craftsmanship. André Joyau is the company founder and head designer, who oversees design and production for the studio. Their mantra is producing hand-crafted furniture that combines sustainable and traditional methods with new technology.

Palmwood

A positive outcome of the coconut water invasion is the excess of full grown coconut palms which are no longer nut producing. Palms produce nuts for about 80 years. Coconut palm plantations are in abundance throughout much of the world and are often focused around areas with endangered rainforests. (Colombia, Indonesia, Malaysia) Durapalm hopes to make palmwood a standard building material and deflect harvesting from other rainforest woods.
Palmwood can vary in color from dark to medium-red mahogany with an exotic grain that is reminiscent of bamboo. Durapalm palmwood comes in flooring, plywood, paneling and veneer that is durable and formaldehyde free. We’ve seen palms used before, Kirei makes a series of Coco tiles that feature the unique qualities of palm as does Pacific Green in their palmwood furniture collection.



Coconuts have invaded our lives lately with the onslaught of the coconut water fad. The city is mobbed with coconut water trucks and the grocery stores have replaced their varieties of enhanced water with a naturally “enhanced water.

DIY Projects You Will Love (Part 2)

Nature's stained glass

Chinese pistache leaves are translucent enough to glow like stained glass when lit from behind. To celebrate their vivid fall beauty indoors, display them on simple glass hurricane candle holders.

Gather leaf cuttings from your garden (ginkgo and Japanese maple are other good choices).

Press them in a book overnight to keep them from crinkling, then use one or two Glue Dots on the back of each stem, affixing each leaflet to the outside surface of the glass.

Turn CD cases into frames

Castoff CD cases are the perfect size for creating a quilt-like grid collection of landscape photos.

From the book Photocraft: Cool Things to Do with the Pictures You Love: Scan or crop your images to the size of a CD case (5 3/8 in. wide by 4 5/8 in. high) then print on good photopaper and trim. We recommend using standard (not slim) cases. Discard plastic inserts.

Back each photo with cardboard or foam board and snap the cases shut. Attach them to the wall with 3-inch strips of sticky-back hood-and-loop fasteners (such as Velcro).

DIY decorating projects

Make a memory box table

Turn a deep photo frame and similar-sized side table into a venue for celebrating treasured keepsakes.

More: How to make this memory box table

Make your own designer bouquet

Treat yourself to colorful bouquets and arrangements from a mini flower studio you can create at home.

All you need is a sink, a little counter space, and a few essential tools. See what you can do with a single bloom, and how to turn just about any vintage vessel into a vase. (Tip #1: Start with the freshest flowers you can find.)

More: Flower shop secrets

Turn a drawer organizer into a bento-box guest tray  

Tuck a drawer organizer into a storage tote with some thoughtful amenities to make your houseguests feel like royalty. (Be forewarned: They’ll be eager for a return invite.)

How-to: Slip a drawer organizer into a fabric-covered box or other storage tote and stock it with a few travel-size essentials in coordinating materials and hues. Tie a washcloth with colorful string; wrap a bar of soap with wide ribbon; use letter stamps and a label sticker to personalize a scented candle.

DIY workspace

To create your own instant workspace anywhere, put a flat birch hollow-core door atop two adjustable sawhorses.

Cover the door with self-healing vinyl board cover (available from art and drafting supply stores). The closer you can get the board cover to the exact size of your door, the better.

Stencil a basic measuring system onto the board cover, and you'll never need to hunt down a measuring stick.

Time: Four hours plus drying time

Cost: About $175