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The Extraordinary Kitchen Island (The Decoractive Touch)

The Extraordinary Kitchen Island

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Having a kitchen island in your home can be very advantageous for your living space, assuming that you have an open floor plan. (When you have a small space, a compact kitchen might be the better way to go.)  FreshHome.com says that kitchen islands are a more recent development in the space, and we find that this addition is a great approach when you want the stove to be accessible from many sides of the room. It is also helpful when two or even three people cook together at the same time. And furthermore, if you love to invite friends and family over for food, the kitchen island’s counter top can function as a surface for serving meals. Not only are kitchen islands practical, but they can serve as a beautiful aesthetic to the room as well.  We decided to share a few kitchen islands we find extremely original and divine, with each island creative in its own way. With all of the options we will show you, we think you may have more clarity as to which type kitchen island to include in your home.

 

The Extraordinary Kitchen Island (The Decoractive Touch)

The Extraordinary Kitchen Island (The Decoractive Touch)

Photo: The Decorative Touch

The Extraordinary Kitchen Island

The Extraordinary Kitchen Island

The Extraordinary Kitchen Island

The Extraordinary Kitchen Island

The Extraordinary Kitchen Island

The Extraordinary Kitchen Island

Photos: freshome.com

Please let The Decorative Touch know if you need help deciding on a redesign for the kitchen. We’re always happy to help.

The Decorative Touch: The Master Bedroom

New Year, New Colors, New Look for Your Home

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The best part of the impending new year is that we all have the opportunity to start over, and try something different. This thought is not only true for the circumstances in our lives, but also the way we decorate homes. We invite you to try new things, new ideas, and new ways to celebrate the new you in 2012. Let examine several major rooms in your home and how you can incorporate new colors and create a unique look in each room.

Living Room
In this living room featured below, we emphasis color by using an unorthodox method: painting the ceiling. As displayed, we reversed the norm, and instead of putting rich colored walls in the living room, we’ve opted for a vibrant ceiling, accenting the space with the wall art and pillows. With tangerine tango the color of the year, the living room seems like the perfect opportunity to take risks. You may have seen this photo before on this blog, but we didn’t know when this homeowner and I made the decision to use this vibrant burnt orange on her ceiling that it was going to be forecasted as Pantone’s 2012 Color of the Year.  So we hope you don’t mind that we are featuring it again, as it is a favorite of mine as well, and an inspiration for you to step out of your comfort zone and see how fabulous color can be on your ceiling.

The Decorative Touch: The Living Room

The Decorative Touch: The Living Room

Kitchen
This coming year, let’s brighten up our kitchen will soft colors such as pastels. These neutral and light hues will evoke an ambiance of contentment and joy, perfect for creating family memories in the kitchen. For pops of rich color, designers should think of using the island counter tops in a kitchen as a centerpiece for color, as shown below we this fun shade of blue.

The Decorative Touch: The Kitchen

The Decorative Touch: The Kitchen

Master Bedroom
The master suite is a place of serenity and rest for nearly all of us. Instead of adding rich colors, bedrooms are well served with relaxing tones, allowing you to be lulled to sleep. The wall color in this master bedroom below is accented with the bed comforter, curtains, and the decorative pillows.

The Decorative Touch: The Master Bedroom

The Decorative Touch: The Master Bedroom

 

Are you thinking of changing your look for the new year in your home? The Decorative Touch can help keep you create the ideal feel and traditional touch. Just contact us, and we are delighted to serve.

Unique Ways to Add Portraits and Painting in the Home

Unique Ways to Add Portraits and Paintings in the Home

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When you think of adding a family portrait to your home, you typically envision a large painting above the fireplace. But there’s more than one way to include this classic tradition. We are urging you to think of the new way to add paintings and portraits to your home.

For instance, pillows are an avant-garde way to add the feel of paintings throughout the home. This way, including paintings becomes much more versatile, with the idea lending itself to the the traditional living room scenario but also in places such as on top of your bed, in a chair, or on a sofa.

Unique Ways to Add Portraits and Painting in the Home

Also, portraits can travel with you as a tote bag, and when you come home, you can leave the bag hanging on a hook to display the painting when you are not using it. Be open to putting portraits on accent pieces, such as ceramic jars and throws for the sofa.

Feel free to connect with us, and we can help you add portraits throughout your home. Visit our contact page for more information.

Photos: Decor8.com

100% Vintage: The Kitchen

100% Vintage

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Vintage pieces are commonly used as accent pieces in upscale decor. We want to show you how vintage can be more than an accent piece and instead thought of as the ambiance for the entire home.

For example, let’s start with the kitchen featured below. The essence of an era gone by is reincarnated with a vintage sign, worn bar stools, white panels on the lower part of the walls, the stone-looking counter top and even the worn door and door knob. This kitchen is 100% vintage.

100% Vintage: The Kitchen

100% Vintage: The Kitchen

This stunning dining room boasts of an ornate chandelier, distressed pillar and cabinet, and a rough cream color theme. The unfinished wooden table and wide-plank hardwood floor bring the room together nicely, while the aged latter in the corner is a nice touch.

100% Vintage: The Dining Room

100% Vintage: The Dining Room

The bedroom furniture sets the vintage tone in this master suite. Grey, iron-looking accent pieces, analog clocks on the night stand and wall, and the aged books go well with the antique feel.

 

100% Vintage: The Bedroom

100% Vintage: The Bedroom

Are you looking to create a room with a 100% vintage style? We want to hear from you. Connect with us on our contact page.

Photos: kchandg.com

Dazzling Holiday Decor Raises Money for Breast Cancer

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This time of year is the season of giving. The Holiday House, presented by Traditional Home, keeps this tradition alive and well. Back for the fourth year, breast cancer survivors and advocates created a holiday-themed designer show house to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The 2011 participants were some of the top names in interior design, and visitors viewed many rooms inspired by several different holidays, including Christmas, Mother’s Day and the Chinese New Year. We were galvanized from the showcases and decided to share some of our favorite rooms this season.

Chinese New Year by Inson Dubois Wood

Chinese New Year by Inson Dubois Wood

 

Christmas by Bradley Thiergartner Inc.

Christmas by Bradley Thiergartner Inc.

 

Mother's Day by Ally Coulter Designs

Mother's Day by Ally Coulter Designs

 

The 2011 designers and participants included:

  • Aline Matsika Interiors
  • Ally Coulter Designs
  • Avram Rusu Interiors
  • Audio Command Systems
  • BITTT Networking Group
  • Bradley Thiergartner Interiors
  • Bryant Keller Interiors
  • Charles Farruggio LLC
  • Charles Pavarini III Design Associates
  • Cooper, Robertson & Weatherly
  • Deb Landis Design
  • dineen architecture + design pc
  • Duneier Designs
  • Eileen Kathyrn Boyd
  • Felicia Zwebner Design
  • Gordon Photo Ink
  • GRADE Architecture + Interior Design
  • Hite Construction
  • Inson Dubois Wood LLC
  • Isabella Garrucho Fine Art
  • James Rixner Inc.
  • Jolie Korek & Co.
  • McCollum Interiors
  • Metamorfaux
  • Michael Rosenblum
  • Modello Designs
  • Niki Dankner Photography
  • Pompanoosuc Mills
  • Potterton Books
  • SFERRA
  • Suzanne Eason Interiors
  • Traditional Home

Proceeds from the event  benefited the Greater New York City Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, an organization dedicated to fighting breast cancer. For unique ways to decorate your home for the holidays, contact The Decorative Touch.

Photos: The Holiday House

Decorating for Christmas: Ideas and Inspiration

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Even with Thanksgiving behind us, we’re still in the midst of the holiday season.  One great thing about the holidays is that they give you a chance to channel your inner “decorator” and really enjoy entertaining your guests.  I love thinking about creating a little Christmas feel in every area of my home; my half bath has a “Fraser fir” candle burning that smells just like a real Christmas tree!  I hope my favorite photos from this Houzz ideabook inspire your decor as you are undoubtedly stringing your Christmas garland and lights!

Happy decorating!

–Janine Terstriep, The Decorative Touch

Photos via Houzz

Beautiful Table Decorating Ideas for Entertaining

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We’ve already shared ideas for designing the perfect Thanksgiving table, but this Thursday isn’t the only time you could be playing hostess this season! We love the idea of entertaining family and friends throughout the holiday season, and an ideabook we came across on Houzz recently—“Set Your Table for a Festive Dinner Party”—is full of ideas for dining table décor that will look beautiful in wintertime and some throughout the year. Here are a few of the table settings that really stood out to us:

Be sure to visit Houzz for a look at all the wonderful photos and ideas from the article.

Happy entertaining!

Photos via Houzz

3 Luxurious Closet Designs

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Bigger closets are high on homeowner wish lists lately, according to an article from the National Association of Home Builders. For those of you fashionistas who want spacious bedroom closets for all your pretty dresses, heels and accessories, we want to share a few of our favorite “Celebrity Closets” featured in an Elle Decor slideshow to give you inspiration! Take a look at these three beauties:

Nanette Lepore has a completely glam walk-in closet. Who says your closet doesn’t need a chandelier?

Women tend to have a shoe addiction, and we love how Jenna Lyons of J. Crew stores her collection!

Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer’s dressing room is soft and serene. Wouldn’t you love to get ready in here?

Visit Elle Decor to see more stunning closet spaces, and then let us know: Which is your favorite, and how do you imagine your own dream dressing room?

Photos via Elle Decor

Stunning Chevron Floors

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We’re the first to admit the chevron pattern isn’t a new trend per se, but at the rate we’re still seeing it, we think it’s here to stay. As a matter of fact, chevron stripes have been spotted all over the web, and we’re especially floored by… well, chevron floors. Here, we’ve gathered a few of the most stunning examples from around the design blogosphere:

Is this rustic chevron wood floor not to-die for? We love the simple look of the finish.

This lovely chevron floor appeared in the 2011 Princess Margaret Oakville Showhome.

And this bedroom features another wood floor boasting the chevron pattern.

But chevron isn’t reserved for wood floors alone. We’ve also seen many a chevron rug that added that finishing touch to a space.

What do you think about chevron floors? If you could’t tell, we’re smitten!

Photos: 1 Mires Paris via Greige; 2 via Verdigris Vie; 3 B&B Italia via House & Home; 4 by Angus Fergusson via House & Home

How to Let Patterns Intermingle in Design

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Incorporating multiple patterns into a single room can go really well or really badly, depending on the colors, size and location of the patterns. But as long as you understand the “rules,” you can let patterns easily intermingle in design for a visually pleasing result. We love Elle Décor, and the magazine offers a wonderful how-to piece on “mixing patterns stylishly.” Here are a few of their suggestions we’re right on board with:

  • You don’t have to use patten in only the accessories. Why not incorporate a patterned chair or ottoman, like we did in the space above?
  • Use patterns of different scales. One big pattern can be complemented with other subtle patterns.
  • Make sure the intensity, or brightness, of colors in the patterns is similar.

If you’re looking for a designer in Johnson County, KS who can bring many patterns into your space with a beautiful, layered effect, contact The Decorative Touch. We’d love to help!

Photo: Interior design by The Decorative Touch