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Pillow Arrangements for a Picture-Perfect Sofa

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Have you ever wondered about the secret to achieving picture-perfect sofas worthy of appearing on the glossy pages of a gorgeous magazine spread? Oftentimes it’s less about the sofa itself and more about its main accessory: toss pillows. We loved how House Beautiful featured one sofa with a variety of looks, showing how different pillows can change—and make—the look of a sofa in a second. Here are a couple of our favorite pillow arrangements from the magazine’s slideshow:

This arrangement includes toss pillows featuring a variety of textures. It’s a great idea for a monochromatic color scheme.

But bringing in color can work just as well. If you have a neutral sofa, pillows are a great way to bring in your favorite colors.

Visit House Beautiful to see all of their simple sofa’s various looks. Then let us know: Which is your favorite, and how are the pillows arranged on your own sofa?

Images by Lara Robby/Studio D via House Beautiful

Design Inspiration from Keri Russell’s Home

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Keri Russell and Family inside their Brooklyn home

In an article featured in Elle Decor, actress Keri Russell’s brownstone in Brooklyn was spotlighted. We thought we’d share just a few photos of her beautiful home with our readers. If you’re redecorating your home and would like to add a stylish touch to your decor, perhaps these gorgeous photos will serve as inspiration for you!

Inside the living room of Keri Russell’s home, the rug by Shaw Floors, Ochre light fixture, and linen-upholstered armchairs by Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams work together to create a cozy and welcome living space.

The chic but welcoming kitchen features a light fixture by Rejuvenation, a kitchen island and cabinetry made out of espresso-stained reclaimed fir, a Sub-Zero refrigerator, and Grohe sink fittings.

The luxurious master bathroom inside Keri Russell’s home a Victoria + Albert claw-foot tub that has Samuel Heath fittings; this tub looks perfect for relaxing in!

Inside the master bedroom, there is a sheepskin rug by IKEA adorning the floor and a chandelier found at an antiques fair serving as the bedroom light fixture. The bed features bedding and headboard fabric by Matteo, and the bedside table was created by Shane Deary, Keri’s husband.

Images courtesy of Elle Decor

Decorative Touches that Gwyneth Paltrow Can’t Live Without

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Gwyneth Paltrow

Elle Decor featured an article spotlighting a few of Gwyneth Paltrow’s favorite things that she just cannot live without, including decorative touches found inside her beautiful home in London, where she resides with her husband Chris Martin of the band Coldplay and their two children. Check out these photos of just a few of her favorite things for design inspiration inside your home.

A well decorated with gorgeous hand-painted wallpaper. This wallapaper by De Gournay is featured on one wall inside Gwyneth Paltrow’s living room.

Seasonal flowers in single-variety arrangements. Gwyneth Paltrow likes to casually arrange flowers like white lilies, peonies, and hydrangeas and place them around her home.

Beautiful, majestic photography featured as artwork inside the home. Gwyneth Paltrow has photography by Darren Almond (like the photo above) featured inside her home.

Whimsical star lanterns hung from the ceiling. Star lanterns by Charles Edwards, like the one seen here, hang at different levels in Gwyneth Paltrow’s stair hallway, so that Gwyneth and her family can gaze at them on their way up to bed at night.

Great Tips for Decorating and Decluttering Your Kitchen

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Are you redecorating your kitchen inside your home? Do you want to add style to your kitchen but also keep it organized and maintain its functionality? This was the charge given to us for the kitchen shown here.

This customer wanted a taste of french country, and yet a classic kitchen.  She and I were delighted with the finished product!  She doubled the size of her kitchen and was able to enjoy the use of this wonderful new island!
When you do a room addition or renovation, you are so happy to complete the project, that clutter and “things” left sitting around will be a thing of the past!
Here are a few tips on helping you stay tidy…

Courtesy of iVillage, check out these excellent tips that are perfect for decorating and decluttering your kitchen.

  • Keep the top of your refrigerator clear of clutter, unless you’d like to feature a modest display of your favorite (and most beautiful) cookbooks. Make sure you add bookends to offset your display.
  • Set up a creative display of your glassware in your kitchen. Feature your pretty glasses on the second shelf in your cabinet, while keeping the glasses you use every day on the bottom shelf, if your cabinets have glass panes.
  • Install a rack underneath your cabinet, and use it to hang and display your beautiful wineglasses.
  • Change up the decorative items (aprons, tea towels, potholders, picture frames, knick knacks, etc) you have inside your kitchen each season. Reflecting the time of year with your decor is a great way to decorate.

Let Janine Terstriep and the staff at The Decorative Touch help you create a kitchen that meets your needs for both style and function.

How to Add Style to Your Laundry Room

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Are you thinking about sprucing up the decor in your home? Perhaps the rest of your house is beautifully decorated, but your laundry room, as so many laundry rooms often are, has been neglected and left undecorated. Did you know that you can add a little style and beauty to your laundry room, while still maintaining its functionality? Check out these great tips, courtesy of Apartment Therapy, on how to spruce up your plain old laundry room.

  • Decorate the wall of your laundry room with wallpaper. Here’s your chance to put up that funky wallpaper you love and didn’t want to use in the rest of your house!
  • Jazz up your laundry room with a cute light fixture, like a chandelier or some other fixture you wouldn’t normally find in a laundry room.
  • Hanging artwork, like vintage laundry signs, make for a great way to spruce up your laundry room’s walls.
  • Swap out your plain laundry baskets for cute and colorful laundry baskets!

Image courtesy of Apartment Therapy

How to Make Your New Home Look Vintage

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Designers like me spend lots of time looking through magazines to get inspired and make sure we are staying up to date!  This particular photo caught my eye, not because it was so trendy, but because it was so vintage and it just gave me a sense of comfort of days gone by.  No matter what your style, there is always a piece of the past that feels good to us.  I like to incorporate a special something of my clients “past” in their decorating whenever possible, even if subtly…photos of grandparents, treasures of old books…it says vintage in your own small way.

Photo credit Southern Living Magazine

5 Tips for Making a Lasting Impression with your Foyer

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It has been said that upon meeting someone that the first impression is a lasting impression and the same follows for your home. The first thing someone will notice when walking into your home is your foyer. Being that they are in a new and unfamiliar place they will surely look around and take in everything, and attempt to develop a feel for your personality and the rest of your home. And because your home is a reflection of yourself you want it look its best and represent you well.

Consider these five tips on making a lasting impression with your foyer:

  1. Take into account what is surrounding your front door on the outside.
  2. Incorporate a mixture of light fixtures to create the right layer of lighting.
  3. Add visual interest to the floor with a mosaic flooring design or an intricate rug.
  4. Use pieces of furniture, or accessories that are both functional and decorative.
  5. Personalize, personalize, personalize.

entrywayImage by Stacy Zarin-Goldberg

entrywayImage by Angus McRitchie

entrywayImage by Michael Graydon

entrywayImage from House Beautiful

If you are in the Kansas City area and  would like to redesign your foyer with the help of an experienced interior designer call Janine Terstriep of The Decorative Touch at 913-219-7333.

Creative New Uses for Wallpaper in your Home

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When you hear the word wallpaper do you instantly conjure up images of country themes and floral? Granted there are some wallpaper designs that should be left in the past, there are even more that should be celebrated throughout interiors. For example, the collections from the likes of York Wallcoverings and Thibaut Wallpaper & Fabric are a few of our favorites. They are modern luxurious and full of glamour.

If you just aren’t one to use decorative coverings on your walls have you ever thought about using them in other ways? Given the high design of many of today’s wallpapers there are and endless amount of options of how they can be used in your home. Consider these creative new uses for wallpaper…

To add style to a display case

To accent a fireplace

As wall art

To highlight panels

To add visual interest to the ceilingImages from Better Homes and Gardens

Now do you think differently about using wallpaper in your home? If you would like to discuss any of these options or more ways to use wallpaper throughout the interior design of your home call The Decorative Touch at 913-888-1388

Eye Catching Interior Design of Missoni

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Are you familiar with the popular Italian fashion designer Missoni? You may have more recently heard the name due to an upcoming collaboration with Target which will bring the high-end, bold prints to the masses in the form of clothing and decor. In other news the luxury goods powerhouse recently unveiled Missoni Kuwait the brand’s luxury hotel. And of course a hotel created by one of the greatest fashion designers isn’t just a plain old hotel. Missoni Kuwait features the most eye catching interior design not for those of us who crave vivid colors and bold patterns.

Each and every one of the 18 floors in the hotel is decorated to the nines in brightly colored prints made famous by Missoni. Bold stripes make their home in the lobby highlighted by dramatic lighting, the in-house Italian restaurant features an explosion of floral and the bathroom accessories exude their very own personality. Take a peek at the eye catching interior design of Missoni Kuwait…

Images from ShelterPop

Would you love to stay  in a hotel that features the interior design of Missoni?

Color Palette Influences from San Francisco Showhouse

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Are you currently considering a new color palette for a room in your home?  Well recently came across some images from the San Francisco Decorator Showcase which opened a few weeks ago and we must say it is a very good influence. One of the main things that can be used as an influence are the color palettes featured in the various rooms. Each room includes a mixture of colors ranging from neutral, bright, dark, and earthy. And just as any good design follows they each have their own distinctive style, yet they work together as a whole.

If you are looking for a new color palette for your interiors allow yourself to be influenced by those from the San Francisco Decorator Showcase…

Hayes Valley

Philpotts Interiors

Josephine Fisher

Kathleen Navarra

Matt Murphy

Images from casasugar

If you would like help incorporating any of these color palette ideas into your home call Janine of The Decorative Touch if you are in the Kansas City area.