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Color Cues from Design Hotels

Are you currently thinking about changing the interior design of your home for the spring, but seem to be stuck in a winter rut? For inspiration on bringing color into the plans for your new interior design take color cues from design hotels. Aside from being a place to rest during traveling design hotels are fully loaded with inspiration. They feature the latest color combinations and furniture trends. Often people visit them solely to take in the interior design.

We found a few color palettes from design hotels on casasugar we hope will inspire you. Some of the palettes include maroon, gold and hot pink, eggplant and forest green, as well as red ocean blue and yellow. Get ready to take a color cues from design hotels…

Images from casasugar

Call The Decorative Touch when you are ready to take the next step in planning the color filled interior design of your home.

Tip of the Week #19: Why Hire an Interior Designer?

Janine Terstriep

Janine @ Decorative Touch

I have been asked a lot lately…

Why use an interior designer when there is so much “do it yourself advice” out there?  What does an interior designer really bring to the table?

Boy, if I had a dollar for all the times I have been asked that question in the last few years! It really does seem like out of all the professions, we designers seem to have to “justify” our positions and experience more than any other certified field.

And I think that is the point.  A true designer has years of experience and/or a certification in the field of interior design.  As the client, you have to do your homework and ask for referrals as well as credentials.  Hiring the right designer can save you money, quite the opposite from what most people think.

A good designer should have an interview with you about your project and your goals. Your designer should then explain how he or she works, and ask a lot of questions about your desires for the project you are about to begin.  Your first appointment after the initial meeting should be a productive one. You should feel like you are making some progress in communication and decision making on the first pieces of the puzzle that fit into your design scheme.

Your designer should help make choosing items easy by having selected things she feels would suit your needs based on previous conversations. He or she has access to an extensive reference library that you couldn’t search without having a design degree. My opinion is that you can’t afford not to use a GOOD designer on your project, but you have to find a GOOD one.

Ask your friends and family for referrals and ask your potential designer for references. If you are not comfortable, find a new one…your home is your haven, it’s as important to trust your designer as your doctor.  After all they are doing a type of surgery on your home, and spending your money as wisely as possible. You have to trust them with decisions that can be very costly, which are investments in your home and your lifestyle.  A high level of communication throughout is very important for the process to go well.  So be sure to find someone you can talk to and are comfortable being with.

If you find the right person you will know he or she will have your best interest at heart.  As a designer with 27 years experience, I know my joy comes from truly helping reach beyond my client’s goals…and even better if we achieve that within budget!!

As busy as we are in today’s world, the more need there is to hire an interior designer to help make your home your haven, there truly is a difference.  Costly mistakes of purchasing the wrong pieces, painting the wrong colors, and buying the wrong accessories will keep adding up to money used in the wrong direction.  Call your designer today, you simply can’t afford not to!

Sincerely,
Janine Terstriep
Certified Interior Designer

2011 Atlanta Market Trends

A few weeks ago the 2011 Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishing Market took place at the AmericasMart in downtown Atlanta. The trade show drew in interior design professionals from all over searching for this year’s trends in home furnishings. The overarching design trends for furniture, fabrics and accessories emerged as they always do and they include hand-made items and those with Old World finishes.

Industry experts believe that the trend of hand crafted furnishings come from the takeover and over availability of increasingly modern decor. Handmade furniture and accessories have the ability to warm up a room with a familiar texture.The Old World furnishings making their way onto the scene will be reminiscent of the classic style found throughout European homes. Aged leather and antique finishes will be popular in throughout the trend, but in a more streamlined design.

Take a look at some pictures from the Market that we found on casasugar of the hand made and Old World style trends.

Images from casasugar

Which furniture trends would you add to the interior design of your home?

Keeping Up Custom Upholstery

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Interior design by The Decorative Touch

If you are in the market for a new interior design for any room in your home you may end up with custom upholstery. Using custom upholstery is beneficial because it it specially created for you and your furnishings, and it will be unique to only your home. While custom upholstery is an amazing addition to the design of your room, it’s important to remember it will need special care. If you are investing in well worth, quality upholstery you want to take any and every precaution to preserve and keep it clean. Consider these tips for Keeping up custom upholstery:

  • Choose cautiously. When working with your designer be sure to define your lifestyle so that the fabric chosen is a reflection of it.
  • Avoid the sun. Be sure you keep all your furniture that features custom upholstery away from direct sun to avoid the fabric fading.
  • Fluff and flip. Depending on how much use your cushions endure, vacuum, fluff, flip, and rotate them regularly to even out wear and fading.
  • Clean spills quickly. If an accident occurs on your upholstery clean it quickly by blotting the stain with a clean, white clot. Rubbing may damage the texture of the fabric.
  • Proper placement. Create places for  guests to sit food and drinks on side cocktail tables with coasters
  • Call the professionals. Have professionals give your custom upholstery a deep cleaning once every or two years

Want to include custom upholstery in your home? Call The Decorative Touch today to discuss your design ideas.

Tips adapted from ShelterPop

Warm Up Your Room with Cable Knit

It’s winter and cable knit sweaters rule supreme. Who could possibly resist the tightly stitched designs that make you want to curl up and get lost in them on sight? We love the warming look and feel of cable knit sweaters, not to mention the childhood memories they stir up. While looking around for inspiration we found an idea book on houzz that intertwined warm cable knits into interior designs. What a perfect idea for the winter.

You can instantly bring warmth into your room by tossing a cable knit blanket across your bed, or by slipping your pillow into its own personal sweater. We can already imagine being wrapped up in cable knit while watching TV on the bed, or being nice and cozy with a cable knit pillow in front of the fire with a book. Take a look at the designs we found and let us know if you would warm up your room with cable knit.

Images from houzz

Share Posts from The Decorative Touch!

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Interior design by The Decorative Touch

We’re sure your parents always told you to share, so when you see something you like on our blog go ahead and share it! Sharing an interesting post about the interior design industry or a kitchen design that takes your breath away is easy. Wondering how can you share posts from The Decorative Post? To help you spread the amazing interior designs found in our posts we are going to provide you with the steps:

  1. If you are not currently in the post you would like to share, click on the title or read more of the post.
  2. Once inside the post scroll down and locate the Share button.
  3. Click on or hoover you mouse over the share button until the list of shareable mediums is displayed.
  4. Choose the medium in which you want to share our post through and enter your login information if necessary.
  5. Depending on the medium click enter or share to send the post.

We thank you for reading our posts and hope whoever you share them with enjoys!

Breathtaking Bathroom Design Inspiration

As you begin working on your remodeling projects for the new year we want to whisper a reminder in your ear. Don’t forget the interior design of your bathroom, especially in your master suite. We haven’t discussed bathroom designs in a while, but that doesn’t mean we think any less of them. Bathrooms are one of our favorites to design because they often go unnoticed. There is nothing more fulfilling than designing a bathroom completely around a client’s personality and seeing their reaction. Because many people don’t give much attention to their bathroom decor, or realize how much time they actually spend in them, seeing it fully designed can be breathtaking.

Because The Decorative Touch believes in thorough design in every room, we think your bathroom should be just as elegant, opulent, glamorous and soothing as any other room. It may even need more considering it is one of the main places you gather your thoughts in the morning and unwind at night. We found a few absolutely amazing bathroom designs in Architectural Digest that we just know you will love. Get ready for sheer bathroom beauty…..

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HGTV 2011 Dream Home

HGTV 2011 Dream Home’s Warm Interior Design

Are you dreaming of rich, warm colors, plush blankets, and a cozy fire as we experience freezing temperatures? We are and we’ve found our warm interior design inspiration in the 15th annual HGTV 2011 Dream Home. The home is the perfect example of  a warm and elegant interior design. The Dream Home is nestled at Spruce Peak in Vermont’s Stowe Mountain Resort. It features modern architecture with a design that still manages to pay tribute to the classic rustic mountain style. The three bedroom, three and a half bath home is extremely innovative full of unique and creative living spaces. To make the home one with mountains it features over sized windows which showcase breathtaking views of Mt. Mansfield and its rolling hills, winding roads and superb ski slopes. In addition to the wonderful design of the home, its location in the village of Stowe offers an extremely active community full of cultural activities that mimic those of large cities. We can’t imagine anything more warm and charming than spending a few weeks in the 2011 Dream Home. Are you ready to see the warm interior design? Take a look…

HGTV 2011 Dream HomeHGTV 2011 Dream HomeHGTV 2011 Dream HomeHGTV 2011 Dream HomeHGTV 2011 Dream HomeHGTV 2011 Dream HomeHGTV 2011 Dream HomeHGTV 2011 Dream HomeImages from HGTV

Want to warm up the interior design of your home? Call Janine Terstriep of The Decorative Touch today at 913-219-7333 for a consultation.

Honeycomb Predicted to be Pattern of the Year

We’ve already discussed the color of the year, Honeysuckle, and we have another honey to add to the list. While looking for inspiration we came across the 2011 Pattern of the Year Prediction on ShelterPop and low and behold it’s another honey. The predicted pattern for this year is slated to be honeycomb. Fresh out of 2010 where there was an increase in bold patterns being used on virtually everything honeycomb is  breath of fresh, textured air. The print has already been seen throughout a great deal of interior design magazines and catalogs. Take a look at a little honeycomb inspiration…

honeycomb patternhoneycomb patternhoneycomb patternImages from ShelterPop

Will you be adding a little honeycomb to your home?

Inside Celebrity Bedrooms

We’ve featured the homes of celebrities on our blog before because it is always interesting to see how ornate or simple the homes are of those who make millions by entertaining us. Once again we’ve managed to sneak an eye full of a very intimate part of a celebrity’s home, or anyone’s home for that matter. That’s right, we’ve found pictures of some of the top celebrity’s bedrooms and couldn’t be more excited. As lovers of all things design our heads are spinning wondering if they used bold or placid colors that correspond to their personalities, decorated themselves or hired one of our elite counterparts. The wait is over, take a peek inside celebrity bedrooms with us!

Jonathan Adlerbedroom on jonathan adler

Donatella Versacebedroom of donatella versace

Sarah Jessica Parkerbedroom of sarah jessica parker

Brian Atwoodbedroom of brian atwood

Alexandra Wentworthbedroom of alexandra wentworth

Meg Ryanbedroom of meg ryan

Cindy Crawfordbedroom of cindy crawfordImages from ELLE Decor