Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Super luxe and lush bathrooms

I have never had a bathroom worth writing home about in my years as a renter, so on the rare occasion that I get to travel, I always appreciate a hotel with a clean, well-stocked, and zen bathroom. If I'm lucky enough to have a room with a whirlpool tub, or a walk in shower, it is something I always remember.


How luxe is that shower!?!

So how does a hotel take a bathroom to the next level?

For rooms that house two guests, the minimum in luxury bathrooms should be twin basins and mirrors. Bathrooms boasting marble surfaces, spacious baths and showers with steam or sauna options and mirror cabinets with inbuilt televisions are elements that are sure to impress guests. Whirlpool baths are another luxurious pleasure that come in all shapes and sizes to suit varying room sizes and the corresponding number of occupants.


Faucets are often underestimated in terms of their impact on user experience and therefore hotels can deliver plenty in regards to this element in the bathroom - just as long as it is still useable.  I hate it when a sink is too shallow to wash my face. In some instances, faucets tie together the entire design  and level of opulence of the room. Designer taps with sensor operation, single lever operation or floor standing options all offer a luxury experience for guests.


I'd feel like a princess using this bath located in Kenya.


What do you think of that tree sculpture?

 This Cape Town hotel bathroom couldn't have a better view.


Same with this hotel in Capri.


What makes a hotel stand out for me is to offer indulgent bathing experiences to the same degree that they offer indulgent eating experiences. Who wouldn't remember a spectacular whirlpool bath tub, spacious enclosures or indulgent walk-in shower?

Do you remember a hotel bathroom that really stuck in your mind as being absolutely fabulous?


1 - 4 via Elle Decor, 5-7 via ABC News Explore


*disclosure: This post in partnership with ACVA.co.uk

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Interior designer Christine Fife answers reader conundrum: Help decorate a log cabin living room

Today I'm sharing a post from the fabulous interior designer, Christine Fife.

I helped Christine design her website, and during that time discovered her beautiful work and amazing blog, where she answers readers questions. She was kind enough to let me share one of her reader questions, and her interior design advice on Decorology.  Her question below comes from a reader with a log cabin, but even if you don't have a log cabin, I promise you you will learn a great tip from Christine's response.

See below:

Tracey's cabin living room

Hi Christine:

I love your blog and the styles that you recommend, I was wondering if you had any suggestions for our living room area.  We have a log home and it just seems right now we are over powered with red and honey colour from in the walls and also the furniture we had from our last place.

There is one sofa I have fallen in love with, it is the Morgan sofa from American Leather (I have attached a pic), I am basing my changes to the living room using that sofa and hopefully being able to keep my current area rug.

I have no idea what to do for art, coffee table, drapes and blinds, and possibly the area rug.

I was thinking of doing Hunter Douglas Architella honeycomb blinds on the window for a layer and helping with the heating and cooling, is this a good choice given our style of home?

I am also attaching pics of our dining room which is very open directly beside the living room, as I would need to match up the windows etc.

Thank you so much, I look forward to hearing from you.
- Tracey

Hi Tracey. 
First of all, I want to say what an amazing property you have here.  I love it!  I am having some super jealousy as I look outside the windows of my suburban California home and see the lovely view of a fence in the back and neighbors in the front.  With that said, we can make it MUCH better!
I made a mockup of your floor plan like you have it now:
And of how I think you should have it:
Let me show you a few of the whats and whys...
Well- your rug, where to begin???  It's too small, and the color red is all wrong with the wood floors and walls.  I think of it like this, you have orange and yellow undertones in the wood.  (orange in the walls and yellow in the floors)  Opposites on the color wheel are going to be greens and blues.  Go with opposites.  You are working on an analogous color pallet right now, reds, oranges and yellows. With browns, it is not working.   A teal would be great.  Blue would be great.  Green would be great.  Can you see how a green would pop so much, and a red disappears?  The red almost clashes with the wood floors- which is crazy- because who would think any rug would clash with wood floors...  I picked out a new rug for you.   I love braided rugs in cabins.  This one is from Capel, which is my go-to source for braided rugs.  It is a braided chenille, giving it such a cozy texture.  I would also see just how big you can make it fit.  I would shoot for a 9 x 13.  Can you see the difference a large rug makes in the two floor plans above?  Especially when you are floating a seating arrangement, like you are, a large rug helps to "ground it".  It also goes a long way toward warming up the space, making it more inviting. 



I love to throw in the unexpected.  And so, I went to Scandinavian Designs for your chairs.  A little retro is fun and whimsical, and looks a lot more like you had the room professionally done, (which you can tell everyone you did if you do exactly what I say!)  because the average homeowner would have gone to Pottery Barn instead.

OK Tracey, let's talk sofas.  The sofa above is the one that you love.  Is there anything wrong with the sofa? No.  However, I just kind of hate to see people purchase things that were super popular ten years ago.  Is it out of style?  No.  But it is not a "Classic" that will be in style forever.  It has aStyle Lifetime that is in menopause.   Does everyone remember the chair that has this exact arm being on the cover of every Pottery Barn magazine in 1999?  So whereas the style is all right- when it has already been trendy for more than ten years, its style might not have the longevity that the new piece of furniture will have.  It's like the girls who finally got the Jennifer Anniston Friendshaircut from 1995, in 2005....  I would rather you got something that was more "today"-  I went to the same manufacturer that you had selected, and found the sofa below:

I also would stay away from more brown in your place.  There is some serious overload going on there.  I would get the sofa above in a shade of gray.  Darker or lighter, gray would look great.


Your current drapes are so drab, I could hardly see them.  They are hung too low, and need to be much brighter.  I would love to see a bright white like the Pottery Barn drape above, in a much longer length.  I would then go to Kravet or Robert Allen and find a coordinating fabric tape to have sewn down the vertical length of the drape to add a bit of color and personality.  The honeycomb blinds will be great.  I love how you can do a top down bottom up option with them.  They are very insulating, super practical, and have a low profile when up.  I would use a subtle darker color like their sage gray. (Of course you want to take samples to your home to see if it really looks great next to your wood).  This is NOT where you want something bright that you draw your attention to.  I would prefer that they disappear.

I threw in a few contemporary throw pillows from CB2.  Keep your stationary fixed items, like hardwired lighting fixtures, consistent with your cabin style; but throw in the unexpected in a few furniture choices and pillows.


Walking toward the back of your sofa, it is just asking for a table there.  I frequently find "sofa tables" to actually be too small.  I like a nice big console table.  What a beautiful view that is.  So much more inviting than the back side of a sofa.  Plus, you have a place for a couple of lamps.  We should never forget our lighting.

I loved this Tomi lamp from Uttermost.  It has the log look , that says, "Hey, that lamp that belongs in your log cabin."  Without being all cheesy like a typical cabin lamp:


OK- that lamp above really does make me laugh out loud.  Does anyone else find cheesy cabin decor as funny as I do?
Make sure your coffee table is not too small, or get two of them.  The table above is a full 67" in length, which would be great for you space.  Isn't it also just a super cool table? It belongs both with your cabin, as well as the retro chair.
 

High ceilings are great to give you a feeling of openness and opulence, but they can also feel cold .  I like to bring the cozy back by having hanging light fixtures that are lower.  Hang a cool light fixture over your seating area.  Center it with the fireplace, hanging it right above your coffee table.  The fixture above is from Shades of Light.  It also comes in a smaller size.  You could even do a collection of three, hung at graduated heights, two small and a large.  It would look very cool.   In the same way that the area rug helped to ground the floating seating area, a hanging light does the same thing.

We also have to address your mantle.  Go with a piece of art that is vertical in orientation, and has some color.  Yes, I happened to find the perfect piece for you.  It is birch tree piece from Uttermost.  Some of the pieces I selected for you are very typical for a cabin; this is one of them.  I love the combination of those with the unexpected, like the chair from Scandinavian Designs.  And yet the colors in this piece will help all of it to pull together perfectly. 

OK- so there you go- what do you think?


How amazing is her advice?

See more of Christine's reader questions and solutions at her blog, Design With Christine.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Back from Vacation, and needing some home office inspiration

If you think Mondays are bad, what about a Monday after spending a week in the beautiful Outer Banks of NC?

It's hard for me to not wistfully daydream about how just yesterday morning, I was sipping coffee on the beach.  ...sigh...  Anyway, it's back to work and I definitely could use some pretty, organized home offices to help inspire me to be more productive.



The gray is such a nice background for everything.

Check out the pop of yellow from their Nat.'l Geographic collection!

The three above images are from the office of a husband and wife team, who work out of their home. A quick side note, check and make sure you don't need to supplement your home insurance if you are running a business out of your home.

read and see more of this office at Country Living


Love this crisp, tailored home office.
via Adore Home Mag


I would LOVE to have a work space with windows like this one!

2 above via Interiors Porn

A mod work space

*disclosure: this post brought to you in partnership by SwiftCover.com

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Fall organizing inspiration...

I don't usually get excited about garages, but considering most people have one, I don't think it's fair to neglect it forever...

Since summer is wrapping up, it may be a good time to get your garage ready with equipment and tools you use in the fall and winter.

You can do something as quick as sweeping up and putting everything back in it's right place, to updating your garage doors to something more insulated.

 A system with ample buckets, bins, containers, and jars will keep things corralled, even if it isn't as pretty as this one



images above via Apartment Therapy

 via Country Living

via Elle Decor

Friday, September 14, 2012

California Beach Cottage - White and serene

Happy Friday everyone! I will be on vacation next week, so I'm not sure how often I'll be posting. Since I will be at the beach, what's more fitting than a beach cottage house tour?







this kitchen is nice and bright - it might help me wake up in the morning.



The TV is hidden behind this vintage map - how cool is that?


Stunning


  Read and see more at House Beautiful

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Last Day to Enter the Surface View giveaway!

Need some really stunning wall art?
Click here to enter to win!


A giveaway to help you get in gear for fall and organize

I have a really great back to school and fall giveaway for you guys today - a chance to win a $50 credit to use on Minted.com

 If you haven't heard of Minted already, they offer tons of really cute and modern stationery, art prints, and even holiday cards. 

To enter the giveaway, use the widget below to "Like" Minted on Facebook. You can also earn extra entries by liking Decorology on Facebook, and following Minted and Decorology on Twitter.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here are my favorite minted prints and products.

Minted's Holiday Card's are so pretty and sweet!




They also have a lot of cool art prints...





Lots of sweet nursery prints..




...lots of modern wedding invitations...

and great options for professional, custom looking business cards.

They giveaway will close September 21st at 12 AM.  Good luck!