Great interior product finds for about $100.

It's often hard to stick to a budget when updating your home. Take a look at these ten products that look fabulous and are priced at under $100.  

1. Update your bath with an elegant, contemporary style faucet by Price Pfister. This single handle faucet in brushed nickel is $88.

2.Swap hardware on your kitchen island, in the butler's pantry,and the linen closet with glass knobs and pulls for an antique custom look. Ten will be about $70.

3.Cedar window boxes for hanging under a window or lining a porch are about $29. Add $10 in flowers for instant curb appeal. 

4.To update a good black or white appliance for a more modern look, use Thomas Liquid Stainless Steel about $56. This can be used on refrigerators, dishwashers, microwaves and ovens. Try it on hardware too!


5.Make a lamp look like new by swapping your old white lampshade for a warm, mica one. Under $70 at Pottery Barn.

6.Create an accent wall with grass cloth wallpaper. A double roll is about $70. With on-line tutorials, you can install this yourself. Check out this informative video on You tube!









7.Dress up a dining room or entry chandelier with a ceiling medallion for under $100. They create elegant or simple architectural detail and make the fixture look more substantial. 

8.Add carpet in the hall, at the front door, etc... with stick-down carpet tiles. Use six tiles for a runner or nine for a square. Mix and match colors for a custom pattern. Six 20-by-20-inch textured tiles, about $54; FLOR

9. Give your room some architectural detail with a chair rail. About $75 for an 8' x 10' room. This also gives you an opportunity to change the paint in only half of the space...easier and faster!

10.Create a bedside shelf/table (or entry table) with wood corbels topped by glass, wood or other creative surface. Two 6-inch oak hand-carved corbels, about $80 at Van Dykes Restorers. Glass or wood top about $20.

Artistic pendant lights for unique lighting design.

Looking for some artistic pendants to dress up your bath, kitchen, or other space?  Don't think that pendants are only to be installed over kitchen islands. They work well in the corner of a room, over a vanity, dropped besides a sofa, and in lieu of a desk lamp. For some color and creativity, take a look at these five fixtures. Each is unusual and dramatic. Perfect for contemporary styled spaces but a great touch for a traditional home.

1. The Stargazer pendant by Niche modern. Dramatic in red, elegant in amber, and topaz.  The bulb is diffused by the inner housing and the glass globe.  They are fabulous hung in a master bath suite.

2. Leucos lighting's Witch Pendant is quite unusual and also available in gray and silver. Makes a statement in any space. 

3. How about a signed pendant by Jeffery Goodman?  These are all hand blown, so each is slightly different.

4. Made from partially recycled glass...these pendants by TOKENnyc are custom colored for your decor.

5. A hand-blown transparent glass pendant with a silver glaze by Tech Lighting. It seems that metallic finishes are once again trendy for 2012. The subtly of this glaze makes it right anytime.

5 Designer ideas to update your kitchen.

When you want to add a little bit of glamour to your kitchen, try these ideas:

1) Use a detailed edge on your counters. Whether you elect to use a double rolled edge of stone on the island, or a beefy 2" edge to your quartz, the look will be elegant and dramatic. 


2) Dim all of your lights. Place all recessed and other fixtures on dimmers so you can create ambiance when all of your prepping is over.  

3) Build your electronics in. Add receptacles, cables, etc.. in for laptops, phone charging and TV and video watching. Having them in a central location can assist with homework, cooking practice and on-line research.

4) Add furniture touches to your cabinets.  By upgrading basic cabinets with details like scroll legs, inlays, and veneers will enable the kitchen to blend more seamlessly into your decor.

5) Provide glamour with lighting and fabrics.  Rather than use a basic fabric on your chairs and barstools, use a durable, stain resistant acrylic.The patterns and colors of sun-resistant fabrics are dynamic and you can have a plush velvet with easy clean-up. Opt for a chandelier with glass or metallic elements over the island or to anchor your table. Glamour has never been easier to obtain.

3 Bedroom updates with photos and directions.

Need to refresh your bedroom? With so many products and options available which do you choose?  Here are three bedrooms with directions for making the changes.  

  

    

Some simple changes transform this casual bedroom into a sophisticated guest retreat. The walls, once a pastel green, were refreshed with a light blue hue, and the white ceiling became a soft blue. Crown, base and doors moldings remained white. Adding a transitionally styled iron bed frame was the most significant change.  Draping inexpensive sheer fabric (less than $15 per yard) over the frame creates a soft, inviting place to sleep. Instead of the two-drawer nightstand, an end table - the same height as the mattress - provides a landing space, shelving for books and a clock, and its new open style fills the void next to the bed with just the right element. Adding a deeper toned area rug beside the bed rather than in the center of the room makes the room seem more open, and is better underfoot for guests. White big box store bedding, a yellow throw and brightly colored pillows in blue and complementary orange, finish the bed. Lighter artwork, all in the same transitional versus cottage style, refreshes the space and provides the finishing touch.

While this room looks significantly different, there are some shortcuts to be considered.  Purchasing ready-made shelves from a discount store, and tying them together with molding, is the largest change. They create a headboard with storage, end table function and additional space for lighting. Warm tones of beige on the wall and an area rug in the same hue, provide a warm backdrop for the new white trim and doors.  The doors, while hinged French doors instead of sliding wooden doors, can be created without the expensive price tag. Using reclaimed doors from a salvage yard is one solution, sustainable and cost-effective.  Another is to apply molding over inexpensive mirror squares to a slab door. Hinges are required here since the added dimension would not allow the doors to slide. Bedding remains white, but as with the accessories, the addition of blue accents, is the ideal contrast to the beige and white. A simple wooden bench completes the transformation.

Re positioning the bed in this space was key to the change. In front of the window, the bed took up less space in the room and the open weave headboard does not restrict light from entering.  The walls went from pale yellow to a deep ivory. Blue was the accent color in the 'before' space and became the feature color in bedding, bed drapes and pillows. An inexpensive "found" headboard separates the window and bed and enables pillows to be propped up, adding dimension and texture to the bed.  A Roman Shade lets more light in than the prior sheers and is tailored and neat.  The bed drape was constructed by nailing MDF trim to the ceiling, and applying the fabric at all four corners.  The large scale damask fabric contains the ivory wall color and a soft blue that is used again in the tailored bed skirt. Ivory bedding is ideal for many spaces, and maintains the neutral backdrop to keep the small bedroom from looking crowded.  Adding a bolster pillow in a solid blue with ribbon trim, and a patterned blue lampshade, completes the transformation.

Tips for making low ceilings look higher.

Some homes and apartments have 7'-8' ceilings that can make a room feel small. Basement ceilings are often low and transforming them into livable spaces is challenging.  Try these tips for the illusion of height.

1) Add crown molding. The purpose of crown and base moldings is to draw the eye to them. By adding a crown at the junction of the wall and ceiling, the eye will be drawn upward.  Don't use too large a crown or it may seem out of proportion. When installed, a 7' room looks best with a 2" to 2 1/2" crown and an 8' room can use 3" to 3 3/4" crown.

2) Accent the floor. By using a great area rug, you can draw the eye to its bold colors or exciting pattern. 

A tall cabinet and draperies help a small room

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3) Raise your window treatments.  When the ceilings are low, often the windows are as well.By raising the treatments above the window (and to the sides when possible) it makes the windows appear taller and adds to the sense that the room is too.

4) Lighten the paint colors. In practice, lighter and cooler colors in the blue and green family tend to make spaces seem larger. By painting ceilings light (white, light cream, etc.) and the walls a different light color, you gain light reflectance and the sense that the room is spacious.

5) Don't hang down.  Avoid hanging track lights, ceiling fans, and other bulky fixtures (like vents in kitchens) from low ceilings. Instead use recessed fixtures, downdraft venting and wall mounted lighting. Try using up-lights in corners, behind plants, and have wall sconces shine up rather than down.

6) Use art and mirrors wisely.  If you hang artwork higher than 'eye level' - which often means that the center of the art is between 5' and 5'-6" from the floor - the space under the art makes the walls appear taller.  That said, the scale of the art with the room, the wall, and the orientation (horizontal or vertical) should still look balanced.  Floor mirrors and well-placed wall mounted mirrors work well.

7) Go vertical.  Just like linear patterns make people look taller and narrower, using vertical stripes in a small room will make it appear taller.  That can be accomplished with paint, architectural elements, or wall coverings. 

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