What's your style?

Do you know your style?   To be successful in selecting the materials and items to be used in your interior decor, your should know what your personal design style is. Why?  Let's use the example of going to buy a new car. When you walk onto a lot you're faced with cars in all sizes, colors, body types and features.  When you don't have an idea what you're looking for, frustration and confusion set in. If you opt for one that isn't right, unhappiness will pervade your life. For interiors that we don't change often, being happy in your home is essential. Selecting the right products and styles, enriches your life, satisfies and grounds you, and reflects who you are. Knowing your style and working your spaces with elements of that style will save time, money, and give you rooms that are exactly what you want. Here are my 5 favorite ways to help you find your style:

Arts & Crafts is clean and warm.

1) Look at professionally designed rooms:  Buy magazines and clip out images of rooms you like. You can do the same from on-line sources. Go to a library or bookstore and browse the design section.  In each image, look for things that please you; the color of the room, a particular piece, the feel of the design, a specific light fixture or treatment, or even the way the room looks overall. 

Cottage style. Casual and classic with, bead board, white hues, warm woods.

2) Visit furniture shops and walk through the room arrangements noting what you like.  You can ask questions of the sales representative or take brochures about the arrangements to help identify specific items.

3) Take a design style quiz.  These are more superficial but do guide you in overall style.  Putting a name to a style can often help you during shopping trips when you are able to ask for "a Neoclassic style lamp." Do back-up research through blogs, furniture, and design web sites

Traditional living room with antiques, rich hues, classic furnishings.

4) Attend local design shows, lectures, and events.  Your local chapter of ASID - The American Society of Interior Designers  - often schedules lectures and events for the public. Is there a show house nearby? Are there Home & Garden shows you can attend? Visit them and take notes. 

5) Call a local designer and schedule a consultation. To really hone in on your style and get immediate design advice, sit down for an hour or two with a design professional. It will set you on the right path and give you peace of mind when you start your project.

As we start a new year, the need to reduce energy consumption and create sustainability in our homes and lives is more important than ever.  Manufacturers of home goods, electronics, building materials, fabrics and more, are offering better and more attractive products to help us lessen the negative impact we have on our environment, I have been an advocate and practitioner of sustainable design for many years, and am enjoying the global attention to this movement.  The philosophy of sustainability includes re-thinking how to use what we have rather than tearing down to start anew.  Innovation and creativity will drive our desire to live well and better, changing our culture of excess consumption and a 'have it now' mentality. Our need to de-materialize without sacrificing luxury or quality will result in creative solutions in product design and manufacturing.  Eco-luxury - my specialty - will be commonplace as clients understand and quantify the long-term benefits to their lives and homes.

Whether you are a trade professional or direct consumer, you will be affected by this global movement for ecological sensitivity. It will change how you think, what you can buy, therefore how you live.  I have seen manufacturers respond to 'green' initiatives by producing furnishings, fixtures and building materials that go beyond simply meeting state and federal recommendations for energy efficiency. The Water Sense program launched by the EPA has resulted in the production of plumbing fixtures with low flush and flow rates, whose style and water consumption have completely changed the profile of bathroom design as we know it.  

A few predictions for the next decade:

• Sustainability of products and process used in both construction and interior design will become commonplace.  
• The monitoring of claims for 'green' and sustainable products, and the regulation of labeling and terminology will reduce 'green-washing' and help consumers understand what they are purchasing.
• Quality of life will take precedence over quantity of belongings in everything from the size of our homes to what is used in them.
• Homes will be designed as 'net-zero' - producing their own energy- and 'smart-homes' that work towards energy efficiency and not just convenience will be the norm. 
• Contractors and builders will educate their clients on the benefits of working 'green' by using products that offer them long-term cost and energy savings.  
• Companies will offer services designed to help us effectively maintain and re-new what we already have.  
• Designers, engineers and a rising group of 'green' entrepreneurs will formulate products that re-use, re-cycle and re-new to a new level. 

  Live well, design smart!

Wood finishes are gorgeous and green!

Need new flooring? Want to upgrade your cabinets?  Consider using some of the beautiful and eco-friendly woods in your project. "Green remodeling" is more than obtaining tax credits and energy bill reductions; you'll be using materials that look as good as their environmental benefits and help you create a healthier home without off-gassing and use of toxic materials.  For wood materials, such as flooring, cabinetry, and even structural members, using products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a start. 

Flooring that's sustainable has beautiful, artistic characteristics.  The woven poplar flooring from Ecotimber is composed of 100% FSC-certified recycled furniture scraps kiln-dried and cold-pressed with a hardening resin without added urea formaldehyde. The tongue-and-groove planks are 9/16 inch thick and between 3 and 4" wide. They can be installed with nails or glued down. Plyboo makes strand FSC-certified bamboo plywood and flooring that are urea formaldehyde-free.

All of the cabinets made by Neil Kelley are available with no-added-urea-formaldehyde agriboard case and drawer materials; FSC-certified wood and veneers; and low-VOC glues, adhesives, and finishes. Having your contractor or cabinetmaker use wood veneers over formaldehyde-free substrate allows you to create exotic and spectacular patterns without the high cost or waste of using exotic lumber.

For the outdoors (and some creative indoor applications) FSC-certified machiche hardwood decking  is beautiful, easy to install, and naturally resistant to decay-causing organisms and is moderately resistant to dry-wood termites.  The wood is available in 2-foot-by-2-foot solid squares or in 5/4-by-6-inch planks. The open-pored, dense hardwood comes in colors ranging from yellow/tan to medium brown reds and dark reds; over time, lighter spots darken to a reddish brown hue

Color it Yours

When you're looking for a splash of color in your home, try a neutral palette with a yellow accent.  These colors are by Farrow & Ball.  Paint the ceiling and trim in All White and three walls in Cornforth White to create a beautiful neutral backdrop.  Add an accent wall and accessories in Babouche. Using the neutrals of Manor Hour Gray in accessories (mirrors and photos) and Down Pipe on fabrics, accessories and furniture, you'll have a soft yet warm space that is contemporary and relaxing.  To add a bit more drama, use Babouche on your largest seating pieces! Touch of Tradition has the right color choices for your space, and carries unique furnishings, lighting and artwork to complete the space.