Designer Review: Home Store’s

Happy Wednesday!  Today’s post is my Review of some local furniture chain stores in my area.  Yesterday, I decided to head over to Euclid St. in Fountain Valley to visit Ashley’s Home Store and Basset.  I have a client who needs a revamped space for an upcoming birthday event (Sound familiar? We do One Day Re-Vamps!) and is budget and unfortunately Time crunched, so I decided to check out some local stores to see if anything caught my eye.  Specifically, I was looking at a Sofa, Dining Table, and Lounge Chairs….what I found was mere disappointment and utter disbelief!  Let me Explain…

Aesthetically the sofas at both locations were of about the same quality and didn’t have much as far as style to go around.  Most items still take 30 days to receive.  I was thinking it was a purchase from the floor ordeal..wrong.  I wandered around and found one that caught my eye.  Is it comfy I asked myself? … NO… Matter of fact it was extremely hard!  I haven’t sat on a sofa that hard in YEARS…Ikea has softer sofas!?! What was more shocking…the Price tag! Yes! that is right…I, a designer, shuddered at the price tag…  There was absolutely NO VALUE to buying a sofa that was not made with quality at that sticker price 60″ Standard sofa with Nailhead trim= $2600. WHAT!!

I am not intending to Knock these stores.  Hey! They are still around after all.  I think the shock came from the idea that average consumers may have NO IDEA  how to judge a sofa for quality and value.  They may think that the price indicates the quality.  Not So.

HERE ARE SOME TIPS ON PICKING OUT A QUALITY SOFA:

1)  Start with the Bones

Ask the vendor what type of wood the sofa frame is made from.  Stay away from MDF.  Look for a Hard Solid Wood Frame like Alder.

2)  I’ve got a feeling

And the Sofa does too.  How does it feel when sat on.  Quality sofas will not feel like sitting on a block of foam.  Ask the associate how the cushions are made?  What is the filling?  Stay away from Foam, LOVE Down and sometimes the best is in the middle (Wrapped down for more support, but the feathers for comfort)

3)  Spring

How are the springs attached to the frame?  The best words… 8 way HAND TIED.

Enjoy! And PLEASE PLEASE make the investment of a quality sofa…Funny Thing is…Its not that much more…Not for the Value it Brings!

Happy Weekend…What I have on the Agenda…

How about you? Any happy hunting for you this weekend? If not, maybe you should check these out!!

Creating Your Color Scheme

The hardware store has hundreds of paint chips on display; finding the one paint color that will look great in your home seems downright impossible.  Yet professional interior designers do just that every day.  They sort through mountains of paint chips to find the one that perfectly suits a space.  Just how do interior designers do it?

Most interior designers don’t even think about paint colors until they choose all the other elements of a room.  For beautiful room interior design, you need to follow their example.  If you start with a paint color, you then have to find furnishings that work well with that color.  Say you painted your living room walls purple.  You would have to find a sofa in a color that complemented that shade of purple – as well as a coffee table, an area rug, and an entertainment unit.  The color choices of furniture, area rugs, and accessories are limited, while paint colors are unlimited; it is far easier to match your paint to your furniture than it is to match your furniture to your paint.

To create an interior that doesn’t resemble a multicolored clown’s house, I recommend you start with an inspiration piece.  Find an object you love.  It could be a painting, a decorative vase, or a swatch of fabric – just make sure it features at least three colors.  Your color scheme will never fail if you start with an inspiration piece; you already love the combination of colors in the object, so you’ll love that same combination of colors in your space.

Next, pick three colors from your inspiration piece.  Don’t limit yourself – you don’t have to pick charcoal grey just because you heard it was a trendy color.  Choose the three colors that draw your eye and make you happy.

Pick the boldest, brightest color of the three, and shop for smaller accent pieces – like bowls, flowers, and throw pillows – that match that color.  These small accessories will bring your room to life, providing brilliant pops of color that perk up the visual interest of a space.  When you arrange these accessories in your room, be sure to spread them out.  Don’t place all of your hot pink bowls on one shelf; arrange a vase of pink flowers on the coffee table, place a pink throw pillow on the sofa, and group three pink bowls on the shelf.

Next, pick the second boldest color of the three – this will be the color of some of your room’s larger accessories, like a chair, an interior of a bookcase, or an area rug.  Use this color sparingly on two or three accessories in the room.  If you use the hue on every large accessory, it will dominate the space.  You want the colors in the space to complement – not fight – each other.  For the remaining large accessories that didn’t receive the color treatment, cover them with patterns.  Patterned area rugs and chairs can tie your color scheme together while adding visual interest to a space; just remember to match the colors in the pattern with the colors in your inspiration piece.

The last color of the three will be your wall color.  It should be the quietest color, acting as a backdrop for your bright accessories.  But finding a paint color is a matter of trial-and-error.  A paint chip that looks green in the store can look yellow under your living room’s lights.  Choose a couple of shades that seem to match your third color choice, and buy sample pots of those shades from the hardware store.  Paint swatches on your walls, and observe them throughout the day to see which one matches the color in your inspiration piece.  Don’t worry if you make a mistake  – you can easily paint over the wrong color with the right one.

Think this is all too much color for one room?  You’re right – a riot of color can easily overwhelm the eye, creating a visually jarring room.  To create the beautiful room you’re after, you’ll need to inject a healthy dose of neutrals into your space.  This is easily done – keep the most expensive elements of your room neutral.  Floors, kitchen cabinets, and sofas should all be shades of white, cream, black, and brown.  Colors eventually wear out their welcome – think avocado green and harvest gold.  Replacing an accent piece is affordable.  Replacing an avocado green kitchen, however, costs thousands of dollars.  By keeping these expensive elements neutral, you’ll create a beautiful, timeless space that won’t cost a fortune to update in five years.

Color is intimidating; most homeowners would rather paint their walls beige than choose the wrong hue.  But you don’t have to live in an off-white house.  Creating a color scheme is easy if you start with an inspiration piece you love.  If you are still not sure about designing your own interior or picking out the right colors for you, then a interior designer would be most helpful.  Genchi Interior Design Group, an Orange County Interior Design firm, offers color consulting as one of their specialty services.

Office Design

According to some recent studies and my own opinion, Your office decor affects how you work.

90% of office workers regard the design and layout of their office as affecting their level of motivation.

Wow! That is a great reason to get your office design accessed by a interior designer.  Your office Design could be affecting your bottom line!

Okay…so this study got me to evaluate my own office space, its function and how it was working for me…and the real shocker….it wasn’t.  I mean for a designer, how could I let my office be so…so…blah.  Well, that is all it took! We have decided to reshape and rebuild the office.  Stay tuned….

Some of my office interior design inspirations:

I love how this is so simple and casual.  Feels comfortable…There is nothing wrong with feeling comfortable in your office..right??

Its no secret I LOVE color…especially when you pair it with crisp white!