I am posting this to help get the word out. An evening of enjoyable music to help benefit the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition. (Comments are disabled, but feel free to reblog).
My "It's Time To Come Home" series has come to an end. We've talked about Color, Paint, Flooring, Lighting, Window Treatments and Accessories. There are links to each post at the bottom. This final segment is really about the most important part of your home - YOU!
We can add color, paint, window treatments and accessories, but your home is not your home without you, your family, friends and other loved ones enjoying it. Sharing how your day went with your family in your "just-right-shade-of-red" dining room; kicking back and playing a board game while sitting on the "this-carpet-feels-so-good" floor; getting ready for bed and closing the "I-just-love-this-pattern" shades or drapes; or enjoying your morning cup of coffee in the "this-color-just-makes-me-feel-good" kitchen.
Photo courtesy of House and Home
Ultimately, it's the people in the home that make it "home". It's the people who pick the color, paint, flooring, etc., that allow them to express their personalities, likes, hobbies and lifestyle. Make your home the place you want to come home to - aren't you worth it?
The Series:
It's Time To Come Home ~ Series Introduction
It's Time To Come Home ~ Walls
It's Time To Come Home ~ Color
It's Time To Come Home ~ Window Treatments
It's Time To Come Home ~ Window Treatments Part II
It's Time To Come Home ~ Flooring
It's Time To Come Home ~ Lighting
It's Time To Come Home ~ Accessories
I hope you've enjoyed reading this series as much as I've enjoyed writing it.
Copyright 2009 Kathy Passarette, Creative Home Expressions
Kathy Passarette and Creative Home Expressions are based on Long Island, New York, and offer interior decorating, home staging, interior redesign and more. For more information on our services and fees, please visit our website at www.creativehomeexpressions.com.
Photo courtesy of Ballard Designs
Home décor accessories run the gamut from mirrors in an entry to those cute little knick-knacks on side tables. The problem with accessories comes in when it seems more is more, rather than less is more, and you can't enjoy the pieces for themselves because there is just too much stuff.
As a tip, when adding an accessory to a room that is already accessorized, remove one other item. You don't have to get rid of it, but store it and bring it out in six months or a year for a fresh look, or find a new home for it in another room (but remember, if you do that, you should remove one item from that room).
Photo courtesy of Ballard Designs
Some items that fall into the accessory category are:
Accessories should work with the décor that you already have going on in the room. They also allow us to express our personality in a room that is basically a box with furniture in it.
Accessories tend to look better visually when grouped in odd numbers; usually threes. However, if you decorate in a traditional sense, and prefer things to be symmetrical, you will be more apt to prefer, for example, a pair of candlesticks at each end of a mantel rather than three grouped together at one end.
Photo courtesy of World Market
Accessories can also be used to tie in the colors or patterns used in other rooms in your home. For instance, if you use red towels in your kitchen you can transfer that red to pillows in your living room, a throw in the family room and cushions in your dining room.
Photo courtesy of Ballard Designs
Ultimately, the accessories you choose to use in your home should reflect you and your family. Items that have meaning to you, that you love, that bring back a memory are some of the things that make your home a home.
Copyright 2009 Kathy Passarette, Creative Home Expressions
Kathy Passarette and Creative Home Expressions are based on Long Island, New York, and offer interior decorating, home staging, interior redesign and more. Please visit our website at www.creativehomeexpressions.com for more information on our services and fees.
As we move our clocks ahead an hour this weekend and get ready to welcome Spring (I know, there is still snow on the ground), it is also a great time to start thinking about freshening up our homes that have been "closed up" for so many months. Interior Redesign may help give your home that freshening up it needs.
Spring-cleaning refers to more than just housekeeping. Spring-cleaning is also a time to clean out the clutter, banish winter from our homes, and lighten up our rooms. Redesigning a room, or rooms, in your home is a great Spring-cleaning project, as it will also help you in the housekeeping of your home. Here are 6 tips to help you in your redesign.
1. Begin by emptying out the room of all accessories, wall décor and furniture, except for the largest, heaviest pieces. They will most likely stay in their given spot. Use another room nearby, table and/or countertop for everything you've moved out. Put items into groups (i.e. candles, greenery, pillows, books, etc.). Use this opportunity to clean the room.
2. Start your redesign by bringing the furniture you will be using back into the room, setting it off a fixed focal point, or one you will be creating. Resist the urge to line the walls with your furniture. Contrary to what you may believe, it does not make the room look bigger.
3. Before bringing any other items back into the room, look over what you took out of the room. If you don't like it anymore, it has no sentimental value, or you have a "don't care either way" attitude about it, don't put it back in the room. Either trash it, donate it or sell it.
4. Always keep function in mind when arranging your furniture. How are you going to use the room and what do you need to include in it to make it comfortable? Do you need extra side tables, lighting, line of sight for a TV? Make sure to set it up so it works just as well as it looks.
5. Never place your artwork or accessories until everything else is in the perfect place. Your accessories should compliment the room and its furnishings, not stand all by themselves. Use them to "fill in" spaces around the room, on tabletops, and on walls to complete the look. Make sure they relate to something in the room; for instance, color, style, material, etc. If it doesn't work in that room, try it in another room. Don't be afraid to store things. A year from now you may switch out one thing for another.
6. Think outside the box. Just because something has always been in a particular room, doesn't mean it can't be reworked and used in a new setting. An old chest found in the basement becomes a side table to accent the couch. A picture that you are tired of in one room may take on a whole new look in another room.
Kathy Passarette and Creative Home Expressions are based on Long Island, New York, and offer interior redesign, interior decorating, home staging, color consultations and more. Please visit our website at www.creativehomeexpressions.com for more information on our services and fees.
Saturday evening I met my AR friend, Carolyn, at a restaurant midway between the two of us for dinner. We had a great time at Hemingways on Wantagh Avenue in Wantagh. The service and food were fantastic, and the atmosphere was conducive to some great conversation.
Not only was this a chance for us to have dinner together, but Carolyn brought one of her clients along who is in the process of buying a house, and is eager to decorate it - putting her own stamp on her new home. It was a good opportunity to meet a prospective client in a little more relaxed situation.
I know that quite a few people have gotten business from blogging on Active Rain, and hopefully this meeting will have gotten me a new client. The best thing though is the friend I have made in Carolyn. I just love Carolyn! I feel so comfortable around her, and I'm sure part of that is from our back and forth in posts, as well as the times we do speak on the phone.
I snagged this pic of Carolyn getting ready to take a picture of the food.
The waitress was kind enough to take a picture of the three of us.
If you are on Long Island and looking for some place nice to have dinner (or any meal), consider visiting Hemingways. The service was top notch (thanks to Katie), the food was very good (with a nice variety to the menu), and we just loved the look of the place. You can check out directions, the menu and some background at their website at http://www.hemingwaysgrill.com/index.htm.
Kathy Passarette and Creative Home Expressions are located on Long Island, New York, and offer interior decorating, home staging, interior redesign, color consultations and more. For more information on our services and fees, please visit our website at www.creativehomeexpressions.com.
Offering home staging, interior decorating, interior redesign, color consultations and shopping services.
Kathy Passarette and Creative Home Expressions provide interior decorating, redesign, home staging, color consultations and shopping services for every reasonable budget.
Kathy has been involved in interior decorating for over 20 years and formed Creative Home Expressions in 2005 with the goal of providing interior decorating services that would be affordable to everyone.
Kathy Passarette is a Certified Interior Decorator, Interior Design Society Affiliate,and Window Fashions Certified Professionals Associate. She has established herself as an expert in her field with her tips and articles being published in such newspapers as: Newsday, Newday's How To Guide, New York Resident Magazine, the Gwinnett Daily Post, the Denver Post and the Miami Herald, among others.
Kathy recently initiated the formation of the Suffolk County Long Island Chapter of the Interior Design Society, and holds the office of Vice President. Kathy also conducts Adult Education programs on various aspects of interior decorating at the Mount Sinai High School.
Because Kathy has an appreciation for all styles of decorating, Creative Home Expressions does not specialize in any one area. The diversity of styles and rooms is a challenge the company embraces. With meticulous attention to details and an acute decorator's eye, Creative Home Expressions works with each client to make their vision reality - whether it's interior decorating, redesigning or staging.
Condo model "before"
Condo model "after"
Powder Room "before"
Powder Room "after:
"Kathy did a fabulous job on my apartment, and I didn't have to lift a finger. She even went out and did all the shopping for various pieces and accessories, and didn't go over my budget. Now it's going to be a lot harder to leave my apartment."
"Thanks! Everything looks great - we are very happy with our "new" house."
K.D., Commack, New York
" . . . room is nearly complete and the color choices are great; the room looks very elegant . . . "
V.R., Cove Neck, New York - Color Consultation
"It doesn't look like a kid room anymore. It looks much more adult now. Thank you."
A.P., Mount Sinai, New York
"We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the wonderful job you did in helping to make our newly renovated house into a "home". The thought of hiring an interior decorator was both new and a bit scary for us. You did a great job of listening to our ideas and satisfying our tastes in decor and colors."
E.C. & A.C., Huntington, New York
R.W., Brooklyn, New York
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