Oh My Orange

You can’t go anywhere without seeing this fabulous and lively shade of orange. It’s a funky yet sophisticated color that's as energizing as an iced venti latte! Put on your favorite pair of shades because this collection of our favorite orange products is VIBRANT!

Christine Misiak is a fresh new product designer in Durham, England. She racked up a Peter Walker Award at the New Designers Exhibition in London for her rejuvenated “homeless” tea sets. Can we say eco-chic?

sometimes a chair can offer the best advice…

The Foo Dog is known to be the protector of sacred buildings and a defender of law. Foo Dogs can be traced back as early as the Han Dynasty, but you can pick this pair up at Pier One.

If you are looking for unique furniture pieces, check out Pieces Inc for some amazing finds.

We are patiently waiting for the perfect project that is bold enough to handle this playful wallcovering from the Sweet Life by Thibaut.

oh Tory, you never do us wrong

Up, Up and Away

the most famous ceiling of all - The Sistine Chapel

So I met with a client this week who asked me the age-old question : "What do I do with the ceiling...I'm not so sure, so I left it white". O.K., people I am here to tell you - the ceiling is the fifth wall - it needs to be addressed, dressed and fabulous-ed up. When the ceiling is finished, that wow factor, that extra something that I always talk about, the attention to detail, blah blah blah, IT is achieved. It is the designer touch that lets everyone who passes through the room know that you HAVE IT ALL TOGETHER. Let's peruse, shall we?

The most obvious and inexpensive solution is to paint the ceiling, not to leave it white. We here at Inhabit Design usually paint the ceiling two shades lighter than the wall color - with some exceptions. Whenever a dramatic color is used, such as a deep red, or a rich eggplant, then a neutral color is selected for the ceiling (ie: tan or beige) Remember, there are no set rules in design, only guidelines to abide by or totally throw out the window - it's your call.

Observe this painted wall and ceiling. While this is an extreme example, it really shows how our eyes stop at the white, especially when there is a vibrant color on the wall. So how much better would this room have looked had it been painted a tad bit lighter than the walls? It would have been more complete and would have flowed and well, I'm not sure what the intentions were for the room, but it could have been THE COMPLETE PACKAGE, or something close to it.

Let's move on to lifestyles of the ridiculous and budgetless:

A cool home theater with an even cooler painted ceiling

www.wetwalls.com

and while we're on the nursery kick....

I've always wanted to do a tented ceiling, but it doesn't work well with air conditioning vents in the ceiling. A girl can dream, right?

www.hunterhotels.com/marataba

How gorgeous is this porcelain ceiling by David Wiseman?

This is a ceiling of a poolhouse designed by Robin Bell as shown in House Beautiful. Aaahhhhhh

YIKES....

(just checking, are you scrolling, or actually paying attention?)

DELICIOUS!!!!

There are so many options - basically anything you can do with a wall you can do to a ceiling. Paint it, panel it with wood, wallpaper it, hang things from it, coffer it, add moulding pieces to it, glue sticks to it, weave pieces of dried branches together and drop it, tent fabric from it, - let your imagination run wild. Call us, your friendly Las Vegas Interior Designers, we'll be happy to dress your ceiling properly.

How Much Is That Doggy Chaise In The Window?

This weekend, as I was searching for a new dog bed for our precious little devil, Gialla, I came upon some hilarious, wonderful furniture pieces for pets. WHO KNEW? Check these out. These pictures provided me with my entertainment on Saturday night.
Time to get out of the house, I know.

For the dog who loves to lay around, eat bonbons and watch soap operas - the always fabulous chaise lounge. This piece comes with 2 chew/throw pillows - what a bonus!

For the more traditional pooch, a sleigh bed that sleeps two.

What do these pieces have to do with interior design, you ask? These are some great options to add that sumtin-sumtin to your home that you have been searching for.

O.K., not really, but how hilarious are these pieces?

Ooh La La!

For the modern kitty.

For the New Yorker.

For the larger families, a sectional!

For those of you who are spatially challenged, do not fret. There is a murphy bed option out there! (this pic is a little something I like to call the "grand finale")

In all seriousness, most of us have pets and deal with the issue of ugly pet beds, unsightly crates and big plastic catboxes. Have a little fun with your pets and their furniture, these photos illustrate that it IS possible to have something that functions for the little guys without ruining the look of your home.

(Photos courtesy of www.barkslope.com, www.catsplay.com & www.muttropolis.com)

One Sugar or Two?

On Sunday, Heather and I designed a table for a charity event at the lovely Ritz Carlton at

Lake Las Vegas. The charity event was the "Designs of Fantasy High Tea" to benefit the

University of Southern Nevada.

We originally wanted to do a table with a green theme, but weren't sure how to tie in the idea of "fantasy" with that theme. We worked through all of the ideas of fantasy and tea and thought of Alice and Wonderland and the tea party she had with the Mad Hatter. To tie in our green theme, we decided on the concept of "Alice in Ecoland". We wanted to demonstrate to people that it's possible to have a chic party with an eco-friendly theme, and also wanted to throw in some references to a modern day Alice in Wonderland. We used low VOC and non-toxic paints on everything we painted for the table. We rented all of the table linens, as well as the chairs and cushions. The flowers and arrangement were supplied by Enchanted Florist, our homies who are also run a green flower shop. Our color scheme was kelly green, black and white. Here are some of our inspiration photos:

We gave soy candles with cotton wicks as gifts for the people seated at our table. The candles were obviously a hit because as soon as the tea was over, one of the ladies at the table went crazy running around the table scooping up all of the extra candles where people were not seated.

Hilarious.

We found these candles on the adorable website for Sandra Bullock's restaurant Bess Bistro in Austin, TX.

As an added touch, we tucked in a little guide on eco-chic entertaining into the napkins. Check it out: (the picture quality is not so great - it was much more vibrant in person)

This was a great experience for Heather and I and a much needed vacation from all things interior design. Much love goes out to our peeps at Enchanted Florist (pictured below) for donating all of the flowers and working on Sunday! They really are the Best Florist in Las Vegas!

You've Got the Cutest Little.....

Today as I was leafing through my newest issue of Elle Decor, I spotted an ad for Designers Guild. Oh, how I love you Designers Guild. Your vibrant colors. Your crazy patterns. Your European flair for the bold, bright and uninhibited.

Designers Guild is a company that designs and manufactures everything from wallcovering, fabric, furniture, home accessories and fragrance to floor coverings, paint and even stationery. It was started in 1970 by Tricia Guild

a brilliantly creative woman who is consistently pushing the boundaries of design while at the same time manufacturing elegant and inspiring pieces.

We are currently working on some children's rooms and while our budget is more JoAnn Fabrics than Designers Guild, a girl can dream, can't she? Designers Guild carries a line dedicated to children. I would love, love, love to be able to put together a fabulous room using these colors and fabrics:

How about some custom bedding with these little cuties?

With kids rooms, there really are no boundaries. Bright colors can be used, patterns can be mismatched and more really is more. That is why Designers Guild fabrics scream kid's room to me. The only place we could get away with using Designers Guild would be in a child's room -we've yet to find a client that is gung-ho on using lime green and fuchsia in their family room. Again, a girl can dream, can't she?

Be sure to stay tuned, our children's rooms will be finished in the next 4 weeks and we will post pictures - get ready to feast your eyes on some SICK design.

A Fine Place to Rest Your Head

www.FlamingoLasVegas.com

One of my favorite pieces of furniture is the headboard. I'm particularly fond of upholstered headboards. I think that they add such a custom look and feel to a bedroom. At the last office I worked at, my love for my own upholstered headboard became a running joke. It took me at least a year to decide on the fabric, only to find out that the perfect fabric was on backorder for 3 months. I was through with waiting and hastily chose another fabric. It turns out that the joke was on me because now I am not loving it and I can't change it, at least for a while, for fear that I will be served with divorce papers from my husband citing "too many design changes in our house in a 3 year period" or something of the sort. We designers have a hard time keeping things in our houses for longer than a few months; I think most of us want to completely redo everything each season. That is, unless I have some sort of rare, undiagnosed interior design A.D.D. that has yet to be fully understood and/or researched.

An upholstered headboard can add a touch of softness to a room that usually consists of so many hard surfaces. I think most people like to buy the complete matching set of furniture; the matching nightstands, headboard and dresser. It's actually much more interesting to have a headboard made of a different material, two different nightstands that coordinate but do not match exactly and a large dresser or armoire that works with all of the pieces. By doing this, it looks as if the pieces were collected over time, not purchased from Joe Schmoe's furniture storefor one low price, with a big brown puffy recliner thrown in for free to finish off the set!

So maybe when you think of an upholstered headboard, these are some images that come to mind.

I can see the headline now:

"UPHOLSTERED HEADBOARDS GONE WRONG"

This style must have swept the eighties, although I still see some of these styles in magazines today. Let it go people, let's get rid of the round lines and shirred fabric. Just like you let go of your giant permed hair in the 11th grade, let it go.

Oh dear.

YIKES!!!!!!!!

And my husband's personal favorite.....

Yes, there really are headboards dedicated to your favorite sports team. Ai Yi Yi.

O.K., so now erase those images from your mind, though it may seem daunting. Feast your eyes on these delicious headboards:

Bigger is DEFINITELY better in the case with this headboard.

2007 Symphony Showcase House in Austin, Texas by Laura Britt Design (courtesy of vanessareynoso.blogspot.com)

Check out this website-aside from all of the fabulousness, they make a damn good cowboy chic upholstered headboard and I LOVE the name of their business

This photo is of Miles Redd's master bedroom - I love the mild cocoon effect that it creates as it sweeps over the ceiling above the bed. It also has a very tailored, more masculine look. Sigh.

This bed is such a sweet option from Kravet for a little girl's room. Can't you imagine it in a bright fuschia with lime green fabric on the knot detail?

Consider an upholstered headboard for your next bedroom project, it's a piece that will add a designer touch and tons of flair to your room.