Radio Interview

Decorating…The Professional Touch and author Carol Donayre Bugg featured in XM/Sirius radio interview.

INTERIORS by Decorating Den’s VP and Director of Design, Carol Donayre Bugg was recently featured  in an interview on XM/Sirius’ Martha Stewart Channel. Interviewed by Mario Bosquez of Living Today, she Discussed everything from her latest book to current bedroom design trends, and the hottest colors of the season. When asked how someone would be able to follow their dream and become an interior decorator, Carol replied, “INTERIORS by Decorating Den, I think we have a wonderful company…we have constant training…this is a way so you don’t have to try it on your own, this is a way to try it with a company that has been around for 40 years.”

You can listen to the interview by going to www.decoratingden.com

Decorating… The Professional Touch

NORTH AMERICA’S LARGEST FRANCHISED DECORATING BUSINESS ANNOUNCES PUBLICATION OF NEW DESIGN BOOK:  DECORATING….The Professional Touch!

 

Available for purchase at all major book stores, as well as online outlets (including http://www.decoratingden.com/readbook.shtml), DECORATING….The Professional Touch is the fifth hardcover book written by Carol Donayre Bugg, Vice President and Director of Design for INTERIORS by Decorating Den, North America’s largest franchise organization of interior decorators.    This beautifully written and photographed book features the design work of some of the company’s over 500 decorators worldwide.

 

Jammed packed with over 200 beautifully photographed room makeovers DECORATING…The Professional Touch is also filled with stories about the real clients, and their pursuit of creating rooms that not only meet, but exceed their personal design dreams.  From home offices, to bedrooms, living and dining rooms, kitchens and baths, virtually every room in the home is beautifully and creatively showcased.

 

In addition, this new hardcover book is filled with a variety of new design trends.  Among the 10 hot trends featured are:

 

SNAKESKIN LOOKS! – while leather and leather looks have been very trendy the past       few years, Snakeskin is coming on STRONG!

 

METALLICS  – Copper, Gold, Bronze and Silver can be found in a multitude of

            design applications – with Gold leading the way!

 

BIG FLORALSs – Large scale prints are making a huge comeback!

 

RETRO MOTIFS – Splash patterns and motifs reminiscent of the 60’s and 70’s will

            definitely add a touch of fresh color and nostalgia to all room designs!

 

INTERIORS by Decorating Den’s room makeovers have been featured in such national publications as Good Housekeeping, Better Homes and Gardens, Woman’s Day, House Beautiful, and Traditional Home.   In addition, the company has been featured in a variety of design segments on HGTV and The Discovery Channel.

 

Established in 1969, and currently celebrating their 40^th Anniversary, INTERIORS by Decorating Den is proud of the fact that each decorator brings thousands of design ideas and samples of window, wall and floor coverings, furniture and accessories directly to their client’s homes or offices in a specially equipped ColorVan®.  Initial client consultations are always complimentary.

 

For more information contact:

Sue Pelley (317) 408-1139

suepel@aol.com

 

            Or visit our website: www.decoratingden.com

Windows don’t have to be a “pane”

If you’re like many of my clients, choosing the right window treatment is a confusing process.  Trying to decide between the type of window treatment that would work best for you, your home and your windows, and then finding just the right fabric, is sometimes enough to make you feel like having the entire window just walled off!

 

It’s never easy to choose the right window treatment.  However, here are a few guidelines to help you get started.  First and foremost, you must decide what you want your window to do.  Once you’ve conquered that decision, half the battle is over!  Ask yourself a few questions.  Does your window provide a lovely view that you wish to enhance?  Does your room need the natural light the window provides?  Would you prefer to disguise a not-so-lovely view?  Do your windows seem too small for the size of your room?  Are the windows in your room mis-matched in width and length, and placement on the wall?  Because there are so many design options available to creatively solve any window challenge, it’s important you consider function first.

 

Take this window opening as an example.  Perhaps your window opens to a lovely view and you have absolutely no privacy constraints.  The rule in this case is “the simpler, the better”.  One design idea for your custom window treatment might be topping the window with a richly colored and designed top treatment, and then framing the window with stationary side panels. 

 

Here’s another creative design solution for another window challenge.  Perhaps you are dealing with extremely narrow windows, and your desire it to give them more prominence in your room.  By hanging window treatments beyond the actual frame of the window, these same “thin” windows will take on a “larger” presence in your room.

 

And if your dealing with shorter windows, a window treatment hung from floor to ceiling will add the height you desire.

 

All in all, there are a myriad of design choices available to solve even the toughest of window design challenges.  By doing your homework, and working with a professional decorator, your solutions will be exciting to explore.

THIS LITTLE “LIGHT” OF MINE

Light definitely affects color – so it’s wise to check your colors by both daylight and artificial light before making a final decision.

 

Your first consideration in selecting the appropriate lighting should be the natural light that comes in through you.  If your home features larger windows, then you would have the option to focus your ultimate color selection on a variety of bright dramatic shades.  And conversely, the smaller the windows are in your room, might lead you to choosing lighter color shades.   

 

And, don’t forget to take into consideration the direction that the windows in your room face.  Windows with a northern or eastern exposure ultimately mean the light in the room will be cool – so selecting a warmer color palette will give you a much friendlier room.  Southern or western exposure provides your room with more direct sunlight, so, ultimately the light in these rooms will be warmer.  Here bright colors will appear more intense, so you might consider utilizing a cooler color scheme to help your room become appear calm and relaxing.

Comfortable Kitchens

The kitchen has long been the center of the home.  It’s where we go to get warm, inside and out!  Many people have memories of smelling mother’s baking, drawing us to the kitchen.  Perhaps for this reason, when we are entertaining, guests seem to migrate to the kitchen.

 

How about making your kitchen even more inviting by incorporating a loveseat, settee or chair and a half complete with ottoman?  If your space is limited, perhaps just an occasional chair would be more appropriate.

 

Above all else, make your decorating scheme reflect your personality.  Are you a gourmet cook?  Then, by all means you should incorporate unique utensils and gadgets into your décor!  Wooden spoons, spice graters, whisks, copper molds, etc are all great kitchen accessories.  These items could be hung on the walls for dual purposes: decorating your kitchen, and also easy accessibility for cooking.

 

Window treatments for the kitchen are wide and varied.  In fact, today more and more homeowners are opting for uniquely designed fabric top treatments, usually placed over a privacy treatment.  Stagecoach valances, mock throw swags, and tabbed valances displayed on unique decorative rods really fit the bill!

So have fun with your kitchen!  Be sure to let your cooking personality shine through.

Caring for Your Wood Furniture

Wood furnishings are usually very precious to us, our rooms, our overall furnishing plan and our budget.  Perhaps you’ve inherited a precious heirloom.  Or maybe you’ve decided it’s time to invest in new wood pieces to enhance the beauty of a newly designed room.  In any case, properly caring for these pieces will insure their long life.

 

It’s important to remember that the wood used for your furniture pieces were designed and manufactured was once part of a living, breathing tree.  Before it’s created into the beautiful piece you’ve just purchased, the wood was first carefully dried, typically in a kiln.  This is done so that excess moisture can be removed.  It’s important that the wood retains some moisture, so that it can easily adapt to the relative indoor humidity of your home.

 

In winter months, when your heating system is much more active, the wood in your furniture tends to lose moisture and shrink just slightly.  And, during summer months, or rainy times, when humidity is high, moisture is absorbed into the wood from the air.  That’s why you may notice that the halves of the extension table in your dining room part slightly during dry cold winters – or that the doors on your cabinets tend to stick on rainy summer days.

 

For the best protection of your fine wood furniture try to keep the relative humidity of your home at about 25 to 35 percent.  Also, it’s important that you avoid placing furniture in front of radiators, heating vents or fireplaces.  And don’t forget, that natural sunlight can be very cruel to your furniture’s finish.  Never place a piece of fine wood furniture in front of a window where it will be subjected to the sun’s harsh rays.

 

Be sure to consult the manufacturer’s directions for details on how best to care for your new furniture pieces.  I suggest that my clients keep these instructions filed away for future reference. Manufacturer recommendations may suggest a special brand of wax, and it’s important that it be applied as directed.  In between any special applications, frequent dusting is advisable.  Use a soft cloth that has been slightly moistened to prevent a build up of dust.

 

Care for your wood furniture properly, and someday it promised to become a most treasured heirloom!

What’s UP?? Why your ceilings, of course!

Is there a room in your home that desperately needs a new look – or merely needs something special to make it come alive?  Well, just look up!  That’s right!  Your ceiling offers many interesting design possibilities.

 

If you have a very small room and want to make it appear airy and larger, you may want to cover the walls and the ceiling in the same light color.  If you desire a cozy, warm look try darker, more intense colors.   Whether you’re aware of it or not, a ceiling does affect us.  While a soaring ceiling in a spacious room raises our spirits, in a small room it can be disconcerting.    In the matter of raising or lowering ceilings, color is your surest ally.  Ceilings will seem higher if they are lighter in tone than the walls; lower if they are darker.

 

Decorating a ceiling can be a super solution in many rooms in your home.  For example, if decorating a child’s room on a budget, perhaps wallpapering the ceiling with billowing clouds, friendly animals or maybe even a lively floral print might do just the trick.

 

No matter which method you choose, color, texture, fabric or wallcovering can all add a new dimension to your ceiling and give your room a special charm of its own.

 

For more information contact INTERIORS by Decorating Den at 1-800-332-3367 or visit us online at www.decoratingden.com

Decorating Ideas to help you sell your home!

Selling a home can be an emotional and nerve-wracking roller coaster ride – but there are things homeowners can do to simplify the process.  Some basic decorating principles can be applied to help improve the attractiveness of the property and help to speed up the sales process.

 

From a decorating perspective, the ultimate goal you should set for your home  is not at all what it would be if you were just moving in.  Rather, your task is to put yourself in the buyer’s shoes and ask:  “What needs to be done to make this home truly livable for me and my family?”  What you want to do is make the home as appealing as possible, but with a neutral background so that any serious buyer can visualize his or her own belongings in place.

 

Perhaps your realtor has already told you to tidy and straighten closets, cabinets and store rooms.  It’s also important to have carpets and tile cleaned.  Removing excess clutter is a must.  But there’s even more you can do if a speedy sale is your goal.  Take a good hard unemotional look at your carpet or tile flooring.  Has it seen better days?  Is it a bright color that works for you, but maybe not a potential buyer?  Remember a floor’s fresh new appearance in an easy to live with color is the fastest spruce up available.  Often times, adding a new area rug can be of help if disguising a problem areas.

 

And how about a fresh coat of paint?  Naturally a neutral hue – consistent throughout the house would be the perfect solution to tired, worn walls.  It’s very difficult for a prospective buyer to “get past” your warm coral walls, when they try to picture their soft blush pink sofa in the room.

 

Window treatments can also affect your home’s sale-ability.  Once again, simpler designs done in a beautiful custom style are best.  It’s a real plus to a potential buyer to find a home with attractive quality window covering compatible with the buyer’s taste.

 

Don’t be afraid to ask your interior decorator to take a walk through your home prior to listing it.  She or he will be able to offer you a variety of simple suggestions that should help make your home sale process a lot less painful!

 

For more decorating tips, visit www.decoratingden.com

Personal Decorating and Service

By Carol Donayre Bugg, ASID DDCD
Vice President and Director of Design

The buzzword at the recent High Point Furniture Market was “Personalization.” This might be a new phenomenon to some, but for 40 years the experts at INTERIORS by Decorating Den (IDD) have not only been decorating around their client’s personal style but providing them with personal service as well. Clients always tell me the best part of the experience was the ease of working with a caring interior decorator, and they vow never again to attempt doing any decorating projects by themselves.

Think of an IDD decorator as your own personal facilitator, one who takes your ideas and makes them even better. Everyone deserves a decorator to help with all of the decisions that are required regarding colors, fabrics, wallcoverings, window treatments, furniture, rugs, lighting, and then with ordering, handling deliveries, and finally, installation. I don’t believe that homeowners should have to go through this daunting process by themselves.

Here are examples of four living rooms showing the way capable IDD interior decorators produced rooms that captured the unique tastes of their individual clients.

  

One of the things that the decorator did to make the contemporary style of her empty nester clients’ home work with their traditional tastes and inherited antique furniture was to recover the old frames with smart new fabrics. Adding to the pleasing eclectic look is the vibrant color scheme and the expert’s way of mingling contemporary accessories with the vintage furniture.

 Even though this home is located in a metropolitan Southern city, the client wanted the house to look as if it was nestled in the Colorado Rockies. Besides the handsome leather sofa, the decorator incorporated a custom-colored rug and a pair of leather/fabric chairs with a wagon wheel cocktail table, a stag horn lamp, and hide pillows, creatively satisfying her clients’ preference for a rustic atmosphere.

 

These Canadian IDD clients sought to update their passé living room into a sophisticated space more reflective of their revised elegant ‘tone on tone’ decorating tastes. The decorator’s combination of luxurious textures, rich contrasts between fabrics and wood, serene neutrals tints and shades of blue, along with the all-important attention to details brought to life the living room that her clients had been picturing in their minds. 

 

Traditional style tweaked with fashion-forward furniture, such as the French armchairs upholstered in a floral pattern with green velvet sides, and a tufted leather cocktail ottoman come together with a relaxed formality customized to fit the clients’ current lifestyle. A thick plush wool rug incorporating the room’s gold, green, red, and black color scheme was planted under the main upholstered pieces, creating a cozy setting ideal for friendly conversations around the fireplace.

 

 

Interpreting a client’s vision and ideas into a beautiful room takes talent, an eye for details, and unlimited resources. And no one can claim those better than a decorator from INTERIORS by Decorating Den. Now more than ever it is important to surround yourself with beauty and comfort at home. To obtain a complimentary consultation with one of our interior decorators, please call 1-800 Dec-Dens, or log onto decoratingden.com.

Design a Dream of a Guest Room

Probably one of the most neglected rooms in the house is your guest room.  Most rooms used by guests serve multiple purposes, so it takes a bit of extra creativity to carefully plan this room.There are many ways that you could carry out the decorating of this room to make it a very special place for your guests.  First of all, select fabrics for your window treatments that will not only cover the windows, but can be used in comforters, pillow shams, coordinating toss pillows or even an upholstered window seat.  These are rooms you can definitely have fun with! Why not consider picking a theme?  Perhaps a theme like: nautical, golfing, seaside; or animal might give your guest room a truly unique feel. Today there are a myriad of fabric choices that allow you to have fun with thematic decorating.  If golfing is your passion, then create a guest room with a golfing theme.  A simply designed top treatment could be cleverly hung on a golf club – with golf balls for finials!  What a great way to express your passions.Furniture selections should be kept practical – often times these rooms also double as a home office.  Day beds – loaded with pillows and fun fabrics, would definitely soften up the “office” look created by a computer console.

 

To read more about Guest Room decorating, you can buy the book “Creating Great Guest Rooms”, by our own Carol Donayre Bugg.  To learn more about the book including an excerpt, visit us here 

or go to www.decoratingden.com/readbook.shtml.

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