My family and I were at a Best Buy in January, looking for something for my computer. I was watching all the men in there including my husband, enjoying every gadget they could want. He was so happy, he didn’t want leave. But take him clothing shopping and you would think I had him in a torture chamber.

We have been talking about replacing our current TV in the family room for a flat screen. My husband just had his birthday and our anniversary was coming up on Valentine’s Day. I looked at him and said, “I think it is time we get a flat screen for the family room. I will call it your anniversary, Father’s day present.” Well you would have thought he won the lottery he darted across the store so fast and immediately went to the larger ones and then asked me for my tape measure. (We designers always have a tape measure on us.) He planned well, first by looking at the brands for which we kind of new already, then features and most importantly size. I am not talking about size the biggest I am talking size for what fits what best. We have a niche above our fireplace that was built originally with the house. But we struggled with was the DVR/Cable box. My husband who is quite handy built a stand that allows the box to be placed above the TV and you can’t see the stand at all. I think we may need to patent and sell it. We now have a wonderful TV that looks great in our Family Room and I have a very happy husband as well.

Okay, so quite often I see homes that have not plan so well and we have to refurnish the room just to accommodate the TV, such a waste of money. Here is my take on it. Most of us watch TV, we have rooms that we watch it in. So in no way am I saying to not get one. Flat screens have created a much more aesthetically pleasing look. We need to take into account where will it go, what size would fit. I know a lot of men will say I don’t care how it looks. My answer is do you have enough distance to view a screen that big and if you are going to invest in a monster TV you need to also invest in a piece that will hold it and the components. It is recommended that you have about 2.5 times the TV’s diagonal size to view it comfortably. Another fact that you will want to take into account is just because it says it is a 46” TV doesn’t mean it is 46” wide. That is actually the diagonal measurement across the screen. Sometimes you made even need to have an electrician come in and help with rewiring so that you have the TV in the optimal viewing area. There is nothing uglier than seeing a bunch of wires coming out everywhere.

So the lesson here is to plan ahead, do your research and most import measure, measure, measure.

Here are few examples:

My family room with the new TV

A client of mine …. we custom built a piece designed for the TV

Love this clever built in by Thom Filicia along with his Vanguard Furniture

Happy Decorating! Karen

I just got back from New Orleans celebrating with friends and family this weekend. I had a wonderful time! Thought I would have fun today and post some purple, green and gold rooms for inspiration. These are the traditional colors of Mardi Gras…

Purple Kitchen HGTV

Purple Hallway HGTV

Candice Olson JLA home Fantasy Flower Collection

Mcguire furniture Barbara Barry

Horchow Gold Bedroom

Minimalist Gold Traditional Home Magazine

Happy Decorating and Happy Mardi Gras!

Karen

Okay, so this is the year I am really going to eat healthier and exercise. How many times do we all say that? This year I really made the decision to do it. But the problem has always been time, when will I have time to go to the gym? So last year my husband and I decided to buy an elliptical machine for the bedroom. It is there so you have to work out, right? But what I didn’t realize was that I really like being away, tuning out the world and listening to some music. How would I do that when my husband is getting ready for work in the morning, or when the kids are home constantly interrupting? You see, I am not an early morning person and working out at night is just not good for me. So I finally figured out a win, win situation! I now get to sleep in a little bit later, because I get in my workout gear before I bring the kids to school. Once they are at school I then get on the machine to work out. I am already in my workout clothes so I have no excuse when I get back home. I then have time to get dressed for the day without the rush. I am taking client appointments just 30 minutes later than I used to, but I feel so much better.

 Now I just have to tackle my addiction to the pop tart that my daughter didn’t finish but that will be another post! Who invented them anyway? I bet it was someone who had a high metabolism and could eat what ever they liked!

 I came to this realization about my workout by using the way I go through designing with clients. You come up with plan that fits your lifestyle. This is so important when you approach any design. You really need to think about what tasks you will be performing and what can fit before starting any new design. Once you have that figured out then you can begin work on the design. I hope to have met my goal when next year’s resolution comes around because it would be nice to have that one off my list!

Here are three great examples of fitting the lifestyle of your home

Photo by BHG

Living room planned with the view in mind

Photo by Traditional Home

Formal and elegant dining planned for entertaining guests

Photo by BHG

Comfort and Cozy a small bedroom with a trendy look
planned for the homeowner’s lifestyle

Happy Decorating!

Karen

Every year Pantone puts out the color of the year. This year it is turquoise…  It will be quite interesting to see how it evolves throughout product design both in fashion and the home industry. I love watching how the color of the year is worked into a lot of products out there. 

While I haven’t seen turquoise show up yet, blue is back in a big way from light bright to deeper blues also more grey tones to go with white pieces and glass accents for the modern look.  Lookout for the blue being paired up with warmer browns with tans for a more transitional feel. 

Next time you are shopping start looking at what is on the shelves from home furnishings, to clothing and accessories. You may just notice your own trend.   

I was out last week pulling some blue fabrics for a client… thought I would give you an idea of what I found available for that custom blue look…

Sherwin Williams – using blue throughout their color statements for their color trends

HGTV’s Dream Home 2010

Rooted  color palette by Sherwin Williams

Refreshed color palette by Sherwin Williams

Calvin Klein Bedding – I really love the mix of blues and browns in the bedding

Wisteria – blue clean look

Major Retailers are showing blues at the start of this year…

Z Gallerie – always known for bold statements, here using blue

Even Target is using highlights of blue on the front page of their site.

So if you are thinking of redoing any room in your home, you may want to consider blue there are plenty of choices out there.

Happy Decorating!

Karen