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Design Guide: The Source for interior design products, services and fine home furnishings.
Former Fashion Designer Opens Her First Interior Design Showroom
Bernadette Schaeffler believes our home is a safe haven from the daily stressors of life. She understands that tranquility comes from the inside out, both within ourselves and in our house. She learned many years ago that a home can be a warm hug or a strong shoulder, and what we are surrounded with is a direct reflection of how we feel and the world around us.
Bernadette Schaeffler's philosophy is simple; the home can be a distinctive, artful and unique work of art that can fill a family's home with love, peace, warmth and security. Her expertise in the fashion industry combined with her various world travels, and the desire to always find something new, convinced her to create her own line of home design. Schaeffler's line proves that it is possible to combine different epoch and styles easily. She likes to combine Old World treasures with modern elements, which allows colors and lines to create a fluid motion. With her unique talent she creates a new symphony in design. She has discovered the secret to turning a room, a home or even an office, into something that transports you to another place and time.
Unexpected Pattern Combos
It is very interesting to note how the runway and fashion definitely play a role in influencing what's popular in decor trends. But, if you think about it, designers in both worlds of fashion and interior design use fabric, and are inspired by how these various patterns and materials can be combined. Take a look at how design professionals are combining patterns in homes.
Ambiance Home Decor Boasts Exquisite New Artists and Paintings
Ambiance Home Décor, Inc. has recently acquisitioned new hand-painted pieces made by local village artists in different countries all over the world. With styles ranging from abstract to contemporary, they are oil paintings on canvas with very nice, warm, fashionable colors and styles for designers to choose from in their various projects.
Denise McGaha: Designed With a Deadline
Stacy Naquin, designer and friend of Denise McGaha of Denise McGaha Interiors, wrote a blog on McGaha's site praising her new service, Design on a Deadline. Below are her insights on how to get the most of your designer, budget and time.
With the rise of internet and technological advances, our expectations on time frames get shorter and shorter, which makes this service so appealing to many. Also understanding this need for quick service, I realized there was an entire market being underserved and not everyone could afford full service design which is why I launched Design in a Day.
If you're having a designer in your home for one day, there are a few things you can do to make the most use of your time:
1. Do your homework. The more work you put in on the front end, the more successful your project will be. Tear pages out of magazines, pin your favorite rooms from Pinterest, and look at websites like Houzz.com for ideas. You'll need at least 20 images, but more is better. Make notes of what you like such as the wall color, artwork, or overall feel of the space, etc.
Seven Essential Questions You Should Be Asking Your Designer About Cabinetry
A cabinet is a cabinet, right? Hardly. From materials and finishes, heights to hardware, cabinets vary - and can add a unique touch to any renovation or new-build project. Choosing kitchen cabinetry is probably the biggest, if not the most nerve-wracking, decision you'll make for your kitchen. It's easy to understand since your cabinets have a big impact on your budget as well as how your kitchen looks and feels. Lynley Serratt of Palmer Todd shares the seven essential questions you should be asking your designer about cabinetry.
What's in a Frame?
Frames no longer solely serve the purpose of perfectly encompassing a piece of art or photograph. Recently, we’ve been seeing some innovative new ways to use frames. Instead of buying a 4X6 frame to frame a 4X6 picture, do something more eclectic.
Back a large frame with chicken wire (or string lines of wire) and use it to post pictures, flowers, tickets and other memorabilia.
Use a larger frame (perhaps antique or unique) to contain two smaller frames.
Banks Fine Art: Beat the Heat with Hot Summer Finds
It may be 105 degrees outside in Dallas but Michael Moore and Bob Banks of Banks Fine Art are still hard at work. Why not take a trip to the gallery or the gallery's website and beat the heat with some hot summer deals? After 32 years in the business they have accumulated many paintings and it's now time for some of them to go off to grace the walls of a new home. A few are listed here and Banks promises to add quite a few later as well, at or below their cost. If you're now looking to add some fine art to your bare walls, don't let this rare opportunity pass you by.
Adrien Sauzay (French/Barbizon school 1841-1928)
Au Bord de Riviere
Unframed size: 15 x 25 inches
Framed size: 25 x 36 inches
Was: $12,500 Now: $6,000
Empressive GeoDesigns: Minerals Make a Big Statement in Interiors
Moss Agate from Australia
Minerals have been making a big statement in interiors. Empressive GeoDesigns is proud to present a fascinating collection of table and floor lamps. They have a stunning, glistening array of specimens for the design trade to indulge and satisfy the senses. Be sure to drop by Empressive GeoDesigns at the E.C. Dicken showroom in the Dallas Design Center. We promise you will gain a deeper appreciation, not only for the exquisite and intricate creations of Empress Gilbert, but for the awing beauty and spell-binding stories behind each mineral.
Amethyst Rings from Brazil, Green Fuschite from Brazil, and Orange Selenite from Australia
The delicate placement of each raw mineral on an acrylic base is carefully done to showcase the natural balance and aesthetic qualities of each unique piece.
J.L. Anthony Collection: Custom Drapery Hardware Like No Other
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Lancaster & Associates is a to the trade organization, so all their products are sold strictly to design professionals.
One division of Lancaster & Associates is J.L. Anthony, decorative drapery hardware, which they distribute nationwide and have dealers and distributors scattered throughout the country. Their product is made to order, so they don’t have anything stocked or ready to go.
But where J.L .Anthony shows its colors best is in custom finishes, according to Phil Clemmons, co-founder of Lancaster & Associates.
“We can very closely, if not exactly, match any finish someone brings in here or we can create a custom finish with any look they’re wanting to do. Most people in the drapery hardware business do not offer this sort of specific customization finish,” he said. “In addition, we have the capability of doing curves and bays and corners for all these large windows. We can fashion our hardware to fit into any of those situations, which is something most hardware and drapery companies won’t do or can’t offer.”
Abbe Fenimore: Sticks & Stones
Abbe Fenimore of Studio Ten 25 shares her latest discovery of what is hot in product design.
News Flash: Apparently twigs, geodes, and tree branches are really hot in product design right now. I’m seeing this stuff everywhere!! In fact, I was even surprised to discover just how many stick and stone themed pieces are in the shop right now that I hadn’t even realized. It’s time to bring the outdoors in… literally!
1. Petrified Wood on Stand 2. Brass Twig Chandelier 3. Nickel Twig Table 4. Iron Sculptures 5. Copper Sculpture 6. Silver Branch Mirror
