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Design Guide: The Source for interior design products, services and fine home furnishings.
Nooks and Crannies: Things That Make Up a Home
An architect from California, Berry Berkus, used to say, “humans love arches.” It’s true, we do. But, we love all special places. We love attic rooms with slanted ceilings, we love window seats, bay windows and clever niches. No one ever walked into a rectangular room with a flat ceiling and gushed, “Oh, I LOVE this space!” (unless it had a special feature like a window wall or something). So, remember to ask your architect or building designer to give you some special places, some special touches. Don’t just build a home that flows well and is attractive from the street. Those things are important, but create something that surprises you and makes your home feel distinctive once you get inside or when you encounter the backyard.
Custom Fireplace Design with Iron Age Studios
More homes are being designed with several fireplaces, as opposed to one. Although fireplaces are only used sporadically during certain seasons, they are one of the main focal points of the room. With this said, it is important to maintain the fireplaces(s)' aesthetic so that it does not become an eyesore in the space. Through several techniques, Iron Age Studios implements beautiful fireplace designs from hand-forged firescreens and tools to custom fireplace surrounds and hoods.
Forja Designs is a manufacturer and distributor of artistic wood and wrought iron products like doors, gates, garages, balconies, etc. They have a wide selection of magnificent products at your selection custom made for your Home. At Forja Designs they value every customer and welcome the opportunity to work with them. Since the beginning they acknowledge the importance of working together with builders, designers, architects, and homeowners to meet or exceed their specific needs.
Modernizing Mailboxes
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Mailboxes are one of the first things you see when you enter a residence, an important element of the overall entry statement. No longer something that we wish to have fade into the surroundings, but rather one more opportunity to dress the area up. We are seeing a growing trend in beautiful customized mailboxes and a great amount of thought is being put in its design.
Lambert's Wins Coveted John Staub Award for Landscape Architecture
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Design Guide Partner Lambert’s has been elevating the industry standard for close to a century. With its 90th anniversary in 2009, Lambert’s is the oldest design/build landscape architectural firm in Dallas and are the winners of the prestigious Landscape Architecture John Staub Award. The Texas Chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America’s John Staub Award is one of the highest honors that demonstrate design excellence.
See the Home Of Tomorrow, Today
The 2011 Texas State Fair is premiering The Home of Tomorrow, an exclusive world-class home exhibit exposing innovative and cutting edge design to a broader market. Consisting of two homes: The Net-Zero Energy Home of Tomorrow, interior design by Boudreaux Associates, and The Remodeled Home of Tomorrow, interior design by Denise McGaha Interiors are visually stimulating homes that broaden the concept of current interior design. The unique exhibit brings together local builders, architects, and interior designers with some of the world’s most advanced home product manufactures.
DG Gals Capture the Fun of Springboard to Design 2011
One of the best perks of being a DG Gal are the Design events we are invited to attend, and honored to help promote! We are privileged to be the media sponsor for many of the best design events around town, and we are always excited to participate in helping recognize the work done by Texas designers. Hosted by NEST Modern and co-sponsored by Design Guide, The Gallery Stores of Whit Hanks, David Alan Rugs, California Closets, Imago Dei, Exteriors Designer Showroom, Ferguson Showrooms, and Kravet, the Austin Community ASID held Springboard To Design for Austin & San Antonio Designers on May 18th. A full day of continuing education, prizes and fun, the design community came together to learn from one another. We were there with our cameras capturing the images that show a group of great designers who know how to have a good time!
Our Favorite Design Blogs
The wealth of online resources has changed the face of our design community. It was not that long ago that our daily exposure to design trends was based on our regional resources, so our design community was just that… regional. Exposure to national and international design trends was limited to a select group of uber successful designers, while the rest of the community anxiously waited each month to turn the pages of national publications such as Architectural Digest. Now that so much valuable information is readily available online, our design community has no borders. Now in combination with print, homeowners and design professionals alike can get up to the minute ideas, inspiration and sources through leading daily design blogs. For example, The Design Guide receives emails and requests from as far away as Dubai and Greece in search of resources, and we communicate via Facebook and twitter with Designers everywhere. We love to share the latest ideas, inspiration images and sources available in Texas, and in turn we have a list of blogs we are following that keep us informed from around the globe. Here are just a few of the blogs and online resources that our team loves to follow. Let us know your favorites.
Glasshouse Brings Beauty to the Shower
Glasshouse recently added to their showroom a unique shower enclosure that has become increasingly popular with DFW architects and designers. A great deal of time is spent in the selection of tiles, stones, and fixtures for the bathroom, and until recently, the shower door has been a bit of an after thought. The main criteria being that it be as unobtrusive as possible. However, with the ability to use decorative glass, designers are now finding ways to showcase the shower with an enclosure that becomes the star performer in the bathroom.
Hardscape- An Essential Element of the Garden by Paul Fields, President of Lambert Landscape Company
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Our first thought when hearing the word “garden” is to think of lush lawn, trees, flowering shrubs, perennials and annual color accents; these elements, of course, make up the more natural or “softscape” components of a garden. A garden certainly isn’t a “garden” without plants. However, the primary importance to the structure and symmetry of a garden is provided by the hardscape elements, i.e., walks, walls, terraces, pools, fountains, decks, fences and arbors.
