Design Guide: The Source for interior design products, services and fine home furnishings.

The ASID Austin Design Community held its 27th Annual Design Excellence Awards ceremony on November 7, at Abel's on the Lake. Austin's premiere design community joined in to celebrate creativity, innovation, and achievement in interior design. The evening’s festivities began with a fajita bar, cocktails, and a photo booth.

Designers viewed and experienced new products from 22 vendors including, Dorado Stone Distributors, Anchor Ventana, Cosentino, Legen Lighting, BMC, Crossville Tile & Stone, Daltile, Decorum Architectural Stone, High Tech Flooring and Design, Kravet/Lee Jofa, Stockton Hicks Laffey, Stone SOlutions, Travis Tile, Kingwood Fine Cabinetry, Architectural Tile & Stone, Austin Stone Works, Exteriors Designer Showroom, Sherle Wagner Intl, Sunsational Solutions, Texas Sun & Shade, and Tufenkian Artisan Carpets.

• Rachel Duke's blog
• Add new comment
• Read more

Related terms: Accessories, Antiques, Architects, Art, Bath & Plumbing, Beds & Bedding, Builders, Countertops, Decorative Tile , Designers, Fabrics, Rugs & Carpets, Furniture, Hardware, Home Theater, Kitchens, Lighting, Outdoor Living, Stone, Specialized Service, Technology, Window Treatments, Remodeler, Appliances, Wood Flooring & Floor Stain, Fencing & Gates, Moving and Storage, Ornamental Iron, Painting, Pianos, Mantels and Fountains, Glass, Shutters, Pillows and Trim, Real Estate Getaways, Architects and Building Designers, Doors and Windows, Cabinetry, Art Restoration & Appraisals, Design Dining

by: Rachel Duke

Slocum Street Style 2012 was once again a great success. Yesterday evening, Slocum Street brimmed with design enthusiasts and curious others strolling along leisurely from showroom to showroom in the twilight of the evening. Each showroom was full of the bustle of lively conversation.

The spread at McGannon Showrooms

They helped soothe the growl of people’s stomachs by serving light bites and drinks. Also featured in each showroom were individual raffle prizes for people in attendance. For those with bigger appetites, there were food trucks located on a few street corners filled with the smells of mouth-watering food.

The Kitchen Source had chefs from Subzero whip up some scrumptious tex mex finger foods for guests.

• Rachel Duke's blog
• Add new comment
• Read more

Related terms: Accessories, Antiques, Architects, Art, Bath & Plumbing, Beds & Bedding, Builders, Countertops, Decorative Tile , Designers, Fabrics, Rugs & Carpets, Furniture, Hardware, Home Theater, Kitchens, Lighting, Outdoor Living, Stone, Specialized Service, Technology, Window Treatments, Remodeler, Appliances, Wood Flooring & Floor Stain, Fencing & Gates, Moving and Storage, Ornamental Iron, Painting, Pianos, Mantels and Fountains, Glass, Shutters, Pillows and Trim, Real Estate Getaways, Architects and Building Designers, Doors and Windows, Cabinetry, Art Restoration & Appraisals, Design Dining

by: Rachel Duke

New Braunfels Downtown Design District is excited to announce their first ever downtown design stroll! It will be held Thursday, September 20, and the third Thursday of every month from 5 - 9 p.m.; so don't despair if you can't make it to this one. All seven shops will be open later hours for these events and each will have their own separate events and happenings. This downtown design stroll is not only a premiere event, it marks the grand opening of Adele Kerr & Company's showroom!

• Rachel Duke's blog
• Add new comment
• Read more

Related terms: Accessories, Antiques, Architects, Art, Bath & Plumbing, Beds & Bedding, Builders, Countertops, Decorative Tile , Designers, Fabrics, Rugs & Carpets, Furniture, Hardware, Home Theater, Kitchens, Lighting, Outdoor Living, Stone, Specialized Service, Technology, Window Treatments, Remodeler, Appliances, Wood Flooring & Floor Stain, Fencing & Gates, Moving and Storage, Ornamental Iron, Painting, Pianos, Mantels and Fountains, Glass, Shutters, Pillows and Trim, Real Estate Getaways, Architects and Building Designers, Doors and Windows, Cabinetry, Art Restoration & Appraisals, Design Dining

by: Rachel Duke

Photo courtesy of Bulhon Design Associates, Inc.

Out of all the features in your home, what is the one thing that deserves the most detail when it comes to longevity and durability? Your flooring. There are various factors homeowners consider when it comes to choosing the type of flooring they need; both practical reasons and particular tastes. Due to the shifts in homeowners’ needs and the innovative technology in materials, trends in flooring, such as wood, come and go. 

While wide planks are still very much in style, the texture and type of wood has shifted from a hand-scraped to a more simple, smooth, clean look with lighter-colored woods or finishes. Engineered flooring with lots of bleached, whitewash and even gray finishes and stains are coming back in style.

“While people still like to see some character, the interest in heavy hand-scraping has lessened,” said Nancy Bulhon, ASID, Bulhon Design Associates, Inc. “There’s already innate character in the way the wood is cut, whether it’s a sawn or a rift cut, with knotting and graining.”

Homeowners and design professionals are moving away from the traditional brown hand-scraped wood, which actually requires more labor and time, to a cleaner more simplistic look.

“To me, that doesn’t necessarily mean that people [who have shied away from hand-scraped] want modern interiors,” she said.

She parallels it to designers and homeowners that are getting away from faux finishes (artificially enhanced).

• Rachel Duke's blog
• Add new comment
• Read more

Related terms: Wood Flooring & Floor Stain, Remodeler

by: Rachel Duke

Come by and see us today and tomorrow at Dallas Market Hall at booth 313! Thank you, McGannon Showrooms for such an exquisitely designed booth. We've gotten so many compliments. Great to be among a plethora of talented and wonderful design professionals at Metrocon12.

Today, we featured the talented lip print reader, Kathyrn of Pucker Up, who told people their all-around personalities and what tastes and desires they had. What a fabulous time!

• Rachel Duke's blog
• Add new comment
• Read more

Related terms: Accessories, Antiques, Architects, Art, Bath & Plumbing, Beds & Bedding, Builders, Countertops, Decorative Tile , Designers, Fabrics, Rugs & Carpets, Furniture, Hardware, Home Theater, Kitchens, Lighting, Outdoor Living, Stone, Specialized Service, Technology, Window Treatments, Remodeler, Appliances, Wood Flooring & Floor Stain, Fencing & Gates, Moving and Storage, Ornamental Iron, Painting, Pianos, Mantels and Fountains, Glass, Shutters, Pillows and Trim, Real Estate Getaways, Architects and Building Designers, Doors and Windows, Cabinetry, Art Restoration & Appraisals, Design Dining

by: Rachel Duke

METROCON12 is the largest design-related regional expo and conference in the USA. The premier two-day event will take place at Dallas Market Hall [2200 Stemmons Freeway] on Thursday, August 9 and Friday, August 10, 2012.

METROCON is a resourceful alliance: a tradeshow and convention organized through landmark volunteer collaboration between the Texas Chapter of ASID [American Society of Interior Designers] and the Texas / Oklahoma Chapter of IIDA [International Interior Design Association]. In a determined effort to strengthen the design community, these two organizations have joined forces and pooled resources to offer the best in exhibitors and continuing education to their members and beyond.

METROCON focuses on introducing the latest in products and innovative ideas to the Southwest region’s community of interior designers, architects, design students and other essential industry members. 

• Rachel Duke's blog
• Add new comment
• Read more

Related terms: Accessories, Antiques, Architects, Art, Bath & Plumbing, Beds & Bedding, Builders, Countertops, Decorative Tile , Designers, Fabrics, Rugs & Carpets, Furniture, Hardware, Home Theater, Kitchens, Lighting, Outdoor Living, Stone, Specialized Service, Technology, Window Treatments, Remodeler, Appliances, Wood Flooring & Floor Stain, Fencing & Gates, Moving and Storage, Ornamental Iron, Painting, Pianos, Mantels and Fountains, Glass, Shutters, Pillows and Trim, Real Estate Getaways, Architects and Building Designers, Doors and Windows, Cabinetry, Art Restoration & Appraisals, Design Dining

by: Rachel Duke

In this blog post, Denise McGaha of Denise McGaha Interiors focuses on wood floors and how they fit into your deadline dilemmas.

CLIENT: I have been told by my contractor that I have to make a wood floor selection for our remodel and that there are differences between nail down and glue down. Which one do we want?

ME:  WOW, that's a loaded question. In a nutshell, here is how I differentiate.

• Denise McGaha Interiors's blog
• Add new comment
• Read more

Related terms: Builders, Wood Flooring & Floor Stain

by: Denise McGaha I...