The Adaptable Kitchen—Kitchen Design for the Boomers

1. Side by side refrigerator/freezer makes portions of both available to standing & seated users.
2. Install integral or undermount sink to aid in cleanup & allow sliding of heavy objects.
3. Mount ovens so that the bottom rack is close in height to adjacent transfer surface.
4. Install adaptable and adjustable lighting, such as glare free task lighting.
5. Built-in pullout cutting boards near sink & pullout hot pads near the oven.
6. Open area with fold-away doors at sink for seated users.
7. Use appliance garages to put heavy objects at countertop height.
8. Lever style sink faucets & pull style cabinet hardware.
9. Consider touch latch cabinet doors instead of cabinet knobs and pulls.
10. Use pull out pantries and lazy susans for maximum accessibility.

The role of the interior designer is to assure that design solutions anticipate the clients short term and long term needs so the value of any design adaptation is money well spent.

Step lightly when choosing Floor Covering

It simultaneously adds color, texture & variety to a room. It accounts for about 25% of a room’s surface and can represent one of the largest investments you will make in your home design. We are talking about your floor covering decision. Despite its importance, many homeowners mistakenly separate the floor covering decision from other interior design considerations.

“Going it alone”, has two major concerns. First, the dizzying array of textures, colors and designs gives you ample opportunity to use floor covering as a major part of your interior design selection. Second, with so many options, it can be an extremely confusing and stressful decision process.

A successful floor covering project can involve three major players. The carpet retailer is the link between you and the carpet mills. The dealer will be able to recommend the right type of covering and appropriate fiber or fiber blends based on your budget, use, lifestyle and tastes. The next major player is the installer. Most reputable dealers have their own in-house installers or a team of contract installers. As these are the people who actually install your carpet, it’s important to have qualified, experienced installers.

The third ’player’ is your interior designer. As a frequent purchaser of carpet, your interior designer has a good sense of who the quality carpet retailers and installers are. Also an interior designer can add a few simple touches that will make a major improvement in a room’s appearance. These touches can include beveling, custom installations, special cuts, or even a blending of two different types of carpeting. Another dramatic effect is achieved by blending hardwood floors with carpeting. Custom flooring doesn’t necessarily mean expensive. A collaborative approach with your ’team players’ can enhance your home. Make your choice carefully and you’ll enjoy the dividends for a long time.

The Orchestration of Lighting

Lighting is the most elusive part of interior design. It is difficult to explain even from a technical standpoint. We need to see and understand the various levels of lighting that enhance a space in every way.

There are three spheres of lighting: Ambient light illuminates the interior and makes one aware of the shape and dimensions of the space. Task lighting is the light by which you read or sew and allows you to see the controls on your audio equipment. Accent lighting is the third type. It can be directional lighting in the ceiling that bathes a painting or an up-light hidden behind a plant to cast a wonderfully lacy shadow on the ceilings and walls.

John Saladino a national renown interior designer states, "What I seek in the design of ambient lighting is ethereal, if not spiritual quality. Lighting should never confront you, it should be hidden and beautifully orchestrated." "If you think of light not as the buying of lamps, but rather as the complex orchestration of levels and kinds of light, you will become the conductor who gives direction to the theater that is your home"

Lighting when properly executed will enhance a space in every way.

Decorating Tips for the New Homeowner

With closing costs, financing terms and down payments to worry about, most new home buyers have very little time to consider the colors of the bathroom or kitchen or whether or not to move the wall between the family and living rooms. But long after the house is yours, and the stresses of closing are forgotten, you’re still living with a bathroom you don’t like or a family room that is not quite the right size. These tips can help you avoid costly remodeling jobs in the future and help you start a workable design plan that will truly give you the home of your dreams.
These tips are taken from a seminar given by Norma Pofsky.

General Considerations

Look At The Total Picture: Come up with a home design that works for you. Don’t allow nit picky details to cloud your vision. They can be easily corrected later on. Consider room layout, size, and general affordability. If the house seems to fit your lifestyle, you’re off on the right foot!

Come Up With A Workable Plan: Every home needs a “flow” to it to be comfortable. A workable plan takes the stress and confusion out of designing your new home. A professional designer can help blend your lifestyle, budget and tastes into something you can live with and afford.

Consider Permanent Items: Tubs, walls, doors, windows, kitchens and baths are expensive to change later on. Although carpeting and wall colors are more noticeable, they can be easily (and less expensively) changed.

Go Over The Floor Plans: Doorways, walls, closets and configurations of windows should be considered prior to construction. They’re permanent.

Specifics Mean A Lot

Pick A Color Scheme You Like: Build around this scheme. Let it “flow” throughout the rooms as the main or complementary color.

The Designer’s Secret - Proper Lighting! Behind every great room is carefully considered lighting. It is the finishing touch! Don’t install recessed lighting unless you know your furniture layout.

Delay Wall Covering And Mirrors: All new homes tend to settle during the first year.

Scheduling: Coordinating deliveries and the schedules of plumbers, electricians and carpenters can be complicated, time-consuming and costly. It is best left to the professionals.

MONEY SAVING TIPS

Make An Inventory Of Existing Furniture: New design does not necessarily mean all new furniture. You can change the face of old furniture, giving them a whole new look at a fraction of the cost.

Go Lightly On The Window Treatments: Consider light control and privacy. Custom treatments can come later on when you’re ready to design the room.

Go With The Builder’s Standards: Unless you have your plan in place, don’t spend big bucks on upgrading flooring or fixtures if you’re not sure which direction you are heading.

Consider Durability Of Materials As Well As Attractiveness: Good designers consider the practically of materials as well as visual appeal and comfort.

The Most Important Tip Of All

Set A Budget and Time Table: Unless you’re independently wealthy, take your time, slowly build your home. We work with our clients toward a total look that evolves throughout the house. We also work out a natural order of what should be done and when.

Inviting Nooks - Window Seating

Even a small neglected space can be converted into a charming window niche when you combine imagination with thoughtful planning.

A window seat in a dining area will provide additional seating but also can be a wonderful place to bask in the sunshine. The window seat shown here in a home office provides a perfect place to take a break and curl up with a good book.

Remember beneath the cushions is one of the surprise benefits—storage space!

Reading, napping, storage, extra seating—a window seat can be amazingly functional.

The Re-Awakening of Tile & Stone

Once the providence only of rich pharaohs, sultans and emperors, tile is now a thoroughly modern and democratic material. It is hard to believe we have only recently learned to appreciate this hard-working material. It was not until the 1990s that we began using tile at the same rate as the Europeans.

What Americans love most of all are the glorious natural stone offerings from around the world. The elegant classic looks provide a sense of permanence and a connection to the earth, both concepts that are especially appreciated by a relatively young country in the midst of a technology revolution. Stone adds patina and age and that’s desirable for the large estate homes and desired in new construction - helping to create a welcome sense of the past.

However new looks and concepts in ceramics, glass, porcelain and even concrete are coming on fast and furiously, and they are bound to fascinate designers and clients. The Italians are experimenting with tiles that combine metal, glass and ceramic. They add stainless steel and copper traces to glass, and float glass particles in ceramic glazes to produce effects worthy of a new millennium. At Italy’s Cersaie show, for example, one saw rectangular tiles in vastly exaggerated lengths, mesh-mounted porcelain pebbles in medallion and border designs, and tiles that mimicked the texture and looks of textiles, including Venetian lace and the sun-struck geometric fabrics of Moroccan bazaars.

Yes America loves brand new homes with the latest technology and conveniences but, at the same time, they admire the time-anchored manors of the Loire Valley and the country houses of England - tile and stone can help achieve a satisfying blend.

Top Ten Reasons to Work with a Designer

1. The ability to solve problems
2. The expertise to prevent costly mistakes
3. Access to a much wider range of sources
4. A ‘smartphone' worth millions
5. Guidance through the decision making process
6. Better quality and longer-lasting style
7. Help with setting priorities
8. Arbitration with your significant other
9. The power to advocate with trades-people, showrooms & manufacturers
10. The Ability To Get The Job Done!

HOW TO NEUTRALIZE YOUR HOME FOR RESALE - by Norma Pofsky - Collaborative Design Group

When prospective buyers are brought into your home you need to appeal to their senses and not overpower them with you own personal tastes. Neutralizing your home with a minimal investment can easily reap maximum dollars.

First you need to look at your home in an objective way. See it the way others do. Ask a friend or relative to help. Consult with an interior designer. Ask you realtor. The goal is to emphasize the strong points of your home to give the prospective buyer the feeling that your house will work - for them. We need to appeal to our buyer’s senses - visual, auditory, olfactory and kinesthetic.

All surfaces should be sparkly clean.

If all else fails, camouflage. Let’s start the tour.

Entry: This area is very important. If the exterior didn’t excite them, here’s your chance to impress them; if the exterior was favorable, here’s the opportunity to begin cementing the sale. The National Association of Home Builders reports that 74 percent of home buyers want and expect an entry area to be a feature of their next home. If you don’t have one, create one, perhaps with a piece of artwork and a floor plant. Remove heavily patterned wall cover. Mirrors can help a small or dark entry. Add an inexpensive area rug to give the look of richness and luxury. Remember lighting - a chandelier hanging from an 8’ ceiling tends to make the ceiling ‘feel’ lower. Use a flush mounted style or recessed fixture.

Living Room and Family Rooms: Too much furniture can make a room appear smaller. Consider relocating or removing unnecessary chairs, table, etc. Rooms need a sense of order & function. You may desire to change the traffic patterns in your room for a better flow. A corner in need of furniture fills nicely with a large floor plant. Establish some drama by placing a light can on the floor behind a plant or sofa. If you want to establish a feeling of separate groupings such as a writing or reading area, use a separate light source to provide a sense of definition. If you have a fireplace, light it to give both a cozy feeling and a wonderful aroma.
Dining Room: Create a warm impression by setting the table. Try some inexpensive fresh flowers to add fragrance as well as warmth.

Bedroom: As the bed is most likely the dominant piece of furniture, be sure the bed linens are neat & attractive. Limit your pieces of furniture to the essentials to have the room appear larger. Clean up up the closets - overstuffed can make even a large closet look small!
Kitchen: Appearances here are critical. The color of your appliances & fixtures is the big tip off to the age of a product. White gives little hint of age - investing in re-spraying may increase the perceived value. Clear away clutter, add accent with colorful accessories. A nice throw rug can cover drab or worn floors.

Bathroom: Serious consideration should be given to damaged fixtures, cracked tiles, etc. If a room is just dated, compensate with improvements such as a new faucet, cabinet hardware and towels. Add a good sized mirror above the sink to significantly brighten & open up the room. Remember to remove personal effects.

With very little effort and investment, you too can get maximum results by neutralizing your home.