What to do with your louvered doors?

 I have a love hate relationship with louvered doors.   I like the free flow of air into closets,  but I dislike each of the vertical lines and fussiness.   Many houses integrated the eighties sport such type of door.  We have removed many of ours and replaced these with a contemporary looking slab door more commensurate with the streamlined look I like, so we decided to update others.


And here's the final remaining set we have now just anticipating a facelift.....

How to update louvered doors

Designing Home: Updated louvered doors 

All you need is 1/8 inch MDF or plywood  (some doors can have enough room for 1/4 in. ) and construction adhesive, (PL Premium is my favourite). 

 Lay the doors using a table or bench and study the size of each panel area.  Cut the wood  to cover each  louvered panel section,  add a dot of adhesive every third slat next to the border and press the wood panel set up.  It should fit snugly, otherwise you can always caulk any seams before painting.

Use clamps or add something heavy to carry each panel set up and let it dry overnight.  Add new handles which you decide on.

Reusing louvered doors achievable projects 

When you take away the doors towards new ones that you are left with two perfectly good doors that requirement a new life.  

Designing Home: Louvered bathroom cabinet

Here's the cupboard my husband manufactured for our summer house  from the very best half of two closet doors.  It nestles nicely in to a small alcove in the primary bath and holds stuff you don't want on display. It also provides a great surface for changing vignettes.  We decided against hardware since you can easily open using a louver being a pull.  It also accounts for a more contemporary feel. And now what things to make from your bottoms???

There so many creative ideas for louvers on Pinterest.  I admit that a great many of them employ a country or beach feel for many years,  but should you crave a much more contemporary look it is possible to achieve it.

These are my top three faves:

Headboard 

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Painting the louvers  black  the headboard  a very contemporary feel that I quite like.

This treatment is much more country, but could be updated  if they were painted charcoal and the bedding was adjusted accordingly.


Sofa table 

The straight lines of this table make it suitable for any decor. Colour and what you put on it can automatically update the look.


Standing Shelves 

Jessica Monroe

If you wanted this undertake a more contemporary feel you might paint shelves and sides a similar colour and add plain crown to the top level and bottom.

So many creative uses of louvers.  I wish to see materials finding a new life!

Designing an inviting home

Have you ever gone into someone's home  and it was so perfect in every way that you were almost afraid to sit down or move?

When everything looks new, co-ordinated and just so, you end up with an unwelcoming and often boring home.   Such spaces can make visitors feel confined and uncomfortable.  Nothing invites you in because when  everything is  perfectly matched objects become a blur.

 Is there a middle road?

What makes an interesting  and inviting space? Do you need a large budget to have a great home?

Fortunately you can have a very interesting space on a modest budget.  It just takes a little ingenuity.  As with most things in home decor what someone finds interesting  or inviting is dependent on their likes and dislikes;  I can only write about what I find interesting in a space.  Here are some of the characteristics I think   create interesting spaces.

It has a collected feel

That simply means that the home has objects that have been acquired over time and in different ways.   It could be objects collected from travels, antiques, personal items,  family heirlooms, original art etc.  The space does not look like you went out to several stores on one day and outfitted the place. It definitely does not look like a model home!

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The rooms are arranged for conversation

Nothing is as bad as going to someone's home and not feeling like you are meant to be there.  You can have that feeling for many reasons, but  it often boils down to not feeling part of the conversation or not having a comfortable place to sit or lay down a beverage.

I would love to spend an evening here chatting with friends.

 

There's a mix of old and new

Pristine is not that interesting.  Often when everything is new you don't appreciate any of it.  You need a yardstick against which you can appreciate the newness, and that means having some things that are older.  Another great thing about  old pieces is the sense of history and intrigue they create.  Visitors are left wondering why the pieces are so important that you've decided to keep them.  If you like very contemporary or modern decor, there is still a place to add interesting objects with a history.

Briggs and Solomon 

There's a mix of hand crafted and manufactured products 

In our world of mass production, it is so easy to forget the importance of the marks left by the hands of an artist and the presence of ideas in objects.  Having  art, fine craft and the hand made is like having a whole pile of interesting people over at one time.  There is a merging of ideas and various takes on the natural and man made world. Then there's the one of a kind aspect.

Designing Home/Margaret Ryall

Everything in this space is hand made by various artists.   Even the plant was grown locally.

The natural world is referenced  

Designing Home/Margaret Ryall

This unique vessel titled Barnacle by Anita Singh plays nicely with the glass bowl of sea urchins and wild ferns.  The nautilus design on the pillow supports the overall outdoorsy theme in this casual summer house.  The table in the photo above can be seen in the background. 

 Accessories are moved/changed 

Designing Home/Margaret Ryall

Another week and a different  wild flower arrangement  and vessel by Anita Singh on the little  hand painted table.  The objects and flowers add colour, texture and variety in forms to the vignette.  A painting by a local artist peeks out behind the chair, something new to be discovered.  Candles are always inviting. 

Thought has been given to space planning 

The room is arranged as well as it can be given the space available.  The layout is conducive to flow through the space.  There is an obvious visual flow as well as  defined traffic lanes.  There's variety in heights of objects and  textures. Even a monochromatic colour scheme needs contrast.

 Designing Home

There are surprises to be discovered

I love a bit of the unexpected.   There are all kinds of ways to achieve this.  It could be a colour that you might not think about pairing with your colour scheme.  It could be an a family heirloom, some of your child's artwork scanned and made into a book, a vase you made in high school art, the work of a friend,  a display of framed post cards from trips you've taken arranged in a grid, a piece of furniture in a place where you wouldn't expect to see it, etc.  The sky is the limit.

How pleasant these doilies look backed with blue and enclosed with white frames .  Such a great way to display family heirlooms.

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 I am intrigued by the chain hanging from the candlestick.  Does it have significance to the homeowner? Did a visitor drop it and it's placed here to keep it safe?  Did the homeowner change her mind just before going out?

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 Each piece has its own compartment that acts like a mini frame.  Together there is coherency in the pieces and it is very pleasing to the eye.  My favourite is the white doll.  Where did that come from?

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And why not end with glowing forsythia, bold in scale and vivid in colour? The arrangement look so great in front of a simple, repetitive composition of fish. 

What tricks do you use to create an inviting home?

Thoughts on decorating the top of an armoire

So you have an armoire and you are eying that space between the top of it and the ceiling.  Do you or don't you put anything on top of it?   You might want to consider the following:

How much space do you have to work with?
If you have less than 24 inches  I suggest forgetting about adding something above it. Here's why:

This is a lovely  armoire, but the flowers are squished in, and they would be so much 

prettier in a different spot. The arrangement looks awkward.  The scale of the flowers and pan are perfect if only the armoire were a little shorter. If you choose to put something smaller in scale on top it would be difficult to see and you would have to stand back quite a bit to see it. 

BUT sometimes you can make it work.  There's always an exception to every  rule.

 Bosworth Hoedemaker

Even though these baskets touch the ceiling in places, their colour, scale and random/exciting arrangement  make them appear as if they are an extension of the armoire. The armoire is also at the end of a hall and will always be viewed from a distance allowing  you to see what's on top of it.

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And you can usually get away with one large low object with a tall armoire

Hingham Kitchen & Bath Designers 

especially when the object is the same colour as the armoire. 

Do you want your eye to go to the top of the armoire?
If your armoire is a centre of interest in your space you may want to add other elements to enhance that position and make it even more commanding.   You might also want to add something if you have other tall elements in the space or you want to create some height variations among the various verticals in the space.

If you have enough space and you want to draw attention to the armoire here are some tips to consider:

Think in odd numbers. 

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If the armoire has glass doors, consider using the same type of objects stored within it on the top.

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This arrangement of bottles and bedding is a natural addition to what is already stored inside the armoire.  The light colours make the whole unit look very cohesive.

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  In this child's room the top of the armoire seems to be the perfect place to store these large toys.  Because they are the same colour as the room and the armoire, they don't seem too big.  That leads me to the next tip:



If you don't want to draw too much attention to the objects, but you want to fill in the space consider using objects that are the same or similar colour of the armoire or the wall or use clear glass. 

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If you are going to add a piece of art that high make sure it is a bold image that it can be read from a distance and lean it against the wall , if you are considering using a photograph the same guidelines apply.

Think about groupings of the same object in different sizes. e.g., vases, glass bottles, boxes, baskets, birdcages, wire sculptures, spheres,  ginger jars, etc.

If you scroll back through the photos in this post you will see this tip used in a number of ways.

How about you?  Do you have any thoughts on decorating the top of an armoire? 

Arranging vignettes: Do you know your design letters?

 Are you challenged when it comes to arranging  accessories? Do you look at details in  decorating magazines and marvel at how everything  looks just right? Many people think the final touches are the most difficult part of home decor, but they don't have to be.  There are all kinds of tips and tricks of the trade. 

One of the simplest design tips I can offer is the use  of  letter formations to organize interesting accessory vignettes. I'm calling on my background in visual art and floral arrangement to offer you this advice.  Other decorators may have different ways of describing their approach. 

The most useful letters for designing vignettes are ....  A, V,  O, C, L, and M.  

Here goes...

A

Niche Interiors

This is a very tight A line of design.  The visual height is always through the middle and the base is wider, but the bottom width can vary.  My eye wants to see something slightly taller than the dish - a sphere  would be lovely here. Perhaps the owner is like me,  always looking for just the right object to finish a room.

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Another A with a tall vertical.  Because this is a monochromatic scheme the overall A shape is more evident.  Are you noticing how the height is usually a piece of art?  It  could also be a sculpture, a mirror,  a  tall vase of twigs or flowers or photos hung on the wall.  The base can also  be much wider and the height much less than these examples. 

V 

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The reverse of A is V. In a V the lowest point is usually in the middle of the arrangement.  Sometimes thinking about it as a check mark is helpful because one side is usually taller and one is shorter.  A V line of design doesn't  have the height through the middle that an A line of design does. Sometimes only these two shapes are presented in vignette discussions, but there are so many more ways to think about it.  

C

 Lucid Interior Design Inc.

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 You don't often find C lines of design and they are the most obvious when there's only one object banked by something that is circular as with the mirror and twigs.  Your eye just wants to make that sweep.  But sometimes it is the placement of objects that creates a C sweep with the largest object placed at the beginning of the C as in the photo above. 


 o

 Joni Spear Interior Design

 Some designers may argue this is a classic V formation but I would disagree because the mirror causes the eye to move in a circular fashion around the display.  The lamps are taken in with that sweep.

 

 Rachel Reider Interiors

 Another  symmetrical O line of design.  The base is set so broadly that your eye just wants to do the circular movement around the objects. The three rounded shapes  add to the circular movement.  

Another very strong O line of design.  It is even more obvious when you have a narrow base. 


L 

  CNW PRODUCTION

Urrutia Design


The requirement for an L line of design is a very tall object placed on the edge of the design with a broad base.  Of course you can also reverse the L.  If the hurricanes were taller I would call the  vignette above a V. 

M

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You don't often see the M line of design used, but it works well when you are displaying collections where you have several heights with dips in the middle and you start with shorter objects on the ends.  

W 

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If the shorter objects are on either end it is an M, but when you start with taller objects on the ends and it is also high in the middle  it moves into a W.  

What line of design do these vignettes follow? 

1.

2.

3.

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1.This is  an A because of the wide base and the tall height through the middle. 

2.  Whenever you see a  lot of objects of similar heights spread out and starting and ending with a shorter object it is an M.  The more objects there are it can turn into a long zig zag of Ms. 

3.  Oh so tricky.  Without the curved object to the right it would be an O line of design, but your eye stops on it making it  a C. 

 

And there you have it.   Keep your eyes open when you see arrangements and observe the  lines of design  used. Then start arranging! 

5 Ways to add interest to a dining room

When someone says dining room, what picture appears in your mind?  Try  it.  List the elements.

For many of us these words conjure up a dining room set with everything matching, a chandelier and some sort of hutch or maybe buffet.  Probably a picture of some sort will be included.  I bet matching is the most obvious characteristic.

It doesn't have to be that way unless that's what you like.

 Here are 5 ways you can  make your dining space stand out a little.

Mix and match your chairs and table

The days of dining sets have moved behind us.  In many magazines you will see all sorts of mixing of styles, materials and colours. I love the look of upholstered chairs with a wood table. They soften the hard edges and provide some relief in the "wood" department. Some adventurous types will go for two different styles of chairs.

 Adore magazine

 Another option if you aren't too adventurous is to upholster each of your wooden chairs with a different, but co-ordinated fabric.  Note how this room sports more traditional chairs with a very simple table.

In the case of my own dining space, I painted my matching chairs charcoal  and upholstered them with a much lighter fabric to make them the centre of interest in  my sea of golden tones. I am trying to get up enough nerve to paint the solid ash buffets the same colour.   I'm not there yet.  It's difficult when your furniture is all hand made with love.

Look for a harmonious  buffet 

Forget about having a matching buffet (I wish I could!).  Look for one with the same undertone as your table  or chairs and similar lines if you like, or go for something painted or a different style entirely.  Some element of it should relate it to the room as a whole: wood tone, style, or colour of other objects in room.

Here are two I would choose for my space to work with my chairs.

They certainly harmonize with the darkness of the chairs, the style is mid centuryish like the table and I like the fact they are both raised off the floor.  This openness will give the illusion of space, always an added plus in a small room. 

Have at least one hand made/original item

 We live in a mass produced economy where the answer  to everything is in a big box store.  Not so.  Save your pennies, visit an antique shop, a fine craft store or gallery.  Look for something you love, made by the hand of an artist, and place it with pride knowing it's unique.  It doesn't have to be large.

This month I have a lovely pot on my buffet created by an artist friend, Anita Singh.  I love her work 

because it always relates to the natural world.  Barnacle is always a conversation piece.  It is also the perfect example of my next point.

Use a variety of textures

Textures make the most interesting addition to spaces, and it is the element that I see under-utilized  in homes. In my space I have silk drapes, lots of wood grain, a highly textured plant container made from ceramic, a white wavy vase, metal candlesticks with mother of pearl, and two plants.  I love texture!

Choose one unexpected element

Right now the pot my ferns are in is my an unexpected item.  It is so rough and worn looking and I have it paired with silk drapes. Other options could be your light fixture, a painting, something on your tabletop or a small piece of furniture in a corner.  Some would say it should have bling, but I'll leave that up to you.

What's your "interesting " score?

 This is a very arbitrary checklist, based on what is "current"  in my  decor reading and viewing.   Hardly scientific!

No my dining room isn't perfect but hopefully it is interesting.
Just because I write about design doesn't mean my space is perfect (whatever that means) or that it even lives up to what I know about the elements and principles of design.  There's the small matter of competing priorities including: budget, interest and energy, connections to objects and furniture, beliefs about your role consuming and junking, and the desire for good old predictability in your environment etc.