Chaise Lounge, Chaise Longue.

- "And what do we put in this corner?"

I have yet to find a room where a chaise "longue" (French for long chair) couldn’t successfully answer that question (well…there might be a few exceptions). They are perfect for master bathrooms; provided that the size of the room allows it: What better place to lounge with a magazine and a drink after a bubble bath? Bedrooms? Yes. Libraries? Yes. So you’ve made your poor husband move the furniture until his back went out and “still” you end up with some empty corner in the room! Worry no more: Madame chaise lounge can rescue you from your dilemma. These versatile and decorative pieces of upholstery come in all shapes and sizes; they don’t always have to perfectly “match’ the rest of the furnishings in a room because they are an accent piece and often a focal point. This doesn’t mean you don’t have to harmonize its fabrics with those of the rest of the room or that you can put a Victorian one next to a Corbusier sofa. For those of you who follow "Mad Men", Betty Draper made a huge faux pas on the third season by landing an over-scaled fainting couch ( a close cousin of the chaise lounge) in front of the fireplace in her "fifties" living room . All I am saying is that you can have a little bit more latitude to work with and that you can be a bit more whimsical with the selection.

P/S Don’t forget that "indispensable" accessory called a throw .

Ernesto Garcia, ASID

Mosaics: A European Delicacy

Mosaics, mosaics, and mosaics…they come in glass, stone, porcelain, metal, wood and some exciting new materials. You can use them on floors, walls and ceilings; they’ve been around as far back as the 4th century BC and they are experiencing a revival as vibrant as their most daring colors! I am currently designing numerous kitchen and bathroom projects and it seems that every one of my clients wants to see these beautiful little squares used in one place or another. I have always been a big fan of mosaics, for aesthetical as well as practical reasons; I think they are timeless and I use them in contemporary as well as traditional projects. Their versatility allows them to wrap around the smallest radiuses, furthermore some suppliers will customize my designs for a specific backsplash or border so I can be as creative as I want! Fields of pale colors give uniformity and serenity to a room; vibrant combinations of assorted colors can make you want to dance the Rumba. Formal or casual, traditional or contemporary the rediscovery of mosaics has brought new blood to design, to the spaces where we live, work and enjoy ourselves. On this blog you can see a bathroom I recently designed, the central feature in the space is a “rug” made out of intricately cut marble pieces that create the flowers, volutes, borders and medallions; the motif is carried to the tub surrounds as well as shower walls.

Floral Patterns...

Sometimes floral patterns have no place in interiors, it all depends on the style of a room or a client’s preference. However, a well-selected floral motif can bring great interest and dynamism to a space. Whether it is a contemporary or a traditional interior, the use of floral patterns can be crucial to its successful completion. Remember: “Everything in moderation”. On this picture the feel of the room is very classic and serene. The palette is very understated, stone and truffle with pale celery, off-white and dark brown accents. Solids have been used in the furnishings that require the largest yardage: sofa and draperies. The sofa pillows display more solids or geometric patterns but it is the ottoman in the center of the room that introduces the lively note with its two-tone large repeat floral pattern. Another solid would have made this room dull and uninteresting. Notice that the palette was respected to the end. In other words it’s all a matter of “geography”, where to place the stroke of pattern that will give life to a room. Sometimes, I will choose to use the floral pattern on draperies, particularly if view is not that interesting, I call that: “one out of two”. Now…if you do want to use more than one floral pattern in the room my recommendation is that you select patterns with large, medium and small repeats to avoid competition between the fabrics.

(Fabrics by Kravet)

THE WINDOW SEAT

The Window Seat is a very useful design feature that can add great beauty and character to any room. On the practical side, a hinged top can turn them into additional storage for linens, blankets, pillows, etc. and in many rooms, they provide additional seating that could not otherwise be achieved; often times I find that they are the only option for breakfast nooks in my remodel work. Who doesn’t dream of taking their shoes off, wrapping themselves in a cozy throw, leaning against a bunch of pillows and reading a good book on a window seat? It is a classical image, but one that I find young and old still enjoy. Another one of their virtues is that they can work as an “anchoring” element for the otherwise uninteresting window, giving it an additional function and providing the visual base it might have lacked before. And as I always say: “ They come in all colors”, by that I am not just referring to the actual hues but to the infinite design possibilities I find when I use them in my work. They can be a subtle and understated corner, such as the picture, where lightly patterned shades come down to a crisp white window sill; next, the seat cushion and pillows present a delicate palette with peaceful patterns. In contrast, their traditional English and French versions display an abundance of patterns, textures and rich tailoring details. Finally one more piece of important advice: Remember it only takes the right length and depth to turn them into a daybeds and voila: you have another bed in any room that can also serve as a guest bedroom!

(Fabrics by Kravet)

Selecting Furniture Styles

One of the most important and challenging considerations in selecting a piece of furniture is looking at its legs. Legs are much more than the supporting structure of a piece of furniture: they are definers of style. Legs can make a chair look light and graceful or hefty and regal. Traditional styles have been perfected through centuries and often provide us with the most outstanding, refined and proportionate examples of legs. This picture shows a dining set and buffet with ball and trumpet legs and cross stretcher base, a style developed by Spanish woodcraftsmen from the Catalonia region during the XVI Century. When designing a room it is important to keep in mind that highly detailed legs bring a lot attention to themselves, therefore it is preferable to use solid, tone on tone or mildly patterned fabrics that won’t compete with the richness of the wooden pieces. (Fremarc Furnishings)

Stairway Runners

A stairway in a foyer can make or break the space. It is the first impression a house gives to its visitors; a good stairway is like that indispensable broche on a dress. A stairway’s railing is one of its most important components; depending on the style of a home, railings can be richly ornate or simple and understated. Complementing the railing is the treatment used on treads and risers; some spaces call for stone, wood, stone and wood or runners. It is important to be cautious of how much detail you use on railings and how much detail you use on the steps, it is rarely necessary to make a strong statement with both. This photograph shows an eclectic residence where I kept the railings very geometric and unfussy, I did so because I wanted to create a dynamic effect on the runner, using different patterns on treads and risers. That way you perceive one pattern at eye level when all you see is risers and another pattern when you are stepping on its treads. I wanted to create an element of surprise in the way the stairway is experienced. Remember: always elegant, never boring!

Designing Small and Medium Size Rooms

When I am hired to decorate the interiors of older homes, condos or apartments, one thing I am almost always faced with is smaller size rooms. The truth is you can still have stylish, elegant and comfortable spaces regardless of their size. Here are some guidelines: 1) Select a light monochromatic palette, less saturated colors reflect more light and give a greater sense of spaciousness. 2) Try to place furnishings close to the perimeter walls, this will give openness to the center of the room and create visual openness. 3) Using a monochromatic palette doesn’t mean a room has to be dull or boring, select fabrics with different patterns and textures. In this Living Room I selected a dozen different fabrics. 4) Limit yourself to one large piece of furniture, for example one sofa or one large armoire and complement that piece with smaller ones. 5) Don’t be afraid to use an eclectic mix of furnishings, monochromatic palettes tend to unify them and harmonize the look. 6) Another optional trick is to make ceilings look higher by using vertical stripes on your wall-coverings and painting the ceilings in a glossy finish that reflects more light. Remember:"Small is beautiful". Ernesto Garcia, ASID

Appliance Garage(s)

Let’s face it: we can’t live without them. Whether you are a gourmet cook or not, chances are you have a few “exposed” appliances on your kitchen counters. Either that or you have them tucked away in your cabinets and you have to wrestle with pots and pans every time you need to use them; worse yet, you do have an appliance garage in a corner with a roll-up door that often gets stuck and all it holds it your pasta maker. We love all these wonderful kitchen toys, from coffee grinders to bread makers…if only we could access them easily without cluttering our counters! Worry no more, I have the solution! One thing I have been doing lately in remodeling and new construction is adding depth to at least one of the countertops in the kitchen, thus providing room to house a continuous appliance garage as part of the cabinets. I design them with top hinged-retractable doors (an upper light turns on when you push them back) and pull out platforms on rollers where all your appliances sit; that way you can bring them closer to you, use them, put them away and close the door for a clean look!

Multifunctional Guest Bedrooms

Depending on the scale of your home, it’s very likely that your guest bedrooms will need to serve functions other than just bedrooms for your guests. More and more we see them double as home offices, dens, etc. If you have ever been one of those unfortunate guests that has to sleep in one of those insufferable sleeper-sofas, the sort where the middle bar is located right at lower back level, you know well there is no comfortable position to catch your Z’s. I have one word for happy guests or family lounging: Daybed! Something as simple as a twin mattress and a box spring, the right assortment of pillows, bed skirt and a bedspread sized to completely cover the mattress can do the trick efficiently and elegantly. Trundle beds can also work as daybeds. Just remember there are other ways to keep your guests from staying longer than they have to. Ernesto Garcia, ASID

Focal Points in Interior Design

How to Select a Focal Points in a Room

Have you ever walked into a room where everything is virtually screaming at you? A room where everything competes for attention in placement, style, scale, color and texture?

One of the ways to avoid that type of chaos is to understand the function of the room, make a decision about where the focal point (or points) will be located and create surroundings that “complement” that piece. For instance, take this Dining Room I designed (see picture). Early on I decided I wanted the dining table in the center of the room to be the focal point. After that decision was made, I made sure that all larger surfaces in the room remain un-patterned or just slightly patterned:

1) The background wall is silver leafed, you can see the slight differentiation of the rectangular silver leaves, but it works as a dull mirror that helps the glass table sparkle even more.

2) Draperies consist of flat sliding panels of lined silk with a subtle tone on tone pattern; their unmannered design is also meant to visually reinforce the table).

3) The aubergine wool rug has a barely noticeable small pattern and its main function is to provide a strong contrasting color to the table base.

4) The light fixture consists of a curved hand-blown glass suspended by steel cables and illuminated from the ceiling by low voltage fixtures, its function is to appear like a “floating” leaf above the table. A heavier fixture or chandelier would have competed with the table.

5) The more traditional looking chairs are upholstered in solid off-white velvet and their wooden frames, slightly brushed in antique gold, were deliberately chosen to contrast with the sharp, contemporary crackled glass of the table base.

As I always say: a well designed room is one where there was a "commitment" made to its function, feel and style long before anything is selected.

Tips for Decorating your Condo by Ernesto Garcia, ASID

The standards for space use are quite different between urban and suburban areas. In other words condos (flats, apartments, etc.) tend to have smaller square footage to work with. I started my career in big cities in America and Europe, having to learn how to fight for every square inch (or every square centimeter ) to give comfort, beauty, drama or serenity to each space. On this post, I will be sharing with you some important guidelines to make your Condo spaces more comfortable, livable, beautiful and efficient ones. Enjoy!

• Built-ins will be your best friends in a condo. They are an exceptional means of increasing storage and shelving that can be decorative and functional at the same time. Keep it simple; appliqués and overly detailed elements can make built-ins look too heavy. Ideally, built-ins should be addressed by the buyer, rather than looking to the builder to include them during construction. Designing your own built-ins to fit your needs can assure functionality and beauty. Some examples: linen cabinets that fit behind a door and home office built-ins that house the TV, computer, printers, book shelves and decorative accessories.

• Paint colors should be in a unified palette. When you use a single color for walls in the living room/dining room, for example, you “expand” the spatial perception of the rooms. This doesn’t mean you cannot have an accent wall; sometimes it’s perfect to define a space.

• Because rooms will be smaller, paint doors, trims, built-ins and closet doors in the same color as the walls. That way, your eyes will be drawn to furnishings and fabrics instead of the numerous cutouts and openings in the space.

• Keep the color contrast between walls and ceilings to a minimum; that will make people less aware of generally lower heights.

• Heavy and overly decorated chandeliers, pendants and wall sconces are not as suitable in condos as larger spaces. They can look overwhelming and out of scale. Choose clean-lined and more understated sources of light.

• Don’t get rid of everything from your previous home. Rescue pieces that are well proportioned to their new spaces. Heirlooms and antiques can become focal points in specific rooms.

• With art, address scale first. You want to make sure that your furnishings will serve as an “anchor” for your artwork. It’s fine to use art as a focal point; just make sure a piece doesn’t completely overwhelm its surroundings.

• Mirrors are a consideration, particularly floor-to-ceiling mirrors. They expand your perception of the size of a room. Place them in foyers, dining rooms, bedrooms (the headboard wall preferably) and don’t be afraid to back furniture against them. You’ll be surprised how dramatic a console or a chair can become. Or, try anchoring a framed painting against a mirror. It will look like the art is floating.

• When in comes to condo window coverings, less is more. Stay away from overly detailed rods and finials and heavy swags. Few condos have the scale to accommodate such treatments. Keep fabrics un-patterned and stay close to your wall color. If you must use a pattern, go ahead and make a statement but keep everything else in the room close to monochromatic.

CONTEMPORARY ART IN TRADITIONAL INTERIORS

I I work as an Art Consultant, helping my clients put entire art collections together. A lot of my projects are either traditional or eclectic styles, and my clients are often concerned with how a contemporary piece of art will fit in their traditional interiors. Regarding art, this my philosophy: “If you love it buy it! I will find a way to integrate it into your home”. The most important thing in these cases is to create a harmonious dialogue between the old and the new. First you address scale, you want to make sure that the existing furniture serves as an “anchor” for the new piece, you don’t want your new painting or sculpture to overwhelm its surroundings. The next thing to keep in mind is the palette of the new piece; try to find some color association, unless you want the new piece to completely stand out (which is a fair objective, I must say). Finally, if the new piece of art isn’t abstract, make sure the subject is suitable to the room, you might not want to wake up to the view of a still life of vegetables every morning. I used all these guidelines when putting together the interior space you see in this picture.

Eclectic Interiors

It seems like lately everybody wants to hear my definition of “eclectic” interiors...Half of the clients who hire me want me to design such interiors for them; as for the other half, we tend to start with a definite stylistic direction and we end up with very eclectic spaces anyway. An eclectic interior is one that derives its generating ideas, style and taste from a diverse range of sources. I have studied too many styles, visited too many cities, walked too many museums, seen too many movies not to be eclectic. How could we possibly be any different in such a “globalized” world? I have this bank of images and experiences in my mind, a well from which I am constantly tapping for inspiration. There is so much that is so beautiful about every style. So… What is the key to a well-designed eclectic room? My short answer is: a harmonious dialogue between all the parts; it seems simple at first but in fact it requires extensive editing and evaluation. Comparatively speaking, staying within the boundaries of a specific style is much easier.

Consider the dining room I designed on this picture, the columns came from a late 18th century English estate, their rich texture surface frames the room and gives it importance. The rosewood dining table is a French Deco reproduction, its clean lines and rich graining give it the anchoring weight required in the center of the room; the stylized Regency chairs in a dark mahogany display their graceful frame against  the bone colored walls giving the room movement and interest. Table and chairs sit on a wool and silk rug that I designed using the undulating lines that characterized Art Nouveau. The contemporary chrome chandelier with Murano glass pendants was my boldest move in this room (just think how overwhelming a wrought iron chandelier would look in its place!) it is its lightness that allows all the other pieces to reveal themselves. As I mentioned before, a lot of thought goes behind every detail in order to achieve the perfect mix of styles. Eclectic interiors are by far the most complex and challenging ones.