Posts Tagged ‘interior design’
It’s The ‘Why’ That Makes Each Project Special
2021 Interior Design Trends
2021 Trends
Trends… they inspire us to find design styles we love and want to surround ourselves with. And, after a challengingyear that forced most of us to stay at home, it could not be a better time to bring more comfort into your home. With a new year comes new trends! Here is what we are seeing come to light for the year 2021.
Mixing Wood Tones
Mixing wood tones can be daunting, but if done right, can make a beautiful accent in your home. If all wood tones are the same, nothing stands out and the room can fall flat. Try contrasting floor with furniture. For example, if you have a dark wood floor, try pairing a piece of furniture with more of a light wood color. Also, wood doesn’t have to be brown. There are some beautiful grey stain colors out there if grey is more your style!
Modern Rustic
We are seeing more and more rustic homes, adding a touch of modern! The two can create a beautiful blend of old and new. Let’s go back to mixing woods. Try adding some modern touches in with your wood tones and wa-la! You get the best of both worlds, a beautiful blend of modern and rustic.
White is Back
Remember when we were all painting our walls beige, or grey? While these are still gorgeous, we are seeing more and more white walls coming back into the picture! This is a classic trend that gives you more accent color options. White walls just give you that fresh and airy feeling that we all love.
At the end of the day a trend is just that, a trend. While they are fun, it is most important to decorate your home how you like! Call Another Opinion at 314-623-4594 and we can help you get your project done! What 2021 trends will you be trying?
All About Paint Finishes: In the Eye of a Professional Painter
All About Paint Finishes: In the Eye of a Professional Painter
Another Opinion recently sat down with professional painter, Adam Cook with AMC Coatings to learn all about paint finishes in the eyes of a painter. The options are endless, and the terminology can be confusing, so let’s hear what he had to say!
Types of Paint
Let’s start with FLAT paint! Flat is a versatile paint type, usually used on walls or ceilings. There are many finishes; dead-flat matte, matte, a water-based eggshell and silk. Flat can also be used on the exterior since it helps the material when it comes to moisture. If you are in the market for some new paint and aren’t sure what type is for you; flat is the way to go if you love the matte look!
Now on to EGGSHELL. Adam typically uses eggshell for walls. This type of paint has a slight sheen, so if the matte look isn’t your style, eggshell may be the type for you! Eggshell is also more durable, so it is the ideal type of paint to use when there are kiddos around! Because let’s be real, we all know kids love to showcase their art skills on the walls from time to time…
The last 2 types of paint Adam told us about are GLOSS and SATIN. Adam recommends gloss anytime he is painting trim, since this type is typically used on wood surfaces. Satin is used the same way as gloss but is just a bit less shiny. The good news about gloss is usually only one coat is needed over a coat of primer.
Ready to Paint?
Adam was extremely helpful in gaining our knowledge when it comes to paint and when and where to use it. So, whether you are picking up that paintbrush yourself or want someone else to take the work off your hands; ask Another Opinion! We can get you in touch with the perfect painter or steer you in the right direction if you want to do it yourself! Call Another Opinion to get started on your project today at 314-623-4594.
How to Teach Your Kids About Letting Go Using Their School Projects
We talk about giving ourselves permission to let go of things to avoid being overwhelmed in clutter. Well, we also need to start teaching our kids this same lesson. Now that school has started, the artwork and projects they bring home are quickly piling up. Here’s how to use these treasures to teach a valuable lesson about appreciating our things and then letting them go.
Create a Mini-Museum for Displaying Their Artwork
Create an intentional place in your home to be their artwork museum. Find the perfect room or wall space to set up a revolving display that you can change easily. You can use a tension string to clip on, a cork wall to pin up, empty frames or lots of fun ideas to display their work. Once you’ve set up the display, your kids will get excited about showing off their masterpieces! Now, getting their work home in good condition… that’s a challenge.
Treat Their Artwork Like a Masterpiece
When your little artist knows their creations will be on display, hopefully they will show extra care to get it home in one piece. Try to avoid the blackhole of the backpack! How about giving them a unique folder to use that helps them treat their work as special while protecting it on the journey home. As each new piece arrive home, post them up for all to see.
Give Your Museum a Limited Timeframe
More artwork is on the way, so determine a timeframe for how long you will keep adding to the current display. It can be a week, a month, or as long as you have space to fill up. Let your kids know their creations will not be on display forever, and by taking them down will make room for more beautiful things they’ll be creating soon.
Take a Moment to Celebrate
This is the best part! At the end of the timeframe, take an intentional moment as a family to view the artwork on display. Ooh and ah over each piece. Have them to tell you about it and, in turn, share what you love about their creations. After you’ve celebrated all of their hard work, it’s time to take the display down. But, before you trash it, you have a few options!
Making ‘Letting Go’ a Little Easier
Letting go of our things is hard, even as an adult. Let your kids (and maybe you too) select their favorite piece of artwork to keep. Remember, it’s ok to keep some things, just in moderation so you aren’t overwhelmed. Another great idea is to photograph their projects to create a photo album. It’s a much smaller way to collect memories than multiple storage bins in the basement. Or, have your kids re-invent their artwork into something else for a fun craft project and learn how to repurpose it!
You have an awesome opportunity while your kids are young to teach them how to let go. So, now is a good time if you want to avoid a stack of storage bins full of crumpled projects that I assure you, your kids will not want when it’s time to move out.
Are you overwhelmed? Give me a call, I’m happy to help. Staci at Another Opinion 314-623-4594.
Cultivate a Happy Home with Compromise
When it comes to keeping your home organized and running smoothly, you have to stay on your toes to manage the circus or it quickly turns to chaos. Add your family members in the mix and it takes all that you’ve got to keep the peace. You love them, but sometimes you might want to strangle them when they leave their stuff all over the place. With a little compromise and a new perspective, your home can be more organized and be easier to manage. Here’s how you do it.
Having ‘homes’ is your foundation to organization
An organized home starts with everything having a ‘home’. I repeat, you must have a home for everything. This is the hardest part, but it is critical to set yourself, and your home, up for success. Creating homes for your things allows you to set new rules in your home life with your family. There are no questions about where something goes if you make ‘giving your things a home’ a family affair.
Add drop zones
What is a ‘drop zone’ you ask? Well, this is the part that takes a bit of compromise. You let them be messy. But you get to tell them where to be messy. Deep breath. Create a few intentional spaces where everyone, including you, can drop your things without getting in trouble. Of course, everyone will still have be pick up after themselves, but it will be faster and easier to get done. When all the chaos is isolated in a specific zone, there will be less distraction when putting things away. And the bonus is when you realize there is a ‘home’ to put it!
Now you can let life happen
Here’s the best part. You’ve done the hard work and you have made it easier on yourself. Everything has a home now, and you can drop your things when you walk in the door. The new rules you created help everyone be more accountable to a happy home life. Now enjoy a new perspective for keeping your home organized and running smoothly…. Begin cultivating instead of managing. Managing is just maintaining. But, when you cultivate your home the intention is to make your surroundings better. You’ll be cultivating a happy home.
Get a little help if you need it
Another Opinion specializes in helping homeowners create positive relationships with their surroundings. If you want a little help getting started or finding compromise for your happy home give us a call. 314-623-4594
Tips for Living in a Staged Home
Staging your home for potential buyers is hard enough on its own, but maintaining that perfect look is even harder when you’re still living there. When a house goes on the market, it has to be ready all day every day for potential buyers to take a tour. The house has to be at its most attractive and inviting, and let’s be honest, none of us live in homes that are picture perfect at all times.
Curb Appeal
When I work with my clients, the first thing I do is take them on a tour of their house so they can see it through the eyes of a potential buyer. We start at the curb because that is where potential buyers will start deciding whether this is somewhere they want to live.
Not only does this mean the house itself has to be appealing (no leaning porches and no peeling paint), but it also means the yard and sidewalk have to be immaculate. In winter, you’ll have to shovel the sidewalk as soon as it snows. In spring and summer, you’ll want to keep the grass mowed and watered, but also keep the lawn clear of any clutter, including the hose. Every day you have to go over the lawn and make sure there’s no stray trash or branches that may have fallen or been blown over to your yard. Remember: you have just seven seconds to make a good impression, so make it count.
Keep It Spotless
It’s hard to keep kitchens and bathrooms spotless when they’re in use, but any spot can turn off a potential buyer. This means wiping down the stove, the kitchen sink, and all the equipment in the kitchen before you leave for the day. Make sure all the dishes are washed and put away (don’t leave anything sitting in the sink).
The same goes for the bathroom. Wipe down the sink, the mirrors, and the shower/bathtub, and store hygiene products out of sight (you might even have to put them in the car and take them with you).
In the bedrooms, make sure the beds are always made and there are no stray clothes lying around – clean clothes should always be put away, and dirty clothes in the hampers.
Creature Comforts
All the little things we love because they keep us comfortable need to be put away because they imply there might be something wrong with the house. For example, if you like to keep a fan next to the bed, it implies there isn’t enough airflow in the house. Lots of blankets can make it look like the house doesn’t get warm. If you get cold easily or you just like snuggling under the blankets, you won’t have a chance to explain your story to the potential buyer about why you keep certain things in certain places.
Divide and Conquer
In order to make sure the house is staged and ready for potential buyers to tour the place every time you leave the house, everyone currently living in it needs to play a part in maintaining the home’s staging. Come up with a list of tasks that need to be done in order to get and keep the home ready for tours and assign everyone in the house at least one thing on that list. Maintain a list of who has which job so you can make sure everyone stays on track.
Get Another Opinion
You and your family can do a lot on your own to make sure your home is staged for buyers, but you need a professional eye to identify the flaws that could turn them off and the qualities that will draw them in. To get started staging your home the right way, contact me or call me today at (314) 623-4594.
How to Find Inspiration for Your Home Remodel Project
Have you ever looked around your home and just thought, “Bleh!” Whether your décor is out of date, or you just can’t stand to look at that wall color anymore, there are a variety of ways you can find inspiration to create a new and fresh design for your next project.
Color Palettes Give You The Big Picture
Selecting a new color palette is the easiest way to give a space a whole new look. Consider color selections for everything from the walls to the furnishings, to the floor when making your color selections. Take home color palette booklets from your local paint store to show you a collection of colors that work together. You can look at each shade in your own light and coordinate them so the space feels complete.
Décor Can Take The Lead
Sometimes a simple piece of décor will just speak to you. Has a throw pillow ever jumped off the shelf at you, artwork or the pattern on an area rug catch your eye? This is inspiration! You can build an entire room design around a single item that moves you. Use complimentary colors and patterns to balance the inspiration with the rest of the décor.
Natural Materials
Only nature can provide truly unique and one of a kind inspirations. Materials such as wood, stone, metal, leather and even greenery, add a layer of color and texture in a space that cannot be achieved by anything man-made. It’s easy to be inspired by natural elements simply by admiring the way it was created by nature.
Do You Want Another Opinion?
It might be difficult to imagine anything different in your space if it’s been around for a while. Once you find your inspiration however, the design decisions will become easier. Call Staci at Another Opinion if you could use a fresh perspective on the design of your next project. Her clients fall in love with their spaces again by discovering what they admire and moves them, then creating a complete design.
Let’s get started, contact or call Staci today at (314) 623-4594.
Spring Cleaning and The Joy of Letting Go
Whether you’ve read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Upor seen the Netflix original, “Tidying Up,” (or neither) you’ve probably heard of Marie Kondo. She’s been changing the lives of people all over the globe, and it’s not by accident – there really is something to the idea that cleaning up and decluttering our space can help us live happier, more fulfilling lives. Of course, you can declutter whenever the mood strikes you, but with spring coming just around the corner, it’s a great time to get rid of some of the old things you never use anymore while also doing some spring cleaning.
Love Your Less
You’ve probably heard the phrase “less is more,” and although it’s not always true, it certainly can apply to your home, because the less you have, the more you enjoy what you do have. To test this theory for yourself, I challenge you to choose two items from any category of which you have more than two items. Whether it’s mugs, purses, or anything else that might be taking up space in your home without getting much use, try getting rid of all but two of them and see how you feel afterwards.
Not only is it easier to stay organized when you keep your collections to a minimum, but it also means you get the most out of the items you do keep, making sure you get your money’s worth for the items you paid for and that you fully appreciate the items that were given to you as gifts.
The Fix-It Box
Not all items have gone unused because they have duplicates. Sometimes things break and we don’t always get around to fixing them. So, while you’re decluttering your home and coming across these items you haven’t gotten around to fixing, put them in a separate box to be fixed later. Once you’re done with your spring cleaning and decluttering, tackle that box next instead of leaving it to sit around and gather dust for a few more years until your next big cleaning/decluttering spree. If there’s anything in there you can’t fix yourself, take it to someone who can. Any items that are beyond repair go in the recycling or the trash (remember to recycle your electronics and batteries).
On the other hand, if they’ve gone a significant amount of time without being used (months, or even years) it might be time to just throw it out or donate it. If you didn’t miss it when it was broken, you won’t miss it when it’s gone.
The Put-Away Box
While you’re cleaning and decluttering, you’re bound to find some things in places they don’t belong. Whether it’s a mug hiding in the bathroom cabinet or hair clips in your jewelry box, you need to resist the urge to stop what you’re doing to put those lost items away, because once you get distracted, you’re much less likely to finish the task at hand. Use a Put-Away Box to place all those lost items and go back to cleaning up. Once you’re done with your spring cleaning and decluttering, only then should you take the time to put away all the lost items you found.
Another Opinion Helps You To Love Your Less
Whether you need some tips on organizing to keep your home clean and welcoming, or you want some help sorting your belongings into keep, donate, and discard, give me a call me at (314) 623-4594 or contact me so we can get you started today on creating a space that allows you to live a happier and more fulfilling life.
Design What YOUR Heart Wants
We’re often told to follow our hearts, and I firmly believe that is good advice that works as well for interior design as anything else. At the same time, we’re often told what we should love based on what’s in style at that particular moment. Whether it’s Pantone’s Color of the Year, or a certain style of furniture, it can be tempting to try to convince yourself that you love what everyone else loves … but do you, really?
Love Your Space
Since you’re the one who has to live in your space, you should make sure you absolutely love it. If the color of the year makes you want to puke, then you should absolutely not splash it all over your walls and furniture.
Your home is your space and it should be your sanctuary. If you don’t feel comfortable with everything in it, what’s the point?
Rules Were Meant to Be Broken
You can follow the rules, or you can choose to stand out. There’s nothing wrong with painting the living room your favorite color, even if the “experts” try to tell you that color is too bold or oppressive. If that color makes you feel great, you should use it. Designing your space is all about creating a space you’ll love, and if that means having your favorite color on display everywhere, then go for it.
It’s OK to Be Trendy
At the same time, it’s OK to go with the trend of the moment. If painting your kitchen the same color everyone else is painting their kitchen that year is going to date it, that’s OK. There’s nothing wrong with everyone being able to tell when you painted your kitchen as long as you love spending time in there while it’s your kitchen.
Be Strategic
If you like keeping up with the current trends, here’s a trick I like to use: select main pieces that work with everything and then choose trendy accent pieces. This makes updating your space to keep up with changing trends much easier and more affordable than redesigning the entire room (or house).
Ask for Help
Despite what some people have come to believe, professional designers and organizers are not here to tell you what to do with your space. We’re here to use our knowledge of space, color, and light to help you create a home you’ll love. We’re aware of the current trends, and while we might guide you to certain styles that are popular if we know they align with your particular sense of taste, we would never tell you to create a space you don’t absolutely love just because it’s trendy. If you love it, then it will always be in style.
If you’ve been thinking of redesigning your space, but you’re not sure where to begin, call me at (314) 623-4594 to get started today. We can go over trends, your likes and dislikes, and your goals for your space to help you create a home that is truly yours.
Choose Peace Of Mind By Not Saying ‘I’ll Deal With It Later’
We all do it, me included. When we’re busy living life, we procrastinate with putting stuff away. It seems so simple that, yes, I WILL deal with that later. But when we don’t, that’s when our home starts getting out of control and becoming a toxic environment. Good news! We all get a fresh start this new year! So, don’t drag a bad habit into 2019. Here are few helpful tips on how to make a positive change and create a happier and peaceful home.
Recognize your ‘I’ll deal with it later’ habit
This is a bad habit most of us struggle with daily. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Just start to recognize when you’re pushing stuff off for later and why you’re doing it. Knowing your behavior will help you set a course for positive change.
Fact: You really won’t do it later
Procrastination is contagious. Each time we delay becomes a reason to do it again later. However, once you commit to ‘settling’ the chaos you find a more peaceful home. If you can’t do it daily, then weekly is a must. The more often you pick up, the easier and faster it will be next time. Committing to a quick sweep around your home can be contagious too!
Don’t just tuck it away either
That’s not dealing with it. Tucking things away in a bag, basket or drawer so they’re out of sight in that moment is only going to make your chaos worse. Out of site is out of mind because now things get lost. When you see your visual chaos, you can own up to it and will commit to dealing with it. Again, don’t beat yourself up, recognize and change course.
Choose peace of mind
Choosing to deal with something later, doesn’t get it if off your mind. Frankly, it becomes another spinning plate in the back, wreaking havoc on your state of mind, in addition to your home. You deserve a peaceful home, so choose to give yourself peace of mind. Choose now.
Ask for help
Do you want help making changes that will create a happier and peaceful home? Call Staci at Another Opinion today (314) 623-4594.