Ellen-gance of a California Ranch - Celebrity Interior Design Feature

Ellen DeGeneres and partner Portia de Rossi show off their beautiful Santa Monica ranch where they’re able to both escape - in a Celebrity Home post on Elle Decor.

Even though we aren’t all able to move to a breathtaking cabin in the foothills of gorgeous mountains, we can still take some design principles and apply them to our own comfortable home.

Find Your Outdoor Space

On their property, DeGeneres and de Rossi have a pergola that sits on a pasture under a tree with seating arrangements underneath including a daybed and wicker sofa. This gives them a chance to “escape” from the norm and to take in the surrounding landscape.

Find Your Style

A cabin kitchen in their home features industrial lighting that is both rustic and antique and bring in a barn-like feel to their cabin. Add in some leather or a cowhide rug to create a truly authentic feel to the interior design of any room.

Find Your Comfort

One of the most remarkable things about the property is how genuine it's period setting feels - 18th to 19th century - while keeping a modern style appearance. They chose each of their cabins to have a different mood, and it’s much demonstrated in how contemporary some feel.

Find what makes you comfortable inside your own home and make the most out of it. While we may not have a sunset outside our balcony window, it’s possible to make each glimpse around the home to feel that special.

Stop by our Dallas furniture showroom and browse some of our most popular furniture options to give you that special "Ellen-gance".

Gracefully Aging With Interior Design

Getting older shouldn't mean you compromise your style – in fact, there are various ways to use interior design to make your home safer and more comfortable without sacrificing what makes your living space unique. 

Public health and safety officials agree that the way your home is designed can be a major contributor to complications in aging at home.

So how can you decorate for safety? Change the way you think of interior design. Interior design isn’t simply aesthetics. Proper interior design allows the homeowner to live freely in a house that fits their needs. It’s about functionality without losing personality. It's about choosing the right home furnishings. The right furniture. It's about accessorizing and adding your own style and decor to the things you must have; to the things you need to get by day to day.

Although there seems to be a negative connotation from the public regarding 'aging design' elements, those feelings are often ill-placed. Normally when we think of designing for aging, products that are sterile or unattractive seem to come in mind. But truly, you can opt for high quality, strong and sturdy furniture or even specialized furniture, or home accessories and appliances that are made for special needs - without compromising your style.

Contact a Dallas interior designer who is well versed in aging in place design. It doesn’t take much to transform a room to a safer area; just some quick changes in furniture placement, flooring and lighting can be a true game changer for safety.

Have you thought about how you would redesign your home for aging? What features do you feel you’d need to include?

3 Tips for Designing in a Small Interior Space

In today’s financial world, times can be tough. It's a tough economy out there. The way this seems to play out the most is when people are led to sell their home and move into something smaller - like an apartment or townhouse. It's about the "D" word: Downsizing.

These changes can be very difficult to adjust to, but with proper planning and interior design, you can create a cozy and stylish living space that will help you overcome the challenges that downsizing can present.

Tiny Size Technology
Today’s technology can work wonders in helping you downsize. Gaming onsoles and gadgetscan double as home entertainment system by playing movies (either streaming or DVD/Blu-ray) and music from a variety of services. Small and portable tablets like the popular iPad can replace bulky desktop computers, which often require their own desk or “area” in order to use.

Small Space Accents
Positioning of home decorating accents like curtains and doors can make a smaller space feel much larger and bright than it really is.  Floor-to-ceiling doors can give the appearance of tall ceilings. Long curtains that drape to the ground can create a longer wall space which opens up many more options to display with artwork or family photos or memorabilia.

Shared Spaces 
Do you really entertain often? Do you have guests all the time - ? If people aren’t coming over and staying as often as you had hoped - it might be time to drop the guest bedroom and opt for a pull out sofa instead. If you don’t have room for a desk, plan accordingly and opt for some gadgets to make that aspect of your life more portable.

Come by and see why we were nominated AGAIN for Best Furniture by WFAAlist (oh, and click here to VOTE NOW!) and let's pick a style that suits you from our Dallas Showroom. How do you make your space feel larger? Share your tips in the comments below.