Entertaining Indoors

Just because the weather is beginning to change, and the winds are starting to blow a bit cooler - doesn’t mean that you have to stop entertaining. Sure, outdoor barbeques and hot days drinking lemonade on the patio are definitely coming to a close, but you can easily still entertain outdoors in some settings - or bring entertaining indoors!

Make the biggest POP during Winter and Fall seasons by letting the food and the dining table set the mood and tone for the evening. Decorating the main food table can help make your life easier – and allow you to change your home's look instantly. Add some red tones and you can have an Italian bistro party right there in your own home, or have serve savory classics with classic Fall colors.

And here's another tip to save time and money! Recycle! J. Douglas Design loves keeping organic and 'green' elements in the equation when decorating a home - and especially when decorating for a party or just having friends over to fellowship. Reusing and 'recycling' your seasonal accessories and furnishings year-round will really save a dollar and when done creatively, add new sparkle each time you re-use the piece.

Recycle your summer wicker by adding Fall/Winter throws or new cushions. Reuse wood pieces and get pot plants to add some color. Use what you have left over from summer and spruce up with some twigs and leaves for the blasts of autumn. Bring out the terra cotta pots from the garage and put herbs in them to assist in the décor and them of the party or celebration.

Most importantly - don’t over-think decorating. Whether you are re-decorating your home for the season or simply for a get-together it’s imperative that you keep things simple. Getting hung up on small details can ruin the mood and remember that decorating your home is about you and your personality.

Why Do You Need An Interior Designer?

In the wake of television shows that make home decorating and design appear so simple and easy it might seem to make sense that you can do it all by yourself.

The truth is that design mistakes can be very expensive, in terms of time and money and in your overall happiness with the final result. To achieve the refined look of an interior designer requires a blend of training and talent that produces successful results only after years of experience. J. Douglas Design can help you avoid the pitfalls of a disappointing project and ensures that you are happy with your newly decorated interior.

Both as expert listeners and as a partner for you to bounce your ideas off, we help you stage your design plans to remain within budget while listening and working with you to achieve your lifestyle requirements.

Some of the common design errors that an interior designer helps you avoid include:

• Lack of experience with material availability and quality
• Color schemes that are bland or uncomplimentary
• Furniture and objects that are too numerous (or the wrong scale), creating a cluttered look
• Style and fabrics are not complemented or offset from room to room
• Purchased materials and furniture that don’t meet your needs or last
• Remodels that look like afterthoughts and don’t flow with the rest of the house
• Highlighted areas and lighting that are not used properly

The benefit to the client using an interior designer’s services as opposed to a contractor or architect is that an interior designer starts the design with how the people who live in the space use it and works out from there to make the space fit them. It should be both beautiful and functional to be a successful project.

By enlisting the help of a professional, you will not only save countless hours of researching and shopping, but also the worry and uncertainty about your decisions. An interior designer can save you money by doing it right the first time. To learn more specifics contact us.

Dorm Room Design on a Dime

As you read this article, hundreds of thousands of wide eyed teens are heading off to college for their very first out of home living experience. The transition from leaving the nest to flying solo can sometimes be an emotional and trying journey. So what can a brave and design-savvy parent do?

Help your kids create a dorm room that is a mini home away from home.

This year approximately $4 billion will be spent on decorating dorm rooms. But there's really no need to break the bank account to give your child the comforts of home. Dorm room designing on a dime doesn't mean you have to sacrifice style for function. Rather, it's about finding a budget-friendly compromise for both and giving it a personal touch.

Top tips for dorm room interior design:

• Add color 
• Create storage 
• Use wall décor 

Let's break those down now.

Add Color

Once upon a time colleges wouldn't let kids paint their dorm rooms, but times are changing! As long as it's painted back to a neutral color, many colleges will now allow it. 

But if painting is still a no-no for your school, then turn to companies like Ikea and Bed, Bath & Beyond. For the price of a gallon of paint, they have great fabric patterns that add serious style, color and drama to a room!

Feminine Color
Colorful bedding, rugs and lamps can really pull the room together. Go for stark contrast and bursts of bright color, like teal, orange, yellow and green. Use objects like throw blankets, pillows and lamps for extra pops of color.

Masculine Color
Go cool with chocolate brown, army green, navy blue and reds. Try to opt for brushed nickel, stainless and/or dark wood tones for furnishings. Remember, a dorm room can still have a pulled-together sense of style—repeating linear patterns and natural color tones can do the trick.
Create Storage

Since the average dorm room is about 200 square feet, the trick to a well-designed space is to use every square inch. So storage is essential.

Remember, when you have limited space and can't go out, you go up. Try stacking storage cubes from floor to ceiling for a fun and functional style.

More tips:

• Get bed risers and move storage under the bed.
• Look into portable zip-up closets with drop-down hangers for all those cool T-shirts.
• Opt for a closed storage desk and things like decorative desk containers that really help with de-cluttering a desk.
• Use old travel trunks as great alternative storage units.

Wall Décor
The hottest trend in dorm room design these days is peel-and-stick wall décor.

Since most dorms don't allow students to nail or screw stuff into their mostly concrete surroundings, the next best option is peel-and-stick art and picture frames that provide a functional twist. Trendy Wall Designs has everything from feminine to edgy. They even have peel and stick chalk board decals. Pretty fun! 

Photo from Dreaming in Ink

Interior Design Trend - Framed Digital Art

If it's easy, trendy, personal and beautiful - sign us up. We're talking about 'digital art' - that is, utilizing a framed digital display to showcase JPG format images, animations and graphics - even video - in your home or workspace interior design.  Unlimited possibilities, easy to change and update: sounds divine, yes? It's no wonder this is why 'digital art' is fast becoming popular as an interior design trend.

What's more - is that these pieces can be connected to your iPhone or Android so that you can swap artwork o the fly,  remotely.

Why we love the idea: What's coolest about this - is the artwork you can display.  Up and coming artists are supported. The frames are available in multiple sizes, and colors, and with purchase - you download an accompanying app. There is an app that goes along with the frames, where aspiring artists are encouraged to list their artwork. This puts their work in homes and interiors all over the world - and pays them for use.  Currently  - this concept - called "Framed" is on the crowd funding website, KickStarter:

"The evolution of technology and accessibility of the Internet has brought out a wonderful range of digital art, and now we have an innovative way of sharing that art, and presenting it in way that pays respect to the artists that created them," explains FRM Co-Founder and Creative Director Yugo Nakamura.

The HD screen and integrated computer lets users display artworks found or purchased online, or even upload their own. Framed has a Kickstarter starting price of $399.

Content and Photo - Original Article Source

Focus on Lighting

Light has intrigued man since the dawn of time. What started out as tallow candles and gas lamps in the early centuries evolved into to a plethora of light sources powered by electricity, chemicals or combustion in the modern day. Light is an essential part of our daily activities. Just like we need air, water and food to survive we need light in order to function efficiently. Gone are the days when people used to stop working after sunset. The use of light in interior spaces greatly affects the environment and mood of the space.

Here are some of the of lighting to consider during the process of interior design.

1) Natural light: The sun is the biggest source of light available. It is normally assumed that sunlight can penetrate inside a space for about 7 feet (approximately 20 meters). If the architect has taken proper care during planning of the structure, then sunlight can be a very good and free source of light. Sunlight also keeps the air clean by killing any possible bacterial attacks which might be harmful to health. Interior designers tend to love natural light and know best how to put it to use in a home.

 2) Artificial filler lights: These types of lights work on electricity and are required mostly at night time, unless you live in a geographical location where the weather is cloudy for a good portion of the year. At such times filler lights are used to give the same effect the sunlight would create. As the name suggests, these types of lights "fill" the space evenly with light, eliminating any dark spaces. Of course, this is the most commonly used kinds of lighting. Think overhead fixtures, chandeliers etc.

3) Special lighting for special spaces: Special lighting is required at spaces where it is necessary to create a mood or special ambience inside a space. To achieve this use of color is done. Lighting fixtures like spot lights are used to divert the attention of the crowd at certain focused areas. This same focus effect is used in commercial showrooms to enhance the importance of the display areas.

4) Extreme lighting: This type of lighting is used in spaces where the activities have a special purpose, such as movie studios, pubs, dance floors, etc. Here the lighting used can be of movable types, or can have more sophisticated controls such as intensity, color, movement, or even controlled through music beats.

Some of these have even been put to use in homes by creative interior designers. The activities happening inside a space directly affect the type of lighting used inside a space. A properly planned lighting plan can greatly enhance the quality of a space. Working with your interior designer is your best option when it comes to determining what lighting will work for your space.

Shown: Maitland-Smith Verdigris and Antique Brass African Wildlife Chandelier, Eggshell Bowl, Leather Shades

Each Piece A Masterpiece - Christopher Guy

When we say that each Christopher Guy piece is hand-crafted, we aren't joking. Not only is each piece hand-assembled, but one might not believe the thought and innovation that goes into each design. 

Christopher Guy, is a brilliant creator and award-winning designer also noted as a 'Living Legend'. The creativity, and superior furniture crafting of each piece makes Christopher Guy furnishings a favorite among clients of J. Douglas Design, as well as Douglas himself. We're thrilled to be the exclusive Dallas retailer of Christopher Guy furniture.

We stumbled across this video below - that shows a bit more in detail, the care and attention to each and every piece of furniture that rolls out of the Christopher Guy factory.

Christopher Guy is opening a new showroom in Beverly Hills, California this very day, and has plans for a showroom in New York City later in the year. We expect to continue to see big things from Christopher Guy - including high-profile set design and celebrity styles including his pieces very soon, and we're thrilled.

Favorite Celebrity Kitchens

We recently fell in love with a celebrity kitchen slideshow over at Architectural Digest. What is it about kitchens that puts designers in a tailspin of euphoria? If we had a week of spare time maybe we could come up with an exhaustive list. The list would be massive and we're still not confident that we would be able to come up with a complete list. After all, new pieces, products and design possibilities are developed every day. That exhaustive list would become an exhaustive job as we try to keep up with the ever changing potential of kitchens. And we aren't the only ones who love kitchens. Here at J. Douglas Design, we have found that even those who are not natural born chefs, care deeply about the look and functionality of their kitchen. We think this quote sums up the reason pretty succinctly:

The kitchen really is the castle itself. This is where we spend our happiest moments and where we find the joy of being a family. -Mario Batali

Here are a few of our favorite celebrity kitchens.

Ellen and Portia's kitchen makes use of light in such a unique and enchanting way. Ditching typical wall cabinets for a hanging glass display helps to disperse the warm ambient light from the window over the sink. 

Hank Azaria's kitchen mixes rustic and contemporary elements. The reclaimed wood of the island is balanced by the sleek stainless steel appliances. Of course, a white kitchen is always a beautiful classic look. 

This minimalistic and ultra bright kitchen belongs to the one and only Sting. The inclusion of organic elements in the rattan chair and hardwood floor really appeals to us. 

What features to you love about these kitchens? What don't they have that you would require in a kitchen of your own? Tell us in the comments. 

Oh, and if you're needing help with your kitchen redesign, look no further. Our design services is just what you need.

Photography credit: Architectural Digest.