Choosing Paint Finishes

July 3, 2025

When I do a color consult, I am often asked this question. What type of finish should I paint the walls and trim? Here is a guide that will help you.

  • Flat—This material is great at hiding flaws. It dries completely flat. It is not washable. It doesn’t reflect light. It is often used on the ceiling.
  • Matte—This finish has just a hint of sheen for a durable finish. It gives the appearance of flat but is washable. It’s great for walls.
  • Eggshell – A very sublet, soft finish. It has some sheen to it. Great for walls.
  • Satin – A velvety finish with a smooth sheen. Good for walls. Good in high-traffic areas, like kitchens and bathrooms.
  • Semi-Gloss – A lustrous, beautiful sheen for extra durability. Great for doors and trim work.
  • Gloss – Brilliant, striking finish for maximum durability. Great for doors and trim.

Note: The higher the sheen in a paint, the more flaws you will see. Today’s trend is using matte on the walls.

 

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Pendant Sizing

June 19, 2025

 1. How big? It requires a bit of math! Generally speaking, you want 12″-16″ from the end of the island. The most common is 12″. Let’s say you have an island that is 120″ and want 4 lights. With 4 lights, you will have 5 open spaces, one on each end and 3 in the middle (one between each pendant). Using 12″ x 5 (open spaces) = 60″.  Subtract from 120″, and you are left with 60″. Divide 60″ by the number of pendants (4 pendants), and you are left with 15″. This will be the diameter of your fixture. Can you figure out what the diameter would be if you were using 3 pendants? (Hint 24″)

2. How many? The rule of 3. In the design world, odd numbers work the best. That being said, rules are made to be broken. In the example I gave above, I use 4 pendants. Why? Because the island is very long and can handle four pendants. Just keep in mind that if you are going with less, use slightly larger pendants. If you are going with more, use slightly smaller pendants; above all, scale matters.

3. What height should I hang my pendants? They should hang 36″ to 48″ from the top of the counter to the bottom of the future. Be considerate of the sight lines. You don’t want the pendant to obstruct anyone’s views, nor do you want them to hit their heads!!

 

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10 Simple Feng Shui Tips and Advice For Your Office

June 5, 2025

Think about it. Every day we get up, go to jobs we don’t really care about and hold our breath until the weekend. When we finally reach Friday, we feel relieved, but it only lasts for a short time. Saturdays are consumed with all the things we didn’t get to do during the week because we work so hard. We tackle all kinds of fun tasks like going to the cleaners, waiting in line at the bank, and the ever-popular grocery shopping. And let’s not forget the cleaning! If we’re really lucky on Sundays, we can collapse to prepare for another wonderful week. A friend recently mentioned that she feels like she’s living a “Groundhog Day” life, where nothing ever changes. 

Can changing our perspective and a little Feng Shui help? You bet it can! Here are some tips and advice for not only getting through your day but enjoying it as well:

  1. Elevate your entrance, whether to your building, office, or cubicle. Display your name For others to see, allowing it to remind everyone that it represents YOUR space and your power. There is a strong intention behind presenting your name to the universe.
  1. Bring things from home that make you feel good to surround yourself with. Lots of people bring in pictures, and it’s a wonderful idea to create a space filled with people and things that you love. This can remind you of why you work so hard and what you hope to achieve through your work. 
  1. Think positively! Positive thoughts not only send good vibes to those around you (which you will receive in return), but also enhance your energy and allow you to use your time more effectively. Perhaps the author of “The Little Train That Could” knew exactly what he was talking about.
  1. Celebrate a wall for all your accomplishments. Big or small, every achievement you’ve made in life COUNTS. Add to them the things you’ve never done but always wanted to: the trip to Paris that you never had time to take, ballroom dancing, another night class. Combining what you’ve already accomplished with what you hope to create in the future shows you how far you’ve already come and how much farther you can go in life.
  1. What is all this talk about Feng Shui colors? While it’s true that Feng Shui is associated with different colors for various areas of your life, primarily think about surrounding yourself with colors you love. You can later use the Bagua to determine which colors are appropriate for specific areas from a Feng Shui perspective and incorporate them as accent colors. However, your surroundings should consist of colors that make you feel good.
  1. Bagua your desk. Here’s a simple task to consider: you can find a Bagua online and print it out. Hold it in front of you with “Career” facing you and use it as a layout over your desk. The center of your desk relates to health, so keep that area clean and clear. What’s at the back left? That is your Wealth area, where you might want to place something that symbolizes good fortune for financial matters. Feng Shui Consultants often suggest a Red Envelope with 3 or 9 coins inside as a lucky item for that area. Got relationship issues? Check the back right corner of your desk. For relationships, we recommend looking for items in pairs. Two small statues, a photo of two items together, or just two flowers (silk, not dried) can be placed on your computer. Examine each area of the Bagua and decide what would be best to place there, based on what you want to change or achieve in your life.
  1. The Five Elements. I know this can be a bit more complex depending on whether you’re working on a room, a desk, or the entire exterior of a home or business. The elements have both constructive and destructive forces, and you need to be aware of this when using them. If you arrange them in a circle with Fire at the top, moving clockwise to Earth, Metal, Water, and then Wood, you’ll have the correct sequence. Some people wonder what to incorporate when dealing with a small space like a desk. Your Fire elements can be as simple as something red, which symbolizes fire. For Earth? A small plant in a tiny ceramic pot will work perfectly here. You get the idea. No one even needs to know you’re using Feng Shui.
  1. There’s a lot of fuss about Clutter and rightfully so. If you’re surrounded by clutter please remember that it relates to your mind. You can think straight, you can’t find anything or you forget appointments. Whoever came up with the saying ”A Place For Everything and Everything in it’s Place” was a genius. Get more organized and you’ll feel much better and more balanced.

In the world of cubicles many of us find ourselves in, there’s not much we can do to bring the outside in. Or is there? A small picture of a landscape that you love or a tiny desk top water fountain that you hear as well as see are different ways to feel in harmony with nature and your surroundings. If you’re lucky enough to have a window, check your view. If it’s not the most pleasing sight you’ve ever seen, hang a few sun catchers or a small wind chime. Change your perspective and you just might change your life.

  1. Finally, don’t be so worried about changing things around and doing the wrong thing from a Feng Shui Perspective. There is nothing you can change that can’t be changed back if it’s something you’re not in tune with. Try different things out and find what’s making YOU feel better at work. It may not go with every Principle of  Feng Shui but it’s whatever works best for you. And don’t be afraid of change, sometimes it’s good to get things “moving” (yourself included) that have been “stuck”

While you still may get a touch of “Ground Hog Days” now and then, when you walk into your work space now you should feel a new sense of well being and harmony in your surroundings. That and a good cup of coffee are perfect ways to start your day at work!

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Color Meaning And Emotions

May 22, 2025

Red pumps the adrenaline like no other color, and it’s no wonder it stimulates the appetite…can anyone say red dining room? Red is so intense and tiring for the eyes that surgeons wear baby blue scrubs as an eye respite while working on the inside of the human body, which is blood red. Deep reds have a traditional feeling of importance and stature, and bright reds impart adventure. Brick red has an earthier feel and provides a classic, warm, understated look, while cherry red symbolize romance and energy. Either way, red will attract the most attention, so red is an excellent distracter in staging!

 

Orange is the color of enthusiasm, creativity, and warmth. It conjures up images of fast food and advertising. Orange can range from bright yellow oranges to deep terra-cotta and rust. Few use orange “as is” in large quantities, but orange is the source of many more workable hues. Rich oranges can be copper or paprika, which remarkably share the warmth of an earth tone and can be comforting and warm. Pale peach has a lovely, light accent.

 

Yellow is welcoming, sunny, bright, and enthusiastic. There’s nothing like yellow to lift the spirits and lighten the mood: bold yellows and formal gold demand equally intense color companions like royal blue and crimson red. Bright yellows have a vibrating intensity that can be difficult on the eyes and are not suggested in young children’s rooms. Soft yellows with names like wheat, maize, and taffy are ideally suited to walls and furnishings where stronger colors might overwhelm them. Coordinating with almost any other color, soft yellows are easy to live with.

 

Green represents nature and can be tranquil, invigorating, restful, and balancing. It is relaxing and soothing, so it is used in places where people are comforted, whether it is a medical facility or a “green room” where people relax before a performance. Dark greens inspire a more conservative, traditional environment. Lighter, soft greens recall nature and soothing earth tones and look at home in almost any scheme, especially one that includes warm wood. Green is considered the fourth primary as it works well with almost any color.

 

Blues are connected to both sky and water. They are associated with clear thinking and calm, meditative environments (think surgeon’s blue scrubs). Blue also invokes the qualities of loyalty, honesty, and clarity. Blue is a relatively broad color family, including hues as varied as cornflower, cobalt, and cerulean. Bright, breezy blues please children, while less intense versions satisfy more sophisticated tastes. Blue is the coolest color on the wheel, generally producing tranquil feelings and peaceful moods. It is my favorite bedroom color!

 

Purple brings luxury, wealth, sophistication, mystery, romance, and royalty to mind. This mix of emotions is common as some people view it as magical and mysterious, while others as dark and dreary associated with the Victorian era. Rich purples can be used in rooms of quiet elegance and convey a formal look combined with cream, gray, and black. Soft purples like lilac and lavender can be more feminine and create a feeling of splendor, style, and light-hearted romance. The light hues go particularly well in bedrooms or children’s rooms where the mood is cooling, romantic, or whimsical.

 

Neutral colors like white (purity and freshness), black (understated elegance, power, and strength), and brown (stability, security, and comfort) work wonders in any color scheme.

 

 

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The Don’t Of A Room

May 8, 2025

When considering a room’s “don’ts,” avoid common design pitfalls like cohesion, overdone symmetry, color gone wrong, and shapes, lines, and forms. 

1. Lack of Cohesion: The room can’t decide what it is. Contemporary? Traditional? Does the item serve a purpose? Pay attention to all the elements in the room. Place items purposefully (E.g., Floor lamp next to chair/sofa).

2. Overdone Symmetry: It becomes redundant and uninteresting. You don’t have to have two of everything. The only exception is the master bedroom.

3. Color Gone Wrong: Understand the saturation/value of the color. Saturation is the purest shade of that color, the highest level. Value is when you brighten the color by adding white. (Ex: coffee, add milk color lightens). Use colors that will compliment the furniture. If one color pops out more than any other color, chances are the color is to saturated.

4. Lack of Attention to Shape, Line, and Form: The lines all go in the same direction (E.g., all vertical, vertical lamp, vertical stripes, tall vertical vase).

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Rules Of Placements

April 24, 2025

1. The perfect viewing height for art is 60″ center above the floor.

2. The perfect space between the wall art/mirror and the top of the mantle is 7″.

3. The ideal height to hang your flat-screen TV is eye level when you’re in the viewing position. The ideal viewing distance is 1  1/2 times the size of your flat screen.

4. A bench at the foot of the bed should be at least 2″ shorter than the mattress width.

5. Keep a minimum of 15″ between coffee tables and sofa.

6. Don’t use end tables lower than 30″. The lamps will be much better, and the proportions will be better.

7. To allow better flow and use, there should be a minimum of 36″ of space around your dining table.

8. Light switches should be 36″ above the floor and 1  1/2″ to 2″ off the side. This  way, they are out of the way of your wall art and door casing.

9. The optimal height for a coffee table is 18″ to 20″

10. The typical sconce height for a bathroom is 66” above the finish floor to the center  of the fixture.

11.  A 36’ rectangular table is ideal width. It allows for conversation to the right, left, and, most importantly, across.

12. Typically, an Island should be no more than 8’ long by 5’ wide. Anything more significant will make it harder to clean and will look too massive.

13. Keep your sofa at 6’6” to 7’ long. Any smaller and it looks dwarfish, and any larger and it looks like an airport lounge.

14. Lighting formula: Multiply length x width, then multiply 1.5 = amount of wattage

15. Kitchen lighting. Multiply length x width, then multiply 2.5 = amount of wattage

16. Chandelier for rooms. Add the length plus width to get the width of the chandelier. For example, a 16’x20′ room would use a 36” chandelier width.

17. The chandelier over the table should be 30”-34” from the tabletop, or 60” to 66” above the floor, and half the table’s width. For a 48” table, use a 24” width chandelier.

18. To determine the wattage for a space, multiply LxW to get sq ft. Then multiply that by 1.5 to get the wattage. 

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The Hallmark Of A Beautiful Room

April 10, 2025

There are seven elements to creating a Beautiful Room. Consider these elements and ask yourself if you have met all these requirements.

  1. Balance: Have you achieved balance? Horizontally? Vertically? Color? (three zones?)Texture? (all the same finishes in your accent pieces?) Metal? Is it all satin? bronze?
  2. Harmony: The way the rooms flow together. Do they tell a story or is it chopped up?
  3. Proportion: The way things relate to one another. Ex: Is the lamp the best proportion to the table?
  4. Scale: The way things relate to the room. Ex: Is the sofa the right scale for the room? Or is it too big? Too small?
  5. Color: Does it hit the three zones? Function one 0″-36″ Power  Z0ne  36″-78″  Ceiling  Zone  78″  to  ceiling.
  6. Rhythm & Flow: Keeps the room moving. This is where you’re going to repeat things. Be true to the form. Ex: Round table has round table mat, round accessories. Doesn’t mean everything in the room has to be round!
  7. Style: Does it have flair and have you honoredwhat it is you are trying to achieve?
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Color Specialist

March 27, 2025

Most people don’t think too much about color when designing a space, but color is the fundamental building block of design. Choose the wrong color, and nothing will work.

Years ago, I took a course in color and learned quite a bit. The system I learned is based on science—yes, science!! It involves combining levels of color intensity to create perfect harmonies.

So, if you need help choosing a color for your space, contact me, and let’s talk. I would love to help you pick the perfect color.

 

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Wood Kitchen Cabinets are Popular Again!!

February 19, 2025

For years, we’ve worked to eliminate the presence of grainy oak kitchen cabinets from the 1980s, and as an affordable solution, we’ve transformed them with paint. Nevertheless, natural and stained wood cabinets are becoming increasingly popular in kitchens, which is understandable; the warmth of wood in a home is hard to resist.

 

The contemporary style showcases drawer and door fronts that boast clean lines, utilizing reclaimed or sustainable wood, often complemented by open shelving instead of upper cabinets. Some designs embrace a rustic flair, using barn or reclaimed wood for cabinet fronts.

 

 

In the discussion about painted versus wood kitchen cabinets, some designers deem all-white kitchens trendy, but I disagree. I think a kitchen featuring white cabinets will consistently evoke a sense of freshness and cleanliness, making it timeless. I have a white-painted kitchen, and I adore every aspect. One cannot dispute the appeal of a classic. White or black paint on cabinets will always look appealing; combining white and wood is another refreshing option.

 

Wood cabinetry has become a highly sought-after feature in both new and renovated kitchens due to its natural charm. While metal cooktops, hoods, and appliances provide cleanliness and convenience, they can make a kitchen feel less inviting on their own. Combining these sleek metals with warm wood creates a striking contrast and harmony in a contemporary kitchen environment.

 

 

 

 

 

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