Be Honest With Yourself

Posted on April 30, 2012 by michaelsmith

Today, April 30, is National Honesty Day. So for just one day, be honest with yourself. What kind of furniture do you really want?

How high should it be? What color? What about the storage options?

Some furniture is built the way it is and that’s it. The manufacturer makes their piece and you have to take it or leave it.

But not Contempo Space. At Contempo Space, we want you to be honest with yourself and us. What do you really want?

With a wide array of options in everything from handles and finishes to dimensions and storage options, we can create the piece of furniture that’s exactly what you want. See something you like on our website, but it could use a few more nooks and crannies? No problem. Just tell our expert design consultants what you’re looking for and we’ll build whatever you need.

National Honesty Day only comes once a year. So today be honest with yourself. What do you really want?

Pictured Above: Contempo Wall Bingham Entertainment Center Wall Unit

Check Out This Treehouse!

Posted on April 27, 2012 by michaelsmith

Friday April 27 is Arbor Day, a day that we use to show thanks for the great resource of wood by planting trees. It’s an important day since trees not only provide us with oxygen, wood and comfortable shade, but have also given us a delightful pastime – the treehouse. Check out some of these awesome treehouses from around the web.

This treehouse in the British Alnwick Garden was photographed by Christine Westerback.

This tree house is from Marayur, Kerala, India

Photo by Emdot

From BeWILDerwood – the Curious Treehouse Adventure Park in Norfolk, UK. Photo by Karen Roe

A backward treehouse by Wm Jas

Well, that’s something you don’t see every day – Free Spirit Spheres on Vancouver Island

Have you seen any great treehouses on the web recently? Post a link in the comments and share with the rest of us!

Things You Shouldn’t Keep in Your Bedroom

Posted on April 26, 2012 by michaelsmith

A bedroom is a place for relaxation. Here are a few things you shouldn’t keep in your bedroom.

Assorted Clutter

Your bedroom is not a storage space. Keep it that way. Don’t let random junk accumulate and definitely don’t let it block the path from your door to your bed. The last thing anyone wants to do at 3 in the morning is navigate a dark minefield on their way to the bathroom.

Work

Your brain comes to associate places with various uses. So if you do work on your bed or in your bedroom, there’s a good chance your brain will eventually come to associate the room with work and alertness, waking you up immediately upon entering the room, regardless of how tired you might be.

Cigarettes

Smoking in bed is very dangerous since if you fall asleep, a lit cigarette could start a fire in your bedroom.

Find Some Way to Cover Your TV

Most sleep experts will tell you to keep your TV out of the bedroom. Now we understand that some people really enjoy watching TV in bed and who are we to judge? It can be quite relaxing. But one thing you should do is at least try to find a way to cover the TV while you’re sleeping. We suggest keeping it inside an armoire with closing doors.

Photocredit: Kangshutters

Outdoor Decorating Tips

Posted on April 25, 2012 by michaelsmith

Although the weather wasn’t so great for the Northeast recently, most of the country is gearing up for summer. And if summer means anything, it’s more time spent outside, so start thinking about how you’ll decorate the outdoors!

If you’ve got the space, try to set up a table and chairs outside. And by that I mean something adequate that you could share a meal on. There’s nothing quite as relaxing as eating dinner outside on a warm summer night. Nor is there a better way to start the day than with breakfast on the patio.

Also, in addition to outdoor chairs, consider decorations such as lawn ornaments. While sometimes they can be cheesy, a few well-placed lawn ornaments can really liven up a yard. Birdfeeders, birdbaths and birdhouses are always great little accessories that will draw some lovely feathered friends to your yard.

What are some accessories you like using to brighten up the outdoors? Leave a comment and let us know.

Photo Credit: Photostock

Interior Design Tip: When You Redesign, Start with the Furniture Layout

Posted on April 24, 2012 by michaelsmith

It’s a plain fact that your home will go through a couple of redesigns. It’s human nature. As we grow and change, our relationship with our surroundings does as well. It’s necessary that our surroundings shift to reflect our growth as people, both mentally and physically.

When you decide it’s time for a total home makeover, start with the furniture layout. Although it might be an afterthought in daily life, furniture is a remarkably important piece of the home design puzzle. Furniture shapes and dictates the function of a room. A room with an entertainment center is obviously a room for watching movies or TV. A room with a sofa is obviously for sitting and relaxing. And the style of the furniture will act as an indicator of the style of your home and guide the rest of your interior design.

The legendary modern architect Frank Lloyd Wright, aka the most important American architect in history, would design custom furniture for his interiors. And that was the only furniture he would allow in his homes. While you probably don’t have that luxury, you can at least plan accordingly, and set up a furniture layout that can guide and complement your new interior design scheme.

Photo Credit: Grant Cochrane

Interior Design Tip: Find a Theme

Posted on April 23, 2012 by michaelsmith

Picking a theme, such as Japanese, Minimalist, or Renaissance, can help direct your interior design plan and eliminate hordes of unnecessary options.

When starting your interior design project, one of the easiest ways to identify your direction and start making a plan is to choose a theme.

Theme is a fairly broad word, but essentially you should consider it the idea that you want your design to center around. You could choose a locale theme such as beach, country or urban, a national theme such as East Asian, Mediterranean or traditional Italian, or it could be something more simple and direct, like a color theme.

You could make the theme of your home or space literally whatever you want. Sports, outer space, the American Southwest – it doesn’t matter. Just make sure it’s something you love and a place where you would want to spend time every day.

Choosing a theme makes the whole interior design process easier since it rules out a wide range of other options. For example, you wouldn’t put a bamboo plant in a room inspired by The Yankees’ classic pin-stripe design. Likewise, you wouldn’t put a traditional Italian cabinet in a room with a minimal theme.

Those are just two examples, but I’m sure there are plenty more. What kind of theme would you choose for your interior design? Leave us a comment and let us know.

Make Your Small Space Work: A Few Tips and Ideas

Posted on April 20, 2012 by michaelsmith

It doesn’t just happen and it’s not easy, but eventually, everyone can learn how to find the perfect design for their small space. You will need to take advantage of every space saving trick in the book, but it can not only be done – it can be done with style.

Here’s a few ides to help make your small space grow:

Work along diagonals. The longest line in any room will be a diagonal, so use that to your advantage by setting up your room on an angle. In a small room, every bit of space counts, so make the most of it by directing the room along the longest angle available.

Scale the furniture. Furniture that’s too high will make your ceiling look low. Furniture that’s too wide will make your walls look small(er). Use furniture that is scaled to the smaller size of your living room so none of it will take on an overpowering presence.

Use mirrors to make the room look bigger. It’s true. Whether you’re using mirrored finishes on your furniture or setting up freestanding mirrors around the room, they can help make a room look bigger and brighten up the space.

Decorating a small space isn’t too tough, but it’s certainly not easy. It requires a lot of creativity and effort, but it can be done and it can be done well. Also, try to keep the room neat and tidy. Nothing hurts a small space like extra clutter.

Create a Stress Free Zone

Posted on April 19, 2012 by michaelsmith

Modern life is stressful. We’ve got a rough economy, gas prices are high, job reports are low, and that’s just the stuff we see on the news. All the stress in your own (non-televised) life probably adds up, too.

So how can you deal with all that stress?

One easy way to get away from it all (sort of) is to set up a stress free zone in your house, some spot where you can go and no bothersome distractions can follow. If you have the space, set a room aside. If not, place comfortable chair in the corner of a room or set up a room divider to block your stress free zone from the outside world.

Choose an area that gets lots of natural light, and keep some neat little games or trinkets that you can unwind with nearby. Candles are never a bad idea, either.

Try to spend at least 10-20 minutes a day in your stress free zone. Find some little ritual to help take your mind off of the real world for a bit. It could be any small act like reading a magazine, drinking a cup of coffee or eating an apple. Eventually, your body and mind will get into the habit of relaxing whenever you do this particular activity in your stress free zone.

How would you set up your stress free zone? Leave a comment and let us know.

Photo Credit: Max Charping

You Don’t Live in a Magazine, You’ve Got a Real Home

Posted on April 18, 2012 by michaelsmith

Show Homes are beautiful, but you probably don’t live in a magazine

The homes we see in magazines or that we walk through on open house days are plenty real, but they’re not really real.

Those homes, while they are real in a very tangible way, are not really homes – no one lives there. Their set-up and designs are meant to grab your eyes and touch your heart, but not your head.

Real homes come with problems and issues that need solving. When setting up your home’s interior design, you’ll need to use your head as much as your heart. Undoubtedly, it’s important to like how your space looks, but what’s more important is that your living arrangement will address problems and necessities in your lifestyle – especially the furniture.

Good design doesn’t just look good – it solves problems. Let us help solve your problems at Contempo Space.

Photo Credit: Tom Merton

Hit the Trifecta: Furniture, Color and Light

Posted on April 17, 2012 by michaelsmith

Note the way the color, furniture and lighting all complement one another.

There are three elements of your home design that are, for lack of a better term, the “it” factors: furniture, color and lighting.

Furniture as we’ve mentioned before is both the traffic cop and the welcoming host of your home. It directs the flow of movement throughout a space yet also welcomes visitors to sit down and relax. An efficient furniture lay-out is paramount to successful interior design. And it doesn’t hurt if the furniture looks nice, too.

Color sets the mood and the tone of your home. While your furniture welcomes visitors and directs their movements, the color of your home will direct their eyes and their emotions. Different colors produce different responses and will determine how guests (and you) feel upon entering a room. For a more detailed explanation of the relationship between color and mood, read this article from Freshome.

Lighting is a somewhat mysterious element that holds an exciting power over the previous two factors. Lighting, obviously, needs to be coordinated with color, but it should also be a factor when choosing furniture, too.

When you buy furniture and pick colors for your home, consider all the sources of lighting that will be present in your home throughout the day, from the natural light of your windows and sky lights to your favorite lamp(s). Different levels of light can easily alter the perception and mood of a room, so be sure to coordinate your room’s lighting with its color and furniture layout.

These three elements are linked together and intertwined with one another. A great home design rests upon a proper balance between each of the three elements. They mingle and mix together to create the perfect design, visually linking the room’s elements to form the proper “feel” or “tone” for a space.

How do you feel about these three design factors? How do you employ them in your home design?

Pictured Above: The Scarlett Entertainment Center Wall Unit

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