A Fresh New Year

Happy New Year!

We hope that you enjoyed a wonderful holiday, and are getting off to a great start in 2010! It seems to us at this time of year the world looks a little plain. Our holiday decorations have come down and our homes look so bare. Outside, the leaves have fallen from the trees; even the view from our windows seems bare and lackluster. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had our winter design wardrobe, and just like we put our summer clothes away in exchange for our winter wardrobe, we could retrieve a fresh, new design “wardrobe” to liven up our post holiday doldrums?

We are all looking for ways to invigorate our living spaces with new life at this time of year without investing in an entire home remodel! Some tips from us to you…try freshening your look with a new fabric on accent pillows, even a small piece of upholstery. Not a huge expense, and easily changeable from season to season. Rearrange your display or book cases, adding more than just books! Lean artwork, arrange accessories and add the unexpected to the areas between the stacks and rows of books. Go a little farther, perhaps, and paint the interior back of the bookcase to match your wall color, or choose an accent color or patterned wallpaper for drama and emphasis. Rearrange accessories, even furnishings from room to room, giving them a new life and purpose and a new place in your home. Layer your rugs…laying area rugs on your broadloom carpet or on top of room size rugs gives a room feeling of warmth and coziness this time of year. Just be careful to avoid thick, bunching rugs and trip hazards. And, as always, if you need help with any of your projects we are here for you.

In our upcoming blogs we will explore trends, designer picks and favorites, and some of our “go to” reliable design choices to share with you. Each month we will select a design term, define it, give the pronunciation, and talk about its significance.

For January, we chose “toile”. Pronounced “twall”, Toile de Jouy originated in France in the late 1700s. In the French language, the phrase literally means "cloth from Jouy en Josas", a town of north-central France. Toile de Jouy, sometimes abbreviated to simply "toile", is a type of decorating pattern consisting of a usually white or off-white background on which a repeated pattern depicting a fairly complex scene, generally of a pastoral theme. Toiles also often consist of an arrangement of flowers. The pattern portion traditionally consists of a single color. Toile should be used in abundance. And while it does mix well with more rigid patterns such as stripes, checks and plaids, toile should be the predominant pattern in any room where it's displayed. See below for a beautiful example of toile fabric.

Welcome

Welcome to our blog. We hope to share innovative and useful tips and trends with you, and to engage in fun and informative conversations...and maybe even share some secrets! We welcome your input, comments and suggestions. Creating a beautiful home is a very personal journey, and we are excited to take that journey with you. To tell you a little bit about our design firm, the designers at Style Interiors, Inc. feel that our best work is a combination of finding what you love and using what we know to create your perfect interior. We have an in depth knowledge of products, finishes and furnishings in addition to our ability to solve design problems while at the same time helping you avoid costly mistakes. Style Interiors, Inc. is the only design firm on the peninsula to have both a LEED Accredited Professional (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and Allied Members of ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) on staff. Stay tuned for informative and valuable posts...and let us know what you think!