The High Point Market is the largest furnishings industry trade show in the world. Over 85,000 people attend High Point every six months. As the saying goes in the home fashions industry, “If you can’t find it in High Point, it probably doesn’t exist.” It’s always exciting to see what’s new at market, but it’s even more intriguing to see what we are thinking about weeks after we return.

Kim’s Top 3 Picks
1. Intriguing Lighting Options
Clean glass globes and lamp bases add visual interest and light but don’t stop your eye from seeing what’s beyond!
Clean lines and the airy feel of chandeliers that are round and open up the space without weighing the room down.

2. Gustavian and Swedish Antique Reproductions
When a hallway needs visual interest without the bulk of a wood piece, try a painted demi lune table with art above.
Clean lines with the look and feel of a well worn classic commode adds substance and style.

3. Giclee’s of Original Drawings by Jeremiah Goodman
These drawings give a sense of actually being in these beautiful rooms! They are a great way to incorporate different design ideas all in the same room.

Amy’s Top 3 Picks
1. Pillows
This pillow collection is made of natural materials like jute, cotton and linen. Patterns such as damask, ikat, floral and solids allow for looks from traditional to Bohemian chic!

2. Mirrored Cocktail Table
This cocktail table has clean and simple lines but classic style. It comes in two colors, black or crème with gold accents, and the top is antiques mirror.

3. Lamps
These lamps come in a variety of beautifully saturated colors. They are so versatile because of the shades, some sophisticated and others colorful and funky. By changing the shade, one lamp gets two looks.

Now that summer is fast approaching, the thought of longer day and more sunlight has everyone raring to go. Try bringing some of that energy into your living areas. Happy colors can have a big impact on mood, and who among us couldn’t use a little mood lift?

The floor plan below features a typical furniture arrangement that anyone could adapt to use in their home. If you are not planning to tackle a makeover of major magnitude, you can still lighten your home’s look with a couple minor changes. Try exchanging your current area rug with a bound sisal rug. You can also try updating sofas with bright, geometric pillows and a colorful throw. To finish off your room makeover, try a fresh coat of paint on the walls.

Currant Custom Interiors is available for consultations no matter the size of your project. Although we love to help homeowners from the planning stage, whether building or remodeling, we are also happy to help your existing home reach its true potential. Currant Custom Interiors invites everyone to live, eat and sleep pretty!

Top 5 Interior Design Trends for 2010

1. Eco-Friendly Products
When eco-friendly products first appeared in retail, the natural colored cotton products were expensive and lacked the feel of refinement. Today’s products, including bedding, flooring, fabrics and paint, can hold their own with any product on the market and do not add dangerous chemicals to the environment.

2. Home Office
With our lives being so full of electric communication, whether it is email, text messaging or social networks like Facebook and Twitter, try leaving all communication in an are dedicated to the home office function. The majority of your home should be a place of respire from all the busyness of the outside world.

3. Fashion Inspired Décor
The fashion industry gives consumers lots of beautiful ways to incorporate the trendy styles of clothing into their home décor. With looks including statement jewelry, green key detail and houndstooth and striped prints, there are many ways to include your favorite wardrobe updates into your home furnishings.

4. Outdoor Living
Given the economy in the past year and a half, more people are opting for a staycation rather than extravagant vacations. The increase in leisure time spent around the home had prompted many homeowners to upgrade their outdoor living spaces. Add a kitchen, fireplace, spa or daybed and start enjoying the good life right here at home!

5. Specialty Wallpapers
Wallpaper is back. Using a specialty wallpaper to accent a room’s personality is easier than ever. There are wallpapers that add natural texture, which come in a wide variety of colors and can bring a touch of outdoor inspired elements to living spaces. Metallics are popular wallpaper finishes right now, including mother of pearl shells, flexible glass bead paper and authentic metallic leaf.

If the start of a new year makes you hopeful that new possibilities and positive changes will soon follow, you are not alone! After all the holiday rush, the clean up and the returns are made, take a moment to reflect on the changes you would like to make in 2010. If having a beautiful and uncluttered home is on your wish list, here are some tips on making it happen.

1. Your bedroom should be a place to get away from it all. One of our favorite looks is a monochromatic color scheme. Try varying shades of color for less contrast and a more soothing feel, including the bedding, wall color, curtains, flooring and furniture. Bedside tables with drawers are an easy way to keep all items you want access to every night close by yet put away. Putting excess furniture in your closet is another way to maintain storage and achieve a more streamlined look in your bedroom. An uncluttered, organized bedroom will make it easier to let go of the days’ stress as nighttime approaches.
2. The first step is to pick a room, starting small. For instance, a powder room is an area you can tackle in one day. The easiest way to rework a room is by removing everything you would consider changing. All counter space, floor space and wall space should be bare. As you put each item back into the room, check its condition and cleanliness. If it is stained or broken, it’s time to replace it. For example, if your shower curtain is torn, consider replacing it with ready made curtain panels. This creates the look of a custom shower curtain without the cost. If the mirror above your sink is peeling along the edges, try a small framed mirror in its place.
3. If your kitchen is the heart of your home, make sure to keep it both functional and visually appealing. Any small appliances that aren’t used on a regular basis can be stored in cabinets to free up valuable counter space and give your kitchen a less cluttered look. Combining stapes like salt and pepper, olive oils and sugar on a pretty serving platter will allow easy access to those items you reach for frequently and still make a nice presentation. Many times, a casual table cloth or new chair cushions create a whole new look at a fraction of the cost of replacing your furniture.
4. The living room will be the most time consuming room to rearrange. Removing al the furniture, if possible, will help you visualize new furniture arrangement possibilities. Place your rug first, followed by the sofa and chairs. Situate the furniture to create a conversation are versus all the seating facing the television or fireplace. Once the upholstered furniture is in place, bring in the coffee table and small tables and place next to the seating. Updating lamp shades and sofa pillows is also an inexpensive way to add some life to existing furnishings.

If the space is wide enough, create a vignette using furniture, art and lamps. This picture features an area behind a living room. Two chairs upholstered in a neutral fabric flank a hand painted demi-lune chest. These chairs can also be added to the main living area when extra seating is needed. The ambient light from the table lamp, additional textures from the upholstery and antique accessories add a nice backdrop to the area.

These eclectic pieces of art are hung salon style. The arrangement works well in a narrow space when furniture cannot be used. For easy placement, arrange artwork on the floor. Use craft paper and painters tape to recreate the layout on the wall before final installation and save the space from unwanted nail holes.

Many homes today have open floor plans. A large console placed on a wall and bordered by two chairs can be used for storage, serving food or a bar when entertaining. Chairs can be pulled up to the dining table or used for extra seating in the living room. Brown speckled gourd lamps add ambient lighting, and the seashell artwork and collection of seashells give the space a personal touch.

Stairwells can often cause homeowners to make mistakes. It is not necessary to fill every blank space of sheetrock. Try to pick an area that will draw attention and be fully visible. Often times railings or sidewalls will only allow a portion of the artwork to be seen. With proper placement, the artwork can bring life into a dead space and truly make it an extension of an adjoining room.

When a home doesn’t have a designated foyer, one can be created by placing an antique French buffet on the wall between two openings. The gilt mirror will show the reflection of another room giving the illusion of a bigger space. Black tole lamps, Staffordshire dogs, antique books and small accessories make a lovely vignette.

This bedroom was designed to encourage tranquility with a mix of soft blues and greens combined with a neutral base to create a sense of calm. The upholstered French headboard is both beautiful and functional, allowing the user to prop up while reading a book. The hand painted desk in the foreground is prefect for laptop use and is another great example of how something functional can be beautiful, too. The operable drapery keeps the sun’s rays at bay for quests to enjoy a lazy morning in bed. The ethereal feeling of this room would make any guest feel right at home.

After we looked at the pictures of the home, it was apparent that this was going to be a dream job in paradise.

At the time we came on board this project, the residence was almost complete. The builder was going to live in this home, but had decided to sell. He spared no expense when constructing this wonder house. From the wall of folding glass doors to the placement of windows for proper cross ventilation, every detail had been carefully thought out.

All the finished he chose were a great jumping off point for furniture, art, rugs and accessories. The cabinets, wood moldings and floors in the beach house are all African mahogany, and the warm wood tones and natural stone reminded us of Louisiana. They were just one of the things that appealed to the homeowners, since this was going to be their home away from home.

The Laguna residence consists of three floors. The top floor is a split-level with a scenic kitchen/dining on the upper level along with it’s own outdoor grilling area. Walk down a few stairs into the luxurious living room to enjoy a picture perfect view of the Pacific Ocean where, on a clear day, Catalina Island can be seen.

The living room also features a full wall of glass doors on a track system. Each door folds onto the next and tucks neatly in front of a full-length window. With the doors open, there is a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor living, as the balcony becomes part of the living room. When the glass doors shut, the view is uninterrupted. This is truly the best of form and function.

The second floor is a split-level as well. The entry, powder room and garage are on one upper level. Again, walk down a few stairs to the master bedroom and bath. These rooms also have a balcony with full view of the ocean.

The bottom floor consists of two guest bedrooms, two full bathrooms, utility room and family room. The family room showcases a wall of glass doors like the living room. They open to the private pool area complete with Jacuzzi, waterfall and fire pit.

All the furniture throughout the residence is comfortable and easy to maintain. This Laguna Beach house is all about enjoying life and your surroundings. It definitely follows the Currant Timeless Custom Interiors philosophy to eat, sleep and live pretty!

Intimate living spaces should include these four elements:
Contrast – not having everything match
Texture – a feeling of depth in your space
Continuity – recurring elements
Originality – something unique and personal

CONTRAST
A great way to incorporate contrast in your home is to include pieces from different furniture styles. Try handing contemporary artwork over an antique sideboard. Another easy way is to have a host and hostess chair at the head and foot of rectangular table. These chairs can be completely difference from the side chairs. If you have a round table, try using two different chairs or combine different fabrics on the same style chair. Layering fabrics is also a good way to add contrast to a room. Pillows that match the upholstery of your sofa usually go unnoticed. Try mixing multiple patterned pillows on a solid couch. Stripes, paisley, florals and checks are all easy to work with. Many fabric stores display coordinating fabrics together, which will help make your choices easier.

TEXTURE
Leather, suede, velvet, cotton and silk all have a very different feel. However, all these choices would work wonderfully together in one room. Imagine a leather sofa with suede pillows, an animal print rug underneath, two side chairs upholstered in cotton with silk pillows and a large ottoman covered in velvet. Now picture a leather sofa and matching chairs with the pillows that came with them. Which home would you rather live in?

CONTINUITY
When decorating a room, it is important to have elements of continuity. Color would be one of the obvious choice for continuity. For example, in a living/dining room, the upholstery may all be neutral. This leaves many options open for pops of color. If red is your favorite color, introduce it to your living room by adding red pillows to your upholstered pieces. To keep it flowing, the rug would have hints of red and the dining room chair seats might be upholstered in a red fabric. Touches of red in artwork and florals would work to. The secret to continuity is for it to look effortless, not contrived. The room should not look “themed”.

ORIGINALITY
Do not be afraid of mixing styles. Bold and unusual choices when placing furniture can often set your home apart from your neighbors. Try using an antique chest of drawers between windows in your living area. You can use the drawer space for board games or magazines. If your family vacations at the beach each year, have each family member contribute to a shell collection. You can display your collection at home once you return from your trip. If your family members are musically inclined, frame sheet music of some of their favorite songs to use as artwork. When accessorizing your home, including selections that feature the taste and personality of your family members will make your home more interesting.

When you walk into a home you want to feel warmth and emotion. No matter the size of scale of your home, attention to detail and a combination of these elements will make your home a visual delight. Currant Timeless Custom Interiors invites all of you to Live, Eat and Sleep Pretty!

It looks like open floor plans are here to stay! In the last two decades, architects and builders have made many changes to floor plans to better suit the way we live. In many cases there are no longer dividing walls between living rooms, dining rooms and kitchens. There are many bonuses to a home with this type of layout. It allows for even the smallest of homes to “live bigger”.

By utilizing the bar/island and both living and dining seating, you can easily accommodate 20 people in your home comfortably. Since we are entertaining more at home, this is a very important feature of an open floor plan. Television and music can be appreciated from all these rooms simultaneously. It allows those who are most interested in the big game or the election returns to hold court in the room closer to the television, and others can gather in adjacent rooms to visit while still being apprised when the Tigers score the game winning touchdown!

There are some decorating issues that need to be considered when building/buying a home with this type of floor plan. Gone are the days when you can let stacks of dishes sit in the sink. Your kitchen will be on display for family and friends during every gathering. By integrating some upscale features into your kitchen, you will help marry these rooms into one big, beautiful entertaining area.

There are may easy ways to make your cabinets appear more like furniture. Try using footed bases, hand forged cabinet pulls, and specialty paint finishes for visual interest. Oftentimes the upper cabinets can be more easily viewed from adjoining rooms, so adding glass fronts to some of these cabinets can help to open up the space. Incorporate practical and pretty countertop storage to hide everyday items like bread and multivitamins. Lidded baskets are an affordable, yet special way to keep the clutter from taking over the kitchen. Appliances that will be left on the counter should coordinate with your built in appliances or your color scheme.

Another easy way to help these rooms unite is by picking colors and textures that can be used in each of the rooms. Selecting several shades of a neutral color and adding a couple colors for the visual pop will help the eye to take in all the rooms at one time. Note the use of greenery in each of the rooms. Neutral tones coupled with shots of blue and coral are scattered throughout the space. Don’t be afraid to use color as a season change.

If you keep the walls and major furniture pieces neutral, you can play with accessories like pillows, lidded boxes and artwork to give a fresh look to your home several times a year.

Remember, when furnished your open floor plan home, continuity is KING!

Its all about the color, said the client to the design team, and the result in this keeping room is a rich palette of terra cotta, rust, gold, moss green, blue, brown, red. The space is warm and inviting, but also vibrant and energetic. This contradiction marries well with the stucco walls, antique brick flooring. In keeping with the client’s wishes, the furniture is comfortable and family friendly. All told, the designers say this “keeping room” lives up to its names: Enter and you may not want to leave.