Category: Interior Design

That reviving feeling when you finally arrive at the hidden gem in the woods that you booked months ago to escape the stress and chaos of day-to-day life. Your tired arms plop your bags down, and seconds later you’re feet up facing a wall of windows bathing in warm rays of sunshine through softly blowing branches. Deep exhale, you’re here—destination relaxation! Nature is no doubt a powerful detox. 

Good news! You can harness the inspiration nature provides by infusing your own home with biophilic design, creating a permanent staycation. 

What is Biophilic Design?

Bio-phil-ic 

The human tendency to interact or be closely associated with other forms of life in nature. (Merriam-Webster)

Biophilic design leans on nature, with its hyper-focused and holistic approach to blurring the boundaries between inside and outside the home. Our engagement with the outdoors has proven health benefits including, reduced blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, anxiety and the production of stress hormones. Through an emphasized connection to nature, we can truly live our best life.

What are the Elements of Biophilic Design?

Natural Light

Sunshine is one of our favorite design tools, and a best friend of biophilic design too. When you infuse a room with light, you infuse a room with life! If larger windows aren’t an option, consider adding traditional or tube skylights to drive natural light down into a dim room. Tall doors, 8’+, with large window panes or transoms is another option for increasing views to the outside while inviting more natural light in.

Foliage and Flower

Bring the outdoors in with plants. From lush potted foliage to large tropical trees, you can’t have too many plants in biophilic design. Tuck air plants into open shelving or integrate them into living walls with sedums and succulents for a more immersive installation. Add drama to a room with large scale flowering or twiggy branches emerging from a glass vase. Gone are the days of faux plastic ivy creeping around cabinet tops, think of more authentic ways to include plants for a more natural vibe.

Seamless Outdoor Living

Connect the inside and outside in perfect harmony with seamless outdoor living spaces. Soften the flow by creating outdoor spaces that include indoor comforts, like sofa seating, fireplaces, and chandeliers. Large pocket or retracting glass doors are especially effective in fully opening indoor living spaces to the outdoors.

Organic Selections

Natural resources like wood and stone comfort us inside and outside the home. These organic selections provide texture and movement in a space, bringing nature closer. The grains found on wood floors, beams and furnishings, embraces the uniqueness of our natural world, reminding us of the archives within our own lives. 

Earth Tones

Resonate peaceful feelings experienced in nature with earth tones in the home—and we’re talking more than neutrals, green is the new grey! Black, white, and terra cotta are other great natural choices. White walls help reflect light around the room, terracotta floor tiles feel familiar to the outdoors, and dark emerald green hues set a forest-like mood as a luxurious accent on wallcoverings or velvet furnishings.

Ready to live your best life? Let’s start at home with beautiful and relaxing spaces to begin and end your day! Contact us to get started on your own biophilic design. Also, visit our neighbors Great Growin’s at the Indiana Design Center to learn more about their stunning living walls.

Happy Home. Happy Life

Interior design is all about the details, and that includes some key design measurements — like how far the couch should be from the coffee table, and how long pendant lights should hang above the kitchen island. It’s those little details that can make a big difference! We’re here to help you get them right so your design is less awkward and more awe-inspiring.

Key design measurements to master, room by room:

Kitchen

Installing kitchen lights, specifically island lights, merits some measuring attention. First, consider the type and scale of the light fixture that best fits the space. For instance, determine if a see-through design is necessary to keep from blocking views around the room, wall art, or nearby windows. Then select a light fixture in scale with surrounding furnishings.

When it comes to hanging light fixtures above islands, plan on the bottom of pendants or fixtures hitting 30-36” above the surface below. This would be the distance between the top of a countertop or table top to the bottom of the light fixture’s lowest point.

If household members are taller, you may consider raising light fixture bases to 40” above the surface below, to ensure the fixture is not within their line of sight. However, If ceilings are lower than 9’ it could look awkward to raise lighting higher. In these circumstances, consider smaller fixtures, with a more linear or horizontal design. If multiple fixtures are to be hung, aim for 24” between pendants.

Living Rooms

If you’ve ever knocked your knee on the coffee table getting up from the couch, then you know design measurements matter! Comfortable furniture placement requires ample walking space. Furnishings should ideally be placed at least 36” apart to allow for good flow. However, nested furnishings may require less distance, like 12-18” between the edge of a couch or chair and coffee table. High traffic areas, like areas between the back of a couch and kitchen islands, usually require a minimum of 5’ distance to achieve a comfortable walking path.

Dining Room

The same rules apply for dining tables as kitchen islands, with dining table lights recommended to be hung 30-36” above the table. Longer rectangular or oval dining tables are best supported with linear horizontal lights as opposed to more traditional chandelier style lights often used over round tables. Dining tables over 8’ in length may require multiple fixtures for good lighting. If tables have leaves that are removed when not entertaining, consider more flexible lighting options.

As a rule of thumb, leave 36” between the end of a dining table and wall, and at least 24” for dining chairs to be pushed back. A distance of 18” is ample for end chairs. Also check the legs on chairs under the table to make sure they fit appropriately and are not hitting other chairs or table legs when moving. A 48” round table generally sits 5-6 people, while a 60” round table best fits 7-8 people.

Bathroom

Bathrooms are busy zones before heading out the door in the morning. Extra walking space and double sinks can help with the hectic-ness of multiple people using one small room at the same time. At least 6’ of wall space is necessary to support a double sink, 8’ is even better if you’re designing a more spacious master bath.

Similarly, walk-in showers are most comfortable when they are around 5’x5’ or larger in size. Also, keep towel bars in mind when measuring. Towel bars are typically hung between 42-48” off the ground. Be sure they are not hung behind doors where they could rub, and not too close to a window or mirror where they could block a view once towels are hung.

From key measurements to major renovation, our team is here to help with flexible design services—allowing you to gain the experience of a professional interior designer, specific to your project needs and budget. Contact us today to set up your initial consultation, and let’s get measuring!

Happy Home, Happy Life

Ahhh…that bright shiny fresh feeling when the new year rolls in—a time to set new intentions, kick old habits, and welcome a brand new batch of style trends! We can’t wait to get started on another fun year bringing the hottest and best design possible to our client’s homes and lifestyles.

To get things started in style, we’re sharing some of our favorite design trends for 2022:

Retro Selections

We’re throwing it back to the ’70s with moss greens, burnt oranges, vintage statement pieces, and retro wallpapers and art. Nostalgic floor patterns like herringbone hardwoods and vintage-printed tiles are trending too. Matte metals, soft-curved velvet furniture pieces, and reeded cabinetry are also making a strong come-back—and we’re all about it!

Biophilic Design

Biophilic design celebrates a better connection to the natural environment by intentionally styling a space to echo peace and tranquility found in nature. This involves blurring the boundaries inside and outside of the home by immersing a design in elements reflected in the natural world—like sunlight, live plants, fresh air, and organic shapes.

Plaster and Stucco

This is not plaster and stucco’s first time trending, it’s truly a timeless treasure! From Old-World stucco finishes mixed into exterior facades to lightly textured walls and smooth stucco range hood covers, we adore this European-inspired style.

Goodbye Gray, Hello Green!

Bring on the soft and vibrant greens, shades of citrus, desert tones, and nature-inspired neutral palettes. Gray is finally taking a backseat, making way for some bold new (largely green) color expressions in 2022!

Multi-Functional Design

It just makes sense to maximize function in designing practical living spaces. Some of our favorite multi-functional designs include combined kitchen and dining areas, convertible offices and guest bedrooms, mixed play/study spaces for children, shared laundry/mudrooms, and modular furniture.

Home Offices

With working from home as popular as ever, home offices continue to be a hot trend. From full designated rooms to niche and nook desks, a place to work remotely is a must for many of our clients.

Smart Technology

Integrated smart home features like security systems, keyless entry, automated heated and cooled flooring, distributed audio, motorized blinds, and hands-free faucets are all sought-after selections for improved living.

Aging in Place

Why relocate, when you can renovate? Stylish aging in place is growing in popularity, especially as home purchase prices have surged. Staying put and refreshing where memories, friends, and roots are established is often a much more comfortable and affordable option than re-building, leaving room in a homeowner’s budget for other goals.

Which of these 2022 design trends is catching your eye? Are you ready to bring a fresh new look into your home? Kick-off 2022 with an in-home design consultation! Click here to get started on your very own style story.

Follow us on Instagram to stay up to date on what’s trending and what projects we’re working on!

Happy Home, Happy Life

Mudrooms are usually the first room to greet you when you come home from a busy day. Having an organized and efficient space for stashing shoes, hanging bags, catching coats, dropping mail, and charging electronics when you walk in just makes life easier—and a beautiful design makes it even better!

So what did it take to design our most-loved mudrooms? Explore our favorite mudroom designs and features below:

Drop Zone

You finally made it home, and now it’s time to unload the car. Hands full, you bust through the door hugging an armful of groceries, mail wedged between your fingers, and your car bag sliding off your shoulder. Wouldn’t it be nice to have somewhere to drop all those things right inside the door so you can get your shoes off before settling into those warm house slippers you’ve been dreaming of all day?

You’re not alone, hence the mudroom drop zone! This workhorse feature is often built-in with hooks for bags and coats, a bench for dropping bags or sitting to slide off shoes. Mail bins and key cabinets also make the list! You get the point, it’s pretty much your best friend when you come in the door.

Smart Storage

The mudroom is a popular pit stop, stocked with all the essentials whether you’re coming or going. It’s a busy place and storage is key to keeping it organized. From cubbies to lockers, closets to cabinets, well-planned storage helps conceal the mess life on the go can sometimes make. And we all know the time-saving benefits of having a designated place for all the daily “things”!

Charging Stations

Nothing like reaching for a device and not having the charge to complete the task at hand. Integrating charging stations into the mudroom can save those headaches. You can eliminate countertop clutter with docking drawers which add power outlets into cabinet drawer systems. Life hacks like this save you from running around the house last minute looking for lost devices too.

Durable Surfaces

Hard-working spaces call for hard-working materials. We’re talking wainscoting and shiplap on the walls, tile or luxury vinyl plank on the floor, and solid surface countertops. Think durability when making mudroom selections, these rooms can take a beating.

Shared Spaces

Mudrooms usually include an entry from either the garage or exterior, since they are most commonly the family entry to the home. Design these spaces in a way that allows for a natural flow. Mudrooms are sometimes shared spaces with laundry rooms and desk spaces too, adding in a pocket or sliding barn-door feature can help separate uses or conceal these working rooms from adjacent living spaces. And if you don’t have room for a whole room, you may consider transforming a back hallway entry into a mud “room” with creative design.

Inspiration

Mudrooms don’t have to be all work and no play—have a favorite quote to start your day, this is the perfect place to showcase it! You’re sure to see inspirational messages, to-do lists, and calendars when they’re displayed in this main passage to and from the home.

Our mudroom designs are always as efficient as they are luxurious so you can live your best life. Contact us to get started on your new or improved mudroom design!

Check out our Pinterest board for more mudroom designs and inspiration. 

Happy Home, Happy Life