We had another great workshop this past Tuesday, June 23, 2009. The dance studio of The Art Underground provided a nice setting for about 22 attendees to learn more about low cost design.








As advertised we had great refreshments and we gave away great prizes including a tea pack from Celestial Seasonings, two bottles of wine from Boulder Creek Winery, a copy of the "Use What You Have Decorating" book by Lauri Ward, a $25 gift certificate to Lafayette Flea Market, and a catered redesign party for 10 by the Design Matters Home team. Thank you much to all the companies that provided prizes. We also want to again thank The Art Underground for the room, chairs, and tables and thank you, Keith Bobo for taking pictures.

Our next workshop is on Outdoor Kitchens and it will not be one to miss. We are still working out the final plans so check back on our website for updated information.

Labels: Interior Design

Furniture:

Tables:

• Remnant slab granite for a table top with sale bar stools for legs or on top of an old beat up table or an inexpensive table
• Buy inexpensive glass table tops (AFW, Glass and Mirror Craft); place on top of any creative bases you can come up with (decorative pillars, 2 small side tables, bar stools, benches)
• Buy precut wood "rounds" at hardware store, throw on top of any base (even a folding card table), cover w/a pretty tablecloth, and you have an instant breakfast table, bedside table, foyer table, etc

Bookcases

• Alternative to expensive built-ins, buy inexpensive bookcases from the unpainted furniture store to fill the space, then tie together with paint-grade base & crown moldings. Paint (w/a sprayer) the whole thing one color and get an expensive custom look
• Paint the backs of your bookcases or cabinets an accent color, wallpaper remnants, or craft paper for a quick & easy custom look

Art

• Blank stretched canvas can be stretched with fabric and changed out, fabric circles traced from bowls can be glued on and sealed with Modge Podge - decoupage.
• Fabric abstracts with fabric scraps - framed
• Vintage wine labels, ticket stubs, foreign money put into a frame at angles, overlapping as a collage
• Collection of letters in different sizes and finishes to hang on the wall in a grouping
• Frame wall paper, wrapping paper and fabric samples
• Frame calendar pages or old coffee table books that you can tear pages from (e.g., a series of botanicals).

Accessories:

• Area Rugs: Carpet remnants & bind edge for an inexpensive alternative to area rug or wall-to-wall carpeting. Inexpensive sisal rug & paint a border stripe in your wall color to customize for your room

General:

• Add paint grade wood (e.g., when adding moldings) less expensive than staining higher grade wood for crown & chair rail moldings; molding kits that come with pre-made corner pieces so you don’t need to hire carpenter to match corner cuts
• Spray paint is your friend.
• Stove paint can cover dated brass on fireplace inserts and shower surrounds.
• White or black spray paint to transform inexpensive picture frames and decorative items at flea markets, garage sales, etc. for a unified, clean, contemporary look when displayed together.
• Spray paint an antique (or just old & ugly!) chandelier or light fixture white, black, or even a fun, dramatic color & add small shades, for a cool "custom" fixture.

Labels: Interior Design

Best time to buy:

• Furniture: Jan. and July
• Large Appliances: Oct. and Jan.
• Computers: Aug. and Dec.
• Electronics: April, May, Black Friday, Cyber Monday
• Gas Grills: Oct.
• Linens and Bedding: Jan.
• Matressess and Box Springs: May
• Office Furniture: Jan and End of April
• Patio Furniture: Sept.
• Small Appliances: Dec.
• TVs: April and Dec.
• Vacuum Cleaners: April and May
• Wine : Early Fall

Where to Shop:

• Lafayette Flea Market, Lafayette
• Home Goods, Westminster
• Big Lots, Louisville
• Consignment Shops
• The Amazing Garage Sale
• Feather Thy Nest
• No Place Like Home
• Hotel furniture liquidator for bargains on large furnishings & framed art
• CB2 (Crate and Barrel Modern) and EQ3 - modern affordable furniture

Floor samples - find out when displays will be changed and make an offer on the display – don’t pay full price!

Labels: Interior Design

Furniture:

Think about what you have and how it can better serve you in a different capacity or room. Flip pieces between rooms (e.g., mix up LR & family room pieces). Split up matched sets, i.e. sofa/loveseat, chair & ottoman, that look too "matchy-matchy" anyhow.

Empty the room and see it w/fresh eyes and moving things out of the places where "they’ve always been," can enliven a space

Switch outdated hardware on furniture (new drawer pulls on a DR hutch or dresser) for an instant update - Great Indoors has a wonderful selection! (Also switch out door handles & hinges throughout the house to modernize inexpensively.

Repurpose furniture:

A coffee table can become a TV console or a bench in a foyer w/some pillows added to top

An old-fashioned secretary can become a funky little wine/martini bar

A bureau can become a buffet in a DR

An upholstered ottoman can serve as a coffee table w/a tray on top

A bookcase can become a room divider

An outgrown wooden toy box can become seating - add some foam cut to size and add a simple slipcover

An antique wardrobe can become a media cabinet

Remember to consider the actual shapes of pieces rather than their "titles" when considering where/how they can be used.

Buy neutral large furnishings for flexibility - allows you to change look often as you like with color of candles, throws, pillows, art:
* Seasonally
* Style - modern or traditional or eclectic

Hold a furniture swap meet with your neighbors

Color:

Go bold with paint; an inexpensive way to get a bang for your buck.

Kitchens and bathrooms:

Add a frame around builder’ stock mirrors over bathroom vanities w/decorative moldings (if you bring dimensions, many hardware stores will cut the moldings to size for you).

Add hardware to plain cabinets - it’s like adding jewelry after you’ve dressed for a special evening - the finishing touch, bit of sparkle that makes all the difference

Buy small quantities of expensive materials
* Italian glass tile as accents mixed with less expensive materials 12 x 12s of less expensive travertine
* Luxury fabric pillows mixed w/less expensive store

Accessorizing:

Pair expensive items with less expensive items to blend; less expensive items will blend in. Do not put an expensive vase next to an inexpensive vase or the same exact thing - one expensive, one less expensive.

Buy a vase, bowl, pillar, etc. that you love, place it prominently, & occasionally switch out its contents (silk spring blooms, twigs or gourds in the fall, glass Xmas tree balls, etc.)

Decorate with nature - a simple bowl of artichokes, 3 perfect pears on candlestick holders centered on a table.

Don’t hide your good china, bring out it out! Display pieces mingled in bookcases/on shelves, hang a grouping of the plates on dining room wall, etc.

General:

Make it personal
* Create shadow boxes of mementos - foreign money
* Display your childhood/family items
* Apothecary jar of shells or stones you’ve collected
* Lovely bottle filled with sand from your favorite beach
* Frame & hang your children’s artwork - even the most humble watercolor can look significant if matted & framed (pre-made frames are fine & easy to switch artwork periodically).

Labels: Interior Design

I caught this good summary of new tools for house hunters in the June 16th 2009 issue of Realtor.org Daily Real Estate News.

New technology continues to make it easier for shoppers to identify homes to buy. Here are some of the latest and greatest.

*There’s an iPhone app for that: Zillow.com released a free iPhone app that allows consumers to check out homes for sale. The GPS-powered app allows shoppers to drive by a home for sale and see price and other details like number of bedrooms and baths.

*Search for ROI: Web sites like Investorloft.com rank homes by the profits they produce and identify properties with big differences between listing price and estimated value. The site has listings in 20 states and will be in all 50 by early 2010.

*Search for falling prices: Trulia.com will let you look for price reductions. Enter a zip code and reduced listings will come up.

*Guided tours on YouTube: Coldwell Banker has partnered with YouTube to launch a homes-for-sale video channel.

*Project value for $9.95: Cyberhomes is offering a market report for slightly less than $10 that provides neighborhood price projections and 12- to 24-month price-change forecasts. It also identifies the number of distressed, foreclosed, and REO properties nearby.

Source: CNNMoney.com, Les Christie (06/15/2009)

I would also add a couple more.

Look for active and data oriented real estate agent blogs in your area. These can be excellent resources for micro level data to help you get an even better understanding of the market you are most interested in. There are a few in the Boulder Colorado area but two great examples are:

The Silver Fern

Zachary Epps

Also, if you are not yet using Twitter, you need to be especially if you are looking for a house. Savvy real estate agents are tweeting super current information and thoughts that can help you again learn more about the micro market you are interested in and get a jump start on others.

If you are selling a house it is critical that you and your agent take all these technology and online resources seriously. Buyers are doing a very large amount of research online before they set foot in your home. They are weeding out the houses that do not grab their attention so make sure your house is in all the right places online and that it is shining in its online description and more importantly in its pictures. Design Matters Home can help you make sure your house is looking its best online through our home staging services. Call us today at (303)249-4661, use our contact form, or stop by our office at 820 Main Street, Suite 109, Louisville, Colorado 80027

Labels: Boulder Colorado, Home Staging, real estate, technology

With one of our favorite local summer events, the Friday Night Street Faire , starting up for 2009 tomorrow night I thought I would share some of the things we particularly love about summertime in Louisville.

We just celebrated our 8th year of living in Louisville. As with the previous seven we could not ask for anything more in the perfect place to live, raise our family, and host our business. Louisville has everything we need and like from a great local family and business community to the always great Colorado weather.

Money Magazine is evaluating Louisville for its "Best Places" list again this year. No surprise to us. Louisville was #3 in 2007 and has been a regular top 5 for the last few years. For more info check out a recent Boulder Daily Camera article on the topic.

One of the greatest aspects of Louisville and especially Old Town Louisville is that you can get to pretty much anything without needing your car. We do a lot of family walks around Old Town Louisville. We also do a lot of family bike rides on the extensive trail/path system. While we do these activities year round our frequency definitely increases in the summer. We especially love walking downtown for food, ice cream, and coffee.

Every Friday night is the Street Faire that has great bands, food/drink, and booths. We walk down to the Street Faire and see a lot of neighbors and friends. It is a great place to catch up with them and to meet new people as well.

Every Saturday is the Louisville Farmers Market where we again see our neighbors and friends and pick up wonderful local produce and products.

Other places/events we love in Louisville during the summer --

- Memory square pool (a true treasure to have an outdoor pool right in the middle of old town houses. You don't see too many of these anymore. While it is not as glamorous as the newer pools and rec centers its benefits to the community are unique and timeless.)

-Various other festivals including Taste of Louisville, 4th of July celebration, Touch a Truck, the Summer Concert and Film series and more

-The plentiful playgrounds. We have a couple near us that we visit frequently with young kids. They also love going on adventures to the many other playground throughout the town

These are just some of the many things we like. There are many other aspects of the town that appeal to other's lifestyles as well including a golf course, baseball/softball fields, and more.

Share what you like in the comments!

Here are some resources to find more information about what is happening in Louisville --

City of Louisville
Louisville Chamber
Louisville Downtown Business Association
Transition Louisville
Shop Louisville
MyTownColorado Louisville Page

Matt

Labels: Community, Louisville Colorado, Summer