Eco and budget friendly flooring……yes please!

Remodeling can bring a lot of stress to homeowners - 

I know this because I am often asked to help stretch a budget

to accomplish a lot for a little.  We are very fortunate

to live in a time when there are SO many finish options as 

well as so many sources to get the most for your hard

earned dollars!  

Earlier this week I talked about online sources for

 bathroom remodels. Today I want to talk about a great 

online resource for online flooring, GoHaus.

Let's face it - most homeowners prefer hardwood

floors.  Am I right?  But installing new hardwood

can prove costly and labor intensive.  It's a difficult

project to DIY and requires leaving your home while 

the floors are stained.  For these reasons, many

homeowners are considering other products that offer

the look of wood but offer easier upkeep,

DIY installation, lower cost and are considered

a sustainable and green product.

A general contractor I work with, recently convinced me

to check out 'LVT' (Luxury Vinyl Tile) flooring. The vinyl planks

come in various widths and lengths and mimic the look and

texture of real hardwood!  I was skeptical but checked some out

in person and fell in love! Luxury vinyl planks from GoHaus

can be installed in every room of your home as they

are humidity resistant and meet strict indoor

air quality emission standards. Vinyl plank flooring

from GoHaus is made from recycled materials and

are 100% recyclable.

Yes, this kitchen has luxury vinyl plank flooring from GoHaus!

Doesn't it look great?

Besides luxury vinyl plank flooring, GoHaus offers engineered

wood flooring and tile flooring too!  The porcelain tile

that mimic wood are fabulous!  GoHaus makes it 

easy to make choose your flooring by offering up to 6 free

samples shipped directly to you.  And by avoiding the 

middle man(manufacturer direct), pricing is very low.

Go get your flooring on!

Lessons along the way……budget bathroom remodels.

via Elle Decor

I have been working on a couple client bathroom remodels during the last year.

Besides the endless possibilities and the numerous decisions to be made,

bathrooms can get expensive quickly based on your finish choices.

I always try and help clients balance some splurge-worthy choices

with more moderately priced elements to stay within the set budget.

I never pretend to be an ASID interior designer - in the past, most of

the best, most exclusive materials, fixtures and lighting were sourced

exclusively from 'trade only' sources and design centers for trade professionals.  

The internet has changed the landscape

and a lot of what I do as an interior decorator (proud to be one!) is helping

clients source the elements for the designs we create.  There 

are SO many websites that offer bathroom fixtures, lighting and hardware

so pricing is competitive!  Websites like PlumbTile really help make me

look like a rockstar when I am able to tell my clients

that the beautiful Rohl faucet they want to include in their bathroom

design is available at PlumbTile for a fraction of the price of their local showroom.

via dwell.com

Online source PlumbTile is really a one stop shop for all

your bathroom remodel needs.  PlumbTile represents many major

brands like Kohler, Rohl, Daltile, Hudson Valley Lighting,

Adex Tile…..and SO many more!!  PlumbTile makes my life easier

by making it easy to go to one place and check pricing

and stock for many bathroom elements like tile, hardware, 

plumbing and lighting.

And truly, I feel great when I am able to give my clients

competitive pricing on the items they most want to see

in their new bathroom. #superstar

I put together the design below using bathroom fixtures offered

by PlumbTile (everything but the the towel and art!).

I love using classic elements like hexagon and subway tile mixed with more updated

plumbing fixtures like this modern brass faucet and modern 

lighting like these sleek sconces. You can't go wrong with a heavy dose of white and

then adding some colorful art or fun wallpaper!

Happy Monday everyone!

What a transformation! {a local client before/after}…..

My client lives in one of my favorite Portland neighborhoods

in the cutest little 1920's cottage.  She is a vivacious, single, newly retired corporate

executive who wanted to update her smallish den.  This space needed to 

be cozy enough for television watching but stylish enough for entertaining.

Here is what the room looked like on my first visit:

And here is what it looks like now:

The bookcase backs painted green was doing nothing for that wall!  So we had 

the painter give the entire bookcase a fresh coat of BM White Dove, including

that backs.  The result is fresh and updated!  

We also selected a new sofa in a contemporary style, 

upholstered in a charcoal grey that serves as a nice contrast 

against the white bookshelves (this was the ONLY placement for the sofa

in this tight space).  The client's favorite color is orange so I used

it as the primary accent color.  It helped that the client had lots of 

decorative objects that were orange, including the abstract painting

that was a retirement gift from a colleague and really was 

my inspiration for the design of the space!

Of course, I added some updated decorative objects to mix in with the 

client's items, a new narrow contemporary coffee table and pillows!

The rug was custom through a local source.

I loved this project - this was the perfect example of a client who 

was not used to 'letting go' of control or being nudged out of 

her comfort zone, but was brave and trusting and in the 

end is enjoying a new, gorgeous space!

I love my job, I love that I get to be creative everyday and

do what I love, and meet awesome people who trust

me in their homes………I am looking forward to 

lots more of it in 2016!!!!

Happy New Year everyone!