Room Review Service Sale Price $35.00 – Interior Design Service Online

Celebrate Our New Look with Sale Pricing!

Join us in celebrating our websites new look by giving your home a new look too. For a limited time only, we are offering our most popular service for a steal. A professional evaluation of your current room! Our Room Review Service is now only $35.00 (regular price $75.00). Take advantage of this sale and let us give you professional interior design advice about any room in your home for a huge savings.

We will analyze your room and help you figure out how it could look better. You will receive a detailed evaluation with three suggestions on what can be improved. The best part is that your full $35.00 will be credited toward the purchase of our Custom Room Design should you want even more design help.

We have had our makeover now it is your turn!

Design Question – Need a Rug Suggestion – Online Interior Design Help

Hello Lisa, how are you? I need now an advice of what color of rug should I use. Thanks a lot I will be waiting for your answer. I will send pictures in the following emails. Thanks, Yoly

Today I received the above design question along with photos of the room in desperate need of a rug. Yoly asked me for some online interior design help with a rug selection, and I am happy help.

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This is for a beach apartment in Panama thus the beach inspired interior. I love the blend of the various shades of blue; from aqua to teal to navy the look is amazing. But I do see how selecting an area rug is now a challenge!

My suggestion is to pull the navy blue from the adjacent dining chairs. The deeper blue will help ground the other colors and the seating area. While the room is visually interesting it needs the depth and warmth of the deeper color. The area rug is just the right location for this color saturation.

My suggestion is a geometric fringed rug from Surya:

http://www.surya.com/rugs/lagoon-(1)/lgo-2003/

This rug pulls together both the living and dining areas and introduces a bit more color to this fabulous room.

If you are interested in purchasing this rug or sending me your own design question, please feel free to message me on Facebook or send an email to Info@InteriorDesignServiceOnline.com!

Best White Paint Colors

Lately I have had a number of questions about picking out the right white paint. As an online interior decorator, the most asked question is what is your favorite white? When selecting the perfect white paint and you have hundreds of choices to choose from; making a decision can be overwhelming. Warm whites, cool whites, ultra-whites, creamy whites – it can be hard to see and know the difference when they all look white.

So I have collected my favorite colors from popular paint brands to hopefully help you narrow down your options.

Here are my all-time top five go to white paint colors – in no particular order:

Benjamin Moore / Linen White 912 – Linen White is a warm white with a yellow undertone. I love to use Linen White on walls when you want the clean look of white but still some warmth.

Sherwin Williams / Alabaster SW 7008 – Whether you are painting trim, wainscoting, walls, or cabinets Alabaster is a great option. Alabaster is a crisp yet creamy white with no yellow or antique undertones.

Benjamin Moore White / Dove OC-17 – White Dove is one of the most universal white paint colors ever. It almost always looks great. It is a white with a touch of cream and a touch of gray without being dingy.

Benjamin Moore / Navajo White PM-29 – Not to be confused with Sherwin Williams Navajo White (the colors are completely different), Navajo White by Benjamin Moore is warm and rich. This reads almost like a beige-yellow. If you have a lot of natural light and you’re going for a Mediterranean vibe, this is your white.

Valspar / Du Jour 7002-6 – If you think you want white-white, but are trying to avoid the purple fluorescent look Du Jour may be your color! It’s bright and fresh, fantastic for bathrooms, wood paneled walls, and trim.

Do you have a favorite white to add to the list? Please share! To see some of my other favorite paint colors, please follow my Pinterest Board Favorite Paint Colors.

“Reupholster or replace?” Online Interior Design Help

Today’s online interior design help question is “Hi Lisa, I really like my current sofa but it is in sad shape. My wife thinks I should we should get something new but I really love this sofa. How do we decide if we should upholster it or get a new sofa? –Nolan.”

My tips for making the reupholster or replace decision are below.

Reupholster your current sofa if you can answer yes to all of the following:

Your existing sofa fits your space

You and your family find the sofa comfortable

The sofa has the correct style for the look of your room

If you answered yes, then let’s take about the next steps:

Select a new fabric (the cost of the new fabric is often a surprise)
Find a good upholsterer (ask for a referral from a friend or neighbor)
Ask your upholsterer to quote you the amount of yardage needed
Carefully rethink the design details of the sofa
- For example, do you want a skirt?
- Welting?
- Add a nail head trim?
Arrange for the delivery of the sofa
Be without a sofa for 2-4 weeks while it’s getting worked on
Bring your newly upholstered sofa home!

When the process is complete you can be confident that you sofa will look new yet will still have that great comfort you have come to love.

http://www.hickorywhite.com/catalog_detail.php?id=1001&model=CMSS-EBD&page=1&results_per_page=9999

Buy a new sofa if the following are true:

Your sofa is uncomfortable

The size and scale of the sofa looks wrong in your room

The sofa style no longer works with your style

Or, you simply do not want to undertake the reupholstery steps mentioned above!

How does the cost compare?

Surprising to many, re-upholstering a sofa ends up costing close to what it would cost to purchase something new. Therefore the cost should really not be the determining factor in your decision. I suggest that you go through the pro and con list outlined above. After you this, I am confident that you and your wife will land on the same page (sitting side by side on your new or old sofa).

Paint Color “Brush Out” – The Interior Designers Key Step in Color Selection

Paint color is a key element in a room! Whether you go neutral, light or bold – getting the paint color just right is essential to a room design.

A “brush-out” is a term that means a sample of the actual paint color painted on a wall or a sample board in the designated room. I recommend this step on every project whether it be an in house client or an online client.

Here is some information on how to make your paint color selection just like an interior designer:

1. Always do a small “brush out” of any paint color prior to painting the entire room. This helps make sure that the color that looks so great on your computer screen or even a paint store swatch will actually look as good on your walls. I recommend painting a brush out even if you really like the color or have seen it before. The reason for this is the light and other elements in a room or home can dramatically change the look of paint colors.

2. Most major paint manufacturers now sell sample size paints. If your color is not available in a sample size you can purchase a quart of each paint color that you are considering using from your local paint store. This may seem like an expensive way to test the color but it is much less costly to pay for a quart of paint than it is to repaint an entire room.

3. Paint a 3’ by 3’ square on the wall and let it dry completely. If you have a dark color already on the wall or you are sampling a deep paint color, you will need to paint several coats on your brush out to ensure that you have the true color. Once the color dries, look at the paint in different lights of the day to really get a true sense of the color. What may look yellow in the morning may look greener in the afternoon light.

4. Take a look at online color viewers. Some of my favorite paint manufacturers have easy to use online tools for painting a sample room online. Take a look at Personal Color Viewer Benjamin Moore and ColorSnap Visualizer by Sherwin-Williams to get started.

Doing this type of color study is the best way to trust that you are going to like a paint color prior to painting an entire room.

Online Interior Design Help – Gray Walls

Ever wish you could ask an interior designer a question? Now you can! You ask the question and I will do my best to answer your question in my weekly blog.

Let’s start with a request I received for some online interior design help this week:
Hey Lisa – I just moved into a new construction home. Our builder painted every wall gray (which I love) but it just isn’t working with my furniture (everything looks dull). Any ideas to liven up the look? FYI – I am on a tight budget. Thanks – Jessie
Gray is everywhere right now so I am not surprised to hear that it is the color used in your new home. There are lots of ways to work with the gray walls without feeling like your home is boring and drab. Here are a few budget friendly suggestions:

tassel-stripe-pillow-cover-pale-harbor-o

Image West Elm: http://www.westelm.com/products/tassel-stripe-pillow-cover-pale-harbor-t2133/?pkey=cpillows%7Cpillow-covers%7C4294963733&group=1&sku=9056727

Blend in the Gray

There are many colors that look lovely with gray. For example, you can go for something soft and calm yet still introduce color. Pale blue or aqua blue mixed with white can be incredibly sophisticated on the backdrop of gray walls.

Decide which direction you want to take you color palette. You can then repeat these colors in different saturations, variations and portions throughout your home.

There are creative ways to tie the gray back to your selected colors. Something simple such as throw pillows in a multi-color pattern can marry the gray to other colors in your furnishings. An area rug that blends gray with your other colors can pull together the scheme.

Warm up the Gray

Think outside the box and use a color palette that adds warmth to the gray. I have used gray walls with a camel leather sofa and brass light fixtures. You can’t get much warmer and richer looking!

Liven up the Gray

One of my favorite is indigo blue and coral mixed with gray. This creates a bold and vibrant look!

Lighten up the Gray

As the color of shadow, gray can sometimes look dark and drab. Solves this by adding multiple light sources to avoid a shadow look. Overhead fixtures will give lots of clear lighting. Adding lamps to the overhead lighting creates a layered look and lightens the feel.

Enjoy the Trend

Yes, I do believe that gray is a trend and just as it came in it will go out. Therefore, I suggest that you think long term. If you invest in something like a new sofa, consider a light neutral color that works with gray but can also work with another color scheme. This way, when the trend goes, your sofa does not need to go with it.

Please feel free to submit your design questions just like Jessie did! You can read more about my online interior design help and services: Interior Design Service Online.

Saving Money in your First Home

Guest Blogger: Chris Balme

So you have finally taken the plunge, got yourself a mortgage and bought your first home. After years of renting or co-habiting with parents, there is an initial sense of liberty as you are no longer living under somebody else’s roof. Now you are merely controlled and influenced by the myriad of different responsibilities that you face: mortgage repayments, repairs and bills amongst a million others. Here are a few tips to reducing those outgoings as much as possible.

Save Water

Sometimes it can be bewildering when looking at the water bill, trying to figure out how something naturally occurring can cost such a lot of money. Unfortunately it is one of life’s necessities and usage cannot easily be cut without significantly impacting upon life. One change that can be made to the way that the household uses water is to keep drainpipes clean at all times and attach a storage drum to the bottom. This will collect water that can be used for a number of jobs inside and outside the home.

This water could be used to water plants and grass during dry times of the year and water indoor plants. Whilst this water cannot be drank, it can be used to wash the family car.

Invest in an Energy Performance Certificate

Understanding your home is paramount and central to success in terms of reducing the costs incurred. Without understanding how your home uses energy, there will be no way of knowing how to curb it. An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) demonstrates which parts of the home are using the most
energy and how this can be reduced. An experienced surveyor is able to use this
EPC to recommend changes to the home that will incur significant and wholly
welcome savings.

Measure Long-Term Savings over Short-Term Costs

Unless you are due for a significant raise in wage or have a financial windfall in your near future, then long-term savings may be important to consider. If your monthly incomings and outgoings stay the same then it may be difficult to start saving any real money. Installations such as low energy bulbs throughout the home may incur significant initial costs but their long-term savings often more than make up for the original outlay.

LED bulbs in particular are useful for the frugal household as they waste a lot
less energy than traditional halogen bulbs. This means that they will sap a lot
less energy and subsequently cost you less money. Furthermore, LED bulbs are
particularly noted for their long-life reducing the frequency with which they
need to be replaced, leading to lower costs again.

Decorating the Holiday Home

Guest Blogger: Chris Balme

It is often the culmination of hard work, perseverance and dreams coming true; the holiday home represents an opportunity to relax and expand the family’s leisure time. The holiday seldom comes cheap, whether you are investing at overseas or closer to home, and can represent a significant chunk of savings. So the necessity to then furnish the home in a cost effective manner is often prevalent. Fortunately, style does not have to be compromised when costs are cut, here are a few steps to decorating the family home.

Understand your Surroundings

In terms of both aesthetics and practicality, it is important to fully understand the area in which your holiday home is situated, especially when positioned in a culture significantly different from your first home. A home that is decorated with Black Forest style adornments in a fishing village in Sicily may be considered something of an eyesore and immediately alienate you from neighbors. Finding a balance between representing your personality and your new surroundings is important. This can be achieved by aiming for a 75/25 split in favor of local style furnishings against your own personal tastes. Intersperse large local fixtures with small personal ornaments.

Furthermore, certain textures and materials are unsuitable for different climates. Certain plastics and polymers are ill-suited to warm weather and may morph when subjected to such climates over an extended period of time.

Consider your Activities

When on holiday, most people are less inclined to sit for hours in front of the television that they are at home due to the extra activities that are available to them. As such, a high quality sofa is of less importance than at home, meaning money can be saved here and spent elsewhere in the home. A the other end of the scale, if the holiday home is based in warmer climes then patio furniture may see a lot more action than at home so it may be prudent to invest more money into such fixtures.

Adapt to the Space

In many cases, the holiday home will be smaller than the original home, so storage may become an issue. Smaller box bedrooms may not be able to house its’ own wardrobes so alternatives need to be sought. An ottoman bed can work as an effective storage advice without using up excessive space. Fittings that double up in purpose at twice as effective and desirable in smaller properties.

Large cumbersome wooden wardrobes may look attractive but are often inefficient in terms of space saving, making a high gloss wardrobe more desirable for many holiday home owners. Furthermore, high gloss exteriors are incredibly easy to maintain and clean, which is ideal for fixtures that may be sat unused for hours on end.

The most important thing to remember is to not create a version of your home away from home, you’re on holiday after all!

My Story

When I first contemplated the idea of online interior design, it was simply to supplement my “in house” design work and allow me more time at home with my son. At the time, the concept was brand new and nobody else appeared to be offering this type of interior design.

Was I crazy? Would anyone trust that I was actually a well trained designer?

Here I am, five plus years later, with one of the leading online interior design services! There are also countless other online design services now available. I welcome the expanded playing field and believe that there is enough work for all. I also believe that the field will sift out over time, and some of us will remain at the top of the pack.

I spent many years working as a designer before venturing out of my own and then into the online world. After design school, I started as an assistant to an established and older designer; we designed Bed and Breakfasts up and down the California Coastline. After getting my feet wet, I nerved it up and
interviewed for one of the most prestigious design firms in San Francisco. Wearing my DKNY black suit that I could not afford (but knew I needed to land the job), I walked in and sold my potential and myself. I got the job!

The days of working at this firm were long and grueling but I learned more than I knew I needed to know. I learned about antiques and classic design. I learned trade sources. I learn etiquette with clients. I learned smaller lessons and side notes such as “to drape is a noun – never call draperies drapes”. These little words are forever etched in my mind.

After leaving San Francisco and the birth of my son, I collaborated with an established designer. We worked together side by side for years, and I will always remember the lessons she taught me as well. However, after years of designing with another set of eyes and many other opinions, I knew I needed to spread my wings and work on my own.

Long story short, I made my own path and started my own in house interior design business. I loved my clients and loved my work but once I became I mom (a single mom actually – which comes with several additional challenges) I knew I needed more time at home. Thus – Interior Design Service Online was
hatched.

Months and months writing the website text, developing the concept, and working with a web-designer and I eventually had a website. The day the website went live I was so proud and excited yet had very few expectations that anyone would find me or take my services seriously. A few weeks later, I sold my first room design package!

Since that first sale, the business has grown and developed in ways I never could
imagine. I have added numerous new services and discovered that online interior design is not a one size fits all business. My clients have unique needs
and desires, and my commitment is to tailor my services to meet theirneeds. I have designed homes around the world from Aruba to UAE to Switzerland
and Australia.

The most surprising thing I have discovered is that I am building a base of long-term clients. For some silly reason, I envisioned that working online would be a one-time occurrence for a homeowner, and then we would bedone. Instead, the reality is that I might start with one room (or several rooms) and then months later hear back from the same client to design a baby nursery or even help with a vacation home.

This repeat business lets me know I am doing something right!

Unique Homes Magazine Article

Unique Homes Magazine Colorboard interior design services

Please take a look at this fantastic article about our design services featured in the latest Unique Homes Magazine!

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