Real Estate Design Trends

HGTV - Design Happens

Copyright 2008

DIY Thanksgiving Centerpieces
Published Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:39:08 -0500

Guest Blogger: H. Camille Smith, Crafts Editor, HGTV.com and DIY Network.com
For more of Camille's crafts, check out Crafting With Camille

Sure, we all know that turkey is the star of Thanksgiving dinner, but a beautiful centerpiece always makes any meal feel like an event. Of course, you can always pick up a premade floral arrangement at your local grocery store and plop it in a vase; but with just a few extra steps you can create your own chic and totally unique centerpiece, using either purchased flowers or nature's bounty (free!) courtesy of your own backyard.

This centerpiece really couldn't be simpler (or cheaper!). I went for a stroll around my yard and clipped any branches that had a blush of fall color — these are spirea and forsythia branches. Nothing fancy (or expensive) about the vase, it's an imported whiskey bottle that I saved because of its interesting shape.

When decorating for holiday guests, don't forget to add a touch of fall to the other spaces they will visit, such as the guest bath. This arrangement took only a sec to put together. It's more spirea and forsythia branches from my yard with the addition of dried crape myrtle seed pods.

Looking for more centerpiece ideas? Well, we've got you covered. Check out these 3 Simple Fall Centerpieces, Table Setting Tips, Rustic Fall Arrangements and Fruit Bouquet videos on HGTV.com.

For more ways to celebrate a crafty Turkey Day, check out:


* Thanksgiving: Celebrate in Style on HGTV.com


* Thanksgiving O'Plenty on DIY Network.com

Gift Giving Made Easy
Published Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:00:00 -0500

'Tis the season to start shopping. Check out HGTV Marketplace's ShopPersona, where you can find the perfect gift for everyone on your list.

What's your shopping personality? Take the quiz!

Looking for more gift ideas? Visit Gift Wars to vote for your favorites.

Gifts go head to head. Play now.

Moroccan Rugs Are Impossible to Pass Up
Published Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:14:08 -0500

Thanks to our guest blogger, Martine Sainvil, HGTV Program Management Coordinator
A few years ago, one of my best friends and I decided that we wanted to be adventurers (a notion that never ever turns out quite the way you expect it to) so we booked ourselves on a trip to Morocco.

Before leaving, everyone asked if I was going to get a rug. I told them that I was going away to find out more about how other people live, to learn more about myself and in search of a great meal. I was not going to buy a rug. There was no room in my luggage; I didn’t have a space for it in my home and it wouldn’t match my decor. I was resolute.

Once in Morocco, there was always something new to see and experience. The days flew by as we traveled from city to city. I stuck to my pre-trip ideals and only picked up little trinkets for friends and family as souvenirs.

Pleased with myself and loving the experience, I thought I was home free. I bet you can guess what happened next.

Before I knew it, I was sitting on my suitcase begging it to zip close after stuffing it with two rugs. That's right, two of them. But I don't regret my purchases for a second because I love them so much. Just goes to show that an adventure in life can lead to a greater one in design.

Vern Gives Back In a Big Way
Published Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:03:57 -0500

Today marks 45 days until Christmas! For those of you who can’t get enough of the holidays, stay tuned to HGTV. Last night, Deserving Design’s Vern Yip and his team of elves gave an early gift to a very deserving homeowner. Gloria Bernard has spent most of her life helping others. This wife and mother makes quilts for those in need including disaster victims, homeless, homebound and soldiers and their families. Gloria won a new French Country kitchen. She got her wish for butcher block countertop, maple cabinets and an island complete with a rooster focal point. The wall between the kitchen and dining room was removed, so Vern continued the theme into that space. Vern purchased three sets of dishes and housed them in new corner cabinets.

Before: Old, Outdated, Mismatched
After: Clean, Charming, Functional
A dining room ready for holiday entertaining.

Vern’s team didn’t stop with the kitchen makeover. They also focused their attention in a room that easily could have been overlooked – the downstairs laundry room. What was once a cramped, cluttered multi-purpose space where Gloria quilted, washed clothes and even cut hair became a jaw-dropping transformation. Vern’s team replaced an ugly drop ceiling with cracked copper finish tile, painted the walls in a deep, soothing green, and created three storage stations. A glass-topped center work table holds a sewing machine and more baskets for storage. “My laundry room” is spectacular,” Gloria said. I would have to agree.

Before: Cramped, Cluttered, Unattractive
After: Stylish, Sleek, Inviting

For more of Vern's style tips and to see when you can catch this special holiday episode, visit the Deserving Design show page.

Raking Made Fun
Published Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:27:44 -0500

What’s the best thing about fall? The leaves! What’s the worst? The leaves. Gardening editor Marie Hofer suggests asking yourself some questions when deciding when – and even if – to rake. First, do you care about your grass? "I wouldn't suggest not raking if the grass is completely covered for a long time and you want to keep it healthy and vigorous. Leaves block light," she says. "If you want a woodland setting beneath the trees and you don't care whether you have grass, obviously don't rake." Second, what kind of trees do you have in your yard? “Some leaves such as silver maple and locust curl up and break down rapidly and you don’t have to worry about those as much. Other leaves like oak are more leathery and will stay around for a while.” Deciding whether to rake in phases or one time once all the leaves have fallen is up to you, but in general, removing the leaves from a lawn you wish to keep green is wise fall yard maintenance. Turn your hard work into rich fertilizer by reusing those leaves to help feed future plants by composting.

I actually enjoy raking. Some friends would say that’s because I’m a brand new homeowner, and I’ve had less than a year to experience the (potentially) back-breaking job of removing those once glorious leaves from the yard. But, alas, they do not know how much fun I had helping with outdoor fall chores as a child. Mostly I remember jumping in leaf piles. What a treat that was! My sister and I often had yard duties, but it didn’t seem like work because my parents made it fun. The responsibility of raking a large, tree-filled yard was more manageable because the whole family pitched in. The substantial job became an exciting outdoor event rather than a chore.

I must have channeled some of those childhood memories on Halloween this year. I arrived home from work just before dusk, eager to light the jack-o-lanterns and dish up the candy. My husband was working late, so it was up to me to prepare for our first trick-or-treaters as a married couple. As I pulled into the driveway I noticed the blanket of gold, orange, red and brown leaves covering the front yard. “How beautiful,” I thought. I was energized. Surely I had a few minutes before the little goblins began arriving.

In a flash I was raking, breathing the crisp air – thankful for the two majestic maples in the front yard. I raked the leaves toward the curb in one long line and, after a few minutes, looked down the row of leaves and noticed a few slight curves. It resembled a snake. As I worked, I accentuated the curves, making some sections fatter than others. This hungry snake needed a head, so I quickly gathered materials from the yard. Before I knew it, the leaf serpent had come to life. There were a lot more leaves in the yard than I first thought, so I raked up three more piles by the front door. Those became leaf monsters with their own facial expressions created by sticks, rocks and a few late- blooming marigolds. The whole process was therapeutic. I was even inspired to pull up the dead plants I had grieved over and integrated them as well – making my spontaneous yard sculpture more lifelike, which to my delight, amused trick-or-treaters young and old.

I’m looking forward to when I’ll need to rake the last leaves that cling to the trees in our yard, leaving behind green grass and barren trees – beautiful in their own right.

For more tips on maintaining your yard every season of the year, check out hgtv.com’s Gardening section.

Do you have any tips for tackling seasonal yard chores, for getting the entire family involved?
What are your favorite fall memories?

No-Fuss Entertaining
Published Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:45:40 -0500

I love entertaining. And with the holidays right around the corner, it’s a great excuse to spruce up my home and make it inviting for guests without a major overhaul. I was flipping through Parenting Magazine of all places,(this is what happens when you have a 14 month old!), and was inspired by an article that tells how to get your home ready with just a few easy additions.

PILLOWS

Pillows with accents of cool blues, greens and silvers offer great versatility for holiday entertaining and year-round use without overpowering your existing decor.

This one from West Elm adds a unique print and vibrant color to any sofa or chair.

These gorgeous Tamara peacock and Evelyn Natural throw pillows from blisslivinghome.com are neutral yet add texture and holiday flair.

TABLEWARE

Pull out your existing tableware and mix with new pieces. I use these fleur-de-lis glasses from Anthropologie instead of traditional wine glasses. They come in several colors and are a great way to add a European-inspired touch to any cocktail party.

Roost also makes these beautiful Amelie Luster Glasses that come in a set of six, which you can pick up at Velocity.

Add a great punch of color to your dining or coffee table with these Indian-inspired Simrin Surya cotton napkins, also from Velocity.

BATHROOM

An easy way to revive your bathroom for holiday entertaining is by swapping out the shower curtain, bath mat and towels. This Himmeli print from Crate and Barrel is inexpensive and freshens up the space without a lot of fuss.

And last but not least, adding candles and fresh flowers always makes any home feel festive!

Just a few easy ideas that prove you don’t have to sacrifice your current decor or wallet for the holidays to make your home an inviting and stylish space.

What are your ideas for easy holiday entertaining? Share them here.

Size Doesn’t Always Matter
Published Date: Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:09:32 -0500

When I meet someone at a social gathering and they find out that I’m a Director of Original Programming for HGTV, they always assume I’m living in a large, highly-decorated estate. I’m HUGELY flattered, always honored and somewhat guilty to admit that my abode is no such place. I leave the big jobs to my friends Taniya Nayak, Monica Pedersen, Angelo Surmelis, etc.

My home is modest and yet what I would consider fabulous at the same time. I have a very manageable home (it’s a 2 bedrooms/2 bath ranch built in 1950) — and it’s less than 1600 square feet.

However, I’ve managed to turn it into a bit of a real-world showplace that fits my own personal taste. Nothing in it is extravagantly expensive or incredibly unique — but when I walk through my front door each day, I LOVE what I see.

So what’s my style? I love contemporary furnishings that are still somewhat affordable (www.crateandbarrel.com) with little flashy indulgences of what I call "the awesome factor" (www.mogullife.com) — this website has inspired me to no end. Put it all together, and you have a comfy, cozy, personal and very "me" home.

Bottom line, you don’t need a mansion to feel like a mogul — trust me, I’m trying to live it by example. How have you been inspired to turn your real-world home into a showplace too? I especially love to hear about stylish, smaller homes — after all size doesn’t always matter!

Inspiraton On Demand
Published Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2008 09:00:00 -0500

Inspiration comes in all different places, but sometimes you need inspiration on demand. For times like that I hit the net. I start off by looking at the rooms that HGTV viewers like YOU send in for Rate My Space. After that, I go to my favorite blog (second to Design Happens, of course!).

Desire to Inspire has hundreds of new inspiring images of professionally designed spaces each week. Daily, they update the blog with pictures of beautiful and unique homes. When I'm decorating someone's home, I ask them to go to Desire to Inspire to tell me what spaces they are attracted to. When I'm decorating my own home, I spend weeks saving images from Desire to Inspire in my "Inspiration Files" and then one night, I sit down and try to figure out what all of my favorite rooms have in common.

Clearly, all of the spaces I've been drawn to lately have crisp white walls. This weekend, I'm throwing a painting party with all my girlfriends and covering up the color in my living room with a fresh, clean, white.

What websites inspire you to design?

When Design Suddenly Pops to Mind
Published Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:00:00 -0500

Ever go on a great vacation, visit an historic site or take a stroll through the woods and get a sudden burst of design inspiration? If money were no object, you’d race home, strip down the living room from light fixtures to flooring and start from scratch?

While living in Pennsylvania, I often traveled to the Delaware shore and the small tourist town of Lewes, which is steeped in maritime history and the location of Cape Henlopen, one of the most breathtaking stretches of seashore I know. After visiting museums, participating in historic home tours and volunteering for the Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation, I decided to completely transform my home - it would be my vision of a ship captain’s retreat, complete with nautical antiques and accents, crisp white slipcovered sofas, dark wood furnishings, framed maritime prints and even antique oars, which my husband sanded down, stained and suspended from the ceiling. So cool!

Clockwise from top: Ektorp sofa, ikea.com; Nantucket pillow, cottagesurroundings.com; canoe paddle, whiskeyjackpaddles.com; Brass Endurance 085 clock, weems-plath.com.

The look worked even after we relocated to the north shore of Long Island. We added on to our collection of beachy decor with photography from local artists, glass vases filled with seashells we collected while on beachcombing strolls, old lanterns and my sister’s own plein air oil paintings.

But now, several years and another move later, I am ready to make a change. Inspiration struck when I visited Scottsdale, Arizona, in June. I’ve always been a beach person, but this year, for some strange reason, I longed to go somewhere hot, dry and devoid of sea birds. I fell in love with the landscape, the architecture and even the furniture pairings I found out west. The overriding decor theme was one of modern yet cozy, spaces uncluttered save for a few natural elements that whispered (rather than shouted) "Southwestern." I took in every detail and snapped several photos, hoping to come back home and recreate the looks I loved. The nautical stuff is now in storage and I am ready to hit the furniture stores.

How about you? Ready to make a style change? Tell me what’s inspiring you these days.

Clockwise from top: Upholstered chaise sofa sectional, potterybarn.com; Palmer ottoman; wshome.com; Bark Rim bowl; potterybarn.com; Palm Leaf pillow; poshliving.com.

Myles of Solutions
Published Date: Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:52:14 -0500

Design Star winner Kim Myles just finished her second season on her hit show Myles of Style, but she's also been hard at work answering questions from viewers on her weekly vlog. If you haven't already checked it out, head over to see her quick fixes for window treatments, color disasters, paint techniques and so much more.

Get all of Kim's budget-friendly tips on her vlog.

Tis the Season for Candlelight
Published Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:41:07 -0500

Sometimes I daydream about living in a time before electricity when people read and dined and worked by candlelight. A simpler time that, to me, seems quite romantic. This Thanksgiving, I'm certainly thankful for much of what modern society provides, but I'll be celebrating the season like our ancesters did - in low light. And with days now shorter, it is the perfect time to stay in, snuggle up in a warm throw and begin planning for the holidays! Make sure you put a new candle or two on your list. Because I think everything is a little warmer, a little more romantic in candlelight. Don't forget about the candleholder. There's some great ones available this season.

If you appreciate the artistry and personal touch found in one-of-a-kind handmade pieces, check out www.etsy.com — "Your Place to Buy and Sell All Things Handmade." I love this Web site that has everything from art to clothing to stationary to housewares. Support an artist and perhaps even get inspired to create something yourself.

The Glass Blossom Candleholder made by Jellybug Artworks and ideal for small candles and tealights can be customized in various colors. This vintage Verdigris Metal Mouse Candleholder is sure to delight kids of all ages. The mouse's tail becomes the candleholder.

If mass produced is more your style, these candleholders and accessories by Horchow are sure to make your Christmas a little more merry.

Clockwise, top left: If red and gold is a favorite holiday color scheme, the Ball Candleholders with burnished gold accents and gold tapers are a must. If silver is more your thing, Swarovski crystals give the Snowflake Candle that extra special sparkle. For some whimsy and fun, how adorable is the Krinkles Reindeer Candelabra? When the festivities are complete, don't just blow out your candles. Snuff them out with this brassplated Reindeer Candle Snuffer.

No holiday tablescape is complete without candlelight. And you can't go wrong with crystal. This set of Vera Wang crystal holders are from the designer's Duchesse collection available at Macy's.

Any special ways you decorate with candles during the holiday season? What are your favorite holiday accessories?

Six Quick Halloween Picks
Published Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:29:47 -0500

Thanks to our guest blogger, Jody Jones, SVP, HGTV.com.

6. Drape your kitchen table in the colors of the season. Williams-Sonoma's Sari Jaquard tablecloth is a favorite.



5. Martha Stewart's glittered pumpkins are an easy and longer-lasting alternative to traditional carved pumpkins.
4. For fall tabletop flair, plop freshly-harvested apples into a gourd bowl that you make at home.
3. I especially like this shaved swirly design carved on a white pumpkin.
2. Feeling bold? Orange and black home design ideas are more treat than trick.
1. Celebrate your well-appointed Halloween: Mix up a Black Devil or one of nine other Happy Halloween Cocktails.

Tiny Houses
Published Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:05:21 -0500

I've always considered myself something of an expert in small living spaces. After all, I lived in Manhattan for five years. But the members of the small house movement have put me to shame with their 100-square foot havens.

Tough economic times are putting them in the news lately. I saw a post on Strollerderby today, and it references a recent CNN profile of two different home owners. If you check them out you'll read a lot about how these people give up space in order to save money or even to make a political statement. The element I think they both miss is that these homes are beautiful. The architecture, both the modern and the traditional, is lovely and on such a small scale every single detail shines.

Check out this sweet bungalow. It's a mere 250 square feet.

You can get a tour of two interiors courtesy of CNN.

I love the cozy space, the rigorous organization, the elegant efficiency. Some day, admittedly after my son is grown, I could see myself happily ensconced in my own perfect 250 square feet.

If you decide to downsize, Small Space, Big Style has what you need to make it work.

It's a Duvet Day
Published Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:35:38 -0500

I love fall. The leaves changing colors, cool weather setting in, and most importantly, I get to pull my down comforter out of the linen closet. Of course, my favorite thing about down comforters is finding the perfect duvet cover. Plus, it's one of the easiest ways to update the look of your bedroom for the cold weather.

The Organic Cotton Pin-Tuck Duvet from West Elm is my buy this year. I love how the tucks add a great texture to the simple cover.

Gaiam's Organic Gold Fiore Print Duvet features delicate red blossoms, perfect for creating a Zen-like atmosphere in your bedroom.

The Iron Gate Crewel Duvet Cover from Williams-Sonoma Home has a cool interlacing graphic design in dark chocolate and white for a more contemporary look.

Now, go cozy up your bedroom and don't forget to share any of your great finds in the comments.

Tasteful Herb Decor
Published Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:00:00 -0500

You’ve probably spent the past weekends prepping your garden for its long winter nap. As you harvest those fall vegetables, don’t forget to snip any remaining fresh herbs to gather for the upcoming feasts (yes, Thanksgiving is only a month away!).

If you can’t use up all that thyme, rosemary and basil while it’s fresh, consider drying the bounty. Load up a homemade solar herb dryer (made from an old picture frame, wire mesh and suction cups) with your favorites and hang them in a sunny window — talk about a fresh kitchen design idea!

Once they've dried, just store the herbs in old spice bottles or Mason jars. Or if you’re extra crafty, why not create your own fragrant kitchen wreath? Then you can enjoy their beauty and have herbs on hand for that evening's dinner. DIYnetwork.com has some helpful steps for making a decorative herb wreath, and Better Homes & Gardens has a living-herb version.

Herb wreaths are a lovely melding of two of my passions: natural décor and food! But sadly this year, growing herbs didn’t make my to-do list. For folks like me, there’s always pre-made. Organicbouquet.com sells one made with organic rosemary, thyme, bay leaves and dried chili peppers for a pop of color — the green-and-red palette has a bit of a Christmas feel, too:

Vivaterra.com also has an organic version, made with a more varied collection of marjoram, dill, thyme, sage, lavender, anise, cinnamon sticks, yarrow and, again, chili peppers for a little zing:

And Surlatable.com’s take comes with fresh bay, sage, purple oregano, Santa Cruz oregano, lavender and chile de arbol, all pesticide-free and suitable for cooking:

I can just smell them now. Scrumptious!

Have you ever made your own herb wreath? Which herbs would you put in yours? Share your ideas in the comments below.