Sacramento Magazine Inspired– Laundry Room Design Tips
In anticipation for the March issue of Sacramento Magazine’s feature of Hardworking Laundry Rooms, Kerrie Kelly Design Lab would like to share a few laundry room tips of our own!
The laundry room is all about the best storage, the layout, and little details that make cleaning clothes less time-consuming and more cheery. Here’s a pile of helpful tips:
1. Choose a smart layout: Don’t position washers, dryers, ironing boards, etc. behind doors or in awkward corners. If you purchase front-loading washers and dryers, consider pedestals to raise them up and make access easier. When choosing flooring, avoid wood or ceramic tile and go for something durable like porcelain tile (unglazed to prevent slipping when wet).
2. Be efficient: Evaluate how much washing you’re doing these days. If you’re not using the most efficient machines for your needs, new ones may actually save you money. When buying new machines, always investigate how much electricity they will use in a year. Other design features that help save energy include water level controls, moisture sensors, and spin cycle adjustments.
3. Decorate / paint the walls: So many laundry rooms are drab, utilitarian places. Don’t be afraid to continue your home’s décor into this space. You’ll enjoy working in there more if it feels as warm and inviting as the rest of your home.
4. Include plenty of storage: If you can afford it, built-in cabinets and shelves are smart (and can even add to a home’s value), but there are plenty of inexpensive free-standing or between-the-washer-dryer caddies, cabinets, organizers and bins found at most box stores.
5. Consider a fold-out or hide-away ironing board: Having an ironing board set up all the time takes up a lot of space. There are a lot of models that are meant to hide behind the door or fold up on the wall when not in use. Find full-size boards online at sites such as the Container Store.
6. Create Timesaving Sorting: Never face a heaping pile of dirty clothes again! Designate baskets for darks, lights, and dry-cleaning so everyone can help sort clothes. Have canvas-lined baskets embroidered, or label them with a fabric marker. Discount and specialty stores sell rolling carts with divided bins. Use adhesive felt letters to label each one, so everyone knows what goes where.
7. Music: Dirty Laundry never sounded so good – when sung by Don Henley. Make sure you have a CD player or stereo for some tunage!
Interior Design Inspired by New York Fashion Week
With New York Fashion Week commencing last week, Kerrie Kelly Design Lab becomes filled with new interior design ideas for 2012 and inspired by fashion shows past.
2012: Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton
This year to display Marc Jacobs’s ironically girly Spring/Summer 2012 collection for Louis Vuitton, the designer embraced the juvenile femininity of his crystal tiaras, pastel puffed skirts and eyelet-daisy detail by staging a runway show on the most playful of platforms: a giant carousel. The whimsy of the set and the saccharine collection were counterweights to the darkness of that Fall’s fetishism. As rumors swirled of a potential move to the house of Dior, Jacobs’s scenery was also a clever commentary on the merry-go-round of fashion.
2005: John Galliano for Dior Haute Couture
We have come to expect such spectacles from brands like Chanel, Alexander McQueen, Louis Vuitton and, the original showman, Thierry Mugler. Incorporating film and stage direction into the production, Mugler depicted a model, La Madone, in an embroidered angel ensemble suspended above glass spires.
1984: Thierry Mugler
Yet fashion shows were not always dramatic productions. As recently as the early 1980s, collections were exhibited over a two-month period in the intimate setting of designers’ salons. Throughout the decade, pioneers like Vivienne Westwood and Mugler led a transformation from small-scale “parades” to extravagant runway shows, and by the late ’90s, Paris fashion shows had become over-the-top extravaganzas, as designers one-upped each other-and themselves-year after year in the race to put on the wildest show. Which is why we welcome all that is fashion week each year.
Market Trend: Get the Look with Modern Chalet
Ever dream of living in a chalet, only with modern elements? Kerrie Kelly Design Lab’s recent trip to the Las Vegas World Market allowed us how to discover all the collection pieces to achieve a new Modern Chalet look! Think of a chic haven full of rustic wood details, minimalist forms and lively accents punctuated with crisp plaids and sophisticated animal prints—and see how it comes together below.
Begin by anchoring your space with Masland Carpet’s Large Houndstooth Rug.
Provide seating with Daniel Stuart’s Hero Wing Chair and upholster it in a classic red tartan.
Add some pop with Daniel Stuart’s Oh Deer Pillow in Red or Black.
Layer walls with the Howard Elliott Collection’s Hawthorne Mirror.
Add in traditional nesting tables that branch out as casual perches for laptops or small bites in casual update of classic design with Crate & Barrel’s Set of 2 Hudson Round Nesting Tables.
Throw in Red Clay Home’s Incline at Sunset Bowls for nuts and treats. The delicately sloping edge of this serving bowl creates a beautiful nest to display fruit or corral loose items. Simple yet stunning, the Incline at Sunset bowl is suitable to serve salads or sides, or just add a pop of style to any space.
And don’t forget to shine light above with Four Hands wooden chandelier.
Voila! You officially have your own Modern Chalet!
Richard Roeper: Sacramento Speaker Series Features Movie Extraordinaire
We are so thrilled to share the great work that our clients and friends, Mitch and Teri Ostwald are doing with the Sacramento Speaker Series! The Law Offices of Mitchell S. Ostwald actually sponsors the series and we are so pleased to be a guest of their endeavors.
In case you haven’t heard, the Sacramento Speakers Series provides an open forum for the exchange of ideas, opinions, and perspectives as well as the enrichment of the Sacramento community. Each season’s speakers represent a wide variety of subjects ranging from world affairs, politics, business & economics to the arts, entertainment and the environment. Speakers are chosen on the basis of their career achievements and unique expertise in their particular field of endeavor.
Last week we had the pleasure of attending the series to see Richard Roeper. For eight years, Richard Roeper was the co-host of the nationally syndicated “Ebert & Roeper” program. Roeper is currently the co-host of the “Roe & Roeper” show on WLS-AM. It is the highest–rated talk show of any kind in any time slot in Chicago. To gain his insight on the Oscars, movie industry and favorite picks, was interesting and also a trip down movie history lane!
We look forward to March 1st where Sacramento will welcome Peter Greenberg, America’s most recognized, honored and respected front-line travel news journalist. Join us while there are still tickets available by clicking here: Sacramento Speaker Series.
Kerrie Kelly Design Lab Wins Jason Wu for Brizo Blogger 19 Design Challenge
The Kerrie Kelly Design Lab is proud to announce that they are new winner of the Jason Wu for Brizo Blogger 19 Design Challenge. Inspired by Jason Wu’s Spring 2012 runway collection, the KKDL team created a stunning bathroom design that incorporates Jason Wu’s new luxury line of powder room products. The Design Lab’s award winning sketch designs will soon be brought to life in a photography set and featured in Jason Wu for Brizo advertisements.
Timeless styling paired with functional ease creates an irresistible experience. Inspired by Jason’s 2012 Spring Fashion Week Collection, simplicity, whimsy, pops of color and bold contrast all contribute to this bathroom design. Dark eco-friendly wood flooring anchors the space while a lacquered yellow floating vanity cabinet provides a vibrant and youthful elegance. Sitting atop a white seamless solid surface with integrated rectangular sink, Jason’s Odin faucet gets the contrast and presence it deserves. And so do the accessories–just like the Spring 2012 show’s slick strappy stilettos and spiky leather hair clips–when placed against a simple white wall covering. As an added inspiration, a black and white Brizo scarf from Kerrie’s Fashion Week visit serves as the room’s mirror detail inspiration. Thank you for the opportunity Brizo! And to the new Blogger 19, enjoy New York Fashion Week this week with Jason Wu and team!
Design Find: Icaro Suspension Lamp
Our recent lighting find has us in “suspension!” It seems to coordinate with any scheme—urban, contemporary or even a little country. It’s called the Icaro Suspension Lamp and comes swinging in painted transparent, matte white or black steel wire. The lamp’s light bulb can be in plain sight or protected by a strip of removable material.
It is available for both indoor and outdoor, in four different sizes {in both table and swinging lamp} and four different finishes.
What Happens in Vegas Comes Back to the Design Lab!
Kerrie Kelly Design Lab is back from two great days at the Las Vegas World Market– Winter 2012 Show. From lighting and furnishings to textiles, rugs, and décor, we found a bit of everything for our clients! We have categorized some of our finds below to see what strikes your fancy, too.
Lucky Strike—How can we resist? Just as discussed in our trends presentation, chevron patterns are here to stay. We love the chevron for its clean modern appeal and eye-popping graphic attitude. From lamps to pillows, fabrics and accessories, brights versions are the way to go for a playful look!
Mary McDonald Chevron Stripe Table Lamp.
Thomas Paul’s vivid pillows flip from clean geometric chevron to effusive Mexican-inspired prints.
Rough Luxe—Highly textural mirrors shine bright this season, reflecting a certain purity of form and function. We even plan on using one of these goodies on our HGTV designs!
Grace Feyock for Uttermost designed this wood frame with a light walnut stain with burnished details. The interior mirror is beveled.
The Baum Mirror from Bunglow5 mingles elements both rustic and sophisticated with silvered faux bois design crafted to resemble a wreath.
Outdoor Traditional Brights— Bright colors and traditional shapes featuring a modern twist on what one would consider outdoor furniture surely stopped us in our tracks as we walked through the outdoor market.
Re-proposing classic furniture and giving them a vibrant contemporary look is something that PolArt has mastered.
Resto Remix—Lighting and furniture categories have found their way to reclaim, repurpose and even borrow a few ideas from Restoration Hardware. The great news is they have priced pieces affordably and proportioned them appropriately too!
Stay tuned for a few more finds and understand which pieces we will be bringing back to the Design Lab!
Shimmering Mercury Glass Accents
Hi everyone! I’m Jessica, a writer for Arcadian Lighting, a blog and website with a really cool selection of affordable light fixtures in all different sizes and styles. Every day I get to research the latest interior design trends and then share them on lovely, inspiring blogs like Kerrie Kelly. One very popular trend I’d like to share with you today is decorating with shimmering mercury glass accents. The brilliant shine and sparkle of mercury glass, whether it be a vase, a paperweight or a lamp, instantly adds a chic flare to any room. I hope you enjoy!
The bulbous shape of these mercury glass vases and their reflective surfaces add a magical quality to the room. The pair of spotlights are a very unique touch that makes this living room more attractive and original.
I love the combination of sea green wall color in the shelves and seashells and coral scattered throughout this beautiful living room. The few mercury glass accents add brilliant reflective pops of light.
The inverted pendant lights in this kitchen contrast beautifully against the rustic, matte surfaces throughout the room. I love the expansive windows that let in so much natural light, making the mercury glass shades a fun decoration when the light fixtures are not in use.
A rich lavender and black color palette throughout this room is at once chic and serene. The glass coffee table and reflective mercury glass cup help the room feel more light and spacious. I love the unique detailing on the floor lamp in the corner.
Mercury glass accents are perfect for decorating for a party or the holidays. The vintage mercury glass, disco ball and ornaments are positively radiant on this holiday table.
Layering a mercury glass frame over an ordinary bathroom mirror plays with the contrast between old and new. The subtle floral detailing on the Venetian mirror and the exaggerated length of these types of wall lamps are quirky, pretty details that make this room more interesting.
The monochromatic color palette in this bedroom is anything but boring thanks to swirling patterns and an elegant tufted headboard. A regal shaped lamp fits in well with the bedding.
A wall of antique mercury mirrors is a wonderful idea for making a stunning accent wall. The leopard print pillows are a fun contrast to the vintage appearance of the mirrors and the sofa. Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
If you love these inspiring interiors, be sure to stop by Arcadian Lighting for a mercury glass lighting fixture or two for your own home!
