Interior Design Basics

Transcript The small modern bathroom is the easiest thing you can probably design. Why is that? Because it’s not fussy, it’s clean lines, and there’s some elements that are pretty key. One is the vanity. You want to make sure that functionality, it all functions well. So you have your vanity, you can do it …

Transcript So Feng Shui and art is really important. You know we use art all the time, but are you aware of some of the symbols that are in your artwork? For instance, when you walk into a doorway or you walk into you home, make sure that your artwork does not have mountains, in …

Transcript So feng shui in your bedroom actually has a lot more than you would think. You want it to be romantic. I mean if you want significant others or if you’re in a relationship, or you just want prospective relationships, so a couple of things that you want to just pay attention to. One …

Transcript So a bay window is an interesting anomaly, because it’s not really a full window in the normal context. So a lot more things go into thinking about it. You can address the inside of the bay window or just the outside or both. Some people just address it as a regular window and …

Transcript So bathroom on a budget sounds like it might be a little easier said than done. Because you really want to think about the quality of the items that you’re choosing. You know the style is easy to do. It’s more the functionality and putting the quality into those type of efforts that are …

Transcript So fabric panels and when you use them for window treatments, they come in different lengths. You can get them custom-made, which is usually a lot pricier then most people would like to spend. But if it’s something that you’re really adding and updating a house and you want something that’s custom, your not …

Transcript So furniture placement in Feng Shui, actually is a little bit more technical than you would think in normal design. It really is based on where you were born, when you were born, the exact quadrant of where you were born and that really dictates a lot of the layout of your furniture placement. …

Transcript When it comes to the home your bedroom is really important to you. It may not be important to everybody else but it’s important to you, because you’re sleeping in your bed. Now headboards to me are the main event in a bedroom, why? Because when you walk into the room the bed is …

Transcript So when implementing interior design into the modern space there are some no-fail rules that we all kind of go by. The first one is always that you want a really nice sofa and you want clean lines. Make sure that you put a little bit more money into it, because this is a …

Transcript French doors can be really tricky to dress up with window treatments, because it’s not the same thing as dressing up a regular window. This is a window, but you have to be able to get in and out of at the same time, so functionality is the most important thing. So you either …

Transcript So the whole idea of feng shui is very personal, but there are some basics that you can always implement in your home. Remember that dead plants are bad, never good. Anything dead is bad chi, so stay away from dead plants. Make sure that there’s clutter off every surface. So you don’t want …

Transcript So your bedroom, really most people don’t see it. You’re entertaining downstairs a lot or in other parts of your home, so your bedroom is primarily for you and your significant other. So if you don’t want to spend a ton of money, because it’s usually the last room that a lot of my …

Transcript Let’s get to basics, especially in the bedroom. This is a space that is really different from the rest of the house. The reason I say that is because you don’t have to go overboard in the bedroom. The bedroom, there are some simple things that you need to pay attention to. One is …

Transcript So a queen bed is only a couple of inch difference from a full-size bed, and actually when you’re shopping around for furniture, a queen and a full are pretty interchangeable. Not only with bedding, but also with the headboard itself. You’ll find that most headboards fit both queen and full. Really the difference …

Transcript So the kitchen is the heart of the home, so everybody says. But it really is true, because the kitchen is the first place anybody looks, if you want your resale value. It’s the first placed everybody hangs out in when there’s a party or there’s guests over and the whole family congregate there. …

Transcript So window treatments are literally the windows to the soul, in your home at least. So when you’re thinking about your window treatments some factors are material, and also the type of style that you want to use. Material is, is that, let’s say it gets really cold in your house and you want …

Transcript So window treatments enough can be costly, but when you’re dressing a very large window, it gets even more expensive. Because usually the window treatments that are stock or ready-made are not apropos for these windows. So you can’t just go out to a store and buy something. You have to usually get something …

Transcript So decorating your bedroom when you don’t have a lot of money to spend, sometimes it’s hard. But it also can be really interesting, because it opens up opportunities to introduce different things that normally you wouldn’t have thought of. For instance, you don’t have to buy all of your bedroom furniture brand new …

Transcript Hi, my name is Blanche Garcia and I am an interior designer. I’ve been in the design industry, God, it feels like forever but probably about 16-17 years. I started really young, because this is something I’ve always been really passionate about. I mean I started out building churches, volunteer work, when I was …

Transcript When you live in a small apartment it’s really hard to decorate. The real estate is really important. So you never want huge pieces, but you also don’t want to go super small. Some people think that when you have a small room you go with really small pieces. A really nice sofa will …

Transcript Most people who have fireplace mantles, for the most part a majority, put the TV above the mantle which is fantastic. It saves for you having to move the furniture to the TV,then focus the fireplace. Which one do you do? So it’s two birds with one stone, right? The problem is then you …

Transcript So furniture placement is really tricky, but especially when you have an elongated rectangular room, because this gives you an opportunity more than it gives you the challenge. Most people think like, “Oh my god, what am I going to do with it?” But really what it’s saying to you is that you have …

Transcript So one of my favorite aspects of the home is the jewelry. When I say jewelry, I mean literally the light fixtures. Because light fixtures for a home are like jewelry on a woman, and so you can go really sleek and modern, or you can go really jeweled and sparkly. I like a …

Transcript So everybody has a budget nowadays, and even when they say they don’t have a budget, we all have a budget. Just make sure that your dollars make sense. Literally, make sure that you’re putting your money where it’s worth. And what I mean by that is that you want to make sure that …

Transcript So just because you want to redecorate, does not mean that you literally have to throw the baby out with the bathwater, right? You don’t have to redo everything. You can basically use what you have, and you don’t have to buy anything new, and combine it with some elements that you would find …

Transcript So Caribbean decor is actually something that’s really close to my heart. Because I am Puerto Rican, so from the islands, per se, color is a really big thing for us. We love color and a lot of people from the Caribbean love color and so infusing it into your home is really easy. …

Transcript So I love vintage pieces, especially in home decor, why? Because you can pretty much get away with anything and it’s really inexpensive. I mean your sources include everything from garage sales and antique stores and warehouses, and even the newer furniture companies that you can buy things from still make it feel vintage. …

Transcript So paint you think it’s pretty general, you just put it on the wall and it’s easy, right? But there are a couple of tricks that you need to know when painting a room. One of the first things is ceilings and walls, which ones do you paint first? Ceilings by the way, even …

Transcript So accessorizing is one of the most important things that you can do. I mean once you have your paint on the walls, which are the great backdrop and then you have your furniture, which is pretty much filling just the space as your needs, you’re going to need to accessorize to make your …

Transcript So children’s rooms are a lot of fun, why? Because they don’t have to be as strict and boring as adult rooms. As we get older we kind of get a little boring and we’re afraid to take chances. Not so with children’s rooms. This is where you have imagination and then you want …

Transcript So small apartments get a bad rep because you think that you can’t fit everything that you need in there, which isn’t true. You just want to make sure that all of your pieces work double duty for you. Think about storage and any place that you can get it. So if it’s your …

Transcript So when you’re away at college or if you’re past that, and you have children at college or you know somebody that just needs some helpful hints, there’s a couple of guidelines. Obviously, you’re sharing a room with other people and so make sure that you have your own zone. Because even though you …

Transcript So green and actually green design as sustainable, not green the color is actually easy to achieve. There’s a couple of tips that you should probably stick to. One is reusing. So if you have items around the home or maybe going to an antique store or maybe going to a garage sale, reuse …

Transcript The great thing about country decorating is that really you can take something, literally off the road, and put it in your house and it looks really amazing. You know, whether it be a wheel axle from an old stagecoach or a log that you want to use as a table. I mean basically, …

Transcript So modern decor is not to be confused with contemporary decor. The difference is, modern is a sleek design that is more historical. So you’ll see it in mid-century modern. You’ll see it in early American sometime, in some of the simple lines. Contemporary decor is just what is contemporary now. What people are …

Transcript So do it yourself, especially in wall art, doesn’t mean that it has to look cheesy. In fact, it’s one of the elements in a home where you can get away with just about anything and it looks like a million bucks, literally. I like the use of for instance, shadow boxes, they are …

Transcript So some people think that when they have to tackle their home decoration that it takes a lot and it really scares people off. It doesn’t have to be that daunting. So just remember to keep it simple, and simple means things, like paint is really cheap and simple. You can’t really go wrong. …

Transcript So when you have a fireplace mantel, just remember that you really have a very big opportunity for a lot of different things. You have above the mantel which you can decorate with pictures, artwork, mirrors. You can layer items. Like you have a larger piece hung on the wall, but then you have …

Transcript Furniture style and different types really range the span. I mean think about our history. The history of furniture and different types, span the whole history of the world. You have your more Traditional, which is usually found in the European countries, because you have your Louis XV. You have your pre-Italianate. You have …

Transcript Decorating white walls when you really can’t use paint is a common issue with a lot of people. Especially if you live in apartments, where you rent space, instead of buying your own home or you have offices. So if you’re renting, which I have done plenty of times and you really can’t paint …

Transcript So there’s a lot of things that homeowners can do to add value to their home without going crazy. Some of the basics include, we all know, granite or stone counter tops. Why? Because they wear well over time. If you just try to save money and do a laminate counter top, it never …

Transcript So there’s a lot of do it yourself projects out there. But which ones add the most value to your home? So painting is an inexpensive do it yourself project and it adds a lot of value. But it also makes this place look really dramatic and really beautiful. Just make sure to use …

Transcript So color’s a really big part of design. It’s one of the most important parts for me as a designer, and so there are certain colors that are just, cross the span, user-friendly, you don’t have to worry about. If you’re looking for things and elements to ground a space, and colors that really …

Transcript So I really love small spaces probably more than big spaces, which is probably opposite from what most people like. But the reason I love small spaces is because, you really see everything from one area. You can be in bed or eating and everything is one little, small comfortable zone. Just remember that …

Transcript In a lot of homes that are especially here in America there are a lot of fireplaces or the TV is the focal point. Because at the end of the day you want to relax, and watching the TV is just what more a modern family is looking at. Even if you don’t have …

Transcript So when you’re painting your space, just remember that you want balance and by balance I mean that if you go with a darker color, offset it with a lighter color. Don’t be afraid to go with a navy blue, just remember then the pieces that go in the space, maybe you want to …

Transcript So the living room when thinking about design is one of my favorite rooms. Why, is because you entertain a lot and I love to entertain. So in the living room you want your sofa to be really comfortable for you, your family, and for your friends coming over. Whichever way you like to …

Transcript Sometimes it’s about what you leave space for versus what you fill up, so what I mean by that is that I think that the natural inclination is to fill every space that you have. So every wall that you have has something on it, everything that you have. But remember the old rule …

Transcript When decorating the living room, and you’re arranging your furniture you want to make sure that you have a comfortable area for seating. It doesn’t make sense, if it looks pretty if it doesn’t feel right. So a great sectional is always important for me. I love sofas, but I’m really a sectional type …

Transcript So shabby chic is a design genre all its own. It’s a little country. It’s a little traditional. There’s a lot of light and white and it’s worn. The pieces that generally make up a shabby chic decor are – think farmhouse – mixed with maybe a classic piece. But that the finish has …

Transcript So when bridging the sexes, literally you have male and female, but you want to make sure that you’re decorating for both of them, not just one. If you ever go into a room and there’s a lot of light and pink and floral’s, and it’s just strictly female. Or everything is heavy and …

Transcript Usually when you have a fireplace mantel, one of the things that people use to decorate these mantels are mirrors. I love a mirror. What person doesn’t love a mirror, especially girls? So mirrors over a mantel, you can do that a couple of different ways. You can have one big mirror and call …

Transcript So you would think that this wouldn’t be a big issue, but it actually is, even among designers that are my peers. Which is how to place your furniture on an area rug. I know it sounds really mundane, but it’s actually, there are some tricks to it. You want to make sure that …