Category: Interior Architecture

20Aug

10 Elegant Tile Backsplash Behind The Stove Ideas

A beautiful tile backsplash behind the stove can instantly be the focal point of the kitchen.  Granted that the kitchen is the heart of the house, serve well to treat it like one.  A well-designed kitchen requires proper planning as well as good Interior Design.  The kitchen backsplash is more than just a pretty design element;  it serves the purpose of protecting the walls behind the stove and the sink from getting water or any other type of liquids.  The choice for backsplash, whether for behind the range or for the entire area, is quite overwhelming.

The final choice will depend on the style of your kitchen design, from traditional subway tiles for a classic interior design, glass tiles for contemporary design to stainless-steel tile backsplash found in modern interior design.  Keep the design understated and simple by continuing the same material as the countertop onto the backsplash behind the stove or go ahead and make a striking statement by using a different design behind your stove.  In the end, the main purpose of good Interior Design is to make your home a personal reflection of yourself.  Here I’m sharing with you 10 beautiful ideas for the perfect backsplash for the space right behind the stove.  Go ahead and get inspired.

White Marble Slab Backsplash

backsplash behind the stove, kitchen design, backsplash, tile

This kitchen has a very elegant and timeless white marble slab as backsplash behind the stove with a simple shelf that serves for easy reach for spices and condiments.  See the rest of this home here.

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19Jun

3 Easy Steps To Find The Right White Paint & 16 Best White Paints

white paint, bedroom by Veere greeney

All white interiors are trendy right now.  However, not all white paints are created equal. This is because, among other reasons, the white paint chart you see in the hardware store may turn out completely different once you apply it on the walls. Factors such as paint undertones, natural and artificial lighting influence profoundly the final color on your walls.

white paint, bedroom by Veere greeney

A white bedroom by Veere Greeney

As simple as it may sound, picking the right white paint can be frustrating if not disappointing.  One more straightforward way to find the right white color is by following these three no-brainer steps I have seen to help me more often than not.

Three Easy Steps To Find The Perfect White Paint

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05Jun

A Sonoma Valley Lake House Designed by Ken Fulk

sonoma valley, design, Ken fulk

The magnificent house that Ken Fulk designed in Sonoma Valley can quickly pass by a private club due to its enormous size of 600-acres.  The superb property comes complete with a farm, vineyards and natural lake.  The popular Interior Designer wanted to recreate a hyper-realistic feeling as something reminiscent of a Wes Anderson movie.  The property is a four-story lake house inspired by Northern California Victorian resorts with its own lobby.  “A door on the side of the house leads into a bright-blue reception room that acts as a lobby. There is a check-in desk with a bell, and behind it, little boxes that hold the keys to each of the nine-bedroom suites. ”  ED. See what I mean here…

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03Apr

Unconventional Kitchens: 6 Unique Kitchens That Are Also Beautiful

When some people think of unique kitchens their first response is one of skepticism.  Unconventional kitchens are usually expected to be anything but beautiful.  In the worst cases, the excess of inventive details and mixtures of ideas become to feel so unfamiliar that it yields a feeling far from pleasant.  These unorthodox kitchens are not only unique but also beautiful.  There is a way to have it both ways when it comes to being unique in designing any room in your home.  My philosophy is that whatever it is you are designing should depart from the classics.

As in our kitchen, for example, I combined a modern classic element like stainless steel cabinets with more classic cabinets to juxtapose the sleek and the matte, the always-look-as-new feel of the stainless steel with the traditional painted cabinets in the rest of the kitchen.  Francois Catroux still has the very innovative stainless steel fireplace mantel since the late 60’s in his Paris apartment.  This latter innovation is perhaps what set him apart from the rest.  It pays to be unique and innovative but it is more important to do it in a way that makes you happy. Use in your home what you love and make you happy and go from there.  How can the world be innovative and exited if everyone designs in the same fashion or even wear the same clothes?  Below, some of the most recent unique and unconventional kitchens I’ve seen.

unique kitchens, unconventional kitchens, monique-gibson-kitchen-bellevivir

Love everything in this unique kitchen by Monique Gibson, currently featured in Architectural Digest.  This is Monique’s kitchen in New York City where she also works.  The table made by an Israeli furniture maker functions as a desk/meeting table/ kitchen table.  Now that’s clever.

unique kitchens, unconventional kitchens, ryan white kitchen belle vivir

A small kitchen that would take anyone by surprise.  It looks more like an entry to a small apartment than an actual kitchen.  In a small space or an open concept floor plan is a good idea to treat the kitchen as part of the rest of the home decor.

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13Mar

Modern Design As Interpreted By This Modern Apartment Full Of Light:

I love all kinds of interiors, from modern design to traditional.  I can find inspiration in all of them.   Although, I find a traditional leaning interior more cozy and appealing, I appreciate the feeling of lightness and calmness modern interiors can provide.  In my opinion modern design provides a warm home feeling when the color palette and materials derive from nature, as the likes of wood, brass, bronze along with elements like modern wood paneling, proper planned lighting and textured fabrics are implemented.  Such details are found in this modern apartment.  Unlike contemporary design -yes some people think of the two as the same however, they are different, modern design can and mostly relate somehow or somewhere to what’s known as mid-century or better known in my world modern classics.  Which is great because that is perhaps what keeps some modern interiors still warm, recognizable and therefore appealing.  A room with everything in it being new, detached from the known, pristine and sharp, most likely will soon grow into an uninteresting and oblivious room.

modern design, modern apartment via belle vivir blog

Beautiful design in this modern bathroom where modern and tradition meet with a dash of glam.

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20Feb

Get Me A Gray Kitchen: Beautiful And Functional Kitchen

We all agree that the kitchen is the most important room in a home… the heart of the home.  It’s the space where we cook our best and worst meals and where we create our best memories together.  It’s also the room where most of the money in a remodeling goes to.  So much to think about when remodeling this room, functionality, flow, durability and ultimately design.  A gray kitchen can greatly help or enhance the latter since gray is perhaps one of the most forgiving and sophisticated color options available.  Having a functional kitchen is the priority but taking time on deciding the color of your cabinets is paramount if you are deciding to live for a long time in your home.  Gray is warmer than the color white and easier to live with than dark bold hues.
gray kitchen functional kitchen with marble covered vent via belle vivir blog

A beautiful juxtaposition between the traditional light gray cabinets and the clean line of the carrara marble island and range hood.   The brass simple scones and reeded glass on the cabinets lend elegance to the design.

gray kitchen, functional kitchen with white subway tiles via belle vivir blog

A small gray kitchen with a more down to earth and approachable design.  Floor to ceiling traditional white subway tiles and brass flush mount ceiling lights give a more custom look to the overall design.

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