Alisa Bloom’s Chicago penthouse
When choosing paint colors for our homes, the first color combinations that come to the majority of people’s minds is either blue and white or black and white. And while those color palettes are timeless and classic, there is plenty of other unusual and sophisticated color combination to choose from. Monochromatic rooms may as well be soothing, but it’s a room with a striking combination of sophisticated paint colors that keeps us enchanted.
Banquette seating used to be mostly for kitchens. Nowadays we can find them in any corner inside the home. A custom banquette is the best way to save space and add coziness to a space. Regardless of what interior design you prefer, there is a style for everyone, from elegant ones, upholstered in sumptuous velvet to more casual ones covered in stripes.
A banquette in the kitchen adds functionality and a multi-use area where families can not only eat, but also do homework, play games, and enjoy a morning coffee. Below, a few cozy options that will sure inspire you.
I’m thrilled to reveal photos of my room ” The Guest Bedroom Suite” for this year’s Designer Showcase which takes place at the Columbus Museum of Art. I was one of a handful of Columbus based Interior Designers asked to participate in this year’s Showcase. I’m very happy about how the room turned out. Since it’s a guest bedroom, my priority was to create a space that was welcoming, inviting, and cozy while still sophisticated and uplifting.
As I have stated here in Belle Vivir blog for years, I’m a firm believer that living beautiful goes beyond the visual. It’s a lifestyle where all the senses are at play. Consciously or not, we are uniformly influenced by our surroundings, from our choices in food, fashion, and home decor, the things we surround ourselves with influence our moods and emotions daily. On that line, this room was designed with that in mind. It is furnished with furniture that is not only comfortable but also timeless. The overall look of the space is timeless.
Maximalist decor doesn’t mean to go crazy without any reference and harmony. On the contrary, a well-appointed more is more design requires strict planning and focus. This is the Maximalist decor we’ll be covering here, an over the top design style that harmoniously and cohesively morphs into sumptuous, lavishly extraordinary homes that feel nothing if not authentic. Maximalist design has three main design bases, lots of colors, patterns, and comfort byways of a lot.
When it comes to Maximalist interiors, the more, the better. More patterns, more texture, and objects are a must. Most of these objects are often collected from travels, and if not it’s important to make them feel like it. If there is a design style that gives us the ways to have a happy home, that would be a more is more decor, since it’s a way for homeowners to bring inside what they genuinely love. Imagine a home where you cohabitate with your favorite books, comfortable, decorative pillows, collected objects that bring to mind favorite memories, and arts all while displaying them in a way that feels natural and innate.
Valentino Garavani’s home. This home is so beautiful that it deserves a post of its own. I’ll be doing it soon.
If you’ve been to Paris, then you may be very familiar with the Architectural design element known as trellis, lattice or trelliage. You may have seen lattice all over Paris’s parks and exterior building walls. Originally created as a garden element for mainly the separation between the more wild areas and the formal ones, trellis eventually took a more functional role as structures for grapevines, climbing roses and ivy plants to climb on. Nowadays their most modern use is more for the decorating aspect rather than for its function so much so that we can see it very often indoors covering interior walls. When lattice is used inside the house for covering the walls in intrinsic design its architectural effect is even more of a statement.
A home in Palm Beach with lattice on walls.
Nothing is more charming than a beautiful lemon tree either in a garden or inside a home. At the end of this post, you’ll find a selection of potted lemon trees you can buy online as well as a roundup of citrus-infused perfumes ideal for Spring. Potted lemon trees can be kept outside in the summer and inside in the winter. To learn how to take care of them indoors read The Truth About an Indoor Lemon Tree.
Since I can remember my favorite scent has been bergamot. I seem to gravitate towards perfumes with this citrus undertone which for some reason make me feel incredibly happy. “Bergamot is a fragrant citrus fruit the size of an orange, with a yellow or green color similar to a lime, depending on ripeness. Genetic research into the ancestral origins of extant citrus cultivars found bergamot orange to be a probable hybrid of lemon and bitter orange. Extracts have been used to scent food, perfumes, and cosmetics. ” Wikipedia
We started working on our backyard to make it into a garden that is soothing, inviting and very Mediterranean-looking. There is something to be said about that perfect Mediterranean weather where all the pretty plants and flowers I love seem to thrive. Here where we live, in zone 6, the cold season can be very hard on olive trees, cypress pine trees, French lavender, and climbing roses but I’m sure there are always alternate options to choose from. One thing is definite; I want a lemon tree or two or more. Happy Spring!