Last year I focused on design dilemmas in my blog posts, This year my plan is to provide tips on what you can do each season to increase your enjoyment of your home. From practical checklists, design styles, and fixtures to furnishings and accessories I hope to inspire you with tips to make your home function well and look fantastic! Each post for the season will also include a focus on a color category and explore its meaning and impact.

As the sun is staying around longer, I'm thinking about getting outside more and staying longer. What better way to do that than with great furnishings for your deck or patio. Below are some of my favorites. Scroll down to see them all or click on the 'View Collection' link which will take you to my shop where you can get more information and purchase directly online if you so desire.​

The color category I'm focusing on for Spring is inspired by your traditional Easter egg extravaganza - Pastels. This link from Today.com goes into detail about the history of the Easter Color Palette and its traditional connection to the religious holiday . Here is a synopsis of the more contemporary shades used when celebrating Easter as a commercial holiday showing the meaning and impact described in that article as well as some inspiring applications for our home decor.

Lavender/Lilac - Purity, Love, Mystique, Tranquility

Pastel PInk - New beginnings, Youth, Joy

Mint Green - Freshness, Life, Growth

Light Yellow - Warmth, Optimism, Brightness

Baby Blue - Clarity, Peace, Calmness, Serenity

What is your favorite pastel color?

I've always promised my blog will provide tips, tricks, trends, and inspiration. This year I focused on design dilemmas and I hope you gained some tips, tricks and inspiration from one or more of my posts. (See links below.) I'm still working on the focus for 2025, so stay tuned by signing up for my newsletter if you are not already a loyal follower. So what's left? Trends! I typically put together my forecast for you, but there are already so many opinions out there that I thought I'd just give you a few links to browse from my internet search.

• I love how Shea McGee combines home decor and fashion in her look into 2025 trends. https://studio-mcgee.com/2025-design-trends/
• Texture, color, and ALL your favorite things is the direction I'm seeing on the Veranda website. I've heard it again and again over the past few years, that more is more. I haven't personally jumped on that band wagon, but when done tastefully and mindfully it provides a way to celebrate your collections and all the things you love. ​https://www.veranda.com/home-decorators/design-trends/g63074247/interior-design-trends-2025/
• Better Homes and Gardens points out that retro and sustainability go hand in hand. Trends for combining classic pieces with more up to date furnishings help us keep materials out of land fills and who doesn't love a touch of Mid-Century magic! ​https://www.bhg.com/furniture-trends-2025-8745267

Remember that trends are guideposts and typically come and go. Use the guides to help you find what you love so that even when a trend goes away you will continue to be proud of your space for sometime after.

Here are the links to the design dilemma posts from 2024 in case you missed out:

• Lighting
  
• Furniture Placement
  
• Reconciling Style Differences
  
• Wood Trim - Should it be painted or not?
  
• Where to start your design project

But I had my color consultation and this is my color scheme! Okay, you have. You like the colors. Now you really, really, really want that sofa at the big box store that they tell you is the best of the best. You even selected the fabric you love. Did you bring your paint samples to the big box store? Were you able to bring that fabric sample home to view in the lighting of your own abode? Does these two things (fabric and paint) work well together? What about your flooring and other furnishings? Is this sounding like a roller coater you never wanted to get on?

I can tell you this - it doesn't matter where you start in the process of designing your home. It matters where you finish in ensuring that EVERYTHING works together to make the impression you want for yourself, your family, and your friends.  Did I say for yourself?!  Yes, you must love it! You will be living there. Your friends and family can ooh and aah, but that only lasts for a visit or two.

Where do you start? I suggest you start by gathering all the pictures of rooms, furnishings, fixtures, and colors that you like. Collect these pictures in a way that you can spread them out and analyze them together. I've said this in the past...when you have a collection of something that makes you feel the way you want your space to feel, take a picture of it. Use that picture as a reference guide as you move forward.

Once you've gathered your inspiration, you should make a list of EVERYTHING you have and EVERYTHING you want. Spread sheets are great for this, but if you are not tech savvy, go for the old pen and ink. You may even want to put each item on an index card to give yourself the ability of moving items from one room to another without the heavy lifting!

The next part is the one most everyone wants to leave out - how much are you willing to spend on each item? I help my clients with this using a good/better/best list. This helps them determine the items they are willing to splurge on and which items they will need and want to save on.

Try to prioritize those projects. Are we back to 'where do I start'? It's okay, we can do this! Remember 'safety', 'looks', and 'cost'. Of course you should tackle those safety issues first. Don't live with black mold or any mold, for that matter. Remove trip hazards, especially if you have aging folks (or clumsy ones, like me) living with you. Roof leaks, cracked windows, leaky plumbing, etc. It's not the pretty stuff, but it has to get taken care of.

Next is looks and cost. This is where DIY might work for you if you can't afford hiring out for home decor and finishes. What items in your home are really bugging you every time you look at them. What's stopping you from changing it? 

Well, my primary recommendation with all these lists is to plan for your changes. Make sure you cover all the steps in my tried and true process before you buy -  brainstorm, space plan, color and style assessments, design, trade work research. Make decisions about each room and the items that go in it, but step back before you hit the Wayfair button and make sure that all the decisions have been made and you have samples that you can pull together to make sure the end result will be something you love and can call 'done'. That paint color you picked may turn an oddly minty green that you didn't expect or like when you put the couch in front of it. Did you buy a couch? Does it fit? Do you have room for the coffee table you love?

Plan, Plan, Plan. Not everyone has the patience for shopping and re-shopping until every item looks like a loving family instead of a disjointed pile of collections that are individually loved, but don't make sense together. That's why you hire an interior designer or a therapist! The interior designer can take all the tedious work off your shoulders. The therapist will be there to help you learn why you don't love the hodge-podge of purchases you made. I'm joking, but this can be reality for some. Don't take it too hard. There are a ton of design elements that we interior designers are trained to look at across the board. If you still want to DIY and you hit it on the head the first time out, kudos to you! If you still aren't happy, go back to your lists and revise them. Try again. Remember that old adage - if at first you don't succeed, try, try again? We all do it. You're in good company.  And having said that, enlist a friend, join a group, purchase a designer brainstorming session. Doing these things can help get you further along and help you learn from your mistakes.
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2024 has been a year I've dedicated to design dilemmas. I have one more post to do in November. I'd love to get your ideas on what you want to see me address in the last blog post of the year. Send an email, call, or write a comment. Enjoy the fall weather while it is still somewhat warm (here in the Midwest)!

Yes, that is the question! There will be strong opinions in this area, I'm sure. Over the years, my opinion has changed and as an interior designer I recognize that it all depends on the look and feel you want your home to exude and how much of the true original character of your home's style you want to keep.

That said, this blog is not to tell you what is right or wrong, but to show you how painting or not painting impacts your style. You can then make a judgement on whether to preserve that style or not.

There are various classical styles that raise natural wood to the highest level - Craftsman, Mid-Century, and Tudor to name a few. The stain can range from very dark to very light. All of these do not favor painting your wood trim.

I've seen a whole lot of builder basic wood trim from 70's through the 90's (and I'm sure beyond!) I don't feel badly about recommending painting your basic thin baseboards for an up to date look unless it is so extensive and cost prohibitive to paint it all. In the project below, there was some elevated wood trim combined with the thinner baseboard trim, but it extended throughout the home. My recommendation was to keep it stained and paint the walls of the main living and entry areas as well as to remove the thin 1980's look on the soffit midway up the wall. Adding stained wood to that soffit gives the room a more cohesive modern craftsman look.

Now let's go to the side where painting makes your space look clean and crisp. There are a few ways to go. Paint the woodwork a contrasting color to the walls for a jolt of energy. A current trend is color drenching a room where the walls and trim (and ceiling) are all painted the same color giving a cozy vibe that can feel like a warm hug or set a moody vibe. 

If you are torn between painted wood and preserving wood in your home, there is no reason why you can't have the best of both worlds. Choose an element, such as baseboards, or doors, or window trim. Keep one of those elements stained and paint the rest. Just be consistent throughout your home. 

Add a comment to this post to tell me what side you're on - paint it or stain it or a combo. And it's okay to change your mind over the years. I recommend following your heart over following trends. Have a wonderful summer!

Which picture do you identify with when it comes to decorating or remodeling your home?​

Now you live together.
What can you do to combine your styles or reconcile the differences? ​

 Finding common ground is the key. How to do that may not be easy. It might take several conversations. I have an exercise or two that can help. But first lets take a quick look at a few questions you can ask to see if you land on something you agree on: 

1. Is there a color palette you both like?
2. Is there a style you both like?
3. Is there a single piece of furniture you both like?
4. What about a restaurant, or a movie, or someone else's house!? You might be able to take clues from the coloring and style represented in those places for your room design.
5. Is there a feeling you each agree the room should invoke? Happy, funky, moody, studious, luxurious...the list can go on for a long time. Keep brainstorming on the adjectives and you might find one or two you can agree on.

No agreement yet? Let's see if the exercises that follow help.

Exercise 1: 
Each of you collect pictures of items you would like to see in your room and print them off separately. You could make a card game of this if you are handy with picture editing tools. Otherwise, just rip out magazine pictures and keep them to yourself to start.  Then you play the game by having one person pick the type of item, for example, a bed assuming your design project is for a bedroom. You each lay out the pictures you both collected and talk about the elements that drew you to those pictures. Continue taking turns calling out the next item.  Taking turns can help each person to have a sense of control and might even reveal a furniture piece that one person thinks is important and the other never even thought to include. Try to agree on which picture wins over for that particular item and set it in a 'keep' pile. Set the other picture in a 'maybe' pile and move on to the next item. Hopefully in the end you will have a group of 'keep' pictures that will guide your decisions and purchases and will result in a room you both will love.

If not...

Exercise 2: 
This exercise gives each person an assignment for a set of elements in the room with the remaining elements being assigned to the partner. Decide on which elements in a room are most important to each of you. For example, if designing a bedroom (again) here are some elements that need to be assigned - bed style, bed linens, window treatments, flooring, lighting, seating, wall treatments, ceiling treatment, architectural applications, hardgoods.

Take turns in the order of application finding pictures of items you individually like but that you think will pair well with the items already chosen. This can be done over a period of time or a dedicated time where you both can do some googling to find what you would like.

Bring it all together and talk about why you chose each item.  Yes, both of these exercises are designed to start the conversation to understand what each person values and, again, to find common ground. Don't forget upholstered items can have the bones one person likes and the fabric the other person likes. Patterns that one person likes can be applied with colors the other person likes.

I decided to use this second exercise as a case study. In this study, I picked a male partner that likes Craftsman style and a female partner that wants a more romantic, Victorian style. Below are the elements assigned in the general order of installation that show what this his/her partnership might choose based on the styles they like.  

It is interesting how when the other person took on the different elements, their choices can shift the entire design style. Notice that HIs was very craftsman-like in the first mood board, but turned midcentury in the second. What is common in both His boards? Straight lines, wood details, and predominately neutral colors. The Hers elements remained more consistently romantic (maybe less Victorian and more traditional) across both boards with the curves and airy qualities of her choices.  Both mood boards for both people show an interest in wood elements, some painted and some not. The challenge then is how to combine the elements to arrive at a room that both HIs and Hers will love!

Sifting through the items and putting them together was even more interesting. The resulting style was not Craftsman or Victorian, but more of an island style with tradition, comfort, and romance taking the stage! ​

There comes a time when you realize that the home you either just bought or have lived in and put up with for years isn't functioning for you. Aside from outdated appliances and finishes, the main complaint I hear from home owners is that they can't figure out where to place furniture. There can be many reasons for this, but these are some of the most common ones.

Everyone's home is unique, of course, so the following tips are general guidelines designed to help you think of solutions you may not have already thought of. I'll be focusing on living rooms to keep this blog post at a comfortable reading length! Drop a comment on this post if you have an awkward layout related to another room type.

Many homes have fireplaces on an angle so let's use that as an example along with 2 other walls that have obstructions to placing furniture directly in front of them.

• Start to think of the space in front of the fireplace as if you have your furniture on an area rug and we play with turning the entire setup in different directions.
• Let's also assume you are not in need of placing your television above the fireplace mantel at this point.
• Each option shows the same furnishings with one swap in room 2 - 2 chairs, 2 side tables, 1 love seat, 1 coffee table, 1 console table, 1 wall mounted television, and 1 floor lamp.
• Each option is a room with an entry at the top, a large window at the bottom, and the fireplace on the angled wall. ​

Placing furniture can be a challenge, but trying out different arrangements is the least expensive decorating you can do. Enlist some helpers so you don't hurt yourself in the process. Live with the new arrangement for a while before you give up on it. It may prove to be more functional than you think.

Skylights and solar tube lights briefly explained by the Market Watch Guides offer options to bring in more natural light when your current windows just aren't doing the job. These options are the most invasive and time consuming to implement, but provide the type of light we humans can benefit from the most - natural daylight - especially if you have north facing rooms or rooms without windows or windows that just don't provide enough natural light due to other obstructions.

Energy.gov states: If you want to maximize daylighting and/or passive solar heating potential, consider a skylight's position. Skylights on roofs that face north provide fairly constant but cool illumination. Those on east-facing roofs provide maximum light and solar heat gain in the morning. West-facing skylights provide afternoon sunlight and heat gain. South-facing skylights provide the greatest potential for desirable winter passive solar heat gain than any other location, but often allow unwanted heat gain in the summer.

But what about when the sun goes down or you live in a place where sunshine can't always be counted on? You may want to look at Reflective Lighting Strategies. 

Let's start with color. First of all, always test your paint colors on all walls before committing since color in a room is impacted as the angle of the sun changes throughout the day. It's likely not a surprise that white reflects the most light out of any color. Tinting a paint color means adding white to it. If you find a color you like but worry it is too dark, have your local paint store add white to tint it and test again.

• A tip I often use to allow color on your ceiling without feeling like the ceiling is closing in on you: When you want a color to envelop a room, when painting the ceiling go a couple of tints lighter than the wall color. 

There is a lot of science around colors and light that I, unfortunately, can't fit into just one blog post, so you may want to turn to a color expert to help or prepare to google a lot! My main point here is to make use of colors closest to white to ensure the most light reflection when that is your goal.

Consider the sheen of the paint to increase the reflection of light. Shinier/glossier sheens will make your paint color appear lighter. Take care to prepare the surfaces well for the shinier sheens as they will show more surface imperfections. Each paint manufacturer and each type of paint may have slightly different sheens but in general you will be using one of these shown here..

Another reflective lighting strategy is to limit textures (and clutter, of course). The more textures used in a space, the more shadows created. This brings us to using the right metals and mirrors to reflect light. Mirrors can be a BIG game changer. Placed in the back of shelves or opposite a window or on a table surface will bounce whatever lighting you have in the room around exponentially! Using the lighter metals - silver and gold rather than bronze or iron - will help bring sparkle as it is used throughout a space.​

We all have to add artificial light to manage lighting at night and for rooms deficient of natural light. Adding lighting in your home for all the tasks you do is important. Think levels and directions! Lights above or under cabinets illuminate downward, lights on tables or on walls can illuminate up or down, and lighting along baseboards or in-floor lighting brings light from below.  And don't forget about the light span on your light sources. If you want a wash of light, a wider span is needed. If you just want to focus on a specific item or area, directional lighting allows you to highlight specific areas with a narrower light span.

Last, but not least, know your light bulbs. An article by Frontpoint tells us what you want to look for to balance  the amount of light with energy efficiency. "There are four different types of light bulbs available for residential use: incandescent, halogen, fluorescent, and LED. These varieties have different characteristics including the quality of light emitted, the amount of energy used, and more." Lumens and the Kelvin Color Temperature Scale are our friends. Watts, not so much!  ​

Once again Energy.gov helps us. "When you're shopping for light bulbs, think about the brightness you want by comparing lumens instead of watts. A lumen is a measure of the amount of brightness of a lightbulb -- the higher the number of lumens, the brighter the lightbulb." Just one of the examples they give is this:

• To replace a 100 watt (W) incandescent bulb, look for a bulb that gives you about 1600 lumens. If you want something dimmer, go for fewer lumens; if you prefer brighter light, look for more lumens.

The other important concept to consider when shopping for lighting is the Kelvin Color Temperature Scale. (Side bar: I got distracted when writing this thinking about this Alvin the chipmunk call!) Now back to Kelvins...The Lighting Tutor has some great examples of when to use different Kelvin settings. In a nutshell, the Tutor says "The lower the number, the “warmer” the color. As the number goes higher on the scale, the color temperature gets colder. It does not mean that the room actually changes in temperature, but it does go from “cozy” on the left, to feeling like a prison cell to the right."

One of my goals for 2024 is that I provide you a blog post every other month. I will focus on design dilemmas, among them perhaps awkward room layouts, outdated finishes, or bad lighting. Let me know in the comments if you have a particular design dilemma I could put into focus. I welcome a challenge!

With less than a week before Christmas, I'd like to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, too! The end of year activities don't typically allow us to rest, but I hope you find moments with family and friends to be uplifting and restorative. Enjoy the montage below of some of my favorite Christmas ornaments on our tree.

From yours truly, Brenda Szarek

I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving Day!

During this time of year there are many areas of the design industry predicting their picks for the up coming year. As I review the trends others are reporting, I've been putting together a list of my own. Some ideas match and others don't. The goal is the same - what can we do to make our homes beautiful, functional, and comfortable without looking like we all bought our furnishings and décor from the same store? I have 3 designs that I believe show the trends that will carry forward through 2024. They go from light, airy, and a bit nostalgic for an older elegant era, to natural and organic bringing nature and art together in a more modern style, and finally, to a moody mix of styles that makes you feel grown up and ready to relax and enjoy the home you worked hard to achieve.

Pantone picked their 2024 color of the year to be Apricot Crush. The design I put together above uses the pinks and oranges of a setting sun as inspiration for an elegant boudoir! It is lighter and airier than Apricot Crush, to bring a softer side to a space where you'll want to wind down before you slip into your luxurious bed which envelops you with its padded wing back headboard. There are art deco accents on the dresser and screen along with the lighting and art bringing you to an era where you can dream big dreams well into the night. I picked these elements because we are moving into a time where everyone deserves a little romance to make them feel special and loved. The glamour factor just adds a cherry on top of a great big hug!

As we move from a good night's sleep to a place where friends and family gather, the design above moves out of the 1920's and 1930's influence to a much more modern approach that brings nature inside. Biophilic design has been around for some time, but gains momentum in 2024 as we continue to find more reasons and ways to entertain in and out of our homes. When inside, bringing nature together with artful moments helps generate conversation in a relacing atmosphere. Large tables and comfortable seating are a must. Sticking with neutrals for furnishings, wall color, and flooring make the art stand out. Statement lighting is an option to decorate that 5th wall in the room - the ceiling.

Drama and quiet? Why can't we have both! There seems to be many trend reports that show dark color palettes are still trending well in 2024. Sorry Pantone! The design above is a moody mix of mid-century, industrial, and Asian influences. Painting a room dark, whether large or small, does not necessarily close you in. Think of standing in a large field surrounded by a vast dark sky. Imagine the immenseness! As long as you add in great lighting and light colors around the space, you will just feel the drama of a great night ahead.