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I always love to shop thrift stores, antique stores, and estate sales for one of a kind pieces that are no longer meaningful to someone else, but have the quality and meaning that speaks to the room I'm designing. My vintage cottage was not intended to be a designer magazine ready space. It was intended to be lived in right away, to take you to a place and time that is nurturing, to be a space for conversation among friends and family, for gazing out at the lake while sitting at a table with great food or a cup of coffee while watching the sunrise. It was meant to invoke peace and relaxation and feel like a loving hug.

How do you make your interiors meaningful? Pick what goes into it with intention. What do I mean by that? Consider the new (or reclaimed) items against what is already there. Do the new items speak well with the existing items? Or is it time to get rid of the old and replace with new to start a new conversation. We all want our conversations to matter, whether they are verbal or visual. When the items in your home converse well together that will reflect in a cohesive design.

Okay, if I've upset your world by saying that things in your home are having conversations without you :), that wasn't my intent. Your home should be a reflection of you, of course. What you pick should be what you love. If you want that designer touch, step back from what you love and look at everything as a whole. If something sticks out and bothers you in some way, maybe it is MEANT for another place in your home or in a thrift store! Things that can call out as attention grabbers can do so in several ways when design elements are not working together. 

The 7 Core Elements taken from this article:

• Line: The most basic path connecting two points. It defines boundaries, directs the eye, and creates structure.
• Shape: A two-dimensional, enclosed area defined by outlines or color changes. Examples include geometric and organic shapes.
• Color: Hues, tints, and shades used to evoke emotions, set a mood, and establish brand identity.
• Space: The area around and between elements in a composition. It includes positive space (the subject) and negative/white space (the background).
• Texture: The tactile or simulated visual quality of a surface, adding depth and a realistic feel to a flat design.
• Form: The three-dimensional extension of a shape, giving objects volume, depth, and weight.
• Value: The relative lightness or darkness of a color, which builds contrast, light, and shadow.

Just a quick post this month...With Valentine's Day on the horizon, I'm thinking of how to incorporate romance in our homes without being too kitschy. Do we go with adding reds and pinks, or go all out with dark moody romantic vibes? 

Here are some of the elements we can add to invoke a romantic feel to our rooms without painting walls or investing in new furnishings.

• Soft fabrics
• Faux furs
• Soft ambient lighting - hopefully you have various light sources already in addition to the typical overhead lighting that can be too bright to invoke that romantic feel. And hopefully you have dimmers installed to control what lighting you have.
• Candles (a different light source, of course!) 
• Flowers

Whether you use them in art, paint, and/or fabrics, this color palette will bring a sense of energy and richness to your space. 

Warm colors as the leaves change, a hint of a cool breeze from a light wind blowing through the leaves still on the trees, sunsets that bring light through the trees and stretch the summer warmth as far into the day as possible. Ahhh, nature! Also, a good excuse for hot cider and cuddling up with your favorite throw blanket (and favorite person!). .Can you tell I like Autumn. It's one of the reasons I named my design firm 'Autumn Light Interiors'.

There is a rug for everyone. You just need to take note of two basic points when picking the quality of your rug - Construction Type and Rug Material. Jaipur has this great page that describes various construction types and common rug materials which can help you pick the right type of rug for your budget, how you use your space, and its exposure to elements like  the sun, moisture, pets, and human traffic. 

I often see size as an easy mistake made by homeowners choosing their area rug. It typically ends up too small looking like a postage stamp in a sea of larger furniture or an island under a coffee table or bed with far too much space left rug-less around it. Rather than re-invent the wheel, I found this rather pleasant blog post by Allisa Jacobs that talks size and more!

Rugs we use underfoot can be quite artistic, so consider rug art for your walls, too! This blog post will tell you how and where to hang your rug as art.

Color theory notes: Warm colors include shades of red, orange, and yellow. Some explanations here are taken from an article by Kate Stanton for 99 designs.
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Red is associated with passion and energy. This can be good or bad depending on whether the passion is love and the energy is excitement or whether the passion is hate and the energy is anger or fear. Do you ever feel hungry when in a red room? Restaurants are in on that idea! It's often difficult to pick the right red when painting a room and I feel it is because this color can turn on you with the type of lighting and other elements brought into the space. When the right red is chosen, watch the magic!

Pink is a tint of red. It is more innocent, playful, and sweet. It can be romantic and light. MIx in more red and blue and watch out for hot pink to squash the innocence and drive up the excitement.

Orange is our social friend - energetic, enthusiastic, lively, and happy. It gives off energy like red, but is more inviting and cheerful. You'll find many brands use orange in their ads to invite you to take action. (I'm guilty here! My website has always used orange as part of its branding due to having Autumn in its name!) 

Yellow has been know to evoke thoughts of sunshine and joy. It's optimistic and spontaneous and makes people happy and feel positive. It often is used in areas where you want to promote conversation and friendship.

With summer warming up, let's get some relief by exploring the cool colors - blues and greens - while we inspire you to update your patio, deck, porch, or poolside! These colors are abundant in nature in all tones and shades. Do you know the key to making blue and green sing (or 'pop', if you prefer!)? Crisp whites - they can make a blue look classic and a green look fresh.

Wood tones will warm up those cool colors and give you an even different vibe. Dark wood can make your space look more refined and elegant. Light wood tones can give you that Scandinavian look or more rustic look depending on the amount of orange tones in the wood.

Generally, the larger the pattern the more modern look you will get. These options give you so  many chances to pull out accent colors for the rest of the room. Side note - Don't let small areas like bathrooms make you think that wallpapering will be easy. It will definitely pack a punch aesthetically, but installing around a bunch of built-in fixtures might be something you just want to leave to the professionals!

Now let's explore the symbolism and meaning for these 2 cool colors - straight from AI (just keeping it transparent!)​

• Blue: Represents trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.
• Green: Symbolizes growth, harmony, and freshness, and is associated with safety, nature, and health.
• Blue-Green: Represents serenity, healing, renewal, and the nurturing qualities of water and Earth. 

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!