Home Inspiration: Design Trends & Ideas

Homeowners celebrate their living spaces—both inside and out—with personal expression. And how we decorate our homes can be a direct expression of our needs, personalities and lifestyles. Browse pictures of popular home design trends to find ideas that can be incorporated into your home’s rooms, storage areas, technology, materials, layout and more.

The Heart of the Home: Your Kitchen

Today’s kitchens are where people of all ages congregate. Spacious kitchen islands, banquettes, better technology and integrated offices give homeowners space to hang out, work and dine in one central space.

As the kitchen has evolved into a type of living room, islands have become a popular feature because of their versatility. They can serve as the primary work space, a secondary work space, extra storage or a spot for multiple cooks to spread out.

Banquette Breakfast Areas

When not used for meals, a well-lit and comfortable breakfast area can easily double as a place for homework or leisurely reading in your home. Banquettes are an excellent way to stretch kitchen space because the seating pushes right up to the wall. They also maximize kitchen storage by providing extra space beneath the seating areas.

Entertainment Areas

Single-family homes are getting smaller, with fewer formal rooms and more casual living spaces for the whole family to enjoy. Whether in a living room, great room or basement, a well-appointed gathering place with comfortable furniture, technology and entertainment is a must-have in today’s homes.

Backyard Landscaping Ideas for Privacy

Creating a beautiful, secluded yard is a surefire way to boost your home’s value and create a stunning (and private) outdoor living space. Try our tips to build the perfect backyard get-away.

Depend on a Tall Fence

Decorative and useful hardscape pieces and plantings soften the lines of a towering fence.

• Simple detailing, including a wide cap piece, breaks up an otherwise overwhelming facade on an extra-tall fence.
• Hung on the fence, a decorative latticework sculpture serves as an outdoor-ready, artistic element.
• A low stone bench, with river rock collected on top and at the base, offers an additional seating spot.
• Near the base of the fence, lights provide a safety element and ambience for nighttime gatherings.
• Groundcover and a midheight tree soften the geometric lines of the paved seating area

Open Up for Privacy

A stripped-down fence and airy plants offer subtle screening from neighbors.

•  Two oversize urns planted with rhododendrons mark the transition from public face to private space.
• The open latticework fence offers a discrete but unmistakable barrier; bright green paint and wood framing gives it distinctive character.
• Double doors are a steadfast signal of a secluded area; the latticework details and wood inserts neatly complement the contrasting fence pieces.
• Lacy, branching trees gracefully arch up and over the fence for a soft, protective canopy.
• A wispy groundcover of sweet woodruff softens the space between gravel pathway and fence.

Use Lattice as a Screen

A fence and carefully chosen plants insulate a side yard.

• A clamoring vine -- here, Boston ivy -- softens hardscape edges and adds another layer of privacy.
• A door is a distinctive, uninterrupted signal of a private space; fitted with a small section of latticework, it includes a decorative element that repeats the design in the fence.
• While the fence's woodwork signals a secluded landscape, the lattice's open weave filters both sunlight and views.
• Low-growing shrubs, such as a dwarf globe blue spruce, provide a way to maintain a year-round, softscape barrier.
• A carefully chosen selection of plants and materials -- river rock, patterned pavers, variegated hostas, black-eyed Susans -- offers low-maintenance beauty.

Increase Your Home's Value in 5 Easy Steps

Thinking about taking on some small home improvement projects to boost the value of your home? Here are some smart upgrades and fixes that won’t cost a lot, but could help you clinch a deal if you’re trying to sell.

Consider curb appeal

Source: Zillow Digs

First impressions are everything, and potential buyers often decide whether they’re interested in a home within seconds. As they’re walking toward your house, they’re asking themselves, “Could I live here?”

Keep the walkway swept and tidy, and spruce up your entryway landscaping with well-placed shrubs, new plants and trimmed hedges. And don’t underestimate the power of a new front door, fence or mailbox.

Buff up the bath

Source: Zillow Digs

Sure, bathroom improvements can get pricey, but small cosmetic changes can reap big rewards. Consider replacing dated frosted glass with clear glass, updating fixtures or putting up new wallpaper.

Other projects that are worth the effort include re-grouting the tile, replacing an old vanity with a new one and buying a new toilet seat.

Romantic Revival: Tips for Dramatic and Formal Dining Rooms

There’s something romantic about homes with a formal dining room—they’re a key selling point for many home buyers. Perhaps it’s the thought of having a single room completely devoted to eating and entertaining, or the idea of enjoying a sit-down dinner with your family and friends. Whatever the reason, here are some ideas for bringing dramatic style to your home’s dining room and other eating spaces.

Light and Dark

 From the custom metal-front cabinets to the silver nail-head trim on the chairs, this dining room is rooted in sleek sophistication. Overhead, an Italian chandelier crafted from Murano glass anchors the center of the room, where a solid yet sleek dining table stands grandly. Navy blue upholstery with a silver trellis design on the chairs brings dignified color to the space. The gray faux bois-inspired wallpaper bridges the gap between the light and dark tones.

Linear Diversity

Create a casual environment that exudes grand style with a formal dining room that is open to your home’s kitchen. A wide archway in this space promotes mingling from the kitchen to the dining table, ideal for relaxed entertaining. The stone-clad walls and a brick-and-wood beam ceiling in this home emanate old-world Tuscan style, as do the antique-style table and chairs.

Vivid Formality

Formal dining rooms can occasionally come off as stiff and cold, but you can avoid that problem in your home by using bold color as a cheer-giving antidote. In this dining room, emerald green silk wallpaper wraps the space with easy-on-the-eyes color. Tangerine-colored velvet chairs are unexpected, yet make a statement. The high-gloss gray moldings and gunmetal taffeta panels ground the room in sophistication.

Tips & Ideas for Creating Romance in Your Home

Turn your own home into a romantic getaway this Valentine’s Day—or any day—with our tips and ideas to warm up every room and create cozy, inviting spaces throughout your house.

Romantic Getaway

Contrasting textures can imbue your home’s bedroom with a romantic feeling. Here, chenille, satin and linen achieve this effect. Antique furniture and warm accents cozy up to upholstered walls.

Concrete Love

Built with hand-chosen river rocks, this fireplace adds warmth and comfort to the home’s decor.

  Escape into the Suds

Help lessen the tension after a long day at work by relaxing in a romantic bathroom decorated with vintage drapes and accessories.

Six exercises for finding your personal brand voice

1. Make a list of the adjectives you want people to repeat after they meet you, talk to you, see or read about you. Are you: creative, relentless, indomitable, determined, insightful, scrupulous, thoughtful, or visionary? Then, narrow the list down to three.
2. Ask other people: “What’s my special sauce? If you had to be a reference for me, what would you say?” Take notes of the answers you get.
3. Make a list of at least five successful professionals that you follow and respect. Spend some time examining them. How are they alike? How are they different? What about their character intrigues you? Often what we admire is what we aspire to be. Pat Flynn, Rand Fishkin, Warren Buffet, Yves Béhar, Richard Branson, Seth Godin. I like these professionals because they think outside the box, and are intelligent, creative, irreverent, and honest connectors of ideas and people.
4. Ask yourself: “What makes me different?” What do you do or what will you do that sets you apart? You know the whole snowflake talk we got as kids. Well there’s some truth to that. Don’t blend in. Hone in on your uniqueness. It may be your actual job function like “social media scientist,” or it could be something broader like “connector of people.”
5. Answer the question: “Who is the most important audience that my brand needs to speak to?” All the content you create and everything you say in the public domain will be discoverable online. By identifying and communicating with your most important audience, you’ll avoid any chance of personal brand misalignment with your larger goals. In fact, you’ll make sure your personal brand represents the values you and your audience hold.
6. Ask yourself: “How does this make me feel?” When searching for your authentic voice, you have to continually check in with yourself to make sure you can emotionally live with your intellectual decisions. It’s so much easier to be motivated if we’re true to ourselves. You don’t have to pretend to be anyone that you’re not. In fact, I would adamantly advise against faking it at all. Everyone will find out eventually.

37.5 million Americans plan to move this year, are you going to be one of them?

According to the latest American Express Spending & Saving Tracker, more Americans intend to find a new place to call home in 2014 – with 16 percent planning to move compared to 10 percent in 2012.

Among those looking to pull up stakes, buying has become more popular than renting, with more than 17 million people planning to purchase a house, condominium or co-op, versus 16 million who expect to rent their new residence.

Homebuyers might have to pay more to get what they want, however. Seller optimism is on pace to reach a four-year high, according to the researchers. The Tracker finds that 65 percent of potential home sellers are confident they will get their asking price, a 25 percent increase since 2010.

“All of the costs associated with moving can really add up, but more consumers are feeling confident that they can afford to put down new roots,” says David Rabkin, senior vice president of Consumer Lending Products for American Express. “With more people looking to purchase a home this year instead of rent, and with seller confidence on the rise, it will create an interesting push and pull as buyers and sellers negotiate.”

There appears to still be room for concessions. Of prospective sellers, 71 percent say they’re more willing to sweeten the deal – an increase from 60 percent in 2010.

So if you're a prospective buyer and are planning to move this year please visit my website at www.TourOfLuxuryHomes.com or at (407)-433-9699. I would love to help you find your dream home!