Creating Inspired Interior Design & Common Topics
Creating European Inspired Interior Design
If you’ve been following ACI for a while, you’ll know that here at ACI, focus on creating interiors that include around your story and life experiences. ACI incorporates your adventures, travels, and culture to create interiors that are tastefully elegant, eclectic yet sophisticated.
Today, ACI discuss a fun project completed that centered around traditional European luxury. In addition to honoring our client's style inspiration, ACI also added tasteful modern touches for a truly upscale design.
Influenced by the Greeks and Romans, an elegant and detailed fireplace would be the focal point of where the rest of the furniture and decor would be organized around. The scale of furniture is also larger in scale, with textured fabrics such as velvet and cotton.
European-inspired interiors bring life, character, and old-world style into the space. With so many different types of European themes, color combinations are virtually endless. The majority revolve around rich, pleasant, and deep-toned palettes. For example, traditional Tuscan colors, include deep red, olive green, dark brown, orange, and blue. With Mediterranean or Spanish decor, select warm tones of brown, taupe, burnt orange, deep peach, green, blue, yellow, and red. If you are looking for a more neutral palette, we suggest sticking to shades of brown, white, and beige and subtly adding a few bolder colors here and there in accessories for a nice pop.
In ACI Europe Project, ACI focus on a warm color palette, which contrasted beautifully with their white fireplace. Opting for darker pieces of wooden furniture found in the cabinet on the right and left coffee table provided that ornate, European flair. The lighter in wood tones you go, the more modern and Scandinavian your space will be.
European Project
Ways in which we added our signature updated ACI touch to this space was through these amazing gold wire armchairs. The juxtaposition made this living room feel so interesting, and our clients loved the contrast between traditional and modern. The sleek, straight lines of this chair also contrasted well with the other softer, upholstered curved lines found in the other pieces of furniture such as the beige sofa and grey armchairs.
Is European-inspired interiors a style you love and want to incorporate into your home? Being raised in Europe has shaped how Alisha Crabtree designs and has become one of our core philosophies, ACI believes that your worldly life experiences should be shown in your home.
ACI also loves to incorporate Moroccan and Indian styles as well, as the patterns and bountiful amounts of vibrant colors in these interiors are so stunning and bring new life into a space.
If you are interested in transforming your space that is inspired by the world, contact ACI today and schedule a consultation with us! ACI looks forward to hearing from you.
Design Tips for Empty Nester Interiors
While ACI caters to many different types of clients that come the way, a large majority of clientele are Empty Nesters. ACI timeless and sophisticated design breathes fresh, new life into your home. It’s no surprise that over the few years, ACI has been operating, Empty Nesters have naturally gravitated towards ACI design style and philosophy (which you can learn more about here.)
A bitter-sweet experience, your last child moves out of the nest and into the real world for the first time. You may have new spaces to transform or areas to enhance now that you’ll be experiencing a new lifestyle without children living under your roof. Now that it’s just you and your spouse, the fear of messes and damage is diminished and only opting for practical choices for the home is no longer necessary (say hello to fabrics other than Crypton!).
ACI wants to share a few of our tips to start this makeover. Let’s get into it, shall we?
Refinishing your hardwood floors & a fresh coat of paint goes a long way!
We all know that children can be rough on floors, from scratches to dents, and your floors go through a lot of wear over the years. Consider hiring a company to sand the floors and refinish them to make them look shiny and brand new. As an empty nester, you want your home to feel and look new again, another way to do this is by applying a coat of fresh paint on the walls. Consider going lighter if your home has darker walls, this will help to modernize, brighten and enlarge the space!
Declutter but don’t get rid of everything.
Of course, you want to keep everything from your child’s past, but do you really need every toy they grew up with? Time to make those hard choices of what you would like to keep or donate. Having your home back to yourself allows you to really think about what is necessary or not. Place non-essentials in organized storage solutions in either your basement, mudroom, or closet. However, keep in mind how much you put away, for children going to college, they will be back and you still want to keep the space feeling welcoming for when they return from school.
Stop being so practical!
Do you have an old massive sectional with performance fabric that needs to go? Furniture, like your floors, gets the most wear and tear in the home, hence why for the past 18 years, practicality and functionality have been your main focus. But now is the time to invest in some pieces that you’ve been eyeing and genuinely love. Choose the white sofa, replace ottomans with stylish side tables, and buy the luxuriously plush rug for your living room. Being an empty nester is about making choices that are about you and what you love!
Check out our condo transformation for a couple that moved to the city after becoming empty nesters here. By repurposing many of their belongings, we created a fresh, contemporary look for their condo. And just look at that beautiful white sofa we incorporated!
Make the game room your new hobby room or office.
A room that was once used for your child’s toys, then transitioned into a hangout spot as they got older can now be yours to reclaim. Converting the space into a place you’ve always wanted can also help ease the transition into the empty nester lifestyle. A few ideas include a library with a few chairs for reading, a home gym, or a home office (which most of us need nowadays!)
This period in life can be both a tricky and exciting time for some. The transition of certain titles to no longer having a busy household. Make this time easier by transforming your space into one that serves you best. One that is still filled with your life experiences but professionally curated in a way that shows your personality and story.
Are you an empty nester looking to update your space? Schedule a consultation with us today, we look forward to speaking with you!
How to Create a Serene Bedroom Experience
Creating a bedroom that is calming and relaxing is key for resting and restoring after a long or hectic day. Your bedroom should be a place where you feel at peace and comforted. Most rooms in the home, like your kitchen, living room, and dining room are full of action and busy with your family and friends, but your bedroom should be a serene getaway from the hustle and bustle. Follow the tips that we’ll be sharing with you today to create a serene bedroom experience that will help restore your energies.
Begin with Creating a Luxurious Bed
The first and most important tip in this blog post is to invest in a good quality mattress that will give you proper support while you sleep, which will in turn assist in posture improvement and spine alignment. Studies have also shown that sleeping on a high-quality mattress helped to alleviate symptoms of stress in both men and women. If a new mattress is not an option, there are many mattress topper alternatives.
Next, move on to your bedding. From kinds of cotton such as Egyptian cotton, Pima/Supima, American Upland, and MicroCotton®, to weaves such as Flannel, Percale, Sateen, and other materials such as Tencel, Silk, and Linen. Choose the material that is right for you and your sleeping needs.
Include a warm throw blanket and a thick comforter and finish the look with shams and decorative accent pillows.
Include Calming & Neutral Colors
Cooler hues are a better choice in bedrooms because of their calming effect. Think blues, lilacs, shades of gray, and whites. Cooler colors promote rest, while warm tones can often be energizing and more likely to keep you up at night. If you are to go with a warmer color palette, try to keep it muted (stay away from colors like fuchsia or yellow!) and if you want to include a pop of color, keep it limited to one or two accent pillows.
In ACI California Condo Project, we repurposed our client's warm furniture and includes pops of blue in the pillows and rug for a nice contrast.
Keep it Minimal & Tidy
Declutter as much as you possibly can! This is an incredibly important step in creating a bedroom that you want to feel relaxed in, and having a mess or way too many “things” in the bedroom can make it look busy and disorganized. Keeping your bedroom clear of distractions will help you clear your mind at the end of a long day and promote a restful night's sleep. Remember that the “less is more” approach has never been more important than in the bedroom.
Proper Lighting
Adjustable lighting such as a table or floor lamps with soft, warm lighting is crucial. The ambiance is important in any part of the home, but in your bedroom especially as it can completely change the mood of the space. In addition to your overhead lighting, we recommend placing bedside lamps or wall sconces that are dimmable on both sides of your bed so that when it comes to winding down, the lighting matches your mood.
No Technology
When creating a serene oasis, avoid any technology such as TVs, computers, or even exercise equipment. Did you know that the production of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin can be suppressed due to the blue light that emits from your screen? This means that electronics used too close to bedtime can significantly change your circadian sleep rhythm. By removing electronics, or even better not looking at a screen 1-2 hours before bedtime, your connection to your natural biorhythms will be improved, thus promoting a more restful night's sleep.
Is your next interior project your bedroom? Do you need assistance in creating a serene and calming bedroom experience? Alisha Crabtree Interiors is an expert in transforming bedrooms into a place you can’t wait to be at the end of the day.
Let’s discuss your goals and wants for your home. Schedule a consultation with us and we look forward to speaking with you!
