1. Geometric patterns; Say goodbye to soft, gentle curves—funky geometric patterns will rule the roost in 2017. Embrace your memories of high school math with geometric throw pillows, wallpaper, and quirky planters. Large, mod geometric designs made an appearance in 2016 and will be a front-runner in 2017.

Scared this fun new style will feel out of place in your old-school home? Don’t be.

Don’t feel like your home needs to have all modern design to add geometric patterns. Geometrics even have a place in an industrial farmhouse–style home.

2. Jewel tones: Last year welcomed the bold return of art deco–inspired designs, and with them come luxurious jewel tones. Indulge your regal side with rich emerald chairs, bright sapphire walls, and amethyst accents.

These colors offer depth and a richness that will make space feel cozy, yet luxurious. Pair the designs with neutral, minimal wall colors for a toned-down take on the trend, or go wild and slather your entire living space in vivid color.

3.  Tropical influences: It’s the year of the “jungalow.” Your new, jewel-toned walls will look fabulous alongside lush tropical plants: spider plants, Dracaena, and beautiful ferns.

Cursed with the blackest of thumbs? You can still embrace the tropical trend, which mixes printed and embellished textiles ranging from novelty fruits to animal print to palm fronds. Add accents in bright yellows, deep greens, and earthy oranges and reds to bring this creative look home.

4.  Wood accents: We’re moving away from metal and back to an earthier feel. Wood accents will be everywhere in 2017.

No, we’re not talking about wood paneling (although that’s sneaking its way back, too). Look for modern wood clocks, sculptures, trays, and furniture that pair perfectly with today’s streamlined aesthetic. And yes, a lot of that wood will be reclaimed—so we can keep our wonderful forests.

5. Black stainless steel: Remodeling your kitchen in 2017? Now’s your chance to get ahead of a trend. Stainless-steel appliances have ruled the kitchen for years now. And why not? They’re sleek, easy to clean, and pretty. But it’s time for a change.

Black stainless steel is sleek, modern, and sophisticated. And even better: it’s not in all of your friends’ kitchens. Brushed stainless steel had its time, and now people are looking for a subtle change.

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When it comes to designing your home, it stands to reason that every choice you make has an element of fashion involved in the selection. After all, you are hardly likely to buy a piece of furniture that doesn’t fit your aesthetic taste.

Lighting

The light in a room is perhaps one of the most important decisions you will ever make, regarding the design of your home. Each room will have different requirements, depending on its use, but just as importantly as the ambiance and style, you want to give for the place. In normal circumstances, you would expect the bathroom and the kitchen to require the brightest listing conditions, with the living room allowing a greater choice.

You could, for instance, go for a bright light which hangs from the ceiling, but if you wanted to change the style or ambiance of the room, you could maybe choose some freestanding up lights or install dimmers. Let’s face it every light is functional, but you can certainly make some fashion statements and style choices by carefully selecting your lighting options.

Shelving and Storage– There are a lot of different types and styles of a shelf and storage pieces, from freestanding to wall types. Shelves and storage pieces can make a fashion statement on their own, while apparently adding a significant amount of functionality in the process. Original and innovatively designed pieces can be fashionable and very functional.

Heating Choices – Perhaps the biggest choice you can make when it comes to fashion and function in your home is the heating systems. There are some simply stunning electrical fire places available on the market today. These can provide a beautiful romantic ambiance as well as generating heat for your living room. Even radiators offer you plenty of choices as there are many freestanding radiators in every design or shape you could want. By putting some thought into your decisions you and your designer can make some fashion statements even with something as functional as a heating system.

Color Choices – Color is always an essential ingredient of a fashion choice, but that doesn’t mean that it cannot have a bearing on function. Many people like to make their kitchen a bright yellow color to get them motivated and feeling great first thing in the morning. Soft greens and blues are comforting, and invite quiet time in a bedroom.

Red has been shown to have a large effect on people’s emotions, and so it would be a good idea to make use of it as an accent wall, instead of painting and entire room red.

The Kitchen – Perhaps the best way to demonstrate that function can be fashionable is in the kitchen. As fashion has changed and developed over the years, so have the designs of kitchens. They have incorporated lots of storage while adding innovation and design in the process. When a party takes place in a home, most people seem to congregate in or around the kitchen, and so the choices you make for your kitchen style will be seen by everyone. The right selection of a kitchen will demonstrate your personal style and taste while providing storage and efficiency within the kitchen.

As you can see, fashion can certainly be functional and vice versa. As with anything regarding fashion you need to decide on and plan your individual rooms and how they from one to the other. Provided you do things right you can have the best of both worlds, a fully functional home, at the height of fashion.

Need help with this? Contact Refind Interiors.

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Encourage Natural Light To Become A Regular Visitor

For all of our technological advancements, there is nothing as beautiful as pure natural light. Any designer will always tell you that the more natural light that enters your home, the nicer the ambiance will be. Think about your curtains, ensure they cover as little of your windows as possible, don’t place furniture in front of windows to block out the light, and if privacy is an issue, consider the use of sheer or translucent window treatments, which will let in the majority of the light while providing the privacy you require.

Let In Fresh Air

I love to be wrapped up indoors and watch the rain falling, to embrace the smells of nature, and enjoy my sense of smell. Have you ever walked into a stuffy room, that hasn’t benefited from fresh air in a few days? Throw your windows open; the fresh air will be in most cases, smell beautiful and will brighten up your mood and leave you feeling fresh and energetic once again.

Embrace The Colors Of Nature In Your Decorating Choices

When most people hear this, they immediately think of earthy brown colors, but nature is so much more than that. A great blue can replicate the sky, a pleasant yellow in the kitchen can remind you of a warm sunny day, and of course, green is the color of recycling and rejuvenation. Paired with the right natural and ambient light, a crisp white room with appropriate naturally contrasting colors can produce great reactions from visitors.

Make Use Of Natural Materials

One of the best-kept secrets of interior design is that sometimes the little additions can make the biggest differences. With careful thought, a lot can be achieved with a small budget. A glass bottle filled with sand, for instance, is not high in cost, but can look beautiful, and a large seashell from the beach never goes out of fashion.

Use Natural Wood For Flooring Rather Than Man Made Alternatives

Perhaps this is an obvious suggestion, but one that can be overlooked for that very reason. Natural wood flooring looks, and feels fantastic, and if your aim is to bring the outdoors in, then this is the perfect solution.

As you can see, there are numerous ways to bring the outside in, varying in cost from free to however much you want to spend. With a little bit of thought and planning, it is relatively easy to bring the outdoors into your home. We offer a wide variety of service,s which can be seen here, that can help you achieve any look and design that you desire. Call (773) 348-7796 for a complementary consultation and find out how we can transform your living space.

The post Bringing The Outdoors In – How To Design Mother Nature Into Your Home appeared first on Refind Interiors.

At first this task may seem too much to handle. But with the help of an interior designer, you can find your voice and get your home aligned with your personality. While your kids may play in every room of your home, it’s important to have rooms that feel adult too. Easier said than done! That’s a great reason why an outside, objective point of view can be helpful. A few simple steps such as decluttering and organizing can make a huge difference. Then think about how certain paint colors make you feel –  if a relaxed, slouchy couch fits your mood more than a sleek, modern one – or if a patterned rug distracts more than it adds.

Just remember, spring cleaning doesn’t have to mean just dishes and dust – it can also be about refreshing your house to feel like your home.

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Some of you might be thinking…well, what IS my style? You might know what you like when you see it but you aren’t sure how to define it. To find your style (or maybe to just better define it), and how it can be brought out in your home, it’s always helpful to do some research. My suggestions:

• Look through magazines and cut out pictures of rooms, furniture, finishings and materials that catch your eye.
• Experiment with color. Go to your local home improvement store and pick up paint swatches that you like. Take them home and think about how much you like each one, which ones would work best in your space and how different colors might make you feel.
• Go window shopping. Visit some of your favorite home stores and make note of things you like. Make sketches of these items when you get home.
• Look at the things you already have, even items that aren’t part of a room, like your clothes, your jewelry, a favorite, bowl, etc. What do these items say about you? How could you create a room based on one of these items as inspiration?
• Start a folder of all of the things you have collected and use it as inspiration. With all of the things you love in one place your style will be right at your fingertips! This is a great time to work with a design consultant – they can help guide you on how to turn your home into a reflection of your stylish self!

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Just as the baby boomers are getting older and the millennials are getting techier, our homes are facing the renovation generation! For many of us, we purchased our homes over a decade ago. Time has passed quickly and right before our eyes, our used-to-be brand new homes are in desperate need of a face lift. While the structure is still fit, the cosmetics need some work.

The two rooms that see the most traffic in your home are most likely your kitchen and your bathroom. That is why it is so important to keep those spaces up-to-date and fresh. However, if that isn’t enough reason, it is a well known fact that updating your kitchen and bath will bring you the highest rate of return for your decorating dollar.

If your home is relatively new, say the past 8 to 10 years, then you may only have some minor updates to make. These improvements could include new appliances, new cabinet hardware or perhaps a new backsplash. But if your home is over 10 years old and had relatively few updates, an overhaul may be necessary.

The single biggest improvement you can make in a kitchen or bath is the addition of a new window or door. Natural light and an open floor plan are on everyone’s wish list. Also consider new countertops and cabinets. Textures and materials that look expensive usually are expensive. However, a consultation with an interior designer or other design professional can inform you of various options that can provide that custom look at a reasonable price.

Don’t forget about lighting! The use of light is one of the most dramatic yet underused tricks up a homeowner’s sleeve. Lighting can provide the illusion of space where there is none, or serve to highlight noteworthy places in your home.

No matter what age you are, if you find yourself in the renovation generation, it’s time to give your home the attention it deserves.

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• A Place for Everything – We talked about decluttering in the last blog. This is particularly important in a small space; everything in the room needs to be something that you enjoy and should also be functional. Every item that comes into your home should have its place. Install organization systems that will make it easy to keep it this way.
• Keep It Simple – Keep the décor and furnishings simple. A streamlined, organized room can create the illusion of having more space. Choose items that serve more than one purpose such as ottomans that double as storage or a couch that also serves as a bed for guests.
• Reflect – Using mirrors can give the illusion of more space. This works especially well if you have a beautiful view that you would like to reflect – just set the mirrors up on the wall opposite.
• Lighten Things Up – A room that is well-lit looks larger. Minimize the window coverings to let more light in. Look into lighting options to determine which would best brighten the room. Also, clean any windows often so that more light comes in and your view is not blocked.
• Take A Chance – Don’t be afraid to use large, significant art pieces and bold color – they can make more of an impact. A bold color on the wall or a large, beautiful piece of art delivers the “WOW” factor, and can make your small space “spacious”!
• Appreciate -Look at your small space for what it is. A cozy, organized space where you have everything you need without all of the added clutter and maintenance that you may get with a larger space!

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• Start by honestly analyzing every item in one room of your house. Do you use it? Is it meaningful? Does it reflect the style you want for the room?
• Separate all of the room’s contents into 3 categories – Yes (everything you want to keep in the room), No (everything you want to give away, throw away or sell), and Maybe (everything you may want to keep in the room or may want to use elsewhere in your home)
• Once you have analyzed everything in the room (or in the house!), its time to remove all of the items in the “No” category. This is where you might make some cash (that you can use to decorate your newly de-cluttered room or house!). Sell the items at a garage sale, through a classified ad or online. You could also choose to donate them to a charity (which is a tax deduction) or recycle them!
• Carefully bring items from the “Yes” category back into the room. You may realize that some items that you already have elsewhere in your home would work better in this space. In the new, organized space, some of the things you already have may take on new meaning, and look better than they did before.
• Now that your space is free of clutter it will be it be easier to evaluate. This is the perfect time to consider color, scale and lighting. Having a clean space will enable you to make better decisions, experiment with paint, furnishings and accessories. And, of course, it is a great time to decide what improvements you would still like to make and set your budget accordingly.
• Finally, the most important part of de-cluttering? Keeping it up! Be very judicious about what you bring into your home – make sure that everything is something that would fall into the “Yes” category.

The post De-cluttering appeared first on Refind Interiors.

While you might know it when you see it, transitional style is hard to pin down because it’s all about the mix. Let’s take a closer look at one example, a living room from a recently completed Refind Interiors project.

This apartment is situated in a vintage Chicago high rise along the city’s lakefront, where the owner was looking for a tailored, warm environment. He also asked that I incorporate family heirlooms into a simple aesthetic.

Here’s how we did it:

• We used furnishings, fabric, and finishes that are both contemporary and traditional throughout. No one element in any room is either one or the other. For example,the window is dressed with a tailored mohair cornice, a traditionally patterned silk drape and soft–but still masculine–neutral sheers.
• We mixed objects from different places, times and textures. In the corner, an antique lamp sits on a new dark wood table with clean lines next to a contemporary sofa in soft silk and chenille–all atop a lively, patterned Persian rug.
• Complementary tones like cool silver and blue and unite the details throughout. The quieter tones in the fabrics, wainscoting and molding, and on the home’s vintage radiator come alive with contrasting dark herringbone-patterned hardwood floors and the bold cornice.

The bottom line: to achieve a transitional look, remember that there is no one rule to follow. Just keep mixing up the items and looks you love!

The post Design Series: Transitional Design appeared first on Refind Interiors.