Get Light Right

Oh, lamps. If there's one design mistake I see homeowners make over and over again, it's that they skimp on lighting--both on quantity and quality. If everything in your room seems right, but the overall effect is still dull, you probably need more light to see those beautiful things you love.

To inspire you, I've rounded up lamps from some of my favorite sources. Check 'em out!

Stilt lamps, you're so leggy and modern! These beauties come from Mod Livin' in Denver, one of my favorite places to find mid-century lamps. (Remember you can infuse a little unexpected beauty in your home with mid-century accessories, no matter if your overall style is traditional or contemporary, or anything in between. Those modern clean lines are good matches for almost any room!)

Eye-catching, right? This Cactus Table Lamp is also from Mod Livin.' (They ship, friends across the country, so you can get yours, too.) Even when this lamp is turned off, it's a piece of beauty. Art meets light!

If you're looking for something a little more traditional, but still flirty, check out these curvy lamps from Arhaus. I love the feminine shape and the neutral color!

If you don't know about 1stdibs, well, I'm sorry to introduce you--because you can easily lose hours of your day searching the site's fantastic inventory of things that make a design-lover swoon. Case in point: these mid-century Danish restored table lamps, which make me happy.

1stdibs strikes again! These mid-century ceramic lamps with a herringbone pattern would be excellent statement pieces in a small living room. I see them in an elegant, textural space--or in a loft with lots of exposed brick and earthy colors. Let's just agree that the possibilities are abundant.

And we can agree that mid-century modern isn't the only design era worth mentioning. These Art Deco glazed ceramic skyscraper lamps are SO good-looking, a little bit of handsome glam for your home. 

The French know about good things: cheese, wine, chocolate, and design. These lamps, found in France, show off ironwork that just makes me want to stare at them. It's always fun to add a surprising shape to your home, something that inverts the norm. 

So go on and add a little light--and a lot of style--to your home. 

Get Cozy: Master Bedroom Redo

People often ask designers where to start when they're remodeling or redesigning a room. Sometimes I use a piece of art or a fabric that a client loves, but in the case of this master bedroom, we started with the soft powder blue walls. Blue tends to be a calming color, so a bedroom is the perfect place to use it!

With the help of a local upholsterer, we selected a classic shape for the headboard and then had it covered in two fabrics from Calvin, one for the main body and one for the contrast piping. (TIP: Contrast piping is a great way to add a little interest and tailoring to an upholstered piece. I love it!) 

Custom pieces are the perfect way to get exactly what you want (and they're not as expensive as you might assume). But the challenge is that you and your designer have to decide all of the details. In this case, we thought long and hard about how high to make the headboard. We had plenty of ceiling height and could do just about anything we wanted. The headboard is 66 inches from the floor, a little higher than I normally do them, to move your eye up the bed and be a little more dramatic!

We found great-looking sidetables from Restoration Hardware that followed the classic look, and polished it off with clean ivory-glazed lamps from Visual Comfort. The clients found the rug on a trip to Santa Fe--it was the perfect piece to the design puzzle!

BEFORE: BOR-ing!

AFTER!!!