The Basics to Outdoor Living Spaces

Modern outdoor living trends have evolved well beyond the basic charcoal grill paired with a patio table and chair set. Yesterdays backyard patio is now an extension to the modern home that creates an additional living space that can be enjoyed year-round, especially in warmer regions like Las Vegas. As such, it’s essential that its design combines beauty with function. More rustic themes are among the latest outdoor living trends which creates the perfect way to add southwestern design elements to enhance any space.

Water Features and Pools

Many southwestern outdoor living spaces include water features and pools that seamlessly blend with the overall design. I prefer to forgo chrome and endless straight lines, and instead opt for natural stone and organic shapes. I take a lot of inspiration from modern pool designs and water features that effortlessly incorporate recreational space with the natural landscape to create an oasis reflecting your distinctive artistic tastes. If your working with a limited space, consider a small plunge pool or above ground self-contained water features like those we feature in our showroom. Both the sign and sound of a water feature, regardless of it's size will transform your backyard space into an area that creates everyday enjoyment.

Outdoor Kitchens

Long-gone are the days of cooking and entertaining around small charcoal grills, card-tables and ice coolers. Modern outdoor kitchens have now extensions of the homes indoor kitchen, complete with all it's amenities and features. Must-haves for an outdoor kitchen include ample counter top space for prepping and serving food, a sink with running water, small refrigerator and/or wine cooler and a grill with burners and warming station. A wood-fire oven also can be custom-built to coordinate with your outdoor décor and is ideal for cooking everything from homemade pizzas to flatbreads – and even decadent desserts.

Furniture

Outfitting an outdoor living space with the perfect furniture is easy when following a décor theme. I tend to incorporate design elements that features iron frames in elegant yet simple shapes. Natural wood also works well with a rustic theme, whether used as framework for furniture or as accent pieces such as tables. An outside dining are requires ample seating for family and guests and should include a three-seat couch, chaise chairs, side tables and a coffee table for holding drinks. Creating a comfortable conversation area is key for any outdoor living space. Look for sturdy, weather-resistant fabrics and cushions that feel as plush as your indoor furniture, perfect for relaxing after a long day at work and an escape from your day indoors. I tend to add a pop of color with accent pillows, throws or an area rug that also adds a luxurious feel to any stone patio as well as add contrast to rustic earth tones.

Lighting

For a truly magnificent outdoor space, carry the theme throughout all elements, including the lighting. A combination of sconces, floor lamps and overhead lights will provide the right amount of illumination to create any mood, from family barbecue night to an elegant evening for two. Depending on space and desire, a natural stone fire pit with lava rocks can add charm and warmth. Encircle it with comfortable chairs that coordinate with the other furniture to complete the look.

Landscaping

I feel that lush plants are essential components of any outdoor living space. They should include plants that thrive naturally in your region and that offer visual excitement while complementing the overall design theme. Potted plants and trees, work great on patios and even can be arranged to offer some shade as needed. A vertical garden placed on a dividing wall not only looks beautiful but it can provide fresh herbs for your favorite meals.

Combine these basic elements to your outdoor living space and you'll create the ideal getaway right on your own property.

Texture in Interior Design

If your like me, I can walk into a room, look around and instantly know that something is missing. All the components of design are there such as color, furniture, and accessory items, but the entire room just feels a little flat. What's missing? Texture!

For what ever reason, texture seems to sometimes be an afterthought when it comes to interiors and yet its the thing that makes a room pop. It’s what brings a perfectly fine design up to enviable levels. Here are my thoughts and ideas on texture.

What is “Texture”?

It is often defined as, “the sensations caused by the external surface of objects received through the sense of touch”, which translates into how things feel. Think about texture as running your hand along a rough wooden tabletop, soft carpet between your toes, or sinking down into leather couch.

But as an interior designer, I can tell you that you don’t need to have physical contact with a room to feel the power of texture. Although it may only play a supporting role to the function of the space, it is no less vital to a design’s success.

Texture Adds Visual Weight

If you have visited Furniture Market or have read design magazines, you’ve heard the term “Visual Weight” mentioned often. What that means is that an object or space has the ability to draw attention to itself.

We use warm or cool colors to effect how a space feels. Texture works in a similar way. Rough textures are more likely to make a space feel intimate and grounded while smooth textures bring a sleeker more aloof tone to the room. Where these textures are placed in the room is an important to what textures are selected. Putting a smooth texture directly next to a rough one while make the rough object stand out more and seem weightier than if you space them apart.

Texture Creates Balance

I've said it before and I'll say it again, contrast is essential when it comes to design because it keeps things balanced and provides visual interest. For example, if everything is too similar, our eyes have trouble focusing and tend to glaze over. The use texture makes sure your most important elements pop.

The secret to getting right is 'restraint'! Don't go crazy, just try and stick to two or three distinct textures in any single space. Choose three when you want people to take in the space as a whole and stick to two when you want to emphasize a prominent focal point.

Texture is particularly important if you’re working within a particular color palette where the shades are very similar. If using a monochromatic or analogous color scheme, make sure you choose items that heavily contrast with one another. When they come together, they will bring a sense of harmony to the space.

Texture in the Home

The use of texture is well and good, but it only goes so far if you don’t know how to effectively bring it into your home. Here are the rules I use when adding texture to a room:

• Architectural Elements: If you have crown molding, chair rails, or tray ceilings in your home, make them a focal point.

• Furniture: Wooden benches, satin reading chairs, and marble tabletops all bring a distinct feel to the space.

• Decor Items: I often use shadow boxes, accessories, table lamps, knick-knacks and even flowers at time.

• Floor and Wall Coverings: A carefully placed throw rug or even some patterned wall design will bring tons of depth to the room.

• Textiles: Use cloths like slip covers, throw pillows, and even blankets to make the room pop.

Something to remember is you are using when choosing Texture vs. Pattern. These two things are usually talked about together, but they are two distinct and necessary components of design. Pattern refers to a visual print while texture is about how something feels. Make sure you incorporate both into your interiors instead of choosing one over the other.

Whether it be a throw rug to warm up your bedroom room or a wooden coffee table to bring life to your living space, the importance of texture is clear. Texture is the component that helps elevate your interiors to the next level and makes it feel fit for a magazine.

Leather VS Fabric

At Furniture Market, most of our seating pieces can be custom built in either leather or fabric coverings, which sometimes results in us be asked 'which is better?' There is really no right or wrong answer as it really depends on the purchasers needs and style. But with so many options to choose from, picking one can get really confusing!  I thought I would put an end to the covering dilemma by highlighting the benefits and disadvantages of both materials.

Comfort

There are many factors that determine the comfort of furniture. The type of textile and the support system, such as cushions and frames play a huge role. In this case, the fabric pieces can be more comfortable than their leather counterparts for several reasons. Like your car seat, leather absorbs heat faster than fabric. The same is with leather furniture, it will feel warm after sitting on it for a while. Leather furniture however, are firmer than the fabric ones.

Maintenance

Depending on the quality of the material, fabrics have different lifespans in terms of wear and tear. All our brands feature very high quality materials which will hold-up and retain their new appearance for a very long time. Many of them come with a stain-resistant finishes that makes it easy to wipe off any unfortunate stains. Fabric cleaning products are widely offered and affordable, and can simply take care of spills with a handled steam cleaner or with a sponge and soap. But if the fabric is not of a premium quality, removing stains can prove difficult. In this case leather might be a better solution, seeing that they are very easy to clean, mostly requiring only light dusting and vacuuming. But leather is more vulnerable to scratches and humidity than the fabric pieces, which makes them not-so pet friendly if you have furry little family member who likes to sit on the sofa.

Color Durability

Both materials offer a wide variety of color and texture options, and fabrics you'll have an unlimited selection of tones and pattern choices that will fit any decor. Although it is not a concern at Furniture Market, fabric products of low quality tend to fade out very quickly in time, where as leather’s color palette is more lasting.

Appearance

A leather sofa for example, with its sleek and classic appearance, adds certain elegance to the room. You can hardly achieve the same effect with fabrics. Fabric sofas are available in many hues and designs, and tend to add to a contemporary vibe to a home.

Health

Leather seating surfaces are hypoallergenic, which makes them appropriate for people with allergies. Unlike fabric, leather doesn’t accumulate dust mites, pet dander, and other allergens easily. Professional cleaning services can be costly and would need to be done on a regular basis for fabric coverings. Leather will save you effort, money and time.

So which should you pick?

Both materials have their benefits and disadvantages. At the end of the day, you need to decide what you value most – durability, comfort or appearance.

Tips For Setting Up Your Home Office

A home office is a good addition to every house, even for people whose workplace is outside their homes. You will appreciate this quiet and functional corner every time you need to revise your work, or to continue dealing with a project off-schedule.

The big question is: how to make a functional home office? It means you need a place which serves your needs, but looks pleasant and comfortable at the same time, and that’s not so easy to achieve.

Once you start planning how to setup a home office, you will face all possible challenges (from space and location to proper furnishing), just the way you did in all other rooms. In order to make the process painless, we’ve gathered a list of most important tips for setting up your home office:

Placement:

The first critical decision is placement. Even if you can afford to choose between various rooms, you need to make sure you’ve picked the right one to complement the productivity of your work.

We recommend a place that is very quiet, ideally far from your children’s playrooms or the living room. Outlets are an awesome idea because they will make your office accessible for clients to come over.

For people who are working like this full-time, the office is just as important as any other room in the house. They will be spending plenty of time inside, which is why they should devote it proper attention, rather than treating it as second-class accommodation.

The office will also preserve valuable materials and work information, and you have to keep it locked while you’re not using it. What you certainly don’t want is for your children to make paper planes with your annual reports.

Ergonomic offices:

Being aware of the hours you’re about to spend in your office (including the ones following ‘official’ working day), you mustn’t let comfort slip away from your attention.

Proper ergonomics will help you prevent usual physical problems, and stay safe from repetitive injuries such as posture, back pain, carpal tunnel syndromes, or eye fatigue.

The first thing you need to bring inside is a comfortable chair. Choose one that will not stiffen your body after few hours, and will let the back lean pleasantly and the feet rest solidly on the floor while seated. Armrests are also a great idea.

Remember that the chair has a decisive say on the consequences work could have on your body, so don’t hesitate to purchase the best one (skipping it will save you an arm-and-a-leg price, but buying it will save your entire body!).

The best ergonomic chairs are supposed to be padded, large, with a compulsory backrest and an adjustable height mechanism.

Proper lighting:

If possible, situate the office close to a source of rich natural light. Bright working spaces are the best in terms of productivity, which is why you have to do everything possible to let light come inside (enlarge the windows, remove the curtains, etc).

On the other hand, rooms that have limited or no access to daylight at all should be reinforced with strong overhead lights, desk or floor lamps that illuminate particular work areas.

The position of your computer screen is also important, and you have to turn it in a way that will prevent glares from occurring. Light has to be balanced all the time, because this is the only way to ensure you’re doing the best you can to preserve your sight and your health overall.

Professional organization:

Let’s make one point clear from now: A cluttered office is not a functional office! The place has to stay airy and clean all the time, and you must know where every object is stored so that you won’t lose precious time trying to find it.

Assuming that your workload doesn’t allow constant organization of files, you can dedicate 10 minutes after-work time to clean the office on a daily basis.

Storage is critical to every home office-you need to keep the place well-organized, packed with drawer cabinets or large shelves to help you accommodate and display all important files.

Still, there are those among us who love their chaos, and that makes even shelves behind doors sound like excellent ideas.

Stay stylish:

Full-time home workers know exactly how important their office’s style is: they use it over 40 hours per week, which basically means they are in the office much more often than any other room back home.

This makes the office a top personalization priority, and should motivate you to make it beautiful, entertaining, and inspiring.

Obviously, décor can go all the way from repurposing old pieces to buying expensive sets of modern ones, it all depends on your budget. The truth is that you don’t have to spend top dollars in order to make it beautiful: chevron wallpapers and mid-century antiques are not compulsory!

In order to make a decision, think of the things that inspire you the most. If its books, get a cute bookcase and paint it the way you deem suitable.

If you’re a movie fan, purchase a collection of avant-garde posters and hang them in modern white frames. If your passion is to work in a ‘coastal’ environment decorate with shells and beige cushions with sandy textures. See? Everything goes! You just have to keep it personal!

Don’t forget greenery:

There is no cheaper solution to keep brain cells steady than bringing plants inside your office. Greenery refreshes the air with more oxygen, and it makes people relaxed and happy by only looking at it. If you think you have no time to take care of plants, you can choose such that require little attention to look marvelous and fresh.

Dedicate a phone line to your business:

Yes, you’re working at home and that’s awesome because you don’t have to worry about dealing with huge teams, traffic jams, or break schedules.

However, having an office at home means you’re sharing your workspace with the entire family, and that involves busy phone lines, slow connections, or even serious distractions that can’t wait.

While you’ll certainly struggle to make children understand you have no time to play, there is one thing you can actually do to make life easier-you can install a legitimate business line.

Doing this will do miracles for your work: you won’t be afraid that somebody is occupying the line while you’re waiting for an important call, and you’ll inspire clients to trust you which is not that probable with a normal home line.

No one will have access to your voice mail, and customers will never be confused as to why they had to arrange an appointment with your five-year old son. If this is not an option to make your business credible, we recommend a cell phone or an internet-based one (VoIP).

Comfort matters: 

That’s true; you need an office to work, rather than to relax. But did it cross your mind that you need a place to read, or simply to lean on while taking a break?

This is why every office can make use of comfy chairs, especially those with feet ottomans and cute coffee tables nearby. Colorful throws and rich-pattern pillows are great to enhance creativity, and you will certainly look forward to every second you have available to use them.

Being surrounded by colors will definitely help you think and come up with innovative solutions-don’t you think that best ideas come when they’re least expected? Make your office comfy and give this theory a try!

Functionality is your main concern:

Let the office be what it actually is: an office! The same way people with insomnia are recommended to avoid bedrooms when not sleeping, you’re advised to use the home office to work and nothing other than that.

Define the place properly, and it will function: even a small desk in the kitchen can be a lovely office if you are not disturbed while working.

All it takes is to choose a corner and to repurpose it with nothing but a tall bookcase or a file cabinet that will help you to stay focused on your work.

Another thing to be taken into account is getting rid of clutter. Most people are not aware of the negative effect cluttered desks have on their productivity.

Therefore, keep it clean: remove all unnecessary papers, pencils, chargers, and candy wrappers; and start all over again. Keep the place properly lighted, because this can also sharpen your focus and effectiveness.