Family Room

This is a family room that I recently completed for a family of four who desired a cool, calming effect but very comfortable and low maintenace. Certainly you don’t think white when you think low maintenace, but my clients loved a monochromatic palette of whites, soft grays, greens and blues and wanted to use that palette throughout their home. We used a pair of slipcovered sofas from Pottery Barn as the main seating. Slipcovers give them the option of cleaning the sofas for those inevitable spills. We also fabricated custom pillows with hidden zippers on the covers that can be removed for easy cleaning. We anchored the room with an existing dark wool area rug that can take heavy traffic. We considered bringing in a new area rug in softer, cooler colors, but since budget was a concern, we had to make this one work. By focusing on the blues and whites in the area rug, it worked very well with the rest of the room.

My clients loved the look of living rooms seen in shelter magazines, but did not want to spend alot of money to achieve that same look. They had a collection of folk art and religious sculptures from artists in their home country of Venezuela that they wanted to use instead of purchasing all new accessories. All these pieces were arranged in the built-in shelves and the tables in the room. These pieces were all colorful reds, blues, golds and greens that didn’t exactly work with our palette, and couldn’t be altered in any way, but to me what was more important was making their home about them and the things they love, and not necessarily trying to match a certain color palette. Sometimes we have to bend the design rules for everyday living  My clients were very happy with the results. Here is another view of the family room

Family Room

Family Room

Good design does not have to break the bank. There are tons of creative ways to achieve affordable luxury in your home. Here are a few ideas that I like to recommend:

• Repurpose the furniture you already have or change the look to suit your personality. Example – Painting a dresser using a metallic paint, reupholstering a chair in a beautiful, rich looking fabric, or adding moldings or other architectural details to a room, adding decorative panels to furniture pieces. O’Verlays Decorative Fretwork Panels is a great resource for taking a plain piece of furniture and make it look spectacular!
• Painting a room or creating one accent wall in a darker shade or even using wallpaper. Doing a decorative wall treatment such as horizontal stripes or a faux finish, goes a long way to making a room look luxurious. Paint is your best friend when it comes to decorating
• Arrange your accessories in new ways, especially seasonally. Adding a few items with some bling (do people still say that? ) gives the illusion that they cost a bit more than they do. Do this sparingly and complement them with pieces that have visual texture, because you don’t want to end up with an 80′s Las Vegas lounge
• The process of layering your rooms is what make them “sing”. It’s very much like getting dressed for a nice evening out. You start with a basic little black dress, and then layer on your jewelry, makeup, clutch etc. Same process with a room.
• The use of color sets the mood and tone in a room, with paint having the biggest impact! There are so many other ways to bring color in for a luxurious look. I usually recommend keeping the big ticket items in a room neutral and add color through pillows and accessories, but if you have a favorite color that you’ve loved for years, why not go bold with a certain piece. For example orange is my favorite color and I would totally add an orange sofa in a room. How you use color is what makes the difference between affordable luxury and cheap & tacky
• This is a big one that seems pretty obvious but most people don’t do – Re-arrange your furniture…. and frequently (maybe even seasonally). Moving furniture away from walls helps to make a room feel more intimate and create conversation areas. It’s amazing how different a room can look with a new furniture layout.
• Shopping at flea markets, garage sales and estate sales is another great way to bring luxury in without breaking the bank. This is where your rose-colored glasses will come in handy. You will sometimes have to look past yucky finishes and beat up appearances, and see the potential for a diamond in the rough.
• Look through shelter magazines and other publications for current trends in interior design. You will often find that the high-end fabrics and furnishings that are usually featured on their pages have knock-offs that look alot like the originals. Knock-offs aren’t really a bad thing if you can get the look of luxury far more affordably.

Everyone deserves a little bit of luxury every now and then in their lives. Why not make your home that dream space that you’ve always wanted. A few simple creative touches often does the trick. If all else fails, call on Casa Vilora Interiors to help you achieve affordable luxury in your home. It doesn’t matter if you aren’t local to the Houston area, our Mail Order Decorator service is available and may be just what you need – a professionally designed room that you can put together at your own pace and as budget allows. Often times, you just need a plan to get started! If you are local to the Houston area, you can take advantage of our HappyNest One Day Makeover…..because we all love instant gratification.

Please feel free to connect with me here and contact me here

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…….And before I wrap up for today, please support small businesses in your community on Small Business Saturday (November 30). Small businesses are the heartbeat of our communities. Here’s the link to my e-commerce site where you can purchase great items for your home.

…….And for the first time, I am participating in a couple of  Bloggy Parties. I’ve always wanted to be a part of this community of creative minds who understand what it is to be passionate about decorating and design. Feel free to go check them out and subscribe to their blogs as well as mine so you never miss out on some great decorating tips, ideas and how-to’s.

First up, one of my favorite Blogs Serenity Now! This will be such fun!

……And The Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home Blog

……And Be Inspired @ Common Ground Blog
Have a Marvelous Monday!

Be Inspired!

I remember when I first met this client (Mary) in an interior design showroom that I worked for back then. Her sister Karen had actually come into the showroom with her Decorator to purchase accents for her own home. I remembered that we completely hit it off and built a really great rapport and had a wonderful conversation about her home and her family. She returned maybe a week later without her Decorator and purchased a few more items from me and told me the story about her older sister Mary

Mary had recently lost her husband and was very depressed and not herself. Karen had been encouraging her to do something nice for herself like a nice change in her surroundings to lift her spirits a bit. She had even gotten her a dog to keep her company. This is a lady who clearly would do anything to help her sister in a very difficult time. It was obvious that she also wanted to find the right Decorator for the job.

After meeting Mary in the showroom briefly, I made the long two hour trip to her home to see the space first hand. I remember that we sat down to talk about her decorating needs, and not long after that we were sharing stories about our husbands. It’s the first and only design consultation where I literally cried – right there in front of the client. I had lost my husband a couple of years before, so I could completely relate to her story. We both had a good cry.

Mary was a very successful business woman and very well off, but she lived a very simple life. In fact, she occupied just a small garage apartment, and the main house was occupied by other family members. Her very small wish list was:

• Lots of pink
• A place for her doggie
• All new stuff
• A place to sit with a good book
• Total darkness for when she sleeps in

So I got to work creating a well-deserved retreat for her

Her style was very traditional, as you can see from all the furnishings and fabrics. Here are some other views of the room

Bathroom Window Treatment

Tub Treatment

Here are the before shots

Before 1

Before 2

All the window treatments and bedding were custom made, as well as the upholstery. There is even a custom doggie bed for her dog Tiffany that hadn’t yet arrived at the time these pictures were taken.

I remember how excited both Mary an Karen were with the finished room. It was one of the projects that really warmed my heart. It was so clear to see how beautifying your surroundings can have a positive impact on your well being. Interior design is more than making rooms beautiful – It is enhancing people’s lives, creating comfort in their homes and helping clients live the best they can. People hesitate to spend money on interior design thinking it is a luxury or unnecessary, but it is one of the best investments you can make for your family’s well being and your home’s value.

I have since done a few more projects for these wonderful ladies and have gotten referrals from them as well. I think Mary went back to living life to the fullest. In fact I ran into them at Heathrow Airport in London a couple of years ago. They were on their way to Switzerland! Talk about back to living life! Really one to remember!

What decorating projects have you been putting off that could be very beneficial to your quality of life? Even a mini makeover can do wonders!

Contact me if you need decorating direction. I am here to help!

Please comment and share

Have a terrific Throw Back Thursday!

Be Inspired!

Go Ahead, have a good laugh at my expense. I think I was 19 years old. What was I thinking with this outfit?!

Let’s do the TGIF happy dance!!

I am really happy this hectic week is coming to an end. I can put my feet up at least for the weekend until reality hits again on Monday. Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do, but relaxing is great too!

Ok, so here’s another snippet of a room I completed last year.

This room is actually a very large library, that is jam packed with books. My client loves books and has them proudly displayed in wall to wall bookshelves throughout the room. This is a really close knit family, and they all hang out in this room, although they have several other family areas in the home (let’s see, there’s mom and dad, 4 at home, one on the way, one in college and two grown up and on their own….I think I’ve got everyone covered )

This is the same family I have worked with on multiple projects. When it came time to do this room, their requirements were:

1. A seating area (she was thinking just two chairs)
2. Keep all the books!

When styling bookshelves I like to mix books with other objects, but in this instance, I kept the books exactly the way they were in the room….because they do get used.

I completed the seating area with a small library table with wrought iron detail, custom chaise lounge, custom upholstered occasional chairs (notice the fabulous two toned fabrics?), a custom upholstered ottoman that doubles as a cocktail table and on the other side of the room, a round table and 4 cube ottomans where the kids can do their artwork and play board games. Of course, no room is complete without some pillows and accessories. My clients already owned the area rug, so that dictated our color scheme. I custom designed and had the gorgeous red silk draperies fabricated (notice the wonderful greek key trim detail?) Just amazing!

Custom Silk Drapery Panels With Inverted Box Pleat Valance And Greek Key Trim Detail

Here’s a close up shot of the greek key trim detail

Here are some other views of the room.

Notice the beautiful cut velvet fabric on the backside of the chairs and the rich and luxurious chenille on the front of the chairs. My clients love these custom touches, and I love to give it to them.These fabrics were very high-end but also made to last.

And check out these fun ottomans for the kids. They are custom upholstered in a beautiful faux leather python print. Notice the greek key detail is repeated on the nailhead trim?…..yep, it’s all in the details

Ok I have to admit that I don’t have pictures of the full view of the room. Why? At the time of install, hubby wasn’t home to clean his desk and we didn’t want to touch anything that he might be working on  He is a doctor, so a life could depend on that decision

So from this large library, I created two wonderful seating areas where the whole family can hang out, plus a desk area that can accommodate two users, and of course tons of storage for the beautiful books. This library/family hang-out can now comfortably seat around 9 or 10 people! That is awesome!

If you need help getting multiple uses out of one space, whether small or large, feel free to contact me here

Wishing you all a fabulous Friday and a fantastic weekend!

Be Inspired!

Veronica Solomon

A Family Room Done Over 8 Years Ago

Hello All! Happy Throw Back Thursday! Well that would only make sense if you use Instagram. I do, and you can follow me here!

Throw Back Thursday or #TBT is an Instagram community hashtag where users post older pictures of themselves or something that’s dear to them – A blast from the past if you will.

Ok, so here’s my throw back aka blast from the past!  The room pictured above is a family room that I did over 8 years ago. This client is very near and dear to my heart…..well actually that client is ME

This is actually the family room in my current home (The 4300sf one that I am downsizing from, if you’ve been following my recent posts). Most of the furniture pieces here are from a previous smaller home I owned and I had to make them work in this home with wide open spaces and volumnous ceilings. Everything seemed so small in the room, so I got creative and brought in color! First I painted the room in a warm neutral from Behr Paints. I decided to use red as the accent color to cozy up and ground the space a bit. I brought in a beautiful large area rug and added pillows and accessories repeating the red throughout the space. The formal living room, formal dining, study, kitchen and breakfast room are all basically somewhat open to each other, so I repeated the red in smaller doses in the adjoining rooms.

Here is another view of the room

This picture was taken right after we moved in and alot changed in this room over the years…. a sleeker TV set for one, taller (20′) drapery panels, larger area rug and taller wing back occasional chairs. I was just starting out in my business, money was tight and I had to make do with what I had and be creative. For example, the drapery panels were actually oversized rectangular tablecloths that I simply hung unlined. You know I don’t like naked windows . I needed a larger area rug and so I saved up and purchased a beautiful oriental rug (not shown), that pulled together all the colors in the room.

I created this vignette to break up the long hallway from the foyer to the family room. I did that red accent wall myself using a Behr metallic paint.

As you can see, my style back then leaned heavily towards traditional. With all the trends I follow, design magazines I read, courses I take, market events, and showrooms that I visit frequently, my taste has definitely changed and developed over the years. You will get to see much of my new design aesthetic in future blogs and videos about the new home. Stay tuned for that.

Ok, that’s all I have for you today! It was great going through old photos and seeing just how my design style has developed over the years.

What about you? what is your throw back memory for today?

Please don’t forget to comment and share, and of course, if you need help with your decor, contact me here

Be Inspired!

Veronica Solomon, Circa 2008?

Ok, so today’s post will be one of those short but sweet ones I mentioned in a previous article. The picture you are looking at is a project I completed about two years ago. This room belongs to some really awesome clients that I have been working with now for several years. I have done pretty much every room in their home – one project after another. In fact, I have 2 fans and a custom iron bed to install in the near future. I’ve seen them through marriage, 2 beautiful babies and one more on the way, the upcoming wedding of an older daughter, and many other moments in between. I think I’m a family member at this point, and they were a referral! (The power of referrals )

Ok, so back to the room……This I believe was project #4. They wanted a calm, serene dining room for when they entertain. They are a devout Jewish family, so alot of their meals and prayer time happen in this dining room. The room is very small…..the smallest dining room I have worked with, but they needed as much seating as possible and storage for prayer books. Tall order for a small room!

We decided on a monochromatic blue/gray color scheme. The walls were painted in a Ralph Lauren Regent Metallic and has a subtle, soft shimmer. My clients enjoy the juxtaposition of rustic with refined, so they were quite excited when I found the perfect size dining table, made from reclaimed wood in Indonesia. The side chairs were custom upholstered in a wonderful blue/gray fabric and the host/hostess chairs are actually occasional chairs turned dining chairs. They were also custom upholstered in two different fabrics for a unique and luxurious touch. The zig-zag bookshelf was the unexpected element in the room, and was the perfect size to fit that small space. And who can ignore the beautiful drapery panels, made from a luscious stripe silk fabric. Even better looking in person!

Fabric Selection For Dining Room

My favorite part…the fabric selection. My client loves fabrics as much as I do, and I always get to use the finest on her projects . She was completely in love with this beautiful selection of silks and silk blends, velvets, and cut velvets. Notice the beautiful textures?!

I also added an area rug and the beautiful crystal drum chandelier, and very minimal accessories – adding a pop of orange in the table setting. My clients and I were really excited about this room!

Here a couple more shots for your viewing pleasure.

Ok, so maybe this article again wasn’t so short, but I love to tell the story behind my projects. I am so fortunate to work with wonderful clients

You too can become a client of Casa Vilora Interiors for your interior design needs and No Naked Windows if you’re interested in custom drapery and bedding. Contact me here!

Please don’t forget to comment and share

Be Inspired!

Veronica Solomon

Hello friends!  Lots of packing remains on the agenda for this week, but as promised from yesterday’s post, here is the other side of the room where the mural was done above the fireplace.

These pictures were taken using my iPhone, so the lighting is not great

We started out with a plain room. The walls were builder beige flat paint and standard white 2″ faux wood blinds for window treatments. My client already owned most of the furniture pieces and art, and just needed help pulling it all together. In her previous home, gold was the dominant color, and although the accents of her furniture were mostly gold, she wanted to try some color this time. She was also very concerned about the high ceilings and wanted to cozy up the room just a bit.

Her beautiful aubusson area rug (hard to see from this picture) became the inspiration for our color scheme. Her rug had beautiful golds, corals, greens, creams and blues, so we had plenty of options for the new color scheme.

For the wall color, I chose a beautiful green from Benjamin Moore called Huntington Beige (HC-21), and that completely warmed up the space. For the windows, I chose battery operated honeycomb shades in a soft gold fabric for the rectangular windows, and for the arched window, I custom designed a motorized arched roman shade in a gold fabric matching the honeycomb shades, that fit perfectly inside the window opening. (Roman shade not shown here). I also designed these lush silk drapery panels  in two beautiful high-end silk fabrics and mounted them on medallions instead of a rod and rings. The Medallions are a beautiful hand painted gold finish, and are like jewelry in the room. I also added plenty of cozy throw pillows  and accessories to tie it all together.

Fabrics Used Throughout The Room

These are the beautiful fabrics that were used in the room – A beautiful solid silk in coral – a paisley silk in gold, green and coral – silk velvet – tweed – cut velvet damask, another rich paisley pattern and a diamond mini print. Notice that the fabrics are various textures and the patterns are a different scale, but they all work together using a complementary color scheme

One last view of the room. Notice the breakfast area beyond? The kitchen and breakfast room also got a makeover, the dining room, foyer, study, master bedroom, master bathroom, and upstairs loft all got the Casa Vilora Interiors treatment . Who knows, you may see some of those rooms in future posts

This was indeed a fun project! I must add, that my client and her wonderful family were so great to work with. She has a wonderful sense of style and very hands-on (she hung all the art herself!). Just a beautiful person inside and out.

If you have questions about our design services, you can reach me here

Please don’t forget to comment and share

Be Inspired!

Veronica Solomon

This week will be spent packing up my 4300 square foot home, deciding what to take with me to the much “cozier” home, what to donate to Katy Christian Ministries, and what to trash. I am being pretty ruthless with the trash pile. I’d say if there are any dumpster divers in my neighborhood, they are going to score big time!

My posts this week will probably be pretty short snippets; but short and sweet is good…right?

Please enjoy the before and after shots of the fireplace wall of a wonderful client I had the honor of working with late last year.

Before Shot Of Fireplace

My clients just moved to Houston  and purchased a beautiful home with some great architectural features, but they were just a bit too plain for her as well as for me. She is an avid art collector with some very spectacular pieces that she had collected over the years. It is quite an impressive collection of beautiful framed oils of landscapes and architecture! She wanted the fireplace to be a focal point in the room while complementing the rest of the space. The fireplace is a cast stone, so it was much too blah for me, and with such high ceilings and the fact that the alcove was pretty much defined above the mantle, I didn’t think that a piece of art would be the best option. Besides we already had quite a few pieces of art in the room. I suggested we do a mural above the mantle and faux paint the fireplace surround to look like travertine or limestone….something more natural looking. She loved that idea!

After showing her a few ideas for the subject, we both fell in love with the beautiful peacock perched on a branch. My faux painter and muralist were very excited about this project, and so we set to work creating a masterpiece. I wanted the colors to be subtle and almost have an aged appearance, as if the mural was there for centuries – but still being very elegant and complementary to the updated traditional look of the rest of the space.

During

During

As you can see from the during shots, it was quite a big job that required scaffolding. My client later admitted to me that her husband would come home each evening and look at the unfinished work in progress, and was a bit nervous about the colors. Of course, she shared my vision from the very beginning, and did a great job of assuring him to just hang in there for the finished product.

After Shot Of The Fireplace

Another After Shot Of Fireplace

Voila! This is the finished fireplace! You may notice that the actual fireplace surround was given a glaze treatment to age it just a bit (very subtle but a huge difference). We also added a glaze to the moldings that surround the art niche above the fireplace to make them blend in a bit more. It took a little less than 2 weeks to complete and is simply gorgeous…..expecially when seen in person! My client (husband included) were quite pleased  and very excited with the finished product. The entire room came together beautifully. Stay tuned for pictures of the rest of the room in future posts.

I guess this post isn’t so short after all but hope you enjoyed it!

If you would like a custom mural or paint treatment, or any help with your decor, you can contact me here.

Feel free to leave me a comment with your thoughts on the finished fireplace.

Be inspired!

Veronica Solomon