5 Things I’m Really Into

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Veronica Solomon

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As a Residential Interior Designer, there is so much beauty that I get to experience everyday in home fashion and styling. My personal taste constantly changes, although there are the classics that I will always love. My personal decorating style can change from one week to the next. This is what makes me different from other Designers; I don’t necessarily embrace just one signature look – I love and appreciate every design aesthetic, and I am very flexible to each client’s unique needs. So from a mountain lodge to a beach cottage, and everything in between, I craft each space to suit my client’s lifestyle and taste.

Having rescued a 1905 Victorian cottage that is now my design studio, and refreshing it to its former glory, has also allowed my personal design aesthetic to evolve – from traditional with dark cherry woods to light & airy cottage style with a hint of industrial.

During the planning phase, and now adding the finishing touches to this turn of the century gem, I have realized that there are a few things that I am really into, and had to have in this space.

Here is a list of 5 things I am really into (currently, because I know this will change pretty soon )

1. Large Scale Horizontal Striped Walls

horizontal striped walls 5 things I am into

Source: Casa Vilora Interiors – Horizontal Striped Walls

decorating with kids at home

Source: Casa Vilora Interiors – Toddlers’ Bedroom with horizontal stripes

I don’t know what it is about large scaled horizontal stripes on walls that totally get my attention. Maybe it is the fact that it is such a big trend at the moment, but still has a very timeless appeal. It could also be because it is simple to do, not very expensive and adds a certain je ne sais quoi. I especially love the more subtle tone-on-tone version, but I also like a bold contrast in certain settings.

2. Shades of Gray

5 things I'm into

Source: Décor Pad.com

5 things I'm into

Source: Usestack.com

For a very long time, I was into the Tuscan look with warm neutral colors accented with red and burnt orange for my personal home. But these days I have made a 180 degree turn to cooler, more relaxed and monochromatic color schemes in shades of gray…… all 50 of them . Ok that was a bad joke. I just love the calming effect of gray – especially in a bedroom. Don’t get me wrong. I still love a punch of color. But this is what makes a gray neutral back drop so great. You can then accent with whatever color you enjoy.

3. Open Shelves In Kitchens

5 things I'm into

Source: TheInspiredRoom.net

5 things I'm into

Source: Centsationalgirl.com

5 things I'm into

Source: HammersandHighHeels.blogspot.com

Look at the amazing photos above and you can see why I’m really into kitchens with open shelves. This is a great way to highlight a beautiful collection (which is one more thing I’m into) and a wonderful way to break up the look of a bulky bank of cabinets, and lighten up your kitchen just a bit.

In my Victorian cottage, there is a small kitchen that I am sure is original to the house. My landlord painted the cabinets in a really yucky shade of red and they just don’t look that great. The layout of the kitchen is also very poor and it is sorely lacking in storage. Since I am leasing this property for now (hoping to purchase it next year), and won’t even use the kitchen that much since I am not living there, I was looking for ways to freshen up the look on a very tight budget. Open shelves came to mind immediately and of course repainting the cabinets. I will also add a subway tile or mosaic tile backsplash that I may even cover the entire wall with.

Here is a BEFORE shot of the kitchen.

5 things I'm into

This is a BEFORE shot of the kitchen in the design studio for Casa Vilora Interiors

Can you see that it needs urgent attention? Right now it is a catch all for all the things I have no idea what to do with. I literally close my eyes as I walk through it to get to the back office sample room.

AFTER pictures will hopefully be coming soon. It’s on my list of projects to get to soon.

4. Collections (White Plates and Ironstone)

5 things i'm into

Source: RosemaryOnTheTV.com

5 things I'm into

Source: Burlap and Blue.com

5 things I'm into

Source: Indulgy.com

5 things I'm into

Source: Casa Vilora Interiors

I love collections! Whatever is placed in well thought out groupings always look fabulous to me. Blue and white porcelain, a collage of mirrors, family photos in great frames, you name it; grouping them in a collection always has a bigger impact in a room.

I have a weakness for white plates, especially hanging on walls. I have had quite the collection for a very long time, but have only recently started to hang them. My obsession has brought me to the world of collecting ironstone. I only have a couple of pieces so far, but I am really enjoying the hunt.

I am making room in my design studio for future pieces. I had my carpenter build me this plate rack that I hung in the kitchen, and will be painting in white next weekend. I will slowly be adding new pieces in, along with some of my older pieces. Exciting! Take a look

Here is a post I wrote not long ago about my love for plate racks. Click here

5 thing I'm into

Plate Rack for white plates collection for Casa Vilora Interiors

And in case you are wondering how I hang plates on the wall……..

5 things I'm into

Source: Casa Vilora Interiors

5 things I'm into

Source: Casa Vilora Interiors

6. Skirted Tables

5 things I'm into

Source: Casa Vilora Interiors

5 things I'm into

Source: SoHauteStyle.com

5 things I'm into

Source: Chic and Glamorous

Source: House Beautiful

Source: House Beautiful

I just love skirted tables. They add such a feminine element to a room. I especially love the very tailored box pleat versions. To think that underneath the beautiful facade is probably a particle board skeleton of a table, shows just how a bit of creativity and a fabulous fabric can change the look of a piece of furniture. Click here to see the article I wrote a while ago about my love for skirted tables.

And here’s a BONUS of one more thing I’m really into

6. doTERRA Essential Oils

5 things I'm into

doTERRA Essential Oils

Many of us are searching for a more holistic approach to self care, aroma therapy, and staying healthy. Essential Oils are gaining in popularity and mainstream acceptance.

doTERRA Essential Oils are certified pure therapeutic grade essential oils. I made the decision over 8 months ago to take charge of my own health and find a better alternative to mainstream medicine and my diet. I switched my diet to almost raw vegan and I never looked back. doTerra Essential Oils is a natural choice for me. It complements my lifestyle in a wonderful way. I recently signed on as a Wellness Advocate for doTERRA, and I am very excited about this opportunity to share my experience with using these amazing essential oils, and hopefully help influence others to take charge of their health with this natural alternative. Click here to find out more about doTERRA Essential Oils and to try them for yourself. I will be talking more about doTERRA in great detail in a future post, so please watch for that.

I have enjoyed sharing 5 things that I am really into. Let me just add that I am REALLY into YOU the readers, commenters and followers of The Naked Decorator. Your support means the world to me

Now it’s your turn! What are some of the things you are into?

Have a fabulous Friday and an amazing weekend! It’s finally Spring, so get out there and do something fun this weekend!

Be Inspired!

Casa Vilora Interiors

Veronica Solomon, Casa Vilora Interiors
VeronicaSolomon.com

Ever Been Locked Out Of Your Home?

Posted on June 28, 2013 by Veronica Solomon

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Has this ever happened to you? Walking out of your home, locking the door behind you, only to discover that you left your house key inside the house?!! Yikes!!

Well, that happened to me today! And let me tell you, being locked out of your own house for over three hours is no fun!

Here’s the scoop on that silly little mishap.

So, my kids and I decided to go for an evening run, and of course didn’t want to bring a bunch of keys with us. The plan was to lock the front door and go out the back leaving that door unlocked. In our old house, we would just type in our secret code in our garage door keypad and voila – keyless entry!. But our new garage door hasn’t yet been programmed (I think it was made by aliens because no one has been able to figure out how to program it. ). My wonderful daughter was responsible for this task while I got my running shoes on. Bless her little heart, she totally forgot that our garage door keypad doesn’t work yet and locked both the front and back doors! Oh ohh!

To make matters worse, we all left our cell phones in the house!!!

After trying unsuccessfully to pick the locks with the only thing we had available – the bobby pins in our hair, we gave in and went to find a neighbor. We’ve only waved hi and hello to our new neighbors, so I hardly wanted to start out our relationship like this. But they were so very helpful. Tiffany and Adam, who live directly across the street from my home are a wonderful young couple with three kids. Adam is a police officer and had some great connections whom he called but they were all busy or too far away to come to my rescue. Tiffany was busy calling locksmiths who were either too expensive, or don’t service our area (we’re country folk now )

Finally Adam calls Alex, another police officer who lives right next door to them (also across the street from me – talk about security!). He works for the Katy Police Dept and they actually carry a special tool to literally break into cars (legally of course). The plan was to break into my car and then we could simply use the garage door opener to open the garage door to get in! Brilliant! But we had to wait until he was off duty which was in an hour’s time

Alex finally got home and did just that! In about 2 minutes he had “broken into” my car and the plan worked perfectly! Or did it?!!! Nope! The door from the garage to the house was locked!!! By this time my stress level had hit the roof and I was not a happy camper. I could see my poor daughter feeling horrible and completely blaming herself! I wasn’t helping her feel better, and I now regret that. The feeling of helplessness and no control over the situation was the worst part for me.

Adam and Alex were not about to leave me stranded however- they are police officers; helping a damsel in distress is in their DNA. So that they did! Together they decided to force entry to the locked door and warned me that it would mean a visit to Home Depot to purchase a new knob. I was more than happy to give them the go-ahead. This was now 10:30 PM and I was ready to go home. In a matter of minutes, they succeeded at unlocking the door! FINALLY!!! What a relief! We were home!

Home Sweet Home Indeed!

Even in that crazy moment some amazing things happened. For one, I got to learn just a bit more about my neighbors and was even invited to a house-warming party on Saturday. The kids and I still went for a run while we waited for help, and that gave us a chance to laugh a little despite our misfortune. We also got a chance to witness a mamma bird who has made her nest in the tiny oak tree in our front yard feeding her baby birdies worms. The things you notice when you have time to kill

In the end, it all worked out and lesson learned! But the situation begs the age-old question “How many cops does it take to pick a door lock?” I guess I can laugh now, but it wasn’t quite as funny when Adam cracked that joke in the middle of this dilemma He was nice enough to try to lighten my mood and for that I thank him.

I have been Googling articles about what to do if you are ever locked out of your house and I found this one that might be helpful in the future (even though I don’t plan to go through this again). Click here to read the article on The Housing Forum. My friend Dov Shapira with Shapira Builders is also a great resource if you are ever locked out and you live in Phoenix Arizona.

Have you ever been locked out of your home or car? Tell us about it! I’d like to think I’m not the only one

When you do get back into your home, you can call me for help with your décor . You can contact me here for more information on my design services, and connect with me on my social media sites.

Thanks for reading. Please comment, like and share

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday! And make sure you don’t get locked out of the house!!

Ps. A big shout out to the Katy and Brookshire police departments!

Be Inspired!

Veronica Solomon

Veronica Solomon

Home Sweet Home

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Veronica Solomon

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This picture was taken during construction, and is not the most recent

This picture was taken during construction, and is not the most recent

Finally after a long roller coaster ride that seemed to have gone on forever, I am the proud new owner of my much smaller cozier home close to the country! Gone is the “mansion” to a new family of six, who I’m sure will better use all 4300 square feet of it. I got a phone call from the new owner today, and she is really excited about her new home. I know they will be happy there, just as we have been for the last 8 years!

It was definitely mixed emotions signing on the dotted lines (many dotted lines) at the closing of escrow on the sale of the old house. A part of me was really sad to let go, but for the most part I was really excited to get on with the next phase of our lives. My children are little troopers; they have adjusted very well to the move, and are actually looking forward to making friends in the new neighborhood. One thing is for sure, my daughter will have tons of babysitting jobs – The place is crawling with young families!

There is an active neighborhood association and lots of fun activities amongst neighbors, so I am looking forward to making new friends…..and who knows, maybe a special friend? I’ll be sure to keep you up-to-date on any happenings in that area

Most of all, I am looking forward to picking out paint colors, fabrics, furniture and designing great new window treatments, and I promise to take you all along for the ride. But first, I am taking a long break from everything home related and focus on business development, and summer fun with the kids…..Maybe even a summer vacation!

No new pictures to show you….I am waiting until the decorating begins. It will be worth the wait, I promise

In the meantime, here’s the front door I picked out…well close enough. The one I decided on has a reeded glass insert in the top half.

That’s all I have for today….I have a lot of unpacking to do. Wish you all were here to help

In the meantime, please contact me if you need help with your décor and window treatments.

Please don’t forget to comment and share

Be Inspired!

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

Posted on May 25, 2013 by Veronica Solomon

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So I am still knee deep in the wonderful world of moving, and boy is it hard work! I guess it’s like everything else in life worth looking forward to….you have to go through the valleys to get to the mountain top!

So no valuable tips or information in my post today….but instead we will be playing a silly little game. Don’t you just love playing games?

But before I get to that, I’d like you to meet Floyd and Everette…….

Floyd and Everette - The Strong Men Helping Me Move

Floyd and Everette – The Strong Men Helping Me Move

These are the two very strong, highly efficient and very courteous gentlemen helping me with my move. If you ever need movers, I would highly recommend these guys. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this picture

The first picture above is what my front yard looks like as we speak. The containers have been delivered and ready to be loaded with all my worldly possessions. It is going to take several hours to get it done, but I know it will be done right.

Ok so without further ado, here goes the game.

Look closely at the first picture above and tell me “What’s Wrong With This Picture?”

If you correctly guess what’s wrong with this picture by leaving a comment below, you could win a fabulous prize!

What is the fabulous prize you ask? You’re in for a treat!

But first, there is one more thing you must do before you can win the fabulous prize. You must like both my Facebook pages if you haven’t already done so. Here’s my About.Me profile containing all my contact information and social plugins. From there you can also follow me on Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and other social media sites (Although not a requirement to win the fabulous prize). Click here to like my No Naked Windows and Casa Vilora Interiors pages.

Ok, back to the fabulous prize!!! Drum Roll please………..

It is this wonderful pair of 18×18 pillows from Surya.

This gorgeous 100% polyester cover pillow with poly filler has a white background and a metallic gold paisley detail on the bottom half. Perfect as accents for your bedding or in a sofa or pair of occasional chairs.

The winner will be chosen at random and announced in my blog post for Tuesday May 28th. Good luck and have fun guessing “What’s Wrong With This Picture?”

Before I bid you adieu for today, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful and brave men and women who so selflessly serve our great nation. We honor and respect the sacrifice you make everyday to protect our freedom. We will always remember the ultimate sacrifice of the fallen.

Please don’t forget to comment and share so others can join in the fun too!

Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!

Be Inspired!

Veronica Solomon

Quick Update On The New Home

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Veronica Solomon

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Hello All! For those of you who have followed the progress of my big life change of downsizing my home at age 40, I thought I’d give you a quick update on how things are progressing. If you are interested in reading the previous articles I wrote about this, you can find them here, here and here.

The sale of my current “mansion” is still pending and should be closing escrow in two weeks. The new buyers are gracious enough to let us stay in the home for another two weeks until we close on our new home being built! What a relief to not have to move twice in one month! The new buyers are very excited to be be moving into this great home and community….they even already have mail coming here! . I know they will be happy here just as we have been for the last seven years.

Ok so I know you all are ready to see some pictures, so without further ado, here goes!

It definitely looks like a family home now! the exterior has been completely painted and stained. Landscaping installed and the light fixtures (which will be replaced for sure) have been added. They actually forgot to add brick to the floor of the front porch, so that remains to be done. As you may be able to see, I do have electrical wires behind my home (not the junction box), but it was s small price to pay for not having back neighbors. I love neighbors as much as the next guy, but sometimes in the confines of my own home and backyard I do take “The Naked Decorator” thing literally! Just kidding…or not

The cast stone fireplace has been installed. This is actually an upgrade from the one in my current home. I love the rough texture of this one, which will go very well with the updated country french direction for the new decor. Notice that my ceilings are low….I have 20 foot ceilings in my current home which was actually a great feature when I was buying the home. I wanted cozy instead of volumnous ceilings in this new home. I have a few tricks up my sleeve to make them appear just a tad bit higher…..but you will have to stay tuned for that :-). I plan to add hand-sawn faux wood beams to really play up the fireplace. Of course, the handscraped hardwood flooring will also be a nice feature when it is installed soon.

Kitchen cabinets are in! I wanted a lot of storage since this home is half the size of my current home. I plan to convert the big walk-in pantry behind the white door into a butler’s pantry with glass fronts for even more “pretty” storage. I went really dark with the cabinetry (which wasn’t my first choice) because the other choices in my budget range had red undertones (no more red!). These dark stained maple cabinets will be a nice contrast to the white travertine backsplash and granite countertops and the rest of the decor, which will be in soft shades of grays and mossy greens….very cool color palette

This is the smallish master bathroom (really filthy now, but that’s construction :-)). This bathroom is less than half the size of my current bathroom and I’m happy! Why? I don’t enjoy cleaning bathrooms! :-). My existing master bathroom has separate dual high-low vanities… I am single, so I just need one! No more jetted tub (I hardly use the one I have now), and now the wall tiles aren’t the 6×6 white ceramic tiles with a gazillion grout lines to clean! That’s definitely an upgrade

This is the big compromise that we had to make here. This small bathroom will be shared by my daughter and son and guests (when we do have them). They now share a very large jack and jill bathroom, so at least they have a bit of privacy. There is also a separate guest bathroom (that never gets used but somehow always ends up dirty :-)), and a powder room. My daughter was really looking forward to her own bathroom, but oh well, she’ll live!

There is so much left to be done, and I am actually a bit worried that they will not make the deadline of end of month. Fingers….and toes crossed please?!

We are definitely looking forward to the move. I am especially happy that with this move, in about 10 years….maybe eight if I stop buying shoes :-), I will be completely financially free, mortgage included. Downsizing is definitely worth that!!

Thanks for reading my story….as boring as it is

Please don’t forget to leave a comment. I’d love to hear what you think about the “quick” update on the new digs!

Be Inspired!

Veronica Solomon

Veronica Solomon

Update On the New Digs!

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Veronica Solomon

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The usual Sunday ritual – attend Sunday school at 9:45 followed by Worship Service at 11:00, lunch with the kiddos at 12:30 and recently the addition of visitng the new house currently under construction.

It’s hard for me to call it “home” at this point. Not because it is still a few weeks from being finished, but because there are so many things that are out of my control that need to happen to make this a reality. The biggest one obviously is finalizing the sale on our current home and getting the buyers to the closing table. Nonetheless, it is still very exciting and the designer in me is definitely already planning the interior design of the space.

As promised, here are the newest pics of the new digs.

It’s starting to look more like a real house. Over the past week brick and stone were added. The brick is from Hanson and is called Las Cruces and the stone is called Chocolate Flagstone (not sure who the vendor is). In the next week or so they will power wash and seal the brick and stone to bring out the true colors. Stucco will also be added in the coming week.

The interior is also starting to take shape. Drywall was done, and they will be adding the texture and paint in the coming week as well. Of course with any new construction project, I noticed a problem right away. I specifically requested and paid for the breakfast bar to be lowered, and of course because it is not a typical request, it got overlooked. That, will hopefully be resloved in the coming week as well.

So that’s it for now. Can’t wait to get to the interior design portion where I plan to possibly do a video and step-by-step guide of the planning and implementing of a room design. I will pick one room in the new house as our project room. Who knows?….We may do more! I promise it will be fun and inspirational, and of course beautiful. Hopefully this all works out. Fingers….and toes crossed

Be Inspired!

Veronica Solomon

Veronica Solomon

Goodbye To The Mansion, Hello To Cozy New Digs

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Veronica Solomon

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The decision to downsizing your home for most people usually comes into play at the empty-nest stage – When the kids have all gone off to start their own lives and you just don’t need the big house anymore. I am not nearly an empty-nester (my oldest is 15), but I have been tossing around the idea of downsizing for a while now. Maybe as an Interior Designer, my heart longs for a brand new home to decorate with all the special pieces that I have collected over the years, or maybe the maintenance and upkeep involved in a 4300sf home gets to be too much when you are a single mom, a busy store owner, and sought-after Interior Designer, or maybe the thought of using only about 50% of your home regularly seems like such a waste. Maybe it’s a combination of all those things plus the deep desire to simplify my life and shift focus to a bigger and better career in Interior Design. But I have been pursuing this idea and I have to say, I am pretty excited!! ”The mansion” is ready for a new, much bigger family to love it as much as we have. It’s been a great place to raise my two children for the past seven years, but soon we will be saying goodbye and move on to the next chapter of our lives.

"The Mansion"

“The Mansion”

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I have to admit though, that the kids weren’t quite as excited as I was in the beginning, but they are slowly getting there.

New Digs

New Digs

Ok, I know, it doesn’t look like much now

In the weeks to come, I will be blogging about the progress of construction and eventually the process to decorating my new digs……all 2600sf of it! Yayy!!! I will be offering advice and tips to help you in your own decorating projects on a budget, I will be highlighting the use of inexpensive window treatments and custom drapery panels, which by the way are available through my online store.

I will also be talking about decorating in stages, how to choose paint colors and other wall finishes, furniture layouts, how to develop and execute a great design to be beautiful yet comfortable, and lots of other tips and ideas.So please come along with me on this adventure! Looking forward to it.

Be Inspired!

Veronica Solomon

Veronica Solomon

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