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.

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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!

Friday started out great with a visit from a prospective new client into my design studio. This is a young restauranteur and a bachelor, who recently bought a three storey townhome in the beautiful and prestigious Heights neighborhood of Houston. One of his restaurants is located right across the courtyard from my studio. He’s been admiring a certain wallpaper I have featured on one wall in the studio, which is what brought him in. I have been longing to do a bachelor pad for a while now, so hopefully this will work out great. It turns out that his style is not the usual contemporary, Manhattan chic style you would expect, but more of my personal style – rustic European with a touch of elegance. I am so excited about this opportunity!

Sample of the Romo wallpaper that was bait for this potential project

Saturday was the big community garage sale for the subdivision where I currently live. I decided to participate this season since I am moving to a new, smaller home and wanted a change. I am ready for new style and color, plus my bigger furnishings won’t work as well in the new home. So, I got the kids up early at 8:00 and together set up a great vignette of rugs, florals, accessories, furniture pieces and curtains. It started out pretty slow, and I even started to question whether the effort was worth it. But then, like wildfire, the news of the beautiful, and cheap designer items began to spread throughout the neighborhood, and before I knew it, my driveway was packed with bargain hunters who were just clammering for these items. I was even getting requests for items that I didn’t plan on selling. My old comforter sets, for example, were hot commodities! I was running back and forth to my linen closet looking for matching pieces to satisfy the demand. By noon we were tired and ready to lock up shop. My daughter Courtney, who was was the treasurer, counted up our profits…..We made $3428.00!! Plus $485 that we should be receiving this evening from a lady who wants to purchase some furniture pieces in my guest bedroom. I would say it was a very profitable 4 hours!

These are just some of the items out in the driveway, before the patrons arrived

Staging area in my formal living room the night before

This is one of the bedroom sets I sold. I even got a project out of it. This lady wants me to come to her home and decorate her master bedroom with these pieces and some other items she already owned. Plus she needs new windows treatments

Sunday, the kids and I skipped church for the first time in a very long time and headed to The Emblem 3 concert here in Houston. You may remember them from the past season of X-Factor USA. They are three very talented young men from Southern California, with a very unique sound. My daughter and I are big fans of theirs and voted for them several times during the competition. They didn’t win, and we were very sad to see them get booted off, but they are doing just fine! After waiting in line with a bunch of screaming teenaged girls for what seemed like an eternity, we finally got to see them perform live. It was amazing!!! We even got to meet them after the event, which my daughter was very excited about . For the first time in a long time, I fet like a teenager again! My daughter looked and me, smiled and said “This is the best day ever!” Well worth the 3 hour wait in the Texas sun.

This is the crazy line of teenaged girls!

My son Joshua!

The boys performing. Here’s a short video that I captured of their performance. Not the best quality but you get the idea

Later in the afternoon we went to look at the progress of the new digs. Here’s an update:

1. Stucco completed
2. Garage Door added, ready for paint
3. Driveway and walkway poured

1. Stair parts added
2. Trim in progress
3. Paint in progress
4. Back patio added (Not shown)

So, the new digs is coming along nicely!

Monday is off to an eventful start! Got my fluids in my car changed today….a whopping $204!!! Very necessary though. Next week will be new tires

Today is my Chiweenie’s birthday! His name is Rufus and he turns 4! Help me wish him a happy birthday!

He was not in the mood for a photo moment

Ok, back to work for me. I have floorplans to draw and fabrics to pick out. Happy Monday! and Happy Earth Day!

Be Inspired!

Veronica Solomon

1. Repurpose or refresh items that you already have. If you decide to do this, take a very honest look at the piece you wish to repurpose. Please ensure that the piece is the proper scale for the room. Repurposing could mean painting, refinishing, reupholstering, but if the scale is wrong for the room, it won’t work!
2. Shop flea markets, estate sales, eBay etc.- This is not your ticket to go out and purchase a bunch of second-hand furniture just to fill the space. There should be thought put into whatever you choose, and items should complement the overall design scheme
3. Mixing high-end with not-so-high-end – I highly encourage doing this anyway, whether I am working with a big budget or not. Invest in quality high-end, high quality pieces that will be used quite a bit, like your upholstery, beds, dressers. Other items such as pillows, and accessories can be on the lower end.
4. Get it done right the first time – Hire a designer to help you if you are not confident in your decorating skills. Even if it is just for a consultation or to help you come up with a design plan that you can then take and do yourself. I have seen so many people spend good money on furnishings and paint etc, and then two years later hate it so much that they decide to call in an Interior Designer to fix it. It is much better to get it done right the first time. You’re going to spend the money anyway; spend it right. We are developing and will be offering soon a new service called “Mail Order Decorator” where clients can order a full design plan for a room from us and implement it themselves. Details available on my online store.
5. Decorate in phases. It is overwhelming when you have an entire house to decorate. the best approach is to prioritize and work in phases. Decide if you’d like to start with the public areas like living room, dining room and kitchens first or the private areas such as bedrooms. Getting one room at a time done will give you a sense of order and accomplishment and gets you excited to moving along. Many of my clients do it this way.

Here are a few of my favorite furnishings that will not break the bank, but will definitely give you the look of high style in your home.

This serpentine chest from Steinworld retails for around $750.00

This bed from Wholesale Interiors retails for around $1000.00

This versatile piece from Stanley Furniture can be used as a desk or console or even a small dining room table. It retails for around $1600.00

A beautiful credenza from Steinworld

Nesting tables from Stanley Furniture

Bench/Banquette from Wholesale Interiors. This retails for around $600.00

This bedding and others available on my online store and retails for under $500.00 for the entire set

Or this gorgeous sofa from Ballard Designs that retails for under $2000.00

My advice to you if you decide to take on your decorating project without the help of an Interior Designer, is to plan your purchases carefully, do a furniture layout using either graph paper or by doing a google search for a consumer version of a space plan software. Look for the best quality and value you can find. Look for pieces that have a feel of timelessness….ask yourself “will I still like this item many years from now?” Try not to buy an entire set of furniture that all matches. Most furniture retailers show a set of furniture to get you to buy more items than you need. Don’t skimp on your window treatments; they are one of the focal points in a room, and if badly done, can bring the whole room down. Our online store has plenty of custom drapery panel options available starting at only $269 per pair! And the most important advice I can give you is to have fun with decorating. Nothing sucks the life and energy out of you faster than a decorating project that leaves you frustrated and overwhelmed. I’m here for you if you need help!

Be Inspired!

Veronica Solomon

“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

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