From the Floors Up

Home Storage Solutions – Vintage Schoolhouse

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For mudrooms and playrooms, vintage schoolhouse style storage can be a great option for stylish storage. Storage containers such as lockers and cubbies can make charming storage in the home as well as the school room. Vintage style metal lockers are great for corralling coats and backpacks in a mudroom or casual entry. Cubbies that hold cloth bins or baskets can be used for everything from shoes to art supplies, and recycling to toys.

 

Older homes and homes in colder climates tend to have mudrooms. These are small rooms off of a kitchen entry or side door that allow you to shed coats and wet boots before entering the rest of the home. Some older homes have mudrooms or vestibules at the front door before you enter the foyer. These spaces tend to be more casual than formal with rows of pegs for coats and a place for umbrellas and shoes.

 

If the mudroom is large enough a narrow locker or set of lockers, like seen here, they can hide the clutter of coats and keep shoes off the mudroom floor. Wet shoes and should be kept on trays to prevent puddles on stone or wood mudroom floors.

 

Lockers and cubbies are also great for playroom storage. Colorfully painted lockers can brighten up the space as well as provide much needed organized storage. Cube bookcases can be used instead of school cubbies. Fill them with baskets and cloth boxes to keep small items for spilling over. Cubes can be painted or left natural.

Trend Spotting: Grown Up Dollhouses

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Many girls play with dollhouses when they are young. Dollhouses for little girls are less about the decorating of each room than they are about creative play and using their imaginations. Recently we’ve spotted dollhouses for grownups on several design blogs. These dollhouses are all about the decorating. The dollhouse is a mini show house with each room perfectly decorated. The completed miniature show house can be proudly displayed on the shelf of your home office or design studio.

 

Playing with these dollhouses can be like designing the perfect home… on a much smaller budget. Everything from flooring to wallpaper to lighting and furniture can be done in miniature for these dollhouses. Scaled down accessories and furniture can be found that replicates everything from traditional to contemporary decorating styles. Carpet, area rugs and even wood floors can be found for dollhouses. What can’t be purchased can be made by you. Wallpaper and fabric swatches can be used to decorate walls and windows.

 

Dollhouses for grownups are a fun way to play designer. Each room can be a different theme or style. These dollhouses are a great way to experiment with color, pattern and texture. Designing a room in miniature is a nice way to stretch your designing skills before investing in designing an entire room in your own home. It’s easier to change the look of a dollhouse room than a room in your home. If you’ve finished decorating your own home, a dollhouse is a wonderful way to keep decorating.

 

Tips for Adding Glamour to Bathrooms

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Adding a little glamour to a bathroom, master bathroom or powder room can be done with a few simple and easy additions. If you want a more glamorous bathroom, you don’t have to start from scratch.  After quick changes and a few additions you’ll have a more glamorous bathroom.

 

One of the easiest ways to add glamour to the bathroom is to add a beautiful mirror. In this bathroom, a Venetian style mirror is hung above the free standing soaking tub.  The mirror adds sparkle and brings in additional light to the space. Adding molding around a wall mounted mirror or replacing the builders’ standard with two smaller mirrors can add a glamorous touch as well.

 

Luxurious materials like marble and crystal can instantly give a touch of glamour to the bathroom. While marble floors and counters would be gorgeous, if you aren’t renovating the bathroom you can still add luxurious touches. Thick bath towels and bath mats can add texture and soften the straight lines of the bathroom. Monogramming the towels with your initials personalizes them as well as adds a touch of glamour.

 

Reflective surfaces can also add sparkle and glamour. The soaking tub in this bathroom has a rich metallic finish on the exterior. Chrome and shiny nickel on fixtures are good choice for extra glamour. Add a bit of crystal in a chandelier or wall sconce. Sparkling glass and silver containers for bathroom necessities can add glamour to the counter top.  A small nosegay of flowers is the finishing touch of glamour for the bathroom.

Decor – Accent Wall

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The accent wall has been a favorite of designers and home owners for a while now. Some designers are big advocates of creating a focal wall with color while others prefer to have color encompass the entire room. One wall that is colorful, as this predominately white dining room, is the norm. Having more than one wall painted in an accent color can divide the space and begin to feel busy.

 

This dining room is a gorgeous example of how an accent wall can anchor a space, elevating it to feel more than ordinary. The soft blue grey paint of the accent wall is a nice contrast to the warmer wood tones of the floor and blonde wood table.  Orange upholstery on the chairs, another warm color, pops against the cool tones of the grey wall.

 

This contemporary dining room is typically minimalist.  There are no flourishes on the furniture or lighting, nor is there ornament on the accent wall.  The blank wall becomes like a large color field painting in the space.  The trapezoidal shades on the light fixture appear more sculptural against the grey wall. The off white shades would be lost against a white wall.  A neutral area rug beneath the table works with both the colors of the floor and table as well as both the orange and grey.

 

Keeping the furniture lines and color palette very simple gives more weight to the accent wall. Because this is a contemporary space, leaving the wall bare is an option that works.

Floor To Ceiling Storage in the Kitchen

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Every design evolves over the years and decades. Kitchen design is continually evolving as trends and styles come in and out of fashion.  For many years soffits between the top of the upper cabinets and ceiling were popular design elements in kitchens. Unless there is a venting issue, most kitchen design today does away with soffits, replacing them with additional storage.

 

The number of kitchen cabinet options has grown over the years. Yes there are still standard heights for upper and lower cabinets but upper cabinets can now have two levels. The height of lower cabinets is more standard to accommodate a counter work surface. Upper cabinet heights can vary to accommodate different ceiling heights as well as storage needs.

 

This kitchen shows that you can put storage from the floor to the ceiling, even in a kitchen with a small footprint.  Cabinets above the standard row of upper cabinets can be used to store less often used items. A stylish footstool can be used to reach these tall cabinets. Keeping the cabinets light like the tile floor helps the room feel light and airy, rather than overwhelmed by cabinetry.

 

Kitchen islands are another place for additional storage in the kitchen.  Drawers and cupboards in a kitchen island provide more places to store kitchen essentials. Heavier items like big pots and slow cookers can be stored below the island. Peninsulas are also perfect for adding more storage if an island doesn’t work in your layout.

 

No matter your kitchen’s size, maximize storage by going from floor to ceiling with your cabinets.

 

From the Floors Up

From the Floors Up blog was created with the goal of providing a destination for consumers, designers and those interested in the flooring, design, and kitchen and bath industries. Here you’ll find, current, accurate and informative information that is always just a click away!

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