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How can you blend your different home décor styles without bickering? Here are some experts tips on how you can do it without arguing over the most trivial of things.

Determine what are Your Needs and Wants are
Before you even start wondering what to include or leave out in your home from what you already have, sit down with your partner and have an honest and straightforward conversation about each other’s needs and wants, and ultimately how you can meet those needs as a couple. While not every need and want will be met, having a discussion forms the basis of agreeing on what should be prioritized.  

Consider Creating a Wedding Registry:
​Sometimes, mixing two different styles could end up being the best for couples who are moving together after a wedding. When it comes to styling your first home, consider creating a wedding registry first. According to interior décor experts, your wedding registry is perhaps the best reference point when starting a new life together, and using a service like Amazon Wedding Registry to refine your registry choices is a great decision.  

​Find New Accessories and Furnishings Together:
Instead of holding on to those bachelor rugs or dull throw pillows, it’s time to hit those furniture stores to find new home accessories and furnishings together as a couple. Even if it means selling off those items you don’t necessarily need in your new home to get extra cash to buy those pieces that speak to both of you, do it so long as it blends in with both your styles. Only keep those items that you absolutely love.  

Blend Décor Pieces from Different Periods:  
​A Vogue article on how to blend decor styles notes that blending pieces from different periods makes a home more stylish. You can easily achieve the right mix if you can blend existing furniture in neutral textures and colors, rather than working with lots of patterns. You can also select interesting artwork together to balance your opposing design choices. As long as you have a style, color and pattern in common, it’s easy to make two pieces work together.
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Find Inspiration in What You Both Love:
We all have something that sparks our interest when it comes to influencing our décor choices and colors such as a vintage rug or a piece of art. If you both have something that can inspire your home styling choices, go ahead and work around that to build a space that you’ll both love. Further engage in home design photos online to get more inspiration and encouraging interior décor insights that make it easier for you to embrace both your authentic styles.

Don’t Be in a Rush to Decorate the Whole Place:

Don’t be in a rush to decorate the entire home. Just take your time to adjust to the new place. You’ll realize that sometimes, the changes you so much wished for, fade away after some time. After a while, you’ll know what style best suits your home as a couple. Of course, if you’re living in apartment rentals, you’ll want to be a bit cautious about the interior decorating you do. The key is keeping your space simple and well-organized for harmonious living.

Cooler Color Palettes

Many of the bedrooms featured in popular magazines, on TV, and in the movies demonstrate the extensive use of whites, grays, and light blues. All of these combine to form a cooler color palette for the bedroom than we’ve seen.

These colors go well with the minimalist look. If that appeals to you, this may be a trend you want to follow. Painting your walls is one easy way to change the tone of your room, but you can make your existing palette cooler by adding drapes, blankets, a bedspread, and more in your chosen cool colors.

A Relaxing Backdrop

We predict that empty minimalist walls are slowly going the way of the dinosaur. Not completely, of course! However, more and more featured bedrooms have one or two walls given over to some sort of nature scene. These can be painted on, printed on fabric and then hung, or brought in in the form of vinyl wall decals. No matter the method, bringing the outdoors into the bedroom is becoming more and more popular. ​

New kitchen cabinets are a wonderful thing.  But do you know just how strong they need to be?

When ensuring your cabinets are sturdy and top notch, here are some tests that show how cabinets are tested.  I researched and found such useful information on the ANSI/KCMA website.  (Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturer Association) These tests are meant to verify the structural integrity and strength of cabinets.
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1. All shelves and bottoms are loaded at 15 pounds per square foot, and loading is maintained for seven days to ensure that there is no excessive deflection and no visible sign of joint separation or failure of any part of the cabinets or the mounting system.
2. Mounted wall cabinets are gradually loaded to 600 pounds without any visible sign of failure in the cabinet or the mounting system.
3. To test the strength of base-front joints, a load of 250 pounds is applied against the inside of cabinet-front stiles for cabinets with drawer rail, or 200 pounds is applied for cabinets without drawer rail, to ensure reliable front joints that will not open during stress in service or during installation.
4. To test the ability of shelves, bottoms, and drawer bottoms to withstand the dropping of cans and other items, a three-pound steel ball is dropped from six inches above the surface. After the test the drawer must not be damaged and must operate as before the test with no visible sign of joint separation or failure of any part of the cabinet or mounting system.
5. To test the ability of cabinet doors and connections to withstand impacts such as children may cause in falling against a cabinet, a 10-pound sandbag is used to strike the center of a closed cabinet door and repeated with the door opened to a 45-degree angle. The door must operate as before the test and show no damage or sign of separation or failure in the system.

If you need more help please check out this link  ​https://www.kcma.org/certifications/ansi-kcma-certification 

We design gorgeous kitchens!  Feel free to contact us below:

Wondering how to calculate which size of fan you need for your bathroom?  For a bathroom with a tub or shower, here's the magic ratio!

Calculate the volume of your bathroom:
Height of the room x length of room x width of the room = total volume.
ie. 8' high x 10' long x 6' wide room =  480 cubic feet.

Now divide the cubic feet by 7.5

480 divided by 7.5 = 64 cfm fan size.  Or select the closest available fan size, when in between sizes, always select the higher CFM fan.  Meaning, if there is a 50 CFM fan and a 75 CFM fan, select the 75 CFM fan.

There you go!

 I received a great email from Mehran from ATEC Building Envelope Consulting Inc. and I just had to share the great information.

From time to time builders or homeowners ask me what type of Caulking and sealant materials they should use. The following list provides some guidelines.
 
A wide variety of caulking material is available, each suited to certain applications.
They tend to be high VOC emitters; therefore, builders need to be aware of possible indoor air quality problems that can result from the use of a particular sealant , especially in housing for chemically sensitive people:

1. Oil- or resin-based caulking will bond to most surfaces. However, it is not paintable or durable, as it shrinks and hardens.
2. Latex-based caulking bonds to most surfaces except polyethylene. It does shrink, but is more durable than oil or resin based caulking .
3. Butyl rubber will bond to most surfaces. It is particularly suitable for use on masonry, but not where the joint expands and contracts . It is paintable , but shrinks and has a limited durability
4. Nitrile rubber bonds well to masonry and metal, but not to painted materials . It is paintable and suited for use in are as where moisture is a problem . It shrinks appreciably but is considered to be durable.
5. Neoprene rubber will bond to most surfaces , and is particularly suitable for use on concrete. It is paint able and considered durable.
6. Silicone caulking bonds well only to glass, metal and ceramics . Silicone does not shrink, and is very durable. It is also suitable for use in are as where moisture is a problem. However, silicone is not paintable after it has fully cured, and subsequent applications of caulking will not adhere to silicone caulking.
7. Polysulfide caulking bonds well to primed surfaces . It does not shrink and is very durable. It should not be left exposed.
8. Polyurethane caulking will bond to most surfaces except polyethylene. It does not shrink and is very durable.
9. Acoustical sealant does not require a primer and bonds well to polyethylene. It is not paintable and can not be used in areas where it will be left exposed because it does not harden. It is considered to be very durable. To date, this has been the sealant of choice for polyethylene, but it is solvent-based and an indoor air quality concern.

 10.  Siliconized-acrylic is a new type of caulking that has the ease of use and paint ability of                      acrylic but the durability of silicone.
 
Please do not hesitate to contact Mehran Saraie, EIT, AScT if you need further information or if you have any questions.  mehran@atecenvelope.com

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Recessed can lighting design layout:​

Part A:  How many pot / recessed / can lights do I need?
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• Step 1:  Measure the length x width of the room. Now you have the area or total square footage of your room. ie. 12' x 20' = 240' square feet.

• Step 2:  Multiply the area x 1.5 to get your total wattage needed. (Note in some areas where you need a lot of light, or have a very high ceiling multiply by 3). If the lights will be installed in a ceiling taller than 16-feet, you may also want to use PAR type light bulbs. They have a tighter beam control which will get more of the light down from the ceiling to the surface plane. ie. 240 s.f. x 1.5 = 360.
• Step 3:   Total wattage, divided by the bulb wattage you plan to use, ie. ( 40 watt, 60 watt, 75 watt, 100 watt etc.) = amount of total recessed lights you will need. ie. 360 divided by 60 = 6 

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Formula:  total sq. footage x 1.5 = total wattage needed. Total wattage divided by 60 watts (or whichever wattage you select) = total amount of recessed can lights.
Example:  240 square foot room x 1.5 = 360 divided by 60 (the bulb wattage I'd like to use) = 6 recessed lights needed.

Part B:   Draw up a ceiling diagram (reflected ceiling plan) showing the amount of can  lights you need (Part A formula).  The cans / pots / recessed lights should be evenly distributed around the room, usually they are in rows with an equal number of cans in each row.  Here's a great example of a kitchen lighting layout, the yellow dots show the recessed lights, the red dots show the pendant lights:
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​You also may enjoy this other article:
15 Steps to Build your Dream Home

​Happy Lighting!

2. What was your biggest colour/design mistake? 

I work with a 15 Step Design System that doesn't leave room for mistakes, but sometimes it’s the little things that really make a room. I once decorated a client’s home, and it turned out beautifully. The client was thrilled, but the home didn’t have anything with 'meaning' in it. 

Now, I always try to add something that is personal to a client, such as a great, great grandmother’s silver cutlery (below). Our client had these beautiful heritage pieces , and now they are a wonderful conversation point – brilliant idea! 

We've been designing kitchens for years and our clients love us! Light and bright kitchens, that are functional and practical; rule today.  However when we arrive home at night, we encounter our own drab and dreary kitchen.   The designer who created this kitchen had unknowingly, selected competing undertones - orange floor, burgundy cabinets, black and PINK countertops and Tuscan gold backsplash. This is definitely not my style and I think it's time for a change!  Don't you?

I know - it's bad, right?  When designing kitchens for our clients, we start with choosing 2 items first.  The counter top and the kitchen sink!  
As I use Caesarstone almost exclusively (they have the best range of colours and patterns of quartz - in my opinion), I knew which counter top I wanted almost immediately. Frosty Carrina!  
It's a warm white, with subtle flecks and veining of light warm gray.  Giving almost a marble look, but without the hassle, upkeep, staining and etching of real marble.  Their quartz has antibacterial properties meaning there is no need to seal the counters - eliminating the maintenance that is needed every few years.    
Have a look at all the beautiful options from Caesarstone here! 

The next item I choose is the Kitchen sink.  Of course the size is dictated by any existing cabinetry, if you are starting from scratch, the world's your Oyster.   A favourite manufacture of mine is Blanco.  They sell amazing sinks of all different shapes and sizes.   Silgranit, Stainless steel, FireClay and more! Here's a cheat sheet on the great points.
Silgranit:

• Made in Canada
• 80% natural granite composite material
• Exceptional resistance to heat, stains, scratches and acids
• Non porous - dirt and bacteria cannot penetrate the surface of the sink
• Rear-positioned drain holes maximize usable bowl and cabinet storage space

Fireclay sinks:
Apron sink - who doesn't love apron sinks?
Centre drain location
3 1/2'' (90mm) stainless steel strainer included

Stay tuned!  Sneak peek photos coming up - we've just installed the gorgeous Caesarstone counter top and we are absolutely thrilled with it!
Stay tuned for more updates and tips and tricks!

Please click through to follow the link to my posting.  I hope you enjoy!

Jil Sonia Interior's post.
  

I'm thrilled to have been asked by Maria Killam to guest post whilst she's away in Italy later this month! Maria is well known as a colour consultant and instructor.  I owe all of my colour knowledge to her!

Can't wait to share the link here, after it's posted on Maria's site!

Here's a sneak peak of my lovely client's photos, that I'll be including in the blog!

I've never been so impressed with a blog article, that I've contacted the author, and asked for his authorization, so that I can post that article in my blog before.  I've found this posting so insightful and specific, that I've asked Matt Astrella from Alglo Engineering, if I could re-post his blog.  He said yes,  and I truly hope that you find it as helpful as I have.  

(Alglo Engineering has also come up with an unique tool that can help all interior designers, stay tuned to hear more about this new tool, below!)

What Is Color Temperature?

Color temperature is mostly a measurement of the amount of yellow or blue white a light is comprised of and is measured in degrees Kelvin (K). The term ‘temperature’ is used because designers often describe how warm or cool light appears, the more orange and yellow light is the warmer and the more white and blue, the cooler.

How Is Color Temperature Measured?

Color temperature is measured by a unit called the Kelvin (K). The Kelvin thermodynamic temperature scale is defined so that absolute zero is 0 kelvins (K). The measurement of color temperature follows similarly the color changes a piece of metal would experience as heat is applied to it. At first, the metal would glow a deep orange-red and then become more yellow-white and finally move to the blue spectrum. The lower numbers on the light temperature scale (2700K is usually the base) contain a more yellow-orange color, the middle of the scale are white and the top of the scale (often ends at 6500K) you get very bright white to blue color.

How Do I Choose Which Temperature to Use?

The color temperature you want to use to illuminate your room depends mostly on the mood you are looking to create. If you are using warm furniture colors such as rich dark woods, reds in oriental rugs, and wall paint, 2700K to 3000K bulbs will bring out those colors more. For rooms with light woods, whites, grays, and blues, and lighter wall colors such as lighter shades of purple and blue the 3500K and even up to 5000K bulbs will compliment best.

Interior designers can swap out light bulbs or use an LED Design Kit to show how different materials will look under the different temperatures.

Another tip is to base it on what the dwellers are using the room for. For example, many people will find a formal dining room more appealing with warmer light, while for a large, open-plan office neutral to cool white light is the better choice. Offices often use 5000K fluorescent lighting that creates a cool white light that has been said to keep people alert and awake.

It can also be aligned with how much natural light the room gets and whether you want to keep that same feeling through dusk and into the night or if you want to switch it up come dark. A room in full sunlight during the middle of the day will be a bright, blue white (around 5500K) while horizontal daylight is near 5000K, daylight on an overcast day is more blue (6500K), and during sunrise and sunset you get extremely warm light close to 1800K.

What Products Fall Into The Different Temperature Ranges?

You can purchase LED products in any temperature between 2700K and 6500K. Solid State Lighting makes it easy to adjust color with dyes.

Metal Hallide and Fluorescent products can also be found in different ranges across the spectrum.

• < 2700K – Warmest: These light temperatures are produced by fire and the sun!
  
  
• 2700K – Warm Light: Most incandescent light bulbs produce warm light which is why they are often used in restaurants and dining rooms to create a warm, comfortable environment. Halogen lighting is also in this range.
  
  
• 3000 - 4000K – Soft, Neutral Bright Light: Light within this range still has a little warmth to it but is fairly neutral. A lot of LED products and some soft/warm CFL bulbs fall in this range for use around homes to create a large amount of useful light.
  
  
• 5000-6500K – Bright White/Daylight: Fluorescent lighting and most CFLs fall within this range and is used in applications where natural light is desired.

Matt Astrella

Editor's note:  Please click on this link, to see the Interior Designer's Light kit, that helps show how different lighting can widely change the colours of the item.  I can imagine this tool being helpful when out at various showrooms, you could bring the light tool with you, take the item aside, then shine the light on the item, to show how it looks with the client's own lighting.  Saving many costly mistakes.

Did you hear?  The 60s inspired TV series Mad Men, is in it's final season.  Bad news for this wildly popular show, I know.  

But to hold us over just a little longer, I created an interior design mood board based on my personal favourite style - Mid Century Modern.  This MCM style, features clean  lines, attention to subtle detail, simple forms; with a nod to entertaining.  Here's a photo of Roger Sterling's Office below.

When choosing my inspiration furniture, I went to the ever popular furniture online store called Charish.  This store accepts furniture from all over the continental USA, posts great photos of the pieces, then offers them for sale.  They take great care to only sell amazing furniture.  

I especially love the great search options.  You can search by Style, Colour, Price point, Category, Location etc.  Which makes selecting the perfect item a breeze!  Have a look at what I have created.  
All items from Charish.    

If you want to check out their direct link to their MCM furniture please click here, I promise you'll love it!

Thanks for indulging my zest for Mid-Century modern design! 

Being an interior designer, my home and surroundings highly affect how I feel.  I have a beautiful new home, but as I did not select the finishes; they are not what I would have chosen .   At all.

I have conflicting undertones everywhere and dated finishes, even though the house is just 7 years old.  

What's bothered me the most is my hardwood flooring.  It's orange, VERY orange, red oak solid hardwood.  (And burgundy cabinets, and gold backspash, and black and PINK granite - but that's another story!)

I've decided to bite the bullet and take you on this journey with me.  Pardon the dust!

1.  First step is to hire someone you trust.  I have a brilliant contractor who doesn't specialize in flooring, but he's done great jobs refinishing my client's floors.  I trust him.

2. Determine the amount of time this will take, I budgeted 3 weeks, but I'd suggest longer.

3. Determine where you are going to live, whilst your floors are going to be sanded.  We live in a large home, so we decided to take over the basement.  BUT, the kitchen is among the rooms being sanded, so that will be out of commission for a while.  We moved the toaster, Microwave, blender and paper plates and cups downstairs.  The fridge ended up on the deck, along with the stove and dishwasher.  We've had a very mild winter, so it wasn't a problem to plug in the fridge outside.

4.  Next we put poly plastic sheets over everything, the cabinets, counters, railings, fireplace, lighting, stairwell, and entrance to the foyer.  

5.  My contractor started with a 100 grit sander, and worked about 6 hours and finished a spot only  10 ft x 4 ft.  It seems every flooring finish is different, and this finish was EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to remove.  To make a long story short, we ended up going with a drum roller with 36 grit paper.  And the dust started to fly!   We also found out the guest bed was very uncomfortable.  Karma I guess.

 It took him 4 days to remove 600 sq. ft of finishing and get the wood down to bare wood.  We selected the perfect stain colour - not too dark, no red and NO ORANGE undertones. Varathane wood stain in Espresso    We applied it, looked great,  did the second coat the next day, then were told to wait 24 hours, but waited 72 hours and applied the top coat.  Everything looked good, so after 2 days we applied the second top coat and left it to dry overnight.

The next morning the flooring looked good but a little different. That night I noticed white patches appearing on top of certain boards.  We left it another day and yup... it looked worse.  

I went on every online site, talked to all sorts of professionals that I could find, to research the cause of these random white patches.  It looked like someone had poured milk on the wood and let it dry, leaving a dry powdery white coating on about 25% of the boards.  No one knew what to do so we.......    resanded the whole bloody thing again!  

4 more days of sanding - and dust.  Aggh...


We vacuumed the walls, windows, floors and everything else again - and started all over....
To be continued in Part 2 of 3 refinishing your Red Oak hardwood floor.

Confused about this new fangled lighting called LED?  Which bulb do I now select? 
Here's a little chart showing the "old' wattage from incandescent lighting, vs. LED, CFL and Halogen wattage.  

The new item to look for is called Lumens, that determines the brightness of the bulb, wattage shows the energy of the bulb.  Just remember that the more lumens you have, the brighter the light.
Check out this chart below, happy lighting!

I am happy to announce, my 12 page spread (6 double pages) in the Prestigious Canadian Home Trends Magazine.......  Yippee!

I was over the moon happy to receive a letter from Canadian Home Trends magazine, mentioning that they saw my profile on Houzz and that they'd love to feature me in their Spring 2014 print and online magazine!

​This prestigious magazine is the most helpful and innovative magazine I've ever seen.  If you subscribe to their online magazine (which offers 168 pages!), you will see they've added special effects to the photos - such as the fireplace has a crackling sound, the photos change from the before to after right in front of your eyes.  Amazing!  Otherwise their print magazine is gorgeous as well.  Who doesn't like to curl up with a nice glass of wine and a great magazine?

My client, was an absolute dream to work with.  She completely trusted me to lead the way to make her dreams a reality.

Here's a photo of her kitchen before...

...and  below, the after.  We removed 2 and a 1/2 walls to open up this floor plan and allow more light to spread through the home.  I simply can't believe the difference.

I always, always, always start with my counter top selection.  My go to source is  Caesarstone, they have such a lovely, well priced selection.  We selected this gorgeous white and gray mixed engineered quartz, called London Gray.  This was the inspiration for the whole kitchen renovation.  

​Our Client is an avid cook and I wanted to create a beautiful kitchen where she could work away to her hearts content - yet be able to clean up easily and quickly.

​One of my favorite things about this magazine, is that the interview questions were very detailed, it took me three hours to fill out the forms as I wanted to share everything,  I find people are so interested in tips and tricks to make their own home more beautiful.

I made a special point of mentioning and thanking my suppliers whom did an amazing job!  One of the top reasons client's hire me, is that I know the best suppliers and tradespeople to work with.  I'd like to make special mention to Warline Painting and Julie Bolton (window treatments) for their attention to detail and professional work.  To top it all off, I loved the stunning Robert Allen fabric that I used.  It helped tie the whole room together!

​Thanks so much for allowing me to share this exciting post.  I don't know of too many interior designers who get a 12 page spread and I'm truly grateful!