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Incorporating Timeless Decor Into Your Home

Infusing a room with personality instills an element of perpetuity that defies fleeting design fads. After all, nothing says timeless like individualized accents, which can take the form of woven rugs, a solitary leather chair and framed, black-and-white photos. Whether your vibe is modern or vintage chic, customizable accessories will greet guests with the warmth of hospitality and whisper discerning refinement year after year.

Instant Floor Appeal

With an array of beautiful designs and soft textures, Turkish rugs create striking floor art wherever they are placed. In bedrooms and living areas, calm patterns and softer woven textures pair beautifully with a variety of color palettes and offer a visual pause from hardwoods or carpet. Rugs in entryways give the illusion of a much larger space; in the living room, they unify divergent design elements. Our rule of thumb: buy a size up to allow furniture to fit inside the rug’s perimeters without sacrificing space.

Chameleon Design

Chameleon Design

A Love Note to Leather

Furniture styles come and go, but leather never goes out of fashion. Leather chairs in particular lend warmth to any room – yet provide unexpected coolness on hot Southern California summer days. For a distinctive design statement, place a pin-tuck leather chair in the corner of a bedroom, mix a modern high-back into the living room seating area or surprise dinner guests with leather chairs bookending the dining room table.

Chameleon Design

Chameleon Design

Chameleon Design

An Ode to Black & White

Black-and-white framed photos deliver artistry to any room. For an easy and quick design change, update a gallery wall by switching out colored photos for black and whites and frame them all with a color that complements ¾ or even contrasts ¾ the surrounding environment. Inject a hint of whimsy in the kitchen with framed black text recipes on white backdrops. Or create an unexpected conversation starter by displaying a trio of serene black and whites in a main-floor powder room.

Chameleon Design

Chameleon Design

Chameleon Design

How to Style a Swoon-Worthy Backyard Vignette

With summer ushering warm nights, your backyard is calling you to visit. What better time to spruce up your outdoor space with these covetable finds: the glow of twinkle lights, an intentional drink bar and a tropical touch of greenery. Goodbye vintage, and hello magical backyard vignette.

Let It Glow

Whether your outdoor space is a cozy patio or lavish retreat, nothing creates mood faster than café lights framing the perimeter of a patio table or seating area. To create an illusion of larger space, place the center strand of lights at the farthest point from the backyard entrance and work your way out in a fan shape.

Chameleon Design

Houzz

Flirty Cocktail Umbrellas Not Required

Your backyard will become the hot spot for cold cocktails when you set up a one-stop bar station. Give a bar cart a new lease on life by rolling it near chairs or stools and stocking it with a large ice bucket, cocktail mixers and plenty of eye-catching glasses. Tuck blankets and Turkish towels in a nearby basket for cool evenings.

Houzz

Houzz

Be a Green Goddess

Enhance a backyard vignette by using nature to its fullest. Palm fronds, banana leaves and jasmine entice your senses and create a spa-like ambience. Greenery breathes life and texture when flanking doors or creating climbing shapes along a back wall.

Chameleon Design

Tiny Houses and Why We Love Them

Like a grown-up version of the Barbie Dreamhouse, tiny houses are big on style and functionality. These houses – often measuring less than 400 square feet – are part of a growing movement toward minimalism, born out of consumers’ desires to simplify their lives while maximizing their sense of fulfillment. Although living smaller may not be right for everyone, the lessons about simpler living in a more efficient space translate to virtually any home. Steal these ideas from tiny living to reap the benefits of their thoughtful, innovative designs.

Apartment Therapy

Country Living

Country Living

Pare Down Upkeep

Although it’s a popular trend to hang a flat-screen television over a built-in fireplace, electronics and heat don’t mix well. One new solution to this dilemma is to select an ethanol-alcohol fireplace, which produces less heat, and recess a TV into the wall so it’s protected better. Although a TV is a focal point in many living rooms and dens, a cupboard design like this one allows homeowners to hide the monitor when not in use.

Wind River Tiny Homes

Wind River Tiny Homes

Look Up

One of the best features about tiny houses is that these designs maximize space. Imagine drifting off to sleep in a loft suspended from high ceilings.

Country Living

Apartment Therapy

Country Living

Choose Double-Duty Furniture

Not every home has enough space for a separate home office, but with the right selection of furniture, every space can serve multiple purposes. A hideaway desk can morph into a workstation easily, especially one with lots of cubbies and drawers for storage. Another option is to build a desk and shelving into existing nooks.

Apartment Therapy

Apartment Therapy

Apartment Therapy

Play with Color

A paler color palette comprised of soft neutrals can open small quarters to create the visual equivalent of space. But you don’t have to stick to white, beige and gray; a pop of color can focus attention on the spectacular design of a well-appointed piece. Alternatively, a richly hued scheme incorporating dramatic, even dark, color on the walls can add drama.

Wind River Tiny Homes

Wind River Tiny Homes

How to Incorporate Home Technology Invisibly into Design

Although technology is ubiquitously designed into every new home, no one wants to see the telltale signs of it. Gone are the days of showcasing technology as a design focus; today’s consumer wants it to work in the background seamlessly. Fortunately, thanks to a crop of new audio, theater, energy monitoring and security gadgets, technology is more powerful than ever before yet integrated into home design for practically invisible use.

Stage a TV over a Fireplace – Or Make It Disappear

Although it’s a popular trend to hang a flat-screen television over a built-in fireplace, electronics and heat don’t mix well. One new solution to this dilemma is to select an ethanol-alcohol fireplace, which produces less heat, and recess a TV into the wall so it’s protected better. Although a TV is a focal point in many living rooms and dens, a cupboard design like this one allows homeowners to hide the monitor when not in use.

Houzz

Hear It, Don’t See It

For an ambient experience, consider embedding surround-sound audio speakers into existing design. In fact, some types of speakers are made to vibrate and amplify audio signals better when hidden in walls or ceilings. Other solutions include faux rocks to hide speakers in a backyard or on a patio.

Fedorova

Charge Wherever You Are

Mobile phone users swipe, tap and pinch their phones on average 2,617 times a day, racking up a million touches every year, according to research firm Dscout. All that checking in drains battery life quickly, but furniture with built-in, wireless charging pads mean you can set down your smartphone and charge up in no time.

HGTV Home

Whole-Home Integration: There’s an App for That

For the ultimate in convenience, homeowners are turning to automated systems that run lighting, heating, security and other electronics from one touchscreen system – even a single app accessible from any mobile device. An integrated system like this one lets users control practically everything in a home.

HGTV Home

HGTV Home