One of people’s main concerns nowadays is to keep up with the latest trends.  Whether it is fashion, cars, foods, or home décor and appliances, every year there is always something new out there, and if you are not in, you most certainly are out!  And it is expensive to be in; even more in times of crisis like the ones we are experiencing right now.

There are many reasons why contemporary furniture is a strong option under this panorama.  The time has come to update your home furniture, but you have your doubts.  After all, it is a big investment, however, there are 5 powerful reasons that may convince you to take the plunge.

Every professional Seattle interior design firm will tell you that contemporary furniture has the power to totally transform the look of your home, and this is due to the following 4 reasons:

1.    This style of furniture, if anything, is flexible.  It can be adapted to any space and place because it fits perfectly with modern environments.  You will have no problem finding a spot for every piece of furniture, since they will always grab the attention no matter where they are located.

2.    Contemporary furniture will definitely help you save money.  Even if you are thinking that it is a big investment for you right now, eventually you will have to do it, and if you go for it immediately, it will most probably fit perfectly once you decide to renovate you home later on.  It will really mean huge savings in the future if you don’t have to purchase new furniture at that point.

3.    This is furniture that works for everyone.  You can be sure every member of your family will be pleased with the change.  It will also awe the visitors to your home who were not so smart as to choose the contemporary style.

4.    Contemporary furniture is synonym of mix and match.  It will easily blend with other things around it.  The different colors work together, creating a space that looks like abstract art and that is, most definitely, beautiful.

5.    This is a style that won’t go away easily.  Contemporary is here to stay for a long time; its clean lines work to support the current tendency of green and simple living, meaning, your home is decorated and adapted for the future.

Contemporary furniture is a worthy investment.  You will be able to enjoy a cozy, interesting, balanced, and unique home that will give you, your family, and your friends, tremendous joy for a long time.  It will add so much value to your surroundings that you will ask yourself why you didn’t go for it before.

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Interior designers in Seattle have very different work styles, as diverse as the spaces they work on.  To charge for their work, they normally use a combination of methods, depending on the extent of the services they will provide:

1.    The initial consultation
The first meeting is for the interior designer to evaluate the project, show her work portfolio, talk about terms and conditions, see if the project fits her capacity and services, and most importantly, if it inspires her.  It is a good time to give important suggestions based on the first impressions, so that the client can evaluate the designer and see if he or she feels comfortable working with her.  The interior designer may or may not charge for the initial consultation, it depends on her experience, workload, the firm’s policies, or the distance to the place where the project is to be conducted.  You have to consider that a free initial consultation may not tell you all you need to know.  The interior designer may wait until you make a decision to tell you what she thinks.

2.    Retainer fees
Very often, the designer will ask for a retainer fee in advance, as soon as an agreement has been reached.  The fee amount will cover what the professional believes will pay for her time and her employees’ time to plan the project.

3.    A fee based price
The designer will check the project in detail to establish the range of services necessary and will set a price based on the hours of work or square footage, among other methods.  This price may be paid in increments while the project is active, as items are received and delivered, or as services are provided.  As a rule, to get the most advantageous deal for you, discard the lowest and higher estimates and choose from the ones in between.

4.    A square foot based price
In this case, the price depends on the square footage of the space.  This method, as well as the one above, is hard for interior designers to employ, because they have nothing to do with the client.  Between two clients whose houses are near and similar, for example, one may need more services or may be more demanding, and this poses a risk for the designer.

5.    By the hour based price
This applies when the designer is helping you on an hourly basis.  The professional is only called as she is needed, to offer her opinion about the work being done.  The fees vary according to expertise, region, and demand.

6.    Cost-plus
The interior designer is in charge of the design process and is paid to purchase items on a cost-plus basis.  These normally include gains on every charge, including freight and delivery.

7.    Hourly + Cost-plus
Here, the professional charges by the hour when meeting the client, preparing specifications and budgeting, however, she manages the purchase of items through the cost-plus system.

8.    Retail or commission
This means designers earn a commission based on the volume of products sold and offered by certain manufacturers.  The commissions are included in the price of the items.

A professional interior designer in Seattle is worth her experience. She will help you improve your choices and avoid expensive mistakes.  She leads you to the best options and works to blend you choices into a meaningful and practical space.

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The initial meeting with a Seattle interior designer can be both exciting and overwhelming. However, it is important to communicate as best you can and share your views, opinions and design expectations. To fully understand your personal style, an interior designer needs you to be prepared with both information as well as examples of your personal design preferences. Here are a few tips to keep in mind while meeting with a professional designer:

Share your failures:
It may seem embarrassing, but sharing your failed decorating attempts with a professional can be incredibly valuable. By showing examples of what you have tried in the past but found to not work for you and your family, a designer can move forward with design alternatives that will fix any existing problems with layout, room organization, furniture choices and even wall colors.

Share your lifestyle:
One of the most important pieces of information that you can offer your interior designer is an in-depth description of how, when and why you use your personal space. For example, are you seeking only family-friendly design ideas? Are you wishing to live a “greener” lifestyle with only sustainable, all natural materials? Or are you running a business from your home and need an office among your living space? All of these situations call for inventive and innovative interior design and by having this information ready prior to your consultation you can help your designer fully understand your needs.

Share your inspirations:
In addition to sharing your failed decorating attempts and lifestyle needs, it is also important to share the things, places and people that inspire you. An interior designer’s first responsibility is to make sure that your space reflects who you are. You can help with this step by supplying your designer with some visual examples of your own personal inspirations. Share with your designer anything that affects you creatively, emotionally or spiritually. These objects are not necessarily accessories or artifacts but can be anything from photos of your personal travels, articles from your favorite decorating magazines or even a few pages from your favorite coffee table book. The more examples you give the more “you” your space will be.

Share your budget:
All Seattle interior design firms will need an approximate budget when working through the initial details. It may not seem important to have a budget amount for the first few consultations but the truth is price point matters and is quite often the deciding factor when choosing anything from furniture and accessories to building materials and lighting fixtures.

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Flea markets and vintage furnishings shops are a very good option to find that piece of furniture or design item we have been looking for so long, which was either hard to find, or simply too expensive. Flea markets are the ideal place to shop when your budget is limited. You could find some lovely treasures. Patience and cleverness are the keys to a successful transaction.

Flea markets owe their name to the fact that people usually look like fleas from a distance. Also, some believe that the name originated from the fact that the pieces of furniture bought actually came with fleas. This is not so much the case nowadays. Flea markets and vintage furnishings shops have come a long way. Now everything is much more organized and regulated, and in many flea markets you can even pay with a credit card. Also, many modern flea markets have delivery services, so the pieces of furniture you want can be delivered right to your home.

In Paris there are a well established and very famous series of such markets called Les Puces.  Here both permanent booths as well as an ever changing weekly array of sellers come together to offer things from frumpy to fabulous.  The markets are  hundreds of years old but began more officially in their current form around 1880.    Many a treasure has graced the covers of famous international magazines which began its voyage in these humble and jumbled beginnings.  The thrill is in the search and many make the pilgrimage on a weekly basis. I myself have spent many days on each of my trips to Paris combing the markets for both fun and treasures.  On one such trip, I fell deeply in love with a beautiful crystal chandelier.  Amazingly, I was told that it had just been sold…as luck would have it to a colleague of mine from right here in Seattle of all places.  Great minds think alike…even in the Puce in Paris.

The idea is to take all the time in the world, to thoroughly check the pieces of furniture you are interested in. If they are damaged, they could probably be repaired by a carpenter, and for a small fee, you get to save thousands of dollars. Also, if you’re handy repairing things, it is known to be great work therapy, to relieve stress. Wood is a very noble material to work with; if you are kind to it, it will respond beautifully.

It is crucial that the piece you acquire does not carry larvae of insects. Some insects feed on wood, and if an infestation occurs, it can very well end with your home’s foundations. The wisest thing to do is to leave the piece in quarantine, in the garage, for instance, before granting it a place inside your home.

Tables, chairs, sofas, armchairs, beds, closets, mantelpieces; you name it. Any L.A., New York, Miami, or Seattle interior designer would agree that the right item could be a stylish addition to your home; some may even give it the right touch of distinction. Patience and a keen eye can prove to be very useful when it comes to the search for the perfect design item.

One of the biggest challenges faced by interior designers in Seattle, or anywhere,  is dealing with small rooms. Knowing what to do with furniture and decorations is too much of a hassle when there isn’t enough room. If this is an issue that affects your interior design options, here is some good news: size doesn’t matter after all; creativity does. Here are four great tips that will give you the answers you need to solve your room size issues:

The Secret Behind Colors
Light, cool colors make a space feel open, airy, bigger, and brighter. Combining shades of cream and light blue is just one of the great color schemes that can open up a small room. It is all about illusion. You can paint your wall trim and moldings a lighter color than your wall which will make the wall appear further back, making the room, thus, seem bigger.

Clear up the Clutter
Too much stuff always makes a small space feel cramped. With things neatly arranged and out of sight, the space that is in view will feel orderly and open. Furniture poses yet another challenge. With furniture and accessories blocking the view into a room and out to open spaces, a room will look smaller. By moving furniture out and away from walkways, you’ll open up the space and make it feel larger, especially if you can see the floor. Setting your furniture at an angle works because the longest straight line in any given room is its diagonal. When you place your furniture at an angle, it leads the eye along the longer distance, rather than the shorter wall. You can even use the space behind the piece in the corner for additional storage.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall
Mirrors are one of the best tricks to make your room look larger. Use a focal point and angle your mirrors towards it, which will give the illusion of depth. Mirrors also reflect both natural and artificial light to make a room brighter during the day and night. They bounce light deep into the room, making it appear larger. This is especially effective near a window so the outdoors can be reflected. Mirrors on walls and glass tabletops will make it seem like there’s a more open flow.

Let There be Light!
Lighting is a key element in opening up a space. Any room will look larger if it’s well-lit, either by natural light or artificial lighting. If you have access to natural light, make full use of it. Bring it into your home through windows. Pull back window coverings or use sheer ones to bring more light in. Open up the windows to let the light of the outdoors into the space, as well. By letting the natural light flow into the room, it will open up the room and make it look larger. If you do not have a lot of natural light, you can add some lighting features to the room to make it look bigger. Don’t forget to use a bit of up lighting for dramatic effect and the creation of a false sense of space.

Scale
The size of the furnishings you place in a room also has an effect on the perception of size of the space.  You want to be sure not to use too many over scaled pieces in a small space.  Opt for more petite chairs with light visual lines and colors as opposed to heavy dark pieces that are chunky or overly large for the space.  It is the difference between the furnishings of baroque Europe and those of the directoire period: think visually light in most pieces.  You may need one or two heavier looking pieces to visually anchor the space and keep it from wanting to metaphorically float away, but in general lighter pieces will serve such a space much better.

You love your house or your apartment, the way it has been designed, its functionality, the location, the neighborhood, the whole package. Besides, it is really luminous, and there is lot of wood and other noble materials that make it very special, to you, and to the local house market. The only down side of the property is the rather limited space, and the fact that the rooms do not lend themselves to big or showy furniture. But, as interior designers in Seattle advise, there is always a way to disguise the not so positive features of a property, and enhance others, so that, in the total balance, there will be more pros than cons for the potential buyer. And even if you are planning to keep the house, learn how to make the most of it, accentuate the functional and positive aspects and produce a positive impact in your life, just by considering these few tricks provided here.

Definitely, drop strong color combination and shocking wallpaper patterns. No matter how big of a fan you are of strong carrot orange, for instance, leave it for small details, or other objects, not for the walls. White walls are always a classic. But, as any parent with small kids, or pet owner, knows, it is very hard to keep them spotless. And even so, plain white can sometimes get dreary. Light colors are to be preferred, and among these, cool colors over warm colors. A light blue, or a light green is to be preferred over pink or light orange.

As for wallpaper, it is to be avoided in small rooms. But if you insist and you definitely dig it, or because the walls are too damaged to just paint, and you need a thicker coating, choose a textured, light colored wallpaper, instead of one with strong patterns, such as flowers, arabesque designs, lines, or geometric figures.

Lose a few objects. There isn’t a more certain way to make a room look small than to have a huge collection of small items clutter shelves, chests, or mantelpieces. For instance, If you are a sucker for family photos, instead of keeping a multitude of small photo frames, try to make a digital collage of several, so as to keep them all in one frame, or put together a family album. Just face it; it is time to let go. Some of the ornaments must definitely go. But, don’t get rid of them, just save them for the time you get to move to a bigger house.

Choose your furniture wisely. Without necessarily having to resort to a minimalist style, choose light, modern, functional furniture. Leave the Louis XV style for another occasion, and prefer an aluminum and glass organizer, for instance, to keep your TV, sound system, and your DVD’s in one place. They are easier to clean, and they will not take up so much precious space, your most scarce asset. Also, arrange the furniture trying to propitiate easy circulation in the house. Try not to block areas close to doors and think about the way you usually walk around the house. Leave these areas free to facilitate fluid circulation.

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Here you can find some questions whose answers may help you when decorating your new Condo or redecorating your house. A well designed home can have profound impacts on your day to day happiness and well being so it is worth spending time on.

For this exercise, first you need to give some thought to the spaces in your house or Condominium, then you have to ask yourself these questions in order to get the answers you are looking for:

- How do I want my home to look?
You may want your house to look like an Arabian palace in the middle of the city, needing lots of fillagree wood screens or mosaics; or maybe you want your spaces to be a cozy place that reminds you of a cherished time past. You can do it the way you want it. This first question will put everything into perspective. Every other decision on the interior design of your house is going to be based on what you want your house to represent.

- Who are going to be the inhabitants of my home?
You have to think about how many people are going to spend time in your residence and the things they enjoy doing. It is basic for everyone to have their very own personal space. For example, how many kids are going to be regularly in the household, or will an inlaw need a place to take a nap every once in a while? Each particular case will determine a change in the interior design of your home. Make sure you make the right decisions, your house helps define you.

- Do I really need to use all those items for my home?
Your space must be respected; being in a small room surrounded by old and dusty electronic devices is probably a good definition for angst. Try not to keep lots of old equipment, patio furniture, and unnecessary decorations. We recommend that you sit on your couch for a while and think about this. You have to reach a balance; think about what you really need, about what’s useful for you, and good looking for your house. Then you must clear your life of everything that doesn’t seem to be that important.

- Do I need professional help?
You may need some professional advice when it comes to choosing the right colors for your walls, fabrics for your curtains, the proper position for a bookcase, or an armchair. Any interior designer in Seattle, New York, or Miami will tell you that the money you spend on design is money well invested.We often have answers for every question regarding your house. Once you already have a general perspective; a professional opinion can be just what you need to balance your needs, your desires, and your budget. Feel free to give us a call.  Amely Wurmbrand Designs specializes in helping to guide you through this important process.

These questions are just the start. In the end, these questions are just the start to making your home the one you always dreamed of.

The continuing changes in the way people decide to decorate their homes are, naturally, the passion of any interior designer. It is also a very interesting subject in general. Not that there is an interior designer in every one of us, but most of us do take notice of the way a room is set up, the objects or items that stand out, the prevailing color pattern. One interesting trend all over the United States and relevant to interior design in Seattle, as well, is the comeback of the personal memorabilia style.

Remember your grandma’s house with all the doilies she made displayed on the armchairs and thousands of picture frames all over the room?

Let’s say you’re a fisherman, and you’ve traveled the world to find interesting fishing experiences. You would probably have memorabilia such as “ obviously and a bit boringly “ photographs. However, there are other interesting things you might have. Let’s say you picked up a fishing rod made by a native in the Amazon: let’s say it’s a wooden rod with fishing line made from palm strings:  interesting? Well, what if we were to clean it up, perhaps put a coat of varnish on it, find a nice base or pedestal and make it a part of your living room decor? This would be an interesting-looking conversation piece that would be related to a part of your life. Now imagine filling the room with such items.

This personal memorabilia would speak of the homeowner’s trip through life; his or her passions, hobbies, discoveries, successes, adventures. The intention is to bring the visitor into the life of the homeowner in a beautiful and interesting way and, at the same time, give the room a unique and appealing ambiance.

Many people display personal memorabilia, but few know how to make it interesting to outsiders and fewer still know when to stop with the picture frames. In truth, we all have many things that would make interesting decor items- but it takes an interior designer to pick the right stuff!