A Timeless Transitional Masterpiece by Marla Schrank Interiors

Creating timeless, artful designs comes naturally for San Francisco interior designer Marla Schrank. The key to Marla’s success is her strong emphasis on collaborating closely with her clients.  She creates highly functional spaces that reflect her clients’ individual tastes and lifestyle. Marla Schrank Interiors is home to designers that a fluent in a wide range of styles, from classic to contemporary. A native of Boston, Marla studied art, psychology, and communications at the University of New Hampshire and received an Interior Architecture degree at UC Berkeley. She has over 10 years of experience working at prominent design firms in the Bay Area.

One of Marla’s stand-out projects is the grand Presidio Heights Edwardian home. Built in the 1930′s, her client wanted to do an extensive remodel to reflect a contemporary style, while still preserving the integrity of original traditional details. The home has tremendous personality, while maintaining a level of poise and sophistication. A serene environment was created through combining the elements of light, space, and comfort. Marla has created a transitional masterpiece by combining the best of contemporary and traditional styles.

This transitional sitting area has a modern minimal design, opening up to a stylish outdoor sitting area in the center of the home.

This unqiue outdoor patio has a pleasant sitting area, with a stylish wood-paneled staircase leading to an upper deck.

This strikingly contemporary kitchen features a sleek geometric design, with functional wooden stools, and a gorgeous modern crystal light fixture.

This gorgeous living room has warm neutral tones, with dazzling golden lamp accents and fresh flowers. An intriguing painting adds an artistic element the space. Nevertheless, the room is comfortable yet sophisticated.

This stairwell evokes the senses, with an Art-Deco inspired theme. Playful leopard print carpet pairs well with an over sized red-bordered mirror.

Preserving traditional elements of the home, this reading room is a gracious nod to the past. Featuring classic rich wood-paneled walls, and a cozy fireplace. Traditional wall decor and salmon toned furniture adds subtle flair to the room.

This girl’s bedroom is fit for a princess. Featuring lovely pink walls and accents, with plush rugs. Open space allows room for children to play safely.

Trendy Colors in Interior Design - Kelly Green

In home decor, color trends come and go, sometimes faster than you can bat your eyes at. Fortunately, kelly green is a hue that comes and goes on a regular basis, making it a surprisingly safe choice for home accessories and furniture items, especially if you absolutely love the hue. Here are a few tips and tricks on kelly green home accessories and how to incorporate this hue into your space.

All About Kelly Green

Kelly green is a unique color and it can actually vary slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer, though it’s origins are entirely the same. It is defined as a strong yellow green hue, according to the Merriam Webster Dictionary. Though the name for this color originated in Ireland, it’s no surprise that Americans have embraced this color in their home decor on everything from walls to furniture to home accessories.

Tips and Tricks for Using Kelly Green in Your Home Decor

Kelly green is a color that is meant to stand out. Therefore, when you’re working with this hue you’ll want to allow focus to remain on it. This means creating a color palette in which the kelly green is the most vibrant and vocal of all the colors. In other words: try to pair your chosen shade of kelly green with neutrals such as cream or white. If you absolutely must pair it with other colors in your home decor, consider cobalt blue, turquoise, aqua or yellow, all of which will still allow the kelly green to shine and draw the eye in.

If you want to create a focal point in a room, kelly green is a great way to do it. For example, you may consider having your dining table lacquered in a kelly green hue. Pair the table with crisp white chairs and other white furniture, elegant wood floors and creamy walls to draw the eye to the gathering place of the home: the dining table. This same concept can be used in other rooms of the home, such as the bedroom or living room.

Depending on how bold you’re willing to go, you may want to consider using wallpaper that features a beautiful shade of kelly green. Wallpaper is all the rage in home decor, so it’s a great choice not only for updating your home, but also for adding visual interest to your space.

If you’re on a tight budget, then perhaps painting an existing piece of furniture is the way to go. Whether it’s an accent table, coffee table or your dining room chairs, painting furniture is a great way to bring a new color into your home decor.

Kelly green is a unique color and though it’s particularly trendy currently, it will continue to wax and wane in popularity in the home decor world. Therefore, it’s a surprisingly safe choice if you’re looking to create a space you can live in for several years before needing to update again. 

Jackson Hole Contemporary Log Cabin

Jackson Hole interior designer Jennifer Visosky founded Grace Home Design, Inc. with the simple mission to infuse Western interiors with contemporary design philosophies. Taking inspiration from the art world, high end fashion, and the global green movement, emphasis is put on replacing the heavy nature of the traditional mountain home with more breathable and organic design. Jennifer has been assisting both homeowners and business owners to express their individuality and realize their vision since her company was opened in 2004.

A recent renovation completed by Grace Home Design Inc., is a perfect example of how Jennifer is updating the interior design of mountain homes and turning them into contemporary masterpieces. Lets explore the completed redesign of a log cabin into a mountain contemporary log cabin paradise.

Jackson Hole Contemporary Log Cabin

 The living room design of this log cabin is now contemporary chic, boasting ample seating for entertainment, furry mountainous home accessories, and decor you would necessarily expect to see in a room with exposed logs – yet, it works perfectly.

 The dining area of the cabin features a modern white table, with luxurious and comfortable looking fur lined chairs, topped off with a large unique pendant light to warmly illuminate the space at night.

 The master bedroom design is quite vibrant and serene. The crisp white walls offset by bold wall decoration, minimal furniture, and large bed offer a very clean yet still mountainous feel.

 Also present in the master bedroom is a little seating area complete with 2 benches and dressed up with wall art that reminds you that you’re in the mountains.

 The bathroom design of this cabin is enough to make you forget where you actually are. A large vanity complete with mirrors ideal for an upscale dressing room, large open shower, and bold red tile accent wall compliment the space nicely by adding a pop of color.

Playful Colors in a Modern San Diego Loft By Mia Rao Design

Mia Rao Design was founded in 2001 as a Chicago-based, full-service interior design firm dedicated to transforming residential and commercial interiors. Interior designer, Mia Rao creates livable modern and classic interior designs by drawing from the personal history and lifestyle of her clients. The objective for every design project by Mia Rao Design is to achieve well-balanced interiors that are both functional and unique.

It is easy to see that this is exactly what was done in the project bellow. Take in this stunning collection of photographs of this San Diego Loft that is an excellent representation of her firm and her fabulous work!

The vivid colors of the rug and couch create an upscale atmosphere in this loft living room.

The rich, dark colors of the bar stools contrast nicely against the kitchen island.

The glass doors with embedded bear-grass opens up to reveal the bedroom.

The graphic artwork complements the patterns of the Maharam textiles on the bed.

The wall light art, arching blue ceiling, and graphic art in this loft entryway all come together to evoke an artistic and modern ambiance.

The colorful sleeper sofa adds a touch of softness to this modern home office.

The cobalt colored wall brings out the details in the paintings and color of the lacquered cabinets.

Let us know which of these designs or home accessories was your favorite in the comments section. To see more of Mia Rao Design’s gorgeous work, visit their portfolio here.

Lemon Yellow Home Decor

Retro inspired looks, including retro colors, are coming back into play in home decor this year. Don’t be surprised to see lemon yellow home accessories and decor items popping up just about everywhere. Fortunately, lemon yellow is one of those hues that is easy to incorporate into just about any space. Here are a few tips and tricks on lemony yellow home accessories and how to incorporate them into your space.

Tips and Tricks for Yellow Home Decor

One of the easiest ways to make lemon yellow truly stand out in a room is to pair it with a neutral color. Gray is all the rage currently in home decor and it pairs perfectly with a crisp lemon yellow. Of course, gray isn’t for everyone. Other neutrals to consider include cream, white or black.

Lemon yellow is a bolder choice when it comes to the color yellow in general. For this reason, you can’t necessarily use it as a neutral in the same way that you might use a light buttery yellow. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t use it in a beautiful or unique way in your home. Try to think outside the box. For example, lemon yellow cabinetry in your kitchen or a bold lemon yellow lacquered table (or other piece of furniture) in your dining room. A little yellow can go a long way!

Lemon Yellow Home Decor

Blend your yellow tones with a complimentary wood tone, which can help tone down the look and allow you to use more yellow in a particular space. For example, lemon yellow can go well with a medium oak wood or even a light bamboo color.

Finally, consider decorating your home a bit more neutral and then using lemon yellow as your accent color for your home accessories and decor. This is a great way to create various focal points throughout your home. For example, you could line your fireplace mantel with lemon yellow vases in a variety of shapes and sizes. This adds visual interest and adds the lemon yellow hue but prevents it from being too visually overwhelming. This is especially true if the space is neutral, such as cream colored walls and a beautiful white marble fireplace surround.

Lemon yellow is a bold color and therefore it’s certainly not for everyone. Don’t be afraid to use lemon yellow in your home decor, but be prepared for some less-than-colorful comments from some of your guests. Just remember, this is your home, not theirs! Lemon yellow is a great choice and it can be a great way to bring a touch of sunshine into your space.  

Inspired and want to make your home more lively? Check out some of the wall art selections to freshen up your interior!

Five Tips to Creating Coastal Interiors

Hello Arcadian Home readers! My name is Chris Givan and I am the owner and head interior designer of Christopher James Interiors, a full service interior design firm located in Orange County, California. I am happy to be guest blogging today on a topic that our firm is very familiar with…coastal interiors. As an Orange County interior designer, we have had the opportunity to work and design many homes on the coast.  Today I’m going to give you some of our simple design tips that you can easily incorporate into your own coastal interiors… even if you don’t live on the coast. 

Blue and White Color

This always adds a nautical and coastal feel to a room. The striped rug, coral on the coffee table and ship wheel on the right side of the room add the finishing touches.

Sisal Rug and Sea Life Throw Pillows

Guest Post: Five Tips to Creating Coastal Interiors

This burlap and white beach cottage is complete with the throw pillows and sisal rug. The rope tied table lamp and star fish in a wooden bowl underneath the coffee table enhance the look.

Driftwood on the Beach

This simple tip is great to add an architectural and rustic feel to your coastal interior. Leaning in the corner (as shown above), mounted on the wall or displayed on a console table.

Ropes

The addition of rope to an interior always adds a coastal and nautical flare. I love the way the dock ties are attached to the steps with the rope as the railing. I’ve also seen rope used as a table lamp or even a picture frame.

Wainscoting

This always adds a nice touch to any coastal interior painted in a crisp white. I love the way it creates a ledge for the black and white ocean prints. Images 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

I hope this gives you some inspiration for your coastal inspired rooms. I’d love to hear some of your ideas when creating a beachy and coastal interior.  Send me your thoughts and stop by Christopher James Interiors for more interior design inspiration.