Reclaiming Wood in Interiors

I am loving the look of reclaimed wood furniture and flooring.  It's so natural and "green" that it makes me happy to simply see the wonderful pieces cropping up everywhere.  I noticed the reclaimed wood being featured all over the Las Vegas Winter Market this year.  I particularly loved everything in the Dovetail Showroom, which featured much of this style.  Some of it is very rustic and provencal while others look cleaner and washed in the Scandinavian style.

Image from Dovetail

As I looked through my magazines this last weekend, I especially liked the spread in the April issue of House Beautiful called "The New Look of Wood" with categories of reclaimed, washed, tinted, graphic, and white.  The pictures are so inspiring and exquisite that I recommend picking up this issue.  I give you just a sampling here to whet your appetite.

Images by Rebecca Ward

More on the "New and Improved"

Last month, I posted this about the improvements I have been making to this blog.  I have been taking a 7 week course called Blogging Your Way hosted by Holly Becker of Decor8 and co-taught with Leslie of A Creative Mint.  It was so helpful to learn tips from such successful bloggers and get feedback from all the students in the class.  (If you are interested, check back with Decor8 in August when the fall class is announced).  As you can see I have made massive changes to the blog even in the past few weeks!

Here are a few of the changes you may have noticed:

I added pages with links to them running below my new header.  Besides the standard "Home" page that I have had all along, I have added:

Portfolio
This page will showcase some of my interior design projects that I have highlighted in my blog and can also be seen at my business website: www.rwarddesign.com

 Image by Rebecca Ward

Columns
Inspired from the class, I have started two monthly columns: 5 Favorites - a column where I post some of my monthly favorite things and Design:Sacramento - a column where I highlight some local businesses that I have found useful in my interior design business.

Image from lumens

Worth Checking Out
This is where I feature advertisers and links to various blogs.  You will also find badges here to use if you would like to link back to Design R

Labels
An easy way to find a past posting, organized by topic
Bookstore
I started a bookstore on Amazon that I will post most of the design books I own and others I recommend or may mention in my blog.  It's easy to find and you can purchase it here!  So easy!
Contact
If you have any questions or comments, I provided my email and a link to my website

You may also notice that the blog template and colors have been adjusted as well as the header.  I feel like I have tweaked this blog into a good place now and I think it will be like this for a while.  However, I'm sure down the road you will find me craving some change, just like rearranging the furniture in a room.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Chandelier Love

You know I love a classy chandelier to add a little jewelry to a space. I love this hand blown glass chandelier from William Sonoma Home.

I thought this lantern was also fun for an entry.

It wouldn't hurt to at some of these glass base table lamps to dress up a hallway table or buffet.

Would you use any of these in your home?

Images from William Sonoma Home http://www.wshome.com/

Noteworthy Blogs

I have recently added to my noteworthy blogroll some new blogs, 5 of which I will highlight today.

Design Evolution

Yahgie

 Lanalou Style 

Blushing and Sweet

Georgianna Lane 

I hope you enjoy these as I have!

Design: Sacramento

I decided to start a column for my local readers and anyone interested in Sacramento.  I will highlight some great companies and finds around Sacramento that I have found useful in my profession or worth taking notice.

Today's Sacramento Source is Lumens Light and Living.

I have been familiar with Lumens since the company's conception.  This great lighting showroom used to be housed at the firm of Benning Design Associates, where I did my college internship and worked for a time.  At the time, the lighting showroom was a part of the firm.  The lighting showroom portion of the firm was sold and Lumens was born.  Soon, it was too large for its location and moved not far away to the heart of Sacramento's artsy midtown.

This great showroom is known for their contemporary lines of lighting but carries most styles as well as ceiling fans, some furniture and accessories.  Lumens is definitely one of Sacramento's best sources for lighting.

Images from Lumens.com

Before and After: Exterior of the Scott Residence

I know you all love a good before and after post!  While we are waiting for the interior shots of the Scott Residence to arrive, I will show you the exterior before and after.  This house is cute and cottage style but upon purchasing it, my client agreed that there were a few things that the exterior needed to improve on.  The ladscaping was overgrown and we later discovered a rotting tree!  The house got a nice paint job, I added the black shutters to complete the cottage look and gutters were added where missing or replaced.  We also added House numbers, a new porch light and mailbox.  The bench and railings also got a fresh coat of paint.

 Before

After

The paint colors used on the exterior are from Dunn Edwards.  The body color of the house it Inside Passage with trim in Swiss Coffee.  The front door is Black Bean, although it is usually covered by the screen door.  Black Bean has hints of plum which are carried into the interior, as you will see later on.

It's best when colors on the outside of a house are an introduction to what you will see inside.  Do you agree?

Peek-a-boo!

This weekend I had a photo shoot at one of my projects.  I won't get the photos back for a few weeks but I thought I would give you a little sneak peek with a few shots that I took while I was there.

As you can see, I'm still tweaking my blog template and header and I have added one of these photos to my latest version of my header. Stay tuned for more to come!

Photos by Rebecca Ward