Home Decor: Five Questions with Top Designers

Spotlight on Tabitha Evans of Tabitha Evans Design

1) What is your personal design style at home?
Eclectic -  My husband I have traveled and collected interesting pieces from all over the world.

2) I notice the Room +24 and the Room +Box choices on your website, what inspired this intriguing approach to Design?  I think everyone deserves great design! I put together some affordable options.

Room + Box - Some people love DIY and need a little assistance. This option allows them to shop at their leisure or when their budget permits without compromising their design.  

Room + 24 - It is simply a 24 hour make over.  We use what the client already possesses and take the budget they give us to update/modify their current look. These are two great options for cost effective solutions and can be given as a gift also!

3) Are you involved in Fashion and Film Communities, as well as, Design? I love fashion & film.  I try to attend fashion events when available!  I think it's important to know and follow trends.  I also do staging for TV commercials, films, etc.  My husband has a production company and I had the opportunity to work with him on all sorts of fun projects.

4) What inspires you?
I find inspiration all over!  My mentor, Lynne Beyer continues to be a huge inspiration in my life.  My wonderful husband and beautiful children inspire me daily.

5) Can you give us a quick, simple Design Tip we can use right away?
One thing I notice people have trouble with is clutter.  My tip, things that clutter up deal with it as soon as you get it in your hands.  Example: mail - look through it and throw out what you aren't keeping as soon as you walk in...don't set on the counter.  Put your bills where they belong and magazines in their proper holder/place.

Contact Tabitha Evans at (480) 236-3784  or by email tab@tabithaevansdesign.com and visit her website: Tabitha Evans Design. 

Visit our Website at Shop.StatewideLighting.com or LookatMyFire.com

Home Decor: Five Questions with Top Designers

Spotlight on Local Designer, Tamara Johnson of Together Interiors, LLC

1) It seems your passion in Design flourishes in Fabrics. How did your love and expertise in Fabrics emerge?

I started out in the furniture industry over 20 years ago and just loved working with fabrics putting together fun palates with mixed patterns, textures, colors, etc.   I then expanded my practice to be an expert window treatment design to include custom bedding and furniture.  I have one of the largest private fabric/trim libraries in the Scottsdale area which allows me to help client’s find the perfect fabric for any application.

2) What’s new for fall with Textiles in Design?

Large Ikat, stripes, and bold colors continue to be a huge success.

Black/Greys blended with Citron, Orange, and Cobalt Blues are really fun for the pop that every space needs.

3) What are your thoughts about Fabric as Wallpaper?

I grew up with my mother using fabric as wallpaper so I think it is really cool.  It adds another dimension to a wall treatment that Faux just can’t do.  Also adds some sound absorption so it is great for bedrooms and entertainment spaces.

 4) What inspires you?

Every day as I go into client’s homes and then go out shopping – the combinations are endless and exciting. I just love finding new things and creating unique arrangements in client’s home.  Sometimes it is just the smallest thing that I find can be the center of a space.   

5) Can you give us a quick Design tip that we can implement right away?

Placing furniture or an area rug on an angle to give the room a fresh perspective is just a simple way to make a huge change by simple moving something on an angle.

Contact Tamara Johnson at (480) 595-1010 or via her website, Together Interiors, LLC 

Visit our Website at Shop.StatewideLighting.com or LookatMyFire.com

Home Decor: Five Questions with Top Designers

Spotlight on: Kate Smith of Sensational Color

1) What is your personal design style at home?
Over the years my design style has evolved from a mix of treasured pieces that each told a story through color and styles to where it is now. Streamlined, clean, nature-based colors and elements punctuated by color. As my inner world has become more calm and grace-filled so has my environment.

2) How do you interpret Color Style...is it based on preference or objective?

I uncover my client’s style through a combination of looking and listening. I find that most people have a good idea in mind but don’t know how to articulate it in design and color. My goal is to get “the beautiful vision they have in their mind and have it show up in their home.” By becoming good at listening actively as they, I often intuitively see what they see in their mind before they even show me the first inspiration piece or room image.

3) What are the most important factors in assessing a Color Strategy?
Balance. As humans we are always seeking balance both consciously and subconsciously. This carries into design and color. Think about how varying amounts and types of color -- warm and cool, light and dark, dull and intense – can create harmony or discord.  It is the characteristics of the color even more than the specific colors that I focus on to create a successful

color strategy.

4) In addition to Sensational Color...What inspires you?
Art! I enjoy simply being in the presence of great art and have spent many hours sitting in a museum soaking up my surroundings. I also enjoy creating art, which for me is a very intimate dialog between the world I see and how I see the world. I create to understand and see not so show or sell.

My love of color and my color-sense ability has always been primarily informed by art. All of the colorist I admire most are either wonderful artist in his or her own right or ardent admirers of art.

Making a few dozen color decisions for a 9’ x 12’ space becomes much easier once you have seen, studied and been inspired by the thousands of color decisions a fine artist has made in creating a 9” x 12” painting. 

5) Can you provide a simple color tip that we can implement right away?
Up the sizzle or sophistication in any design by standing back and checking to see that you have value contrast and balance. 

Value is the relative lightness or darkness of a color. One of the mistakes people make is to use colors that are too similar in value when trying to create distinctive spaces. A common mistake is too try to match your colors too closely rather than layering slightly different tones and shades from the same color family, which is much more interesting to the eye.

Color or value contrast gives a room more definition and formality but even a space that uses softer colors to create a soothing environment benefits from adding contrast and making sure it is balanced in a very natural way.

Keep the majority of darker hues lower in the room, the mid-tones in the middle and lighter colors higher. This duplicates the way we are used to seeing color in nature and there is a comfort in that familiarity. The natural balance adds to the soothing qualities of low-key colors. 

Contact Kate Smith of Sensational Color at (631) 630-6263 or via email at ksmith@sensationalcolor.com. Visit our website at Shop.StatewideLighting.com or LookatMyFire.com

Home Decor: Five Questions with Top Designers

Spotlight on: Heather Bates
H. Bates Interior Design

1) What is your personal Design style at home?My personal design style is a mash up of traditional, transitional, and eclectic. I grew up with British Colonial influences.

2) Did any specific family members influence your choice to get into Design, if not, what did? The females in my family have a long line of artistic ability. This came out in painting and music and tasteful decor. Pretty much from young childhood, I was always thinking on how to improve my spaces and moving items around, repainting furniture and such/. I dabbled in oil painting and was musically inclined. I sang a lot in choirs, and at one time played three instruments: The flute, Violin and Piano, the last of which was my main one.

3) I notice from your portfolio that your designs are minimalistic, i.e. beautiful, purposefully placed pieces with significant space in your total Design. Is that characteristic of your Design style?I'm glad you could figure that out! Yes, I prefer clean site lines and am not one to keep a collection, or have lots of accessories. What I do have is a lot of framed artwork (probably too much) and family heirlooms that have a certain place in my home. I even keep my electrical kitchen appliances in the pantry when not being used. I can't even watch "Hoarders" on TV, it makes my skin crawl and I feel instantly overwhelmed by ALL THE STUFF.

4) What inspires you?I am inspired by color and what I see as the miraculous work of Mother Nature. Design is in everything from flower petals to the clouds in the sky. My expression of this inspiration is in the full effect of the depth of color, intricacies of design - say in molding,trims or inlaid furniture, and how it relates to our interior and exterior spaces.


5) Can you give us a quick Design tip that we can implement right away?Break up the monotony of your space by using one item that doesn't normally belong there. This doesn't have to be large. It could be something in a totally unrelated color, or from your travels. You'll get comments and maybe even have a story to tell about how you acquired the piece.

Contact Heather Bates of H. Bates Interior Design at (703) 625-0031 or via her profile on Houzz.  Visit our website: ShopStatewideLighting.com or LookatMyFire.com

Home Decor: Five Questions with Top Designers

Spotlight on Designer: 
Suzanne Lasky, S Interior Design

1) What is your personal design style at home? (I read your article ‘What is your Design Style’ and I really want to share with our readers your personal preferences, especially as it relates to your affinity for our four legged friends)

My personal design style is what I call warm contemporary.  Clean lines, with modern organic materials such as cork flooring, recycled woods, linens, woven shades, bright whimsical art and accessories.  My four legged family members are always kept in mind when selection of materials and finishes are made.  The cork flooring hides scratch marks and masks noise from little nails clip clopping about.  The cat’s scratching area in the great room is a modern design that almost looks like an accessory item.  The sheepskin ‘throws’ on the leather dining chairs provide comfort for the people and a great nesting option for the cat.  So the pets can look out one of the windows in the great room, the woven shade is raised 30”.  This way they can look out without potentially destroying the shade.  There is a small wool rug placed in front of the window too.

2) What parts of the home are most challenging for you and why?

The open area that often is above the top of the kitchen cabinets is the most challenging.  When I first began my design career people were fond of filling them with lots of faux foliage (what I call dust collectors) and other objects. Most of the time the scale and proportion of the items were too small. When tasked with accessorizing  this area , I choose well scaled accessory items that are carefully grouped and not over done.

3) How do you overcome those challenges for a clients’ successful experience?
For this challenge the best way to address it is by selecting and placing the accessories so they can see in real time, in the actual spaces.

4) What inspires you?
The world around us is inspiration!  Nature is a great teacher of how different colors and textures work together.  I am an avid reader of trade magazines, blogs, and  design related web sites.

5) Can you give us a quick design tip that we can implement right away?
Change out your accent pillows or add some .  This can be done in common living spaces such as the great room, as well as in the bedrooms.   New sizes, shapes, fabrics and colors on the accent pillows can give a space an entirely new look and feel for a minimal investment.

Contact Suzanne Lasky (480) 220-4659 or via S Interior Design. You can view more of her work on Houzz or her Interior Design Gallery

Visit our website at Shop.StatewideLighting.com or LookatMyFire.com

Home Decor: Five Questions with Top Designers

Welcome Back to the Statewide Lighting Blog!  In this series, we'll be asking five questions of top designers and remodelers locally, nationally and from all over the world to bring you the best insights for creating an interior/exterior design that you will love.  Each Designer will also provide a simple design tip that you can use right away.

Spotlight on VITA BURDI, Certified Kitchen and Bath Designer Remodeler, DJ's Home Improvements

1) What is your design style? Whatever style helps my clients to fall in love with their homes again... 2) How do you access/interpret a Clients interior style? Reviewing their home, "LISTENING" to their hopes and dreams for the rooms they want to create. 3) What are the most important factors in creating a compelling design? Color plays a huge part in any design it is the touch and sensation that wooes you and beckons you to enter... 4) What inspires you? Life itself is a palette of excitement, I love to play with lighting, to give a pop of color where none was expected, to introduce a prism to reflect light....awe inspiring lighting is the crowning touch for most rooms 5) Can you provide a simple design tip that someone can implement right away? Yes, only fill your room with items that sparkle and give you great pleasure to look at. A vintage find at a garage sale can be as charming as an original masterpiece, so have fun with the design.

Contact Ms. Burdi at (516) 775-8696

Visit our website at Shop.Statewidelighting.com or Lookatmyfire.com

Photos by Matthew Burdi

LED - Now or Later?

LED lamps are the new wave in lamps. Lasting 10 times longer than incandescent, no mercury like CFL's, the color is almost as good, lumen output is close to the same and some are dimmable. So why aren't we buying them? Mostly the answer I hear is because they are expensive. LED, the saying "You get what you pay for" really rings true. Good LED diodes are in good lamps, cheap LED diodes are in cheap lamps.

Lets take that argument and look at it. As a rule in technology everything usually gets cheaper every year, BUT it only drops approximately 5 -10 percent per year. The energy savings for one LED lamp is approximately 80 percent over conventional incandescent. If you are one of those that would like to wait for the cheap price you will be missing out on 5 to 6 years of 80% savings. The amount of money saved over the next 6 years well outweighs the cost if purchased now and you will still have 10 to 15 years life left on the bulb. You will never recoup the loss. These lamps are ideal for homes with the lower 8' or 9' ceilings because the heat from LED lamps is far less, saving money with airconditioning cost. Homes with ceilings over 12' benefits are you don't have to change the bulbs.

Another way you may want to use LED lamps is for your landscape lighting. Here the saving has to be worked on a little differently. Looking at a traditional landscape job, if you use 150 watt transformer to light up trees for example, you would normally only be able to use 6 - 20w spots. With LED you can use up to 15 heads on the same transformer, making a layout of some jobs easier and more dramatic in it's effect. Your savings would be 150 watts over using traditional heads or if 5 to 6 heads are all you need drop the size of the transformer down to a 60w saving you 90 watts. Note; beware when purchasing 12v LED lamps, you need to make sure of the type transformers you have either electronic or magnetic and buy the correct lamp.

On the web we are at: http://statewidelighting.com/shop/ or http://statewidelighting.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=15&sort=20a&page=2

Ceiling Fans / Energy

All manufacturers have ceiling fans with 3, 4, 5 or even 6 blades. Why? The number one reasons is marketing and style, not efficiency. In my opinion the more blades a fan has, the more efficient it will be (to a point). A fan with five or six blades has blades that are in tune with the size of the motor turning the blades. In "tune" means the manufacturers have spent the R&D matching the pitch and length of the blade with the size of the motor.

Think about a Nascar race, often 3 or 4 cars can break away from the pack and get a good size lead on them but if the rest of the pack gets in line they can catch up and sometimes overtake the leaders and use less energy (fuel) doing so, the reason is vacuum. The movement of the air is more consistent over and through a 5 or 6 blade fan. Fans with more blades also are quieter because they can produce air movement with less energy, which cuts down on the chopping “helicopter” sound some fans make.

New DOE regulation (went into effect Jan. 09) require ceiling fan manufacturers to print in their catalog's and on the cartons some key information for the consumers. In addition to motor size, pitch and length of blades, Cubic feet per minute (CFM), electric used (watts) and air flow efficiency (CFM/Watt) have been added. Example: 6417 cfm, 70 watts, 91.6 cfm/watt. My opinion the "key" number is cfm/watt. Fans with integrated light kits is another subject for another time.

Another topic is whether or not you should operate the fan 24hrs or just when you are in the room. Think of it this way, a good fan recirculates the air in a room about every 5 to 10 minutes. All rooms have hot air next to the ceiling and cooler air next to the floor. Most thermostats are on the wall about 5 foot off the floor and your air conditioner cools the air on the floor up to the thermostats height, and does nothing for the air above that height. A ceiling fan running equalizes the temperature in the entire room top to bottom making your air conditioner run less time to keep your house cool, and when your air conditioner shuts down it can stay shut down longer because the fan continues to move cooler air off the floor past the thermostat.

My best advice is to buy your ceiling fans from a distributor that displays a variety of motor types and sizes so you can listen for any motor noise. Statewide Lighting's locations have a large selection to listen to and educated staff members to assist you make your decision (most box store do not). On the web we are at: http://statewidelighting.com or http://statewidelighting.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1