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 Lori Carroll of Lori Carroll and Associates

1)Your designs seem to make each space look expansive.  What is your technique?    My technique for making a space seem larger is using subtle, tone on tone patterns and colors.  Keeping the color scheme continuous from floor to walls to ceiling gives the illusion of more space. Using texture and bright pops of color in artwork and accessories personalizes the room. 

2) Is there a particular room you like designing more than any other? Why?

My absolute favorite room to design is the powder room.  One reason; you can splurge in a powder room. Since the space is smaller, you need less material which means you can budget for items that might be too costly for a master bathroom.  In a powder room color and texture both make a big impact; so it’s fun to mix and match finishes. 

3) I've been reading about ‘Reconnecting with our Home’.  Do you have any thoughts on how we can do this?

You can reconnect with your home by doing simple updates like changing out hardware on your cabinets; bringing in some fresh accessories or adding new lighting.  

4) What inspires you?

I use anything and everything around me for inspiration.  It might be as simple as a fabric swatch or as complex as a unique piece of furniture.

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

One of my favorite design tricks is to expand a frameless piece of art by painting around the canvas, adding depth to the art and the room.

Contact Lori Carroll at (520) 886-3443 or via her website, Lori Carroll and Associates. Visit our 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

Spotlight on local Designer Tanya Shively, ASID and LEED AP
Sesshu Design Associates

"Live in an eco-friendly home without sacrificing style, comfort or convenience. You can have the beautiful and luxurious eco-friendly interior you deserve."

Based in Scottsdale, AZ, Sesshu Design Associates, are 'passionate about bringing beauty into the world by creating a sense of place through quiet, elegant details' and 'inspired by the natural beauty of each site, actively seeking ways to protect our environment by incorporating sustainable and green interior design' into their projects. Offering both Interior Design and Green Design options, Sesshu Design is making a long term impact with their compelling ideas and innovative designs.

We asked Five Questions of Tanya Shively, Principle Interior and Owner of Sesshu Design Associates:

1) What is your personal design style at home?
My personal home is contemporary but not cold- warm colors, comfortable seating and a bit of eclectic sentimental pieces mixed in as well.

2) I notice you liked Composite Countertops. What’s another recent Green innovation that is exciting to you?
LED lighting is probably the most exciting thing to come along- with new technology in bulbs that can go into any fixture, we now can make any style more efficient.

3) Is there anything that you steer clients away from in Green Technologies in relationship to design?
I think the direction clients need to focus on depends on their personal priorities.  For instance, if health is critical, then we focus on clean air, daylight, access to nature, etc.  OR if energy efficiency is a priority, then we focus on technology, climate control through window coverings, home automation and lighting control systems, etc.

4) What inspires you?
I am inspired by great design in all forms- artwork, beautiful cars (especially the new electric and fuel cell models coming out), architecture, and the work of other amazing designers.

5) Can you give us a quick design tip that we can implement right away?
My favorite design tip is to not be afraid of color.  So many people shy away from using color in their home and stick with "safe" neutrals to the extent that their home becomes boring and lacks personality. So choose color(s) that you love, and find a way to incorporate it into you rooms- in a pillow, in paint, in accessories, etc.

Contact Tanya Shively at Sesshu Design Associates, (480) 275-2968 and 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