Interior Design: 7 Steps to Designing a Dramatic Dining…

July 14, 2017

Karen Mills' blog — Photo courtesy of Lillian August furniture

Who doesn’t love the thought of a beautiful dining room where you can have dinner parties, a romantic dinner, or just intimate family gatherings. Read on for how to design your own beautiful dining room.

1. Select Your Personal Design Style – If you have no idea what style you are start by finding inspiration photos online or in print. Then notate your favorite elements from each room to get a sense of your style. In this room a transitional glam style sectional is combined with a more traditional style chair and artwork.

2. Pick a Color Scheme – Most of us don’t spend much time in a dining room so have fun in here and pick colors you love. Bolder colors can go on decor, rugs, chairs, or even walls but if you like to change up your style often, you might consider neutral walls and floors that give more flexibility when you want to change your color scheme. Here the yellow green chair fabrics repeat one of the colors in the art while the buffet and tabletop add a dark contrast to the bold colors.

3. Add Dining Table and Seating – The dining room table and chairs along with the items directly behind them are the focal point of your room. Begin by determining how many people you need to seat and ensuring you have room for the table you want. Plus remember that your chairs don’t need to match your table, just enhance them.

If you opt for a dramatically styled table, then consider simpler style chairs and backdrop. Or if you go with a simpler style table, you might bring in drama with a wall covering or beautiful buffet with art above.

4. Consider Including Additional Furniture – The majority of dining rooms benefit from functional storage furniture like a buffet and curio cabinets shown in this photo, but don’t forget about sofa tables, tea carts, and other furnishings that can enhance your room and provide handy surfaces for lamps, platters, trays, or display.

5. Introduce a Dramatic Element – A bold element can range from a gorgeous piece of art like a sculpture or painting to wallpaper or beautiful buffet/curio to a stunning light fixture.

6. Layer in Texture – Adding texture softens all the hard surfaces of the table, chairs, buffets, and hard flooring. Texture can be introduced with an area rug, drapes/window coverings, fresh flowers, live plants/trees, or textural decor. In this photo fresh flowers on the table and upholstered furniture add texture.

7. Add lighting – Don’t forget about lighting because it creates much need ambiance and light when necessary. Table lamps on a buffet or sofa table look beautiful behind a table along with a stunning chandelier and/or sconces on the wall behind.

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Interior Design/Interior Decorating

Interior Design: Your Vote Counts!

July 6, 2017July 10, 2017

K.C.s Best Interior Designer Award

WE NEED YOUR HELP! Even though you may have seen our design work featured recently in USA TODAY and ABC National News we weren’t sure if you knew our firm Interiors by Design made it into the semi finals for Johnson County’s Lifestyle magazine’s BEST INTERIOR DESIGNER award since most of you only know me as Karen Mills.

Please take a minute (literally) to cast your vote here for our company Interiors by Design! (You can skip categories – we are #50)

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/rcjoco

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to those who nominated us and for your support by voting now!

P.S. We will have several projects featured in a new design book by an international publisher next spring so stay tuned for more details including how to get an advanced copy!

For more great design photos become a fan of Kansas City’s interior designer and former host of the Living Large design show, Karen Mills, on Facebook here.

Interior Design/Interior Decorating

Interior Design: 7 Easy Ways to Style Your Foyer

June 30, 2017

Front entries are the first impression you make on guests so why not create an inviting space. As an interior designer I tell my clients to think of their entry as an advertisement for their home and what’s to come. The entry should hold some of their favorite things and introduce the color scheme for their home’s interior design, revealing a little about their personal style. Read on for 7 simple ways to create a beautiful foyer.

Introduce a Sofa Table or Case piece – Start with a piece of furniture that fits easily in your entry and ideally can also hold decor. Examples of case pieces could include a chest like this photo, a curio, sofa table, desk, etc. A chair adds pattern and color to create a more interesting look.
Freshen Up with Live Flowers or a Plant – In the photo above the texture of the flowers and branches balance out the cold surfaces of the mirror, chest, and vases, bringing the outdoors in.
Layer in Artwork or a Mirror – Introducing artwork can add texture and reveal a bit of your personality, while a mirror is not only functional but also makes a style statement and can bounce light around from a lamp placed in front.
Ground Your Entry with a Rug – Layering a rug underneath adds warmth, color, and style to your foyer. In this photo the rug also picks up the colors of the chair and flowers.
Photo courtesy of Schumacher
Light it up With a Lamp – Lamps not only provide function and ambiance, but they can introduce more style to a space like the demure pink lamp in this photo of a sofa table grouping that’s actually part of a living room. The gold color throughout creates a cohesive element, while the pattern of the sofa table, stools, and branches add style and interest.
Replace Your Overhead Lighting – This photo provides a great example of how to dress up an entry with a stunning light fixture. Of course an actual entry chandelier might be smaller but this fixture adds style without competing with the rest of the furnishings.
Photo courtesy of Motif Designs
Tell a Color Story – You don’t have to be as bold and bright as this entry photo, but every space does have a color scheme even it’s neutral. The red color of the sofa table and vase do add more sizzle to the blue lamp and wallpaper, but their simple lines and lack of pattern help calm the space to keep it from being overwhelming. Fresh leaves give life while the mirror helps bounce light and visually enlarge the space.

To learn about color options for your foyer, read my Houzz article titled 7 Color Palettes for a Pleasing Entryway –

https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/…/list/7-color-palettes-for-a-pleasing-entryway

become a fan of Kansas City’s interior designer and former Living Large design show host Karen Mills, on Facebook here

and sign up for our weekly interior design blog here

Interior Design/Interior Decorating

Interior Design: 3 Ways to Successfully Mix n Match…

June 23, 2017June 23, 2017

As an interior designer who’s designed or decorated over 1100 homes, I understand how overwhelming it can be for a homeowner to bring together their disparate furnishings to create a beautifully designed interior. Read on for 3 steps you can take today to created a more finished look.

1. Repetition – To coordinate mismatched furniture or accessories I recommend tying them together by repeating a color from one piece to onto another like the pillow, rug, and art in this photo that helps unify the furnishings to create a beautiful interior design. The branches, rug, artwork, and cloth fabrics also provide a welcome contrast to the hard surfaces of the floor, windows, walls, and table.

2. Opposites Attract – One great way to combine furnishings is by juxtaposing shiny finishes with dull, textural with smooth or formal with casual to give your room life and keep it interesting. The upholstery, branches, stone formation, and rug contrast beautifully against the hard surface of the tables while the brown pillow on the sofa marries the sofa to the chair.

3. Size (and shape) Matters – When creating vignettes of accessories in your space whether its for a tabletop or shelves, try to place objects of various heights, sizes, texture, and shapes together to create a cohesive whole like this photo, while keeping taller items at the back for a graduated look. Pillows, artwork, and blue accessories bring together the color palette, while the yellow vases provide an unexpected pop of color.

Click here to watch one of my recent TV interviews with Gina Bullard on Better Kansas City on KCTV5 about how to create rooms with staying power

http://www.kctv5.com/clip/13418623/home-design-with-staying-power

plus sign up for our weekly interior design and decorating blog here

and become a fan of Kansas City’s interior designer and former host of Living Large design show, Karen Mills, on Facebook here!

Interior Design/Interior Decorating

Interior Design: How to Use Interior Doors to Enhance…

June 16, 2017June 15, 2017

How often do we think of interior doors as design elements? Probably not much but they can have a big impact on your interior design like the glass french doors in this photo of an Overland Park home that frames the desk and art beyond. The glass allows light and a view into the office, while the panes add interest to the interior design.

Or if you’re looking for a more contemporary interior door option, why not consider sliding panel doors that can allow light to penetrate further into your home like this photo above. The repetition of the horizontal slats create an interesting pattern in this simple clean design.

To learn more about designing with interior doors, click below to read my recent article Beyond Open and Shut: 7 Ways to Use Interior Doors as Decor.

https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/82255678/list/beyond-open-and-shut-7-ways-to-use-interior-doors-as-decor

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and become a fan of Kansas City’s interior designer and former host of Living Large design show, Karen Mills, on Facebook here!

Interior Design/Interior Decorating

Interior Design: Make a Grand Entrance with Your Front…

June 9, 2017June 9, 2017

If you want to make a grand entrance to your home the front door is key because its the focal point area at the front of your home and can add or detract from your home’s curb appeal. If you have a great eye for design, then you can do it yourself, but if you don’t please contact an interior designer first to ensure you don’t make a costly mistake.

Countless styles of doors exist from the red pivot style I reveal in my Houzz article in the link below to doors with cut outs like this door.

Read my article in the following link titled Make an Entrance with a Dramatic Front Door to learn about more door styles and possibilities.

https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/82788557/list/make-an-entrance-with-a-dramatic-front-door

For more information and inspiration sign up for my weekly interior design blog here

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Interior Design/Interior Decorating

Interior Design: Clever Ways to Disguise Your Flat Screen…

June 2, 2017August 9, 2023

photo example — Interior design by Karen Mills

Let’s face it. Even though we often love the convenience of a large flat screen TV, we don’t always want to showcase them because they can detract from our spaces. As an interior designer, I rarely put TVs on display in living rooms, because they compete with the beautiful interiors we design. So if you’re looking for a way to hide your television in the living room or family room, here is a link to a recent article I wrote on 7 Clever Ways to Conceal Your Flat Screen TV for Houzz.

https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/84546202/list/7-clever-ways-to-conceal-your-tv-in-the-living-or-family-room

For more great photos and interior design sign up for my blog here. Or to learn more about DIY interior design, check out our online interior decorating membership – The Decorating Pro.

plus become a fan of Kansas City’s interior designer and former host of the Living Large design show, Karen Mills, on Facebook here!

Interior Design/Interior Decorating

Interior Decorating: 3 Steps to Picking the Perfect Color

May 25, 2017May 24, 2017

Color, the biggest issue faced by homeowners starting an interior design or interior decorating project is often an overwhelming task so I’ve broken it down into three manageable steps for you today.

First and foremost, when you’re selecting colors, make sure that you’re viewing colors on a white background to get a true sense of the colors before placing them on a wall. Don’t wear colors that might reflect back on those paint colors while you’re making selections because a red top, for example, could reflect red on a neutral color giving it a green cast.

Second, consider natural light along with artificial light in the room. Once you’ve narrowed down your choices to two or three during daylight, paint large sections of each color on the wall and leave it up two to three days so you can view the colors in daylight and after dark. For trim and ceiling paint colors, look to the lightest end of your paint strip for possibilities along with whites. A good rule of thumb would be to pair warmer colors with off white trim and cool colors with white trim.

Third, even though you can marry two of almost any color together to create a color scheme, test the colors next to each other first to see if you like them and add a neutral color. If you don’t know where to start with color, pull inspiration from a favorite item like artwork, a rug, fabric, jewelry or even nature and let the fun begin!

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Interior Design/Interior Decorating

Interior Design: 5 Secrets to Buying a Quality Sofa…

May 19, 2017

If you’re like most buyers, selecting a sofa is confusing and overwhelming because you have no idea how to select one that’a high quality, the right size, and a style that will last. Read on for my five secrets to selecting a quality sofa with staying power that’s just right for you.

Pick the right size – Before shopping start by taking measurements of your room and the other furniture to be used. Then create a floor plan that allows ample space for walkways (3-4 feet) between furniture groupings and walls. Also take into consideration the height or scale of your room along with the other furniture to be used. In addition all of us are unique in our proportions so selecting a sofa that fits your body is key to being comfortable long term on your sofa. Considerations include sofa height, seat height, seat depth, and length if you’re planning to take an occasional nap.

Choose a style with staying power – The sofas with the most staying power often have simpler lines and less trendy details. Avoid trendy looks that may look dated quickly.

Photo courtesy of Baker furniture

Quality construction – Sofas of high quality often have similar attributes in how their frames, suspension, and cushions are made that not only helps them last longer and hold their shape but also be comfortable. Such attributes may include frames made of kiln dried hardwoods, 8 way tied springs with several coils for suspension that you can feel under the seat cushion, corner blocking for frame reinforcement, mortise and tenon joints, fabric patterns that line up at the seams and much more.

Interior design by Karen Mills

Opt for a solid or tone on tone neutral color- By opting for a solid fabric with little or no pattern, you’ll not only tire of the sofa less quickly but you’re also more likely to be able to re purpose your sofa as you change homes or interiors.

Select durable fabric – High performance fabrics are becoming a big hit with interior designers because they won’t fade quickly and spills just bead up. Other durable fabrics can include wool, velvet, some cottons or linens, acrylic, and some blends of natural/man made materials.

Photo courtesy of Bernhardt furniture

For more information on how to select a quality sofa for you, contact a qualified interior designer that serves your area.

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Plus become a fan of Kansas City’s interior designer and former host of Living Large, Karen Mills, on Facebook here!

Interior Design/Interior Decorating

Interior Decorating: 3 Tips for Decorating on a Budget

May 12, 2017

Do you ever feel like your room is unfinished or undone? Do you have all the furniture purchased for your room, but don’t know what to do next and you’re on a modest budget? Here are 3 ways I recommend as an interior designer to inject personality and interest to your space while staying on a reasonable budget.

Add color Color can be painted on walls, ceilings, furniture or even brought in with decor like this blue candle and pillow in this room. Color may also be introduced with fabrics on draperies and throws or layered in with a rug.

2. Inject pattern – Introduce pattern with fabrics, draperies, or pillows like this photo of a nursery we decorated on a budget as a surprise for parents from Community America Credit Union. The horizontal stripes of the wall done by the homeowners add dramatic pattern along with the draperies and row of frames we hung with the baby’s initials.

3. Layer in texture – Texture can come through rugs or throws like the room here along with pillows and draperies. Additional texture was added in this room with the small marble tile mosaic inset in the fireplace surround.

In the photo of the nursery, texture was introduced with the pouf, area rug, and fuschia colored pillow. And in the close up of the tray, texture is added with the shell, rope handle, and tray.

For more tips and photos, sign up for our weekly interior design blog here

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