Tag Archives: furnishings

Love Your Living Room

Courtesy of Glen Andrews Art Glass

Courtesy of Glen Andrews Art Glass

There’s that one main room in your home where everyone gathers, perhaps watches TV, enjoys lively conversations, plays games. You might call it the living room or the family room. You might even have a great room, a modern version with an open floor plan that also combines the dining room. We love building great rooms for our clients, which by its very nature, encourages family interaction.

Regardless of what it’s called, this is the heart of your home, and you want it to be a room that shines. Your living room should, more than any other room, reflect the personality of you and your family.

Here are some tips to help bring some love into your living room or make that great room even better!

-          If you have a great room, then you must rely on area rugs and furniture to create the spatial boundaries in the room. Typically, you want a backdrop that is more neutral. Different sections of the space can utilize colors and patterns but should compliment the other sections of the room. Accent walls can also be used to cleverly add definition between spaces.

-          Update your great room with a home office space, small library, children’s play corner or adult arts and crafts corner. All of these options can, again, add dimension and definition to the space.

-          Find some unique antiques to add some character to your living room. Old antique doors can also be used to divide up a room. We recommend a hidden gem right here in San Antonio, called Architectural Antiques Salvage. This giant warehouse is filled with all sorts of treasures, from doors to light fixtures, clawfoot bathtubs, sinks and even some décor. They are located at 403 Dawson St., just on the eastside of downtown.

-          If you’re looking to update your furniture, which is a fun way to change the look of your living room, consider adding some curved furnishings. Once popular in the 60’s, the curved look is coming back. For example, a crimson velveteen sofa with a back in the shape of a half circle and a curved cushion in front. A piece like this can help add a touch of femininity to the room.

-          Light fixtures can be an easy way to define the space in your great room or living room, and can also serve as a showpiece that truly represents the ambiance you’re wanting to achieve. You might consider having some custom blown glass pieces to create a modern-day chandelier. Locally, we recommend Glen Andrews Art Glass of Caliente Hot Glass. They can design a piece specific to your look and tastes and even install it for you. For more information, visit glenandrewsartglass.com.

However, if it’s simply time to start dreaming of a new great room, we’re here to help! Give us a call at 210-494-5400 or fill out our online form to get started.

Meet Our Interior Design Consultant, Carla Royder

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As you can imagine, building dream homes requires a strong team of professionals. When it comes to interiors, we rely on interior designer, Carla Royder, and her own team (Renee Golobay, in particular) at Carla Royder Designs to inspire, inform and guide our customers so that they achieve everything they want within their budget.

Carla, who opened her business in 2003, has a wide range of customers with homes ranging from $500 thousand to five million dollars. Her company is a full-service firm, meaning they also completely furnish homes when the client requests it.

Think of Carla as a liaison that helps streamline communications between builders and customers. “The selection process can be overwhelming,” Carla pointed out. “We help narrow down their choices so that it’s not overwhelming.”

The Selection Process

First, we provide Carla with a budget. Before you go in to pick out what you want, she recommends sifting through home magazines and pouring over Pinterest to help give her team an idea of the style and look that you’re wanting. The clearer the vision you have of your new dream home, the better they can help you create it. That’s true for us as well.

“My biggest philosophy is I like to get to know the client and who they are. I want their personality to show through in their house because a home should say who you are. I think people should be able to walk into your home and be able to feel your personality,” she explained.

The best part is the showroom! Carla has samples of everything you could ever want and more, from tile to countertops and light fixtures – literally anything and everything you might need in your new home.

This process should be fun, if not easy, but we guarantee Carla’s team does their best to make it feel like a breeze.

Trends

No matter how hard we try to avoid trends, it’s nearly impossible. Carla recommends every home get a facelift approximately every five years.

For our customers, she says the trend is leaning towards light colors and clean, crisp interiors and simple tile patterns. She noted that brass tones are also making a comeback.

So what’s the best part of Carla’s job? She tells us, “When the clients are blown away. I absolutely love the big reveal when we pull a room together, and they come home and see it for the first time. Some clients fall to floor and have tears coming out of their eyes. That is super rewarding.”

With Carla and her staff on our team we know the home building experience is definitely a rewarding one! To get started, please call us at 210-494-5400.

 

 

Fall Inspirations for Your Home

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As the seasons change, so do we cycle through trends and what’s “in fashion,” – more quickly, it seems, than ever before. When it comes to home design, from wall colors to appliances, it’s not as easy or financially realistic as changing out your ties and shoes. Still, there’s something to be said about these fall inspirations… see if any of them stick. Most importantly, however, is that you love it, whether it’s trendy or not!

Create a Tech-Free Zone

Have an unused room or corner space? You can easily create a haven from all the digital madness by creating a cozy nook. All you need is a comfy chair or hammock, some pretty pillows and lacey curtains hung from a faux wooden beam. Add a small bookcase filled with those vintage items (yes, books!), a cool lamp and piece of artwork, and you have yourself a little getaway. Leave your phones at the door.

White is Out; Color is In

Although white will always be a great accent color, all-white, or gray, interiors are fading into the background. This fall, expect to see rich browns, greens, blush and even black. Dark green (we used to call it Hunter Green), is being noted as a popular color choice by trendsetters. When accented with natural wood, leather or brass, it makes for a striking look. Jewel tones, used as accent colors in things like pillows, are also hot right now.

Past & Present

It’s fair to say the future of home décor is eclectic. With so many different eras to choose from, the desire to furnish a home in the same period is considered aesthetically unimaginative, and just isn’t done anymore, according to housebeautiful.com. Instead, people are filling their homes with a mix of old and new – vintage, retro, and modern. The sky’s the limit! They suggest starting with a favorite period of your choice and then working from there. Find yourself a gorgeous vintage armoire, for example, and pair it with a custom-made bed. You can find a handful of very talented woodworkers and metal artists in Texas. Here’s a local metal artist that stands out:  http://www.schroederart.com.

Smart Furniture

While we’re looking for ways to disengage from technology, designers are finding new ways to incorporate it. Keep an eye out for even more clever charging docks – ones that are actually built into the furniture, so you don’t have to have those clunky eyesores in every room. Check out IKEA’s SELJE nightstand, as one “smart” example.

At Stone Creek Custom Homes, our passion is helping our customers define and build their dream homes from the ground, up. Give us a call at 210-494-5400 for a free consultation. You can also fill out our online form to request more information.