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Interior Design for Single Guys Looking to Bring Home a Date

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Let’s face it, most guys don’t have a clue of what girls like and while many books have been written on this subject, today’s post will only tackle how to impress a date once you’ve brought her home.  The most important thing to remember is that women want to see you’ve tried.  If a guy’s place is clean and has a few decorative and well placed accessories, then he’s off to a wonderful start. 

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The first place your date’s eyes will land will more than likely be the living room, dining room and/or kitchen area.  You want these areas to be relatively clean, and that means devoid of weeks of unfolded laundry, pizza boxes, days old food, and any unpleasant smells.   If you live in an apartment, you may not be able to paint but you should be able to hang art.  Wall decals can also be a very cool idea but opt for something simple; a larger than life decal of a pick-up truck might cause your date to raise an eyebrow.  Also, dust.  I know dusting is something men don’t like to do but seeing an inch-thick pile of dust on your entertainment console is likely to give anyone the heebie geebies, male or female.

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If you really want to impress her, here are a few ideas that will surely have her complimenting your place and you for your great style. 

Invest in a couple throw pillows; they should match the overall mood of your apartment and the furniture in it.  I usually suggest pillows that have some contrasting color to that of your main furniture items.  Pillows should also be soft and nice to the touch.  Using accessories that invite her to touch will make her want to touch you.

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Interesting lighting is also recommended.  Layered lighting will allow you to create a mood, keep lights bright to suggest alertness and dim to relax and soothe.  Lighting is a great place to showcase your style.  While the $5 table lamp you bought at the neighborhood thrift store certainly does its job, style-wise it may leave a little to be desired.   If it has a great shape, then wonderful, you found a diamond in the rough.  Invest in a more up-to-date lamp shade and soon your $5 score will score you points for having a great eye.

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Again, don’t shy away from art.  Art makes bland walls interesting.  Choose pieces that demonstrate your personal interests.  She wants to get to know you.  If she can look at your walls and see your hobbies, she will feel that she’s gained some personal insight about you which will make her feel all the more comfortable (and closer) to you.

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A woman wants to feel she’s made the right decision in going home with you.  She wants to know that you’re a good person, intelligent and kind.  A few well-placed magazines or books, i.e. not in the bathroom, allow your date to see that your dinner conversation about the environmental and economic benefits of eating local was not the result of something you heard on the radio while driving in to work.

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So you’ve gotten her to your place, she’s checked out your art, complimented your furniture tastes and now she has that look in her eye like she wants…a glass of wine.  It serves your purpose to own a nice set of glassware (wine glasses, juice glasses, and coffee mugs).  And fellas, a set can be 2; one for you and one for her that’s not cracked or chipped and that you don’t have to apologize for.  She wants to know that you have it all in hand and while a nice set of stemware doesn’t mean that the world is in your palm, a chipped and cracked set or no set at all certainly doesn’t assure her that you do.  And the last thing you want her to have while she’s in your home is doubt.

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If you’ve reached the point where the night is winding down and she feels comfortable and at ease and has pretty much made up her mind that she’s going to stay over, few things will assure her she’s made the right decision like a clean bathroom and clean bed linens.  Don’t ruin your efforts by being careless, so here are a few last touches.  Do a once over of your bathroom.  Make sure there are no huge gobs of toothpaste in the sink, no leftover shaving clippings from the morning.  Unfortunately for you the shower curtain is not an immovable iron-clad door that only opens using a retinal scan, thus the shower should be clean.  Same goes for the toilet, it should be clean.  Invest in decent quality, mature people sheets.  Your flat sheet and top sheet should match.  A nice big soft comforter doesn’t hurt either.  The bed should be inviting.  She should want to lie in it.  In fact if you’ve followed all the above tips, she’ll dream about lying in your bed when she’s not there.

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The Powder Room: A Diamond In The Rough

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I love powder rooms.  I won’t deny that my enthusiasm for powder rooms seems to take my clients by surprise but I see these tiny little spaces as wonderful opportunities to make a powerful impact.  Usually located near the heart or center of the home, I view powder rooms as an unassuming door just waiting to take the homeowner and his/her guests to a different dimension. 

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Powder rooms provide boundless opportunities for creativity while allowing the most bang for the buck.  In a powder room, you can take risks that you may not be inclined to take in a more open space within your home.  The powder room can provide a personal and intimate experience for all who venture in, an experience that the homeowner can craft from the moment the door closes.  

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Powder rooms are the ultimate fantasy space, they provide the opportunity to sample or create your ultimate dream home without spending all the dream home money.  An average DC powder room is anywhere from 15 to 25 sq. ft.  With such a small footprint, a homeowner can use custom finishes and treatments without spending a ton of money.  Custom finishes can include painted murals, bead board, handcrafted tiles, or any assortment of wallpapers or natural fiber papers.  A tile that retails for $30/sq. ft. becomes an affordable luxury in 15 square feet of space, as opposed to, in 80 square feet.

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Powder rooms also allow the use of fixtures and treatments that may not be practical in bathrooms or kitchens that get a lot of everyday use.  A high vessel bowl in a child’s bath or master bath might take up needed counter space but in a powder room, you can enjoy the novelty without sacrificing function.  Displaying rare art or artifacts in a bathroom with a bath or shower isn’t a good idea considering the long-term exposure to moisture but in a powder room where such exposure is not a problem, it becomes a great place to display these works of art. 

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Powder rooms are a great place to allow your inner creative spirit to shine.  The powder room is one of the best places to attempt interesting and unique design feats without taking on the toll and costs that could come with attempting such projects in a more sizeable room.  Powder rooms are also great places to experiment with color.  If there is a color that you gravitate toward but are afraid to use in the more prominent areas of your home, the powder room is great candidate for that color. 

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Powder rooms can be wonderful, little jewels for your creative inspirations.  Be bold.  Go out on a limb.  You just might find that the powder room becomes your favorite room in the house.

5 Tips for Designing for a Small Space

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Life in most major cities teaches you many things but one of the most obvious is that space comes at a premium.  This means large apartments, houses, rental units and the like, are few and far between and when/if you find them, you can expect to pay a high price.  With space at such a premium price, the desire for more storage is a request I encounter quite often in my line of work.  Here are my top five recommendations for how to design for a small space:

Bed and Working Table
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1. Invest in multi-purpose furniture and accessories.  A console with a second shelf or drawers and/or doors is a good investment for the homeowner looking for more storage.  It provides a place for everyday use items on the top and those items that are not used as often (i.e. books, stemware, bar items) underneath.  An ottoman with storage can function to store items, you want to keep handy (throws, albums, DVDs) but don’t necessarily want to display.  

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2.  Use your wall space.  Bookcases, shelving, display cases, etc. can turn vertical space not currently being used into functional, decorative storage.  Don’t be afraid to stack and/or place shelving askew to other shelves or casings.  Be creative and you can turn these storage solutions into attractive yet functional wall art. 

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3.  Stack. Stack. Stack.  Purchase pieces that allow you to store and stack.  Vanity boxes for cosmetics and toiletries are an excellent way to turn a small bathroom space into an organized oasis of calm. Use vintage luggage to store out-of-season clothing or extra linens.

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4.  Bigger isn’t always better.  Using smaller furniture items will accomplish your ultimate goals, while also creating a more airy and open feel in your space.  Be willing to make concessions on size and you’ll soon find that your concessions are a win-win as it relates to style and free space. 

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5.  Embrace work zones.  To keep small spaces functional and organized, create specific work areas or zones.  These work zones will provide designated space for specific tasks. You should keep all things related to that particular task in the specified zone.   In an open floor plan, work zones can be created using rugs, color, decorative screens, and lighting. 

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A small space doesn’t have to limit your creativity.  In fact, a small space should spark your creative imagination.  Be open and flexible.  Figure out those things which are most important to you and design with them in mind.  Don’t design for what ifs, design for who is living in the space right now.  Make fair assessments about how you use your space.  Be honest and don’t rush to figure out all the details right away, tackle the obvious and leave the smaller, inexplicable details to after you’ve settled in. 

Decorating With Black

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In my experience when it comes to selecting colors, most clients usually opt for something “safe”.  I have heard my fair share of protests and cautions of colors to steer clear of, not too bright because others might not like it; not too bold because the client is unsure if they will be able to live with it long-term; not too dark because the room will appear smaller; not too many colors because the client may be overwhelmed and on it goes.  But also in my experience, I’ve found that some of the most spectacular design projects were those where the client was willing to take a risk and step outside of what was safe and get behind an idea that screamed conviction. 

The last few days I took some time to review some of my favorite interiors and I found that black was a common color in many of those interiors.  Black is one of those taboo colors that clients typically avoid like the plague, but when done properly, opting to use black as the focal point of a room can give the room a very elegant and stately appearance.  The key to decorating with black or any other off the wall color is balance.  When it comes to black or any equally dark hue, there needs to exist a proportionate amount of accessories, paint, and/or art of a lighter color, preferably those that will reflect light.  These additional pieces may also contain black but the lighter color should be the dominant color.  The lighter color will serve as contrast and give depth to the darker dominant color.  Below are a few of my favorite interiors that incorporate black.

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5 Items That Will Make Your Home Appear As If It Was Designed By A Pro

  Solar Shades by Teresa M. Morgan
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Drapery and Cellulose Shades
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Window Treatments.  Window treatments are to a room what cologne is to a man.  It’s the final touch that adds to a well put together package.  There are many types of window treatments, from shades to curtains and drapery and on to films and blinds.  Choosing which style best fits your space depends on your overall tastes as well as the design of the room.  If your space is more contemporary with clean lines and minimal accessories, you may want to consider cellular or fabric shades or possibly even, window films.  For a more traditional ornate space, curtains or drapery will allow you to flex more of your design muscles by giving consideration to such factors as style, color, hardware, material, etc.  

Natural fiber area rug.  Design by Barry Dixon.
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Area Rugs.  I always recommend area rugs, even in spaces that are carpeted.  Area rugs ground the space.  They add a feeling of coziness to a room not created by any other element in interior design. Area rugs help pull all the individual, unique pieces of a space together to form a cohesive well-appointed room.  They can be layered, using more than one rug within the same space.  Area rugs can be used to divide an open floor plan and designate differences in usage.  They are also helpful in protecting wood, stone or carpeted floors from every day wear and tear. 

Lighting.  Chandelier and Bedside Lamps by Horchow.
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Lighting.  Lighting is one of my favorite design elements.  I consider it the jewelry of a room.  The proper amount of lighting can give any room a magical sparkle or the perfect romantic haze. I typically like to layer it within my design projects by specifying multiple light sources.  For general overhead lighting, I recommend recessed lights.  They aren’t as obstructive as some surface mounted structures and when done right, can give the ceiling a clean, uncluttered feel.  However, too many recessed lights can look like a game of whac-a-mole gone wrong.  If you’re interested in making more of a statement, chandeliers are wonderful options and are guaranteed to give any space an extra bit of glamour.  Table side and floor lamps are another subtle way to incorporate visual interest into a space by selecting those fabricated in unique shapes, colors, and/or materials.  

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Mirror.  Mirrors are a wonderful and not so secret tool that interior designers have used for years to create beauty and interest within both public and private spaces.  Mirrors open up a room by reflecting that which is put in front of them.  It gives a smaller space a larger appearance and a darker space, a brighter one.  When put in front of a working space, i.e. dining room table, a mirror can serve as a dynamic (living) work of art by moving and breathing as you and your guests move and breathe.  

Interior Design by Tobi Fairley.
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Art.  Art, whether sculptural or painted, is an amazingly simple way to give your home a facelift.  Art inspires, encourages and asks us to examine the world around us a little closer.  Hanging a triptych over your fireplace or a series of portraits ascending along a flight of stairs tells a story about the homeowner’s interests and personality.   Art can give insight into how a person views the world, if they have a sense of humor or if they see things in a more brooding and dark light.  There are many different art forms, from “do it yourself” to other types which have been sculpted or stroked by someone who has studied and practiced for years, and as such, art can range widely in price.  There is no right or wrong in deciding which art to use in your home, only that it strike something within you. 

Establishing Parameters and Finding Inspiration

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I have on numerous occasions found myself in a prospective client’s home feeling quite overwhelmed.  This usually stems from the scope of the project, having a client tell you they want to take their upstairs and put it downstairs and take their downstairs and move it two streets over can be a bit bewildering on the first walk through.  When this happens, I take a deep breath and a mental step back and assess the situation.  I take notes, make recommendations and mentally divvy up the project into what needs to be done immediately and what becomes secondary. 

When beginning a large design project or any project for that matter, one of the first and most important steps one must take is to establish parameters, i.e. what would you like to accomplish, in how much time and at what cost.  Once you have identified the major objectives and parameters for the project, a task, that at first seemed daunting, can be broken down into smaller, less overwhelming to-do lists.  First, consider the space.  Is construction required?  What items need to be replaced, repaired or reupholstered?  Do your homework.  Research similar projects/items and their subsequent costs.  This will help you develop a reasonable budget for completing your project. 

Once the project’s parameters have been established, you may need inspiration for the ultimate look of your space.  Inspiration can come from many different sources, a film, art, travel, food, or a piece of trash lying on the street.  I typically rely on the client’s personal interests to determine their project’s design direction.  This may be a favorite color, a family heirloom, or a hobby.  I weave these little bits of personal touches into the design by way of paint, fabric selections, art, or even refurbishing an existing heirloom and incorporating it into the new design. 

Having a source of inspiration for your design project will help keep your design plan focused and tie the entire project together.  It helps establish the color palette, theme, and/or the style of the space.  Once you have figured out the scope of your project by way of your established design parameters and found your inspiration, the remaining design components should fall easily into place.