Tamara Scott-Anderson, ASID and Sara Smith, Allied Member ASID

Photograph by Robin Stancliff
Categories: Problem Area solutions

• For this newly-constructed bungalow style home, the builder used bead board, large-scale door trim and a reclaimed decorative lambrequin over the transom window to create architectural interest for the front door and entry hall. To enhance architectural details, the walls were painted a bright, cheerful yellow in contrast to the white, painted bead board and trim.
• To create privacy from the front street while still allowing for daylight, a translucent roller shade was used on the front door. The decorative style hem of the shade was chosen to emulate the design of the door lambrequin. In addition, custom stained glass panels were designed for the side lights. The colors were taken from the color scheme of the home’s furniture palette, and the design motif was repetitive of custom wall stenciling used in the living area.

• The hall light fixture was chosen for its colors and to further enhance the Arts & Crafts bungalow style of the home.

Design tips from Tamara Scott-Anderson, ASID

Photography courtesy of Incanto
Categories: Color Palettes, Coordinating a Room, Accessorizing

• White is a timeless option for Contemporary furnishings and is seeing resurgence in popularity in everything from leather and fabrics to accessories. Here, white is the basic palette for a minimalist color scheme of black and gold.
• The use of floor-to-ceiling, soft, white sheer drapery panels provides several design solutions. Foremost, it softens and diffuses the light, while repeating the vertical lines of the architectural structure. In addition, it provides acoustical benefits for absorbing echoes and it softens the textures in a large, mostly hard-surface room.
• The unique, tortoiseshell floor lamp is part of a growing trend to use light as art. In addition, the gold leaf floor lamp is a single-jeweled accent providing reading and ambient lighting.
• Cocktail ottomans are as popular as ever. Here, a large, oversized piece is the appropriate scale to balance the large sectional in this spacious room. When less is more, sometimes bigger is better.
• New trends in accessories for a contemporary, minimalist home is to leave large areas of wall space untouched by stacking and layering art work and objects on shelves.
• Along with large floor pillows, the large, rectangle area rug was placed at an angle to furnishings, allowing for more comfortable, settable floor space.
• Use of low-VOC paints, 100% cotton sheer fabric and the 100% wool carpet gives this room a good rating for moving the home towards a “green”, healthy and earth-friendly environment.

Design Idea from
Tamara Scott-Anderson, ASID

Photographs by Robin Stancliff June 2008
Categories: Coordinating a Room, Problem area solutions

The 20-foot height of the ceiling gives an overpowering feel of spaciousness in this two-story townhouse. The designer used a stenciled border in an Arts & Crafts motif to bring proportion, color and historical reference to the expansive wall.