Best Foot Forward
Posted on October 11, 2012 by mhorgan in Design Dictionary
When it comes to choosing furniture, you always want to put your best foot forward. The feet of a piece of furniture are a specific detail that can be overlooked. But, as you’ll see, with so many different styles of feet, this little detail can bring you one step closer to falling head over heels in love with your furniture!
For this week’s Design Dictionary, let’s look at a few different styles of feet – all beginning with the letter B.
Bracket Foot
This is a decorative right-angled foot shaped like a bracket and placed at each corner of the piece of furniture. Typically seen on wooden furniture (also known as case goods), bracket feet have a timeless and classic feel, as seen here on our Madison Cherry II Entertainment Center.
Our Madison Cherry II Entertainment Center
Bun Foot
Originating from the William and Mary time period, the bun foot is shaped like a slightly flattened ball and typically used on the bottom of chests of drawers, seating pieces and upholstered chairs. Here, bun feet are used on this Colusa Credenza Buffet Table from our Celladora Collection to give the piece a sophisticated touch.
Our Celladora Colusa Credenza Buffet Table
Block Foot
The block foot is a square foot at the base of a straight untapered leg. The Wilson Console Hall Chest from the Adaptations Collection is a great example of a piece with block feet. With so many intricate details, the block feet balance the elements of this piece and give it a polished finish.
Our Adaptations Wilson Console Hall Chest
Ball & Claw Foot
True to its name, this is literally a type of carving used at the foot of a chair, table or small chest that looks like a sphere grasped by a claw. This kind of foot has Oriental origin and is said to be a Chinese symbol of evil with a dragon clutching a pearl. The Wilshire Recliner from our LP Leather Collection has ball & claw carvings on the front two legs of the chair, giving the recliner a refined and almost regal feel.
Our LP Leather Wilshire Recliner
Design Dictionary
Posted on September 20, 2012 by mhorgan in Design Dictionary
After going through the whole alphabet, it’s time to start another round of Design Dictionary! With Design Dictionary, we explain and describe the design details and style trends of the season so you can become the furniture-fashion expert. Starting back at “A,” this week we are going to look at armoire and apron.
The armoire is a tall, upright cupboard or wardrobe with a door or doors closing at the front. Not only does an armoire give a room a sense of sophistication and French elegance; it can also serve many purposes.
Use an armoire, such as our At Home in Belle Maison Armoire of Prosperity, in your living room as an attractive place to stow away your television and media devices. In the dining room, it’s the perfect place to store china and linens used only for special occasions. And, of course, in the bedroom an armoire serves as a beautiful statement piece to use as your wardrobe.
At Home in Belle Maison Armoire of Prosperity
Beautiful but often overlooked, an apron is the horizontal banding or framing beneath a tabletop or chair seat. If you’re shooting for a classic, ornate design, consider pieces with a curved or scalloped apron such as our Gourmet Dining Provence Arm and Side Chairs (pictured below). For those with a taste for the more contemporary, the clean apron of our Essence Side Chair from our Synchronicity Collection may be the right fit for you.
Gourmet Dining Provence Arm and Side Chairs
Opposites Attract
Posted on September 14, 2012 by mhorgan in Fashion and Design, Trendy Tips
With New York Fashion Week wrapping up, we can’t help but look to the runways and reflect on the newest trends. Designers like BCBG, Jason Wu and Herve Ledger debuted edgy collections featuring a mix of structured leather, feminine silhouettes and delicate lace details. A balance of the super masculine and overly feminine, these collections created a look of soft and hard, classic and edgy.
Opposites, yet completely complementary, this mixture of leather and lace, masculine and feminine is a trend that is fun and easy to incorporate into your home. Pick either masculine or feminine to be the dominant style in the room and then add in details of soft and flowy or strong and structured.
Try pairing a traditional leather armchair like the Pate Chair with flirty feminine details.
Our Pate Chair
Bright, reflective accent pieces like the Montaigne Hall Chest and Vintage Originals End Table balance the dark masculine leather and add whimsical appeal.
Our Montaigne Hall Chest
Our Vintage Originals End Table
Or, to balance a more feminine piece like the Amelia Sofa in a bold floral upholstery, pair it with a heavy end table in a dark finish.
Our Amelia Sofa
We love how this sofa looks with the Vintage Originals End Table, which features a more masculine form accented with costume-jewelry inspired hardware.
Our Vintage Originals End Table
Designing a room that balances masculine and feminine and looks cohesive, not confused, doesn’t have to be difficult! Give this trend a chance and try it out in your home. We’d love to hear how you are making it work!
Design 101: Back-to-School Basics
Posted on August 31, 2012 by jbutler in Trendy Tips
It’s that time of year again: the first day of school. So, what better time than now to re-share some design tips from Drexel designer Denise Alala on how to create the perfect workspace for homework? Happy studying!
The first day of school is like New Year’s Day. Just ask any parent – like Denise Alala, our chief fashion guru and mother of two. In celebration of this “new year,” we asked Denise to share some resolutions on how to make homework a little less like work (for everybody):
Idea #1: Workspaces need to be flexible and so do you.
Don’t limit your hardworking student’s creativity by confining homework to one room or one spot. Today, everyone is a multi-tasker, especially your kids. Be happy homework is happening anywhere! Denise recommends keeping things uncluttered and ready for work, just in case. It could be an oversized ottoman in the living room or rugs and pillows on the floor. Denise says, all space is workspace!
Idea #2: Take one for the team!
Be open to group workspaces, as school projects are often team-oriented (kids learn about collaboration early)! This means the kitchen or dining room table should be ready for work on a whim. Denise works hard (it looks effortless) to make her house kid-friendly and welcoming. And it’s great to be the hub, she says. You don’t have to wonder where your kids are!
Idea #3: Embrace battle scars; they’re memories.
If your dream home is perfectly appointed with every item in place, “get over it” advises Denise. We love fine furniture and beautiful interiors, but we love our kids more. “Furniture is for living,” to quote Denise directly. Accidents will happen. Follow furniture care tips and embrace the little nick or smudge of tempera paint. It’s a memory in the making.
And while learning can happen anywhere, we can’t forget the classic desk and chair combo. Denise recommends the Bailey Desk paired with a custom upholstered chair. A dynamic duo for homework for kids and parents alike.
We hope these tips will inspire you to create a home environment where learning is not only the norm – it’s fun. Class dismissed!
Interior Design Blogger Spotlight: Elizabeth Goodwin
Posted on August 2, 2010 by brandaid in Fashion and Design
Last week I had the delightful pleasure of spending some time with interior designer, Elizabeth Goodwin, in her Raleigh, NC home. I always like to see the homes of designers — feels like unedited work at its best. I can assure you that Elizabeth’s house is no exception. I loved every room, nook & cranny — from her ikat covered dining chairs to her exposed brick kitchen walls to the purple wall of a downstairs bedroom to… most of all… her delicious design studio with big, bold, flamboyant floral print wallpaper (you can see it in the background of the video), a funky chair & lots of pink upholstery swatches. Oh yes, I want to live in Elizabeth’s house!
Elizabeth was sweet enough to give me the tour and then sit down and answer a few questions about her blog, Life of Style, how she got started in interior design, and why her blog entry on Betsy Burnham is her favorite post. I’m sure you will enjoy meeting her and hearing her answers in our video.
Thank you Elizabeth for allowing me and the readers of our blog into your home! Happy designing!
Freedom of Design!
Posted on July 2, 2010 by brandaid in Fashion and Design
This weekend as those of us
in the United States celebrate our country’s independence, can I get a “Yankee Doodle Dandy!” on the freedom to mix and match prints, choose from a variety of finishes and accent with pillows, welts, cording, skirts and nail trims?
Not to mention the freedom to experiment to see how it will all look together which is exactly what the customization section of the Drexel Heritage website allows you to do.
In the spirit of the holiday weekend, I decided to use the site to give myself a red, white and blue interior design challenge. These are not colors I typically choose, so it was fun to see what I could do with them, and to my surprise, I think I might be falling in love with blue! (This is what I have concluded after spending the entire evening on the site which is apparently quite addictive!)
You’ll see in the last photo, that I left red out of it altogether, and I certainly didn’t go crazy on the customization which is the best thing about having different options… you can do as much or as little as you would like. In this case, I just love this fabric too much to change out the pillows or change the seat cushion.
I would be delighted to hear what you think of my creations, and if like me you spend hours on the site designing your own customized furniture, don’t say I didn’t warn you! Lastly, on behalf of everyone at Drexel Heritage, I would like to wish you a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July.
On Location: Getting the Perfect Shot
Posted on June 24, 2010 by brandaid in Fashion and Design
For those of us who love home decorating, it sometimes doesn’t take much to excite our inner interior design junkie. It might be the latest copy of Trad Home in my mailbox, a bin of discount fabrics or the chance drop-in at a girlfriend’s house just as she is bringing home tile samples for the new kitchen!
Well! Earlier this year, I found something that tops ALL of that! I got to go behind-the-scenes on a Drexel Heritage catalog shoot for the Adaptations collection. I felt like such a home decor insider, and it was fabulous! For starters, the photography shoots are always done in gorgeous environments. This one was a house that I never wanted to leave. Add to that the fact that you have an incredible photo stylist, an amazing photographer, an uber-talented art director and experienced furniture movers on-site to get everything just so.
In fact, it was the “just so” process of it all that interested me the most. As you’ll see in the video, there is a whole lot more to it than simply putting some furniture in a room, accessorizing and snapping the photos. The meticulous placement of each piece, adjusting of the lighting, the adding (and many times the taking away) of accessories were all as much of an art form as the final product itself.
Calling All Fashionistas: Here’s a Trunk Show You Won’t Want to Miss
Posted on June 11, 2010 by brandaid in Furniture Market
For fashionistas, there is nothing like the glorious anticipation of seeing the season’s must-haves before everyone else. Snagging that to-die-for little dress, those perfect new jeans or that super funky necklace that says, “Look at me. I’m a trend-setter.”
That’s right…we’re talking about trunk shows. Every hip boutique in town has one (or several) a year. And now, thanks to Denise Alala, our own Drexel Heritage fashionista, you can now get that same rush while shopping for interiors.
From delicious fabrics to botanicals to color themes, we’ve been blogging a lot about Drexel Heritage upholstery and the connection to the fashion world. You might say that ever since market, we’ve been a bit fabric-crazed. In addition to wanting to share on our blog, we wanted to take the show on the road.
Last month, Bountiful, a home furnishings boutique in Easton, Md., and owner Jamie Merida held a trunk show for customers showing of Drexel Heritage’s latest and greatest fabrics. Denise was there to talk about fashion and fabric trends, show upholstery samples and talk about how to mix and match them and make them work based on personal style.
I had the honor of seeing Denise give a similar presentation at market. While the fabrics were giving me visions of grand home decorating projects, Denise as the fashion plate tour guide was the ultimate inspiration to add some updated style to my interior design projects. From her dress to her shoes to her accessories…perfection! I mean, someone who has L.A. in her last name twice must have a certain Rodeo Drive je ne sais quoi about her.
Everything’s Coming up Roses…
Posted on June 4, 2010 by brandaid in Trendy Tips
And daisies and violets and daffodils and lilies and pansies and peonies and orchids! Yes, everywhere I look… flowers. Beautiful flowers!
Have you ever noticed that trends in shoes seem to match trends in interior design? Or is it just me? Seems like when everyone is decorating with neutral colors and creating calm and relaxing environments, the shoes become very classic and almost understated. Basic black. Nude. Winter white. And now as I’m seeing almost every magazine cover feature color and how to use bright colors, I know that my closet has a Skittles assortment of heels.
If you are following my line of thinking here, you will agree that it is no coincidence that I have wound up with shoes with flowers on them at the same time that florals are making a comeback in home decorating! If you have also gone flower power crazy, you might enjoy some other blooming beauties that have caught my eye….
Country Living, May issue, page 29… love, love, love this chest that has been upholstered with swatches of floral Indian bedding.
Traditional Home, May issue, page 94… this wallpaper makes me never want to buy a gallon of paint again. These are the happiest little whimsical flowers I’ve ever seen.
Veranda, May/June issue, page 112 – page 117… yes, six gorgeous pages on mixing flowers with indigenous art. Breathtaking!
One of the terrific things about our Drexel Heritage designers is that they can always tell you how to do a little or how to do a lot of something you like. You might agree that floral wallpaper is divine, but you might have some trepidation about papering your bedroom with it. If that’s the case, bedding is a safer bet. Floral accessories are a snap. Photos, paintings, throw pillows or simply gather up a bunch of blooms from the backyard, arrange them in an old glass bottle and voila! You have a centerpiece.