{friday finds: tips for decorating with organic materials}

One of this year’s big trends is decorating with organic materials. Our design team highlighted the combination of gold and glam with organic materials when they came back from High Point Market Week this spring, but what if you want to bring organic materials into your own home?

Here are 8 tips to help you add warm textures and earthy beauty to your decor — organically.

1. Use wood in unexpected places, like the bathroom:

Credit: Lee & Co Contractors

If the full wood wall feels a bit like a Scandinavian sauna, we understand. You could just go with the wood shelves that complement it:

2. Become a dream-weaver:

{fearless trends: how to pull off interior color blocking}

If you loved it when we discussed color blocking a few years ago, we have good news: the trend is back and bolder than ever. Color blocking returned to fashion last season, and it has funneled back to interior design this year. So, here are 6 tips to fearlessly add color blocking to your decor, plus a few extra ideas from Benjamin Moore.

1. Pick one color to emphasize unique architecture.

Accent walls are a basic kind of color blocking, but you can do so much more. Advance a level by highlighting some interesting architecture or painting around a corner or two.

Credit: ArkPad

Credit: Remodelista

2. Use painter’s tape liberally.

If you want geometric, modern lines, grab an armful of painter’s tape and a friend, and tape your walls before you begin painting. Here’s a yellow outlined block filled with pink.

{friday finds: the best of high point market}

Powerful colors, pretty pinks, mixed metals and luxurious velvets are some of the trends to watch after our Hirshfield’s team visited the High Point Market Spring 2016.

Kathy, Greg and Taylor represented Hirshfield’s Design Resource at the Market, which is the world’s premiere home fashion event. Here is a look at some of the latest designs, ideas, and innovations they saw during  Market.

Power Clashing

High Point Spring Market 2016

Strong colors and strong patterns pushed the envelope at Market Week. In the past, you would see a single design element, say a fabric or piece of art, as the power player in a room.

Prevalent at spring market were entire rooms filled with saturated colors from the wall to the floor, to the fabric used on a sofa, all the way up to the ceiling.

{design trends: incorporating black stainless steel into your kitchen}

Remember when stainless steel appliances were only for restaurants? Or when “stainless” meant the sleek, gray appliances in upscale kitchens? Now black stainless steel is the trend, gracing stylish kitchens across the nation.

This sleek, eye-catching look is more easily incorporated than you may think. Here are a few ideas on how to prepare your kitchen for the trendy new products.

{friday finds: 2016 interior design trends}

It’s January — time to bring on the bone-chilling cold here in Minnesota, and time to make predictions for the new year in the design world.  It seems like everybody wants to predict what colors, materials, and styles will be hot this year, so we sifted through some of the best to bring you a look at the top interior design trends for 2016.

Matte Metal Tile by Miami Kitchen & Bath Fixtures Eden Mosaic Tile

The Wall Street Journal interviewed 26 top interior designers and picked black metals as the top trend for this year. Los Angeles designer Barclay Butera noted that “there is nothing fussy about iron and blackened steel,” which is showing up in simple hardware, bathroom fixtures and even flatware. Contemporary designers, such as Jasper Morrison blend it with wood and glass, or sometimes create entire pieces of matte black metal. “Welders are the new rock stars,” enthused New York designer Julia Haney-Montanez.

Kitchen by Tampa Appliances Famous Tate Appliance & Bedding Centers

Houzz.com agrees. A compilation of discussions on the design site identified colored stainless steel appliances as one of the top trends.  “Black stainless steel is making a buzz on Houzz,” the article says. “In a poll, nearly two-thirds of Houzzers say they would consider the dark alternative to shiny silver metal.” Examples include LG’s new Black Stainless collection (above), and Whirlpool’s Sunset Bronze finish.