Friday, December 19, 2008

Design Q & A

Q. I am updating our second bathroom and our vanity needs help, it is made from particleboard with a hardwood veneer laminated onto the particleboard, can I use your Furniture, Cabinet and Trim Paint?

A. Yes, our paint will adhere to particle board and veneers. We suggest an initial thin coat that you allow to dry a minimum of 24 hours and if you can avoid showering in the space to eliminate as much moisture as possible. You can add one to two more coats of paint, depending on the color you are covering. We have painted with both a roller and a paint brush and both perform well for projects like this. The paint will also adhere and level around the hinges, so they may be painted as well.

Design is in the Detail


Hanging art, photographs and other wall decor is one of the key elements of finishing any design project. When the wall hardware does not match the other metal finishes in the space, it stands out like a sore thumb. We found that many designers and decorators had the same dilemma and they have been known to spray paint the hardware before hanging it. Now there is a solution: Decorative Wall Hardware in six great finishes copper, black iron, antique bronze, brass, nickel and pewter. Each kit comes with a just the right variety of hardware items.

Environmentally Smart Design
To create a cohesive wall of photos, bring together a series of outdated photo frames. Don't worry about the color or finish, just focus on the right sizes for your photos. Flea markets, garage sales and maybe even your own closet are great places to find old frames. Choose one paint color from our Furniture, Cabinet and Trim Paint collection that works with your décor. Black is always a safe bet, but consider one of our other neutrals. Paint all of the frames with the same color, turning them into a collection verses a random group. Hang them on the wall or place them together on shelves. One can of paint smartly saved many cast aside frames.

Creative Home Decor
It is holiday time and I love to decorate. We have six trees decorated this year, each with a different theme. If you are ready for a change, think about updating your Christmas tree decor. Consider a new color scheme; there are so many different options available or a theme that represents you and your family, such as skiing, the beach, nature, cooking, wine or the garden. To give your new tree dimension, incorporate small and large objects together, work in multiples and choose colors that work well together to create a cohesive look. Your tree does not have to be filled with traditional ornaments that match your theme. For example, if creating a beach theme, introduce star fish, rope, sea shells, and then fill in with ornaments that compliment your colors. I created a Lake House themed tree with a friend of mine and you can view: http://www.craftstylish.com/item/25979/lake-house-themed-christmas-tree . You may even want to put your tree stand in a bucket and fill it with sand.

Inspiration to DIY Design
Today's home market has made it difficult to simply sell and move, so it is time to get creative and inspired to do some things around your home. Every design project should start with a simple plan, if you start without one you will end up purchasing furniture, accessories and materials that you may not even be able to use. Start simple. Choose a space that you know you can start and complete. If you undertake a large project that is too overwhelming, you may reduce your success rate. I suggest starting with a guest bedroom, child's room or home office. These are three spaces that are fun to decorate and can come together quickly. Step 1: Look for inspiration in magazines and catalogs, or ask your children what they love. Step 2: Gather samples of paint colors, fabrics, flooring, etc. for the space. Choose colors and textures that you are drawn to, some may end up being the main color focus and others accent pieces. Step 3: If you are going to add furniture, window treatments, paint a mural, now is the time to do that research. Locate pictures from magazines, catalogs, and the web, or sketch them yourself so that you have an idea of what you will need. Step 4: MEASURE, MEASURE, MEASURE! You should know the size of everything in the space before you begin: the room, the windows, doorways, closets, bed, dresser, desk, etc. Step 5: Create a floor plan for the room. Choose the location for existing furniture and accessories, and plan for new objects in the space. Step 6: Pull all of your information together and determine the final design for the space. Step 7: Design your space.

We love this process and created a collection of products to help it run more smoothly. Our Design Project Organizer is a blank organizer that is ready to be filled with everything you collect during the design process and our Room Spacing Kits help you create a design board similar to those created by interior designers that will help you visualize the furniture plan, how the colors come together, and the design style that appeals most to you. This board is also a great help when sharing your design idea with others in the family. A picture says a thousand words and with a plan and a roadmap you are ready to embark on your first project.


This modern bedroom design board was created with our Bedroom Room Spacing Kit

© 2007, CanvasCorp LLC.
www.CanvasCorp.com

Design Q & A
posted by CanvasCorp LLC on Friday, December 19, 2008

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Interior Design and Space Planning for Kids

The Canvas Corp Team is focused on educating everyone on the basics of interior design and space planning and we're excited about these websites we found that do just that.

www.myscene.com offers a game for girls called Room Makeover. This game inspired by the My Scene™ dolls, allows you to design the perfect bedroom. This site does not require the purchase to participate and provides the girls various colors, design styles, furniture pieces and decorative accents to find just the right mix. All rooms, furniture and accessories are designed with the perfect options for girls that range from 4 to 15. Rooms cannot be saved, but they can be printed. When the room is completed travel over to the Shopping Spree or Beauty Studio.

The Webkinz™ craze is also a great introduction to space planning and interior design for kids. With the purchase of each Webkinz™, you get a virtual room or one can be purchased and then furnished with a wide variety room styles, furniture and accessories that are designed for both boys and girls. After purchasing a Webkinz™ you visit www.webkinz.com to begin the process. Rooms are maintained and additional items can be added, removed and moved around. The Webkinz™ are then interactive in the space, helping the room to come to life. Not only are they exposed to interior design and space planning, but they maintain their Webkinz™ home inside and out and the pets that live there.

Focus on a little more contemporary living, www.tygirlz.com features rooms that combine living and sleeping and introduce loft living. With the purchase of a Ty Girlz™ doll you gain access to this site and have virtual dollars that allow you to purchase furniture and accessories. There are games provided where additional dollars can be earned to buy additional items for the loft, as well as, the clothes for the dolls. The rooms can be decorated with a variety of furniture and style choices with an updated look. Like Webkinz™, the rooms remain on the site and are accessed with a log in name and password.

These sites are interactive, educational and a great introduction into the art of interior design. For a hands on approach purchase a Canvas Home Basics Room Spacing Kit and space plan the furniture, choose fabric and furniture samples and create a design board just like a professional interior designers. Visit your local interior fabric store and choose samples of fabric and trims, scan magazines for favorite styles and the web for images of furniture to add to the board, helping to visually show the design plan. Create the perfect children's room or work together to design the perfect family room.

Work with your children to get a feel for their design sense and you will learn something new about them.

© 2007, CanvasCorp LLC.
www.CanvasCorp.com

Interior Design and Space Planning for Kids
posted by CanvasCorp LLC on Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Monday, July 14, 2008

HGTV's Design Star

This show is a great inspiration to the creativity of home décor, bringing together the core elements of design and function, while maintaining high expectations for uniqueness and creativity. This new focus in design allows personal style to shine while encouraging creative solutions for storage, display, furniture function, etc. We created the Canvas Home Basics line to provide a line of basics.

© 2007, CanvasCorp LLC.
www.CanvasCorp.com

HGTV's Design Star
posted by CanvasCorp LLC on Monday, July 14, 2008

Staying Organized During the Design Process

One of the things that I found the most difficult when we built our home was staying organized and keeping all the various aspects of the project together. I had a stack of magazine pages, catalogs, fabric swatches, carpet samples, paint chips and even a sample of the brick we planned to use for the outside of the home. As the decisions were being made it became really important that I find a way to stay organized. I devised a 3 ring binder system by room where I put everything I had collected for that room together including the floor plan, color scheme, images of furniture, ideas for curtains and more. It also provided a place to put information such as the renderings from the cabinet maker for our kitchen and bathroom cabinets.

This system worked well, but I was not able to find the right pockets, sheet protectors and dividers that would have made the process easier, so I developed the Canvas Home Basics Design Project Organizer. Designed to work for one room at a time or expandable for a larger project. I worked with a panel of designers and we devised a system that walks you through the basic design process and encourages you to find your own design style, while keeping in mind that basic fundamentals of design.

Staying organized during the process will make things run more smoothly, provide a place to keep all those great ideas you find along the way and in the end I feel help save time and money. If you have any suggestions or questions regarding the preparation of any design process please send to info@canvascorp.com and we are happy to provide our ideas and suggestions and if you are sharing an idea, we would love to put that on our Blog.

© 2007, CanvasCorp LLC.
www.CanvasCorp.com

Staying Organized During the Design Process
posted by CanvasCorp LLC on Monday, July 14, 2008

Monday, April 21, 2008

Going Green is the only way to go!

"Going Green" is no longer just a catch phrase. It is now an obligation - for every responsible citizen of the earth. We need to generate the many, many ways in which we can be a solution to the earth's problems that we ourselves, though unwittingly, have created. As homeowners, renters, designers, and builders, there are new habits to form and what a pleasure to be a part of any gesture to improving the natural environment we live in.

From the time we wake up in the morning till we lay our weary heads back on the pillow at night there are some easy changes we can make and slowly adapt to until they become a part of our daily routine.

Sleep with the heat turned right down or even off, and in the morning pull on some extra warm wraps when you first start moving around. When you do fire up the furnace, keep it two degrees lower and wear a sweater. If everyone did this, the cumulative impact would be significant on the environment and on our energy bills! Also, did you know that cleaning your furnace filter each season can increase it's efficiency by 50%?

When you flick the lights on, feel content that you have chosen low wattage bulbs. Replace some or all of your incandescent light bulbs with CFL or LED bulbs.

When designing or updating your home, install a low flow shower head which uses less water, and hence less heat to warm the water. You can insulate your water tank and set its thermostat two degrees lower (between 60C and 65C). You'll quickly adjust and not notice the difference! You can actually install a timer on your water heater to turn it off at night and on just before you wake up in the morning. In Europe, many people turn the shower on to get wet, turn it off to lather up, then turn it on to rinse. They don't necessarily use the hottest water either! We tend to linger a little too long here, because water doesn't seem like a luxury to many of us.

Home design recognizes the importance of structure, even though we're enthralled by the aesthetics. Weather proofing your home, for example, is a great way to save energy and money. Get double-pane windows and caulk any cracks as you go about your home repairs.

Invest in low or no- VOC paints and paint products as offered by Canvas Home Basics. Clean with their all natural home care products. This company touts an Environmentally Smart policy and works only with suppliers who align with this policy.

As you're updating your home, look for an ENERGY STAR model refridgerator. In the meantime, simply cleaning the condenser coil can improve the efficiency of your existing fridge. Be sure the dishwasher is full before you turn it on. Dry two or more loads of laundry in a row to take advantage of an already warm dryer. Fold the clothes while they're warm to save time and energy ironing!

Take your cloth bags with you when shopping for groceries! Buy local food and produce. Don't purchase anything that's overpackaged. The makers will get the hint! Have one dinner a week that doesn't require heating. Have more meatless meals and get your protein in other ways. It's these small habits that will yield exponentially positive effects on the overall picture of things.

We are facing a real energy crunch! We all need to do our part to meet this challenge. Canvas Home Basics tries to make a difference, one small choice at a time. Check out their publicity and see just how much is available to us to help us with this transition.

© 2007, CanvasCorp LLC.
www.CanvasCorp.com

Going Green is the only way to go!
posted by CanvasCorp LLC on Monday, April 21, 2008

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Scrapbooking & Interior Design - A Marriage of Creative Living

I think we're seeing a brand new trend. A trend where scrapbook stores are starting to expand into the home design realm. This a good thing, because just the other day I received an email from a local scrapbook store. The owner was selling out her inventory before closing her doors to this retail shop for good. Now this particular store wasn't normally one that I would shop, because I am not a die-hard scrapbooker. But I really did love wandering through the aisles looking at all the notions, papers, tools, and hardware - all these neat things - but just for the scrapbook. I don't know for sure how most scrapbook stores are holding up, and if CHA was any indication, the demand for scrapbook supplies is not going anywhere. However, as an interior stylist, I couldn't help but feel a little left out. All these creative projects, and yet I was not sure that many would be featured prominently in the home once they were done. But now, we design folk are being invited in to the scrapbook stores to give Homespacing classes! Helping all these creative people design a room in which to be even more creative. And what a wonderful way for scrapbooking stores to expand their offering and give me yet another place to shop.

Ask your store if they are offering any classes, and let us know what you discover!

© 2007, CanvasCorp LLC.
www.CanvasCorp.com

Scrapbooking & Interior Design - A Marriage of Creative Living
posted by CanvasCorp LLC on Saturday, March 01, 2008

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Remixing Interiors

I am going to bet that you have a piece of furniture in your home that was handed down to you. And I will even venture a guess that it wouldn't be the first thing you'd pick out if you were to buy new furniture today. I have inherited more than my fair share of furniture. Among other things, I have an entire dining room set from my grandparents. I just loved it when I was in my 20's. But now that I'm in my 30's I've started to change my style and that dining room set is, quite frankly, a road block to my perfect space. But it still holds tremendous sentimental value and so I don't want to toss it. So I have decided to do a little remixing with two key elements from the Canvas Home Basics line.

The first item in my little arsenal is a can of the pre-mixed Furniture, Cabinet and Trim Paint. Color: Designer Black. Painting a classic piece like this in black will totally recreate this classic furniture. The Designer Black is a great deep charcoal color that is perfect for furniture updates that blend into any environment. I have used the Trim paint on another chair project and it covers beautifully and because it's a green product, I was able to paint indoors without a mask, fan, or open windows. A nice change from other paint I've used. And this particular paint is great because it covers e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g really nicely - it's very smooth, very high tech.

And then while those pieces are drying, I'll use the Room Spacing Kit to decide where I want to use my newly remixed furniture. These dining room pieces can definitely be used in various rooms throughout the house for extra storage. So here's my weekend challenge to you. Decide not to throw out good furniture. Not when you can completely remix and change the look and quite possibly hand it down to the next generation. That's good for you, your kids, and the environment too. When using the Room Spacing Kits, keep in mind that they have a wide variety of furniture sizes and shapes. If you don't find one that is exact, feel free to cut stickers down to right size or sketch unique shaped items directly onto the graph paper using the flexible scale ruler so that you can scale the item into the space.

What do you need to remix?

© 2007, CanvasCorp LLC.
www.CanvasCorp.com

Remixing Interiors
posted by CanvasCorp LLC on Tuesday, February 26, 2008