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Decorators’ Show House at Tuffeau Estate

by Grant Dudley April 23, 2013 5 Comments

The 43rd annual Decorators’ Show House & Gardens at Tuffeau Estate in Atlanta is open to the public now through May 12th. An array of the Southeast’s most brilliant designers have showcased their talents by transforming more than 30 design spaces in the estate into spectacular pieces of art.

If you are in the area in the coming weeks, this is a must-see destination. Over the weekend, some of our bloggers had the privilege to get inside and check out this home — and, wow. Below are several of our favorite rooms.

**All Photos Courtesy of Jeff Roffman Photography, LLC**

Upstairs Master Bedroom Designed by Fernandez + True Interiors

Butler’s Pantry Designed by Kellie Griffin Interiors, Inc.

Even More Stunning Images

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Daily Delight: Disco Ball Helmet

by Grant Dudley April 5, 2013 5 Comments

It’s Friday! And to celebrate our making it to the weekend, today I highlight the sparkly and fun Disco Ball Helmet. Created by San Francisco-based designer Natalina Walsh, she writes of her piece, “Why make a disco ball helmet? Because it’s awesome. Nuff said.”

Think I can convince Marianne to make this her next Weekday Crafternoon project?

Photo From Instructables

Have a great weekend, D-Happers!

Even More Sparkly: Lili Talks Sequin Pillows >>

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Daily Delight: My Cozy Den (Grant Gets Personal)

by Grant Dudley February 14, 2013 23 Comments

Today I’m welcoming you inside my house to show you a space that does, indeed, delight me daily — it’s my den. Everyone deserves a home that is filled with items that inspire them and that reflects their personality (and just makes them feel really good). My little Tennessee abode does just that, but no room does it better than the den.

Everything in this room means something to me. In front of the sofa (not pictured) is a china cabinet that holds my grandmother’s china and crystal.

The room is really a bedroom, but since I’m a bachelor and don’t have a ton of house-guests, keeping it a guest room seemed like a waste (the sofa is a pullout — so I am somewhat of a welcoming host). I just love the coziness of the space and the atmosphere at night when all of the lamps are on. The back wall is filled with plates and pictures that I have collected from antique stores along with treasured family photos.

Grant Gets Super Real

HGTV Designers’ Portfolio Favorites

by Sarah Herron February 2, 2013 5 Comments

HGTV.com is known for expert tips, DIY how-to’s and project ideas — but, we understand that sometimes, readers just need a little design eye-candy. HGTV Designers’ Portfolio is the ultimate sweet spot with thousands of pictures.

Designers’ Portfolio offers index tabs so online readers can filter the images by room, design style, color and designer. Right now, traditional bathrooms are the most popular filtered-terms.

It’s no surprise that Designers’ Portfolio is one of the leading sources of inspiration for Pinterest pinners. One of our most repinned rooms from Designers’ Portfolio is this gorgeous traditional kitchen with a farmhouse sink.

Check out HGTV Designers’ Portfolio and tell us about your favorite design style!

When Design Crimes Should Be Punishable By Law

by Brian Patrick Flynn September 29, 2011 35 Comments

When I was living in New York while working on Design Star, I remember season six winner Meg Caswell discussing her idea of a series all about design crimes. Up until that point, I’d never used that term. Well, I kinda love it. In fact, I would probably steal it and pass it off as my own term if Meg hadn’t created it in front of millions of people on national TV. (Her new show is called HGTV’s Great Rooms; I like that, too.) The term is rather silly if you think about it; how criminal can decorating get? Well, perhaps if you rob a bank and then use the loot to buy custom window treatments. But for the most part, the term “crime” seems rather severe when applied to an industry heavily focused on fabrics and chandeliers.

After stepping off a plane to Atlanta from Fort Lauderdale where I’d spent a week troubleshooting some kidspace and kitchen renovations, I started to make a list of decorating dos and don’ts. While I’m not the end all/be all expert when it comes to decorating, I have for the most part pretty much seen it all, the good and the bad. Sometimes, there are happy accidents, such as running out of vases, then using a soup can to hold flowers, which surprisingly turns out to be kind of adorable. On the other hand, there are wimpy, completely uncreative acts like throwing sticks into a vase, shoving them into a corner and calling that “decorating”.

From smooshing sofas into walls to turning master bedrooms into showrooms for matching sets, here are a few design don’ts to keep in mind before tackling your next project. And if the term “design crimes” will persuade you not to do them, let’s go ahead and steal Meg’s catch phrase for the sake of saving a room from possible incarceration. PS – Can you imagine getting twenty-five years to life for blocking a window with a bookshelf or using floral chintz in a bachelor’s master bedroom? Hmmm, maybe there should be decorating jail after all.

Stick In A Vase DON’T #1: Shove sticks into a vase and use them as centerpieces. This was invented somewhere, probably in hell, and it doesn’t make any sense or even remotely add anything to a room. Well, except for some sticks. And a vase.

Plant DO: Use potted fiddle leaf fig trees indoors. As seen in this photo from The Marion House Book, they’re architectural, hardy, fill negative space beautifully and are an excellent choice for bachelor pads since they borderline on masculine.

Floating Rug DON’T #2: Throw an area rug into a living room just for the sake of throwing an area rug into a living room. In order for an area rug to do its job—to ground and/or delineate space—it needs to not look like it accidentally fell from a magic area rug stork.

Rug DO: Choose an area rug large enough to encompass all seating in a living room. Ideally, select one that is large enough to tuck either halfway or all the way under the sofa and any other chairs or settees in the space. In this Charleston home featured in Veranda, designer Deborah Lipner used this technique to help create the feeling of a room within a room, similar to the way putting disparate objects on a tray makes them look like a uniform grouping.
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Giant Wall Murals: Go Big in Your Home

by Brian Patrick Flynn September 15, 2011 13 Comments

You know that one funny story you tell that friends and family members get a kick out of, so much so that they consistently ask you to recite it or perform it because it brings them joy? I do. Mine is this stupid story about how when I was 17-years-old and working at a toy store for extra Christmas money, a shady couple came into the store, then had a friend distract me while they ran out with about $275 in rubber dinosaurs and marbles. We never caught them, but hey… the joke’s on them. They stole rubber Stegosauruses and cheap marbles.

About three years ago, I swapped this yuletide tale for a design trick I did in my own home and in a restaurant I designed in Midtown, Atlanta. What was the trick? Rubber Pterodactyl and green marble wallpaper. Just kidding. I’m talking about ginormous wall murals, particularly those sporting photographs printed on vinyl. After about three back-to-back projects with clients requesting these, I made it a point to completely stay away from using them for the sake of not becoming a one-trick-pony. Well, since interior design is a business and businesses are all about making money, I recently got over this and started embracing the many fantastic super gigantic wall murals there are to choose from online. Cha-ching! From very big decals to custom photographs more than 11 feet tall, take a look at what I’ve found on the internets. And just for old time’s sake, I even included a dinosaur. But I left out the marbles.

Mega Print

If you are vain and have fallen in love with a particular photograph that captured you from that perfect angle, giving you a super defined chin you like to think that you always have, perhaps you can immortalize yourself on your wall with Megaprint. The company can print your personal photo as a larger than life vinyl mural. If you do this, keep in mind that black and white photos seem to have greater longevity, since they won’t tie you into any specific color scheme until you move.

Mega Print

In addition to photographs, Megaprint can also print large-scale graphics, an excellent way to add some colorful, branded life to your company’s office space.
Butterfly Elements

Casart may be the most brilliant thing since sliced bread…seriously. I hate that saying because when people utter those words, they pretend it’s funny. Kinda like when someone pronounces Target [TAR jay] like they are the first to ever say it like that. Anyway, Casart creates murals, wallpaper and graphics that are, get this, RE-STICKABLE! Ah! This is life-changing for a designer who deals with tons of condos on a regular basis. I love these super-sized butterflies. Just one of these doozies paired with sleek, modern furniture is enough to quickly and affordably fill up a small bedroom.

Blik Scan Forest
Blik Scan Branches

Blik is the very first decal company I ever used back on a TV makeover series I used to design for. They have an enormous range of modern creations for kids and adults. The products come in clear packaging and include burnishers, which are all that’s needed to apply them. Two of their most timeless creations are To Scan A Forest and Branches.

Sissy Little Spinosaurus

Well whaddyaknow? A dinosaur! At least this time, it won’t include the aforementioned kleptomaniac toy store cheaters. Sissylittle carries a few giant-scale dinosaurs that are kiddie enough for the kids but modern enough for their parents to enjoy. Or cool enough for self-proclaimed mature geeks and nerds to decorate with in their apartments. (You know, those Big Bang Theory, long live Pluto types.)

Book Review: House Beautiful’s Colors for Your Home

by Kayla Kitts August 6, 2010 No Comments

Colors for Your Home: 300 Designer Favorites (Hearst, 2010) is a go-to guide to help you easily select colors for your home. Based on House Beautiful’s monthly color column, this book brings the color specialists straight to you. It includes more than 300 paint formulas with fun, inspiring names like Smashing Pink, Blue Angel and Perfect Pear.

design-happens-house-beautiful-paint-swatches

Benjamin Moore's Smashing Pink and Blue Angel; Dunn Edwards Perfect Pear

Uncovering Design Basics

by Kayla Kitts July 17, 2010 1 Comment

You don’t have to be a decorating pro to make your space gorgeous. From color theory and fabric basics, to displaying art and using area rugs, we’ve got you covered.

First things first – what’s your design style? Browse through our Design Glossary and discover the style that best suits you. Are you sleek and contemporary or funky and eclectic?

These color palettes are a perfect team for any space. Colors do more than just appeal to the eye. Learn how they affect your mood.

Take a course in fabricology. Discover the best places for cotton and silk in your home.

Create balance (and a stunning display) with your artwork.

The perfect rug can make a bold statement.

For more decorating basics check out the Design 101 guide.

Introducing: Design Happens

by admin August 24, 2007 6 Comments

I like pretty things.

I like them even better when they surround me in my home, not just my computer screen. But alas, a decorating editor’s budget is woefully cheaper than the things she spends her days writing about. Sound familiar? Most of us have tastes bigger than our budget — it’s just one of those understood facts of life, right up there with the brown-plus-black fashion faux pas.

But when I walk into my home, I don’t want it to feel like a shrine awaiting the day I can afford a Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chair. I’m a big believer in indulging in your home, beginning the day you move in (of course, try telling this to your parents who still have white walls and boxes in their home 12 years later.) At HGTV.com, we spend a lot of time talking about how investing money in your home will get you big financial returns — but what really interests me is the returns I get in my mood.

Enter: Design Happens. This blog is a license to obsess with me over pretty design for the home that inspires and makes you feel good. You don’t have to rely solely upon the style greats to create a comfortable living space. I’ll be scouting new, old and tried-and-true design inspiration and goodies for your home, with a healthy dose of affordable thrown in. Here’s hoping your white walls will soon be goners!

Before we kick off the decorating spree, you wouldn’t believe how hard it was to come up with a blog title for this concept. Here are some of my favorites that, thankfully, never made it off the cutting room floor:

Design: It’s What’s for Dinner!

*Designoids — curiously strong style

Design Forecast – strong possibility of damask showers at 9 p.m. tonight!

Design Pill — take three and call me in the morning

*My friend Chelsey, HGTV assistant editor, came up with this gem. She also came up with the final name of the blog, to which I say, “thank you” for avoiding a lawsuit with Altoids.