First lady gives new look to State Dining Room

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama has given a touch-up to the White House State Dining Room, the latest interior design change that will endure long after she leaves the building.

Her modest changes to the room where many dinners and other events are held follow this year's more dramatic remake of the Old Family Dining Room and the unveiling of the Obama china service.

Silk draperies with vertical stripes of peacock blue and ecru replace curtains made of ivory silk brocade and designed with flowers, baskets and ribbons. The blue in the draperies echoes the "Kailua" blue that trims the modern-inspired china service the first lady unveiled in April and recalls the waters that surround President Barack Obama's home state of Hawaii.

Mahogany side chairs and arm chairs, custom-made in North Carolina, replace a set that was upholstered in a golden yellow fabric.

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The new chairs are done in a brown, grid-patterned "horsehair" fabric and trimmed with brass nail heads. They were modeled after arm chairs that President James Monroe acquired for the East Room in 1818 from a cabinetmaker in Washington's Georgetown neighborhood, according to White House curator William Allman.

The gradual refurbishment has been under way since new custom-made, wool rugs arrived in 2012. The rug design used elements of the room's ceiling to create a border of continuous wreaths and a blue-green mottled field designed with oak leaves. Two rugs were made so they can be switched out for cleaning.

An advisory panel, the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, approved the upgrades.

The $590,000 tab was paid by the White House Endowment Trust. The private fund is administered by the White House Historical Association for the maintenance and upkeep of White House rooms that are open to the public, such as the Blue, Red and Green Rooms, the East Room and the State Dining Room.

The State Dining Room was last refurbished in 1998, during the administration of President Bill Clinton.

In February, Mrs. Obama unveiled an updated look for the Old Family Dining Room, a smaller dining room adjacent to the State Dining Room on the first floor.

She exchanged its sunny yellow walls and drapery and light-toned rug for gray walls, contrasting red draperies and a wool rug in a weave of black, white and gray. Four works of American abstract art, a favorite of the Obama family, were also donated to the permanent White House art collection and put on display in the Old Family Dining Room.

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How to turn your phone into an interior designer

Some homeowners are at a double disadvantage when it comes to home design apps, because they’re not especially comfortable with interior design or with technology. So we went to the experts, asking designers which apps they find most helpful, and how they use them. (All are free and available on both iOS and Android, unless otherwise noted.)

“People nowadays want to live in homes that reflect their personality and lifestyle,” says David Mitchell, owner, designer and blogger for David Mitchell Interior Design in Washington. “This is where apps come in. Apps inspire people. We refer to apps to get information that inform our designs.”

Mitchell likes to get a dose of design from Dwell magazine’s app (content ranges from free to $7), which he calls a “well-edited and finely curated” supplement to the print edition. The app offers videos and slide shows, as well as product reviews and stories. It also provides links and detailed photos of products for purchase.

Designer Regan Billingsley, owner of Regan Billingsley Interiors in Maryland, says that homeowners who don’t have a designer’s prowess and who struggle to find a design vision can turn to online apps to get started.

“It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and get caught up in today’s trends when starting off,” she says. “But you can use these online tools to find colors and designs to build a better design direction and concept.”

Billingsley says she asks new clients to send her photos from Pinterest and Houzz to help articulate their aesthetic preferences. She has thousands of followers on Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/RBHomeDesign), which she calls her “online library.” She said she is happy about the company’s new “Buy It” feature for in-app purchases.

The Houzz app focuses more narrowly on home design than Pinterest, according to Billingsley, and provides open forums for community engagement and discussions with design professionals.

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Billingsley also recommends the apps from retailers One Kings Lane and Joss & Main, which sell home goods at various price points and separate items by style genre.

Wing Wong, AIA project manager for the Takoma Park, Md.-based Dep Designs, says that many homeowners want to be closely involved in their design projects even if they hire a professional. Like many designers, he relies on apps like Dropbox to save and share files with other architects and clients on the job.

Wong also recommends RoomScan (99 cents for iPhone), an app that can draw floor plans. “Simply go around your house and touch each wall with your phone,” he says. “It will automatically draw up the floor plan with dimensions.” This near-accurate feature comes in handy for quick estimates and rough sketches for remodeling.

Therese Baron Gurney, principal of Baron Gurney Interiors in Washington, said she relies on Sherwin-Williams’ ColorSnap and Benjamin Moore’s Color Capture, which provide instant paint color matches based on a photo taken by the user.

“If I’m going around somewhere and I see a color of a flower or a piece of furniture — anything — I can zoom in on any part of the object like a laser and find a color reference,” Gurney says.

Even if the outcome is a bit off, Gurney will play around with the color tone to get her perfect shade.

“Using this kind of attention to detail totally changes your lifestyle,” says Gurney, who employed the app to find a “happy, fun and sunny” apple green accent color for a “funky” modular home designed for clients by her husband, architect Robert Gurney. “It’s not only a modern home — it’s a modern way of living.”

Style at Home: Get Personal in your Interior Design

A favorite part of my job is helping customers turn their houses into homes, truly unique dwellings that reflect their personality. So when Ann arrived scouting for furnishings and inspiration to put her stamp on the historic home she and husband Wally had just bought, we were excited to help. I want to invite you into Ann and Wally's beautiful library because it is a great illustration of an important credo: Make your interior design personal. Here's how these homeowners did just that, and the results are stunning. Come on in ...


PERSONALIZATION TIP 1: PAINT THE WALLS A COLOR YOUR LOVE

Most of Ann's home is painted a bright and cheery white. But for her library, she wanted to go big in the drama department. So she painted every inch of this cozy space, from the walls to the trim, in Benjamin Moore's deep, dark, moody Lead Gray. The painters thought she was crazy, she said, and kept asking, "Are you sure you want everything painted gray?" But she has great color sense, and lots of confidence in considerable decorating skills, so she stuck to her guns. I'm so glad she did, because the walls make this room feel like a present wrapped in beautiful paper.

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Picking a paint color can be really, really hard. A good way to zero in on the right hue for your room is to gather lots and lots of photos of rooms you love. You'll start to see a pattern in the wall color. When you find a color you like paint test spots in different places in the room then watch them as the light changes through the day. If you like what you see, go for it!

PERSONALIZATION TIP 2: COLLECT AN INTERESTING MIX OF FURNISHINGS

This wonderful sofa and set of spool chairs was one of my favorite groupings this spring. Ann knew she wanted colorful furniture in her library to pop against her gray walls. When she saw this collection, it was love at first sight. The new upholstered pieces blended perfectly with the leather chair and accent tables she already owned. I really like how this space is filled with a wide assortment of furnishings, in a variety of styles and finishes. My favorite spaces look like they have evolved over time.

PERSONALIZATION TIP 3: WEAVE IN YOUR TREASURES

When Ann and Wally moved into their home, she had boxes and boxes of treasures she had received from family members or collected through the years. But she wasn't sure how, and if, she wanted it used in her daily decor.

Enter Zakk, one of our associates at Nell Hill's, who works with customers on personalizing their decor. Zakk offered a fresh eye, killer design sense and some cheerleading to Ann as she put her family's stamp on their home. "I probably would still have a lot of this stuff in boxes if it wasn't for Zakk," Ann laughs. Zakk helped Ann turn her walls of bookshelves into an arresting showcase, a stage for some of the accents she loves most.

One of Zakk's tips: Work a few pieces of your collections into your displays. He discovered a box packed full of Royal Dalton figurines given to Ann by her grandmother and dotted them in here and there.

What can you weave into your displays to make your home more personal? Mementos from your childhood? Vacation souvenirs? Family heirlooms? These special touches tell your life's story and make your home truly unique.

PERSONALIZATION TIP 4: FINISH WITH DISTINCTIVE ARTWORK

A room isn't finished until its walls are filled with wonderful artwork. Art - whether it's paintings, photos or interesting objects like old trays or platters - pulls everything together and makes a space truly personal. Ann and Wally are lucky enough to have a number of family pieces, including original art painted by Wally's late sister, to add to the artwork they have collected through the years. This wonderful painting, done by Wally's aunt, is of Wally, Ann and other family members, gathered together for a wedding.

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Source: http://www.macon.com/2015/06/29/3820324_style-at-home-get-personal-in.html?rh=1

TAKE COMFORT IN DISCOVERY AND RENEWAL AT TANDUS CENTIVA

Craftsmanship. Re-use. Re-purpose. All that plus the “realness” of time-tested, aged materials inform the latest product launches from Tandus Centiva, a company with over 40 years of experience in manufacturing transformative modular flooring. We’ve never felt so confident in the industry’s drive for self-renewal.

A modern riff on complicated plaid, Maelstrom captures the look and feel of motion picture film strips. Designed by Jhane Barnes, the pattern’s 14 color positions are threaded across a 6-foot-wide platform for effortless seaming and unique color combinations. The option to specify many plank and tile sizes lets designers further customize with a variety of surface textures.

But if going to the movies just isn't your thing, Tandus Centiva delivers rhythm and vitality with Avant, designed to evoke the physical sensation of forward movement. And that progression doesn’t just mean hyper tactile textures and 16 bold colorways—the modular tiles can be backed with Ethos®, a non-chlorinated polymer created from the film used in recycled safety glass and windshields. Plus, like all of the company’s soft surface products, Avant is 100 percent recyclable through ReStart®, Tandus Centiva’s closed-loop recycling program. (By the way, ReStart® was the first of its kind to be SCS-certified.) 

There’s always a place for timelessness—especially when we’re talking comfort. Rooted in ancient map-making techniques with structured amorphous patterning, Cartography uses matte and lustrous fibers to evoke the depth of your grandfather’s hand-painted maps. Designed to personalize the workplace with bright color accents and floor plan mapping, these 24”x24” modular tiles sport the textural surface of cut and un-cut pile. Patterns, textures and colors flow, pool and shift from tile to tile, culminating in a unified design. Warm and cool neutrals work to ground the product.

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Look, what's cooking!

Kitchens are an integral part of your home. With many going ultra chic, Deepika Nidige looks at its glam evolution and gives you a sneak peek into the modern day offerings.

It is an undeniable fact that architecture and interior designing are becoming increasingly technical. People now want their homes to be scientific and aesthetic at the same time. Days when garish tiles and over-the-top furnishing were the order of the day are over. Minimalistic and sophisticated designs are now trending across homes. With the marriage of home decor and technology, comes a whole new gamut of home furnishing options. 

An important aspect of this kind of home embellishment is the construction of the kitchen. It is where you cook, store, bake and sometimes even eat. If you're spending a good amount of your day in this part of the home, it's but natural that you would want to ensure that the best goes into its making. Kitchens have increasingly evolved with time and they are not just being a ‘kitchen’ by definition.

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Modular kitchens, a modern kitsch area, soon emerged popular among the urban community. The kitchen has become a luxury today and people are willing to go the extra mile to own an ultra modern kitchen. We witnessed this recently at the launch of Valcucine Kitchen in Bengaluru. 

It's not often that we see a pot pourri of people from varied professional areas get together – architects, painters, interior designers and chefs. When they do get              together under one roof, the atmosphere is nothing short of festive. Niveditha Reddy, an architect and the managing partner of Rise stores, was the mastermind behind the launch of the kitchen range. "Kitchens are still unexplored in India.There is so much potential. On a trip to Italy, we chanced upon these state-of-the-art kitchens and decided to bring the concept to India," she said.

While the kitchens range from Rupees five lakhs to Rs eighty lakhs, their USP is that they are highly customisable. Many first-time visitors were quite impressed with what they saw and you'd be amazed at how forward and modern kitchens have become. 

Kitchen wise

When you are looking into the modern kitchen trends, here are a few things that you might want to consider. You can actually choose what material you want it to be done with – wood, aluminium, glass. One can be recycled, while another is absolutely light weight. Glass counter-tops look so elegant. Goodbye granite, we've found something sleeker and more utilitarian.

Storage is an essential part of kitchens. Remember those times when you forgot where you kept those ramekins and opened all the drawers before you could find them. Well, think ahead. Your drawers can now have glass bottoms. But don't you worry about them breaking. These have been tempered enough to become eight times stronger than the regular glass. They could bear weights up to 60 kg. 

Your top shelves need not be out of range anymore. You can have doors that work like levers, very similar to that of a car trunk. With the installtion of LED lights at the back of some of the shelves, you no longer need to grope in the dark looking for things you may need at a moment’s notice. This makes it hassale free and convenient. 

The before and after 

Cooking, the crux of any kitchen, also demands a lot of safety - which is why there is no longer the need to bend over the flame to pick up your box of spices. A long panel can be drawn unto yourself and pushed back in. A live demonstration by Chef Sarabjeet, who seemed to be having a whale of a time whipping up pastas and bruschettas, reaffirmed the convenience of the kitchen countertops for cooking.

What follows cooking is perhaps the most tedious part of the whole process -washing and cleaning up. This is where the partitioned sink, such as those seen in the kitchens of our Western counterparts, come in handy. You can put in the glassware in one part of the sink, while you can throw in skillets and pans in the other. What's more convenient than a rotatable faucet? But there are obviously days when you aren't in the mood to do dishes and you have suddenly have an unexpected guest at your door. Fear not, because you now have a lid that you can just draw over the sink that can help you conceal your dirty dishes.

Renovation fundas

Let's say, for instance, that you want to go in for a kitchen renovation or makeover a few years down the line. The recyclable nature of the units come in handy when such a time arises! You can get yourself a new kitchen without discarding the old. Furthermore, kitchens these days are so environment-friendly that they contain no toxic emissions, even when they are being manufactured. 

Before you begin looking for one of those attractive kitchen units, keep in mind that if you don't find what you want, you can get it tailor-made. Additionally, you can also get to beautify the cabinet doors with theme paintings, by professional artists. And the cherry on the cake is the decade-long replaceable warranty most kitchens come with.

Have you been treating the modelling of your kitchen as a mere chore or duty? Would you make it boring, when you can make it fabulous, without compromising on quality or purpose? Now you know better.

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Interior designers take note: A larger-than-life Tiger Woods wall decal from Fathead

The Tiger Woods fist pump as a design element probably has never occurred to certified interior designers, but that was before this: The larger-than-life Tiger Woods Fathead wall decal.

Fathead announced recently that it had secured licensing rights to produce these vinyl wall decals for Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky. Put them all up together and you’d have a veritable wall of fame.

“We’ve had this extraordinary deal in our sights for quite a while,” Patrick McInnis, Chief Executive Officer of Fathead, told Forbes. “The demand Fathead has received for these iconic athletes is unprecedented.”

The Tiger Woods fist pump decal (shown above) measures six feet, four inches, or three inches taller than Woods himself. It’s available for $100. There are several other Woods’ decals, including those of variable sizes, one of which is what Fathead calls a Big Head (shown here). There are also Woods’ wall murals and a high-definition stand out.

Fathead previously has offered wall decals of Ian Poulter and John Daly, as well as wall murals of various golf holes.

Learn fashion and interior design

Madras Institute of Fashion Technology (MFT) is inviting applications for the following programmes.

Madras Institute of Fashion Technology (MFT) is inviting applications for the following programmes:

B.Sc. (fashion design) and B.Sc. (interior design) in collaboration with Alagappa University (Karaikudi).

The candidates who have completed H.Sc. or a three-year diploma or equivalent can join in the first year. Those who have completed a three-year diploma in textiles technology or equivalent can directly join the second year for the fashion design under the lateral entry scheme.

M.Sc (costume and fashion design) in collaboration with Bharathiar University.

MBA (apparel management) in collaboration with University of Madras.

The institute is also offering one-year diploma programmes in fashion design and interior design on full/part time basis. Application forms and prospectus can be obtained from The Admission Officer, Madras Institute of Fashion Technology, #16A, Shastri Nagar, 100 Feet Road (Next to Hotel Ambica Empire), Vadapalani, Chennai 600026. For details, visit www.mftindia.com. Email: po@mftindia.com.

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