Tuesday, 14 July 2015

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.


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.


Monday, 6 July 2015

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.”