DECORATE WITH COTTAGE STYLE

DECORATING WITH COTTAGE STYLE

“THERE’S A CERTAIN SOLIDNESS TO OLDER STRUCTURES AND FURNISHINGS”

Plan smartly and succinctly- The best type of home that will work with the Cottage style is a small to medium size.  Extra rooms such as spare bedrooms were non-existent when Cottage’s were built.  It all starts with the entrance to your home.  Make it easy for the guest to get to your front door and feel invited in.

Eat-in Kitchens- The theme of the eat-in kitchen us based on 1800’s French Kitchens.  Think Julia Childs.  A Farm Table would make a good center piece to build your theme Kitchen around.

Main Living Area- The main living area need lots of old stuff.  Search Antique stores, Pawn shops, Flea Markets for items big and small that are already old or that can be made to look old.  We will talk about this in a bit.  Pick one wall and have floor too ceiling Bookshelves, lots of shelves that you can put books, Nic-nacs, pictures and odd items.   Fill the shelves with these items.

Old furniture with many layers of paint, old lamps, Old light fixtures, old hardware, ‘you get the picture’.

Key Architectural Components- Vintage accessories and furniture as mentioned above are good choices and they do not have to match in style or color, that’s the beauty. “Decorate with Timeless Style”, be resourceful and become enthralled with this process.

ADD AGE WITH PATINA- Some items are not old but can be made to look old.  The trick for wood furniture is to add multiple layers of paint.  Usually of different colors, so that they can show through in places.  “ The worn look”.  You can distress the wood by hitting it with chains, straps, ropes, hammers, you name it.  This can also be done to the book shelves.  Your walls can accent the Cottage look by using earth tones.  Some people use white but it will have to be what I call a “Dirty White” to give the aged look.

PLANK FLOORING- You can use old wood on your floors.  If you locate some that was taken out of an old building’ grab it’.  This can be laid over your existing sub-floor. Then put a few coats of floor varnish to seal it and make it nice to walk on.  Remember, ‘small rooms are easy to install floors in’.  This is called “Salvage building material”  You want to give the home a ‘period feel’.

MAKE A LIST- Starting a list of items and writing down your description of what you want will give you direction.  Even though the “Cottage Look”  is very random and open to personal interpretation, it does require a little direction.  The direction is defined by YOU.  Your house will become YOU. Then it becomes “Your Home”.  As time passes your list will be added too and will change.  Some items you purchase will not be used immediately but be stored for future use.  If you find an interesting item, ‘get it’.  It may not be available again.

Look at magazines, surf the internet, you will be amazed how quickly you will find what you are looking for as a theme of your home.

As Always “ Happy Painting

Ken Rader Interiors L.L.C.

www.kenraderinteriors.com

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How to choose color

Interior Designer Tips for Selecting a New Paint Color

by Michelle Davidson

Designer Tips for Selecting Interior a New Paint Color

1. Find a starting place. Pull your color inspiration from something already in the room such as an area rug or painting. If you are planning to replace the furnishings in a room as well as fresh paint, start by finding the new items for the room. Finding a paint color to match a rug you love is infinitely easier than trying to find a rug you like to work with the color of your walls.
2. Think about what you like, and what colors you like to wear. If you don’t look good in yellow, do not paint your Master Bathroom yellow or you will be unhappy with yourself every time you look in the mirror. You might be seeing a lot of blues and browns in home furnishings lately, but if you don’t love blue do not paint your room blue just to keep up with the trends.
3. Get inspired!   Mother Nature is the world’s best colorist and she pulls together the most incredible palettes. Look around outside for color combinations you might have never considered.
4. Start small and take baby steps. If you want to try a bold color for the first time, start in a small and manageable space such as a Powder Room. The small space will allow you to live with you new bold color in a small amount, plus you will need very few accessories to pull the look together.
5. Ignore all “rules” you may have heard such as dark colors making a room look small. Do not be guided by what you have been told is right or wrong when selecting colors. Yes, some of these rules do have some amount of truth but the world is not black and white, and nor should your home be.

Of course there are more than 5 “Decorating tips” but this is only a starting point.  There are thousands of colors and it is just too overwhelming to try and pick colors with out following these 5 basic steps.  They really do work so give them a try.

Watch out that you do not choose your colors in the paint store.  The lighting there is not like that in your home.  Take the color chips home and look at them.  I have published some article on ‘Pinterest’  (Kenneth1951).  If you cannot find me then look under “everything” then look under “Home décor”. You should be able to find them.  You can also find them on my facebook site   (www.facebook.com/ken.rader.interiors.com)  maybe that will be easier for you to find them. Painting with White, Gray and Brown.  They will give you some assistance.

I love giving out information regarding “Painting”.  It is a life long education and what you like today you will not like tomorrow or at some time in the future.  Decorating with paint is fun and quite fulfilling.  As a painter for about 30 years I have seen hundreds of color schemes.  All of them , well, most of them, were beautiful.  I have also re-painted some homes after some years have past.  The home owner just got tired of the color.  I like that.  More work for me.

As Always  “Happy Painting”

Ken Rader Interiors

www.kenraderinteriors.com

P.S. I have altered and added too this article.  The original author is listed at the top.

SHABBY CHIC STYLE

The Basics of Shabby Chic Style

by Michelle Davidson

A shabby chic look is a style that naturally lends itself to decorating on a budget. This is because the Shabby Chic look is based on using furnishings that are comfortable, time-worn, and in keeping with simple and practical living.
If you are on a limited decorating budget and want to create a look that is unpretentious yet elegant, Shabby Chic may be the style for you. Here are a few of the basic elements that make up a Shabby Chic look that you may want to try in your own home.
Slip Covers:
Slip covered furniture is the cornerstone of a Shabby Chic interior. Not only does slip covering furniture give an old item a new look, the cost is quite inexpensive and slip covering allows you to easily purchase used furniture. The Shabby Chic style often uses lots of simple white slip covers that look clean and fresh and are extremely budget friendly.
Unmatched Printed Fabrics:
To liven up the white slip covers, printed and patterned fabrics are added as comfortable throw pillows, chair cushions, bedding, etc. These fabrics are often floral but can also be striped, paisley or any other type of subdued print. These various patterns and colors creates a relaxed feel in a Shabby Chic home, and allows a budget decorator to purchase remnants to mix and match.
Painted Furniture:
Painted furniture is another key element in a Shabby Chic interior. Furniture can be purchased at flea markets and garages sales, and then painted for that old but loved look. Adding paint to an item of furniture gives a clean appearance, and painting several items all one color (typically white in Shabby Chic) gives unmatched furniture a look of an imperfectly matched set.
Flowers:
Fresh flowers add lightness and color, and an instant Chic in the home. To achieve a Shabby Chic look with flowers, use cut flowers from the garden or make you own bouquets from flowers you purchase. The floral arrangements are typically informal and organic, with a look of just being thrown together. Flowers are used in all rooms of the home including the bedrooms and bathrooms.
Unique Lighting:
Shabby Chic features light fixtures and lamps that typically appear to be flea market finds. Often the light fixtures have glass or crystal beads which are always fun and creates an unexpected look. Lamps are often painted, and feature fabric shades made from printed fabrics.
Now that you know some of the key fundamentals that go into making a Shabby Chic look, you can try to incorporate some of these elements into your own home. A major appeal and the beauty of a Shabby Chic look is the imperfection, so do not be afraid of making a mistake when giving this style a try.
Be Yourself
We all have a little Shabby Chic in ourselves.  Sometimes just moving a few items from one room to another gives a room a new feel.  We all have stuff in storage.  You know old items from previous decorating adventures.  Many times if you paint a room and new color you can use these special items and get a completely new look.  If you cannot use any of them, nothing is lost. 
As with any Decorating, the key is to enjoy the process.  If you make it into work then you will come to hate it and the results will show your feelings.  We don’t want that.  So ,”what do you think?”  Is it worth a try?  Sure!  If you find yourself with decorators block then browse the internet for some ideas.   That is easy enough.  And,”don’t rush the process”.   It is like good wine, “ It takes time”.
The original author of this article is listed at the top.  I have changed it some what and added some of my own ideas.
As always “Happy Painting”
Ken Rader Interiors
www.kenraderinteriors.com

Interior Re-Paint in 5 Days

This is the first of four projects that we are doing back to back.  This couple moved here from L.A. and purchased a house in Prairie Grove, Arkansas.  Needless to say," Culture Shock".
This house was built in the 1980's and needed a complete interior paint job.  Enter,"Ken Rader Interiors L.L.C." Cathie started the project with a color/decorator consultation.  Which is worth millions of dollars.  The colors are " Milk Chocolate, Macadamia , Hopsack and Bordou.
The Ceilings were then scraped and re-textured with an orange peel texture and then painted.  This is a very nice update item for anyone to consider if they are updating their home.
The above picture is my Dad spraying water on the ceiling to soften up the popcorn style texture.  He is doing this with an airless paint sprayer.  It makes this process so easy.  Of course all of the floors and tops of doorways had to be covered, So did the CabinetsThe above picture shows some of the cover-up.  This is a big time eater and we were on a time limit.  So hurry, hurry, hurry.
Once the ceilings were textured and painted we were able to move on to the Closets and walls.  We spray painted the closets with semi-gloss paint, walls, ceilings and shelves all the same.The above picture is one of the closets.  We then painted the walls in all of the rooms.  Master Bedroom, Master Bath, Hall Bath, 2 guest rooms, Huge living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, Laundry Room.Once the painting was done we moved on to installing, ceiling fans, lights and some plumbing fixtures. You have to be a genius to put together the fans.  5 fans, all different styles.  But 'I did It'.
As I mentioned, we were on a time limit to get the house done.  They closed 5 Days earlier and we were able to complete the project in 5 days.  Our crew worked very hard and long hours to complete the work.  Ron and Toni are very happy.  He spent this morning sitting in the living room and gazing at all of the finished product.  He is in shock.  Toni is emptying boxes and is still in disbelief that the house is completed.  I must say," I can't believe it either".
We will post all of the photos on Facebook ( www.facebook.com/ken.rader.interiors ) . Take a look, it tells about half of the story, but a picture is worth a 1000 words so it is a pretty good story.
As always 'Happy Painting'
Ken
www.kenraderinteriors.com

4 Painting Projects at Once !

That is right!  4 painting projects at one time.  Can it be done?  Are we crazy?  Why would you put yourself through this?
Well, first of all it can be done, yes we are crazy ( according to other people) and we are putting ourselves through this because we are CRAZY!
Here is a list of the projects.
1. Painting the exterior of a house that has never been painted.  The siding is cedar and needed some repairs and a paint job was in order.
2. Complete interior updating.  This is a 1600 sq. ft home that we are scraping the ceilings, textures added, painting every room and closets in the house.  This one is done on a time crunch.  That is right.  We started this project last Friday and we will be done this Friday.  And, we are ahead of schedule, thank you very much.
3. Painting 2 bathrooms a hallway and 3 bedrooms in another home.  This project will be started Next Monday and be completed in 4 days.
4. We started a complete home renovation some weeks ago.  We worked on it for 5 weeks.  Massive amounts of work.  The Tile layers entered the home and we have been off of the project for 5 weeks since.  We received a call today and will start back on the project April 2.  Still about 3 weeks of work to do. Much has been added to this job.  This project has been shared on our facebook site and I know that several of you have followed our progress.  So if you were wondering what happened.  Get ready, it is coming back.
We have taken many pictures of each of these projects, and I will upload them and write a little something about each project in it's own Blog each day.  I just wanted to let everyone know what was coming.
It is fun to document these jobs and we will give you all of the details such as colors of paint, what was done at this stage of the job and pictures of the completed rooms or exterior.  We hope this will inspire you to tackle your own project.  Perhaps it will give you the courage you need to start.
We will also be posting other Blogs with painting and decorating advice and instructions for your enjoyment and education. Please continue to follow us.  If there is a particular subject that you would like our comments or thoughts on, just let us know, and we will lend a helping hand.
As always  " Happy Painting"
Ken Rader Interiors

Fantastic Painting Tips for You!

FANTASTIC PAINTING TIPS FOR YOU !

House painting is like getting a makeover that adorns your home. You need it timely according to the changing trends of taste for color and design. It is a  bit tough to know where to get started. Well this article describes about how to choose house painting colors effectively to add beauty to your home design and style. It highlights the remarkable points to note while choosing appropriate color for various areas of the house. Your home reflects your personality, your way of living and thus by contrasting colors you can give illusion of your royalty, taste, and your likes. It’s also recommended to properly know the difference between exterior house painting and interior house painting considering different parameters affecting the correct choice of paint both the sides. The best way to know the color effects and perfect contrast matching going online is the useful solution. You can explore various colors and select according to your taste through virtual online sources and paint websites.

The whole idea of selecting suitable colors for exterior or interior house painting is little confusing but simply explained here. First is the wise selection of color type for interior and exterior painting like, latex based paint or oil based paint, a glossy finish or flat finish etc. and lot more. Painting contractors will help you giving the best options that suit the best according to your home building structure, type of wall and different area of the house. So it’s wise to hire a professional painter. Although the idea of painting yourself is tempting and sounds interesting but one should understand that painting is a long term value addition to your home. You cannot keep changing it every now and then. It is a timely and cost effective process.

If you are going for exterior house painting then the paint you choose should suit the weather of your area. No doubt painting contractors will surely take care of this and suggest you accordingly. Because external moisture, heat, constant rain and other unfavorable weather conditions cause problems like peeling off, chalking, fading etc. While choosing interior house paint you should be concerned about easy removal of stains and easy washable paint which keeps the look of the wall paint live and fresh.

Even if all this provisions are cared by a professional painter, we are still left with one basic question. Which color to select? Color of the paint is the major part that decorates your home interior or exterior makeover. While choosing colors for interior house painting you should consider the following points.

If your house is comparatively small, pastel shades will make it look spacious because they reflect more light. Pastel paints are suitable if the source of light is less in any particular area especially basement or the staircase line. Also basic shades of white or light colors will apt if you already have a color contrast running through your furniture, curtains, and interior decoration. Also you may opt for diverse colors for different areas like main hall, reading room, guest room, dining hall, kitchen, bedroom, living area and so on.

For color lovers there is a wide range of bright color scheme waiting to be explored. Orange and yellow colors are known representing energy and enthusiasm. You can use such bright colors in your children’s room to create an energetic environment. Nowadays pink is the favorite color for girls and blue for boys. These ideas really work in making of their room look cool. One can also add some creative ideas like wall prints or wallpapers to make the walls attractive especially in center hall or spacious bedroom.

If you have a garden then lighter shades of green or brown can be used at your garden area. Even if you have few planters or bushes it will appear to be an abundant garden. For a Royal look you can paint your house with very light tint of camel brown color and add maroon interior to highlight the furniture.

If you are going for exterior house painting then again try sticking to basic neutral pastel shades of white, pale yellow etc. Also go with bold colors and use pastel shades for painting windows and again a dark shade for the roof top. You should try to blend your house in your surroundings. Get more ideas from vast resources available online.

Picking Colors can be fun and exciting.  Take your time and embrace the process. Don’t get hung up on the picking process.  Sometimes the more advice you consider the more you get confused.  These are just basic.

If you pick “up to date colors” then you will do fine.  Don’t have too many colors either, “the simpler the better.”

Happy Painting

Ken Rader Interiors

Ken

How to Update your Home !!!

UPDATE YOUR HOME !!!!!

It’s amazing how quickly our homes can start to look dated. Even if they were once the height of fashion, they can easily start to feel stuck in the past, and for many people it is enough to make them consider moving, unaware that it is simply the fact that things feel stale that is giving them such wanderlust.

There is plenty that can be done, easily and cheaply, to make a house feel more modern though. A change of paint is always a great way to start. Finding out the colors that are currently in vogue is a great way to instantly transform a room. On top that, interesting and modern artwork and contemporary knick knacks will also instantly bring a room up to date.

Home lighting is also a surprisingly date-specific kind of thing. Older light fittings will instantly date any room, and changing glaring halogens to more subtle accent lighting can instantly change the feel of a room without anything else being needed. Altering home lighting is also easy to research and cheap to achieve, making one of the perfect places to start if a house is starting to feel jaded. The more you can spend on lighting, the better.

Wooden floors are also a great way to say modern. On top of this, utilizing a wooden floor gives you great scope to include under floor heating, an investment that will almost certainly pay for itself in terms of how much money can be saved on energy bills. Under floor heating also helps you remove what are usually unsightly radiators and give rooms more space – another way to make any room feel more modern.

If you can, make as much space as possible, knocking down walls to create more space if it is appropriate. Space and lighting combined will make even the dullest room feel fresh and new.

New Tile, carpet, wood floors are also options.

If you have Popcorn Style texture on your ceilings, consider scraping that off and put on orange peel texture.  That will update the house about 20 years.  NO KIDDING!!

Of course the exterior probably needs updating as well.  I will address this in another Blog.

Happy Painting

Ken Rader Interiors