Montgomery Plaza Condos

Today I went to my friends place at Montgomery Plaza. This was my first time to visit the condos in this building. Once I was inside I fell in love. They are absolutely beautiful!! I have been in this building when I was way younger with my mother back when it was the store Montgomery Wards and I did not expect the condos to be so awesome. It really inspired me and made me confident that you can take something old and boring and make it truly beautiful (and apparently very profitable). These condos have a super contemporary look which happens to be my favorite.  We spent the majority of the time at their pool of course, which is located on the roof of the third floor and also surprisingly awesome. Inside of the pool entry there is a media center that can be used by all. The condo is not big in size, but they seem to make the most of the space. They have a lot of features that make the space desirable to be a part of. The darker wood with the silver pulls and dropped lighting are eye catching. My favorite part of their condo was the window all the way up at the ceiling of the bathtub in the bathroom that looks out into the hallway. You can't see anything since it is so high but that feature which seems so simple was also inspiring. I really liked how their bathroom was set up in general.  These condos really inspired me because I got to see the before and after of this space. Pretty cool.

Beautiful Tables

    Last night I had dinner with my friend that happens to be a custom home builder. He told me that his friend that owns Plush Night Club in Dallas is thinking of opening a new club and wants him to design it. Of course this sparked my interest because (A) I LOVE Plush and (B) that is my the field of interior design that I want to go into.

   We started discussing focal points and he brought up that the place where people in restaurants is at the table (bars is at the bar usually), but no place really has memorable tables. So I decided that would be my blog this week.. awesome tables..

Bars and night club seem to spend a great deal of money on their entry and the bar area and even seating area but with the added element of an eye catching table it would bring a lot of excitment to the overall experience.

This will keep the space in the customers minds and they will be more willing to pick that establishment for future partying. People like to be in pretty spaces.

Vacation homes

      Owning your own beach house is a luxury that most people will never get to experience. However, renting one for a week or even a summer is something that can totally be done. 


     The designing of a beach home is proving to be pretty fun in the project that we are doing now. The options are endless and I am having a blast trying to incorperate all the things that I have learned and mix them with my personal vacation experience (thank you mommy) into an amazing vacation spot. While my mom never rented an entire house (after all, its usually just the two of us or we bring friends along), the condos/time shares that we have been to and then the tours of the newer more beautiful buildings have provided me with a lot of inspiration.. 

My favorite part of designing the beach house is all the windows!  Everything is more beautiful when you are able to pull in the sunny weather, the sound of the waves hitting the sand, the smells, all the sounds of people having fun. 

    The view is the most relaxing part and you def want to be able to experience it whether it be inside looking out, or right out on the sand itself. 
Beach houses that are meant for vacation homes seem to have a lot of big open space for the people to be able to interact with each other. I haven't found a lot of offices or large laundry rooms in these homes. The kitchens are usually small with just the bare essentials. Not a lot of work is suppose to be done while on vacation.

Energy Efficient Homes

With gas prices on the rise again, people are thinking about how to get the most for their money. In addition to that, going green is also developing a big market. Making your home energy efficient is a fairly easy way to cut heating and air costs and helping the enviroment. There are several ways in making your home energy efficient.

Install energy efficient windows in your home is good way to save on costs. It can make summer and winter life both more comfortable and would lower the electric bill. The windows reflect the sun rays in the summer giving your ac a break. There are so many different kinds of energy efficient windows that it should be easy to find one that goes with he style of the home.

 

Installing energy efficient doors is also a good idea when trying to conserve energy. There are also many different kinds of energy efficient doors made out of different materials such as wood steel and fiberglass. Proper installation of these products is a must to get the energy star rating. The even make energy efficient doggie doors. Making your home energy efficient doesn't have to be ugly or stressful. It can be fun and make your home not only beautiful but also less expensive.

Out Door Kitchen

Out door kitchens are a good way to add value to your home. It adds extra square footage and beauty to your home. In places with the majority of warm climate this space could be used almost year round. Having this place to entertain inconjunction with other things makes this a very desirable addition. Putting an outdoor kitchen next to a hot tub or pool area makes for added convienance for summer entertaining. Having an outdoor kitchen eliminates going inside to cook the food for a party making it easier to entertain your guests while preparing the food.

The outdoor kitchen island can come in many different sizes and varities. You can customize them however you want with whatever brand of products you would like. Depending on the size of the backyard, you can have any size of set up. You can even make it a whole bar. The appliances that you can put in your outdoor kitchen are endless and can have a full kitchen set up outside.

Having an exotic functioning outdoor space is really a good investment on every level. The options are endless to make your backyard a great place to have fun and relax.

Home Office Inspiration

One of the most important things when designing your home office is organization. Having you work space all cluttered makes for a very stressful work situation. No one wants to work when they have a million things cluttering their space. This is something I still struggle with even when the rest of my home is spotless. I never get much work done in my home office because its overwhelming. 








When a couple lives together and both are working and need home offices, it is a good idea to split up the work space so that it is not too cluttered and things don't get mixed up. 
Having separate areas for each person eliminates possible confusion and fighting. Both will have the ability to work at the same time if need be. 

Some homes have enough space to dedicate a whole room to having a home office, other homes are limited on space and have to have little areas designated to be a home office. That doesn't have to be an unsightly thing though. There are creative ways to even "hide" your office space. 


One way to do this is getting a piece of furniture made to be a desk that closes up to hide the computer and organization. This can fit in almost anywhere and when closed looks pretty. 

Another place that people put home offices is in the attic. Since there is usually weird shaped rooms in the attic space that can't be used for just anything, people usually use that as the office. Home offices are a convenient thing to have in a home if you can make the space for it. Especially when they dont have to be big elaborate offices. 

Lowes kitchen

On my trip to check out Lowe's kitchen department, I saw a few things that would make kitchens a little easier to maneuver around in. In one of my previous blogs I talked about the cabinet built-ins that have shelves that pull put so you don't have to bend down to assess what's on the shelves in the bottom cabinets. Also they have drawer organizers to keep the random utensils from rolling around in the drawer.



Another thing I saw was the pull out drawer trashcan by the sink. When people opt to pit their trashcans under there, usually there's not a lot of room and you kinda gotta tilt the can to the side to put anything in there, scraping your hand on the top of the cabinet, with this thing you avoid all of that bc the can comes out to you with minimal effort in case your hands are full making this incredibly convenient.


Keeping with that same theme, for smaller skinny cabinets they also have a shelf that pulls out to get the most use for those small spaces.


Another idea I saw at Lowes was that they placed the dish washer up on a platform to making loading it less stress on the back.


Having a trash compactor or separate wine chiller is usually a luxury that isn't standard in many homes. But I think it makes this kitchen set up look more beautiful.

Kool Kitchens

 

 I think Kitchens have a lot of potential for making a home really stand out. When I had my real estate licence that would be the main thing that buyers would want updated and if the house had an updated kitchen, then the houses seemed to move faser. Kitchen upgrades seem to be more and more popular with new features being added all the time such as roll out shelves, appliance garages, softly closing drawers, and even under cabinet lighting.

 Kitchen are becoming more modern and colors are being used more and more often. Granite counter tops are amoung the most requested in new homes no matter what style. Custom appliances and cabinets are used to get more of an edge. Cabinet panel appliances are popular to disquise the appliances.

Lofts are a place where I have seen a lot of unique kitchens being used in. They tend to go with the loft feel an be a little more contemporary and modern. Like this kitchen to the left, it uses some features that are not seen in most traditional homes like pink cabinets and the ceiling beams as part of the decor.

Fire Places

Fire places are used for many different things. Back in the old days they were used for cooking and the main source of heating a home, but now they are used more for adding a touch of romance to a space. They even have fireplaces now that you can adjust if you don't want it to produce heat, you just want the mood it creates. While doing some fireplace searching for the Great Wolf Lodge project, I ran into some pretty interesting fireplaces.

 This fireplace to the left is ecologocially friendly and is powered by renewable energy. Going green is becoming more and more important and popular so that really adds to the fireplaces appeal. In addition, it is also portable so you can now have a fireplace without a complete home remodel.

 

 Unique fireplaces seems to add interest in any entertaining space and even the private spaces of a master bedroom. There are woodless fireplaces that can be mounted on the wall that use the gas like the one to the bottom left. With that fireplace you dont even have to get the fake wood to use just the gas. Fireplaces are a great way to add a romantic element to your home, even in your outdoor space.

Unique Sinks

Awhile back I was looking into re-doing my home master bathroom. I wanted to make it truely unique overall and while I was surfing for some ideas, I came across some really awesome sinks. They really inspired me, but some of them wouldnt really go with my home. Now that I am in design school, and I aspire to do hospitality in Bars and Restaurants.

 I think that this sink would be awesome in a contemporary home maybe kitchen area or bar. This could even look pretty awesome at a habachi grill or bar. I really like the stainless steel with the wiggly sink.

 I think that this particular sink would be pretty cool in a bathroom at the zoo or maybe even a seafood restaurant. This sink could even look pretty cool in a home decorated with like theme by the ocean.

 I think that these sinks are pretty unique but I am not really sure where they would be appropriate.

 This sink inspires me because of how it looks like it is floating. It creates some interest.

 I think that this sink is also strikes a great deal of interest. The way that it curves all the way to the drain almost makes you want to wash your hands.

This sink is called the Unique Vessel Sink. This sink was meant to be in the kitchen. Although I think it would serve a better purpose in a commercial or even residential bathroom or even home bar area
I think by using a unique sink in any design really adds some interest to even areas you would not expect as much creativity.