5 super simple things to update your dining room

Inspiration Board

Ever wonder what simple things you can do to update one of the spaces in your home? As a big "D" wading through the mud of a fabulous and inspiring new economy, I am approached with this question pretty much everyday. How can I get an incredible new look, on a shoestring budget?
After meeting with a client that I adore, we decided to do just this. She has a wonderful loft space here in downtown Nashville, and she was tired of her existing traditional space. To spice things up I decided on a very eclectic, and collected look based on the
 inspiration board she created. (shown above)

She has wonderful built-in bookshelves, like the ones shown below, but many of her pieces were dated and did not suit her lifestyle or personality. Her board was fun, imaginative, and spicy. And if you knew her, you would see that this board suited her perfectly. Karen is a free thinking, singer song writing rock and roll junkie, with twigs in her jet black hair, and in my book a modern day Jean Harlow hippie. Freaking awesome!

Credit

Her jumping off point was this Valentino photo above. This photo encompasses everything she loves. In her words to describe it: High Fashion, Titillating couture, Old world, Valentino red, Style, Sophistication, Chic chic, Glamour, and relaxed luxury.

One of the most exciting things about her space is the wall to ceiling bookshelves. It adds an unexpected focal point, that is dramatic and eye catching. Libraries are essentially a collection of books that add sophistication, refinement, and exude culture and experience, just like Valentino. So we combined her library and dining area into one large space so the table could double for a book research surface, and a fabulous dining experience. 

So what are 5 super simple things you can do to update your dining room?
1) Replace your captains chairs with something fresh. Either reupholster the ones you have 
or purchase new ones.
2) Add a new chandelier. The one above adds an incredible pop of color, and va-va voom for less
than $400 bucks.
3) Add candle light to your table top. Hurricanes are gorgeous accessories in the day time and create a 
wonderful glow in the evening when the candles are lit. And remember the AB HOME credo: 
Go Big or Go Home. Buy hurricanes that make a statement, and add tremendous weight to your table!
4) Purchase a new rug or layer a new rug on top of your existing one. Both will add a new element
 of depth and texture, and bring in some much needed color and style.
5) Fresh flowers. I cannot say enough about fresh flowers. Your home is your haven, make it inviting. 
There is no better way to welcome your guests, then to add fresh roses, lillies, peonies or 
any one of your favorite flowers on the table. 


Like what you see above? Here is our shopping list of items we used:

Items in this set

	Amazon.com: Gaiam Recycled Plastic Reversible All-Weather Indoor/Outdoor Ru... $89 - amazon.com
	Beach Rug AT064 Black / Ivory Boardwalk Stripes Rug - AT064BKIY $155 - csnrugs.com
	smoke chair $4,301 - hivemodern.com
	Roxy Euphoria 9 Light Polished Chrome Chandelier with Red Lucite Jewel Ligh... $329 - homedepot.com
	dining tables abchome.com
	Williams-Sonoma Home | Campo De Fiori Aged Terracotta Hurricanes $135 - wshome.com
	book lovers never go to bed alone bookshelves.tumblr.com
	Elegant Flower Arrangements, Orchid Arrangements, Unique Floral Arrangement... katrinaparrisflowers.com Need design help from an experienced design professional with over 12 years experience? Want to work with someone who listens to your needs and sticks to your budget? Call our office for a design consultation that will change the way you live and think about your home. Contact us @ info@abhomeinteriors.com or call us @ 615-750-2763 Like decorating but don't know where to start? Want to learn the insiders secrets, tips and tricks? Sign up for Design Strategies 101! (August classes are sold out! Sign up today to reserve your seat for September) Are you a designer in the Nashville area looking for mentorship in a nurturing environment? Want to learn the ins and outs of the business that school didn't provide? Sign up for Designer Bootcamp to learn the skills necessary to be a true design professional! Don't forget to follow us on twitter! And become a FAN on our  AB HOME facebook fanpage! Graphics and shopping program

Words for everyone to live by. Written by Nashville designer, Amanda Burdge

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Cheekwood, a beautiful historic estate in Nashville. "The history and origin of Cheekwood are intimately interwoven with the growth of Nashville, the Maxwell House coffee brand and the Cheeks, one of the city's early entrepreneurial families."

 If you ever visit Nashville it is a must see. They are currently showcasing the beautiful and aw inspiring art of Dale Chihuly:

After visiting I was so inspired by Chihuly's unorthodox vision, and creativity. A true "out-of-the-box" thinker. I could not believe the way this garden estate had been transformed. Then I ran across Erica Goldsen's valedictorian speech from June, and it gave me hope that true art and creativity will not be stifled with such visionaries coming into our future! Dale is a thinker, a dreamer, and an explorer, just like Erica.

Erica's words:

".....And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us.

We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren’t we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still.

We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be – but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation.

Erica goldsen

Coxsackie-athens high school 2010 graduating class valedictorian speech

Comment: The following speech was delivered by top of the class student Erica Goldson during the graduation ceremony at Coxsackie-Athens High School on June 25, 2010

I

"Dale Chihuly is most frequently lauded for revolutionizing the studio glass movement by expanding its original premise of the solitary artist working in a studio environment to encompass the notion of collaborative teams and a division of labor within the creative process. However, Chihuly's contribution extends well beyond the boundaries both of this movement and even the field of glass: his achievements have influenced contemporary art in general. Chihuly’s practice of using teams has led to the development of complex, multipart sculptures of dramatic beauty that place him in the leadership role of moving blown glass out of the confines of the small, precious object and into the realm of large-scale contemporary sculpture.

Chihuly’s spectacular creations are found in more than 200 museums worldwide including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, London’s Victoria and Albert Museum and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Garden exhibitions of his work have been mounted at the New York Botanical Garden, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Atlanta Botanical Garden and the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew.  For more information about Dale Chihuly and his art, please visit  www.chihuly.com. " Cheekwood 

Continue to be inspired, free thinkers, and refuse to conform. We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special!

Need design help from an experienced design professional with over 12 years experience? Want to work with someone who listens to your needs and sticks to your budget? Call our office for a design consultation that will change the way you live and think about your home. Contact us @ info@abhomeinteriors.com or call us @ 615-750-2763

Like decorating but don't know where to start? Want to learn the insiders secrets, tips and tricks? Sign up for Design Strategies 101! (August classes are sold out! Sign up today to reserve your seat for September)

Are you a designer in the Nashville area looking for mentorship in a nurturing environment? Want to learn the ins and outs of the business that school didn't provide? Sign up for Designer Bootcamp to learn the skills necessary to be a true design professional!

Don't forget to follow us on twitter!

And become a FAN on our AB HOME facebook fanpage!

The Ritz-Carlton Mystique

“We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen.”

The Ritz-Carlton motto

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The Ritz-Carlton is a high-end luxury brand hotel that has 71 properties located all over the U.S, and has 23 resorts worldwide. The best part about this luxury brands' business philosophy is it's impeccable service. Little did I know, the Ritz-Carlton has a Learning Institute and Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center that trains future employees and execs in the Ritz-Carlton principles of service. 
According to it's gold standards principles:

“The Ritz-Carlton Hotel is a place where the genuine care and comfort of our guests is our highest mission. We pledge to provide the finest personal service and facilities for our guests who will always enjoy a warm, relaxed, yet refined ambience. The Ritz-Carlton experience enlivens the senses, instills well-being, and fulfills even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests.”

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This past weekend I had the pleasure of staying at the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota, Florida and experiencing the gold standard of hospitality. I have always been a fan of luxury hotels, but never have I experienced service that is "The Ritz way."

Lobby:

The name Ritz-Carlton dates back to the Hôtel Ritz Paris and the Carlton Hotel in London, both operated by the legendary hotelier César Ritz. Loosely related hotels bearing the Ritz name began to appear in North America, including the Ritz-Carlton Montreal in 1912 and the Ritz-Carlton Boston in 1927. The Ritz-Carlton Boston was an immediate success, and became an enduring paragon of high society. In 1983, after two ownership transitions, the expansion of the Boston operation into a worldwide chain of Ritz-Carlton hotels began, headed by hotelier Horst Schulze and developer William B. Johnson.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marriott International. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company currently has 32,000 employees! Source

The photo above is me standing at the entrance fountain at 9:30 in the morning, waiting for the shuttle to take me to the beach. Little did I know, the shuttle wasn't coming for another half hour. Where is that gold standard when I need it? If I want to go to the beach at 9:30, dammit, I want to go now!

Ok, all is good, this is me at 10:30. Now that I have my feet up in a cozy lounger, and a Ritz blue umbrella over my head, I am queen for a day. Ahhhhh.

The main hotel is located in downtown Sarasota,(on you guessed it,) Ritz-Carlton Blvd, perfectly perched on the bay. This is the view from the 9th floor:

But having one location just wouldn't do. So the Ritz purchased a parcel of land located directly on the gulf, on Lido beach that houses their private residences, restaurant, second pool, and beach front property.

Seriously, does it get any better than this? This (photo above) is the private beach/pool club for Ritz guests and residences. It is approximately 3 miles from the main hotel located downtown. Thus the reason for me having to WAIT for the shuttle. And note to self, you can drive your own car to the beach club if you are impatient like me. If you prefer to take the shuttle it arrives every hour on the hour at the downtown location, and every half hour on the half hour at the beach club. 

Source

I have always loved Florida and all it has to offer. The weather, the beaches on the gulf, and shopping are bar none. But now that I have experienced Florida and the Ritz Mystique, I will definitely be going back. If you have never stayed at a Ritz I highly recommend that you do. The hotel and grounds were incredible, the food and ambience amazing, but the service and staff were remarkable, and made the trip memorable and extraordinary! For more info on this luxurious hotel, click here!

Need design help from an experienced design professional with over 12 years experience? Want to work with someone who listens to your needs and sticks to your budget? Call our office for a design consultation that will change the way you live and think about your home. Contact us @ info@abhomeinteriors.com or call us @ 615-750-2763


Like decorating but don't know where to start? Want to learn the insiders secrets, tips and tricks? Sign up for Design Strategies 101! (August classes are sold out! Sign up today to reserve your seat for September)


Are you a designer in the Nashville area looking for mentorship in a nurturing environment? Want to learn the ins and outs of the business that school didn't provide? Sign up for Designer Bootcamp to learn the skills necessary to be a true design professional!

Don't forget to follow us on twitter!

And become a FAN on our AB HOME facebook fanpage!

How to design a room on a budget, by designer Amanda Burdge

Anne Hranowsky

Ok so let's be straight here. Design is no longer like it was in 2007. The economy has tanked, and consumers are no longer in "consumption, high-gear". This poses a bit of a challenge to my industry of all things fabulous and fantastic while donning a cute bag and stilettos creating design magic; but a challenge is always welcomed in my corner. As my budgets deplete, and my clients watch every dollar spent, I am forced to become a whole new designer;... (insert cyclone wind tunnel, notable red cape, snazzy fedora hat,  flattering leotard with a big "D" expertly embroidered on my chest, and dare I say tights?) One of my favorite quotes as a testiment to this new mentality is from Brian Flynn Patrick of Decor Demon:

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"Lately I’ve been street hustling with hardcore garbage. It’s not my fault, I’m blaming the economy. Nowadays doing the design showroom mambo with deep-pocketed, Prada-clad clients is more fantasy than nine-to-five routine. To make a buck as a decorator in 2010, you’ve gotta strap on the knee pads, prepare to suck it [up] and hope that everyone else is putting out. The trash, that is."

Credit

So in this NEW day and age of the F word being thrown around like a cheap pair of bongo wedges from Mervyn's, clients are demanding high style, for the price of food stamps, and a WIC block of government cheese. Barbie herself would shutter in her footsteps if forced to drink boxed wine, and shop at Target. Can you even imagine Barbie on a budget? Gasp!

In my opinion, and yes it is the GOLD standard, tested and approved opinion, design changes peoples lives. When a client sees their room or house transformed, magic by design occurs. A well appointed home does not have to cost a lot, but it is amazing to see how much it can uplift and change the inhabitants that live there. You function better, entertain more and live to a higher standard. Don't beleive me? Spend one weekend de cluttering and painting one room in your house. As an added bonus, put out a vase of fresh flowers. I guarantee you will feel different.

So in an effort to show you that design is possible and doesn't have to be expensive I designed the following room, top to bottom for three times less than an average room cost. Enjoy!  

  

Design by AB HOME Interiors
Shopping List:

Wind-Up Alarm Clock

$18 - urbanoutfitters.com

More clothing »

Behr Ultra 8 oz. Sandstone Cove Interior/Exterior Paint Tester #730C-2...

 homedepot.com

Apartment Sofa in Woolworth: Charcoal

$1,499 - crateandbarrel.com

Leather Ottoman in Notting Hill: Copper

$899 - crateandbarrel.com

ZGallerie Eddie Accent Chair $1,199.00

zgallerie.com

New Room + Wall Décor | west elm

$199 - westelm.com

Frederica Wing Chair - Ballard Designs

$919 - ballarddesigns.com

Mandy Drum Table/Stool in Choice of Color - Ottomans & Benches - Fine...

$375 - poshliving.com

Ceramic Table Lamp - Aqua : Target

$20 - target.com

Amazon.com: Pillow Decor - Sunbrella Dupione Deep Sea Decorative...

$40 - amazon.com

Jan Constantine Cushions, Cushions & Throws | Graham and Green Home...

69 GBP - grahamandgreen.co.uk

Pier 1 Imports - Embroidered Bird Pillow - Sand

$35 - pier1.com

Mini Swirl Vase - Bright Multi

$175 - barneys.com

Lovers' II Mother & Child

Originals roomandboard.com

Locally screen printed

Lovers' II Oak Leaf

Classic Stainless Steel End Tables

$200 - roomandboard.com

Lovers' II Radish

Originals from roomandboard.com

Screen printed locally

Lovers' II Flourish

Z Gallerie - Moulin Pillow - Orange 26"

$40 - zgallerie.com

Textured Spheres

$449 - calvinklein.com

Design provided by AB HOME Interiors through polyvore

Need design help from an experienced design professional with over 12 years experience? Want to work with someone who listens to your needs and sticks to your budget? Call our office for a design consultation that will change the way you live and think about your home. Contact us @ info@abhomeinteriors.com or call us @ 615-750-2763

Like decorating but don't know where to start? Want to learn the insiders secrets, tips and tricks? Sign up for Design Strategies 101! 

(August classes are almost sold out! Sign up today to reserve your seat)

Are you a designer in the Nashville area looking for mentorship in a nurturing environment? Want to learn the ins and outs to the business that school didn't provide? Sign up for Designer Bootcamp to learn the skills necessary to be a true design professional!

Don't forget to follow us on twitter!

And become a FAN on our AB HOME facebook fanpage!

How to find inspiration for your next design project

One of the most puzzling concepts for homeowners, who are about to start a project, is trying to find inspiration for their home. A few months back I did a post about finding inspiration and using it to organize your thoughts, and create a plan to help keep you on track.

Just as I wrote in this post, inspiration is an important ingredient when building a room concept. Your home should live and breathe who you are and inspiration is at the core of it. All rooms and homes have essential pieces that make it you. And as any designer will tell you, inspiration can come from anywhere or anything.

Well, as I was perusing the blogosphere over the weekend, filing through all my favorite blogs, I visited one of my favorites, little blue deer. Shari is always good at posting inspiring photos that move me, and jump start my day. About a week ago she did a lovely post, Black on Blonde with this inspiring photo, from fashion gone rogue. 

I loved the photo so much I designed an entire Master Bathroom around it for a client, which can be seen here. This is a perfect example of taking a photo, not really related to interiors, and translating into a room. This picture moved me. It is classic, chic, sexy, and feminine. It was everything the current bathroom wasn't. And I may have gone an entirely different direction had I not seen this photo, but it INSPIRED me to create, and the clients went bananas over it!

{all images courtesy of fashion gone rogue}

Need design help from an experienced design professional with over 12 years experience? Want to work with someone who listens to your needs and sticks to your budget? Call our office for a design consultation that will change the way you live and think about your home environment!contact us @ 

info@abhomeinteriors.com

or call us @

615-750-2763

Like decorating but don't know where to start? Want to learn the insiders secrets, tips and tricks? Sign up for Design Strategies 101! 

(August classes are sold out! Sign up today to reserve your seat for September)

Are you a designer in the Nashville area looking for mentorship in a nurturing environment? Want to learn the ins and outs of the business that school didn't provide? Sign up for Designer Bootcamp to learn the skills necessary to be a true design professional!

Don't forget to follow us on twitter!

And become a FAN on our AB HOME facebook fanpage!