Emmanuel Fonte | Music | Art | Leadership
If music be the food of love, play on. Emmanuel Fonte website is about music, art, real estate, architecture, design and decor. Occasionally, I talk about my other passion, hockey.
Turn a compact space into a brilliant boudoir with these decorating, storage and layout techniquesPlanning a small bedroom can be fun (honestly). With the right design tips and techniques, you can turn your snug room into a dreamy retreat. From clever storage solutions to multitasking furniture, these great ideas will breathe new life into your compact scheme.
It looks decorative, but metal mesh on cabinet doors has a practical side tooFor those who love the idea of clear glass cabinet doors but don’t think their china, books and objects are ready for their close-ups, a grille can be the answer. The metal mesh material allows for peeks through cabinet doors, which adds depth and interest. At the same time, the metal unites the objects behind it, providing a cohesive look for disparate or not-so-sexy objects, such as herbs in plastic bottles. This easy-to-install element is also an architectural detail that picks up on other finishes in the room and can add a pattern, from a simple grid to elaborate Moroccan geometries. Here are 15 ways to use interesting grilles all over the house.
Learn about material and style choices, how to get a front door installed and how much it will costA front door is one of the first things people see on a home. It’s something most homeowners use multiple times every day, coming to know all its intricacies and scuffs and flaws. For something that takes up such a small fraction of a home’s exterior surface, the front door makes a great design impact.
If you’re considering a new front door, there’s a lot more that goes into it than just tossing a new door in the back of a truck and driving it back to your home to hang it up. Here’s everything you’ll want to consider.
When your workspace is as unusually beautiful as these, inspiration and motivation are never placed on holThere’s no rule that says your home office has to be a fun-free, functional space kitted out with a standard desk and run-of-the-mill swivel chair, and that’s your lot. In fact, how thoroughly rewarding would it be to head to work and step into a color-packed, glamorous room bursting with personality and pizzazz? There would still be a place for your computer, printer and files, natch, but the room itself could be just as much a part of the decorating jigsaw as the rest of your interior. Who knows? Your daily 9-to-5 might suddenly look very inviting…
Make washing and drying easier and more comfortable by considering ergonomics, storage and special featuresWhile kitchens command prime real estate and design attention in a home, the laundry room, if you’re lucky to have one, is often carved out of awkward, leftover room. Most laundry rooms seem like large closets just for a washer and dryer and rarely take into account a workspace, storage, sinks for prerinsing or ergonomics. Don’t despair. Here are 10 ways to make your laundry room work better for you.
No need to snub plastic laminate as wood’s inferior cousin. Today’s options are stylish and durable — not to mention money savingWhile plastic laminate cabinets might seem like a relic of another era, they actually are a practical, affordable, and — dare we say it? — stylish alternative to conventional wood cabinetry. “The general public doesn’t have an understanding about the durability, flexibility and options that laminate offers,” says Julie Cavanaugh, the owner of Design Matters, an interior design firm in Los Gatos, California.
Cavanaugh estimates that only about 15 percent of her clients request laminate cabinet faces, and a good chunk of those are for rooms other than kitchens. But the material doesn’t deserve to be neglected, she believes. It’s usually a cost-effective option and more environmentally stable and easier to care for than wood.
Wood-patterned laminate can emulate exotic materials and graining without the limitations and scarcity of the real thing. “You can make beautiful lengths of book-matched cabinetry, because the cabinetmaker is in control of the patterning and the repeat,” Cavanaugh says. The price is another incentive: Cavanaugh estimates that laminate cabinets can save homeowners an average of 15 to 30 percent over wood versions.
Black trim and tile keep an otherwise snowy bathroom in a 1910 home from feeling sleepyArchitect Jason Urrutia takes pride in his firm’s grasp on tradition. “We lean toward classic without being boring or old school,” he says. “We embrace elements that time has tested and give them our own creative twist.”
That thinking drove the design of this bathroom and closet in the master suite of a 1910 home in Sausalito, California. “A white bathroom is traditional,” Urrutia says. “But to keep it from being sleepy, you need to wake it up.” The bugle call for these rooms comes in the form of strong ebony elements.
Starting as a compact cubic room-within-a-room, this unique modular furniture system opens up in a variety of ways to transform the space from a living room to an office to a bedroom for one or two. Three mobile modules, each with a bench of cushions and open ‘walls,’ can be hooked together or separated and rolled around a given space. 
The Cube was created by Russian architecture firm Ruetemple to make a small space more functional for a brother and sister. Each of the three sections has built-in storage beneath the benches and an overhang that creates a roof when they’re pushed together.
Read more: http://dornob.com/rolling-modular-room-design-transforms-interior-spaces/#ixzz35DV01p6E
