Archive for September, 2010
Home Builders: Santa Rosa Interior Design
Posted by Irene Turner in Inspiration, Interior Design & Renovation, Sustainability on September 30, 2010
What makes a place your “home”? What is the difference between a house you happen to occupy and the place you think of as home? Is it about your history? Does it depend on other people? What is the relationship of home and family? Is home defined by an internal feeling or by external conditions? Why do we all seek our version of home?
Most of us take comfort from that place we call home. We either wistfully remember what was or we dream about what will be…and for those who never had one, it is what we aspire to. Our desire to make a home, for ourselves and for family is innate to each and every one of us.
Wanting to create home is the foundation of our society. Without home, we have no structure on which to build the more complex levels of community.
Yet there are many people in our country who are not able to afford a decent, forget beautiful home. Continue reading “Home Builders: Santa Rosa Interior Design” »
Outdoor Living Space-via Santa Rosa Interior Design
Posted by Irene Turner in Interior Design & Renovation on September 28, 2010
The popularity of “Staycations”, which were initially driven by the growing complexities and frustrations of traveling led to the desire to expand the interior home sanctuary beyond the backdoor. This, combined with the current economic fluctuations, has forced people to cut back on travel even more. But something terrific has come out of all this… people are staying home. They are enjoying being able to teach their children how to relax in the comfort of their own home and they don’t need to wait for the holidays or summer vacation to do so.
Homeowners are now looking to design outdoor living spaces that range from resort-like exteriors furnished with high-end outdoor all weather furniture, fashionable accessories and rugs, pro-level outdoor kitchens, and extensive outdoor lighting; to casually thrown together vintage chic and salvation army natural glades; to globally inspired ethnic tropical island paradises!
The first thing that happens in the effort to expand our living space into the great outdoors…whether a simple porch or terrace, condo or town home courtyard or back patio, or full blown lush garden…is to open up the indoors to the outside. The use of different window configurations helps achieve this goal. Some ideas are: Continue reading “Outdoor Living Space-via Santa Rosa Interior Design” »
7 Ideas for a Home Office-via Santa Rosa Interior Design
Posted by Irene Turner in Interior Design & Renovation on September 23, 2010
Did you know that 17.2 million Americas worked from home for an employer in 2008? That was a 74% increase since 2005! And that doesn’t include the freelancers, self-employed or those folks looking for work. Bottom line? That’s a whole lot of home offices.
And, today with wireless networks you almost do not need a separate office. People work at coffee shops, kitchen tables, bedroom closets and in the middle of the family room. Much of this does not bode well for “turning it off at the end of the day” nor for “focused” attention to the work at hand. Being an advocate of a Slow Home, I think it’s better to find a dedicated space to work from so that attention is focused when working, and so that it can be completely turned off at the end of the work day.
So with that in mind, let’s take a look at what some of our options are…whether your home is a studio apartment or a country house.
1. Piece of Furniture designed to close up: From DIY projects, Pottery Barn to Restoration Hardware and more, there are quite a few options to create a space to close up when you want to end your work day. This is a particularly great way to hide an office in a studio, small apartment or dorm room. Even in a spare bedroom or dining room. These range from armoires, secretaries, and even large scale trunks!
Continue reading “7 Ideas for a Home Office-via Santa Rosa Interior Design” »
May I Be Frank? The Ultimate Love Story!
Posted by Irene Turner in Inspiration on September 21, 2010
I first read about this movie on Face Book (ok, ok…by now you know I love my FB tribe). Helge Hellburg, host of an Organic Conversation radio show interviewed Frank Ferrante…”star” of the movie May I be Frank…and Ryland Engelhart, filmmaker and server/son of the owners from Cafe Gratitude in San Francisco. Here’s what happened:
Four years ago I agreed to be the subject of a documentary. I was pre-diabetic, nearly three hundred pounds, ending a five year relationship and my daughter would not speak to me. I felt desolate, unlovable and just plain miserable.
Frank Ferrante
When Frank walked into the cafe “by accident”, the question of the day from Cafe Gratitudes team was…
“What is one thing you want to do before you die?”...Frank answered…“I want to fall in love one more time, but no one will love me looking the way I do”.
So started the 42 day program of transformation that three young men under 30 guided Frank, then 53, through! Frank feels that he was “blessed” with the gift of hopelessness and loneliness which is what drove him to actually accept the young men’s offer of help. He followed their direction completely, doing everything from eating only raw food, practicing gratitude, visiting local holistic practitioners, and getting a weekly colonic…plus, he spoke affirmations out loud everyday that helped him change his internal dialog to and about himself.
Obviously Frank is a man of integrity…he made a commitment to these young men and stuck to it. It wasn’t easy…in fact it was painful, awful and otherwise uncomfortable…but he stuck to it…and the gift he found at the end of the day was that of delving into the essence of the human condition and reaching for the ultimate goal… he fell in love with his Self. Continue reading “May I Be Frank? The Ultimate Love Story!” »
11 Tips for a SLOW Bedroom-via Santa Rosa Interior Design
Posted by Irene Turner in Interior Design & Renovation on September 16, 2010
At the end of the day the place we truly let our hair down is in our bedroom. Whether you are single, married, a child or an adult, the bedroom is the place where we nourish our bodies and minds through sleep…in fact the only opportunity for complete rest and regeneration occur during sleep. Statistics show that restful sleep has a deep impact on our overall health and wellbeing. And we know that sleep deprivation is the cause of numerous health problems, including increased stress, heart disease, depression, suppressed immune systems, obesity, fatigue, diabetes and high blood pressure.
All this and more inspires us to create a space to sleep in that is restful, nourishing and supportive of a truly good nights sleep! And…of course it should be beautiful. What can you do to help create a beautiful sleep environment? Here are 11 tips to keep in mind when you do create a Slow Bedroom that is personal to you: Continue reading “11 Tips for a SLOW Bedroom-via Santa Rosa Interior Design” »
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