Gotta Love No. 60 - An Alternative to the Banquette

I'm loving this fantastic alternative to the banquette. Just like the designer handbag with its well-chosen embellishments adds to an outfit, the strap back fixed seating with its leather straps, buckles, and hardware adds to the seating in the area of our home or favorite restaurant that is our gathering place. 

The strap back fixed seating offers a solution to optimizing space in a fresh way. And the customization options are still as present as they are with banquette seating. I love how this alternative calls out to you to come take a seat and seems to promise a good visit. The perfect place to start your day.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good banquette, one that doesn't scream roadside diner, our foods amazing but excuse our benches. Whatever you do, do it with style and do it with comfort in mind. Make a meal an experience. 

 

Wall seating mixed with dining chairs on the opposite side allows a choice of seating that provides the guest the most comfort to their liking. The choice can come down to our mood at the time. Are we hunkering down with our latest read and the perfect cup of tea or are we grabbing a quick bite?

Just like any design element, be thoughtful in your decisions. You are creating an experience of living. Do have fun exploring strap back fixed seating!

Be inspired! 

Sources: Jaimie Baird, Interior Design Magazine, Jonathan Rachman, Focus Design, Tumblr, Italian Bark, Room for Tuesday, Pinterest

Rethinking the Look of Things No. 50 - Artwork in the Kitchen

Funny how we can subconsciously do things just because it is what we know, what we are familiar with, and what everyone else does. Let's rethink that. Are we just hanging cabinets on the wall of the kitchen because, oh I don't know, that's just what you do in a kitchen? Are we adding tile to the blank spaces on our kitchen walls because that's normal? 

Let's rethink the look of things and save those spaces for artwork that is that special we want to enjoy it even in when we are in the kitchen. 

Our kitchens are the heart of our homes. It is full of chatter, aromas, creative cooking and baking, experiments, entertaining good friends, the best place to share a piece of pie late at night with two forks! This room is full of inspiration why skip this area when contemplating where your treasured artwork should go?

Don't get me wrong, the most important design element of a kitchen plan is having all the needed storage. Just keep in mind places to put things doesn't always have to be cabinetry. It can be bistro shelves, a marble or granite ledge, suspended wooden shelves, glass front cabinets - all great places to display artwork that has a special place on the list of your favorite things.

I love artwork and when I am placing it in the home, I'm not thinking of its appropriate spot, for it is the artwork we place in the most unexpected places that sometimes we appreciate the most.  I have even hung oil paintings in a client's garage. 

Artwork is truly at home in the kitchen. Give thought to your artwork selection for the kitchen, consider the best way to install, do it without hesitation; you survived having a band aid ripped off, you can do this. Now enjoy!

The rethinking of artwork in the kitchen may seem like a tough challenge. After all, if one puts an oil painting in the kitchen is that like wearing flip flops to church? Why yes it is and neither has anything to do with irreverence, its about including it because its not a rule breaker.

Choosing and hanging (or propping) artwork in the kitchen does still have the same considerations as other art placement, excluding the subject matter. Remember scale, size, height at which it is hung,and practicality. Don't go overboard and hang art right above your stove! A good cook is most times not a neat cook, the mess happens as the menu is being created and mastered. If the art is just filling the void without thought then you picked the wrong piece.

Okay, my troops you have your challenge! Go put some artwork in your kitchen and do me proud!

Image Sources: Elle Decor, Pinterest, Deb and Danielle, Studio McGee, Glam Pad, Instagram