Bring Warmth and Beauty to Your Home with These Fireplace Design Tips

When we renovated this Spanish Colonial house in Kessler Park, we left the existing fireplace. It is surrounded with Rookwood tiles.

If you don’t have a fireplace, you may have wondered about what it takes to have one built. There are a lot of options out there: how do you decide which one is best for your Dallas home? On the other hand, maybe you have a fireplace already and want to give the mantel a major facelift for the holidays. Whether you already have a fireplace or are building a house for the first time, these tips should help you get started in your design process.

If you’re planning on adding a fireplace to your next home, you should start by selecting the basic type that you want:

Wood-Burning Fireplaces:

For many people, nothing beats the nostalgia, warmth, crackling sounds and aroma of a natural wood fire. Traditional wood-burning fireplaces come in handy during a power outage because they require no gas or electricity. However, they are an inefficient heating source compared to newer alternatives.

Gas Fireplaces:

Gas fireplaces do not require a chimney and can be controlled with the push of a button. They are also more energy efficient and environmentally friendly than traditional wood-burning fireplaces. The main requirements for a gas fireplace are a gas supply line and a venting mechanism, such as a chimney or metal tubing.

Gas logs are actually made of ceramic and placed above the gas burner to imitate the look of a real wood fireplace. Personally, I don’t mind gas logs. They’ve gotten more realistic and are convenient and easy to clean.

This dramatic fireplace is one of the architectural highlights of this home, which was designed by Bernbaum Magadini Architects, one of Dallas’s finest contemporary architecture firms.

Fireplace Style and Design:

It’s really important for a fireplace to be in the same style of the architecture of the house and proportional to the rest of the room it’s in. In my opinion, fireplaces should have a good size opening, preferably forty by forty inches. I also like to do a nice background, like a herringbone pattern, in the interior brick. If the mantel is wood, there needs to be one foot of noncombustible material around it. This material could potentially be cast stone, limestone, or brick. In my designs, I like for the firebox to go to the floor, which has a more classical look.

Keep in mind that the mantel should have enough depth for decorations: eight to ten inches deep, or deeper for a large fireplace. It’s also a good idea to have a plug above the center of the fireplace mantel for Christmas lights.

Sometimes all a fireplace mantel needs is a large piece of artwork over it, like this Audubon painting above the fireplace in the foyer of SMU’s Kappa Alpha Theta house. Fusch Architects designed this project.

Decorating Your Fireplace Mantel:

Since the fireplace is usually the focal point for a room, make sure it’s something that you want to look at. I recommend hanging a large piece of art or a mirror in the center that serves as an anchor for the decorative accessories in front of it. To create interest and lead a person’s eye all across the mantel, vary the height of the objects and include contrasting colors.

In this Hill Country farmhouse, we decorated the stone fireplace with a metal compass sculpture, rocking horse, candlesticks, and grass bouquet.

Note that if the mantel is crammed with too many accessories and picture frames, nothing stands out. On the other hand, mantels with just a couple of small items look underwhelming. Take a look at pictures of professionally decorated fireplaces to get a good idea for how many items to use and how big they should be. I usually use three to five items, such as a tea caddy in the center and candlesticks or vases on either side.

Although fireplaces may not get used often here in Dallas, now is the time of year when people are grateful to have them. Fireplaces are also a popular amenity that can raise the value of your home. If you’d love to include a fireplace in your dream home but find all the different options dizzying, consider connecting with an interior designer.

An interior designer like myself can help lay out the options for you and add the finishing touches to your mantel after the house is built. You can reach us by calling our Dallas office at 214-651-7665 or sending an email to info@chambersinteriors.com.

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Framing Art 101: How to Properly Protect and Showcase Your Art

When we frame and hang wallpaper panels, like these seen here, we don’t add glass in order to keep them lightweight.

Framing art is a project that people tend to put off because there are so many decisions involved. It’s not just the frame that you have to select: you also have to choose the right mat and decide whether you want glass, plexiglass, or no glass. As an interior designer, I love to work with clients who are art collectors. Here are some of the things I’ve learned while framing my clients’ art pieces.

Protecting Valuable or Personal Art

If you’re looking to reframe multiple art pieces, start by separating your most valuable pieces from the rest. These pieces should be framed using archival, museum-grade materials, such as an acid-free mat, a dust cover, and possibly a glass or plexiglass front.

We usually put non-glare, museum quality, UV-protected glass on fine art pieces. Textiles and watercolors are extra-sensitive to light and should be hung in shaded areas, even if they have UV-protected glass.

Use a Mat to Create a Neutral Backdrop

Most artwork looks better matted. The mat acts as a visual buffer between the artwork and the frame. By separating the art from the glass, it also creates a small space for airflow so that the glass and the art do not stick together.

These antique pen and ink drawings are framed in 22 karat gold.

Although mats can come in different colors, you almost always want to go with a white or off-white. Brightly colored mats tend to look dated. However, black or gray mats can be an appropriate choice for artwork that is already mostly white. For very small artworks, keep in mind that the smaller the artwork, the larger your mat should be. For prints or botanicals, I like to use French mats; a lot of the time, we also include a fillet of gold or silver on the inside, depending on what color the frame is.

Finding the Right Frame

Since professional framing can be expensive, it’s worthwhile to shop at antique stores for pretty frames to repurpose. When I’m helping a client, I like to give them high, medium, and low price points for frames. Prices vary a lot, and sometimes the framing can be almost as expensive as the art.

On the left is a 16th century Indian painting that was reproduced onto a tapestry. We mounted it in a custom acrylic shadowbox.

When it comes to framing, I want to highlight and complement the art rather than distract from it. For example, I would use an elaborate frame for traditional art, such as a portrait, and a simple frame for modern art. Sometimes people put mirrors in nice antique frames. I also love to frame textiles from Africa and India. With a textile, we will attach it to a linen backing and put a Lucite box around it. When framing large wallpaper panels, we like to use a very thin gold frame or a bamboo frame.

Seen here is a series of prints on handmade paper. We floated them in acrylic enclosures for this Dallas family room.

The Pros and Cons of Glass and Plexiglass

Museum grade glass was the standard option for a long time, but plexiglass has come a long way and is a solid choice. Plexiglass is lightweight, antistatic and scratch resistant. However, even scratch resistant varieties of plexiglass are easier to scratch than real glass. Plexiglass is great for collectors who move often: it’s easier to take with you from place to place and less likely to shatter if it’s dropped.

We always put glass on watercolor and prints, but we don’t put any glass on large wallpaper panels or oil paintings. Oil paint does not fade in the sunlight, so it doesn’t require the same protection as other mediums.

Rather than using all-matching frames for your gallery wall, try choosing frames that are different but complementary to each other, like the simple, monochromatic frames we chose for this gallery of black-and-white photos.

Although framing art can be intimidating, it’s a great opportunity to make your art look even more spectacular. By arming yourself with knowledge, you can approach a framer — or frame a piece yourself — with confidence.

For homeowners with large collections and little time, I would recommend contacting an interior designer. An interior designer like myself will not only know the best way to frame your pieces, but can also help you find where to put them in your home and hang them at the correct height. Our Dallas office can be reached by calling 214-651-7665 or sending an email to info@chambersinteriors.com.

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The Art of Collecting: How to Use Collections to Personalize Your Home

We paired this Rose Medallion porcelain collection with Chinese porcelain birds, which add a three-dimensional element.

Collections are so important to interior design that I can't help but be surprised when I meet a client who doesn't collect anything. Collectibles give a home personality, pull the house together, and serve as conversation starters when guests come over.

That said, not everyone has discovered a collecting hobby that they're passionate about. Others might enjoy collecting but worry that their collections create too much clutter. In this article, I'll talk about how an interior designer would normally display a client’s collection, as well as list some ideas for collections for those who are interested in collecting but don't know where to start.

A collection of framed insects is an unexpected and whimsical addition to this African themed bedroom in Kessler Park.

Step 1: Starting Your Collection

Of course, you shouldn't collect just for the sake of collecting. Your collection should be something personal to you. Whether you are drawn to blue-and-white Delft, ceramics, black-and-white photography, tortoiseshell boxes, or snuff bottles, there are many different kinds of collectibles that are suited for different styles of homes. Car aficionados might enjoy collecting framed prints of classic automobiles. An avid reader, on the other hand, will likely want to own beautiful old books, interspersed with other decorative objects, like small lamps, bookends, and photographs.

If nothing comes to mind, consider collecting something that will complement your home’s existing decor and architecture. For example, I like to decorate modern homes with African art and textiles. For a Santa Fe style home, I would recommend Native American pottery and baskets. Another good starting point for a collection could be a family heirloom or a sculpture you picked up while traveling.

Step 2: Curate Your Collection

Before you find a place for your collection, make sure to curate it first. Prioritize the pieces that are in the best condition and fit your decorating scheme. You can always keep some pieces in storage and rotate them back out as the seasons change.

The items in your collection don't have to be a part of a matching set, but they do need to harmonize in terms of color, scale, and texture. When it comes to scale, having some variety is also important. If you're displaying prints on a wall, start with the largest in the middle, and arrange smaller prints around it. The frames should be cohesive as well.

We decorated the walls of this upstairs den with a collection of sepia animal prints.

Step 3: Artfully Arrange Your Pieces

Next, you’ll want to design the display area. It needs to serve as an attractive backdrop for the items while also drawing a visitor’s eye and keeping it there. The setting you choose to display your collection should be understated in order to keep the focus on the collection itself.

Open shelves, for example, can be painted the same color as the wall to help them fade into the background. You can create a more formal look by displaying items in a lighted curio cabinet. If you want to display a large collection of family photos, remember that a wall gallery is less cluttered looking than a series of propped up photos on a table. A hallway wall is a great place to display family photos.

Wallpapering the back of these bookshelves with a Schumacher star pattern helps to highlight the porcelains and books.

For small collections and vignettes, try using a decorative tray to bring your objects together. Trays are a good choice for collections of perfume bottles, small ceramics, seashells, or glassware.

Step 4: Balance Your Collection with the Rest of the Room

Don’t forget to surround your collection with some open space. A room with even the most beautiful collections will still look cluttered without visual buffers between each vignette. You can tie everything together by pulling from the colors in your collections and echoing them elsewhere in the room.

A collection of vintage architectural prints can look stunning when displayed together in matching 22 karat gold frames.

If you have some ideas for a collection but aren’t sure where to start shopping, consider working with an interior designer. As an interior designer, I have access to items that most clients wouldn’t have access to. People who already own an extensive collection can also benefit from working with a professional. A designer like myself will enjoy finding the best way to showcase your prized collection, and by having it on display, you can ensure that the space is truly a reflection of you and your personal taste. To schedule a free consultation, email us at info@chambersinteriors.com or call our Dallas office at 214-651-7665.

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Four Pointers for Teenage Bedroom Design

Wall art is an important asset for giving a teenage bedroom its individuality.

Designing a teenage bedroom can be an interesting challenge. At this point, the nursery décor your teen grew up with has got to go. On the other hand, you can’t simply decorate the room the same way you would with an adult bedroom. Striking the right balance between casual and formal is key here. Your teen will also want to be included in the design process, so it’s important to keep their interests in mind.

Every teen bedroom should be a unique expression of that teen’s personality. However, there are also some general guidelines that can be applied to any teenage bedroom. Before you begin with your interior design project, keep these pointers in mind.

1. Create Separate Zones for Resting, Studying, and Socializing

Colors like pastel green and purple are excellent alternatives to pink for a teenage girl bedroom’s color scheme.

Chances are, this is the room your teen will spend the most time in. Any teen bedroom needs to be a refuge, a home study, and also a hangout space for them and their friends. Make sure there’s a designated zone for each of these. One thing to remember is that your teen might want to take their furniture with them when they move out, so don’t break the budget on furnishings. 

A comfortable work desk will help your teen stay focused and on-task. If the room is too small for a separate seating area, you could also create a lounging space on the floor with pillows and a rug, or add ottomans to the foot of the bed. For a teenage girl’s bedroom, you’ll probably want to include luxurious fabrics, like velvet pillows, soft blankets and bedding, gauzy curtains, or thick-pile rugs.

Navy blue and brick red are both great colors for a boy’s room, like this one we designed for a Preston Hollow home.

2. Use Your Teen’s Favorite Colors in a Sophisticated Way

One of the easiest ways to differentiate between a child and a teenage bedroom is through color choices. While nurseries usually have pastel colors, and most adult bedrooms are in neutrals, teens tend to gravitate to bold color combinations. Even if the majority of the furniture in the room is neutral, there should ideally be a burst of your teen’s favorite color somewhere.

For teen boy bedrooms, navy blue or warm neutrals (such as warm gray) are popular wall colors. Today’s teenage girls usually prefer green, purple, grey, or blue over pink as the dominant color in their rooms. Purple is a versatile color in that some shades can be whimsical (like lavender) while others are romantic (like deep purple). While touring homes, I’ve noticed that teenage girls’ rooms often have a lot of white furniture.

3. Plan for Plenty of Storage Space

If you have a teen who keeps their room tidy, you have a rare teen indeed. That said, including enough storage space and shelving in the bedroom can go a long way towards helping your teen keep clutter out of sight. The room’s overall design should also be clean and minimal, but not too fussy. Remember that your teen will almost certainly want a room with a more casual and approachable vibe.

A bedside table with pullout drawers is a good choice for adding storage to a small teen bedroom.

4. Design Around Accents and Art that Express Your Teen’s Individuality

Before you begin decorating in earnest, ask your teen if they have art pieces or prints in mind that express their personality. You can potentially use art pieces as a focal point or as a source of stylistic inspiration for the rest of the room. Some other ways to set your teen’s room apart from those of their friends include: incorporating an unusual piece of furniture that makes a conversation piece, adding wallpaper to the ceiling, or wallpapering an accent wall.

Your teen will appreciate having something fun and unique in the room, such as these framed insects on the wall.

Sometimes even when you follow recommended design guidelines, it can still be difficult to bring everything together. In cases like these, your next step should be to consult a professional designer. When I work with clients with teens, I ask my clients to provide examples of rooms that inspire them. An experienced designer such as myself will know how to accommodate both the parents and the teenager’s requests and deliver a result that will wow them and visitors alike. To schedule a free consultation with us, send an email to info@chambersinteriors.com or call our Dallas office at 214-232-9501.

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Turn Your Home Into a Personal Getaway With Travel-Inspired Décor

A soothing color palette helps to soften the rough, organic textures we used in this Cape Cod style bedroom in Dallas.

With travel restrictions in place due to COVID-19, many Dallas homeowners are wanting to surround themselves with memories of their time abroad. This may be why travel-inspired interior design is one of 2021’s trending looks.

Interior designers like myself often have our own favorite travel destinations and multicultural design influences. Over the course of my design career, I’ve been to Europe twelve times. I’ve also found inspiration in my travels to China, Mexico, and Canada. My business partner, Lea Barfield, and I own an antique buying trip business called Tour Décor, which helps our clients source European pieces for their residences.

When I take on a new design job, I enjoy finding ways to incorporate any antiques or multicultural art that my clients have collected over the years. Below, you’ll find some design tips and tricks for highlighting travel mementos in a sophisticated way.

Getting Started

Pictured is a collection of African milk bowls that we selected for our clients, displayed together on a kitchen wall.

One way to begin is by picking out a single piece you acquired abroad and using it as a touchpoint for the rest of the room. Putting together a collection of art from a place you’ve visited, or a gallery wall of travel photos, is another great way to memorialize.

If you’re an experienced traveler with many favorite destinations, you may have trouble narrowing down which styles to incorporate into your home. When in doubt, stick with what will complement your home’s architecture. In a midcentury modern home, you can easily blend in African, Indian, or East Asian accessories. However, if you own a home with Italian, French, or English architectural elements, you should probably stick with European furnishings and art.

If your room is coastal-themed, you can include touches of nautical whimsy, like this mirror with a rope frame.

Sourcing New Pieces

A travel-inspired home will naturally evolve over time as you bring home more treasures over the years. Make sure to leave some open space on your wall or floor for new pieces you acquire in the future.

If your favorite places in the world have lots of historic buildings, your travel-inspired room should have a sense of history, too. You can browse local antique shops in Dallas for fine, old antiques. The internet (especially social media like Instagram) can also be a great way to discover and commission artisans around the world.

Using world maps (whether printed and framed or used as a pattern in an unexpected place) is another way to communicate a feeling of wanderlust to guests. On the same note, globes are a great accessory for masculine studies and libraries.

Layering Your Space

Although a gallery wall makes a great focal point, don’t stop there. It’s important to make sure your room looks like a living space and not a museum. The solution is to spread your pieces throughout the space instead of isolating them to one part of the room.

This formal living room is Asian and Indian influenced, with its foo dog statue, incense burner, and Indian patterns.

For some clients, it’s not about a specific object they acquired, but a feeling they want to recreate. Reference your travel photos to help you get closer to the ambiance you want and identify the colors you associate with that place.

If you’re not sure what will be complementary with your travel-inspired elements, go with safe bets. Place your colorful textiles against a neutral backdrop of tan, cream, or grey. It’s also helpful to remember that natural materials like wood furniture can fit into almost any design setting. For a truly immersive feeling, try using scented candles, incense, or houseplants associated with the region you’re inspired by in the room.

Don’t forget to do some research too, especially if it’s been a while since you visited the country in question. Doing research on the history and significance of certain design traditions is not only interesting and educational, but will also help you learn how to incorporate these inspirations in a tasteful and respectful way.

Earth tones and African art make for a perfect combination in this Kessler Park guest bedroom.

There’s no better time than now to learn how to capitalize on the photos and art you’ve collected from your travels and weave a design narrative around them. That said, some people, especially those who are moving into a new home, may find the prospect overwhelming. If this sounds like you, you can reach out to us by sending an email to info@chambersinteriors.com or calling our Dallas office at 214-232-9501. When it comes to editing down your collections, having a professional second opinion is invaluable.

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The Best Ways to Display Your Art Collection

The abstract painting with pops of color pictured here is a perfect match for this neutral seating area with green and blue pillows.

Have you ever purchased a piece of artwork, and then weren't sure how you should display it when you got home? Art is subjective, and there are no hard rules for displaying it either. That said, here are some suggestions on how to make your art look its best in your Dallas home.

Most artwork should be hung at eye level with the center-point around sixty inches above the floor. On the other hand, if you're hanging art in your dining room, you may want to display it a touch above the eye level of seated diners. In rooms with tall ceilings, some artwork can fill the empty space far above eye level, even above doorways.

Tall, narrow framed wallpaper panels are just the right shape to fill this wall at the end of an upstairs hallway.

While a large painting or photo can bring drama to a room, don't discount the appeal of smaller artwork. A series of small prints has its own charm, inviting the viewer to step closer. Small, standalone works of art can also be a delightful surprise when displayed in unexpected places, such as bathroom vanities, kitchen shelves, and windowsills.

When you hang multiple pieces of art together, try to keep each of them at least two inches apart. If you want to display a collection over a piece of furniture (like a sofa), there’s no need to space them across the entire width of the furniture. Instead, center the whole collection in a tight grouping.

In this Preston Hollow home, we displayed these whimsical animal prints closely together to leave plenty of negative space on the rest of the walls.

Homeowners with multiple collections may feel like they don’t have enough space to display them all. In this case, put some of your collections in storage and cycle them out with the change in seasons.

You can help blend your artwork into the room by picking up accent colors in the painting and pairing them with accessories of a similar color. Or, you can have your artwork command attention: a colorful piece in a neutral-toned room will always make a statement. Especially tall artwork should be hung about fifteen inches off the floor.

For the formal living room in the SMU Theta sorority house, we placed an abstract floral painting over the sofa. The bright colors and large size of the piece make it a stunning focal point.

Traditional frames are best for classical subjects like landscapes and portraits. Modern art and photography, on the other hand, usually call for frames with clean lines. Large photos often look their best when mounted in plexiglass or acrylic. Small dimensional pieces will also look great in plexiglass display boxes, which give them a “gallery” feel.

Bamboo frames, such as the ones we used in the vignette above this bed, are a good choice for natural imagery.

Of course, not all art pieces in a collection have to be perfectly matching. Hanging together differently sized pieces that share a common element, such as a style or color, can also create interest. A gallery wall in a hallway is a great way to show off a variety of art.

Do you have a themed collection that’s still growing? If so, you can leave wall space by putting up the pieces you have so far in the center of the wall, and filling the surrounding space as your collection expands. Try to plan out ahead of time how you’d like the final arrangement to look, so that you won’t need to rearrange pieces and patch over holes later.

Decorative plate collections can look fantastic displayed together on a wall.

Another thing to keep in mind is that artwork and photos on paper will fade in direct sunlight. If you still want to display this kind of artwork in rooms with lots of natural light, having them protected by UV plexiglass or UV glass is an option. Always use acid-free mats for your artwork. Rag matting, which is made from cotton, is 100% acid free and the go-to mat for museums. Your older art pieces may be in an acidic mat, so it’s worthwhile to have those placed in acid-free mats over time.

When you live with art, you want to show it off to its best potential. Hopefully some of these guidelines can help you find a perfect place for all your prized collections.

An interior designer can also help you find accessories to go with even your boldest pieces. To schedule a free consultation, call us at 214-232-9501 or send an email to info@chambersinteriors.com. We would love to help you get the most out of your art collection!

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