wood furniture

No Bohemian Room is Complete Without These 6 Elements / July 9, 2021 by Margaret Chambers

The antiqued gold pagoda mirror frame, patterned wallpaper, and warm colors all lend themselves to Bohemian style.

The French word bohémien originally referred to migrants from Bohemia, a region in the Czech Republic. Nowadays, we might call someone who is nonconformist, artistic, and well-traveled a bohemian. Bohemian interior design style is as free-spirited and unconventional as the people who inspired it.

Those who love Bohemian (“Boho” for short) style are drawn to it because it is colorful, approachable, carefree, and cozy. This is not a style for minimalists or people who don’t like color. If you’ve always wanted to try decorating your Dallas home in a Bohemian style, make sure to include the following elements.

1. Bold Patterns and Colors

When you study Bohemian rooms, you’ll notice that they often combine a neutral base color with jewel tones, earth tones, and metallic accents. The brightest colors can be anything from emerald green to mustard yellow and royal purple. Bright colors have been becoming more popular this year, making Bohemian a very current look too.

We filled this downtown Dallas high-rise with bold colors and multicultural art, especially African and Indian art.

For a truly Bohemian look, you’ll want some patterns too, especially patterned rugs. Any patterns you choose should fit into your overall color scheme, but don’t worry about mixing different regional styles. This is your opportunity to combine ikats, suzanis, and shiboris with Moroccan, Mexican and Persian patterns. You can even try hanging a tapestry or rug on the wall instead of art.

2. Low-Seated, Comfortable Furniture

Low seating is ideal for Bohemian rooms because it promotes an air of relaxation. As you furniture shop, look for floor pillows, poufs, ottomans, low-backed sofas, and low coffee tables that invite visitors to settle down and unwind.

This north Dallas bedroom combines many different kinds of patterns in the same basic colors (blue and white).

Bohemian style is all about mismatched items that tell a story. This is definitely not the place for all-matching sets of furniture straight from the showroom! Pieces that are distressed and have history to them are ideal.

Although this guest bedroom is not colorful, the patterns on the bedding and curtains help to give it a Boho feel.

3. Touchable Textures

There is no such thing as “too much texture” in a Boho room. Unsurprisingly, organic materials, like rattan, stone, leather, and wood are especially prevalent here. Try to balance soft fabrics (like velvet) with smooth metals and rough textures (like distressed wood furniture and unglazed pottery).

Of course, not everything in your room has to look worn and casual. A touch of glamor is not unwelcome in a Bohemian space, so look into adding an ornate sunburst mirror or a beautiful chandelier.

4. Plants

Plants are another key fixture of Boho style. They can be live or faux, tall or short. Cacti, monsteras, and tropical plants are always at home in this setting, but really, almost any green plant will add some color and life to the room.

5. Ambient Lighting

Since Bohemian is a “light and bright” style, your room should be well-lit at all hours of the day. Layer a mix of different light sources, such as pendant lights, floor lamps, lanterns, and candles to create an ambient glow that is not too harsh.

6. Multicultural Art and Accessories

Boho is an eclectic, well-traveled look where a variety of items create one storied space. Multicultural art is perhaps the most important feature of this style. Don’t travel often? Visit your local antique store to find interesting pieces from around the world. An interior designer can also be a great resource for helping you find the perfect antiques and art.

If you’re designing your living room in Bohemian style, putting a tall potted plant in the corner is a good idea.

If you like Bohemian but want your own home to look more restrained, it is perfectly fine to just include a few artsy and colorful accents into an otherwise orderly space. Even if you’re going for a very exuberant Boho home, your bedroom should be more pared-down to create a sense of calm.

Here you can see a Bohemian guest bedroom from an Oak Cliff project that was decorated in a distinct African theme.

Although there are no hard and fast rules in Bohemian style, there are certain things that really capture its relaxed, free-spirited atmosphere. By breaking down Bohemian into its basic elements, I hope I’ve helped demystify this style so that you can design with a clear vision in mind.

And of course, if you could use some help sourcing antiques, art, and fabrics for your Bohemian space, working with an interior designer can save you a lot of time and trouble. To schedule a free consultation with us, call our Dallas office at 214-651-7665 or send an email to info@chambersinteriors.com.

Design a Balcony, Patio, or Porch that You’ll Love to Use / April 7, 2021 by Margaret Chambers

We decorated this front porch on a Dallas home with faux bois benches by Currey & Company.

Balconies, porches, and patios are enviable design features for a home. But designing an outdoor space comes with its own challenges. You'll need to ask yourself: do you want to design around a view? Create privacy? How will you provide shelter from the elements?

Balconies, especially, are often small. Some people just put out lawn chairs and aren’t sure what else to include. If your Dallas home has an outdoor space that’s a little underutilized, here are some ideas on how to get the most out of it.

General Outdoor Space Guidelines:

A good first step to designing an outdoor space is to research outdoor-friendly furniture materials. Wrought iron, teak, and resin wicker are all common in outdoor decorating. You should also look for cushions that dry quickly and can stand up to the sun's rays.

A lantern chandelier helps to illuminate this outdoor area we designed for a University Park chateau.

Lighting is very important for these spaces, especially if you like to enjoy your balcony, patio or porch as the sun is setting or in the evenings. Look into pendants, sconces, string lights, or lanterns, and remember that bulbs with a warm color are preferable here to bright white.

An easy way to add color to outdoor spaces is to decorate with vases, potted plants, and pillows. Don’t forget to dress up the floor too. A patterned area rug adds comfort underfoot, but graphic floor tiles can introduce a lot of flair too. If privacy is a concern, you may need to add a screen lattice with climbing plants, a tall potted plant, or a shrub.

Tips for Balconies:

Space is premium on balconies, so think about how you’ll be using yours and plan accordingly. If you like to eat dinner out on the balcony, then obviously you’ll need a table; if you’re only going to be reading or enjoying an occasional cocktail, you can get away with just a comfortable chair and a small ottoman or drink table.

Take the opportunity to install built-in seating if your balcony is still under construction. This way, you won’t have to worry about furniture being knocked over by the wind.

Tips for Porches and Patios:

The brown-and-white-striped cushions seen here complement the earth tones in the stone exterior of the house.

As with balconies, consider how you’ve used your porch or patio so far. This is especially important for front porches. Is yours a living space? Or is it a transitional space into your foyer? Either way, it’s important that your outdoor furnishings blend with your interiors and also complement the paint colors on the outside of your home.

An outdoor area, such as this one we designed in Kessler Park, should have a variety of seating options that are all equally comfortable.

Most people who have porches feel like they don’t use them enough. Make sure to buy seating that is comfortable for you and your guests, or else you’ll rarely use it. Porch swings with cozy pillows, deep-seated Adirondack chairs, and rocking chairs give you a variety of options that are both relaxing and durable. Your largest piece of furniture should face outwards, while the rest of your seating in a conversation group should face towards it.

The red painted door brightens this shaded porch and makes it feel more inviting.

A small front porch is still an important opportunity to make a good first impression. If your porch is shadowy, brighten things up by painting the door a lighter color than the rest of the home, then add a new door-knocker. The door should ideally be the focal point of the porch or patio, so flank it with symmetrical plants or furniture on either side. If your door is on the right or left rather than in the center, lead a visitor’s eye to your door with a lineup of potted plants.

A ceiling fan will help the residents of this Dallas home enjoy their outdoor seating area even during hot summers.

Swapping accessories out with the seasons adds a lot of charm to your porch or patio. Include throw blankets on the outdoor furniture so you can enjoy the cooler months outside, too. A ceiling fan is also a smart investment for making your porch comfortable in hot summers.

If you have trouble getting your outdoor space to harmonize with the rest of your home, consider hiring a designer. Despite being called ‘interior designers,’ many of us consult with our clients about their outdoor areas too. A professional will know the best way to take advantage of your space and create a porch, patio or balcony you'll enjoy in all seasons. You can reach out to us by calling our Dallas office at 214-232-9501 or sending an email to info@chambersinteriors.com.

How to Decorate These Common Types of Dallas Home Architecture / November 12, 2020 by Margaret Chambers

We decorated this modern Dallas house using a midcentury style, with burnt oranges, earth tones, and simple shapes.

When I’m working with clients who have recently purchased a home, they often ask me: “What’s the right style for this house’s architecture?” This is an especially common concern among people moving into a historic house. No matter how beautiful your furnishings and art collection are, your home won’t come together if your decorating clashes with the ‘bones’ of the house.

For example, an industrial loft with exposed brick will look strange decorated with all European antiques. A colonial home should use a traditional style as opposed to something trendy, like Scandinavian minimalism. In this guide, I’ll discuss the most appropriate interior design styles for four types of home architecture I see often in Dallas: Modern, English, French, and Italian.

Modern Homes

Modern homes can be seen in Highland Park, University Park, and Lower Greenville. This style of house, which is inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie School architecture, typically has a flat (or sometimes gabled) roof.

Here you can see an exterior photo of the Dallas modern home featured above.

In a modern home, function comes before form: there is very little ornamentation and few decorative objects, save for some modern art to add sophistication. If you live in a modern home, you’ll need to decorate in either a modern, contemporary, or transitional style. All three of these styles tend to have a neutral color scheme, such as white, gray, tan or cream, with some brown or black accents.

If you do want to include a few antiques, I recommend multicultural works of art. Midcentury modern artists drew inspiration from other cultures (think of Pablo Picasso and his “African Period” of art). This is perhaps why Indian, East Asian, or African art will look natural in a modern setting while European antiques do not.

English, French, or Italian Homes

When you own a home with an English, French, or Italian architectural style, the safest course is to make your interior design consistent with the architecture. Depending on what type of home you have, however, you do have some leeway to incorporate pieces that are in a different style.

The dining room in this University Park English cottage has Chippendale chairs with elaborately carved chair backs.

For example, if I were designing an English home, I would make sure that at least eighty-five percent of the furnishings, fabrics, and accessories were English in style. Chippendale furniture is a very popular choice for today’s English homes. For that other fifteen percent of the house, I might include some French pieces, such as French porcelains. American antique furniture (or reproductions) are another option because American furniture was closely based on English furniture.

The same goes for French and Italian homes. A French home should be mostly French, but can have some English pieces. If you’re looking to add variety to your Italian home, I would go with French pieces, which will blend better with the rest of the home than English pieces would.

Another thing to keep in mind is that there’s quite a bit of difference between French Classical or French Country, or between Georgian and English Cottage. If your home can be described as English Cottage or French Country, you’ll want to fill it with items that are more casual and pared down.

The traditional living room in this French chateau we designed combines elegant furnishings with a soft color palette.

For all three of these styles, you can also feel free to include a few modern pieces of artwork. In Paris, it’s a popular trend to decorate old Parisian apartments with all modern artwork and furnishings. Personally, though, I believe that modern furniture should not be used in a classical French, English, or Italian home. It might look trendy today, but it won’t stand the test of time the same way that a more traditional look would.

As an interior designer, when I work with clients who own a beautiful modern, English, French, or Italian home, I want the final result to remain mostly faithful to the architectural style. That said, when most people move into a new home, they don’t start from scratch: everyone has at least a few items they’re bringing with them. Thankfully, there are ways to incorporate heirloom furniture or prized artwork that doesn’t match the exact style of the home. The key is to identify which of your items might potentially clash with the architecture and which could blend right in.

If you recently moved into a new home and aren’t sure how to bring the best out of the architecture, consult an interior designer. Here at Chambers Interiors, we are experienced in designing and decorating homes with a wide variety of architectural styles. Call our Dallas office at 214-651-7665 or email us at info@chambersinteriors.com to learn more.

How to Mix Different Wood Tones and Finishes / February 4, 2016 by Margaret Chambers

As a Dallas interior designer, one of the questions I sometimes hear from homeowners is, "How do I mix and match different sets of wood furniture?" Gone are the days when everyone bought complete sets of wood furniture in the same finish, sometimes even matching their hardwood floors. Today, it is more common - and economical - for people to layer different furnishings they have collected over the years. If you're a Dallas homeowner who finds the idea of mixing different woods daunting, here are some suggestions to get you started.

First of all, if you do have one of those "all-matching" sets, there's no need to throw it all out. Consider painting one or two of the pieces to create variety. You should also distribute the pieces throughout the room instead of putting them together on the same side. Imagine a room with a set of light-colored wood on one side and a dark set on the other. The room will surely feel "unbalanced" to anyone who enters. To combine two different kinds of wood, you will need to break things up.

One of the ways interior designers balance different woods in a space is by creating visual buffers. For example, if you have a large table in one wood, and floors in a different wood, the contrast between the two can be jarring. Place a rug under the table to make a softer transition. White paint and exposed wood are a classic combination: spacing out your wood furniture between white areas can either break up a matching set, or create calm between contrasting woods. If you suspect that you might actually have too much wood in one room, introduce more hard surfaces like metal, glass, and acrylic.

What if you want to actually highlight the differences between your wood furniture? A key point to remember is that some contrasts are more 'acceptable' to the eye than others. Interior designers usually contrast light versus dark, or smooth versus rough, but not 'warm' versus 'cool.'

A warm-colored wood will have undertones of orange, red or yellow. Meanwhile, a cool colored wood will usually have a grayish cast. If you have trouble identifying a piece's color, find the lightest tone in the grain, or try looking at the piece from a distance. Generally warm colored woods, like yellow pine or dark red cherry, will go together better than they would with gray woods, regardless of finish.

This master bedroom has a very harmonious color scheme, but on closer inspection, there is a good deal of contrast introduced in the different wood finishes and colors.

If you have a wood furnishing that you want to highlight, like a coffee table, armoire or buffet, you can surround it with a different kind of wood to turn it into an impact piece. Besides color, texture is an opportunity to create contrasts between woods: smooth versus rough, painted versus unpainted, or fine grain versus large grain. The shape of wood furniture pieces can also create cohesion or contrast. Smooth lines contrast against curves, while simplicity contrasts with carved details.

The checkered wood floor provides a striking geometric contrast to the ornate curved furniture over it in this French Country home.

If you're building or remodeling your Dallas home and haven't chosen your hardwood floors yet, here are some things to keep in mind. Generally, a lighter wood will make for neutral flooring, as long as it isn't too red or yellow. The advantage of neutral flooring is you can introduce medium or dark-toned woods without worrying if they will clash too much. Similarly, dark toned woods without a strong color can help to ground a space.

As a rule of thumb, you should not use more than three kinds of wood per room. The "80/20" rule we interior designers use can be useful here. 80% of the wood in your room should be of a similar color or finish, while 20% can be a contrasting accent wood.

Hopefully you can now look at your wood furniture with a more exacting eye, and see combinations - or potential contrasts - that you couldn't see before. Otherwise, an interior designer can always help you bring out the fullest potential of your wood collections.