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Check Out Our New Decorating Department!

Hey everyone: great news! My design team and I have just put together a Decorating Department to help you overcome "decorator's block" -- specifically when it comes to decorating with art.

Be sure to stop by and browse through our decorating tips and tools. Need advice on custom-framing your favorite artwork? Check out our matting and framing tips. Want suggestions on decorating large rooms or stairways? Check out our designer Room Solutions. You can also search for art by décor style or color to find just the right piece to make a room sing. Once you've found the perfect image(s), read up on creative ways to arrange art.

Great Savings Alert: Also, to help you jumpstart your fall decorating, we're offering 15% off our design team's much-loved Designer Picks collection until September 30th. There's all sorts of good stuff in there, from canvas art and photography to abstracts, still life, landscapes and tons of other options.

Whew! So there you have it. Just in time for fall decorating…

Check it out and tell me what you think!

This summer, I had a lot of company coming through town for a class reunion, so I spent about a month getting my early 1900s shaker-style farmhouse ready for guests. First, I took care of all the basics. I washed the windows, shampooed the carpets and installed a new faucet in the upstairs bathtub. Then came the fun part: choosing finishing touches for each room!

My downstairs guestroom is sweet and simple, with creamy white walls and plenty of windows. Contrasting the light elements, I have a fair amount of dark walnut woodwork and a dark, antique bed frame. To pull it all together, I decided to find a luminous artwork for the one windowless wall.

Before:

Spring Rhapsody
By Welby

After:

And voila! A room reborn! Now I, and any guests who happen to drop by, can enjoy this beautiful, blooming bouquet of flowers all year round.

Stay tuned: I'll take you on a tour of some of my other finished rooms next week...

Get Your Wardrobe & Walls Ready for Fall 2007!

Right now, it's all about color. The leaves are starting to turn, models are strutting new hues on the runways, and the world of interior design is churning out all kinds of shades of awesome!

According to one of my fave blogs, ApartmentTherapy.com/NY, September is Adornment Month! That means it's time to pay a little extra attention to your digs and fill it with beautiful, inspiring colors and accents you'll enjoy all winter long. It's also a great time to get started building your cool-weather wardrobe.

The worlds of fashion and home decor have long been intertwined, and that's as true today as it has ever been. So if you need some inspiration to get started building your fall wardrobe and decor, you can look to the Fall 2007 Pantone Fashion Color Report.

From Pantone Color Report Fall 2007

I just love these luscious new colors. There's something decidedly exotic about this palette, with alluring hues like Burnt Ochre, Chili Pepper and Lemon Curry. If you're decorating with art this season, you can easily find titles of all stripes, sizes and styles in our color collection. There are a lot of direct corollaries between our colors and Pantone's. Our Hollyhock, Tarragon, Espresso, Terra Cotta, Bijou Red and Yellow Ochre nicely mirror the new Purple Wine, Shale Green, Carafe, Burnt Ochre, Chili Pepper and Lemon Curry, respectively.

My current fave? This week, it'd have to be Purple Wine/ Hollyhock. There's something deep, rich and mysterious about this color, like a fine vintage wine. But it's also light, fresh, uplifting; perhaps not quite what you'd expect for fall. A bit of a paradox in its own right! That's why I love it.

Here's a stunning work of art from our Hollyhock collection:

Light Plum Orchid
By Nina Farrell

Need more inspiration? Read up on our Top 5 Art Trends for Fall. And be sure to let me know about your adventures in decorating! Till next week...!

Hey folks! Laura's back in the house!

Those of you who tuned in last week got to witness Day 1 of my summer farmhouse makeover project. This week, I want to share with you the transformation of what I call The Blue Room.

The Blue Room used to belong to "The Melvinator" (a.k.a. my father), back when my Grandmother was raising him as a little boy (hence the vintage blue wallpaper). After I inherited the house, I decided to bring a more feminine air to the room by decorating it with comfy quilts and my antique doll collection.

That North wall looked a bit empty to me, so I thought I'd put a work of art there. I chose this soft, painterly Impressionist work by Renoir because it has an innocence and femininity to it that really seems to suit the room.

Two Young Girls at the Piano
By Pierre Auguste Renoir

I chose to upgrade to canvas for this piece, so the colors would be even more rich and textured. To finish things off, I framed it online with a Renaissance Antique Gold frame -- which plays nicely on the various colors in the room, including the maple vanity. The end result's quite nice, yes?

A little bit of art goes a long way… Stay tuned for my 3rd and final installation of this series next week! Cheers!

To-the-Minute Trends in Art: The Inside Scoop

Hi there! Just a little over a week ago, a colleague and I spent two days at the 2007 Art Decor Expo in Atlanta, GA, soaking up all the latest trends in art and style. We had a blast, and now I'm back in town and ready to share.

First off, contemporary landscapes are really big this season. We saw a lot of luminous, airy scenes like the piece below, by William Vanscoy:

You Knew Me When
By William Vanscoy

In terms of color schemes, this season is seeing a lot of striking contrasts: for instance, teal, light green and blue paired with rich rusty hues. Abstracts, as always, are in the foreground, and particularly in these rich, earthy colors. Circle imagery is also extremely au courant!

Circle Designs I
By Leslie Bernsen

I grew up in the mid '70s, so I'm getting a big kick out of the retro '60s-'70s inspired graphic designs that are making a comeback. As you can see in the artwork below, the imagery hearkens back to the good old days, but it's combined with a decidedly modern feel.

Orange Floral Montage
By Miriam Bedia

Really, anything with urban undercurrents is in right now. From crisp cityscapes with skyscrapers to avant-garde photography.

Edifice I
By Tandi Venter

Did you happen to notice the frames on any of those pieces above? I chose them because they're really in line with what's being used right now. In general, designers are moving away from just using straight, modern, angular frames and tending more toward mouldings that have a bit more of a comfortable, casual feel. Bronze, copper and silver finishes are really in, as is anything with a bit of a metallic sheen.

So that's the basic scoop! Of course, as always, when it comes to decorating, let your own tastes and creativity be your guide. Until next week...

Ok folks, you've seen the transformations from Day 1 and Day 2 of my farmhouse makeover project, so now it's time for the 3rd and final day...

My upstairs guest room is a sweet, light-filled space with a balcony that looks out over my front lawn. This room has wonderful appeal all on its own, but I thought I'd just add a work of art to make it that much more beautiful -- and inviting for guests to stay in.

This lush bouquet of flowers by Albert Williams seemed the perfect choice:

Bouquet of Roses
By Albert Williams

With its hints of turquoise and pink, it nicely brings out the pastel colors of the quilt on the bed. Plus the imagery is just stunning -- so rich with color, detail and light. To contrast with all the cool tones in the quilt and artwork, I framed this piece with a nice, warm bronze-gold moulding, which warms the room up a bit and also complements the maple bed frame. Works out well, don't you think?

My last project: the upstairs hallway. As you can see, this stark white wall was just begging for something to fill the space.

I started out with this little wooden table from my Grandmother's cousin and added some candles to set a romantic, Traditional tone. The wall still looked pretty barren, so I filled the space with this gorgeous, oversized art print by Jules-Alexandre Grun.

The End of Dinner, 1913
By Jules-Alexandre Grun

I love parties and I love to entertain, so this piece has always been a favorite. I just hope that one day I get to attend a party this glamorous! :-)

And there you have it: Laura's fabulous farmhouse transformation! It's amazing what a difference a bit of artwork makes. This house has been around since the early 1900s, but now it's filled with a whole new life and energy. And with all the lovely, uplifting imagery I chose, I'll have flowers and swanky soirees to enjoy all winter long!

Inspiration for Beating the Office Blahs

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Check out the ultramodern office makeover pics I spied in a particularly inspiring blog entry on design*sponge:

From the cowhide-print chaise lounge to the wall mirrors, photography art prints and colorful rugs, these rooms are just bursting with personality and style. And really, since so many of us spend the majority of our work days in offices or cubicles, doesn't it make sense to keep your space inspiring?

As I mentioned in a post on oversized art, I like to switch out the art in my office on a regular basis. This not only keeps things interesting, but it also sparks my creativity and helps me ensure I don’t get stuck in a rut.

How about you? How do you make your office a home away from home? Or if your office is, in fact, located at home, how do you arrange the space to stay motivated and inspired? If your office is half as inventive as the ones above, I’d love to see some snapshots!

If your workspace is on the uninspired side, perhaps now's the time to decorate for success. What kind of imagery, subjects, colors and themes make you feel happy and productive? Do you like scenes from nature or the city? Is your decor style eclectic and Contemporary or kicked back and Casual? Do Zen-inspired accents help you feel centered? Or do you prefer quirky Abstracts and Pop Art?

The average American spends about 40 hours a week on the job -- is that you? If so, it might just be worth your while to transform your workspace into your own little creative oasis. I know it works for me!

Until next week...