Interior Designer-Interior Designer Decorator Kansas City

I am asked many times what is the difference between interior designers and interior decorators. I would say that an Interior designer has been schooled in interior design. An interior decorator has decided they like the profession and hangs up their shingle. They may have been a drug rep one week and call themselves interior decorator the next week. They often charge the same as a qualified interior designer. In Kansas City we have Johnson County Community College which has an excellent interior design program that is either 2 or 3 years. We also have interior design programs at the many of the four year universities in Kansas and Missouri.

A Qualified Interior Designer in  Kansas City  should be able to take a home from the planning stages of a new home or remodel to the final accessories. They can also just assist the client in furniture or window treatments. We can design kitchens and bathrooms with the elevations and selections for our clients. We can also do smaller projects, one room at a time. A decorator will be able to do furniture and custom drapery, but decorators often lack the skills of floor plans and elevations for more difficult projects.

It would seem to me that a person who is interested in interior design in their home would check out the qualifications of the designer they are wanting to use in their home. The American Association Of Interior Designers would be a great way to start the search. In my company we have a team of 3 designers and we are members of that organization. We are also members or The National Association For the Remodeling Industry. We take alot of continuing education in our field to offer our clients the best of interior design.

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New Trends from April 2008 trip to High Point Market

We just attended High Point Market in North Carolina. This represents most of the furniture & accessory manufacturer in the United States & beyond. They meet in this destination 2 times a year for 10 days each market period to show what is new in their lines. My assistant Lisa and I walked 12 hours a day for 4 days reviewing and purchasing new accessories and finding furniture lines not easily found in the Kansas City area.

Furniture is scaling down after 10 years of large oversized furniture. Black is coming back in a big way for accent pieces. The furniture pieces are shifting to the transitional and away from the large Tuscan pieces. I personally like a transitional feel with more of an eclectic feeling to my spaces. Stanley Furniture, www.24234234.com has placed some great new accent pieces in their line and we represent thier lines in our design firm.

We finally found a line that will give our clients small accent tables that look expensive, but are reasonably priced, and we will carry these in our stock to be placed quickly in their homes.

More tomorrow on our great finds at market –.

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Arlene

Accessories

We saw so many different lines of accessories during our recent trip to the High Point market. We were able to establish some different lines that we have not seen here in Kansas City. The color black was big in accent pieces and so was white. We also see the comeback of black and white mixed together. It was great fun to see the spring colored accessories that are geared for this time of year.

At the beginning of each of our projects we think about what type of accessories and accents we will be placing in each of our projects. Interior designers generally wait until the end to think about the accessories and accents they place in their clients homes. We will plan and budget them in the beginning and that helps with the total theme of our projects. We have found that our clients often run out of money at the end and they never truly get the homes they set out to have when they hire a decorator or designer in the Kansas City area. We think that accessories are not something that gets attached at the end of a project as it is one of the most important parts of the project. It is what makes a house unique and feel like a home.

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Arlene

Master Bathrooms

The master bathrooms I am designing today are always tiled on the floor and sometimes with radiant heated floors. The counter tops are mostly granite, but are sometimes Onyx with built in sinks, or tiled with over mount sinks of natural stone.  It is very expensive to replicate the bathrooms in the magazines in a cost effective manor. I try to use expensive decorative tile in small amounts which can give the feeling of being very expensive without using expensive tile all over. Another trick is to keep the plumbing hardware at a median price point, but to use something wonderful on the walls.The interior designers in Kansas City are designing bathrooms as beautifully as on the coasts. As a certified interior designer I have seen an increase in professional interior designers in the Kansas City area that are doing creative and interesting designs in the master bathrooms.I have many calls per week from prospective clients that are not wanting to move but do want to have an updated bathroom. They feel that often they will have to do the same updating in a new home that they will have to do in their existing home. So, they feel it is less expensive to stay where they are and then just update what they want to change. In my own home, In my own home, I am slowing changing what is outdated or just wearing out.

 

Wallpaper

I am just in the process of completing a whole house remodeling project in Mission Hills, Kansas. It was built in the 1950s, and it is a large ranch style home. With the client, we chose to do the home in neutral taupe, with great wallpapers chosen for the bathrooms and the dining room. The wallpapers add interest to what would be an otherwise neutral style. They add excitement and variety to what would be an otherwise an all painted home. We don’t today use lots of paper, but when it is well chosen and put in the right room, it is timeless.  Wallpapers have been around and used in homes through the centuries.  When I moved to the Midwest, in the ’90s, I found that the decorators in Kansas City were using florals and small prints everywhere. In California, where I was a professional interior designer, we used papers only in significant areas. Things take a while to come to the Midwest, but now we are seeing what was popular on the Coasts years before. Don’t be afraid to look at wallpapers that have style, flair, and texture. They will add lots of interest to your home. If you have a hard time selecting papers, call an interior designer to get some help.

Plumbing Fixtures

My own bathroom fixtures have to be replaced. What a decision for me! My personal tastes reflect a brushed nickel, but my bathroom would look great in oil rubbed bronze. The old brass fixtures did look great 10 years ago, but a little worn and dated today. I wonder, will they ever come back in style? I asked myself that back when, about brass and avocado appliances.The colors today most popular with interior designers in Kansas City are the oil rubbed bronze an brushed nickel. We still use chrome in our more contemporary jobs and brass, well maybe never.What choices would you consider for your own home? Sometimes the decision is easy and sometimes not so easy.