When decorating your home, I would bet that you give the least amount of attention to your floors. You agonize about wall colors for hours, blinds, curtains, and where to hang your art. But when it comes to floors, you either live with what you have or choose to replace your floors with newer versions of what you have.

I realize that this may not be true for every home, but given the price of flooring, whether it’s hardwood, tile, or carpeting most people play it safe. This can be a great choice. However, neutral-colored quality flooring should be treated as a blank canvas.

One of the most dramatic ways to treat this “canvas” is with area rugs. You certainly can shop at a house wares store and there’s always a furniture store somewhere going out of business hawking Orientals at blow-out deal. But if you want something truly special, I advise you to consider Tibetan wool rugs. These handmade works off art are made from high quality wool. I have an amazing supplier who sells 80 knot and 100 knot rugs. There’s a nice discussion of the history of Tibetan rugs on the blog Oriental and Tibetan Rugs: http://1000sofrugs.com/Oriental-Rugs/.

I own several of these beauties and have decorated many homes with them. Tibetans come in an amazing array of sizes and patterns. I like them better than traditional Turkish and Orientals because I find may of the designs to be more contemporary.

The rugs I want to share with you today are striped. They are all the same style but each rug has 10 different colors in it making each rug look different. Through my supplier I can even have a rug custom-designed for you.

Striped Tibetan Rug

10 color rug for endless design options

How to decorate with a Tibetan rug

First, remember Tibetan rugs are more than comfy floor coverings.
Use a rug as a back drop for furnishings, window coverings, etc.
Use the rug as a color anchor and pull out one or two colors to create a color theme or tie a room with many different elements together.

Think big. You want a rug to fill a space. It’s o.k. to put a rug over wall-to-wall carpet as an accent piece. Consider it as an investment. The design value of these rugs is that they are so complex and well made that the same rug in two different rooms or different houses will look like new pieces.

Great Tibetan rug special

My Tibetan rug supplier has extended me an amazing price on his 80 and 100 knot rugs that I would love to extend to you! This isn’t a going-out-of-business rug blow out special. Contact me and let me help you find a handmade treasure that’s perfect for your space and your design needs.

Tibetan rug

Vibrant colors to liven up your space

Anyone who is a regular visitor to my studios, either in Arizona or Virginia, knows that they’ll see something new every time they walk through the door. It’s not so much design wanderlust as design experimentation.

And since opening my Arizona studio, I’ve been eager to start working on a big project. So, I’m starting with one of my own. My husband and I found a great house and we have started a floor-to-ceiling remodel.

This is the first serious “personal” remodel I’ve done in many years and I’m approaching it as both a designer and as a customer. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing details of the remodeling process. I hope that it helps you take the great plunge and create the home of your dreams.

Beautiful View Soon to be Amazing

Buying and remodeling vs. buying new

Let’s start at the beginning – finding the home of your dreams. The collapse of the housing market has shaken up more than a few neighborhoods with homes sadly falling into foreclosure, upside down housing values, and new communities left unfinished by homebuilders out of capital and customers. But it also means there are some great values in some fantastic communities. If you shop wisely there are many advantages to buying an existing home, even one that is older.

For starters,

  • You have a clear view of the price range and whether it’s worth the investment and if the home has a reasonable price tag.
  • With the help of a licensed home inspector, you can better assess the overall quality of the structure, plumbing, electrical, and HVAC systems because it has weathered a few seasons. A so-so looking house in a great neighborhood can become a dream home if it has good “bones” such as solid construction and a good lot location.
  • Established homes also have established landscapes; sit on larger plots of land, and depending where you live, trees lining the sidewalks.
  • Older homes often have nuances such as built- in butler’s pantries, bay windows, crown moulding, beamed ceilings and more.  These wonderful details are often expensive extras when it comes to new construction.

Keep an open mind

One of the enticing parts of looking at new construction is walking through the model unit. It’s always beautifully decorated and spotless. When you walk through an existing home you are always influenced by the color of the walls, wallpaper, rugs, and what ever décor may be on display. Remember, all of that is cosmetic. If a kitchen is beautiful but it is to dark, you can change the windows, cabinets, and countertops.  If a bathroom is tiny but has large walk-in closets you may be able to restructure the entire space. There are also a lot of amazing extras you can add to homes such as a gas fireplace, new entrance ways, redesigned staircases, essentially if it can be built, it can be installed.  The sky may not be the limit, depending on the structure of the house and your budget ,but a whole house remodel can also be scheduled in stages.

Interior Window

We love this exisiting interior arch window


Now, go find your dream home to be!

In the next few weeks I’ll be discussing

  • How to develop a remodeling design and plan
  • How to choose a contractor
  • How to manager and live through a remodel
  • Designing a whole house electronics system

I welcome your feedback and questions.

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