Thursday, October 30, 2014
6 Tips for Creating Outdoor Rooms by the Shore
Expand your square footage with by creating outdoor rooms!
When you live on the coast, it is pretty much a given that
you’ll be spending more time outside than
Focus On Your View
It is why you have a house by the shore isn’t it? The ocean is the draw here and you don’t want
to compete with it (you can’t by the way).
The ocean offers endless hours of entertainment whether you’re just
watching the clouds and waves roll in or people watching, there is always
something to see. Focus your space to it
so that the view is front and center.
Be sure that the furniture you choose allows you to see the “scenery.” We’ve all been to those hotels or vacation
rentals where there is a wonderful deck or balcony but when you sit down, you
have a great view of the deck rail! Keep
this in mind when choosing your outdoor furniture. Depending on zoning rules and regulations,
you may not be able to alter the deck rail height but you can choose different
height chairs to maximize your view. A pub
height table or captain’s
chairs may be just what you need.
Also clear glass or steel cable railings can really help improve
viewing.
Bring the Inside Out
Furnish your outdoor
rooms just like you would your living or dining room. You’ll want a mix of sofas and chairs. Include side and coffee tables for drinks and
games. Use ottomans so guests can prop
their feet up and relax. Outdoor
dining should include of course a table and chairs but also consider
pieces that allow for serving. Be sure
to consider numbers. How many guests
will you be entertaining? Be sure you have adequate seating for them – if you
entertain a lot and have lots of people in and out you may want to have more
than one outdoor dining table for example.
Decorate the Space!
Accessorize your
outdoor rooms. This is what adds that
level of comfort and makes the space even more inviting. Add outdoor rugs,
soften furniture with pillows and add
those décor items. Accessories complete
the look in outdoor spaces just like they do indoors.
Also consider adding fire and water! Fire pits make for cozy evenings in cool
ocean breezes and the sound of water from a fountain is very relaxing even in
addition to the sound of the waves.
Incorporate Nature
Use shells and
driftwood to your advantage. They make
wonderful décor accessories. Fill glass
hurricanes with sand and shells and add pillar candles for quick and easy
centerpieces. Add greenery by filling
pots and urns with plants and tropical foliage.
Protect from the Sun
During the day, the sun can be glaring and HOT. You’ll want to be sure you have some type of
protection to make your outdoor room a comfortable place to be. An awning, arbor or umbrella will protect you
from the sun’s rays and offer a cooler place to enjoy the outdoors. Remember in hot climates, the north side of
the home will be the coolest if you can take advantage of that.
Illuminate
Lighting is important and while you may not want it as
bright as indoors – you don’t want to compete with the stars; you will want to
be able to see the food you’re eating.
Candles in lanterns
are wonderful for soft mood lighting and so are Christmas or patio lights
strung through trees or across the space.
Outdoor lamps are a nice addition as well. Tiki torches can help with any bugs but be
careful where you place them because of the fire hazard.
Enjoy your time outdoors – it is easier when you have a
comfortable place to relax and great company to enjoy it with!
Friday, October 24, 2014
Mixing Patterns Like the Pros
How do you mix patterns like the pros?
House By The Shore is
often confronted with this question and many more when it comes to
patterns. How do you mix them? What is the secret to mixing patterns? How many patterns can you have? It really boils down to some fairly simple
tips when it comes to mixing patterns in your home décor.
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| Hadley Boxes - Set of Three |
It is all about odd numbers and scale. Actually this is the secret to all design but
let us explain. Odd numbers are more interesting to us visually. It is better
to have three of something rather than 2 or 4 whether it is the number of
patterns you use or how many knick-knacks you have grouped on a shelf. Don’t believe us? Take a look at the picture. We bet your answer is three.
Scale is also vitally
important. You can’t use 5 patterns that
are all bold – it will drive you crazy.
When people get patterns wrong it is because they forgot about
scale. Here are some tips and visual
cues we suggest following when mixing patterns.
Minimum of three!
Fabric number two should be half the scale of your dominant fabric and contain some of the colors used in your main pattern. We chose a lovely check fabric – Outer Banks – Robert Allen Fabrics Oasis which picks up the teal and green nicely.
Fabric number three focuses in on one color – turquoise. It is actually a plaid, Helios Plaid – Robert Allen Fabrics Turquoise. Your third fabric should be the smallest in patter and typically will have fewer colors. Now we could have chosen a fabric that has more than two colors but we would have wanted the scale to be even smaller as the colors will compete with the scale.
The more the merrier!
The more patterns you use the more interesting your look. The key here as you add in more pattern is to keep the same color intensity and you also want to be sure you spread the pattern around the room.
When we added the fourth fabric we kept it light and went with a stripe. This Ticking – Bella Dura – Aquamarine fabric brings out the creamy white and gray in fabric one.
The fifth fabric, Rowell – Robert Allen Fabrics Pool is a small scale geometric that accentuates the turquoise color.
Solids count!
When you are working
with mixing patterns, you want to remember that solid colors are patterns too
and that texture plays a role. Look at
how nicely the solid turquoise,
gray
and green
fabrics balance the patterns we have chosen.
Now we hear you, they have eight now.
We would stop at seven or pull something else in and move to nine but we wanted to illustrate the solid color choices you could go with here. You actually could have more than three; you could use the creamy white and navy as well.
Hard to get too many!
Ok, we suppose it MIGHT be
possible to get to the point where you have too many but let’s just say we
haven’t discovered it yet. That is as
long as scale is kept in mind. You’re
more than likely going to run out of places to put the patterns before you hit
too many patterns. After all a room will
only hold so many upholstered pieces, draperies and throw pillows! And remember some of your patterns will be used minimally like the piping on a chair or pillow.
House By The Shore's Blog Policy
Thursday, October 16, 2014
What makes a GREAT vacation rental?
The Difference Between good and GREAT Vacation Rentals
According to design and architecture magazine, Freshome’s
article How
to Create a Great Vacation Rental Property, there are two types of
vacation rental properties. “Those that are used by the owners, and
those that are not. Often those used by the owners are favored as they tend to
be kept cleaner, more up to date and feel more like a home away from home.” We believe this truly makes a difference
between what is a good rental that rents but maybe isn’t booked solid and one
that is GREAT and is booked two years out.
When you own a house
by the shore or in the mountains for that matter, many times to afford
this second home you must rent it out.
Or maybe you purchased it solely as an investment property and a rental
opportunity and don’t plan to use it yourself.
Regardless of the circumstance both owners have one goal in mind – to maximize
bookings. In order to do this you need
more than a good rental – you need a GREAT one.
The
Basics of GREAT Vacation Rentals
No one wants to rent a vacation home that looks like it could be
your grandmother’s house. It is
Wear and Tear
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| Coastal Girl's Bedroom |
It is a fact that wear and tear
will happen. Spills happen, things will
get broken and worn down. These things
happen at home and you can be sure they will happen in a vacation rental as
well. Owners need to accept this and
prepare for it. Purchasing quality
furniture will hold up longer and be a better investment in the end. For one thing the quality is there so it is
going to last longer but also, it is going to look better which will appeal to
renters.
While white and neutral colors may look great, keep in mind they
aren’t so great for stains. Using color
and pattern can help with this in your upholstery. Also people tend to expect to see color in
vacation homes. The color and pattern
creates warmth and that homey atmosphere.
You want your potential renters to feel like their family and friends
will be comfortable in the home.
Stage It
You will be marketing this
home. Just like realtors recommend
staging a home you have on the market to sale you need to approach your rental
in this way as well. Be sure you have
wall décor artfully arranged. Keep
family photos to a bare minimum if out at all.
Add throw pillows to the sofa and beds.
And take pictures, lots and lots of pictures.
If you’re not handy with a
camera then consider hiring a professional to come in and shoot the home. Lighting is important here and the pro will
be able to make every room look fantastic with extra lighting. We know this seems like it may be expensive
but remember, how are people going to rent your home? More than likely it is going to be posted on
a website and pictures will be uploaded.
The more photos you have the more confident potential renters will feel
about booking.
Stage the photos. Have a
cutting board on the kitchen counter with fresh fruit and vegetables ready to
Keep it CLEAN!
This is imperative in getting
repeat bookings. Potential renters may
not see less than perfect paint or grimy countertops in photos online but you
can bet they will notice them when they enter the home. Be sure the first impression is a good
one! Keep paint and caulk fresh and all appliances in good shape. Check up on the cleaning company
you hire to take care of your rental and be sure they’re doing a good job.
Market It
There are a couple of points
here. One you need to remember that you
are not only competing with all the other vacation homes in the area but the
condos and hotels. Your vacation home
has to stand out to get the booking and the way it will is by having a great
looking vacation home and providing great service. By great service we mean managing bookings
and responding quickly to inquiries and any repair issues that might arrive
while the guest is in the home.
You have to sell it. Your listing needs to be written in a manner
that will attract bookings. According to
a blog post by Evolve Vacation Rental – 6
Vacation Rental Marketing Tips to Increase Bookings, “a study by FlipKey found that travelers are
83% more likely to inquire about property listings that contain over 20 photos.” It makes the potential renter feel
comfortable in renting a space they’ve never been to before and all those
photos are going to help you rank higher on vacation rental sites. Be descriptive and back up what you say with
photos of your beautiful vacation home. Don’t
forget to show the view the house has but be honest! Renters will not be happy if the view photo
turns out to have been taken from somewhere else or with a super duper
telephoto lens.
Follow up. Send a quick
thank you to renters after their stay and ask if you can reserve their space
for next year. Book them while they’re
still feeling all relaxed and happy from the stay and ask them for a review of
the property.
Friday, October 10, 2014
Coastal Colors - Going Tropical with Confidence!
Amazing Coastal Colors
The tropics are dazzling with color and when you have a
house by the shore it is only natural to be drawn to bolder and more
adventurous colors. How to use them in
your décor without overpowering it is an art in itself but we find all too often
that people shy away from these gorgeous colors simply because they’re afraid
to put them on a wall or even a piece of furniture for that matter. No one should be afraid of color; the world
is not black and white people. Just
think how incredibly boring it would be!
Ok, we hear you cringing at the thought. We can even agree that when you’re standing
in an empty white room and you open that can of bright green paint and put the
first swipe on the wall if you’re brave enough to get that far it is a very
scary thing. You’ll be second guessing
yourself like crazy and if you’re not, someone else will be. The thing is the walls are only one component
of the room and until you get your rug down, your furniture in the room and
your accessories displayed it will look wrong.
It takes all the pieces of the puzzle to complete the picture.
Here are a few tips we follow and hope they will give you
some inspiration and calm your nerves.
If you don’t see it in nature – DON’T
use it.
The trick to using bright colors is to use natural color
combinations. Elaine Griffin, Better Homes
If you don’t trust your eye – turn to
math.
There is such a thing as a 60-30-10 rule of decorating. What?
We know but believe us it actually works. If you don’t believe us pick up any
decorating magazine and analyze the rooms you see. This rule actually comes from the Greek
formula for Phi (pronounced “fee”). This
formula determines the perfect ration of 1 to 1.61803399. Ok, don’t panic! You don’t need your calculator to figure this
out. Basically the premise is that you
can divide a space using the ratio proportions and the end result will always
be pleasing. In decorating, designers
apply Phi to rooms as a whole, furniture placement, color and accessories
according to the article Interior
Decorating and the Golden Mean by Home Decorating and Staging.
The 60-30-10 rule is about percentages and when you apply it
to color it works this way.
Approximately 60% of the room should be the dominant color. The secondary color would be 30% and the
accent color would be 10%.
For instance in applying this rule to a room the 60% might
be the wall color. The 30% might be the
color used in furnishings and draperies and the 10% might be accent pillows or
artwork. If you’re not mathematically inclined
– don’t worry about it. We naturally are
drawn to this ratio and you’re probably doing it without ever knowing you were.
Remember art class and the color wheel? It is a useful tool especially if you can
never decide if teal will look good with coral.
It does by the way. If you’ve
forgotten your color theory, you can take a quick refresher with Color
Matters and read up on basic
color theory.
As a refresher there are analogous colors (any three colors
that are side by side on the color wheel), complementary colors (any two colors
directly opposite of each other) and color schemes based on nature. Our premise (and we aren’t the only ones) is
that if it works there, it will work anywhere.
Get a little help from technology!
You’ve heard there is an app for that? Choosing paint color is no exception. We are absolutely in love with Sherwin
Williams and their Chip It! Tool. You can upload any photo – one you take or
one you find online and voila it will give you the paint colors. You can truly
take your cue from nature!
Where do you start in choosing color?
If you have already picked out something for the room and
don’t know what colors to paint. Take a
picture of it and use the Chip It tool.
You’ll have your palette right away.
If you don’t have any idea which way to go there are a
couple of things you can do. Flip
through decorating magazines and don’t think just react. Each time you come to an image you like, cut
it out. Lay them all out on the
table. You’ll see a pattern. You will tear out things that speak to
you. You’ll notice repeating colors and
repeating patterns.
Go to your closet and just stand there. What is the first color you see? It is probably your favorite. If you like to wear it you’ll like to live in
it unless you have a wardrobe of all black anyway.
Look out the window.
What colors are reflected in the nature around you? Take a picture and use the tool – there is
your palette. Coastal homes in
particular look astonishing when you bring the brilliance of the outdoors
in.
Don’t forget the POP!
And we don’t mean soda.
Every room needs a pop of color to make it stand out. The pop of color
We know, it sounds backwards but it is true. If you put on a pair of black pants and a
white blouse it looks classic right? But
if you add a red scarf or a bold gold necklace, you’ve taken your ho-hum outfit
to a different level right? It is the
same for your rooms.
actually brings everything together and gives your eye a place to rest.
actually brings everything together and gives your eye a place to rest.
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