CT Home Interiors Blog

Optimizing Your Living Space

Ask any homeowner the one thing they would change about their house and the answer is often the same – more space. Whether you have a two-story ranch or small apartment, you can never have enough space for your furniture and other belongings. Aside from buying a new, larger home or spending money on renovations to your existing one, here are some tips to maximize the living space you have.

The following tips will help you maximize the space that you already have in the rooms of your home.

Know Your Measurements

The first tip is to understand the depth of the space you’re working with. Simply eye-balling a room and guessing whether or not a sofa will fit can lead to future frustration. You can avoid this hassle with a measuring tape. Set aside some time to measure the dimensions of the room you are looking to furnish, as well as the furniture you already have. Save yourself the trouble and know the space you have to work with.

Select the Right Furniture

A good starting point is to find furniture that is multi-functional. If you don’t have space for a bookcase, storage chest or credenza, look for sofas that have built-in storage units. This will allow you to store items such as remote controls, coasters and other accessories that you will need, but can’t display. Many ottomans are designed with pull-out drawers that make excellent storage units. You won’t have to sacrifice style and will be able to keep belongings in the right room.

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Home Redecorating: Where to Start

Whether you’re decorating a brand new home or have taken on the task of renovating your existing residence, you have to start somewhere. Many homeowners debate which room to begin with. Should it be the kitchen, since it the most used; the living room, since that’s the room your guests see first; or the bedroom, since your comfort should be most important?

Many more questions will arise when beginning a home redecorating project and your answers are very important to its success, but the following tips may help make the process easier.

Danger Zones

BlogThe first consideration is whether or not any rooms pose a current hazard. Exposed wires, falling ceiling panels and pipe leaks should take precedence over everything else. Prepare a checklist of the rooms you want to redecorate and rate the importance of each based on potentially hazardous situations. Other rooms can wait if you have a bathroom that floods or a short circuit in an entertainment room outlet. If need be, have an expert inspect these rooms to give you a professional assessment of the potential dangers that should be fixed right away.

Comfort or Impressions

Next, decide if your primary goal is your own comfort or the impression your home makes on visitors. If you are preparing for eventual resale, then you will definitely want to focus on the appearance of the rooms that would be highlighted by a realtor. However, if your comfort comes first, then plan to work on the furnishings in bathrooms and bedrooms so you can feel at ease before tackling the other rooms. Some homeowners stress out about rooms right in the line of sight when someone walks in. If they look worn down, this gives a bad first impression and can be a knock on your pride. Remember, a new coat of paint and the right lighting can make a big difference while waiting for the complete overhaul to be finished.

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Furniture Spotlight: Hancock & Moore

Blog-HancockSince 1981, Hancock & Moore have been designing and manufacturing exquisite home furnishings for traditional and contemporary decor. Under the guidance of founder Jimmy Moore, the brand set out to create stunning, heirloom-quality wood furniture that was hand-carved, sanded, sewed and upholstered. It can take up to 80 hours for a single Hancock & Moore piece to be completed, which is a testament to the care and attention to detail the craftsmen at the company take when creating beautiful chairs, ottomans, sofas and home office furniture.

Why Hancock & Moore?

With so many award-winning furniture designers to choose from, why should a homeowner consider Hancock & Moore? As mentioned above, the amount of time put into every piece of furniture tells you how important it is for the brand to ensure every sofa, ottoman and chair that leaves the factory is crafted to perfection. Many furniture makers have an assembly-line approach to mass produced furniture, while Hancock & Moore prefer to approach each piece with the same diligence. This standard work ethic has made the brand a popular choice among designers and homeowners who want to rest knowing they have made the right choice.

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Tips for Summer Home Décor

With summer just around the corner, the time is right to upgrade the décor in certain rooms of your home to reflect a lighter and airier atmosphere. Whether it’s a bathroom, living room or dining room, there are a number of simple tricks you can use to make each room more summer friendly.

Here are a few:
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Try Soft Tone Furniture Colors

Heavy reds, browns and dark tones are ideal for the cold days of winter, but when the sun is shining, try accenting your rooms with colors that reflect the season. Pastels, violets, light greens and whites are all great for sofa and chair cushions and will transform darker hued rooms into brighter living spaces. While you’re at it, also consider replacing heavy drapes with curtains. While drapes are ideal for keeping cold wind out, it can make a room stuffy in the summer. With lighter curtains you can keep the hot summer sun out, but still allow cool breezes to flow in at night.

Bring the Outdoors Indoors

Making a home feel summer fresh can be easily accomplished by adding the right plants, flowers, fruit centerpieces and scented candles that smell of fresh linen, cotton and sea breezes. You can also accent your room décor with ecofriendly materials like bamboo to help create an exotic and natural feeling.

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What is Transitional Décor?

In many design circles, the styles run black and white: you have traditional or modern décor. Some may refer to traditional as ‘classic’ and others will term modern as ‘contemporary’, but the dividing line between the two is quite clear. Homeowners are often left to choose between one style or the other for bathrooms, dining rooms, kitchens and living rooms.

Blog-transitional-hookerHowever, in recent years, a new school of décor has emerged called transitional and it is becoming more popular. Transitional is basically a combination of traditional and contemporary furniture, finishes, materials and fabrics to produce a timeless and classic design.

Discerning homeowners who want their living spaces to be unique are inquiring more about how to achieve a transitional look. Instead of simply having classic wood as bedroom décor, some are seeking to fuse traditional furnishings with more modern finishes and materials to produce a look that is a little classic and a little contemporary.

Transitional décor often blends the comfort and warmth of traditional design with the clean profiles and understated colors of more contemporary looks. The end goal is streamlined spaces that exude a certain harmony and achieve a careful balance that doesn’t lean too far to either original style.

Another way to view transitional style is to consider the classic look of traditional furniture with more functional and technologically advanced construction methods that make specific furnishings more adaptable to modern living.

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