Tufting: the Smart Girl's Guide

Examples of tufting at the Maison & Objet show

A while ago, when asked by a male client about a political belief, I thought for a moment about taking the bait, when something inside forced me to pause, draw a deep breath and blurt out with sweeping earnest yet playful zeal..."I  believe in tufting." We both burst out laughing as I successfully and politely declined to answer...while offering an opinion that in the long run would serve him better as his designer. This man needed tufting....not my opinion on Obamacare.

To tuft or not to tuft...if this is the question...the answer is yes. Most any room does well with the sculptural interest and instant upscale verve that the right tufted furniture piece adds. Forget your grandmother's avocado green tufted 96" sofa...this tufting is all about a fresh, modern point of view.

The Skinny

Tufting was all over the most recent Paris Maison and Objet show and remains a classic upper end flourish when used correctly. Tufting is basically a beautiful dimpled effect in upholstery in which the upholstery fill and padding is anchored with heavy thread in a deeply pleated pattern and topped off with a fabric covered button. Here's an example of diamond tufting, also called biscuit tufting.

 

Here's an example of tufting's first cousin, called a button back style. In the case of a button back, as you can see, the fabric is not pleated so deeply.

The Upside of Tufting

• The high and low points tufting creates forces highlights and shadows on upholstered furniture, hence the sculptural appeal
• In bench cushions or sofa cushions, tufting adds firmer support
• Due to the added firmness noted, a tufted ottoman can do double duty as a coffee table when not used as seating or a leg rest
• It is striking looking! 

The Downside of Tufting

• It'll cost you. It can take a single crafts person one whole day to tuft the back of a full sofa.
• It eats fabric yardage...which will also cost you. Each pleat on a standard diamond tufting can require 6-8" of fabric...do the math across the tufted back of even a 36" wide chair on all or those tufts and it adds up to quite a bit more yardage vs. a non tufted identical item
• Tufting distorts a fabric pattern and is not ideal for linear patterns, large plaids, large patterns or graphic patterns (button backing, due to its more shallow pleat is more forgiving here). I opt for solids, textures or small to medium sized patterns when diamond tufting

Come on in and dip your toe in the tufted water. I love to sprinkle it on upholstered headboards, seat backs, benches or ottomans to spice up a room. The look, I assure you, is rich. Or, in the words of one of the great interior design sages of Philadelphia...(ahem)..."When the going gets tuft, the tufted get going"...with an instant shot of "Ooh, baby that girl's got style." I tuft you not!

Are You Ready for Your Big Reveal? Library/Office Suite Makeover

Taste the excitement and sneak a peak at this video of one of our wonderful clients seeing their "new" office/library suite.

This is why I love what I do!

Are YOU ready for your own Big Reveal experience?

Engage us for a design project and simply mention the phrase "Oh Donna!" and we'll gift you with a design service or an "extra" specific to you and your project.

We'd love to hear what you thought of this video.
"Like" on Facebook and leave us a comment.

www.interiorsbydonnahoffman.com 

donna@idhdesigns.com

(215) 736-8693   

Tips for the Perfect Media Room

I love when I’m asked to work on media rooms of all types for my design clients from Yardley to Philadelphia to Princeton. Today, media rooms fall into two classifications: Dedicated Media Rooms look and feel like full out home movie theaters or there are Integrated Media Rooms, which are gaining trend today. This new term covers media rooms that also function in other ways – most usually as primary or secondary family rooms on the first floor or basement level of a home.

To get Media Rooms that hit the mark, one needs to keep in mind the following.

• Budget. Always start here. I know it’s dull and nobody ever likes talking to me about this when they first begin meeting with me. But "b-word" is to design as stick is to lollipop…it holds the whole thing together. Set your budget first, see how to get the most mileage and performance out of that budget. And if need be, be willing to break things into phases.
• Preferred Seating and Capacity. I have to consider with clients not only how many people they want to seat in their media room, but also how often and in what position. Are you snugglers and floppers? If so – theater seating will disappoint. 
• Room Shape. Generally, longer spaces shaped like shoe boxes work best. Too shallow a viewing depth and you compromise, among other things, ideal viewing distance and site lines. Longer, deeper rooms also nicely accommodate projection screens.
• Ratio Size of TV to Ideal Viewing Distance. The general guideline here is that you multiply your TV size by 3 to determine your optimal and furthest comfortable viewing distance. So if you have a 150” long room, with the screen mounted at one end and let’s say a sectional sofa on the far wall, your TV should be not less than 50.” Ignore this and you’ll regret an expensive mistake.

• Consider ROI. You get back what you invest. Designers and media specialists are really the best way to go on media room design. To get that optimum home theater indulgence and experience, you need some pros. There’s specific design and engineering necessary for optimal sound, viewing experience, comfort and "Gee, I love spending time here" media rooms. And after all - if you’re already investing your precious resources to bring this fun dream into reality, be wise with how those resources are used.

You work hard, you want to play hard. Media rooms are a great treat. My job is to insure that we delegate your budget wisely so that we can get you the end product you and your family are wishing for. For fun, if you engage us to begin a media room with you this month, we'll gift you with $100 gift certificate to the retailer of your choice toward the TV of your choice! Ah...that luxury media room, that fun reward and indulgence that make spending time at home even more of a treat. Somebody…pass the popcorn and who took the remote?

2012 Kitchen Trend Update

Design by Interiors by Donna Hoffman/Photo by David Van Scott

I just offered a great info-packed seminar on Insider Tips to Outstanding Kitchen Design. My colleague, Bruce Roth of Sycamore Kitchens and More started the evening and covered kitchen trends, though his focus was more on structure/function trends. So as an addendum to the evening, I am adding some info on Aesthetic Kitchen Trends.

A word on trends:

Trends tend to start in city centers – NY, Paris, LA, London, Milan, Madrid – and then ripple out to the “provinces" (that’s 17th century French speak for…the suburbs). It can take as much as 10 years for a trend to move out to the burbs, where it will likely morph, adapt and soften once it gets there.  Add to this the fact that it can take about 10 years for a trend to grow and evolve. Trends don’t just start or stop – they slowly evolve. That’s the good news. The other good news is that more often than not, multiple trends develop and grow at the very same time. Clive Christian will likely not stop making his stunningly embellished provincially-kissed kitchens any time soon. Trends live side by side and break down along various percentage lines (11% of people today select kitchen style X); geographic lines (Macon, Georgia vs. Philadelphia vs. Bucks County vs. Seattle, vs Denver, etc.) AND – trends do of course break down across generational lines.

Here’ s look at just a few the trends gaining steam:

Glass:

At the recent Architectural Digest Show in NYC, glass kitchens were present everywhere. Sleek and monochromatic sheets of thick opaque glass became the cabinets, became the counter tops – became the full story. The lack of ornamentation in these kitchens WAS the ornamentation and statement.  Don’t get it? Sure you do – that small square glass accent tile you have considered for your back splash is the great, great granddaddy-seed of this growing trend. Don’t turn your nose up until you’ve seen a back-painted glass back splash in any color under the sun. Very fresh for any dweller from city to suburb to seashore. In other words, elements of a trend may be more your steam than the full Monty.

Stainless Steel:

Yup – that’s right. Stainless steel has moved from the appliance to the counter top and to the cabinet as well. Fingerprint haters, this one looks like a heavy wipe down job.

Painted Cabinets Mixed With Stained Cabinets:

This trend continues.  Here in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Bucks County and Princeton – this one seems to be popping up by way of lighter painted perimeter cabinets (soft white) with accent islands in rich stained woods – although ebony painted islands are a hot item on the request list these days too.

There’s so much more to say about kitchen trends, but Alison my blog fairy will yell at me if this post gets too long, so here’s the take-away:  kitchens continue to grow in size (about 12% increase in the last 10 years); people want kitchens to be the hearts of the home and gathering spot still to this day.  

In total, there is a growing simplification of embellishment gaining steam, but this trend is true of all of interior design trending today. But as I said to our packed house at our recent seminar – in the end, there is never any trend more important than…YOU. Be wise in design - design to what you love and you will love to live in the design.

Alexander McQueen: If This Outfit Was a Room, What Would It Be? Interior Design Takes Inspiration Cues from High Fashion

British fashion designer Alexander McQueen was praised for his keen knowledge of bespoke tailoring. His runway fashions could run the gamut from breathtaking to controversial to down right shocking in a single quick progression of waif thin models. Yet his understanding of the female form and how to drape and cut fabric to great effect also meant that the fashions from this house could be seen on royalty (Kate's wedding dress was done by the House of McQueen) to our own brand of homegrown Hollywood royalty.

 

Pictured here are a few McQueen selections that captivated due to their unique blend of cultures and period styles. They nod to 1940's structure and silhouette. The beginnings of a military jacket gives way to a unique spiced fragrance of Spain or morocco, right down to the hint of a flamenco skirt seen here. 

Mixing media, periods and cultures is at the heart of great interior design today too. No longer do we do rooms that are in strict adherence to one period or region...lest we wish to look like the room sprang from a room-in-a-bag catalog. If we are to create rooms that live and breathe with us today, creative eclecticism is the norm, not the rule breaker.

And so, looking at these fashions from this great fashion house, I asked myself once again:  what room would this fashion collection be? I thought immediately of this hybrid pottery barn meets Spanish hacienda family room we recently completed. 

Here, amidst a sea of chameleon-like neutral upholstery shapes, we cut the room with just a hint of Spanish finery:  a heavily carved wood coffee table; a hammered tin end table and lamp; wrought iron candelabras at the fireplace and all is drawn together with a Persian style wool rug. The homeowner put his own current spin on the fireplace built ins - and we answered with the essence of European-feeling fabrics ranging from impressive embroidered velvets (on the to-live-for-draperies!) to rich heavy jacquard wovens and plush chenilles. Is this room traditional? Pottery Barn current? Is there another culture to be found here? Or is the answer somewhere in between?  
 
Like these McQueen fashions - design interpretation is in the eye of the beholder and/or...only the owner knows for sure. For the design team at IDH,  it's our clients "his and her wishes and cravings"  that we make come true by the clever and wise use of design. May we help you with yours?

How Designers See the World

HBO's Grey Gardens living room

We all see the world through the screen of who we are. It's natural. It's fitting. And sometimes, its funny.

Recently, I spent some time in NYC with a very talented, very old school "grand dame" of custom lampshade fabrication. She had been making stunning lampshades for the design trade for more than 25 years. But my favorite moment with her was actually when she mentioned how much she "LOOOVED the movie "The Artist," (pause, pause) because the lamp shades in the movie were absolutely stunning and completely historically accurate."

Reminds me of the time my husband Steven walked into our sitting room to find me yet again watching the movie version of "Grey Gardens" with Jessica Lange. "Again??" he said, "How can you keep watching this, it's so depressing!!"

"Depressing? Look at the color of those dining room walls! I love watching the HOUSE. I'd give anything to find the client who'd let me paint a room the color of that dining room."

Yes, we all experience the world through our own screen.

This is probably the reason that the strawberries and cream I was daintily nibbling on at that very moment, in that very neat little cafe in Manhattan's NoHo district, taste all the sweeter  - because I totally dug the wrought iron chandeliers hanging above my head. Lunch was ok...but the light fixtures...outstanding. Nice choice, too on the Scarlett O'Hara colored velvet drapes hanging in the windows. "Oh, waiter..may I please have a fabric swatch...I mean...fork?"

Smart Woman's Guide To Interior Design Budget

Thoughts about design budgets are dancing today, so let me ask you this: for your next home decorating or design project (or even renovation), which would you prefer:

To land your design project on budget, no matter what, even if it requires downgrading the cost and thus quality of some (or all of) the furnishings to be purchased – (called “Value Engineering”)

- OR –

To get what you want, even if it requires that you break your project into phases.

Either of these strategic choices can keep budgets in line in cases where wish lists and project needs outpace budget dollars. Don't panic. Simply consider what’s important to you; what you value; what is your goal. I help clients wade through the budget maze on just about every single project, always trying to reduce their stress, always trying to reduce things to manageable parts.

The b-word – budget – is just part of design. Nothing to stress over; nothing to judge, nothing to apologize for - would you apologize for a paint can? Each day, as I produce great design, I also work to garner the trust and confidence of our clients - and part of that means that our team works with what we call “The Importance of Budget Reverence.” I feel so strongly in the area of budget reverence that today I spoke before business colleagues about this very topic.

So again, I ask you: for your next home decorating or design (or even renovation) project, what camp did you fall in above - stay on budget even if it means downgrading quality or get what you want even if it means you may have to break a project into phases? There is no right or wrong answer here - you’re still a terrific person no matter which how you answer.

I get interesting answers on this question...so...where do you stand?