Instead of adding and undoing, expanding and collapsing every time you have company, why not keep extra seating in place all year round? I know, who has room for that? But this design tip is not only a time saver, it’s a space saver too.

This dual solution comes from interior designers at Linfield Design in Austin. Use (or make) a window seat for extra seating and you will take away the bulk of heavy chairs while adding unobtrusive seating along the entire wall.

Scott Felder Model – Rim Rock – Driftwood, Texas

A bay window is a natural spot for a window seat, but virtually any window will work, especially when it’s surrounded by other structural elements that create a niche. If you don’t have a window niche built into your dining room, you can create one fairly easily with ready-made kitchen cabinets. This way, you’ll gain extra seating in the window niche and extra storage in the surrounding cabinets.

Imagine how you’ll impress your guests with this innovative table and window seat arrangement. You can showcase your creativity and maximize the available seating in your kitchen. No more unsightly folding chairs, no more wobbly card tables, no more difficult drop-leafs. Just one set up that works for your daily life and your dinner parties.

Harness the inner designer in you, and you’ll see how a little unique touch can make all the difference. Who says the kitchen table must go in the center, surrounded by an even number of matching chairs? Bend the rules a bit—add a bench on one end—and your interiors will attract visual interest by contrasting expectations.

Check out more innovative design ideas at Scott Felder Homes in the Austin area.

Scott Felder Model– Rim Rock – Driftwood, Texas

1. a place, employment, status, or activity for which a person or thing is best fitted
2. a recess in a wall especially for a statue

As you can probably guess, I’ll be going into more detail about that second definition, the wall recess. But know that even as an amateur, you can dive into these DIY projects, gain experience working with things around the house, and find your niche in interior design.

Ok, back to the wall recess. The definition is pretty broad (and the statue is optional). So you can create a wall recess to match any style—you can have an arched niche shaped like a semicircle and ornately decorated, reminiscent of stately European design. Or you can go for a more modern look with a simple square carved out of the wall.

Niches provide the perfect place to display a favorite sculpture or vase. Recessed into the wall, they don’t take up any additional space as a bookshelf or entertainment center would, and they add interesting architectural elements to the space.

Designers at Linfield Design took the idea of a niche and created a large recess lined with stone as the focal point of the room. And it certainly catches the eye with its size, subtle arch, and strong stone contrast. The niche brings new depth into the room, and because it stretches from the floor up across most of the wall, the wooden chest and decorative mirrors fit nicely inside.

Scott Felder – Rim Rock – Driftwood, Texas

As with anything in design, creativity is key. So look for design concepts that intrigue you and see if you can add something unique to make the outcome all your own. Take a traditional idea like a niche and amplify it: forget the shelf and the statue and create an original architectural element.

Scott Felder – Rim Rock – Driftwood, Texas

You can see more original designs and inspire your creativity at the Scott Felder model home in Driftwood, Texas.

Even if you’re not after the traditional elegant look of the French Bourgeoisie, paneled walls will certainly add character to an otherwise plain wall. No amount of painting or wallpapering can give a room the same effect. And depending on how you line the panels and decorate the rest of the room, paneled walls can convey the feel of a rustic cabin or even a refined boathouse.

The sophisticated European style of paneling typically involves tall rectangular frames set side-by-side. But you can line panels anyway you like—horizontally across the wall, vertically from floor to ceiling, or crosshatched to create grid-like pattern.

Designers at Linfield Design chose a horizontal pattern for a Scott Felder game room in Driftwood, Texas. As you can see, the overlapped paneling creates distinct texture on the walls, and the horizontal path guides your eye around the room. The soft blue-grey color compliments the dark floor and ceiling and contrasts the lighter colors in the other rooms.

Scott Felder Model – Rim Rock – Driftwood, Texas

If you have some power tools, you can complete this project yourself. Begin you begin, you will need a saber saw, a backsaw, a staple gun, a magnetic stud finder, and a sanding block. Click here for a complete list of tools. The amount of work will depend on the type of paneling you do, but it is worth it.  And if you lack the tools or the time, you can always hire a professional designer to help transform your space from bland to beautiful.

Are your walls still move-in white? Are you surrounded by monochromatic or mismatched tones? Do you need some color inspiration, but don’t know where to start?

For the right-brained people of the world, mixing and matching color may seem overwhelming.  Never fear! Personal taste does of course influence the décor of you home, but you don’t have to rely entirely on guesswork when choosing color. Expert decorators at Linfield Design have a few tips you help you pull the right colors into your rooms.

Toll Brothers Model – Loudon Valley, The Villages at Putnam – Ashburn, Virginia

Color palettes have personality, and you get to decide what atmosphere you want to create in every room you decorate. You don’t have to be a designer to feel the vibe each color gives off—for example, red has much more energy than an earth tone like tan. So before you make any color choices, you need to decide if you want to stimulate excitement or serenity or something else. Click here for more on color symbolism and psychology.

Summoning Inspiration
Décor you already have can serve as your starting point. Draw inspiration from upholstery, window treatments, flooring, cabinets, or countertops and bring in color with wall colors, slip covers, and throw pillows. Adding color in this way is easy and can be changed any time for a new look.

Be brave, but don’t go overboard on accident. Generally, you want to mix neutrals with vibrant splashes of color for a balanced feel. Tone down bright walls with neutral furniture and accessories to avoid overpowering the room. On the other hand, if the walls are a neutral tone, consider bringing in bolder colors in the furnishings. This strategy works anywhere—throw a decorative pillow on a solid sofa, hang muted drapes on vibrant walls, or lay a bright rug on a dark floor.

Repeat your accent color or decorative element at least three times in the room to pull the design together. You can also use color in unexpected ways to add an interesting twist. Consider replacing plain lampshades with more colorful ones, or painting hardware on furniture in one of your complementary colors, or using a different shade of paint on the ceiling.

Starting from Scratch
It’s common to play off colors you already have in your home to create a more unified design, but sometimes you really do start from scratch. In this case, all color choices must come from inside your head, right? Not exactly. The color wheel can be your best friend. If you have a color in mind, the color wheel will show you its complements. If you want to experiment with colors that work well together, try the color scheme designer. There are countless other resources to help you mix and match.

Again, you’ll need to decide what mood you want to set. Flip through magazines or walk through model homesto help you figure out which direction to go in. Do you like rustic? Modern? Elegant? Funky? Colors will come easier when you have a style in mind.

Toll Brothers Model – Loudon Valley, The Villages at Putnam – Ashburn, Virginia

Here’s a DIY design project that is sure to wow. Because of angles and gravity, wallpapering the ceiling isn’t the easiest undertaking, but don’t let the number of steps overwhelm you—with two people, this project is completely doable.

Toll Brothers Model – Loudon Valley, The Villages at Putnam – Ashburn, Virginia

As you can see, wallpaper works well on a low, angled ceiling in an office, while the complementary walls balance out the rest of the room. The patterned look can bring visual interest to a higher, unangled ceiling as well. Linfield designers tried this concept on a Toll Brothers model home with great results.

Before you begin
When wallpapering the ceiling, you won’t need to worry about switch plates, baseboards or fireplaces, but there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Use the buddy system so that one person can hold the ladder and hand up the paper while the other positions the paper.
• Patterned paper with smaller motifs will be easier to match than large scale patterns.
• The pattern (if it’s not symmetrical) should face you as you face the main wall.
• Medium weight wallpaper will be easiest to install. Thin paper can tear easily, and heavy, embossed paper is difficult to handle.

Preparing the ceiling

1. Scrape off any flaky paint with a razor blade and smooth uneven areas with sandpaper.
2. Remove ceiling light fixtures. Take off the shade and unscrew the light bulbs, then unscrew the fixture and disconnect the wires.
3. Cover the hole left in the ceiling from the fixture with masking tape.

Preparing the paper

1. Measure the ceiling to make sure you have enough wallpaper. To be safe, you want to have one to two inches of extra wallpaper on all sides.
2. Measure and cut the wallpaper accordingly.
3. Soak or paste the wallpaper. For pre-pasted wallpaper, soak the paper in a tub of water for the time specified on the package. If the paper is not pre-pasted, make a wallpaper paste as directed on the package. Lay the paper flat and paste about 18 inches at a time.

Papering the ceiling

1. Starting in a corner of the room, place the paper flush in the seam where the wall and ceiling meet. Press the paper flat against the ceiling with a soft brush or squeegee, working out bubbles as you go.
2. Work your way across the ceiling with the brush or squeegee, applying enough pressure to make sure the paste sticks.
3. Cover the entire ceiling and cut off any excess paper as you reach the walls.
4. Press the seams of the wallpaper flat with a paint roller or a rolling pin.
5. Cut a hole in the wallpaper with a razor blade or scissors to make room for light fixtures. Leave an inch of paper around the inside of the hole, and wrap the extra paper into the hole to hold the wallpaper in place.
6. Reinstall the light fixtures.

Your turn. Happy wallpapering!

But closely following modernist simplicity, open living has come into vogue. Open floor plans favor flowing spaces over segmented quarters. As fabulous as that sounds, not all of us are ready to renovate the basic structure of our homes. So here’s a great way to get the open living feel without completely remodeling.

It’s simple: take the doors off of your closet. Welcome the forgotten storage space into your home and make it part of the aesthetic.

Some of you may feel like without doors, you’ll be putting your dirty laundry on display, but in some cases closet doors are downright cumbersome, and with the right organization and storage in place, an open closet can look better than a closed door even could.

Toll Brothers Model – Loudon Valley, The Villages at Putnam – Ashburn, Virginia

This works great in a kid’s room where closet doors simply get in the way. An open closet opens up space for furniture that would otherwise take up floor space in the room. And everything inside the closet is easy to access.

An open closet doesn’t only work well in bedrooms—how about taking the door off of the linen closet or laundry room? Austin interior designers at Linfield Design take advantage of this simple solution to create open living spaces in model homes nationwide. Not only is open living a popular aesthetic, it is a practical conversion of space and can be achieved with something as simple as removing a door.

Liberate your shut-off spaces and show off every square foot you have by implementing creative design solutions. What are some other ways you can open up the living spaces in your home? Check out these innovative design ideas and more in Toll Brothers homes across the country.

We recently wrote about how mirrors can open up small spaces, but the innovative design solutions don’t end there. Here’s another small space tip: turn the bed sideways. It’s so simple, and yet, most of us walk into an empty bedroom and see only one proper spot for the bed. Not so!

Regardless of the room’s shape, you can turn the bed sideways and viola, it will no longer jut out into the middle of the room and overtake the floor space. Group the pillows in the center of the bed, and this set up will give it the cozy charm of a day bed while keeping the room open and airy.

Gehan Model – Alta Vista – Lakeway, Texas

This solution is perfect for the guest bedroom, which usually ends up being the smallest room in the house. It’s also great for a kid’s room because kids like lots of empty floor space to play. Don’t have a headboard? No problem. Turn the bed sideways and it will look great right up against the wall with some big fluffy pillows. You can also set the bed sideways against a wall of windows. This will make the windows the focal point of the room, drawing the eye past the wall and opening up the compact space.

Remember, in design, there is no “right answer,” especially when it comes to small spaces. Get creative with what you have and come up with your own innovative ideas. For some extra inspiration, see more professional designs by Linfield at the Gehan Model in Alta Vista.

1. Walls—Ok, you might be thinking this one is obvious, but here are a few tricks you might not have tried yet:

• Group mirrors together. Large mirrors are often expensive, but if you group several small mirrors together you’ll achieve the same result at a much lower price.
• Create larger shapes. If you don’t have as many windows as you would like, try arranging four small mirrors into a larger square for a similar aesthetic.
• Turn them sideways. With full-length mirrors, we immediately think to hang them vertically. But if you turn them sideways, you will have a space that looks instantly larger.
• Fill an entire wall. Don’t limit yourself to experimenting only with small clusters. Floor to ceiling mirrors will make a room seem taller. Layers mirrors end to end along a wall or play with white space in between them.

Gehan Model – Alta Vista – Lakeway, Texas

Gehan Model – Alta Vista – Lakeway, Texas

2. Cabinet Doors—With this DIY project, you simply glue mirrored tiles to your cabinet doors. This technique works well in any room, especially the kitchen where the various appliances tend to crowd the space.

3. Stove Backsplash—Another option for the kitchen, this spot is often overlooked when it comes to hanging mirrors. But the space behind the stove is typically the darkest area in the kitchen. Mirrors here will catch even a small amount of light and reflect it back into the room.

4. Tabletops—While mirrors hung on the wall will reflect light horizontally, this option allows for a different angle. Placing mirrors on a tabletop will bounce light upward and bring a new depth into the room. Many restaurants utilize this strategy in order to use soft light while still keeping the space well lit.

5. Furniture—This technique works much like the DIY cabinet project above. Using glass clutter or mirrored tile, you can cover your existing furniture for an exciting new look. Plus, you can take advantage of curves, reflecting light upwards, across the room, or at other interesting angles depending on the shape of the piece.

See these creative design solutions in action at the Gehan Model in Alta Vista, and stay tuned for more DIY design tips from linfieldinc.com.

From medieval castles to modern urban lofts, people have a long history of utilizing rock in architecture and interior design. In fact, rock is one of the oldest home materials used since the dawn of civilization, and we continue to implement its strong composition and natural beauty into our homes today. Austin interior designers at Linfield Design embrace this timeless design strategy, using rock and stone to produce powerful visual interest in model homes.

Gehan Model– Alta Vista – Lakeway, Texas

Rock has a pastoral, natural appeal, but it can also reflect a stately, lavish look. From floor to ceiling, interior walls made of rock will transform a space from ordinary to grandiose. See how these walls create a spacious entry and living area and also compliment the dark wood beautifully.

You can also use rock in the form of brick, but go beyond your fireplace and try lining an entire accent wall in brick.

Gehan Model – Alta Vista – Lakeway, Texas

Rock is so versatile that it can create a commanding presence or a serene atmosphere. Log cabins and ski resorts often integrate rock and stone into their interior design, but the look of any home can be enriched with similar exterior elements.

You can experiment with different finishes and applications to change the aesthetic and create a completely unique design in your home. Consider using flagstone, boulders, and river rock for accents or entire walls. Try carving bathtubs or sinks from rock for a spa-inspired aesthetic. Or bring in kitchen accents like fume hoods or brick backsplashes for a rustic touch. The options are endless, and the results are always impressive.

Get creative with your home’s interior, and visit the Gehan Model in Alta Vista to see other inspired design ideas.

• Visit model homes. Even if you aren’t in the market for a new home, model homes are great places to get ideas for your home décor.  Model homes are typically designed in the most up to date and elegant manner so they are great places to get new ideas. Don’t feel like driving around all day? You don’t have to. We offer online model home virtual tours so you can get ideas for your home without leaving your couch.
• Think color. Choosing your color palette is one of the most important decisions you will make in your home design. Grab hundreds of swatches, they are free so don’t cut yourself short. Try lots of colors, you may be surprised what you end up liking the most. Once you pick a swatch get a sample of the paint and paint a square of the color on the wall you are going to paint. Let it sit for a week or so and see if you still like it, if you do, you’ve found your color! Once you have your color scheme worked out- the rest will come easier.
• Look at magazines online. If you want, you can always buy them but it’s much cheaper to look at them online. Spend some time looking through all of your options. Look at classic and modern designs and get a feel for what suits you and your home the best.
• Talk about it. Don’t try to figure everything out by yourself. Talk to you friends and family about your ideas and get their feedback. You don’t have to take their advice but you might find their experiences and opinions are helpful in your design choices.
• Take your time. If you don’t have a reason to rush, don’t. You will be much happier with the results. Break your home design into pieces. Do one room first and then another. This keeps it from seeming like an impossible task and will keep you focused on each room to it’s completion.

Decorating your home should be enjoyable. Take your time and enjoy letting your creativity extend into your home design. At the end of the day, you will be very happy you did.