Spring Cleaning: Feng Shui Style

            As the weather heat up, I know it’s everyone’s favorite time of the year: Spring Cleaning.  Lately I have been refreshing myself on feng shui principles to use for some fabulous of clients of mine and it has me thinking how to add the principles to re-energizing your home this spring!  Feng shui is the ancient Chinese art practice of placement and harmony between a person and their surrounds.  Energy flows within a space, so creating a harmonious area encourages the flow of positive energy and decreases the negative.  It’s amazing how much good design principles work and feng shui have in common and even more so with your home organization!  Here are some tips for you to reinvigorate your home this spring!

Open Your Doors & Windows

Now that spring is here, let the breeze move through your house and clear out the old, stagnant air.  It’s great to focus on the areas that usually don’t get a chance “to breathe,” so keep your closet door open and allow a good amount of time for air to circulate throughout those harder to reach spaces.  Your front door is especially important as it is “the mouth” to the energy that flows through your home.

Via Centsational Girl

De-clutter!

Clutter correlates with stress and it doesn’t take a feng shui expert to say DUH to that!  Hanging onto the past bogs you down.  Spend time weeding through your closet.  Clear out those places where the junk seems to accumulate like your coffee, table, nightstand, or that dreaded “junk drawer” in the kitchen.  Metaphorically, you can’t accept new experiences if you’re already full, so allow yourself that extra space to invite new and exciting experiences!

Via Savvy Home

Create Your Power Spot

Your “power spot” is an area that can inspire, relax, or nurture you but mostly importantly, it's a space just for you!  You can create a power spot by choosing objects or colors that have symbolic meaning to you and most of the time, that’s already in your home.  

Via Furnish Burnish

Celebrate the Season

Consider spicing up a few of your rooms with seasonal accents.  From putting a bowl of fresh, season fruit out in the kitchen to a new potted plant, you can re-energize your home with a few small touches that embrace the season.  Mirrors are an interesting principle in feng shui, as they are reflective they can disperse energy throughout your home.  Consider placing them to maximize the spring and summer daylight in your home!

Via BHG

            One of my favorite elements of feng shui is the personal quality.  Certainly there are guiding principles, but everyone’s needs are different and feng shui caters to that.  I hope you are able to use some of these ideas to make your Spring Cleaning go the extra mile!

Have a great day,

Green With Envy: St. Patrick's Day Kitchen Edition

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we are going to look at everyone’s favorite room—the kitchen in all its green glory!  Kitchen remodels are one of my favorite project types, because the transformation can be so stunning and allows me to be so creative.  Green is a popular color for kitchens because it has a natural vibe and the yellow brings vibrant, yet restorative energy.  This emotionally positive and nurturing color is fantastic when you consider this is the space where you nourish your family, start your day turning on the coffee pot, and inevitably end up entertaining!

Via Southern Living

Via BHG

Via Shelterness

Via Cottage Market

Via Rosa Dest Interiors

            The final kitchen is one I did for a client and it was so thrilling to receive the Excellence in Remodeling Award from the Home Building Association of Charlotte award.  My inspiration was an artichoke and what a fun project it was!  Would you consider livening up your kitchen with splashes of green or even green cabinetry?  Don't forget to check out our Pinterest board for more gorgeous green kitchen inspiration!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day,

  

St. Patrick's Day Party

            Here at Rosa Dest Interiors, we take holidays to the max!  And who wouldn’t want an excuse to celebrate with family, friends, and food!  So in the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day I have to share one of my favorite guilty pleasure cooking blogs hands by Jackie aka “The Beeroness.”  Tons of fantastic recipes with one secret ingredient…you guessed it, beer!  With beer-inspired recipes for every course, you are sure to find something that will wow your guests.  I first learned of the Beeroness at a dinner party where I was served an incredible ginger-salmon dish.  I couldn’t quite place the other flavor—it was just so unexpected to be beer!  So today I’m sharing that fabulous recipe that has become a staple in my repertoire. 

I hope you try this one out for yourself; I’d love to hear your thoughts.  And be sure to check out all her recipes whether you’re planning festive light appetizers, a sit down meal with friends, or a decadent dessert!  Enjoy the festivities! 

Happy St. Patty’s Day Planning,

Get Down With Green Interiors for St. Patty's Day!

            The color green is usually associated with balance, harmony, and growth. Green also restores depleted energy and can create your sanctuary, fostering a sense of well being when used in interiors.  Tranquility certainly can’t be what most bar crawlers   This may not be the exact buzzwords you’re considering over your St. Patty’s Day Guinness but we will use the excuse to celebrate the versatility of my favorite color!  If you’re like me, green reflects practicality, compassion, loyalty, and balance.  So in honor of St. Patty’s Day, let’s celebrate our favorite green interiors!

Via Decor Adventures 

Via Maison Boheme

Via Katie Ridder Designs

Via The Decorista

Via Better Homes and Gardens

            So many gorgeous shades of green to choose from that can create entirely different moods!  What’s your favorite shade of green? Glamorous jade?  Fun aqua?  Or Pantone’s 2013 Emerald green?  

Have a great day,

Spotlight: Sustainable Interior Design with Kirei Products

             As a designer, I am delighted to see the growing selection of sustainable products available for residences and commercial application.  With the increased availability of eco-friendly construction materials, appliances, furniture, and décor, a healthier, more sustainable home is more accessible and affordable than ever.  As the movement gains momentum, there is no reason to settle for an interior that isn’t beautiful, functional, healthy, and good for the environment.  One exciting company that is leading the way in beautiful, sustainable products is Kirei.  Not only does Kirei make their products from low-impact, sustainable materials but they also provide fair wages at all levels of their company, which is domestically produced and operated.  My two favorite products have to be the Kirei Board and Coco products!  They both show you just how much fun you can have going green!  

Kirei Board

A sustainable wood substitute made from sorghum stalks, which are rapidly renewable and do not further deforestation in the United States.  Kirei also boasts non-formaldeheyde adhesives and zero volatile organic compounds (VOCs), both of which can adversely affect the air quality in your home and are surprisingly common.  Kirei Board can be used furniture, cabinetry, flooring, wall covering, finished décor. 

 Kirei Coco

Made from reclaimed coconut shells, Coco has low to zero VOC adhesives and finishes.  I especially like Coco because of its beautiful and versatile applications that give such a unique look to spaces its used in. 

            I hope to share more exciting ways to green your home, which ultimately can save you money, improve your health, and let’s not forget our favorite part…save the planet!  Would you use these materials or finishes in your home? 

Have a great day,  

An Afternoon with Architect and Interior Designer Vern Yip

             Today I had the pleasure to hear a presentation from the fabulously talented Vern Yip at Karen Saks.  You may know Vern from his time on “Trading Spaces,” HGTV’s “Design Star,” and most recently “Live in Vern’s House.”  He’s had such an illustrious and varied career as an architect, designer, television personality, UNICEF Ambassador and columnist for The Washington Post.  Vern is so congenial and has a way of enrapturing every person in the room, from stories of his life to the pictures of his four beloved dogs. 

Vern’s newest endeavor is a line for Trend Fabrics and his creations are absolutely stunning.  He’s used his three homes as a showcase for his new line and the combination of traditional and contemporary pieces with bold pattern and color creates a truly unique, stunning space. Vern's line for Trend shows his style of timeless design in stunning colors.  I am such a fan of the warm poppy tones and the stunning range of blues from dark inky tones to soft pastel tones.

I feel so thankful for the opportunities to be inspired by the work and lives of designers like Vern Yip.   

Have a great day,