All posts by Beth and Carolina

4 Tips for Trying Bold Color in Your Home

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There’s one thing we hear over and over – most people are still fearful about using bright colors in their homes. They either think it will be “too much,” or that they’ll get tired of it quickly. But those bold colors are important as we spend more time at home. In fact, now is the perfect time to experiment. It’s your home and it should make you happy. So the Pulp team has 4 foolproof tips for getting bolder in your home’s palette!

Go Small

A little can go a long way when you’re trying out color in your home. Find a small space where you can experiment, like in the pantry at the top of this post, or the cabinetry we designed in the kitchen above. Those little hits of color should complement the rest of the room, and we guarantee they’ll make you smile. If you’re super-nervous, use spaces that don’t get a lot of traffic or that are inside a closet or small space.

Be Art Smart

Art is a great way to bring dramatic colors into your rooms. Choose pieces that you love, even if the color is bolder than you might normally try. You also might want to select an oversized piece to cover a large wall and make a big statement. Then you can bring in accessories that complement the colors in the art. This is a great way to slowly build up a strong color story in a room!

Accent the Positive

Try accent pieces in super-bright colors as a foray into a bold new world! We loved using these hot pink swivel chairs to brighten an otherwise neutral space. And notice that we also used the same color in pillows and even in book covers. The great thing about using pops of color like this is you can easily switch them out if they don’t work for you. And with a neutral main palette, you can play with the accent colors until you find the perfect one.

Drench It

We love a monochrome room! That’s a space that is absolutely drenched in one dramatic color, like the black bathroom above. This is a room that your friends and family will talk about – and they’ll marvel at how brave you are. To take this approach, again choose a color that you really like, but don’t go pale and quiet. Think about cobalt blue, bright emerald, sizzling saffron, or deep merlot. Don’t use too many other colors in the room to help you achieve the perfect look.

Try going this bold in the smallest room in your house – the powder room! This is the perfect room to experiment in because you won’t see it all the time. Drama works very well in these little spaces, so really go bold. Remember, paint doesn’t cost a lot, so if you don’t like it, it’s easy to change.

We LOVE to work with bold color and we know how to select the perfect ones for each of our clients. Need help with color and personality in your home? Give us a call!

It’s Giving Tuesday!

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Giving back and paying it forward are core values for Pulp Design Studios. On Giving Tuesday, the Pulp team is highlighting the charities that are close to our hearts and that we support throughout the year. Each of our team members has selected their own non-profit to showcase. So please consider donating to the non-profits we’ve listed below, or to causes that you believe in. This season, more than ever, they need our support.

Carolina’s Charity: Dwell with Dignity

Dwell with Dignity designs and installs complete home interiors for families who desperately need an environment that will support health and wellness. They empower families to lead their best lives and to thrive in a safe, functional, and beautiful environment. Click here to learn more or to donate.

Beth’s Charity: The Conscious Kid

The Conscious Kid is an education, research, and policy organization dedicated to equity and promoting healthy racial identity development in youth. The group supports organizations, families, and educators in taking action to disrupt racism in young children. Click here to learn more or to donate.

Tracy’s Charity: Baby2Baby

Baby2Baby is a mega diaper bank and nonprofit organization providing essential items to children in need across the country. In the last 9 years, Baby2Baby has distributed over 100 million items to children in homeless shelters, domestic violence programs, foster care, hospitals, and underserved schools. Click here to learn more or to donate.

Tara’s Charity: The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national network of crisis centers that provides free and confidential support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It is committed to improving crisis services and advancing suicide prevention. Click here to learn more or to donate.

Jana’s Charity: The Humane Society

The Humane Society fights the big fights to end suffering for all animals.They take on puppy mills, factory farms, the fur trade, trophy hunting, animal cosmetics testing, and other cruel industries. And they rescue and care for thousands of animals every year through the Animal Rescue Team. Click here to learn more or to donate.

 

Ellie’s Charity: Team Read

Team Read in Seattle propels young students to become inspired, joyful readers. Team Read’s dual-impact model helps young students to become confident, joyful readers equipped for academic success, and teens to develop work and life skills that support their transition to college and future employment. Click here to learn more or to donate.

Leina’s Charity: The Bridge

The Bridge is a homeless recovery center for individuals without a home in Dallas County. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, The Bridge offers basic needs services including hot showers, nutritious meals, and haircuts, as well as intensive services such as physical and mental health evaluations and care management services. Click here to learn more or to donate.

Aidan’s Charity: Planned Parenthood

With over 100 years of service, Planned Parenthood is a trusted health care provider, an informed educator, a passionate advocate, and a global partner helping similar organizations around the world. Planned Parenthood delivers vital reproductive health care, sex education, and information to millions of people worldwide. Click here to learn more or to donate.

How We Solved Our Biggest Design Dilemmas

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We recently revealed to Architectural Digest what our biggest design dilemma has been in the last few years. We told the editor that it was an awkward space under our client’s stairs, and that we transformed it into a magical hidden door to a fabulous wine room – you can see the door closed above, and open below. In our business, you run into dilemmas a lot, and we had a few projects to choose from that gave us issues to work around. But the Pulp team loves a challenge – it lets us put our creativity into high gear. Take a look at these projects that offered dilemmas, and how we solved them!

Getting the Perfect Finish

In the photo below, all you see now are gorgeous beams and lots of beautiful wood tones. But getting that fabulous lodge look was a challenging multistep process that took hundreds of hours of applying finishes and comparing results. We literally had 15 reapplications of stains. Our clients had two very different design styles. He wanted a more rustic look and she was more into a modern transitional design. So getting these finishes right was key to combining what they wanted into a cohesive style. They love the finished look!

From Dingy to Dynamite

The project below required a lot of vision on our part because what we started with was a dark and dreary basement. In fact, it was so bad that we had to show you the before photo below. It was a HUGE challenge to work through the renovation and create a family room and bathroom that was a stunning as the interiors upstairs (which Pulp finished a couple of years ago). We added fabulous wallpaper and art, built-in storage, and lots of great seating to create a stunning hangout that made our clients want to show off this space to everyone who came to their home (pre-COVID, of course).

Before
After

That Awkward Corner

Every interior designer who sees a corner fireplace, especially at an angle, will roll her eyes. It can be such a pain to design around these, and really they should just be removed. So when our clients said they wanted to keep their midcentury modern dream house but needed it to be reworked, we knew the fireplace below had to go. They also needed more room, so our solution was actually a win-win. We gutted the structure, creating an addition that opened up the floorplan. That let us expand this room and add a new (NOT angled) fireplace! See before and after photos below.

Before
After

Do you have a design dilemma? We would love to help you find the perfect solution! Just get in touch with us by clicking here!

The 4 Things Every Family Kitchen Needs

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Kitchen design has changed in the last year to reflect how we’re all using that room today. It used to be the place to cook a meal or find a snack, and it’s still key for that, of course. But the kitchen is also now a Zoom room, a place for homework and online classes, an arts and crafts station, and so much more. So in addition to the usual must-haves like durable counters, cabinets, and floors, there are other key ingredients for a hard-working family kitchen. Let’s take a look!

1. Take a Seat

If you don’t have a kitchen island or table in your kitchen, we bet you’re really missing it right now. Because counters are meant to withstand heat, stains, and more, kitchen islands and counters are perfect places for kids to do schoolwork. It’s also a nice setting for your online meetings because the light is usually really good in this room. And it’s great to be able to multitask in the kitchen – keeping your eye on the kids at the island while you’re making a meal or putting groceries away. The Pulp team used bright orange stools in the kitchen above to add a bit of fun, too. Top renovation requests right now include adding more room (and seating!) to kitchens.

Leviton

2. Get Technical

There are so many new tech tools that make your work in the kitchen more efficient. We’re all about USB plugs, like the one above from Leviton. This is an especially cool model because it also has a lightning plug for Mac fanatics (like us!). Other great kitchen tech to consider include app-driven appliances like a coffee machine that starts your brew while you’re still in bed. Or voice-controlled faucets that fill a pot to exact measurements. We talk with our clients about how they use their kitchens and then suggest time-saving and smart tech ideas to make their workload a little lighter – and more fun.

3. Offer Easy Access

In the kitchen above, we added a beverage station for the littles in the house. It gives them some independence to be able to grab their own drinks – and keeps them from opening your fridge 100 times a day. The Pulp team also likes to use fridge drawers, pull-out snack drawers, and microwave drawers to make things easy for kids from tiny to teens. That will also help you keep them out of the background of your Zoom calls as they ask for yet another snack!

4. Organize It All

The kitchen is definitely the hub of your home, so consider adding a “command central” to the room. In the kitchen above, the Pulp team created an organized family center that includes calendars, places for notes and important papers, drawers for bags and equipment, and more. It’s great for keeping up with meetings, deadlines, and school assignments.. You can even add a computer station to the hub, like we did below, which gives you another working-from-home space – and we all need more of those!

The Pulp team loves a good kitchen remodel – and we’re now booking into 2021. Get in touch here if you’re ready to create the perfect kitchen for your family!

5 Tips for Setting the Perfect Table

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There’s an art to setting a stunning table for a dinner party – it’s more than just plates and linens. With Thanksgiving only two weeks away, the Pulp team has assembled their top 5 tips for making this a holiday table to remember, showcasing photos from an amazing shoot we did for Traditional Home magazine. And be sure to read to the bottom to find a link to our favorite holiday playlist!

1. Make It Visually Appealing

The best table design has a lot of visual interest with different heights, patterns, colors, and textures. It makes the table look fuller and more sophisticated, too. We also added style with a custom table runner in our Pulp Design Studios for S.Harris fabric, using the Hidalgo pattern. You can get that fabric, too, by clicking here.

2. Add a Unique Detail

Use something unique like these handpainted leather placemats to set your table apart. Mix in a vintage bowl that you picked up on your travels. Serve your sides in pottery you found in a gallery. Think about how you can add unexpected moments that tell a story.

3. Keep It Fresh

Flowers, fruits, herbs, plants all add life to the table. But even here, be daring with your table decor. We added porcupine quills to this arrangement, which took it from good to fabulous!

4. Make It Personal

No one should have to reach for the salt and pepper, so we like to offer either personal shakers at each place setting, or at least multiples at each end of the table. It’s the little things that mean a lot!

5. Be Bold

Who says you have to use the same old clear vase? We love using objects with a lot of visual interest for our florals, like this spiky footed goblet by L’Objet. You don’t have to use the same old turkey platters and fall-themed plates. Make your table memorable with bolder designs and ideas.

We know that this holiday season is going to be different with shutdown rules and smaller gatherings. To lift your spirits during this holiday season, click here for Pulp’s Merry + Bright playlist on Spotify!

 

5 Ways to Create the Must-Have Home Bar

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As we head into the holiday season, we know things are going to be different this year. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still celebrate and have fun. A home bar gives you a great way to raise a glass with family or to toast to a new year, even if your gatherings are smaller. Here are 5 ways to create that must-have home bar for the holidays and beyond. And be sure to scroll down to get a recipe for our favorite fall cocktail!

1. Use Extra Space

A built-in bar looks chic and professional. If you’re adding a bar to your existing home, look for spaces where you can easily add shelves, a counter, and refrigeration or an ice maker. For the bar above, we used extra space on the other side of a kitchen wall to create a lovely place for our clients to store and enjoy their favorite wines and cocktails. A fridge is easy to add with an outlet – but if you can also plumb the space, it’s great to have an ice maker or a bar sink, too.

2. Create a Wine Room

If you’re really into savoring and collecting wine, consider adding your own wine room. We designed the space above in what could have been a storage closet originally. We added shelving for bottles, as well as chic decor to make the room extra special. You can create your own wine room in an spare room, a closet, or a pantry. If you want to store your wine at the right temperature, you can even add a separate thermostat that will keep the room as cool as it needs to be.

3. Build the Perfect Bar

If you have the budget and the space, nothing beats a custom bar like the one we created above. You can add all the bells and whistles, like refrigeration, bar stools, a sink, and even a TV. This can be added to one side of a family room, it could be a great basement renovation project, or you can add it to your plans for a new build. We love to create these chic home bars for clients, so if you’re ready to renovate give us a call!

4. Add a Bar Cart

If you aren’t ready for a major project, a bar cart is always a fabulous way to go. For the bar cart above, we made sure there was plenty of room for our client’s favorite liqueurs and cocktail mixers, as well as glasses and bar tools. You can see a different view at the top of the page.

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5. Table the Bar

If you aren’t ready for a huge commitment, you can always create a great mini bar on any surface. All it takes is a lovely tray and your favorite bottles. Glasses and mixers can always be stored in a cabinet or a nearby shelf. But make the tabletop bar just as inviting as its bigger counterpart!

A Perfect Day

This cocktail is our go-to for fall. Relatively low in alcohol, it’s perfect for brunch or to wind down your day!

INGREDIENTS

1 oz. Averna Amaro Siciliano
1 oz. Italian sweet vermouth (We like Carpano Antica Formula for this)
1⁄2 oz. mint simple syrup
3⁄4 oz. fresh lemon juice
Mint leaves for garnish
Ice

EQUIPMENT

Coupe glass
Cocktail shaker
Juicer

INSTRUCTIONS

Add mint simple syrup, amaro, vermouth, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice. Shake until outside of shaker is frosty, about 30 seconds. Strain into a couple glass. Add a mint leaf or lemon rind to top of the cocktail.

Enjoy!

How to Layer Light Like a Pro

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Electrical plans aren’t exactly the sexiest thing when it comes to interior design – but it’s so critical to a room’s functionality. The Pulp team likes to layer light into a room so there are lots of options from romantic to insanely bright. But what do we mean by “layering light”? It’s all about giving yourself plenty of choices. Here are our favorite go-to light options.

Task Lighting

Task lighting is a light source that shines directly on an area where you are working or reading. This is a layer that’s so important in a kitchen. As you can see above, the pendants shine right on the island for meal prep, homework, and more. Task lighting can also be a bright floor lamp with a swing arm that can be positioned over a book or needlework.

Canned Lights

Canned lights are set flush with the ceiling and give the brightest light, but stay out of sight when they aren’t needed. You usually see these in a kitchen or living area. And this is where an electrical plan is important. With that plan, you are determining where every outlet, USB port, light, and ceiling fan needs to go. So it’s smart to think about where you’ll need the brightest light. Canned lights can also be set on a dimmer, which gives you even more control.

Table Lamps

When you want to set a mood, there’s no better light than a table lamp. If it’s burning solo, it softens the room. Add it to another light source and it can really bring the brightness. We love to use table lamps on dining room sideboards like the one above. That gives you the choice of using the overhead light (usually a chandelier) or just the table lamps to set a mood.

Bedside Lighting

The photo above really showcases layered lighting. The table lamp is great for lighting the room, but that wall-mounted reading light will put the light directly on a book for our client who loves to read in bed. As you can see, the more light options, the better!

Statement Lighting

Whether it’s a chandelier, a flush-mount design, or a pendant, a statement light fixture serves a dual purpose. Of course it should be functional and provide great light. But it also can be a gorgeous sculptural moment that wows. We love the one above – it gives our clients a real moment of drama in this dining area. And we also added a dimmer to give it even more functionality.

Need help with that all-important lighting plan? We definitely can create that for you as part of our full-service design! Contact us by clicking here.

Founders’ Five: 10 Things on Our Wish Lists

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When the weather gets cooler, we want to get cozier! We’re obsessed with health + wellness, warm knits, skin care and more. Take a look…

Health + Wellness Faves

BETH’S PICKS

We recently put these boxes from Global Views in a project and now I’m ordering one for me!

I’ve had this Henley bodysuit from Goop on my list for a couple of years and I’m finally going to order this investment basic.

I’ve been doing lots of backyard happy hours, at a distance. I love giving everyone their individual setup like this one from Crate & Barrel. 

I love this tea-colored sconce with brass accents from Articolo Lighting. It’s modern, with a hint of femininity.

After our managing director, Tracy, recommended this personal microdermabrasion device from PMD, I’ve been using it once a week… A skin saver!

CAROLINA’S PICKS

These salts from Jennifer Fisher are sure to kick up any dish you create!

Everything I have made out of this Cook Beautiful book has been delicious. Makes for a great gift too!

This Omega Juicer is the most amazing juicer and it makes nut milks, baby food and nut butters!

The Cuyana Throw is cozy cape that can dress up some athleisure or used to cozy up on a sofa at home.

Just like a silk pillow on your face, the Hope Silk Mask from Ravella is extremely comfortable and chic.

This article originally appeared in our latest issue of ICON! Subscribe to early access to fabulous content like this – just click here. 

5 Ways to Use Black in Your Home

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There is a fear factor about using color in the home, especially bold color. But there’s one that people fear the most, and that’s black. It seems too mysterious and daring for some, but the Pulp team loves using black in the interiors we design. It’s a cozy color and it evokes a sense of power and calm, including a grounding feeling. Here are 5 ways to use black in your home, from a whisper to a WOW!

1. Use It to Accessorize

This is the easiest way to try touches of black in your home. Whether it’s a pillow, lamp, or piece of art, you can introduce this dark color in a way that’s easy to change. But trust us, your eye will be drawn to the bold look! And if you love the fabrics you see above, you can have them in your own home! They’re part of our collection with S.Harris Home – just click here to see them all.

2. Take It to the Floor

If you’re feeling a little braver, consider hitting the floor with this dramatic hue in a rug or carpet. The color will anchor the room and add a lot of personality. And think about using a pattern with black in the background in a rug or in the accessories. That helps you feel more confident about using this color since it isn’t just an all-black look.

3. Try It in Tile

Tile is another great way to add bold black to a room. We used smaller penny tile in the bathroom above, with a grey grout to really define the shape. Want to go bigger? Use black tile on a backsplash in the bathroom, or behind the range in the kitchen!

4. Accent the Positive

Okay, are you ready to take it up a notch? Try painting an accent wall with a deep black, like Sherwin-Williams Tricorn. This is one of our favorite blacks, and it’s the perfect background for our client’s art in the photo above. Using it just on one wall, or in an entry like we did in that photo, will add interest but won’t be overwhelming for anyone who is nervous about the color.

5. Drench the Room

This is the bold and beautiful way to use black! Rather than being too dark or overbearing, painting your walls black actually creates a cozy and quiet space. It definitely is a grounding color and we love how it creates a sense of calm in the office we designed above.

Now how do you feel about using black in your home? The key is to experiment and find the right place and hue for you. Need help? Give us a call!

5 Tips for the Perfect Kids’ Spaces

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Kids’ rooms have always been important in homes, but they haven’t always been top-of-mind for designed spaces. Whether it’s a playroom or a bedroom, creating a great space for the littles in your life is critical today. These areas have to function for school days, play time, rest and relaxation, and so much more. Here are 5 tips that will help you support what your children, and you, need at home.

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1. Make It Worry Free

Use performance fabrics or treated materials to keep stains and spills down to a minimum. That way they can play and you don’t have to worry! The music room above has a painterly wallpaper designed to inspire the young artist who lives there. We gave the room plenty of functionality, as well as worry-free fabrics, so the family loves hanging out here together.

2. Make It Fun

Add a sense of fun and wonder to spaces. Let them reflect what your child loves. If they are into dinosaurs, then use a whimsical dino print on the walls or bedding. Teens definitely do not want to have spaces that make it look like they’re kids, but they do want them to still reflect who they are. In the space above, we added great mural of a baseball stadium for a major sports fan. Still fun, but more grown-up.

3. Tech Talk

Everyone needs tech for school and play today, so be sure you have good WiFi, lots of USB plugs, and great lighting to protect those eyes. Consider boosting your internet plan if there are a lot of you at home during the day now. For older kids and teens, give them a space that’s ready to work as hard as they do. In the room we designed above, there is a ton of storage, and a more hip vibe that will look fab on Zoom.

4. Perfect Palettes

Keep your child’s favorite colors in mind. We always ask our clients’ kids what they would prefer. It makes their rooms feel like they’re made just for them. Go bold and bright in play and work spaces, but keep things quiet in bedrooms to help quiet their minds. For example, the patterned rug in the room above becomes a raceway or a building zone when the toys come out. Color inspires imagination!

5. Grow Up

Remember that teens also want spaces that are their very own. In fact, privacy is more important to them at this stage of their life than almost any other. So give them a sense of style and “cool” in their rooms.

For more inspiring kids rooms, see our portfolio. And give us a call for help creating work and play spaces in your home!