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Why You Should Hire An Interior Designer
Western Style

Why You Should Hire An Interior Designer

Home on the Range
Home on the Range

Albert Hadley says;

“….the designer must be able to see – make a concentrated effort to absorb the essence of the project. Seeing is a very difficult thing to do. Most people “look” at a lot of thing but never “see” anything. Looking is emotional; seeing is an intellectual process.”

Few things in life are as enriching as creating a warm haven for your family. Partnering with a caring, experienced designer lets you focus on your overarching vision while ensuring that the process runs smoothly and the details are thought out in advance.   It is your home, where your memories will be made, and you want to be able to enjoy the creative process instead of being stressed by constant decisions and deadlines.  An interior designer provides a blend of technical problem solving skills and creativity, providing you with support, making your life easier, creating a home that is everything you dreamed of, and helping you to save money in the process!

 

Below are some of the key  services an interior designer can provide:

Space planning – helping you determine the best placement of your furniture after careful research into your lifestyle and the way you would like each room to function.  This advance planning will help avoid costly change orders.  A designer will take into consideration scale, proportion, balance and composition when planning your spaces.

Material and finish selection and coordination – narrowing down selections for everything from your flooring to your cabinet hardware, ensuring that all of the components are well thought out and work together to create a whole that is more than the sum of its parts, and then communicating the decisions to the builder and subcontractors.

Color selection – analyzing the interplay of light in the rooms at different times of the day;  color theory and understanding your color preferences will also enter into color selection.  The environment in which the house will be located also plays a large role in your color scheme.

Designer resources –you will enjoy the advantage of carefully nurtured relationships with the finest artisans who will add custom elements to your home. If you hire an experienced designer you will also have access to furniture and fabric sources that have been developed from years traveling to markets in the US and abroad.

Fine art, rug and custom accessory selection and placement – the finishing touches!

Management of delivery & installation and standing behind the products – this service will make the final hectic days of your process much less stressful for you.  At Home on the Range we even make the beds and install the towels!

 

In conclusion:

An interior designer is a professional who is qualified to ensure that the finishes and furnishings in your home stand the test of time. Interior designers bring a passion for good design and a creative flair to your project.   Using a designer helps you avoid costly mistakes and, more importantly, helps you to create a home you will enjoy with family and friend for years to come!

For more resources and to find the interior designer who will be the right fit for you, visit:

ASID – find a designer

Mountain Living Magazine – Luxury Resource Guide

DCD Home – Interior Designers

Mountain Living Magazine Top Architects and Designers

And of course, contact us at Home on the Range and give us the opportunity to meet with you and discuss your vision.  We are based in the Rocky Mountain area but have also worked with  clients in states ranging from Texas to Massachusetts!

 

 

 

Sliding Barn Doors Aren’t Just for the Barn!
Design Tips and Trends,It's All in the Details

Sliding Barn Doors Aren’t Just for the Barn!

If you thought there was only one use for a sliding barn door, think again. This rustic accent can fit into nearly any interior design style as a unique and interesting feature. From being used as a headboard to separating space within the home, here are some wonderful ideas for bringing sliding barn doors into design:

Here we used sliding barn doors as a twin to king headboard.

This is the bed in a king configuration:

Here there’s a sliding barn door in the background used as a door to the dumbwaiter.

The Houzz photos below are equally inspiring.

We used the concept of the twig 3-form seen below in a sliding barn office door here in Steamboat but framed it out to achieve a less contemporary look.  . It was a perfect way to maintain but get light into the office.

Look how Linea Architects interpreted the sliding barn door in the Historic Telluride District.

This is a contemporary take on the sliding barn door.

These traditional glass doors were made into sliding barn doors.

Here, old doors were transformed into sliding barn doors in a contemporary setting.

Painted sliding barn doors separate these two spaces.

As you can see, there are a myriad of ways to use sliding barn doors in interiors – what would you do with sliding barn doors in your home?

Images: 1-3 Home on the Range; 4-9 via Houzz, as linked above

9 Ways to Add Interest to Your Ceilings
Design Tips and Trends,Featured,It's All in the Details

9 Ways to Add Interest to Your Ceilings

Ceilings offer wonderful opportunities for adding character and charm to a room.  Below we have highlighted a number of different styles of ceiling treatments, from mountain rustic to contemporary to traditional.  A ceiling can make a contemporary space feel more rustic and a boring space feel more interesting.  A ceiling treatment can add color to a space, bring the height down visually and add textural interest.  There is really no limit to what you can do with ceiling treatments.  Take a look at the nine great ideas from Home on the Range  below and let us know which ones you like the best and why.  If you have a favorite ceiling design, add it to your comment so all of our readers can see it!

Reclaimed wood trusses visually help to bring down a high ceiling.

Reclaimed Amish beams on the rake of a high ceiling tie in with other rustic features in the space for a cohesive look.

The addition of wood adds more intimacy to this contemporary rustic space. 

Reclaimed wood forms a coffered ceiling that’s perfect in this mountain modern recreation room .

A barrel vault ceiling with an American Clay finish adds a nice touch to this powder room.

We also spotted the following ceilings on Houzz and love the looks:

This  sloped corrugated metal adds a rustic feel to this contemporary room.

Here is one of my favorite ceilings – I love the mix of the brick, the curve in the ceiling and the wood “ribs”

Using wallpaper is a great way to add interest to a ceiling, as you can see in this stylish nursery.

Take a look at the way this painted, coffered ceiling completes the overall design of this inviting bedroom.  Can you imagine the room without this ceiling design?

Contact Home on the Range for Interior design for your entire space—ceiling and all. You can visit our website to see more examples of our work.

Images: 1-5 Interior design by Home on the Range; 6-9 via Houzz, as linked above

Arranging a Stylish Tabletop Vignette
Design Tips and Trends,Featured Products,It's All in the Details

Arranging a Stylish Tabletop Vignette

Flipping through magazines, reading design blogs and spending time on Pinterest, you’ve probably come across some beautiful pictures of interior spaces that feature stylized tabletop vignettes. There’s no reason you can’t create a beautiful display for your own home.

In her blog,  Colour me Happy ,  Maria Killam has some wonderful examples of beautifully executed vignettes along with some helpful tips on creating an aesthetically pleasing vignette.

Notice the use of books and a mirror in this vignette from Maria Keller

Another beautiful vignette from Maria with great balance and use of shape and color

In her post, Maria explains that;

“A tablescape or vignette should include a minimum of 3 items; flowers, candles, and books, and depending on where it is, a tray.”

When you take a look at Maria’s vignettes you will also notice how she uses color coordinated books to add height to certain objects and to create horizontal lines.

Coffee tables, sideboards and mantles are great places to arrange vignettes and one of the things to pay attention to is keeping if simple and not too cluttered.

There should be one item that grounds the grouping and the colors and textures should balance with other pieces of furniture or fabrics in the room.  At Home on the Range we love to use picture frames with family photos, interesting candle holders with candles that pull colors out of the room, sculptural items and vases in our vignettes.

If you’re searching for accessories for your vignettes, stop by the Home on the Range showroom on Loggers Lane or contact us to have us send you anything you see and like.  Here are some fun ideas we have come across recently.

picture frames are great additions to vignettes - add your own family photos for a more personal touch

 

 

I love finding fun "conversation pieces" to put in vignettes like these vintage airplanes

 

 

These antique French glass bottles will add a great touch to a vignette once they are cleaned up!

 

Candle holders work well on a mantle

 

 

beautiful glass vases add interest to vignettes

Images 1-2 Colour Me Happy

 

Images 3-: Accessories from Home on the Range

Environmentally Friendly Design Elements
Design Tips and Trends

Environmentally Friendly Design Elements

With Earth Day in April, going green has been giving many people food for thought this month. Environmentally friendly practices and features can be used in multiple facets of our lives, including our home environments. Here are a few green elements we at Home on the Range have incorporated into a number of our interior design projects: Reclaimed Wood Reclaimed wood is a great natural material we often turn to for rustic bathroom and kitchen designs; we’ve also found many contemporary furniture pieces made of reclaimed wood.

Tracy Plasma TV Console from Four Hands

Architectural Antiques This is another example of going green by reusing older elements in modern-day design. Architectural antiqueslike corbels, doors, shutters and more have added meaningful layers to a variety of Home on the Range projects.

This Mine Style house by Home on the Range includes an antique door.

Multi-functional Furnishings A great Houzz article on “ways to go greener through design” suggests using multi-functional furnishings, and we couldn’t agree more. Ottomans used as coffee tables or with storage space inside are great options.

Here, we used a great ottoman as a coffee table.

We often look for ways to incorporate fluorescent or LED lighting into our lighting design as an energy saving feature.

Custom dining fixture was designed for fluorescent lighting

Contact Home on the Range Interiors in Steamboat Springs, CO for help creating a unique design scheme for your mountain home.

Breathtaking Backsplashes for the Kitchen and Bath
It's All in the Details

Breathtaking Backsplashes for the Kitchen and Bath

A recent Arcilook blog post on kitchen backsplashes caught our eye. As Arcilook details:

“If you’re looking for one project that can truly transform your kitchen into a space you’ll love to share (without spending a fortune), consider upgrading your backsplash.”

We completely agree, but we also want to take it one step further: A backsplash can add a lot to the look of not only the kitchen, but also bath and powder rooms. Here are some beautiful backsplashes sure to inspire.

This backsplash makes a statement behind the stove, pulling in shades of brown, gray and cream from the surrounding cabinets, walls and countertops.

A textured stone wall is the backsplash for this bath vanity.

Here, glass mosaic tile wainscot becomes the backsplash for the vanity.

The following four photos are all from design projects by Home on the Range.

This is a detailed look at the  kitchen back splash we used in a home we just completed in Steamboat.  See below for pictures of the kitchen and how the back splash pulled everything together.

The colors in this backsplash work well with a green slate countertop, painted green cabinet and the golden brown tone of the antique white oak cabinetry.

The tile works beautifully with the custom concrete sink and counter top from Concrete Revolution

Note the green painted cabinet under the window and the slate counter top in the foreground. The same slate was used on the lower island counter top as well.

An iridescent glass tile backsplash is the perfect complement to the stone wall in this recreation bar below.

Talk to Lynne or Susan at Home on the Range in Steamboat Springs, CO for help with designing your dream kitchen or bathroom and with interior finishes to suit your style. Visit our website to find out more.

Images 1-3 via Houzz, as linked above; 4-7 Interior design by Home on the Range; Photography by Tim Murphy; Architecture by Joe Patrick Robbins

Rustic Kitchen Designs
Design Tips and Trends,Featured,Western Style

Rustic Kitchen Designs

We just came across a wonderful slideshow on Cultivate about incorporating reclaimed wood into the heart of a home. It discusses the benefits of using reclaimed wood as a material—like going green and getting pieces with stories and history—as well as suggestions for bringing reclaimed wood into kitchens—whether as furniture, cabinetry, wall coverings or smaller details.

At Home on the Range, we’ve incorporated reclaimed wood into many of our kitchen designs, including the first four kitchens shown below…

Reclaimed timbers on the center island of this Pioneer Homestead Ranch came from Amish barns in Canada. The island was custom made for the space by Rustic Woodworks.

Antique elm is used in this Lake Lodge kitchen because it’s fairly light in color and has a beautiful grain. The island adds a rich aqua color, reflecting the shadings of the aqua verde marble countertop.

In this Old Homestead Ranch kitchen we used antique white oak for the lower cabinets but painted the upper cabinets a multi-layered cream color to go with the tile on the countertops and to keep the kitchen from feeling too dark.

Reclaimed wood materials can also be used throughout an entire kitchen which works beautifully in a  rustic mountain style home.

 Carole King’s kitchen was featured in Architectural Digest, and we like its comfortable rustic look. We don’t know who the designer is or if the wood here is reclaimed, but the magazine does explain the celebrity singer strove to create an “environmentally friendly” home. Plus it’s so fitting with the rustic kitchen theme we couldn’t help but include it:

 

The kitchen below that caught our eye on HOUZZ  has a wonderful mix of rustic and reclaimed materials.

Lake Country Builders traditional kitchen

 

If you’re interested in a stylish rustic kitchen design for your Colorado home, contact Home on the Range.

Images: 1-4 Interior design by Home on the Range; Photography by Tim Murphy; Architecture by Joe Patrick Robbins. 5 via Architectural Digest 6 via Houzz 

Tabletop Ideas for Dining Outdoors
Design Tips and Trends,Featured,Featured Products,It's All in the Details

Tabletop Ideas for Dining Outdoors

As promised in our post on dining alfresco in style, in today’s post we’re sharing some fun ideas for outdoor dining accessories.  These linens and accessories will enhance any outdoor table setting.   Whether you like something more neutral or like vibrant colors you may find something here to suit your fancy:

 

For a simple rustic look, use natural placemats and pair with colors that reflect the environment around you–soft greens and browns would create an inviting table. Add iron hurricanes and a vase of freshly picked wildflowers as finishing touches.

 

I also love to add color to my outdoor table settings – I found this one on Pinterest and love how it looks like a field of wildflowers!

 

What a fun colorful tablecloth in this table setting.  I  love the way they have created a sense of privacy with the fence and the fabric.

Decorate by Holly Becker and Joanna Copestick eclectic patio

 

Set a lively table and keep conversation flowing by mixing any of the colorful accessories and table linens below.

 

Campo di Fiori vases and hurricanes

Amber Glass Orbs from Campo di Fiori 

Colorful votive candleholders

Grasslands candles from http://www.vancekitira.com

Tag table linens   tagltd.com

Tag striped placemats

Tag table runner and silverware basket

Tag tiered server

Yellow Forever Oilcloth

This blue oilcloth would look fantastic paired with white china and a vase of yellow daisies.

How are you going to set your outdoor table for spring? You can contact Home on the Range for purchasing information if any of these dining accessories caught your eye.

 

Photo 1 – don’t know the source  Photo 2 via Pinterest Photo 3 via Houzz  Photos 4-10 products available at Home on the Range

Dining Alfresco in Style
It's All in the Details

Dining Alfresco in Style

Lynne on the banks of the Seine

Lynne Barton Bier

When I lived in France I fell in love with the way French would move their meals outside as soon as the weather permitted.  Memories of the long tables covered in brightly colored tablecloths and vases filled with flowers from the garden or surrounding fields, with chunks of baguette littered here and there and wine glasses at varying stages of fullness, of sparkling conversation that would last until well after the sun went down and the candles had burned to interesting puddles of wax  have become a part of my psyche.  Here in Steamboat Springs we have a short window for dining outdoors and even then, we often need to have heaters scattered around to ward off the evening chill.  In spite of the challenges I will stretch the season for as long as possible to be able to enjoy every moment.   My passion for dining alfresco lead me to the creation of this blog so I can share both  some fun tables and great settings I have come across.  ( This is a follow up on our post on rustic outdoor living spaces and we will do another on our favorite outdoor dining accessories!).   Here are some inviting outdoor dining spaces complete with a rustic, natural style.   Take a look…

This New Mexico Territorial covered porch with its brightly colored oilcloth table covering is a perfect spot to eat lunch out of the hot mid-day sun..

 

 


The stone wall is a beautiful backdrop to this alfresco dining space, which shows a table can still be set with stylish dinnerware and centerpieces, even if it is outdoors.  

This dining space features an iron chandelier and I love the way the curtains frame the opening to create a feeling of intimacy – what a romantic spot to dine!


This rustic table is situated conveniently next to a tremendous outdoor cooking area.  I love the way they have flowers everywhere!


This great spot lets nature do most of the outdoor decorating, a technique that would also work here in Colorado.

Do these images make you want to set up a table outside to gather friends and family around?

Images: 1 via Home on the Range 2 via Houzz; 3 liveandenliven.com via Pinterest; 4 via Houzz; 5 via Elle Decor

Marrying Transitional and Rustic Style
Design Tips and Trends,Western Style

Marrying Transitional and Rustic Style

Transitional style—a combination of contemporary and traditional design elements—is really big in home design these days and we love the timeless feel it evokes.  We also  love to pair the transitional look with a rustic mountain feel that’s perfect for the Western lifestyle.    Below are some examples of Transitional Mountain style – which also overlaps with Rustic Contemporary style.

 

Transitional mountain rustic great room by Home on the Range Designer Lynne Barton Bier

 

This is a great explanation of transitional design from Houzz:

“Through its simple lines, neutral color scheme, and use of light and warmth, transitional style joins the best of both the traditional and modern worlds.”

 

 

Rustic Family Room transitional family room

With its updated traditional appeal and natural wood and stone finishes, this family room marries transitional and rustic style in one harmonious space.

 

Transitional Kitchen & Dining room

This dining room is a great example of transitional with it’s traditional styling paired with more contemporary furniture pieces.   With its wood floors and beams it could easily work in a mountain environment.

We’ve also picked out a few beautiful transitional products that would work well in Western homes.

This Arteriors lamp is one of our top 5 ambient light fixture picks. 

Modern Classic Galbraith Bedding from Eastern Accents would look stylish in a Colorado bedroom.

This Chair and Ottoman from Wesley Hall would look right at home in a transitional mountain living room.

This Waterloo chandelier from Curry and Company would be perfect for a transitional room

Here is a great chandelier that would work well in a mountain transitional home.  It is one of our favorites from Curry and  Company

http://www.curreycodealers.com/

 

At Home on the Range, mountain transitional is one of the four main styles we’ve noticed that are important in current Colorado design. We would love to help create a Western interior design scheme perfect for you and your lifestyle. Do you like the mountain transitional look, or do you prefer mountain contemporary, mountain lodge or Old West style? Leave a comment to let us know!

Images: 1 via Home on the Range2 and 3 via Houzz;  4 Arteriors; 5 via Eastern Accents; 6via Wesley Hall  7 via Curry and Company

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