Interior Design Blog

DISCUSSIONS IN INTERIOR DESIGN AND LOVING YOUR HOME

  • NO LONGER 14 PATTERNS OF BIOPHILIC INTERIOR DESIGN

    Feng Shui and Biophilic Design are two sides of addressing the same irrefutable concept, our connection to nature. Both disciplines highlight the fact that we are nature, and we thrive in environments that reflect and encompass our connection to the outdoors.
  • Art makes the design

    Feng Shui and Biophilic Design are two sides of addressing the same irrefutable concept, our connection to nature. Both disciplines highlight the fact that we are nature, and we thrive in environments that reflect and encompass our connection to the outdoors.
  • Integrative Design: Biophilic Design and Feng Shui

    Feng Shui and Biophilic Design are two sides of addressing the same irrefutable concept, our connection to nature. Both disciplines highlight the fact that we are nature, and we thrive in environments that reflect and encompass our connection to the outdoors.
  • A Color Primer

    Achieving color harmony - the experience of feeling balanced when surrounded by different colors found in nature on your walls, floors, rugs, fabrics - really everything in your environment - is key to your well-being and happiness. Do you want to feel serene? Energized? Relaxed?
  • Find your Happy Place with Biophilic Design Principles

    If you could imagine yourself in your “favorite place” would that be somewhere outside, in nature? No wonder! We have an innate, genetically-determined human need to create a home with nature. To live in a home infused with nature is essential, not simply decoration.
  • What is Timeless Interior Design?

    When designing the interior of a home, it’s easy to get caught up by the latest design trends. Here I explore the science behind timeless interior design and the key to designing for long-term happiness.
  • Paint: Not Just for Color Anymore

    You probably wouldn’t consider the impact that wall paint could have on the air quality in your home.  Though you may have appreciated the fact that low and zero VOC (volatile organic compound) paint has long been a sought-after solution to the lingering odors from ongoing out-gassing a new paint...
  • Your Fifth Wall: An Area Rug Guide

    Read our area rug guide to learn about the different types of area rugs and the dos and don'ts of your room's often-forgotten fifth wall.
  • Our First Ever Custom Rug Sale

    *Sale Expires Dec 3, 2021* Normally we can sell these gorgeous carpets for less than our designer trade pricing. For a limited time, we’re able to offer 26 designs and colors for an ADDITIONAL 30% off!
  • Outdoor Living Spaces: Thinking Outside the House

    One of the surprise blessings of the last year and a half is our recognition and use of the additional living space available to us outside. To escape our confinement (and on-occasion our loving family) during the pandemic, and to gather safely afterward when life began to open up, we...
  • Working From Home: Your Desk Makes the Space

    You’re beginning to get into the groove of working from home. The kids know to stay out of the room, the sound of the washing machine isn’t permeating into your work domain and your spouse knows you're not home to socialize all day. But still, it feels like the guest...
  • Yes You Can

    I know, right? Shelter in place. An in-your-face wake-up call to the importance of home and how it relates to our sense of security and well-being. Now more than ever we need peace. A stress-free environment where we can best manage these uncertain times. All you need to do
  • Adjusting to the New Normal: Are You Ready to Work from Home?

    Though many are forced to do so now, Kate Lister of Global Workplace Analytics (GWA), estimates that we will see 25 – 30% of the workforce working from home one or more days a week within the next two years. Moreover, most of us WANT to work from home....
  • Welcome to Our Secret Source: Rugs for Less than Designer Trade Pricing

    We have sourced an amazing company that creates for our clients the most beautiful, ecologically sustainable, 100% child-free labor and 100% natural materials custom area rugs at unbelievable prices. Use one of our existing designs or create a complete custom and unique design just for you, all in just 2-3...
  • Buying Furniture: Retail is Not Your Only Option

    A few years ago I was hired by a retail furniture store to help them “rebrand” themselves for the Marin and Sonoma markets. Subsequently working privately with clients I was surprised to learn that in their eyes, the best (and usually only) options for buying furniture were retail stores or...
  • 10 Most Embarrassing Mistakes When Designing your New Home as a Divorced Man

    This article (3rd in a series) is about creating the space, the right home environment in your life from where you can make things right again. Where you can move forward most joyfully and productively after your divorce. As with your finances, your car, and your health, for excellence in...
  • 3 Action Steps to Move you Forward in Furnishing your New Home as a Divorced Man

    This article (2nd in a series) is about creating the space, the right home environment in your life from where you can make things right again and move forward most joyfully and productively after your divorce. You may have left a large house, never bought a towel, rarely cooked a...
  • Making Things Right Again: Creating a New Home, This Time as a Divorcee

    This article (1st in a series) is about creating the space, the right home environment in your life from where you can make things right again and move forward most joyfully and productively after your divorce.
  • Living in Art: Your Home as a 3-Dimensional Painting

    Do you have a favorite painting? Whether an abstract, a landscape or a painting of an interior you can feel the balance of color and texture, notice the way the lines direct your eyes in and around the scene, enjoy a surprise when that little pop of red catches your...
  • Demystifying the Process of Interior Design

    We guide you through the process of design, gently stretching your perceptions of what a warm and welcoming space can be.” Stacey says. “Our knowledge of color, comfort, function and style, and your occasional leap of faith, will result in an exceedingly successful environment that feels best – that becomes...
  • Expectations and Reality

    “She was interested in how I wanted to live- what my tastes and needs were. She has the quality of furnishings, the convenience, fees and accessibility I wanted. I found Stacey to be an excellent listener, interpreting my likes and dislikes into a wonderful final effect. Stacey’s fees are fair...
  • What does “Pure Design” Really Mean?

    I received an award from the American Society of Interior Designers, for a master bedroom I created for a Designer Showcase House some years ago. The room was said to be an expression of “pure design”. What did that mean? I wondered. I decided to write about the concept, and...
  • The 3 Most Important Questions to Ask When Hiring An Interior Designer

    Whether you are building a new home or considering a renovation to your existing home, you know your design team – architect, interior designer, contractor/builder and possibly landscape architect- are critical to an efficient process and your amazingly successful result.
  • Biophilic Design, Patterns of Nature Of The Space

    As biological organisms, we have an innate desire to connect with nature. And we’re genetically predisposed to prefer certain types of nature and scenery over others. Universally it seems, we all like a view from a bit up on a hill overlooking a savanna. There’s a lake down there, and...
  • Biophilic Design, Patterns of Natural Analogues

    Biophilic Design is based on research that identifies specific design patterns found in nature that have measurable, positive impacts on human health and well-being. Incorporating aspects of Biophilic Design into your home’s design will create a space that not only looks great, but feels right. Your experience of your home...
  • Biophilic Design, Patterns of Nature In The Space

    Based on our love of nature, Biophilic Design provides a new framework for interior designers and architects, in which to create spaces where people are healthier, more satisfied and more productive when designing your home. It addresses how environments affect how well we
  • Biophilic Design – The Basics

    I’ve recently become interested in learning about Biophilic design, how our vital connection to nature can be carried into the design of our homes. Far more impactful than bringing a plant indoors or installing a wall of windows, understanding and implementing Biophilia in our work can vastly improve the lives...
  • Meet Stacey Lapuk, Principal Designer

    Bay Area Women magazine interviews Stacey Lapuk, ASID, celebrating 30 years as a full-service luxury interior design firm. Our clients range from celebrities and leaders of industry to people and families next door. Much of our work is now focused on our local fire re-builds (Sonoma and Napa counties), those
  • Asmara Interview with Stacey Lapuk: How to Design an Award Winning Showcase House

    This is an interview I did with Asmara, an amazing resource for handmade luxurious rugs, and named for a world heritage site, the capital city of Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa. I fell in love with this rug, and specified it for a beautiful and bright living room...