TheDesignFile

Home tours: The favorites of 2009

As part of my look back at 2009, here's a list of The Design File's most-viewed home tours from the past year.

There are some real beauties here so make sure you follow the links and take a look back:

1. Colorful house part of weekend event

This home tour was so popular it was actually #2 on my list of most-read posts from the past year, which I featured on Sunday. It was part of my preview of the 2009 Meridian-Kessler Home & Garden Tour in Indianapolis.

Decorated in an eclectic French Country style by owner Whitney Mounts, it featured some amazingly fun, colorful rooms, including this toile dining room.

2. Cottage at West Clay

This beautiful home is located in the Village of West Clay, a high-end neighborhood development in Carmel, Ind., a northern suburb of Indianapolis. This cottage home was built by Kurt Schmadeke and decorated by JoEllen Kempler.

It featured walls of sage and chocolate brown, which had just the slightest hint of eggplant.

This contemporary living room had bright white woodwork, light upholstery, and silver accents.

3. "Eclectic traditional" on display

This Tudor home was another on the Meridian-Kessler Home & Garden Tour and was decorated by owners Kay & Scott Whitaker.

The 2,300-square-foot home had four bedrooms but two have been converted, creating an office and a fantastic walk-in closet. The garage is new and has a second-floor studio for Kay's work with fabrics. She made or embellished all the window treatments in the house and they are gorgeous! And she's done some fantastic faux painting throughout as well.

4. Restored mid century beauty

This home was designed by Evans Woollen, an Indianapolis architect who also is responsible for Butler University's Clowes Hall. It has been fully restored by Realtor Jerri Concannon of Asset One Real Estate and her husband, who have appropriately decorated the space as well.

"All mid-century styling credit goes to my husband," Jerri told me. "He began collecting mid-century furniture about 10 years ago, even though we lived in a traditional Meridian-Kessler brick foursquare."

Etsy picks: The best handmade goods of the year

Instead of featuring a new Etsy shop this week, I thought I'd highlight my five favorites from this past year.

This was tough. Truly. I've liked every shop I've featured here and narrowing the list to just five was incredibly difficult. But here goes...

My Top Five Etsy posts from 2009

1. Acrylic art makes modern statement

I made this post about the shop Messicakes (above) tops on my list because I just couldn't stop looking at Jessica Kestler's pieces. The Indianapolis artist creates acrylic panels, tiles and other shapes in brilliant colors that are incredibly eye-catching.

"My pieces remind me of things in the modern world around us and stuff from my childhood," Jessica says in her etsy profile. The piece above is called "flashing lights. I loved it so much, I bought it!

2. Modern mobiles to amuse adults

Salty and Sweet sells mobiles - not the kind you hang over a crib but fun and funky styles that are meant simply to add a little humor to a room.

I just love these mobiles! One of my favorites is called Derby Grrrls (shown at left), which features five skaters in various stages of motion. It costs $30 and comes fully assembled.

Shop owner Andrea is "an industrial designer with a crafter's heart who needs a good excuse to go play with the laser cutter," according to her Etsy profile. Keep it up, Andrea!

3. Delicate accessories for tabletops

RouDesigns is a mother-daughter collaboration between Rouska & Roussina Valkova and offers a small selection of beautiful porcelain pieces, including some sweet salt & pepper shakers and perfect little vases.

I love how these gorgeous small pieces would look in formal, casual or modern decors. They are so stunning and truly affordable!

4. Personalized art makes a statement

Art*iculate is another Indiana-based Etsy shop and I saw artist Kris Davidson's work in person at a local art sale.

 Kris takes a pile of cards -- from your wedding, a shower or a birthday -- and makes a real keepsake. "This 11x14 matted greeting card collage art is a special way to display the heartfelt imagery given to you in a card," Kris writes on the site. "This is a great anniversary gift to your spouse."

She also sells custom name art, which uses unusual photos that look like letters to spell out names.

5. Inspirational art for your walls 

Finally, I picked RedLetterWords to round out our Top 5 Etsy shops because I like the spirit with which artist Dee creates these pieces using scriptures, poems and phrases.

"I started to design things for my own house because I want the things in my house to have special meaning for me and my family," Dee says at her Etsy site.

Dee also has prints about love, travel and hope and will make you a custom piece if you have a scripture, poem or place you want to commemorate.

Thanks so much...

... to all the fabulous Etsy shops we've featured this year. I've loved them all -- even those that didn't make the list. If you want to see more, check our Etsy category.

Try wallpaper behind a headboard for modern style

Now that the holidays are over and the doldrums of winter have set in, it's time to do something to brighten up the rooms where we spend so much of our time -- our bedrooms!

I got some great ideas when I recently toured the Residences at Allen Plaza, a condo building developed by J. Greg Allen in downtown Indianapolis.

In many of the condos, designers Shannon Roark of Interior Life and Matty Bennett of Sequences Design used wallpaper behind headboards to bring some drama to beds that were otherwise rather ordinary. It worked wonders.

Check out the room at right. This bedroom had a very simple headboard. But with the addition of the white and silver wallpaper behind it, the simplicity becomes intentional and the wall becomes a focal point.

Plus, using paper on just one wall is an easy way to get a big bang for little money and work. And when you're using wallpaper in a small space, you can try something a little wild, bold or unusual.

Check out the bedroom below. It would be tough to use this bold print throughout an entire room. But on wall behind the bed, it pulls this black, white and pink room together.

 

But you don't have to be quite so bold to create a feature wall. In the photo below, the gray papered wall is in a similar tone as the blue paint so the overall effect is much more subtle.

 

Finally, the photo below is a great compromise between bold and subtle. The gray pattern on the chocolate brown background is nearly a match for the painted walls. But the pattern is so bold that it still makes a big statement in the room.

Design Translation: Our last pick -- a side table

This is it -- our last choice for our virtual remake of an inspiration room by New York designer Shawn Henderson. It's been a fun room to work on and I'm sort of sad this is it. But I am excited that we will finish our room under budget!

Today, I've got four options for a side table. (You'll see that there were five but #2 is just outside the budget.) We can afford all four with the $175 we have left. So the budget really isn't an issue anymore. Here are the tables, with the inspiration room table in the lower middle.

This is one of our tougher choices -- not because choosing a side table is that difficult. The problem is that the table is barely visible in our inspiration room.

We can see that it's wood but it's hard to tell even that much about the shape. So I didn't focus too much on the inspiration room. I just picked what I liked and what fit into the budget.

We've already spent $2,825 on the other choices for the room -- chairs, ottomans, a coffee table, art and a sofa. You can see how all the choices compare with the inspiration room at right. (Click to see the images larger.)

Remember, we're trying to replicate the feel of the Shawn Henderson room. But that doesn't mean each piece must have precisely the same look.

You vote for your favorite table by commenting on the post below. Just click "comment" all the way at the bottom of the post and enter your pick and your thoughts.

Here are the details and prices of your options:

A look back at some great tips from 2009

As we approach the start of 2010, I'm taking a look back at some of my favorite and the most popular posts on The Design File in 2009.

Yesterday, I reviewed the 10 most-read posts of 2009. Today, I'm going to do a list of my favorite "tips" from 2009.

1. Give your home some glitz

This was one of my favorite posts of the year. It was actually the first of two posts about adding some sparkle to your space. There were five tips in each post. Among them:

• Use silk or taffeta drapes
• Try metallic wallpaper
• Hang a sparkling chandelier (see at right)

2. Use stripes to make your room seem taller

This tip came from designer Alycia Wicker, who recommends using striped wallpaper to make a room seem taller.

"Sticking with a simple, two color stripe pattern is best," Alycia said. "There are stripe patterns with more than one color that would tend to draw your eye across the room first, instead of drawing your eye up."

3. Use books to make a great side table

I loved this project because it was so incredibly easy and got a few books off my crowded book shelves!

There's nothing complicated about this project. Just stack up books -- I used both hardcover and softcover -- to the height you need, put a decent looking book on top, and, well, that's it. Instant side table!

4. Choosing art: Buy what you love

This post offers some tips from painter Susan Hodgin of Indianapolis for purchasing art for your home.

"Buy art that makes your heart sing, makes you laugh, or makes you cry," she said.

See her painting "Day" at left.

5. How to decorate in black and white

This was from our Black & White Week, a sort of homage to the Indy 500. The post was a Q&A with Danielle Myers of Elle Designs in Indianapolis, who talked to The Design File about how to decorating with black and white.

"With a design based on black and white colors, it is easy to change the look and feel over the years without having to redo the entire design," she said. "This can be done through adding different accent colors, or placing a bold piece of artwork on the wall."

Photo above from Pottery Barn.

Home tour: A comfy house in a historic area

I really love modern homes but sometimes they lack the warm, comfy feel that I actually like to live in.

That's why I'm really drawn to this home in the historic Lockerbie neighborhood in downtown Indianapolis. It has a contemporary feel that still complements its history. But it's also full of comfy furnishings that you can really sink into.

The house is on the market for $737,000 by the Flock Real Estate Group, which sells many of downtown Indy's most exquisite homes. Thanks to Kate Flock for making these photos available to The Design File.

Kate calls this home "one of the loveliest" in the neighborhood.

"Rich finishes, lovely vistas out every window & zero projects for the new owner," the listing says.

It has nearly 3,400 square feet when you include the finished basement, three bedrooms and 3-1/2 baths. Plus, the exterior has been professionally landscaped.

Check out more photos below:

 

Design Translation: Ross Lindsay piece picked

I shouldn't be surprised that during Christmas week, we had just a few folks voting for the art for our virtual remake of an inspiration room by New York designer Shawn Henderson.

Still, those readers who participated made a great choice, narrowly picking this Ross Lindsay 'Curious Vision II' Oversized Canvas Art piece, which was on sale for $165 at Overstock. It's 40 inches square so I think it's just the right size -- as well as the right colors and feel -- for our room.

It was also the right price. It leaves us with $175 (from our original $3,000) budget to make the last decision for the room -- picking a side table. Our options will obviously be limited by the budget. But it's more than I thought we'd have left!

See the collage at left to see how the room is shaping up. You'll see the inspiration room in the middle and our choices all around. And check back with us on Tuesday as we start voting for that last piece.

Sunday roundup: Our most read posts of 2009

Typically I use the Sunday roundup to highlight great posts from across the home decor blogosphere. But today, I wanted to look back at the most popular posts on The Design File this year. (Actually, since we essentially got started here in May, we're really going back just eight months).

So here are the Top Ten posts, as measured by page views (and discounting giveaways):

1. Stylish options for your kitty cats.

This was by far The Design File's top read post, a product no doubt of the popularity of guest writer Kate Benjamin of the fantastic Moderncat blog.

Kate gave readers a list of her 10 favorite items for cats, including the Rondo cat bed/climber/scratcher (shown at right) from German company Cat-Interiors.

2. Home tour: Colorful house part of weekend event.

This post featured an amazing home in the historic Meridian-Kessler area of Indianapolis that was to be part of the neighborhood's annual home tour. Decorated in an eclectic French Country style by owner Whitney Mounts, it was a great example of eye candy for design lovers.

The house is just full of bright and fun rooms but I think it was the kids' rooms, including this one featuring 4-year-old Eleanor that caught readers' attention.

3. Six fantastic wall applications: No paint and (almost) no wallpaper required.

This post was one of my personal favorites. I love some of these ideas even though I must admit I've actually used few of them.

Still, it's a great reminder that paint isn't the only choice for dressing up your walls. Decals, panels and other options are available too. Check out these cool Wallflowers (shown at left) which I first saw on a visit to Silver in the City on Mass Ave in downtown Indianapolis. They're still for sale.

The Homies: Vote for The Design File

And get links to some fantastic home & decor blogs

The always fun and inspiring Apartment Therapy blog has launched its second annual Homies awards, a competition for blogs about, well, homes.

"There are awards for all sorts of blogs, but no one ever pays enough attention to the shelter blogs, so we started The Homies," Apartment Therapy says about the contest. "It's our way of surveying the blogosphere each year for the best new home design blogs and sharing what we find. It's not so much a competition as a celebration of the richness and awesomeness of shelter bloggers around the world."

But it is a competition of sorts. The site is taking nominations and endorsements of blogs. Those with the most endorsements will move into a voting stage and then winners will be announced Jan. 7.

The Design File has already been nominated. But you can endorse the nomination by going here. You just click on the little blue house.

Relax & enjoy the holiday!

Merry Christmas!

I hope all of you have an amazing Christmas today, surrounded by your family and friends. Take a break from The Design File, from Facebook, from the web and just enjoy the people you love.

But come back and see us soon. I promise that after weeks of Christmas-oriented posts, we'll be back with new home tours, design idea and DIYs. We'll also finish up our Design Translation choices soon and pick the room we'll recreate next. (Hint: The next inspiration room is a bedroom and you can help pick which one!)