TheDesignFile

Home tour: A rustic retreat in the Indy Home Show!

A highlight of the annual Indianapolis Home Show is the fully-constructed, decorated and landscaped Centerpiece Home built entirely inside the Exposition Hall. This year's house was done by Davis Building Group and it was really a treat.

The 2,650-square-foot, two-story, three-bedroom design comes from Davis' new “Symphony Collection.”

The decor was done by Cheryl Seltenright from The Inside Job, located in Noblesville, and I thought it was striking and beautiful. It was sort of rustic, farmhouse chic, similar to the look that Pottery Barn is now showing but even more gorgeous.

One highlight was the reclaimed wood provided by Indiana's own J.L. Stader Artisans, which salvages wood from old barns and other structures beyond repair. The company's handiwork is seen throughout the house, including the reclaimed elm flooring in the front hall, the 20-foot hand-hewn barn beams on the living room ceiling and the kitchen island made from barn wood siding from central Ohio.

JL Stader also created custom paneling using weathered oak timbers from a barn in Huntingburg, Indiana. It was installed in the centerpiece home's sitting room, shown at right.

Another thing I really liked about the house was that the decor was practical. I can't count the number of times I've walked into some kind of show home to find no dressers in the bedrooms or TVs in the living room. I want to see a beautiful home that's still livable.

That's where Cheryl really excelled. All the rooms were practical but still chic and fun. Check out the living room at right. There a nice sized TV above a stone fireplace. Yea!

I don't mean to imply the decorating wasn't divine. I loved the darker, rich colors on the walls, the painted furnishings and the higher-end floors. The barn-style decor may have been slightly over the top for my tastes, but it is after all a show house.

And I loved the Cheryl's use of numbers and letters as decorations -- you know those interchangeable plastic ones that are used on fast-food signs (at least I think that's what they were). It's such a great idea and you'll see them scattered throughout the photos below.

So here's the tour:

The Indiana Design Center ramps up

There are some exciting things going on up at the Indiana Design Center in the Indianapolis suburb of Carmel, where city officials have joined with private investors to create a one-stop shop for all things interior design.

New tenants are moving into the gorgeous, brick building that was completed last year and J. Baker Interiors has opened its doors.

Then I was thrilled to see that the Design Center has started its own blog! Indiana Design promised in its first post on Dec. 29 to "bring you design news and showcase exceptional design work, especially that which is relevant to Indiana."

"Additionally, we’ll provide frequent updates about our tenants, building progress, Carmel Arts & Design District and events," the blog says.

It was from the blog that I learned The Design Center has finalized a lease with Indianapolis-based design firm Outré, which makes headboards, ottomans, chairs and other furnishings. See the firm's Ellie sofa.

"For those who like to shop local, it doesn’t get any better than this," Indiana Design says on the blog. "Outré is family owned and operated and offers products only made in Indiana. Yes, only made in Indiana. Outré takes great pride in each piece as all furniture leaves with its very own name."

The Lauren chair is shown at left.

If you're in the Indianapolis area, you should definitely take a drive up to see the Indiana Design Center and visit the entire Carmel Arts & Design District, where you'll find some tremendous art galleries and design studios as well as fantastic restaurants and events.

Nation's oldest home show begins Friday in Indy

The Indianapolis Home Show -- the nation's oldest and the Midwest's largest home show -- launches Friday with more than 900 exhibits, a centerpiece home, and countless home remodeling and decorating ideas.

The 88th annual show lasts through Feb. 7. It's located at the West Pavilion and the Exposition Hall at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

This is one of my favorite annual events. There's really way too much going on at the show to list, although you can check out the show's stage schedule here.

But I still wanted to give you a few of the basics:

Centerpiece Home

Davis Building Group is building this year’s Centerpiece Home — a fully- constructed, decorated and landscaped house built entirely inside the Exposition Hall. The rendering is above.

The 2,650 square-foot home will show off "the most current and exciting trends in architecture and style," according to home show organizers.

Cheryl Seltenright from The Inside Job, located in Noblesville, will decorate the home, and landscaping for the Centerpiece Home will come courtesy of William H. Brown Landscaping.

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.

Allen condo is both warm and modern

It was several weeks ago that I gave you a sneak peek of the new Residences at Allen Plaza, a condo building developed by J. Greg Allen in downtown Indianapolis. I promised to share more photos the following week, but I've been a little overwhelmed trying to get them all organized. There was just so much to see!

So I thought I'd start by showing you the first condo I visited, a space that serves as the sales office for the development. It was also one of my favorites.

The condo was decorated by Shannon Roark of Interior Life and Matty Bennett of Sequences Design. Shannon told me the condo is his favorite too.

"This is kind of the unit that is the most fun," Shannon said. "We wanted people to be really energized and we wanted it to have a lot of creativity."

I love the room at top. The blue-gray walls, white Saarinen table and orange Barcelona chair combine for a really sophisticated space but one that's also having fun.

It fits right into the rest of the condo, which Shannon has a little pop art influence.

Check out the kitchen, where the color scheme continues. In this case the UltraCraft frameless cabinets are done in orange and a brown metallic thermafoil. They're just gorgeous. But it's the stainless backsplash that steals all the attention.

Attention Indiana designers: Entries wanted now

The Indiana chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers is calling for members to enter its 2010 Excellence in Design awards competition.

Entries are due by 5 p.m. on Dec. 14 -- just four days after ASID's Holiday Party at ARTBOX!

This must be such a fun competition to judge! You get to cull through all the best work done by Hoosier interior designers from between Sept. 30, 2008 and Oct. 1, 2009. (Photo at right from Brandy Ketterer Design Co.)

Get all the details about this contest at the ASID/Indiana website and from this brochure.

Awards will be presented at the ASID Indiana annual Design Interaction Day on Feb. 26.

Here are the categories:

Mid-century settings make for fun holiday table

I hadn't planned a second post today, but then I saw these great photos of some mid-century place settings all done up for Thanksgiving. The photos are from Indiana photographer Craig McCormick, who has a website dedicated to the work of mid-century potters. It's fascinating.

I'm a little jealous of anyone who can set so many Thanksgiving tables that are so completely different. They're beautiful!

But Craig is a collector. He's been collecting mid-century pottery for more than 10 years. You can see the Iroquois Informal Harvest Time by Ben Seibel 1958 above.

"Tamac is my favorite," Craig told me. "But I love the Seibel Raymor Contempora setting."

Thanks to Craig for letting us use the photos. Check out the rest of them here:

Above, Gracetone Orbit dinnerware ca 1959

Above and below, Tamac Pottery in Avocado color 1946-72 from Oklahoma

 

Above, Steubenville Raymor Contempora by Ben Seibel 1953

 

Above, Iroquois Informal Harvest Time by Ben Seibel 1958

Sneak peek: New downtown condos are just cool

I was so privileged last night to attend the VIP opening of the Residences at Allen Plaza, a new condo building developed by J. Greg Allen in downtown Indianapolis. Seven condos -- six of them decorated -- were available for tours and the designers were in the crowd.

The condos looked spectacular and were full of fantastic ideas. Interior designers Shannon Roark of Interior Life and Matty Bennett of Sequences Design assured me that despite the high end look, not everything came with a big price tag.

I'm only starting to go through all my photos. So today, I'm just sharing a taste of what I saw. (And keep in mind, this event was packed with people and happened at night. In other words, no natural light available for photos!)

Check back next week when I'll have for much, much more to show you as well as some great advice from Shannon and Matty!

Contemporary Indy condo offers amazing views

A couple years ago, my husband and I went on a downtown condo tour and the one place we still talk about was an amazing, unfinished (and I mean just steel girders and concrete floors) space in the Residences at 429 on the Park.

The condo is in a newly renovated and expanded historic building on Pennsylvania Street in Indianapolis that offers phenomenal views of the city and a number of memorials.

Now The Indianapolis Star has photos of the finished condo, which is owned by Steve and Shelly Harkness and decorated with help from interior designer Chip Kaleen. I love it! Thanks to the Star for making the photos available.

HomeFinder: Downtown Condo - More The Indianapolis Star Galleries

View this gallery at The Indianapolis Star: HomeFinder: Downtown Condo

Showhouse 2010: The Booth Tarkington House

The St. Margaret's Hospital Guild in Indianapolis has chosen the Tudor-style Booth Tarkington House for its 2010 Decorators' Show House -- again!

The home at 4270 N. Meridiant St. was built in 1911 and the two-time Pulitzer Prize winning author bought the house in 1923 for $37,000. Tarkington lived in the home for the next 23 years until his death. The home was a Decorators' Show House back in 1985.

The Tarkington House will be open for a preview in late January. Then the redecorated spaces will be available April 24-May 9.

Read more about the selection and see a photo at IndyStar.com.

Here's a time line of the Tarkington House from from the Decorators' Show House website: