Day Beds - Practical And Full Of Style

In designing a space for overnight guests what we want is to offer a place that is warm and welcoming, but limited space often requires creativity - day beds in an office or sitting room are a stylish solution. Visa versa, sometimes we do have the space to dedicate a room for weary travelers, but its still nice to have dual use in between guest visits, as a private sitting room or study area. The secret to such easy transition? An upholstered daybed that's equally enticing for overnight guests and daytime relaxing.

The day bed is an evocative addition to any home - bringing with it reminders of family and friends who have visited and the hopes of dear ones returning again.

This article shows numerous great ways day beds provide function in welcoming family and friends, making them feel very at home and in oh so beautiful style.

An old idea made new again is a summer sleeping space. Screened in porches were popular prior to air conditioning and enjoying the evening breezes while you snooze or a cool and shady spot while you read or nap during the day is an easy thing to do with the addition of a day bed. When it's not being used for a nap, the day bed will provide additional seating space.

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Slide Show Of Beautiful Day Beds

(Click To Start)

Chic So Chic Daybed Slideshow

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Decorating Ideas From Nate Berkus

Nate Berkus began his career in design at a young age. “I was barely in grade school when I helped my mother rearrange the living room furniture for the first time.” With his allowance dedicated to buying things for his bedroom and his mother’s influence (she’s also a decorator), Nate began a life-long passion for design.“I think I was the only kid on the block who knew about furniture scale by thetime I was 8.”After graduating from Lake Forest College, he took a job with Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. It was from this position, as well as an internship with Dominique Aurientis, one of the most dynamic designers from Paris, France, that he really developed a love and knowledge for the decorative arts and furniture. From his auction house experience came a deeper understanding of how to shop and what to buy. Self-taught, Nate then went on to form Nate Berkus Associates in 1995 at the age of 24. Moving from the auction house to interiors was a natural evolution for him.The firm grew to include projects for Wolfgang Puck’s Spago, Barney’s New York, W hotels, as well as a prestigious list of private homes and clients.In 2001, Nate was invited to make over a small space for “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” From there, Nate became a featured design expert for the show and continued on to become a regular contributor to O at Home magazine. “It’s funny, as a kid, I think I rearranged the rooms of almost every house onthe block,” laughs Nate. “I feel like I’m still doing the same thing. Except, now I’m coming into your living room through the TV, the pages of Home Rules and my collection at Linens 'N Things.”

Book By Nate Berkus
HOME RULES:
TRANSFORM THE PLACE
YOU LIVE INTO A PLACE
YOU'LL LOVE From Amazon.Com

The Bedroom Collection

Shop the Nate Berkus Collection at LNT.com

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HOW TO MAKE YOUR ROOM

LOOK ITS BEST

• Not everyone can afford a complete room makeover, but anyone can take Nate's decorating advice and transform any room!


• Your home is an expression of you. Before you buy one more thing for your home, stop and think about what really makes you happy.


• Hang something other than artwork on your walls, like antique objects or your favorite collectibles.


• Frame meaningful notes to hang on your walls or to put on end tables or bookshelves.


• Bookcases aren't just for books anymore: Mix souvenirs from vacations in with your books.


• Put books on display that spark your interest.


• Replace harsh overhead lighting with a few cool lamps.


• For a sophisticated look for not a lot of money, include one piece of sea life, like a starfish or some coral.


• One odd, unmatched chair that you love can add extra charm to a room.

Art By Natalie Erwin - Happenin' In Dallas

Dogs in Dallas are lucky. Natalie Erwin is a local girl.






She's also known as a much sought after local artist - who comes to your home, plays with the pup, and gets to know her person-, er, dogality. Then she paints your four-legged friend lounging on her favorite pillow or posing in another choice spot and it is part of this thing she calls the 'Dog Portrait Series'. Need more puppy love? Natalie tucks a handwritten note from your pet into the back of the frame. You know, like a thanks for throwing her a bone.




Natalie also has a few other things going on, there's frenzy in the art world about her stuff. Her bio presents what she calls her bank note series, tree gallery, pattern gallery, ranch series gallery, dog series, art and architecture gallery and carousel gallery, and her shows are succesful, including the one she did at Sothebys.

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Natalie Erwin

Upcoming Art Show
March 6, 2008

Nest Gallery NEST,

6731 Snider Plaza Dallas (214)-373-4444

www.nestdallas.com

Natalie Erwin (817-832-1981 or natalieerwin.com).

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If you're in Dallas in need of an interior designer, Dallas Interiors At Legacy is part of our Interior Design Guide of professional design firms. Working with a professional designer helps assure you get the look you desire while helping eliminate costly mistakes.

Two Great Interior Design Books - Practical And Beautiful

Rooms to Inspire: Decorating With America's Best Designers

Annie Kelly's new book investigates the personal style of designers and decorators.Ever wonder how the designers decorate their own homes? For Rooms to Inspire, a dozen world-class designers opened their homes to our curious eyes, including Kelly Wearstler, Muriel Brandolini, Miles Redd, Jonathon Adler, and Marian McEvoy. See all their best ideas in one place. Published by Rizzoli International Publications; 240 pages








Design Directory of Window Treatment

Everything you ever wanted to know about window treatments, and then some. Serious truth in advertising here. This is a design directory (and handbook, dictionary, encyclopedia, etc.).
Published by Gibbs Smith; 583 pages.

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If you are in need of an interior designer, click here to check our Interior Design Guide to find a designer near you.

Shake It Up Baby - It It's Pretty & Works For You, That's What 'Goes'

If you don't want a coffee table in your room, don't have one. Or, top an ottoman with a tray for holding drinks when you temporarily need a table. Or, use a stack of art books as a table.

Or if you are a mix and match kinna' couple, you're 'Park Avenue' and he's more 'Green Acres,' give him his bale of hay as an ottoman. New York fashion designer Cynthia Rowley literally did this. One of the most recognized personalities in fashion, Rowley designed her first dress at age seven, she's even designed a concert tour shirt for Bruce Springsteen and she had a friend make a bale of hay ottoman.

If it's pretty and if it works for you, that's what goes! Don't be afraid to mix things up. Opt for the unconventional, such as this great lucite stool cloaked in mink rosettes by designers Heather Hoyt and Alison Diamond. Toss out all those old rules, its the juxtaposition of low- and highbrow that makes this stool work. Similarly, top two sawhorses with a slab of glass and you've got your dining room table.

Sometimes old rules are broken because of space limitations. In smaller homes, not only does every piece of furniture or item have to be pretty, but we want it to be multifunctional (as in the case of the secretary desk shown here). When space is precious, don't let a room's name tell you what to use it for. Forget the name. Use rooms for the way you really live, call it luxuriously casual, if you like. Screens are terrific for creating smaller areas within larger space and their portability makes them perfect for temporary changes.

Photos, Breaking the Rules:

Home Style for the Way We Live Today

For More Info On Fashion Diva

Cynthia Rowley, click here.

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If you are in need of an interior designer, click here to check our Interior Design Guide to find a designer near you.

Dress Up Your Windows (Add Swarvoski Jewelry)

No, you can't pin it to your lapel or dangle it around your neck, it is jewelry for your window treatments!!!

The spectacular drapery hardware line, The Saturday Decor, is producing Swarvoski encrusted jewels for those designers who are not afraid of opulence.

Saturday Decor also offers beautiful jewel designed tiebacks, drapery pins and scarf Holders.

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Not so fond of the glitz and glam of Austrian crystal, but like the beautiful design? They also have a line of very 'killer' non-encrusted hardware that would work in almost any setting.

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If you are in need of an interior designer, click here to check our Interior Design Guide to find a designer near you.