High Point Market - 2014 Spring Preview / Chat

It's that time again! Preview #HPMKT new products

A YEAR in The Life of an Interior Designer -reflection on 2013

Take a peek into my interior design adventures of 2013... It was an incredible Year filled with great moments.  I traveled a lot and met a lot of wonderful people.  I am so grateful to everyone in this book and others who I don't have pictures of , who made such an impact on my life this past year.   I put this album together for me as a keepsake but then I thought... why not share it.  So here it is .

Click here to view this photo book larger

High Point Market Product Preview Twitter Chat

Product Preview Twitter Chat

High Point Market in High Point, North Carolina, is like the New York Fashion Week for interior design and home furnishings. Designers, retailers and media descend on the small town with big furniture clout, to the tune of nearly 80,000 from across the globe, to be the first to see the new goods and purchase them.

Decor Mentor is kicking off the market countdown by sharing a preview of top home furnishings yet to be seen [ they are debuting at the October Fall market ] in an official partnership with The High Point Market. What will our team curate? Join Kati Curtis, Erica Islas, Elaine Williamson, Jennifer Brouwer Beth Dotolo, James Saavedra  Lisa Kahn and Lisa Ferguson to find out what we are loving from High Point Market exhibitors. They moved around their photography schedules to make these photos available for the very special sneak peek. It is kind of like the pre-stylespotters!

Join the Decor Mentor and High Point Market teams for the global Market Preview Twitter Chat Wednesday, September 25th 6-7pmEST and use #HPmkt hashtag. We will be sharing images [ we have them pinned to secret pinterest boards! ], events and trends and it’s a great chance for you to connect and ask questions!

Our favourite way to chat?

• We like to use http://tweetchat.com/room/HPmkt [ automatically adds the hashtag #HPmkt to your tweets and you can control the speed ].
• You can also use twitter management apps like Hootsuite or Tweetdeck and set up a column with the hashtag #HPmkt

—-We actually do both! Tweetchat for being in the conversation and another screen open in Hootsuite to watch our mentions and respond!

We hope you will join us!

RE-POST - original Post by Lisa Ferguson of Decor Mentor

Small Kitchen Made Big

Before Photo

This small, dated, and cramped kitchen nestled in the beautiful hills of Silverlake was in dire need of help. It was not functional, nor did it fit the style of rest of the home, a very cute mid century modern house.

So a renovation was in order.

Our goal was to make the kitchen appear bigger using same footprint by utilizing the space better and bringing in more light.

It's not always necessary to bust out a wall to make a kitchen bigger.

Utilizing vertical space it key in smaller spaces like this one.  In this case we had to remove the soffits.   Always do exploratory holes to see what is behind them before you go tearing anything out.  There was nothing behind our clients soffit's so out they went.

Taking out the soffit not only opens up the space and makes it feel bigger,  but it also allows you to take the cabinets higher, which draws your eye up , making space feel bigger.

The nature inspired color palette we chose here also helps space feel more open and welcoming. Connecting the indoor to the outdoor expands a space.

Design By: Erica Islas / EMI Interior Design, inc.  / photo credit : David Young-Wolff

Putting in a laminated glass door also helps bring more light into space, making space feel bigger too. 

photo of Renovation in progress..... Stripped to the studs...

Of course to get the kitchen looking good , we needed to start from scratch.....Same footprint , stripped to the studs, and everything new.

before photo

before

Counter depth refrigerators are also KEY in small spaces.
Cabinet above fridge opens up for easy accessibility.
Moved washer/dryer to this side of the kitchen next to pantry to keep all the tall, vertical cabinets on one side.

Progress photos of renovation. Opened up a little window on this back wall to draw in more light as well as add an architectural detail to space.

 BEFORE, obviously NOT functional .

Design by : EMI Interior Design, inc.

Materials : Custom Cherry Cabinets , Caesar Stone Quartz Reflection countertops, glass backsplash, Cork Floors

Photo Credit: David Young-Wolff