Ancient Fabric Takes Center Stage

We’ve mentioned Velvet before, but feel this beautiful, ancient woven fabric deserves its own article. Velvet, the original fabric of the heiristocracy is continuing to be a large part of interior décor in this next year. Always lush and inviting it is also versatile and brings the glam into a room without being loud or taking anything away from other elements of the space.

Trying to figure out where to use it without disrupting your entire house (and your budget)? Let me make a few suggestions.

1.        Curtains: This is my favorite. I used to have dark, cranberry velvet drapery in my house in San Francisco. It worked so well as the windows were old and didn’t keep the cold out. Here in East Africa, we don’t have the cold and fog to that same degree, but the rich feeling of those smooth, heavy drapes really makes a room and makes we want them here too.

2.       Sofa: A beautiful sofa is a plus in any living room, but a velvet one will take center-stage and it should. This one pictured is a modern take on a Chesterfield sofa.

3.        Side chairs: Using velvet on a side chair is a great way to get the look without committing your space. You can also use a stronger, bolder colour on an accent chair than you might with a sofa. This modern metal chair brings together a deep blue with the brass metal finish. Match this with a brass metal finish side table and you are set.

 4.       Headboards: Ultimate lushness. A large headboard tufted with a rich, sexy, dark velvet – could there be a steamier room.

5.        Pillows: Wade in slow and try different colours, Plum, Burnt Orange, and Ochre though not normal colours for your home, could be easily added and taken away as your mood shifts. Pillows are one way to change your space up on budget.

 6.       And lastly Table clothes and table runners:: what a more lush fabric to entertain your friends with than velvet.

Velvets range in price, as most fabric do, but at Studio Marler we are carrying a beautiful line from Europe that offers a full range of colours and a very affordable price.

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What Trend Will Take Over 2021

Heard about the hot trend for interiors for 2021, Maximalism? What does that actually mean and how do you implement it in a way that doesn’t overwhelm your house, and for that matter is it even your style? Let me see If I can interpret.

First, we can say, that maximalism finds it way to us from its polar opposite minimalism. The idea of paring your space down to the essentials and the motto “everything has its place. Usually these homes are paired with grey and cream colour schemes with a few textured pillows thrown it.

Think the other end of the spectrum and you have Maximalism, the choice of blending textures and colours in a full range of expression of freedom and personal inspiration. My feeling is that most people live in this realm with family heirlooms, items from their travels and art that speaks to them regardless of colour schemes.

Photo by Sherman-Williams

How do you get there?

I liken Maximalism to flamboyance. Make it loud, strong, hits you when you walk into the room, but that can be really hard to live with on a day-to-day basis. So, getting there without getting overwhelmed, can include:

* adding accent chairs in different colours from the sofa and different styles.

* Consider picking one colour, like red and adding in different hues like orange, terracotta, pink, and mixing with a base of camel or tan.

* Look at the architecture of your house, could you add some elements that would give the rooms distinction, like large classic mouldings, raised centre ceiling panels with lights, thicker casing or decorative casings around the windows?

* Mix textures of fabrics, but also pieces of furniture themselves. Look at metal coffee tables with wood side tables and clay pots or baskets.

* Pick two. You have a ceiling, the walls, the floors, and the largest fabric area of the curtains. Allow only two of these to be strong. Love wallpaper on the ceiling – great, but only make one other statement. Let the floor tiles have a pattern or the curtains, but not both.

The other 2021 trends that fit into Maximalism.

One trend that is becoming more popular, curved furniture. A sofa that has wrapped arms, or chairs with curved or concaved backs. Put any of those in a rich velvet colour and you live in it.

Use the ceiling, sometimes called the 5th wall. Plain old white is just plain, old white. Think colour, think texture, think wallpaper…yes on the ceiling.

One of the most popular fabrics for furniture and one that has been creeping back over the last couple of years is velvet. Plush, warm, rich tone velvets. Consider reds, purples, greens, the richness of this fabric mixes so well with chenille, textured fabrics and prints. Its reign will last as long as the mid-tone grey tweed we’ve seen in photos for years now.

What I love most about this style is it lets you personalize your space with décor, colour and warmth that appeals most to the homeowner reflecting their personality.

Classic Blue. The color of 2020.

I’m a blue person. I really like the color and find myself drawn to it when shopping whether for clothes or home goods. Many people I’ve met aren’t blue people, thank goodness that can’t be said for my husband. I was thrilled to see the color come in as Pantone’s color of the year. A true blue, a strong color, but one that also can work as a neutral in with other colors to create some really wonderful, calming spaces.

The color was selected for its stability and dependability, things needed in this year, as we’ve all come to see. Here are two examples of working with this color.

The first is a neutral palate bringing the color as the accent with taupe, cream and tan. Mixing these gives a classic palate to any space.

Classic Blue on Blue with Navy mixed in with neutrals.

The second is a complementary mix, a little more daring but will most definitely a crowd and guest pleaser. The warm, amber tones play off the cool blue color to create a well-balanced mood in the room. Think about adding terracotta pots or tile flooring - both readily available here - to complete the combination.

Color wheel complements of terra cotta and classic blue.

Special thanks to @StuartGraham Fabrics for their inspiration for this blog. I work with them often in selecting patterns and beautiful fabrics for my clients here in Rwanda.

Buying the Right Sofa

As more and more people are coming into our shop after the lockdown, one item for purchase is standing above the others, sofas. I’m assuming sitting on the one they have hasn’t been terribly comfortable for the last six weeks, so who can blame them for this investment. Yes, a sofa is an investment. They are usually one of the more expensive pieces, but as important as a monetary commitment, this furniture is a part of your every day life and becomes a centre point from which other pieces in essence take their queue.

1.    Measure: Nothing is worse than waiting for a customized piece and then it doesn’t fit. Most measure 2 meters, 2.4 meters, 2.7 meters or 3 meters. Start there and put tape down in the space to check which will fit best. Consider also the height and depth. Many sofas will be at 45cm off the floor, others at 50cm. When you’re seated are your legs comfortable with a 50cm chair, if not, go lower. Depth can also be an issue. For real comfort the sofa should be around 80+ cm deep to give you room to sit back, curl up and enjoy.

2.    Type: Sectional or Stand Alone. A sectional is more a casual piece, one where you lay down and relax. A Stand Alone is a slightly more formal, is easier for entertaining and can give the space cleaner lines.

 3.    Fabric: Here in Rwanda we are lucky to have a number of stores with good upholstery fabric, but still you want to check the weight of the fabric (is it strong, can you pull it in a number of directions without it pulling apart), will it pill (does it get little pieces of fabric bunched when rubbed), will you see the stains as you use it?

At our store in Kigali, Studio:Rwanda, we are carrying a stain-resistant fabric in many choices that we bring in from South Africa. A consideration for families with small children and pets. Adding slightly to the normal sale price, it can extend the life of the sofa for many years.

 4.     Quality & Comfort: What’s your level? I strongly recommend sitting on it first. Check out straight foam and a mix of foam and cotton to see which way makes you most comfortable. Frames are the most important part of the construction of the furniture. Solid, dry wood is important as the piece will crack if not built with these specifications.

 Final tip: check your doorways and stairway widths to make sure the piece will be manageable for delivery. It can get expensive to take out a door to get in a piece of furniture, even a beautiful one.

Mood Board for Working Project

Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel in Musanze has been my most adored project. The people, the place, the site, the hotel - all of it comes together to make a special place. The concept started with a Belgium Colonial Home and has now become a small hotel with 8 rooms, 2 houses, a restaurant and bar. This mood board has been the beginning of the new restaurant that will open this summer. I’m looking forward to seeing it all come together.

Mood boards are a great way for anyone to start their home project too. Find the images on Houzz, or Pinterest or any magazine site that speaks to you and include it in the mix. Once you start working with a designer or even while you are out shopping you’ll find that you are honing your image of your space, and importantly making it your own!

Mood Board Five Volcanoes Boutique Hotel

Working Project

I’m working on a new project that will end up with 11-12 units in Nyarutarama. I’ve been playing with different concepts for the bathrooms but really liked this one which I thought I’d share. The client seems to be most interested in a grey and white theme so this might not fly but, you can certainly use it.

I love this soft sea foam tile color. The field tile isn’t plain but has a bit of movement to match up with the 3D tiles for accent. As both are fairly solid in color, I’m liking the pairing of this with the natural look of the grey on the floor. As each of these are cool in color mixing the warmth of the oak for the cabinetry gives it a nice round finish.

Bathrooms can really be lovely!

cool, soothing Bath

Design Questions: Bathroom Design 3

Day 3: Showers

Hi. Hope your days at home are going well. Today I wanted to address showers. When remodeling we find a lot of small bathrooms that can really make space for a shower difficult. Even in new construction many times the architects will make a very small area for the bathrooms trying to make more bedrooms or more ensuite bedrooms.

The minimum we’d like to see showers is 90 cm x 90cm. This space gives a person the opportunity to turn around without hitting a wall. For many people this is quite small. The best is to remove any cabinet like that and stretch the shower across the back of the room, as we saw in our first drawing on Day 1. The second option, if space really doesn’t permit, is to put the shower into the corner allowing enough room for the door to open without hitting anything. You will notice the example in drawing 1 here that I’ve reduced the cabinet size to 45cm to allow the door to move without hitting the cabinet.

In drawing 2 we see the placement of the shower faucet. Ideally, this one piece unit is centered in the space with the valve at the height of 1 meter up to 1.2 meters. In drawing 3, there is another more modern way of installation. With the showerhead centered, the valve is off center, placed closer into the room for easy access without getting wet. This modern valve and showerhead separation also allows you to place a temperature control valve that is pressure balanced and has thermostatic mixing for keeping the temperature regulated.

Have a good day, stay safe, stay nice.

Design Questions: Bathroom Design 2

Day 2: Bathroom Guidelines and Planning Principles: Vanities

            Hi. Today I’d like to address vanities and their placement in the bathrooms. Many bathrooms here are small which can prove a hinderance to following international guidelines, but we do what we can. As in this drawing, we have the sink up against the wall, the toilet centered and the shower at the end. It is suggested that there is a minimum distance between the wall and the faucet of 38cm. This allows someone to stand in front of the sink and move their elbows without hitting the wall. With a larger person, consider trying to get to 50cm which requires a larger vanity, not always possible.  Drawing 1

We also here have a wide variety of pedestal sinks. When using these try to plan to have basin stand 10cm from the wall allowing cleaning. Drawing 2

If you have enough room, it’s wonderful to allow a double sink vanity. Consider that you would want 90cm between the two basins to allow for both people to have clearance from bumping into each other.  Drawing 3

Vanity Heights can vary based on the height of the user but consider not letting the vanity be shorter than 80cm or taller than 120cm. Now these are minimums and maximums, personally, I like to look at a height between 86 – 92cm again depending on the individuals. When I’m working on large projects and the buyers aren’t known I tend to stick to 86cm off the floor to the top of the sink. I say this, see drawing 1, as we have many vessel sinks that rest on top of a counter, you must take the height of this into consideration of the total height.

Have a good day, stay home, stay safe.

Design Questions: Bathrooms 1

As a kitchen & bath designer trained in the US, I’ve found bathroom design to be one of the most challenging concepts in Rwanda. Many people ask me how to design their spaces better and as I have some down time, I thought I could share with you some guidelines over the next few days. If you have questions, please let me know.

These guidelines come from the National Kitchen & Bath Association in the US, a large member-based organization that encourages designers to continue learning. They have 18 recommendations, which I will group to make it more interesting and easier to follow.

Let’s start with openings and access:

            Doorways should be at least 80cm wide. Ideally, if you can make it 90cm wide that is even better, but 80cm minimum. Also, don’t let the door hit another door, a cabinet, the toilet, or anything else. You should have complete open access.

            Think to give yourself space in front of the sanitary, that’s sinks, shower areas, and toilets.

            Take a look at this drawing I’ve made to explain.

            Why this works? 1) door to bathroom opens in and there is enough room for it to open completely; 2) The door doesn’t hit anything; 3) You have enough room to stand in front of the sink, the toilet and you can get in and out of the shower without hitting the toilet; 4) we’ve created a water wall where all of the sanitary is in one line allowing for a streamlined, better approach to plumbing/piping/waste installation.

Good Bathroom Design

First Issue of H Magazine

I found this picture as I was culling files in my computer. We took this for our first issue of H Magazine published in the fall of 2013. Umutako Cooperative brought two trucks of furniture to my house at the time to stage this. It was so pretty and the room looked so great I wished I’d been able to keep it all, just they way they had designed it. The colors are still perfect for our world here, vibrant and warm.

First Issue of H magazine