The Mudroom

The Mudroom

Christine Brun
Interior Design Blog

It's finally getting cooler! As we begin to drag out jackets, rain boots and hats, this is the perfect time of year to think about revamping your mudroom or creating one. In homes located in cold climates, this vestibule-like space is sometimes used not only as a place to store dirty outdoor gear but also as a barrier against extreme cold. In addition to well-built homes, you will even notice such spaces in commercial buildings, such as restaurants, cafes or retail shops. I am partially enamored with mudrooms because they are not common where I live, for the climate is more temperate. Yet a mudroom seems like one of the most practical spaces to have in a family home regardless of local weather.

Small Appliances

Small Appliances

Christine Brun
Interior Design Blog

Where do you find appliances that fit in a tiny kitchen but are just like those used in luxuriously large kitchens? That is the million-dollar question that frustrates and irritates anyone who attempts a quality remodel in a micro-apartment or tiny cottage. For as long as I've been covering the topic of small-space living, I have been baffled by major U.S. manufacturers' apparent lack of interest in this consumer need.

Get the Dining Room Ready

Get the Dining Room Ready

Christine Brun
Interior Design Blog

Nothing says family quite like Thanksgiving dinner. Traditional or avant-guard, it's the fellowship that is most important. We have about two months to go before the food extravaganza of the year. In order to make sure that your guests will be at ease this Thanksgiving, it is time to turn your attention toward your dining room. Regardless of size, gatherings go better when everyone has a place to sit! Plan ahead with the following considerations.

'Tis the Season for More Light

'Tis the Season for More Light

Christine Brun
Interior Design Blog

When the weather begins to chill, we observe changing leaves and shorter days. The shift is delightful for the most part. However, in many parts of the country there is a very distinct reduction in the amount of natural light available, which has been known to have a powerful effect on some people. The official name for the condition is seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. It is a kind of depression related to the change in seasons, typically starting in the fall; the brain becomes confused when our circadian rhythms, or body clock, are off due to changes in sunlight. More women are diagnosed than men, but men tend to experience more severe symptoms. 

Get Read for Fall

Get Read for Fall

Christine Brun
Interior Design Blog

A shift in seasons is delicious. You can begin to notice a change in the morning light, and some days begin with the promise of coolness. It's a wonderful pledge that the heat of summer has passed. This is the precise time to think of fireplaces.

How To Use Strong Color

How To Use Strong Color

Christine Brun
Interior Design Blog

The famous writer Robert Louis Stevenson said, "Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others." When it comes to the prospect of painting a very strong color on the walls of a small room, fear is understandable. Will you grow tired of it quickly? Will you date your decorating attempt by using a currently popular hue? A firm yes could be the answer to all those questions.

A New Living Room Idea

A New Living Room Idea

Christine Brun
Interior Design Blog

One of our significant rites of passage in life is leaving home. For many, this milestone begins with the journey to college and living in a residence hall. But others have different experiences. For example, I lived at home during my college years, which put restrictions on my social life, but saved a lot of money. My first home was an apartment by the beach with my new husband. I was 23 years old and elated to be out on my own. 

Feminine Glamour in a Small Space

Feminine Glamour in a Small Space

Christine Brun
Interior Design Blog

You don't have to give up on the idea of a glamorous home just because your space is cramped. Many women love super-feminine bedrooms, bathrooms and closets. They adore places to read or nap in comfort, so mood and ambiance matter. If you have a feminine taste, there are many ways to spruce up your home to create your dream living space.

Fear of Unknown Appliances

Fear of Unknown Appliances

Christine Brun
Interior Design Blog

Apartment units under 500 square feet, also known as microunits, are gaining popularity in urban city centers. Builders are employing real analysis and cutting-edge design in order to squeeze more function out of every square foot of space. Affordable units in desirable locations and smart design for these units are in demand. Given this trend, you can count on one thing: Developers and designers will opt for smaller kitchen appliances as one way to maximize space. Therefore, the popularity and availability of more petite appliances will grow.

Create Your Own Private Space

Create Your Own Private Space

Christine Brun
Interior Design Blog

We are smack in the middle of summer, and everyone enjoys having some outdoor respite at the end of a warm day. For those living in tiny places, the space challenge can creep outdoors, too. Some of us live in guesthouses. Others live in tiny apartment courts. Still others live in high-rise condos that offer only narrow balconies. How do you maximize your use of the outdoors?

TV Wall Designs

TV Wall Designs

Christine Brun
Interior Design Blog

American TVs are no longer banished from the living room as children used to be back in the day. The main boon is that this trend liberates everyone who lives in a small home from feeling the need to carve out a separate media room or family room. Walk right into a living room and see the huge TV screen. Check! No one thinks twice about it. But that wasn't always so.

No closet? No problem!

No closet? No problem!

Christine Brun
Interior Design Blog

Low on closet space in your tiny apartment? No problem! While scouring an international media source, I noticed recently that a new trend that aids those with storage shortages is popping up. Instead of built-in closets, our European cousins are fond of free-standing pieces of furniture that are handsome and sophisticated.

Log Cabin Bathroom

Log Cabin Bathroom

Christine Brun

Lucky are those that live their dreams. The owners of this rustic cabin in Michigan live full time in the middle of a ten acre woods in a lodge environment. Their goal was to eliminate the need to go away on weekends to relax and upwind and to live in reliable serenity.

Pink Bedroom with Teddy Bears

Pink Bedroom with Teddy Bears

Christine Brun

A very wealthy American once said that thrift was essential to well-ordered living and what better time to make sure that your household is well ordered for the New Year. At only two times in our collective American history have we been more challenged to stretch dollars and be inventive with available funds.

Drop Leaf Dining Table

Drop Leaf Dining Table

Christine Brun

There is nothing quite as liberating as the realization that rules are meant to be broken when you are laying out furniture. In the first place, one has to question where certain axioms originate. Who says that you must have a sofa and two matching chairs?

High Rise Apartment

High Rise Apartment

Christine Brun

Contemporary Japanese design is like a roadmap for how to coax the most out of microscopic living environments. For generations the nation short of real estate has perfected the essence of minimal living and for thousands of years has distilled design down to its’ most basic function. 

Kitchen White Fireplace

Kitchen White Fireplace

Christine Brun

It is the quirky character of European homes that allows for distinctive design results. People can be found living in medieval buildings that have been in their family for hundreds of years or in an apartment that is carved into a building originally erected for a completely different purpose generations ago.

Apple Green Bedroom

Apple Green Bedroom

Christine Brun

The most compact bedroom in the household is commonly allocated for the occasional guest who clearly won’t mind being a little bit squished for a night or two! It is fortunate to have a guest room, no matter how small.  But the size can be intimidating when trying to create an appealing sanctuary.

Antique Table + Orange Wall

Antique Table + Orange Wall

Christine Brun

Spice consumption is at an all time high; the average American home pantry now contains about 40 different seasonings! Intricacies that you enjoy with taste experiences might be extended to your home by using color in a more daring way. That same spirit of discovery we relish with food can totally transform a room.

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