Wake Up Your Sleepy Space With These Home Refresh Ideas: Style + Life + Fashion Featured

Check out the recent Redfin article we were featured in:

Whether you’ve outgrown your current decor or your new space doesn’t feel quite like home, it might be time for a refresh. And while there’s no doubt that expanding your art collection or adding new house plants can be a breath of fresh air for your home, it can be difficult to know where to begin.

Maybe you've outgrown your current decor, or you’ve just moved into a new house or apartment and it doesn’t feel quite like home yet. Either way, it might be time to refresh your space.
Wake Up Your Sleepy Space With These Home Refresh Ideas

That’s why Redfin reached out to us and other experts from Vancouver, BC all the way to Boston, for our best advice on making your home feel refreshed and elevated. So if you need a little extra guidance or you’re just looking for interior design inspiration, check out our best recommendations for refreshing your home.

Read the full article here: Wake Up Your Sleepy Space With These Home Refresh Ideas | Redfin

Pantone Introduces 315 New Colors + New Digital Solutions for Fashion, Home + Interiors

Pantone LLC, the global authority on color and provider of professional color tools for designers, today introduced 315 new colors and new supporting digital solutions to the Pantone Fashion, Home + Interiors Color System.

Refreshed and restyled for greater utility, Pantone Fashion, Home + Interiors combines the industry’s most relevant color palette with new digital solutions that streamline your digital and physical color workflow. Newly arranged by color family, it’s now easier and more intuitive to find the perfect shade and includes additions in every color, including over 70 new hues of blue and 50 new shades of pink.

With color being a more important aspect of lifestyle today, our new palette was strategically selected to reflect current and future color influences across fashion, home furnishings, and product design, along with the Pantone Color Institute’s trend forecasting, color intelligence, and consumer and client color research. These tools across Pantone guided the expansion and enhancement of the new color offering.

The Pantone Fashion, Home + Interiors product suite has helped designers around the globe creating a product for fashion and home furnishings and the related product markets (i.e. footwear, activewear, cosmetics, accessories, hard home) use the color language to select, communicate and control color throughout the design process. Additional updates to the system include:

  • An all-new layout that is refreshed, restyled and absolutely required for today’s designer. The new Pantone Fashion, Home + Interiors formats have been redesigned to best meet the color needs of designers while streamlining digital and physical color workflow. Each of the new Pantone Fashion, Home + Interiors cotton and paper formats have been refreshed, restyled and redesigned to make the color selection process more intuitive. Featuring a palette of 2,625 colors arranged by color family, designers can now find that right color, shade, and tone faster than ever. Increasing the utility of the Pantone Fashion, Home + Interiors products enables designers to more quickly turn inspiration into product reality.
  • Brand new colors that empower a greater range of expression. The release includes the addition of a brand-new collection of 315 new colors to the Pantone Fashion, Home + Interiors cotton and paper formats. With color being more important to every aspect of lifestyle today, these new colors have been strategically selected to reflect current and future color influences across fashion, home furnishings, interior, and product design worldwide.
  • New design technologies that enable new color innovations. Having digital access to each of Pantone’s 2,625 colors enables designers to seamlessly streamline digital and physical workflows. Spectral data support ensures fast turnaround and accurate, on-schedule production.

“The colors that are influencing design today have evolved to reflect shifting societal views, new technological innovations, and a truly global outlook,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “With the ability to interpret the influence of color on overall consumer psychology, we have enhanced the utility of our Pantone Fashion, Home + Interiors Color System with this new collection of engaging hues, enabling the design community to stay on the cutting edge of color selection.”

When paired with the new physical color offering, software and mobile apps from Pantone enable seamless integration between digital and physical workflows, increasing efficiency (or saving time and money) by streamlining the color development process and ensuring color accuracy through quality control and on-schedule production. Pantone Connect, a color library, and palette management ecosystem, can be integrated directly within design tools like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign to provide final delivery of color into design files. Each of the colors in the Pantone Fashion, Home + Interiors Library is supported by spectral data in both QTX and CXF format, further accelerating product speed to market and providing quick access to other color values including RGB and L*a*b*.

“As a global color authority for almost 60 years, designers look to Pantone to meet their color needs; from having the exact right color palette that will engage and entice their audience to providing efficient solutions that will help them reliably reproduce these colors in their designs,” said Laurie Pressman, Vice President, Pantone Color Institute.

“Expanding and enhancing our color palette and introducing new digital solutions ensures our design clients that they can continue to count on Pantone today and into the future, helping them to transform their creative vision into reality.”

For more information visit Pantone online at pantone.com.

About Pantone

Pantone provides a universal language of color that enables color-critical decisions through every stage of the workflow for brands and manufacturers. More than 10 million designers and producers around the world rely on Pantone products and services to help define, communicate and control color from inspiration to realization – leveraging advanced X-Rite technology to achieve color consistency across various materials and finishes for graphics, fashion, and product design. Pantone Standards feature digital and physical color specification and workflow tools. The Pantone Color Institute™ provides customized color standards, brand identity and product color consulting as well as trend forecasting inclusive of Pantone Color of the Year, Fashion Runway Color Trend Reports, color psychology and more. Pantone B2B Licensing incorporates the Pantone Color System into different products and services, enabling licensees to communicate and reproduce approved Pantone values and improve efficiencies for their users. Pantone Lifestyle brings color and design together across apparel, home, and accessories. Connect with Pantone on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn.

About X-Rite

Founded in 1958, X-Rite Incorporated is a global leader in the science and technology of color and appearance. With Pantone, X-Rite employs more than 800 people in 11 countries. The company’s corporate headquarters are located in Grand Rapids, Mich., with regional headquarters in Europe and Asia and service centers across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas. X-Rite offers a full range of solutions used by manufacturers, retailers, printers, photographers and graphic design houses to achieve precise management and communication of color and appearance throughout their processes. X-Rite products and services are recognized standards in the printing, packaging, photography, graphic design, video, automotive, paints, plastics, textiles and medical industries. For further information, please visit www.xrite.com. For the latest news, information, connect with X-Rite on LinkedInTwitter, and Facebook.

 

FIVE DECORATING TIPS FOR A CLEAN FRESH MODERN HOLIDAY SEASON

Laura Muller, the Principal Designer, and Owner of Los Angeles-based design firm, Four Point Design Build, has five easy and effective tips for decorating a perfect holiday home worthy of your in-law’s expectations. Check out these inspirational photos ALL from Laura’s personal home!

☆ Tip 1 ☆

That’s a Wrap!

For a fresh and cozy style, add a single pine cone or cedar stem to your gift wrapping. Tie packages with raw linen strips, cotton ribbon, or twine. To give a cohesive look to your whole décor, coordinate the gift wrapping details to your tablescape!

☆ Tip 2 ☆

Deck the Decor Make sure to keep your holiday color scheme clear and consistent throughout your décor. For a clean, fresh, modern look, we use white candles in clear glass. For visual interest (and for the collectors at heart), we suggest all clear glass, but mix it up in size and shape! Use assorted greens for dynamic contrast. Keep greens fresh and in the same proportion for a full and elegant display.

☆ Tip 3 ☆

Let There Be Light Place a table or desk next to a bright window and group three to five mini pine trees with gifts. Display with a collection of assorted white candles in clear glass, and stacks of holiday books for inspiration.

☆ Tip 4 ☆

Add an Easy But Noticeable Accent! Adding simple fresh stems of pine can give your kitchen countertops a cozy wintery feeling! Lace fresh stems in between canisters for a fresh touch of the holiday and fresh mini Christmas trees look perfect in white ceramic utensil crocks!

☆ Tip 5 ☆

Tabletop Trinkets When thinking about your everyday holiday table settings, start with some basic year-round pieces. A large natural grain rustic charger will ground your entire décor theme. For a clean fresh modern farmhouse style, layer with simple white pantry pieces. Once you have the basics, all you need to change from theme to theme is the napkin details!

FOUR POINT DESIGN BUILD INC. is an award-winning, full-service residential and commercial interior design and construction firm based in  Los  Angeles,  CA serving clients nationwide. Established in 2010, and led by the husband-wife team and Co-founders, Cliff and Laura Muller, Four Point Design Build was the result of a chance in-class meeting at UCLA, followed by nearly a decade of successful collaboration and noteworthy published design-build projects, and finally, a beautiful romance. It is Four Point’s commitment to cultivating, building, and leading a  strong project team of experts; working closely with all project team members during every phase of project development and execution. Laura has been voted into the Top 15 of Designhounds Top 100 Design Influencers for 2017 and 2018 and has the distinct honor of being one of four top interior designers selected to the prestigious DXV Design Panel (2018 – 2020).

Amazon.com Launches Black Friday Deals 2016 – Holiday Gift Guides

Amazon.com today announced the launch of its Black Friday Deals Store and more than a dozen curated holiday gift guides, officially marking the start of the holiday countdown. Customers can enjoy tens of thousands of deals this holiday season on Amazon.com, with new deals as often as every five minutes on everything from HD TVs to stylish kitchen staples to some of the most popular toys of the year. In addition, Amazon offers curated holiday gift guides to help take the guesswork out of shopping for loved ones and make it easier for customers to find the perfect gift for everyone on their list.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161101005499/en/

“Customers love discovering the best deals on the most sought-after products, and our Black Friday Deals Store and curated Holiday Gift Guides offer them a place to do just that – plus enjoy the most convenient shopping experience with tons of super-fast shipping options,” said Doug Herrington, Senior Vice President of North American Retail at Amazon. “This holiday season, we’re offering more deals than ever before and – for the first time ever – giving Prime members an opportunity to use Alexa voice shopping for purchasing their holiday gifts hands-free. They can make purchases simply by asking Alexa-enabled devices, like the new Echo Dot, while relaxing at home with family and friends.”

Black Friday Deals Store

Available at www.amazon.com/blackfriday, the Black Friday Deals Store is the leading deals destination for customers with tens of thousands of deals, and new deals as often as every five minutes, now through December 22. Customers can enjoy more deals than ever before this holiday season, including low prices on top gifts such as electronics, toys, clothing, jewelry, kitchen items, and more. In fact, Amazon is offering up to 20 compelling Deals of the Day in a single day. Some examples of the great deals Amazon customers can take advantage of this holiday season include: $20 off the Kindle Paperwhite, savings on an LG 55” 1080p Curved Smart OLED TV, and up to 40% off select Magformers toys.

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Electronics Gift Guide

Available at www.amazon.com/electronicsgiftguide, the 2016 Amazon Electronics Gift Guide features more than 500 of this year’s hottest technology products all in one convenient location. Enthusiasts can explore new releases such as 360-degree cameras and buzz-worthy gifts like virtual reality headsets and 3D printers. The Electronics Gift Guide also features innovations from up-and-coming startups in the Amazon Launchpad program. Customers can browse more than 10 categories, including smart home, home entertainment, music, wearables, photography, gaming, gadgets and gizmos, and more. The Electronics Gift Guide also includes expert reviews and product demonstration videos to help customers find the perfect gift. And shoppers looking for budget-friendly gift ideas can find top gifts under $100.

Home Gift Guide

Available at www.amazon.com/homegiftguide, the 2016 Amazon Home Gift Guide is a curated list of more than a thousand of this season’s must-have products for the home. Filled with gift ideas for indoors and outdoors, customers can easily discover presents for everyone on their list, including cooks, bakers, home decorators, arts and crafters, smart home tech lovers, pets, backyard enthusiasts, kids and more, curated by experts in the industry such as Smitten Kitchen and Design*Sponge. Holiday decorators and party planners will find everything they need to set a festive scene at home. Customers can also shop the latest trends in the Home Gift Guide, including copper appliances, rose gold cutlery, and handmade ceramics, as well as browse products that are new this holiday season, including the KitchenAid MiniNEST Fragrances Classic Candle (Hearth)Petcube Play Wi-Fi Pet Camera, and Bissell 1650A Pet Hair Eraser Vacuum.

Handmade at Amazon Holiday Gift Guide

Available at www.amazon.com/handmade, the Handmade at Amazon Holiday Gift Guide offers customers curated lists of genuinely handcrafted items sold directly by artisans. Featuring products for her, for him, and for kids, as well as handcrafted stocking stuffers for friends and family, the Gift Guide makes finding the perfect holiday present easier than ever. Heading into this holiday season, Amazon customers visiting the Handmade at Amazon store will see hundreds of thousands more handcrafted items, thousands of which are eligible for Free Two-Day Shipping with Amazon Prime. For shoppers looking for a personal touch, over half of the items listed on Handmade have options for customer personalization. With handcrafted items in categories from toys and games, to home décor, handbags and accessories and kitchen and dining, Handmade at Amazon is a one-stop-shop for artisan-crafted gifts this holiday season.

Shop from Anywhere, Anytime

The easiest and fastest way to shop – no matter where customers are – is with the free Amazon shopping app. Find out “where’s my stuff” in seconds, quickly use visual search to find anything and track the hottest deals by setting Watch-a-Deal alerts all season long. Plus, new this year:

  • Package X-Ray: Beginning November 15, customers who own an iPhone can use Package X-Ray to see what’s in a box that has been delivered without opening it and spoiling the surprise. Customers simply scan the barcode using their camera icon within the mobile app and the items that are inside the box will pop up on their screen.
  • Search Anything: Previously limited to barcodes and a few types of products, customers can now use the camera icon to search for almost anything. For example, point the camera at a pair of boots and the app will pull up a list of similar items.
  • Fling: Customers can quickly and effortlessly click into saved items, compare two items, or simply add items to a Wish List by flinging them into their tray. Simply hold down on an item while in the app and the tray appears, fling the item into the tray, and it will be saved for easy navigating later.

More Perks for Prime Members

New this holiday season, Prime members can use their voice to order tens of millions of products – including many of the items featured in the 2016 Amazon Electronics Gift Guide – just by asking Alexa on their Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, Amazon Tap, Amazon Fire TV, or Fire tablet. In fact, there will be hundreds of exclusive deals just for voice shoppers this holiday season – simply go to www.amazon.com/alexadeals to learn more. Prime members receive an additional 20% discount on pre-order and new release video games. Members can also shop thousands of Lightning Deals with 30-minute early access and enjoy unlimited fast, free shipping options, including Two-Day Shipping on more than 30 million items, Prime FREE Same-Day Delivery on more than one million items available in 27 cities, and Prime Now where customers can find tens of thousands of products – such as select Black Friday deals and Holiday Gift Guide items – available for one- and two-hour delivery in more than 30 U.S. cities.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about.

Oojra Makes Gifting an Experience for the Senses

This holiday season, add a touch of elegance to family gatherings with the beautiful reed diffusers from Oojra.  Oojra is the premier lifestyle brand of home fragrances that tell a story through the careful arranging of aromatic essential oils.

Science has proven there is a close connection between scent, memory, and emotion. Oojra has simply perfected the experience so its customers can perfect the feel of their homes for their family and friends.

“Our fragrances provide a final layer of decor to strike the right ambiance for relaxation, romance, focus and balance,” states CJ Lemky, founder. “We aim to satisfy a little wanderlust in our customers’ lives by wrapping their spaces in a scent that is delicious and exotic and reminiscent of a place they’ve traveled, or want to travel.”

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From a five-star spa in Thailand to a Serengeti Safari, each exotic fragrance takes its users off the beaten path, opening up a whole new world they’ll never forget.  Currently, Oojra is offering three distinct fragrances at a limited time price for the holidays.

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The French Provence Lavender Diffuser transports guests to a sunny hillside where frosted purple flowers exude their calming influence on the mind and body.

The Loas White Tea and Ginger Diffuser brings explorers to untouched misty waterfalls and lush tea plantations while exuding an uplifting aroma.

The Thai Jasmine Bamboo Diffuser, Oojra’s most sought after fragrance, inspires romance and relaxation while conjuring up images of fresh green bamboo and garlands of flowers sweetly swaying in the breeze.

Oojra scents curate a luxurious first impression and experience within the home. Give the gift of luxury and versatility to clients, executives, and friends. The sleek glass bottle will stylishly accent any room and exude luscious scents, leaving a lasting impression.

About:
At Oojra, they strive to put a little piece of paradise in every bottle. Since their launch in July 2015, they’ve traveled the globe and listened to the stories and photography of their followers, in order to create unique fragrances that satisfy their customers’ wanderlust and bring the most luscious exotic fragrances into their homes. All of Oojra’s products are crafted from quality essential oils and are phthalate and paraben free.

 

WEST ELM OPENS FIRST STORE IN MARYLAND

Home furnishings retailer West Elm announced the opening of its first Maryland location at 1301 Dock St. in downtown Baltimore, along the waterfront between Harbor East and Fells Point. The 11,377 square-foot retail Harbor Point location at the Exelon Building will open on Thursday, September 15 at 10 a.m., bringing approximately 30 jobs to the neighborhood. As part of West Elm’s LOCAL program, seven Maryland-based makers and designers will sell their products within the store’s fall assortment of modern furnishings and décor, and a complimentary Design Lab will offer services that support customers in their journey to express their personal style at home. “We are proud to open our first Maryland store in a neighborhood experiencing a renaissance with both locals and visitors,” says West Elm president Jim Brett. “Our goal is to become an active contributor to this historically conscious community, supporting their efforts to preserve the waterfront while sustainably revitalizing a once overlooked area of downtown Baltimore.”

The newly constructed Exelon Building is expected to bring a mix of shops, restaurants and entertainment to Harbor Point, originally a commercial corridor. West Elm Baltimore speaks to the neighborhood’s industrial and shipping heritage by incorporating salvaged materials sourced from Baltimore harbor into the interior’s architecture. Reclaimed pylons constructed from pine, spruce, and fir lumber, once part of the harbor docks, have been repurposed for the store’s ceiling and distinctive cash wrap design.

To celebrate the opening, West Elm partnered with Baltimore-based artist Tomahawk Design Co. to design a limited edition tote bag that will be presented to the first 300 shoppers with a $50 minimum purchase on opening day. Additional store opening activities will include a sweepstakes* offering local customers a chance to win a $2,000 gift card and an invitation to a private pre-opening celebration on Wednesday, September 14 from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. A portion of the pre-opening celebration proceeds will benefit Living Classrooms Foundation, a local nonprofit organization aiming to strengthen communities and inspire young people to achieve their potential through hands-on education and job training.

A selection of locally made products by seven Maryland-based makers and artisans will be a part of the West Elm Baltimore LOCAL assortment including:

Dylan Design Co.: Tables made of wood and metal and manufactured in Baltimore, MD.

Forty Third Place: Trays and wall art made from salvaged and reclaimed wood in Hyattsville, MD.

Foxwood Co.: Handmade sculptural vessels, dishes and objects carved from locally sourced wood in Annapolis, MD.

Radica Textiles: Pillowcases designed by hand and printed in small batches honoring Baltimore’s rich history in the textile industry.

The Vintage Vogue: Modern handpainted wood coasters that blend patterns and artfully crafted, minimalist shapes by a Baltimore-based artist.

Tomahawk Design Co.: Baltimore-based graphic design firm specializing in home goods, stationery and apparel.

● Waxing Kara: Beeswax-infused bath and beauty products made by a beekeeper in Owings Mills, MD. For up-to-date information on in-store promotions and events, customers are encouraged to “like” the West Elm Baltimore store on Facebook: www.facebook.com/westelmbmore/ and follow the store on Instagram: @westelmbmore. West Elm Baltimore is open Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. The store’s address is 1301 Dock Street, Baltimore, MD, 21231 and the phone number is 410-244-0121. *Open only to residents that live within the Baltimore, MD area. Official rules of the sweepstakes can be found on the Baltimore Sweepstakes page.

About West Elm Headquartered in Brooklyn, NY since 2002, West Elm opened its first store in DUMBO, the neighborhood it still proudly calls home. With the mission of helping customers express their personal style at home, everything West Elm does is designed to make an impact in everyday life, from creating unique, affordable designs for modern living to its commitment to Fair Trade Certified, from LOCAL and handcrafted products to community-driven in-store events and collaborations. The brand operates 91 retail stores in the United States, Australia, Canada and the UK, ships internationally to customers around the world and operates 11 stores in Mexico, the Middle East and Philippines through unaffiliated franchisees. In addition to home furnishings retail, West Elm operates West Elm Workspace with Inscape in the commercial furnishings industry. West Elm publishes the blog Front+Main and is part of an active community on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube. West Elm is a member of the Williams-Sonoma, Inc. portfolio of brands.

### Contacts for West Elm: Andres (Dru) Ortega 718-780-0452 aortega2@wsgc.com Hannah Zeskind 718-780-4432 HZeskind@wsgc.co

Talk of Alabama Lifestyle Segment – Safe Decorating for Kids Rooms

I was invited to host a lifestyle segment on ABC 33/40, Talk of Alabama and share safety tips for kids rooms. The segment was a lot of fun because I truly enjoy discussing new products with a local audience!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH:  TALK OF ALABAMA

The main focus was to bring safety awareness of products for kids rooms.  Parents must ask are home decor items functional and eliminate hazards for little ones?

As a mom, I love to decorate my kids room (especially in character themes) but there’s also consideration for electric plugs, heat consumption, contained storage bins, and comfortable sleep.

The products shown below are beneficial and can be successful in everyone’s home:

 

 1.  Blindsgalore (BG Kids Brand) Shade – recommends completely cordless blinds or shades when children in the home.  The company offers hundred of independently certified child safe blinds and shades.


2.  Kidzooz Pillow – Designed by a chiropractor, parent and grandparent, this is more than just a stuffed animal or pillow but a product that combines the two while encouraging good sleep habits.


3.  BPA Free Storage and Organizers

  • Available in three colors – grey, pink and blue
  • Includes three pieces – a caddy, bucket and tote
  • The storage items are BPA Free and made of a durable canvas exterior.


4.  Interactive Finding Dory Wall Friend –  The interactive light-up, talking Wall Friend from uncle Milton toys is a perfect addition to a child’s bedroom.

  • Just touch the remote control button and watch as Dory lights up and talks with many fun, familiar phrases from the new Finding Dory movie.

 

Queenstown Premium Outlets – Memorial Day Sidewalk Sale

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Queenstown Premium Outlets to jumpstart summer with Memorial Day Sidewalk Sale event May 27 – 30
Premier shopping destination offers summertime specials and extra savings

To kick off the summer season with extra-special savings and deals, Queenstown Premium Outlets invites all fashionistas and savvy shoppers to join in on its annual Memorial Day Sidewalk Sale event! From Friday, May 27 – Monday, May 30, guests can enjoy extended hours and save on their favorite apparel, accessories and home merchandise – all while taking in the weekend’s warm weather!

Shoppers will find outside store displays from brand-name retailers, including:

Accents
Ann Taylor Loft Outlet
Bass
Calvin Klein
Clark’s Outlet
Columbia
Dressbarn
Easy Spirit
Gymboree
Harry and David
Merrell
Nine West
Stride Rite
Tommy Hilfiger
Wilson’s Leather

As an added convenience, Queenstown Premium Outlets will also offer extended hours to allow ample time for shoppers to enjoy all the savings during the holiday weekend.

Friday, May 27: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Saturday, May 28: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Sunday, May 29: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Monday, May 30: 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.

For more information and a complete list of participating retailers, please visit premiumoutlets.com/queenstown.