Another year has passed and Mother’s Day is coming up in a week. What are you going to do to make your Mother’s day?
My mom is 92 and I have mentioned before, she at the point in her life where she is not interested in collecting more things, so I am more careful about what I can give her. Often it is flowers or a gift card to a local book store. I am not sure yet what this years gift will be. How about you?
What are you going to do to make your Mother’s day? Why not give her the gift of a beautiful home this year with a Mother’s Day gift card for an Aligned Design Interior Design and color consultation from Northern Lights Home Staging and Design. Happy Mother’s Day to all you beautiful Mothers out there!
Gift Cards
My 6 hour online design and color consultation takes a holistic approach and considers at art, science and energy to create a plan for her perfect space. Look great, feel great and be great. Add $100 for an in-person consultation. Learn More
Do you wonder how to make the magic happen in a room, where all the colors, textures and pieces fit together just right? Maybe you’ve tried it several times and somehow the end result was off, but you couldn’t figure out why? Did you spend a lot of money buying pieces you loved but were not happy with the way everything looked together? Is there some magic formula to make it happen? Why yes, there is! Start with the art!
I may be a little biased, because I am both a designer and an artist, but it works for me! All designers have their own way of doing things and this is what I do. I start with the art and build my color palette and the rest of the room around it.
Start with the Art
So, what do I mean by art? It does not have to be what you typically think of. such as art you hang on the wall, although it could be. It could be a great rug, which is art for your floor. Maybe you have a fantastic view, which is built in art on your windows. It could be an inspiration piece such as a beautifully designed piece of furniture or a wonderful antique. Or even an architectural element such as a gorgeous fireplace could be the “art”.
Consider the colors, textures, the style and mood your art conveys. Take cues from the art to build the rest of the room to harmonize with and highlight the art. Often, I use more than one piece of “art” and work with the combination. Here is an example where I used three sources of art to build the design for this beach house.
The Primary Art- The View
In this Edesign, the main source of art is the view. The view is so beautiful and there is so much of it in the large expanse of glass, the view can not and should not be ignored. The view sets the color palette of various shades of blues, whites, and browns. It also sets the tone of a coastal style that is relaxed and peaceful. It adds texture, from soft and flowing from the sand and water, to hard and angular from the rocks.
The Secondary Art
To highlight and harmonize with the art in the view, the next pieces I looked for were the rugs, or the art for the floor. The main rug pulled in the colors from the view with the addition of a light purple and a touch of green which expanded the color palette. The colors from the rug and the view were used to determine fabric colors for the furniture and the wall color. A second rug highlighted the dining area and used mainly blues.
Supporting Art
And finally, I selected supporting art for the walls. The main art is the view of the ocean on 2 walls. I created fractal art designs of the “Sea” for the third wall and for the accent pillows. The colors and design match the ocean views and the blues in the two area rugs, tying it all together.
“Sea #2” Framed Art by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design “Sea” Framed Art by Northern Lights Hom Staging and Design “Sea #3” Framed Art by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design. Sea #2 fractal art pillow by Northern Lights Home Staging and Design.
Shop This Look
The remaining pieces all harmonize with and support the “art” and of course the function of the room. Some of the products may contain affiliate links.
Get This Design as a Virtual Zoom Background
Do you like this design? Why not use it as a virtual background for your Zoom calls? Click on the picture to download it and submit a vote for me in the MYZOOMROOM contest! See more of my virtual designs in my blog article, Up Your Game and Look Great on Zoom.
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Today I spent a lot of time thinking about my mom. I realized Mother’s Day is coming up this weekend and was wondering what I could do for her.
My mom is 91 and at this point in her life she is not interested in collecting more things, so I am more careful these days about what I can give her that does not add to her collection of stuff when she is trying to eliminate things. As an artist, I often make things for her….but then again, it is just more “stuff”. Sometimes I get her gift cards for her local book store because she likes to read. But, I prefer she does not go out if she doesn’t have to so will skip that idea this year. Sometimes I get her a gift of a massage…but that is out right now too.
Considering she is 91 and has some heart issues, I Facetime her every day to make sure she is OK. Today, I tried and tried and there was no answer. I was starting to panic a bit and called, and found everything was OK (she just didn’t hear the ring on her ipad). Just another reminder, life is short, times are hard right now and the most vulnerable among us are important to try to keep safe and check up on them.
I can’t be there with her on her birthday, as I am in Alaska and she is in Florida. If I could I would not risk exposing her to the risk if I were to travel. So, it is what it is.
So I finally decided on a bouquet of flowers…roses in all different colors. I know she will love them for the short time they are in bloom and the smell in her home will be heavenly.
So how about you? What are you going to do to make your Mother’s day? Why not try something new. Give her the gift of a beautiful home this year with a Mother’s Day gift card for an Interior Design or color consultation from Northern Lights Home Staging and Design. Happy Mother’s Day to all you beautiful Mothers out there!
Gift Cards
I have gift cards available for all my online design and color services which you can learn more about here. For an in-person consultation, give me a call for pricing and I will send you a gift certificate.
Now that 2019 is in the rear-view mirror, I decided to look back and see what I did with all my time, what I accomplished and consider what’s ahead. Have you done the same? I hope the last year was all you hoped for!
What the Heck I did with my time
For me, 2019 this was especially meaningful as I retired last December 31st from a 33-year career as a wildlife biologist. Although I started Northern Lights Home Staging and Design five years ago, I had more time to work on my design business in 2019. A big change was the decision to offer Edesign, or online Interior Design, online color and home staging consultations and virtual staging. Living in small town Alaska, I have a limited market and thought this would be a great way to expand my ability to help more people. So 2019 was a year of learning how to do Edesign and work with clients in a new way.
Colorful Projects
The year was filled with home staging, virtual staging, color consultations, local design projects and Edesign. When doing consultations or working with people taking their time to implement their design or staging, I don’t always get to see the “After” photos. Here is a video of my favorite projects where I did see the result. It was a very colorful year!
Cool Things
Some other exciting things that happened in 2019 were that:
I won the “Best of Houzz” for Customer Service again for the 4th year in a row.
I was awarded Best Interior Designs of 2018 and noted as an Interior Designer to Watch in 2019 in an article by Searchmetry.
One of my Edesigns was published in an international magazine! See the article, 5 Things You Need to Know About Edesign by JoAnne Lenart-Weary on page 50, and my design on page 55.The picture below is my design. More on how it came together in a future blog post. (shown below).
Edesign in Vision Magazine by Mary Ann Benoit of Northern Lights Home Staging and Design.
So Much Writing!
In 2019, I posted articles and tips on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest daily and wrote weekly blog posts compared to monthly in 2018. I did my best to provide information that you might find valuable on Interior Design, Color and Home Staging. I hope you will follow me and find some information helpful to you.
Here are some of my favorite blog articles which I think really tell the story of what I can do to help you.
In discovering Edesign, I also discovered some things about myself.
I LOVE color. Well, I already knew that, but Edesign gave me a chance to indulge my love of color, challenge myself and delve deeper into using the art and science of color I learned when I became a certified color strategist.
I LOVE global style and the layering of textures, handmade and exotic art and decor, eco-friendly materials, the history and culture, magic of lighting, rich colors and so much more!!
I LOVE eco-friendly, sustainable design. I realized how important it is to our health, well-being, and our planet and how easy it is to create beautiful and unique designs with eco-friendly elements.
I LOVE Edesign. It’s fast, affordable, unique and opens doors to working with anyone with a computer (is there anyone without one?).
What’s Next?
Now that I know more about the things that make my heart sing, and hopefully yours too, I plan to do more of the things I love! The current design trends are embracing color, global styles, eco-friendly design and new ways of doing things such as Edesign and I am ready to spread the love! Are you ready? Check out my blog article, Re-Invent Yourself and Your Home in 2020 to get inspired!
Make a Mother Happy with the Gift of a Beautiful Home
Give her the gift of a beautiful home this year with a Mother’s Day gift certificate for an Interior Design or color consultation from Northern Lights Home Staging and Design. Happy Mother’s Day to all you beautiful Mothers out there!
Northern Lights Home Staging and Design is an award winning company with training in home staging, Interior Design and color consulting. We have won numerous awards for customer service, our blog, youtube channel and Interior design.
