Custom Home Kelowna BC Canada by David Tyrell Architect Inc

Here is a modern home that has been described to be like the tip of an iceberg from the front. There is much more behind and inside. I really like the use of fire as accent pieces on the large terrace in place of planters. Check it out at Custom Home Kelowna BC Canada by David Tyrell Architect Inc

How to Select the Right Color for Your Home

How much of one color should you use while decorating your home? Here is a rule of thumb that will help you better balance your choice of colors.

Use the 60-30-10 ratio. What does that ratio mean?

When I choose a men’s suit, I first choose the jacket and the trousers. The color of the suit is primarily one color. That choice of color will be 60% of my entire ensemble. Then, I will choose a shirt that will have its own color. That shirt will be about 30% of all of the color. Lastly, the final 10% of the area of my wardrobe will be colored with my tie.

So, in the homes that I decorate, I will choose the wall color that will be 60% of all of the entire space (by the way, I might bend the rules and choose an accent color for one wall – that is an exception). Then, I will choose the upholstery color – that will be the 30%. Then, I will accent the room with another color that will give it a little “punch.” This accent color will be about 10% of the colors in the whole room.

If you need more help with this, stay tuned for an upcoming podcast that I will be releasing soon with more ways to choose the right colors to decorate your home. In the meantime, come visit me at the Ashley Furniture HomeStore at 561 Rt. 46 West, Fairfield, NJ 07004 to get a personal, one-on-one, design consultation that will transform your home into a home that reflects the lifestyle of you and your family. IMPORTANT for your best design, you MUST ask for "Larry" at the front door. Otherwise, you will be just dealing with someone that is trying to sell you stuff.

OK, for you folks that need answers NOW, just click on the the icon to the right of this blog post titled, "Paint Cheat Sheet" to get some valuable tips to launch your home design beyond what you might recieve from any interior designer. Heck, your interior designer should be paying you for the information that you will know after you grab a copy of the "Painting Cheat Sheet."


Click on the "ReTweet" button below and follow me on twitter. I am LaneArch there.

A Daily Dose of Architecture: Today's archidose #548

A Daily Dose of Architecture: Today's archidose #548: Here are some photos I took of the Woman's Home Companion House in Warson Woods, St. Louis County, Missouri by Paul Rudolph, 1956. I learned...

Could You Live In A 161-Square-Foot House? Tech + Design: Details.com

It is not always that we have the opportunity to see how Mc Mansions are not the only way to enjoy our lives at home. Here are some examples of how living in much smaller spaces might not be so bad (at least for a weekend).
Could You Live In A 161-Square-Foot House? Tech + Design: Details.com

10 Secrets toTransform Your Home During The Holidays

1. Not just green and red anymore: Green and red are the traditional colors of the holiday season. After seeing it in almost everything and everywhere during this time of the year, the two colors become kind of dull and unimaginative. Instead, make your home more sophisticated by using deep forest greens, rich burgundies, and dark cranberry colors. Use only one color throughout or use two or three main colors.
2. Some golden touches: Use metallic accent colors like silver, gold, and coppers to spark up the spaces. Accessories are perfect to use with these colors. Incorporate the metallic colors in your choices of lamps, napkin rings, planters, and candles. Email to me at info@LaneArchitecture.net if you would like to learn more about where you can buy one table lamp and get one free.
3. Setting your table: Create an elegant table setting with a new table cloth or table linens with these rich new seasonal colors. Place settings and plates could be a solid color while using a patterned fabric for your napkins.
4. Accent pieces: Use your selected shades of the seasonal colors and accent colors with pillows, throws, vases, and decorative bowls filled with interesting color matching items.
5. Liven up the guest’s powder room: The powder room will be seen by your guests, so don’t overlook it. Bring life to this often dark cubby with artificial plants that look great and don’t require a green thumb.
6. Swap decorations with family members: Trade decorations with family members who cannot travel the distance to your home during this holiday. Having a small dear piece from their home will help you sense their presence and you will be sharing yourself with others far away.
7. Decorate with heirlooms: Allow the memory elderly family members that passed away to touch the hearts of your family during this wonderful time of the holidays by using their costume jewelry as part of the decoration on the tree or as part of the table setting. This is a much better use of those sentimental items than to leave them as forgotten items stored away in a box somewhere.
8. Create interest with an area rug: Painting walls will immediately transform your home faster than any other decorating tip. But, let’s face it, our holiday season is packed with enough “to-do’s” and we don’t need the extra stress of clearing out a room, repainting it, and then redressing it again. Instead, select an inexpensive 5 ft. x 8 ft. area rug. You will be surprised to find how quickly it will add color and life into your old worn out living room.
9. Get new bedding sets: What is the biggest item in your bedrooms? It is probably the bed. The bedding on tops of your beds are the largest things that people will notice when they enter your bedrooms. So, pick a comforter set with matching pillows that will make your beds an eye pleasing focal point.
10. Toy with this idea: Toys can be great decorative accents for the holiday season that bring back pleasurable childhood memories.

Special Offer for Homeowners

If you are a homeowner then you will benefit from a checklist that is one of several free bonus gifts for signing up for our complementary e-zine titled, "My Designed Home." All you need to do is fill out the form to the right or go to The Designed Home website

Click on the "ReTweet" button below and follow me on twitter. I am LaneArch there.

October brings some tricks to use in your home

Click here and subscribe to my newsletter

My younger son became a big close up magic trick enthusiast earlier this year. He was mainly learning card tricks and has a YouTube channel where he performs and teaches others what he learned. This YouTube channel has a growing list of subscribers. Some of his videos have attracted over a thousand viewers. I guess he is not alone with his interest in magic.

Earlier this year for his birthday present to him, I took him – along with my older son – to a magic convention, to Manhattan to view the Houdini exhibit, and to a magic shop that even the professional magicians love to hang around.

While at the magic convention, my son interviewed another magician who was planning his own magic convention and gave my son VIP tickets for promoting his event on YouTube. Two of the key magicians at this more recent magic event are world famous. My son interviewed both and will share what he learned in a future YouTube episode.*

Why am I sharing this with you?

Magic is all about perception. So is the design of our homes. There are techniques that we can use to help us feel more comfortable, make small spaces seem larger than they are, to reflect our own personalities and much more.

As my son was able to learn the secrets that made these famous magicians successful, so will this newsletter and the ones to follow share secrets to design a home that will better enhance your own lifestyle. Let’s look at three tricks that you can do this month to treat you and your family.

1. Create a special bedroom for your kids.
I met a wonderful mom with her precious young daughter in the store the other day. They were shopping for a new bed for the little girl. She was growing out of the baby furniture and the girl needed a bed. The little girl was such a sweet young lady. A real princess. They selected the Alyn upholstered bed. The cutest thing happened, when they were leaving, I offered a tape measure to the little girl. Holding it stretched out in front of her, I urged her to accept my gift. Instead of grabbing the tape, she just walked into it. Her mom explained that she misunderstood me and thought that I was going to measure her for her next princess dress.

2. Add dramatic lighting for the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving dinner is filled with food, family, and fun. A lady that I helped select a new dining table told me about how she feeds at least 75 family members on Thanksgiving. There is a dining table that is new to our showroom that has crackled glass surrounded by a wooden top. While this table will not seat 75 people – heck, King Arthur’s round table is even too small for that many people – she intends to use it for a service table for the holidays and a dining table for the rest of the year. Here is a cool trick that she taught me, put a battery powered fluorescent light underneath the table and allow it to shine upward through the crackled glass “window” in the wooden top. This light will cast cool designs upward on the ceiling. How’s that for a dramatic center piece for a Thanksgiving meal to remember?

3. Create a private place for you.
During the rush of the school week, Halloween howls, and with the upcoming holidays creeping up, we all need time to relax and get our thoughts together. Find a place to meditate and read like another customer of mine who meditates before starting her days and during the evening. She needed a special place made just for her. You don’t need to spend all that money to remodel a private room or a man cave, just do what she did… Choose a chaise that you can escape to. The chaise acts as a perfect accent to a study, bedroom, or to a living room. A word of caution though, you might have others who will want to use the chaise when you do.

*By the way, if you would like to see my son’s YouTube channel, check it out at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrMagic204 . The two internationally famous magicians that my son interviewed are Dr. Lennart Green (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_oa8m5Oq00) who is known to be the master of misdirection and Wayne Houchin (http://www.waynehouchin.com) whose magic seems to appear supernatural.

How to save on your commercial utility bill

Check out my latest podcast that shares ways you can put more cash into your pockets while saving on your business' utility bills. Listen to my intereview with an expert in the commercial real estate energy profession and learn what you need to do right now to increase your bottom line at


Click here to hear how you can keep cash in your pocket while paying your business' utility bills