Good designers are onto it.

An unexpected element can make a room. Like a corrugated-steel barn door in a

dining room.

“I love them because they are textural and sculptural and unexpected…perhaps three important design concepts I incorporate in all my projects,” said New York designer Gail Shields-Miller, on her design for a Fire Island dining room and kitchen.

“It was a costly choice but undoubtedly the right [...] Read more »

E. Pearce Revisited

Designers often turn to history for inspiration. But rather than looking to reproduce past works, what if instead we interpret, using technologies that are completely current? Extraordinary design can result.

Case in point? This staircase that design firm, workshop/apd created for its contemporary update of a modern Tribeca loft.

The work pays homage to this Baroque staircase attributed to 17th century English master Edmund [...] Read more »

Designer DIY

by Mari Robeson

Design Junkies, we are in for a treat! Today, designer Mari Robeson joins us as Interior Design expert and Contributor. I am thrilled with the colorful and creative stories Mari has planned for us, about what we’ll learn from her, and how inspired we’ll be. Learn more about Mari at her Web site.

Photographs by Jenny Malott

Have you ever planned a room and [...] Read more »

This master suite’s bathroom glows with confident femininity and elegance.

Photographs by Margot Hartford. (Click on the photos for more detail.)

As I shared in Part I of the Master Retreat story, Jo Ann Hartley and Jennifer Hershon started this master bath design with an innovative material. The designers chose Caesarstone’s new Motivo in the ‘Lace’ pattern (detail right) for the shower surround and vanity tops. [...] Read more »

I crammed my notebook page with blissful scribbles.

- Tailored yet Zen

- Latte and cream

- Delish fixtures

Photographs by Margot Hartford. (Click on the photos for more detail.)

As I toured Hershon Hartley Design’s Master Suite at this year’s Marin Designers Showcase, I kept whispering to myself, “Wow.”

The spaces were calming and captivating at the same time. It was a retreat in the true [...] Read more »

Designing and remaking upholstered furniture, and combining it well in a space, is an art.

Designer Heather Hilliard is brilliant at it, as evidenced by her living room design for this year’s Marin Designer’s Showcase.

Photographs by Michele Lee Willson Photography

A classical room with grand proportions, Hilliard wanted it to feel “luxurious and refined but understated” and to function well for both formal entertaining and casual [...] Read more »

By Angela Min

Today our new Kitchen and Bath Design Expert and Contributor—Angela Min—joins us! Happily, the pencil is being tossed only over the kitchen island, as Angela is taking over writing duties for her design co-conspirator at The Kitchen Designer, Susan Serra, CKD.

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Breakfast rooms are often the afterthought of the kitchen, a “leftover” space often neglected by both homeowners and designers alike. But what a [...] Read more »

Small spaces in our homes are often treated like afterthoughts. Not so for this dressing room and bath worthy of an up-and-coming fashionista. These were favorites of the spaces we saw at this year’s San Francisco Decorator Showcase.

Photographs by David Duncan Livingston

We loved how the designers—George Brazil and Cecilia Sagrera of SagreraBrazilDesign—brought light and a soft, fresh color scheme into the space. And we were [...] Read more »

…Her Wallpapers, Divine Design & The Future

by Sherri Blum

This week, our Nursery and Kids Room Design Expert and Contributor—Sherri Blum—got to meet someone she really looks up to (literally and figuratively). She shares her visit

with us.

I had the distinctive honor of meeting the one and only Candice Olson of Divine Design this week! I can’t even begin to express how great it was to meet [...] Read more »

Parents of triplets can use any shred of tranquility they can get their diaper-strapping, baby-bouncing hands on. What if the nursery could be designed to relax?

That’s what Stephanie Marsh Fillbrandt and her team at Marsh & Clark Design accomplished with their Nursery Design for Triplets, at this year’s San Francisco Decorator Showcase.

Photographs by Elisabeth Fall

The subdued color palette isn’t what you typically see in [...] Read more »

This bathroom could turn me into a morning person – the graphic and sunny space that

De Meza + Architecture + Interiors designers Gregg De Meza, Jennifer Gustafson and Michelle Nelson created for this year’s San Francisco Decorator Showcase.

The fresh colors and crisp cabinetry enticed. But it was the dance of a black-and-white pixelated mosaic that drew us in like fish to a sparkly lure. [...] Read more »

Its spring in the City and time again for The San Francisco Decorator Showcase, a benefit for the financial aid program at San Francisco University High School.

You’ll come away with a mansion full of inspiration when you visit this year’s 8,368 square foot Pacific Heights home, open through the end of May.

Photographs by Cathy Lambert.

40 of the Bay Area’s top designers have transformed [...] Read more »

In addition to passionate design hobbyists, incredibly talented design and home professionals follow HomeWorkshop.com. This includes many interior designers, architects, set designers, contractors, home stagers — the list goes on.

And I know from visiting, talking and tweeting with you all, that a major focus in the Trade right now is making choices that are better for this Earth.

You use greener materials, finishes and furnishings that [...] Read more »

What’s best about producing HomeWorkshop.com? The friendships I’ve made with creative, colorful people, and the motivation we share on a daily basis.

Some of the people I’ve become closest to are “designing women.” Not those from that comfy old TV show (RIP Dixie Carter), but real, design and decorating professionals who do incredible work; and talented DIY’ers that turn their homes into striking expressions of [...] Read more »

Choices for Your Baby’s Room

by Sherri Blum

Today I am thrilled to welcome our HomeWorkshop.com Nursery and Kids Room Design Expert and Contributor, Sherri Blum. A pioneer specialist for children’s-room interior design, Sherri’s designs for celebrities, and for the baby next door.

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Expectant parents are very enthusiastic about decorating their baby’s nursery. They’re busily preparing a warm, beautiful, and safe little haven for this new addition to [...] Read more »