decorating Archives | Platemark Design

Decorating Emergencies – Yes, they are real and we’ve got you covered!

We always joke that interior decorating emergencies don’t exist – save for the ones we can handle. Like you move in with a significant other and your collective stuff clashes.

Bring the Candy Dish Back at Home!

Maybe it was an aunt, a grandmother or if you were lucky your mother — and not just around holidays. Ah, the candy dish filled with candy. It’s a magical thing. What happened that we’ve become people who live without candy here and there in our homes?

Looking to the Past for Design Inspo – Historic New England Home Tours

Living in New England is a blessing if you’re a sucker for historic home tours like we are. Plus we have organizations like Historic New England with so many homes to tour.

TV Sets – Interior Design Inspo from Television Shows

A common conversation at Platemark starts like this, “I watched [hot new TV show] last night, and the interior of so-and-so’s home was amazing!” Movies and TV shows are huge sources of inspiration for us, especially when whatever we’re watching is a period time capsule of interior design. Below are a few shows that still […]

The Best Designers in the World have the best Clients in the World

People love lists and superlatives, dating way back to high school yearbooks. But the publications are missing the juice: The best designers in the world have the best clients in the world.

What is Luxury (in 30 Seconds or Less)?

Pretty things and expensive things get all the credit, but they’re further down on my list.

Fear is the Latest Trend

Fear is the power that fuels inertia. I read somewhere that the all-white room is a byproduct of fear.

Downsizing, Yes, but Don’t Forget Upsizing Too

Many of our clients struggle with the challenges of downsizing. But what about upsizing? Typically out of college, we land our first job, maybe we shack up in a trendy urban neighborhood, then get married, celebrate a first born. But the inevitable arrives, planning for that second (or third) child?

Salon Style: Origins and Influence on Today’s Décor

Not for the strict minimalist, unless carefully and obsessively arranged, this approach involves hanging all the pictures closely next to and atop one another in order to fit them all in.

Does your Home Match (where you are in) your Life?

I bet your wardrobe does. Or your car, your wrist watch or even your boat. What about your home? Do you hesitate to invite people over?

The Best: My Favorites from Art Display to Outdoor Grills

Back by popular demand, here’s our roundup of eight superlatives. Call them our favorite things or our go-to brands. When you seek the best, you get what you pay for and you won’t be disappointed.

Why is Ironing So Satisfying?

Attacking the noxious wrinkles with a steam wand or heavy German steam iron stirs up a feeling of gratifying satisfaction and completes with a sense of primitive accomplishment that I feel like I can conquer the world.

Are You Embarrassed to Have People Over?

Aren’t we all, at some level a bit afraid of being judged? Our homes might be the ultimate reveal into our personal attics of shame.

Isn’t Paint Just Paint?

The one thing that will completely transform a room is an exceptional paint job. It’s the type of application that people can understand and relate to, though rarely give much consideration to the varying levels of quality.

I’ll Know It When I See It

We’ve all said it, but this doesn’t work all the time, especially when a kaleidoscope of decisions must be made.

The Nickel and the Dime

The journey of interior design transformation is often more valuable and memorable than the results. This means (to me) gently and thoughtfully leading the client through a series of carefully intended doors.

What Do You Do?

When asked what I did, I would usually get the same blank stare. Not to put down that career choice, it just doesn’t incite the type of excitement and enthusiasm that saying “I’m an interior designer” does.

A Thoughtful Job Posting

Platemark has a job opening for a studio assistant. Here are the qualities and qualifications that best align with the position. Does it sound like you or someone you know?

On Speaking Up (When It’s Much Easier Not To)

Often times we see flaws, oversights and potential improvements that no one else sees. Should we speak up and point them out?

Everyone Always Wants What (They Regret) Their Parents Threw Away

You name it, someone will always chime in saying “Oh, my parents had a pair of those and I regret if they’d only kept them!”

20 Questions I Don’t Know the Answer To

There’s a lot I know – and a ton I don’t. Here’s some questions to ponder with me.

I Make Decisions for a Living

A decorated home that consists of, say, 350 elements is actually 3,500 decisions. Or more. Probably more.

Before Company Arrives, Review This Checklist

Our homes never looks as good as when company arrives. Or as worse as just a few hours before. Here’s my “fluffing” routine, as I refer to it. Be sure the bathroom is fresh. This means wiping down the water marks around the sink, tidying up and providing fresh towels and a full roll of […]

What I’ve Learned From Professional Photo Shoots

It’s Not All Smoke and Mirrors My first assumption was, when flipping through shelter and home magazines, that nothing was “real”. Objects were dropped in at will, computers applied the magic wand tool to anything that didn’t show well. Cords and switches were scratched out. Not the case, well, usually. Lights Out I often get […]

Things I Wish I’d Known Before Becoming a Designer

This isn’t a post steeped in regret, pause or grudge. Rather, I entered this business quite deliberately, with much enthusiasm and energy. I never imagined having a job that I truly loved and for which I had Purpose. I also never had a mentor or Master Designer to work under and learn. My approach has […]

Ignore Sunk Costs When Making New Decisions

We hold on to decisions from the past. Usually, I imagine, because there’s a complicated series of (emotional) connections we have to the value of things, and more importantly, what our relationship is to money and how we choose to spend it. I’m in the business of physical transformation and change. And at the time […]

I’m Also a Furniture Designer

I’m many things, apparently. Originally (and I mean teenager-originally), chef tendencies shaped my future. If you follow my blog, you can see that is apparent here and here. Then, I got sidetracked in developing software for financial services, but that was a prison of my own building, albeit for the money and the freedom it […]

Video Killed the Radio Star

And customization is killing the luxury mass production stars. Is an $8K purse really luxury? Really? Is it even made out of leather? Are they completely hand-stitched? Is the hardware and buckles one of a kind? Can you have a say in the dimensions or how long the strap will be? What if you wanted it in […]

Here’s My Design Bucket List

I get to dream up a lot of fun creations from project to project. I keep an informal list of all the fun things I’d love to do in a space. Of course not every project finds it appropriate or maybe they just end up on the cutting room floor due to circumstances like time or […]

Don’t Let Pets Discourage Your Decorating Dreams

No one understands the love for pets as much as we do. And I’d say about half of our clients have pets and nice things at the same time. But I know it’s a sticking point for many to invest in fine furnishings if a pet rules the roost. All hope isn’t lost, you can have […]

Getting Your “Pillowscape” Right

No room is completely styled without an essential symphony of pillows. It’s a key opportunity to pull together all the colors and textures that the furnishings, curtains and wall color are built upon. Except it’s hard to get right and of course it brings out our inner OCD. The Basics Starting from scratch, I find that the perfect formula […]

Why Does Everything Take So Long?

We’re so impatient. Trust me, I’m the worst in that regard. Though ironically I’m perfectly suited for this job because I aim my shepherding powers directly at the vendors, service providers and manufacturers I work with on behalf of clients. There’s a reason everything takes so long and I’m going to tell you why, in painful detail. […]

Why You Can’t Get a Good Contractor (Hint: It’s not the Economy)

Answers to this age-old question are staring you in the face.

Off-The-Wall Fabric Applications for your Home: My Obsessions, Passions and Compulsions on this Topic

I could wrap anything in fabric. It’s my favorite aspect of design, to think up clever new uses for textiles.

Just Bought a Fixer-Upper? Feeling Lost?

We understand. We get lots of calls from homeowners eager for us to solve this very problem. It’s overwhelming, but we’re going to break it down into some simple steps to guide you on your way.

You haven’t redecorated in HOW many years??

Think it might be time to freshen things up a bit? Put less delicately, if you haven’t managed to toss to the curb your console television from 1977 or still clinging to your spider plant jungle, it could be time. I know, we all get stuck in a rut. If you’re even mildly a design enthusiast, you likely spend […]

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