I love seeing kitchens that dare to take a chance with bold colors, unique materials, and statement-making fixtures. In this article, I analyze seven beautiful and audacious kitchens in their design and explain why I believe they work (or don’t). Read more on bold kitchens that stand out from the crowd.

Why it works: This one long wall contains everything the gourmet cook could want, including visual impact.

These are extraordinary times. Social distancing and sheltering in place have completely upended our lives in ways we could not have imagined a month or so ago. Many of us have never spent as much time in our homes as in the past few weeks. And never has the idea of home as sanctuary felt as true. The time to dream is now, read on!

When I see a well-designed space that I viscerally respond to, I deconstruct what I see to understand what it is I find so appealing. It is the same thing that I teach my new clients to do as we go through the style discovery process together. I am inspired to teach my clients to see the elements that make up successful and satisfying designs.

In the image of this dramatic bath, I find appealing the contrast created by the dark gray geometric shape with light and dark shapes created by lighting.

We are excited to tell you about the recognition we’ve received from a variety of sources these past few months. Read more on recent happenings at Larisa McShane and Associates.

Our “Teenager’s Dream Bedroom” won a 2016 Interior Design Award from the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Pennsylvania East Chapter. Thank you to the judges and to the ASID for the honor.

Also, Houzz.com has awarded Larisa McShane and Associates a “Best of Houzz 2016” Service Award for client satisfaction for the third year in a row.

What is the first thing people notice when they walk into your living room? Is it the striking piece of artwork, your impressive fireplace, or is it the TV on a blank wall? A focal point in any room is the element that attracts interest and attention, it is the thing that makes your guests stop and say “wow”, it inspires an interesting conversation. You can use a focal point to make the room more exciting, it is a wonderful way to bring balance and cohesion to a room. The easiest way to create a focal point in a room is to accentuate an existing, strong element within the space. Here are some ideas:

Accent the Fireplace
A fireplace is a natural gathering place, so make it the centerpiece of the room.

Whether you’ve decided to redecorate one room, re-design the whole house or you’ve just moved into a new place, figuring out where to start your interior design project can be overwhelming. Should you start with choosing the wall color or a piece of furniture and build from there, or should you find inspiration online and try to replicate it? Read more on Interior Design Ideas by an Interior Designer.

There is a secret formula to getting brilliant design ideas, and I’m about to share it with you…I discovered an exercise many years ago when I started my business and it has become the cornerstone of all my professional work. This is my secret to creating any client’s dream home.

Technology has created some interesting challenges; it has changed how we connect with people and how we work. It has also changed how we understand physical space and how we approach contemporary interior design with that new understanding.

As everything becomes digital, we find a new abundance of physical space– what used to be an entire office becomes a laptop, what used to be an entire library becomes a kindle. And two new questions arise: “What do we do with all that stuff?”

The beauty of it is we now have the opportunity to keep only what we love.

When it happens, everything falls away. The moment becomes effortless. You glance up at the clock–it’s hours later, and you haven’t eaten all day. Suddenly, reality rushes back. You, my friend, were just in a state of flow. You may have been painting, writing, playing a video game, or researching on the web, but you didn’t notice the time drift past you.

Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, a psychologist noted for his work on happiness and creativity, describes flow as completely focused motivation–“being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.”

In Islamic art, the repetition of basic geometric shapes serves to concretely symbolize the infinite. These patterns allow a semblance of order, offering the possibility of infinite growth and a wonderful sense of freedom within the constraints of mathematics and geometry. We can imagine the pattern continuing forever; organically shifting, evolving, transforming yet still adhering to the laws of its creation. These patterns are intentional, created with purpose and foresight.

We weave our lives in the form of patterns– our habits. But do we create our habits with intention, purpose and foresight, or do we fall into repetitive patterns without even noticing? I often wonder at how quickly I establish patterns in my relationships.

We are often looking for more ways to feel connected to nature, but with the kind of nature we like, the kind that pleases us. At home, we work hard to keep the bugs out but let the sunlight in. The potted plants can stay as long as the dirt doesn’t get too dirty. There is a constant tension between the desire to keep nature out and the desire to commune with it. Perhaps that is because we tend to build homes in a way that is so out of tune with nature.

This is a prototype called Beast designed by Neri Oxman at MIT. Resembling a kind of praying mantis, it is made from eight materials of varying flexibility and is designed to hug your body, reacting to each movement.

When I Skype with friends these days, I find myself looking at my own face more than I look at theirs. I wouldn’t call it narcissism, and I would be suspicious of anyone who denied they did the same. I think it’s rooted in the eternal desire to know ourselves, to understand ourselves. This made me think about the importance of personal reflection in our lives, and in our homes, and the role that mirrors have played in the evolution of human consciousness.

We can look at just about anything with just our eyes, but to witness ourselves, we need something else. A pool of water, a camera or a mirror; knowledge of our own face always comes from an external object.

This is a design blog that focuses on the relationship we have with our homes, and how this relationship is a reflection of the relationship we have with ourselves.

This is a project of Larisa McShane & Associates, a design firm based in Villanova, Pennsylvania. Our design strategy is to discover each client’s subconscious visual and spacial preferences, to create for each client a space that is their own sanctuary. We create spaces that nurture, heal, and invigorate lives.