The Party's Next Weekend. Yikes!

Project Pool in Peril?  Hardly.

The salt-finish deck is stained and the homeowners have been swimming and enjoying their new pool for weeks now.

Project Party in Peril? Not really, but it's down to the wire. Invitations went out weeks ago, the party's next weekend and the new pool room is still unfinished.

Accents of Salado is thanking its sources that all the furniture is here and we've already been able to place some of the the outside pieces.

Like many homeowners, last minute additions to the project leave them wondering if the professionals can meet their needs. After weeks of 100+ temperatures in Texas, mom and dad decided they needed an air conditioned pool room if they were going to enjoy their new outdoor addition as much as the children. Right now the new room seems to be in shambles and we may all be working in to the wee hours of the morning, but the professionals on this project are all determined that everything will be in place for Saturday's party. Wait until you see the finished project.

A Mediterranean Style Pool Project

The pool project is now at the pool deck stage. Pool deck options are unlimited, but these homeowners are most interested in a surface that is safe, user-friendly and inexpensive, but at the same time, one that is attractive and complimentary to the pool area. Another consideration is the style of the home. For a Mediterranean style home, a rustic textured finish is highly desirable. They're going with salt-finished concrete.

CREATING A SALT-FINISH POOL DECK
Salt-finished concrete is an inexpensive way to dress up the pool. The job's first few steps in creating a salt-finish pool deck are the same as they are for any concrete slab. Concrete professionals set concrete forms and install reinforcing material. 

Once the pool deck is formed and reinforced, professionals pour the concrete and then finish the concrete. When the concrete is firm but not completely set, coarse rock salt is broadcast over the surface. The salt is partially embedded by tamping down with a magnesium float or using a roller to press in the salt.

The salt is allowed to stay on the deck overnight and the pool deck is cleaned the following day with a pressure-washer. The water dissolves the salt, leaving a series of irregular dimples where the salt crystals had been.

The random indentations produced by this process create a non-slip surface with a weathered and textured Mediterranean look.

In our July blog see how the homeowners stain the concrete deck and how Accents of Salado helps them create a Mediterranean loggia to be enjoyed by family and friends. We can hardly wait to start decorating! Be sure to check back with us in July. 

Naturals for Lakeside Decorating

As warmer temperatures arrive, family interests turn to summer time activities. For many people, a lake home is a second home . . a weekend or summer getaway. With trips to the lake already in the making, it's time to think about sprucing the place up. If your tired coastal look needs some updating think natural. An emphasis on natural elements in a colonial plantation decorating style may be just the updated look to inspire you . . .  How about West Indies style? 

Two of Everything

Two of everything is adorable when it comes to toddlers. These two little girls are precious identical twins. Dressed in identical pink shirts and identical denim overalls, their endearing sameness is emphasized.

Somewhere in time the human psyche came up with the idea that two is always better than one - that matching or conforming are better than risking individuality.

Applying the matchy-matchy idea to decorating can result in a room that lacks pzazz.

Are you a two-of-everything decorator?

Ignoring Scale

You may be thinking that our title, Ignoring Scale, suggests you'll be reading ideas about how to avoid the bathroom scale. Decorating ideas and those pesky little pounds have more in common than you may think. Burning calories happens naturally when you really get going on a decorating project. Employing the following decorating ideas requires some  up-and-down ladder work that could produce dual results . . a great looking kitchen and great looking legs.

IGNORING SCALE is one of the top ten decorating mistakes. When decorating a room measure your space and decorate it accordingly. Choose decorative decor and furnishings for that room that are in scale with the size of the room.

DECORATING LARGE SCALE KITCHENS
In kitchens with high ceilings and tall walls there is a lot of room above eye level. Today's kitchen is a spacious room and, more times than not, the ceiling is tall. Many modern kitchens have vaulted or tray ceilings. Many have exquisite architectural features. Showcasing tall walls, unique ceilings and architectural focal points can be a decorating challenge.

Emphasis in interior design is about enhancing or creating a focal point in the room. The focal point of any room is like the exclamation point at the end of a well-worded sentence.  A successful focal point is appropriate for the scale of the room and it immediately draws the eye.

In the modern kitchen pictured here, the tray ceiling and the large vented hood above the cook top are the predominate features in the room.  They are focal points. The scrolled iron wall grille, inset in the stucco-finished hood, emphasizes this architectural element, draws the eye and, equally important, the grille breaks up a large expansive space. It gives the hood more definition.

There is ample space above the cabinets to decorate with large baskets, urns and bowls. Scale has not been ignored. Accessories are large enough to be seen and their size demands attention.
 
Get the ladder out of the garage and go decorate! Your legs may complain at first, but they will love you later. And you will love them.

Accessories:    Round Iron Wall Grille   
Strap Style Pot Rack    Large Woven Baskets    Decorative Fruit and Floral    Red Kitchen Canisters    Large Urns/Vases/Bowls

Choosing Colors that Go Together

 
HARMONY IN ROOM COLOR CHOICES 
Choosing colors that go together is a hallmark of good design. Have you ever vacationed in the tropics and find yourself enamored with the slow pace, the exotic architecture and the bright vivid color that engulfs your psyche? Suddenly you find yourself purchasing a souvenir decorative accessory for your home washed in the brilliant colors surrounding you. When you return home you are confronted with the reality that there is not one room in your home where that vase, wall hanging or colorful throw is accepted by the room design color theme that you have created. I've come to the conclusion, after repeatedly making this mistake, that people decorate with the colors that surround them. If you don't live in the tropics then you probably are not decorating your home with cool tropical color.


In the two images to the right, are bedrooms that are both pleasing to the eye. However the furnishings could never be combined. The warm, golden theme of the top bedroom could not accept the gorgeous cool blue chase. When shopping for furniture, the homeowner often finds an exceptional piece of furniture that they love and have to have. The chase in definitely appealing with its divine royal blue upholstery, but it demands a harmonious setting created just for it.

The chase would better compliment the lime green bedroom seen left than complimenting the warm gold-tone bedroom pictured above. Royal blue and lime green are tropical colors. 

They go together.

As seen in the white chair image, royal blue, lime green, vivid pink and bright white are harmonious colors. Replace the white sheers covering the window in the lime green bedroom, with the floral drapery shown in the white chair image, and the blue chase fits right in.

THE MORAL TO THIS DECORATING STORY
If your home is designed with warm earth tone colors, don't buy the metal art gecko to display on your coffee table.  Just buy it because you love it. It will make you happy every time you pull it out of the drawer.

Your Friends at Accents of Salado

Nourishing the Soul

I've never been much on new year resolutions, but I seem to always have a recurring thought each year and I guess there must be a reason.

As a new year rolls around I think of a fellow teacher with whom I worked for many years. Seldom in your lifetime does another's actions become engraved in your memory, but I think about this woman and I remember how renewing her spirit was high on her priority list. She was wise beyond her years and she must have known that a fresh new outlook was most important to her well-being and to the well-being of the children in her care.

Christine Taylor knew how to nourish her spirit and she did it on a regular basis. Every month, on a prominent wall beside her desk, a new work of art would appear. When I asked her about this unusual occurrence, she told me that one day she realized that she was going to be spending at least one-third of her life in this home away from home. Ms. Taylor knew that art was the mirror to one's soul and she shared her spirit and love of life each time she changed that picture on the wall. Every day she was surrounded by what she loved - children and her reminder of home.

As the owner of Accents of Salado, one of my favorite duties is the selection of new artwork. As the year winds down and we gear up for a new retail year,  these new selections begin to arrive.

I love to open the boxes and see these new treasures for the first time. It's like walking into Christine Taylor's classroom and sharing with her a renewal of spirit.

Pictured here are three new arrivals at Accents of Salado.

La Entrada   Fruit and Arches I   Fruit and Arches II

More New Accents of Salado Wall Art: Tranquil Moments   El Farol   Italian Tulipas.

Wishing you a renewal of Spirit in 2011.
www.accentsofsalado.com