interior design ideas: July 2009

Adorable Garden Stools

Ceramic garden stools are everywhere nowadays. We think the trend started with the boutique hotel chains like Mondrian, where they were using white garden stools everywhere. More often seen indoor as decorative items, they are actually meant to be used outdoor. Super easy to clean and versatile, decorative garden stools can be used as seating,...

Pretty Rugs from Surya

We have a soft spot for dainty & pretty looking things. Like things with soft, muted colors; subdued patterns, delicate designs.It's the reason why we really like this rug collection from Surya. It's full of all the things stated above.Here are some of our favorites: The rugs are really inexpensive. They run about $400 (for a 4 x6) to...

Modern Silk Flowers from NDI

Silk flowers have a bad rep, don't they? They are perceived as chinzy and cheap, but truly, they do not have to be. The quality of silk flowers has improved tremendously over the last few years. Now you can find very nice, high quality arrangements that look almost as good as the real ones.We think the key to pick silk flowers is to find...

Energy Efficient Homes & Appliances

According to the U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Department of Energy recently announced the availability of nearly $300 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for rebate programs and consumer purchases of new ENERGY STAR qualified energy efficient appliances.The new program...

Our new decorating blog launched today!

We are pleased to announce the launch of our new decorating blog , Digging Decor.Our new blog will cover interior design much more extensively, including design products, design ideas and design news. Think of it as a huge addition to this web site, which will still be updated regularly by our staff.We'll hope you'll come visit soon. It's a great looking site, we're very proud of ...

New London New Hampshire Office Relocation!

Bonin Architects is excited to announce the opening of our new office located at 209 Main Street, New London, New Hampshire, next to Ellie’s Café. Our new office is a two-story 1,449 square foot craftsman-style building, a signature facility which reflects our culture and the way we work with our clients. The first floor has a large conference...

White Decor-So Refreshing

Did you see the latest issue of Elle Decor? It features the home of Monelle Totah, vice president of design for Williams Sonoma. We thought it's worth a feature post because it's such a refreshing style that is so achievable. By that, we mean you can find everything in the home quite easily. Not like those features where the owners alway...

The Five Most Tiresome Decorating Trends

You know how when you get too much of something, it becomes tiresome really fast?Take reality TV for example, how many permutations of it can we take? Does anyone care about Jon and Kate, or the Real Housewives of whatever?Sidenote: Eventhough this has nothing to do with home decor, here is an interesting article from the NY Times about reality TV.Home decorating is kinda like that too. Once a trend is caught on it spreads like...

Place for towel wrap and preschool Nap Mats

Place for towel wrap and preschool nap mats.Are you looking for a wonderful place for buying wonderful gifts? Are looking for some amazing fun things to buy? Then Posy lane is the site for you. They have the most fun amazing things for your kids also. The towel wrap, laundry bag, kindergarten nap mats preschool nap mats are available in this site. They will definitely love the things in the Posy lane website. You might have been...

Home Renovating

Consumer Reports magazine recently polled subscribers on their home renovating trends (yes, they do more than just review products), and the results are interesting!Many folks, instead of adding a bumpout or home addition, are cutting costs by renovating their kitchen, bathrooms, and outdoor spaces to make better use of the space, open up...

NH Events

If you are looking for things to do in New Hampshire this weekend, head over to the Lakeside Living Expo at Gunstock Mountain Resort in Gilford! The Expo, in its second year, is located near beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee, less than 90 minutes from Boston and the NH seacoast. The Expo will feature over 200 companies featuring 300 exhibits...

Los Angeles Taste Makers

The Los Angeles Time Magazine today has an excellent feature on the up-and-coming taste makers in Los Angeles, primarily in the field of fashion, interior design, architecture, arts and entertainment.We find it so inspiring...It's so nice to read about people who are so incredibly creative. It's also nice to discover people & names we...

Smith & Hawken Closing All Stores

One of our favorite garden stores, Smith + Hawken, announced that it will close all of its 56 stores by the end of the year.Another victim of this horrible economy....Sales starts this week at all stores. The online store has been shut do...

Very Modern Lighting from Nuevo

We just saw some very cool lighting fixtures from Nuevo that we thought you might want to check out. This is a Canadian-based company and they make amazing barstools, modern furniture and lighting. We like their lighting collection quite a bit. It's are not too expensive and they are very unique. If you have a modern theme for your home decor,...

Fresh & Clean- White Home Accessories from Zodax

We just got back from Mexico lately and for some reasons, we are just so into white! Maybe it was because it was so hot in Tulum, the only appropriate thing to wear is white linen. And the only thing that looks good in a home is white furniture and white accessories.So we were thrilled when we saw these home accessories from Zodax at the...

Energy Efficient Mortgage

By now, most people building a new home know enough about green building to know they want their home to be energy efficient for several reasons. Energy efficient homes are better for the ecosystem, eliminate toxins and allergens creating a healthy environment for your family, and reduce costs (energy costs, health care expenses, maintenance...

Bringing Smart Energy Home

Most of our clients are interested in how much energy their new green home will use. Wireless energy monitors are the answer. Here's an article I read recently in Business Week:Bringing Smart Energy Home: Wireless energy dashboards to monitor usage are coming to many U.S. homes starting this year, fueled by the stimulus package, by Katie...