Amber B Design Studio

Interior Design & Decoration for the South Florida region

I Am Honored to be Featured

by Filed Under: Uncategorized


A while back, I mentioned that I had pretty cool news about an upcoming feature. I am excited to show you the i village article that I was lucky enough to be a part of! I was contacted by i village, a web site about everything from health and beauty to decor and food, to talk about my favorite design trend for 2013.

Eeek- that’s our dining room! It didn’t take long before I decided on my favorite design trend for this season… mixing metals! To give a space a collected over time look, I love mixing metal finishes in one room. Stop by to see what I have to say about this trend {slide 5} and also take a look to see what some other amazing designers had to say about more trends happening this season! Read the article in its entirety HERE. Thank you so much to Lia for writing a great article and to i village for this opportunity!  🙂

Dark, Moody Rooms

by Filed Under: design, e-decorating, e-design, paint colors, personal design style


I recently wrapped up an e-design project where we went super dark with the master bedroom walls. The chosen color was Graphite by Benjamin Moore, and it’s gorgeous!

Since this client has a ton of natural light in this space, it was just the moodiness we needed without it being too much. Just picture this color with ivory and brass accents! Here is Graphite in other amazing rooms found via pinterest…

And here is the Master Bedroom e-design board I created for this client…
{Click on board to make larger}
Can’t wait to see it all come together! How about you… have you painted any walls super dark??

And the Winner Is…

by Filed Under: Uncategorized


Thank you to everyone who entered the Kimberly Blok Photography giveaway! Even if you didn’t win, I am sure you will enjoy going back to her shop for some amazing prints. I went through random.org to find the winner, and it’s…

Raelena, from her blog Throuthehaze Reads. Congratulations, Raelena! E-mail me at simpledwellings1(at)gmail(dot)com for more info.!

image via

I’ll try to be back later, for some design goodness!  🙂

{Before and After Shots} More is Definitely Better

by Filed Under: design, kitchen, personal design style


Do you remember my post HERE about the floppy curtain dilemma? If you read that post, you’ll know that I tried to save money and not buy as many curtain rod rings for our drapery panels in the kitchen. Big mistake! I ended up with a droopy mess that looked like this…

Before

I am usually in the less is more camp, but not with this project! More is definitely better. I used a whopping 17 curtain rings for these 54″ panels! Even though my arms were getting tired reaching to clip them all, I am so happy with how they turned out!

After

I can’t believe I went from 7 rings to 17 per panel! I actually did these drapes differently than my living room and dining room panels.  With those rooms, I just went with a certain number of rings and hung them up while evenly spacing them out. This time, I started with the outside of each panel and used them as I wanted. If I needed more, I just popped some on the rod from the other side. {Instead of looking at this as making so many mistakes before finally getting it right, I like to think of it as just getting better with age. Ha!} I have the same drapes in our family room, so it looks like I’ll be headed back to buy more rings… again! Ugh… it never ends. But, at least I know now how to tackle this problem. Here’s a run down:

* Start with the outside part of the panels when using the rings.

* Work your way across, pinching the back of the panels as you go and clipping the rings to the back of the panels.

* More is definitelty better when it comes to drapery rod rings! Clip every two inches, or so.

Have you entered the amazing Kimberly Blok Art giveaway?? Today’s the last day to enter. The winner will be drawn tomorrow. Enter HERE!!

Art Giveaway – Kimberly Blok Photography

by Filed Under: Uncategorized


Happy Monday! Is anyone in the mood for Valentine’s Day shopping or gift giving of any kind?? If you are, I have a treat for you today! Kimberly Blok, one of my favorite etsy artists, is giving away a print from her shop, to one lucky Simple Dwellings reader! If you haven’t been to Kimberly’s etsy shop before, take a look at her amazing photography skills…

All Prints Found HERE

I could keep going, her work is that amazing! She has the ability to capture any moment and make it look more beautiful than if you were there, in person. Now for the details of this amazing giveaway! Kimberly will be giving away one 8×8 or 8×10 print of your choice! {And by the way, all of the prints above fall under that category!} Here’s how to enter:

1. Stop by Kimberly’s etsy shop HERE and then come back to this blog, telling me your favorite item.
2. Like Kimberly Blok Photography on facebook, HERE.
3. Follow Simple Dwellings on Google Friend Connect, over on my sidebar.

For an additional entry:
* Add Kimberly’s etsy site to your favorites HERE. {+1}
* Blog about this giveaway, with this post’s link included. {+1}
* Tweet about this giveaway, with this post’s link included. {+1}
* Mention this giveaway on facebook, with this post’s link included. {+1}

{Leave separate comments for each additional entry.}

That’s all there is to it! 5 chances to win!! The winner will be announced here this Wednesday, 2/6!

Good Luck!!

The Drapes Are Up!

by Filed Under: design, fabric, personal design style


On instagram {amberbinteriors} I gave a little sneak peek into the drapes I finally hung in our dining room. When I repainted the walls, I realized I also wanted to raise the curtain rod up to the crown molding. I already had two silk panels left over from the living room that I didn’t need. They used to be too long for this room, but now with the rod being raised about 6 inches, they’re perfect! So, to tie the two rooms together, they both have the same drapes. Here are some afters…

After

I used my method that I discussed here for hanging the drapery panels. Installing your curtain rod higher than the window molding not only makes the room feel taller, it also opens it up, creating a fresher, more open space. You would be surpised how such a small detail makes a big difference.

Make sure to come back on Monday for an amazing art giveaway!
Happy Weekend!!

A Client Before and After: Art on the Wall!

by Filed Under: design, e-decorating, e-design, personal design style


My recent post here showed some e-design projects I have been working on. I am super excited to show some afters today, with the art installed in the master bedroom! It literally feels like Christmas morning when I get these after photos in my inbox. Since I am not able to be there in person with e-design, it is so gratifying to see the vision come to reality. So thank you so much to my client for these photos!  🙂

My client was looking for a trio of art pieces to go above the bed. Here is her room before the art:

Before:

Isn’t it a beautiful space?? And here are the afters, with the new art all framed up:

After:

I love how the art finishes that space above the bed, and my client did a great job installing them! Originally, I had suggested different frames, and my client decided to go with this similar version. I think they work beautifully, and it goes to show you that two minds can definitely be better than one! I love the collaboration between client and decorator. It makes it such a fun partnership! The fabric like matting adds great texture to the wall space and the antiqued silver frames balance well with the dark furniture.

Thanks again to my client for allowing me to show these photos on the blog. The amazing art can be found here.

Loving Overlays

by Filed Under: design, e-decorating, e-design, personal design style


When shopping for a client, I always try to suggest ways to work with what you’ve got and bring life back into older pieces. When one of my recent clients mentioned she had an IKEA dresser, I immediately thought of the innovative product Overlays to spruce up this piece and make it look chic and custom. If you haven’t heard, let me tell you all about this genious idea! Cheryle Rhuda and Danika Herrick created this innovative product when they saw a gap in the market for easy and inexpensive ways to dress up furniture. Overlays are lighweight, paintable fretwork panels that can be applied to not only furniture, but mirrors, bookshelves and anything you can imagine! What I love about it, is that they are also specially made to fit IKEA furniture! When you visit the ‘IKEA to Overlays’ section of their blog, they show you what fretwork panels work best with each IKEA furniture piece. Here are some amazing after shots of projects using Overlays…

There are so many creative ways to use this! Even if you don’t live near an IKEA, you can transform so many furniture pieces and accessories. You can check out their blog and see more amazing transformations HERE.

Recent E-Design Projects

by Filed Under: design, e-decorating, e-design, personal design style


I have been happily busy with some fun e-design projects! Both of these projects are for the same client, looking to make some changes to her spaces and add splashes of modern color. First up, the keeping room directly off of the kitchen…

{Click on images to make larger}

This stylish client already had the chevron rug and Chiang Mai dragon pillows. We just added new seating, tables and splashes of color! The color swatch on the top left is a gorgeous deep green color and will be the TV console color choice! Can’t wait to see it all come together!

Next up, we selected new artwork to go over her bed…

This is the option she chose, and it will look beautiful all framed up!

As spring is getting {hopefully} closer and closer, now is a great time to make changes and updates to your home!

Spring couldn’t get here fast enough! If you follow me on instagram {amberbinteriors} I posted a picture of our thermometer this morning. We’re in the negatives… not fun!

How To Create a Custom Look When Hanging Drapes

by Filed Under: design, DIY, personal design style


I have always loved browsing through magazines and seeing how beautiful custom drapes look and how effortlessly they hang on the rod. Love the idea, just not the cost of custom drapes. So, I tried to come up with a way to hang my drapes to give them that custom, pinch pleat look. I’m sure this is nothing new and there are probably so many other great ways out there to do this, but here’s mine…

These are dupioni silk drapes bought from JC Penney about 7 years ago. I wanted to make them look more polished and they also puddle on the floor a bit, so my new trick helped in both areas. I took drapery clips and pinched the back of the fabric, while clipping in place. I clipped them in place about a half an inch down from the top, helping to bring the fabric off the floor a little. I also used 11 drapery clips for each panel. The panels are about 54″ in width and 11 works out great! The odd number allows the clips to be evenly spaced throughout, creating a more unified look. That was my mistake in the past. Take for example, my kitchen curtains…

Trying to save money, I only bought a pack of 7 rings for each panel. See the result… floppy curtains! When these kitchen panels get four more rings each, we’ll be in business! Here is my breakdown for ya…

– If your panels are 54″ wide, go for 11 curtain rings!
– 50″ wide panels, go for 9 rings!
– Stay with odd numbers!
– If your curtains are a bit too long, try this method before taking out the sewing machine!