Amber B Design Studio

Interior Design & Decoration for the South Florida region

Styling Tips and Tricks

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


When putting together e-design boards for my clients or decorating my own home, my focus is always on the accessories. They are the icing on the cake and take a space to the next level. The accessories are usually what gets noticed when company is over and can be a great way to show your personal design style. They are also great when updating a room on a budget, because amazing accessories can draw your eye away from an old sofa or outdated furniture. Here are my tips and tricks for styling!

Layering is Key
When thinking about shelves, art can lean on the shelf while smaller accessories sit in front. Layering your accessories adds depth and dimension to your shelves. And they actually make your shelves look bigger!

Our Family Room
Balance and Texture
When restyling your shelves, it’s best to take everything off and start fresh. {Which is also the time I dust the shelves!} Shop around your home for unique finds with different shapes and textures. I always tell clients to pair something flat with something sculptural and the everyday with something unique. A tried and true styling trick is to pair a stack of books with a pretty sculptural piece on top!

The picture above also shows how you can color code your books to give that rainbow effect. It’s a great trick when you have so many colorful books. All of a sudden, it’s well put together and thoughtful!

Turn Your Books Around
If you want to give your shelves a more neutral look, turn your books around so the pages show! It’s a subtle look and creates a softer, more subdued feel in the room.

Line the Back of Your Shelves
To bring texture and another color or pattern to your shelves, line the back with pretty paper! You could go as easy as attaching craft/wrapping paper with double stick tape or line the back with wallpaper. You could also paint the back of the shelves, like the image below. If the back of the shelves were the wall color in this room, the accessories would not stand out as much.
Source: google.com via Amber on Pinterest
Mix Tall and Small Pieces
This is a great way to get that layered, collected over time look to your shelves. Pairing tall vases with small accessory pieces adds more depth and looks great!
I am in the process of choosing something fun to line the back of my secretary shelves. Since this is an antique piece and I love the wood’s finish, I don’t want to paint or permanently cover the back in any way. I am thinking of using some type of paper and attaching it with double stick tape. Any thoughts on color or pattern?
Our Living Room
I saw a faux bois paper that might work. Also, if you have any other better suggestions instead of using double stick tape, I’m all ears! Whatever you think is best to preserve the wood.

Some Pins I Am Loving

by Filed Under: design, inspiration, personal design style, pinterest, style


I have been pinning like crazy on pinterest! There is so much great inspiration out there, so I thought I would put together a little collection of my recent finds, ideas I want to try and all time favorites.

Here we go…

If there’s space in your living room, I love the idea of adding a console behind the sofa that doubles as a desk. Even better, using inexpensive materials to achieve the look. This looks like they used plumbing pipes to make the desk legs. I hope to make bookshelves with a similar look for our home. More on that later…

In the right space, I love dark, moody walls. It looks like this bedroom gets a lot of natural light and has a great balance of creamy white, to tone down the dark walls. I will go moody and dark in our office this spring. This color to be exact!
I have admired industrial style chairs like these for a while! Nicole’s dining room is fabulous, and there are so many amazing elements in this room. I love the balance of the metal with the wood. This is the plan for our kitchen someday!
This bedroom is both stunning and casual! I love symmetry in bedroom design, and this styling has it down to perfection! I am doing some similar styling for a client’s bedroom, and this is great inspiration. I am also loving bird art at the moment, and these whimsical framed prints are beautiful in this space.
How sweet is the above image?!? I used a similar idea for a client’s dining room table, and I might just have to do this myself. When my mom and I head out to the antique fest this summer, I will be on the hunt for vintage glasses and vases to recreate this look! It’s simple, can be inexpensive, and you can use greenery from your yard! I feel a new dining table centerpiece coming on!
So that’s my inspiration for the week! Any great finds lately??

{A Client’s Before and After} The Keeping Room

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


You are in for a treat today! Yesterday, I opened up my inbox and saw an amazing collection of after photos from a recent e-design project. The project was for a keeping room, directly off of the client’s kitchen. They use this space as a main gathering area and it needs to be a functional, casual and stylish place for this fun family. My client loves splashes of color and wanted to give it a chic, modern edge. Here is a before picture of the room:

Before

 The space is already gorgeous to begin with! I love all of the natural light and vaulted ceilings. Here is the design board I came up with:

My client already had the chevron rug and chiang mai pillows. We also kept the existing wall color, television and media console. We switched out the seating, added new side tables, colorful accessories and art. And here are the afters…

After

My client is over the moon excited, and I am so thrilled with that! She did a wonderful job putting the space together and had great attention to detail when placing the accessories. I chose art and accessories that had colors pulled from the chiang mai pillows. I like how the pops of color are just sprinkled throughout the room, keeping the overall space neutral and airy like the rest of her home. With the color only in the accessories, the client is able to switch things out over time, when new favorite colors emerge. Also, she can move things from room to room to change things up, since this space flows with the rest of her home.

We are now working on her basement, which is coming along great! With e-design, you aren’t able to see the space in person, so it is so wonderful when you can see the vision come together. And this client has become like a friend, and I love it when that happens! I truly get to work with such amazing people, and for that I am so grateful. A big thank you to her for letting me share these pictures!

Next up, I will show you the DIY art project she created for the basement!

{Before and After} Shelf Styling in Our Family Room

by Filed Under: design, personal design style, shelf styling, styling


As we all know, a house is never done. There are accessories to move around and things to change. I’m ok with that, since I don’t like an accessory in one spot for long. I am always moving things from room to room and shopping around my home for changes. Here are some recent changes I made to our family room shelves…

Before

And here are the changes…

After

To keep it real, I actually didn’t just ‘shop around my home’ for all of these accessories. I’ve been doing some store shopping, lately! But, half of the things are from other areas in my home!  🙂 Starting with the top shelf, I swapped out two smaller prints for one large print. I like that it draws your eye up, which gives the illusion of more space. It’s a print from Italy that we had in another part of our home. The tortoise shell vase just switched sides and the chain accessory was from Target. It’s from the Nate Berkus line and it’s now on clearance!

For the second shelf, I brought in books from other parts of the home and also used some that we already had on this bookshelf. The clock was just moved to the top shelf. The ‘B’ candle jar was from our mantel and the Audrey Hepburn frame was from our dining room. I just found the white ginger jar at TJ Maxx for $12.99!

For the third shelf, the white tray and coral now sit on a dresser in the living room. If you follow me on instagram {AmberBInteriors}, then you know I just scooped up this grapewood branch at Pier 1 Imports. I had been eyeing it for a while and decided to go for it. I’m so happy I did, as it’s large enough to have a shelf of its own. You can pick one up HERE.

For the fourth and fifth shelves, I found these amazing baskets at TJ Maxx. The fabric has great texture and adds a casual/ rustic quality to the room. They can fit everything from pillows and blankets to board games.

One more before…

Before

And After…

After

To give you an idea of where this shelf is in our family room, here’s a little snapshot..
I wrote about the striped art prints on the fireplace HERE. I chose the green striped wrapping paper, because I liked how it worked with the Italy print from the top shelf.
Have you found any great deals lately… from shopping at a store, or your own home??  🙂

{Trendspotting} Mixing Metals

by Filed Under: design, design theories, personal design style


In my latest i village feature, I was asked to name a big design trend happening in 2013. It didn’t take me long to think about mixing metal finishes for a room. To achieve a layered, eclectic look in a space, a brushed nickel lamp base can sit near a brass accessory, without worry. Just like it’s fun to mix jewlery with gold and silver in one outfit, the same can be done with your space. I’ve always been in the thought to ‘include the things you love’ in your home. If you absolutely love it, then it works! Here are some spaces that achieve a layered, collected look by mixing metals and forgetting the design rules.

Bronze with Chrome

Iron and Brass

Source: houzz.com via Tina on Pinterest

Bronze and Brass

Stainless Steel and Bronze

Source: houzz.com via Baldwin on Pinterest

Brass and Chrome

When you see specific examples, you realize that it’s not so obvious. These spaces just look layered, well balanced and personal to the homeowner.

Have you mixed your metals lately??
Will you be watching the Oscars tonight? I always get excited to see what everyone’s wearing. Isn’t that why we all watch??

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??

{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!!

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.