Creating a 5 Star Guest Room

Open Heart, Open Home As I anticipate the holidays, I think of the friends and family who'll visit. While trimming my home with festive and cheerful seasonal decorations, I'm planning the delicious meals I'll serve to them. Even though most of my loved ones are within commuting distance of my home, I'll often have overnight guests. Whether they've traveled from out of state or it's just too late to safely drive home, I want my guests to feel welcome and comfortable in my home as I'm sure you do as well. Here are some suggestions on making your home a 5 star retreat for your guests.    Creating a 5 Star Guest Room If you want your overnight guests to feel welcome, the first step is to make them to feel that you're prepared for their visit. Whether large or small, a guest room in a soothing color palette that feels as luxurious as a 5 star hotel room yet as comfortable as being at home is a guest room that says "Welcome, we've been waiting for you". All too often, "guest rooms" are a mere step above storage rooms; a hodge-podge of mismatched furniture from by gone eras. But a beautifully decorated room with pleasant amenities will give your guests a welcome they won't soon forget. Fresh linens are just a start to having a room at the ready. Begin with a comfortable bed. Have you spent a night in your own guest room? Try it, it maybe quite enlightening. A comfortable mattress with a pretty bed or headboard is a great place to start. Out with the old and in with newly purchased, high-thread count bedding and add extra pillows of differing firmness and thickness for back, side and stomach sleepers. Put extra blankets in the room because everyone has a different feel for what is  "warm and cozy". The same is true for warmer nights so, if possible, have a ceiling fan to cool the room for guests with high personal thermostats. Nightstands provide guests with a place for eyeglasses, a glass of water or a place to set a book all without having to get out of bed. Have a bedside lamp for the same reason, to access light without having to get out of bed and stumble around in the dark. Room darkening window treatments allow your guests to decide whether they want to be an early riser or sleep in. Have strategically placed lighting. Having a lamp or light switch close to the door makes it easy for guests to find their way into an unfamiliar bedroom. A light within easy reach of the bed makes bedtime reading more enjoyable and safer for those middle of the night trips to the bathroom. Clear the clutter. While beautiful décor is desirable, having a lot of knick knacks is not. In addition to scenic artwork, here are a few suggestions for things that serve a practical purpose while beautifying your guest room.   Cultivating Individuality in Your Unique Home Celeste Jackson Interiors, Ltd.

Windows That Wow!

Windows That WOW! Decorative window treatments might seem like a frivolous expense these days but what you might not realize is that they offer so much more than mere beauty.  Some other benefits of decorative window treatments are energy efficiency, better acoustics, accentuating your home's architecture, as well as, pulling your room together. Add Energy Efficiency to Your Windows! Window treatments that can be opened and closed can insulate your home and help make it more energy efficient by keeping the heat from summer sun out and prevent the warm air from your furnace from cooling against cold winter windows.                        Improve Acoustics                    With the increased popularity of tile and hardwood floors and high ceilings, sound is an ever present issue. Sound waves from stereos and in home theatre systems bounce off hard surfaces like a rubber ball. Adding soft fabric treatments will absorb some of the noise and echo.     Picture This . . . Framing a Beautiful View Just as the right frame will enhance a painting, so soft draperies will frame a beautiful view without blocking or deterring from it.   Enjoy! Cultivating Individuality in Your Unique Home! Celeste Jackson IDS

Halloween Party

 

For years my husband and I talked about hosting a Halloween Party, however it just never seemed to happen. After a summer of highs and lows we decided to make it happen and glad we did. It was a night filled with childish fun from spooky decorations to an apple cider donut eating contest. If you have been waiting to host a halloween party I highly recommend you make it happen. Here are some tips to get started.

1. Pick a theme to guide your guests on how to dress. Ours was a 1960-'70 TV Shows hence LaVerne, Shirley and Lenny and Gilligan, Ginger, Thurston and Lovey. 
2. Pick a room to create a spooky atmosphere. We chose our living room and front entrance where our guests hung out and played with the Ouija board. We replaced all of our family photo's with creepy Victorian photo's we downloaded from Google Images. We covered furniture with white sheets, added cobwebs, spiders, mice, crows and skulls and bones and played a spooky CD on an old boombox tucked in the corner. 
3. We made soft pretzels that looked like witches fingers, chocolate treats that looked like spiders and mummy face pizza's. There are so many great ideas on Pinterest.
4. Plan games to add to the fun. We hung apple cider donuts from the porch ceiling with satin ribbon and wrapped them with saran until we were ready to have the contest. The first person to finish eating their donut without using their hands and without the donut falling... won. We also had a quiz based on '60's and '70s TV shows and of course we all voted for the best costume...... LaVerne & Shirley won. There were prizes from Trader Joe's for all the winners.... Pumkin Pancake Mix, Apple Cider and Taffy Apples.
5. Start preparing and decorating the week before so you can enjoy the process and enjoy the day of the party in anticipation of your guests arrival. 

"This is one time that the uglier you decorate your room the better it looks." Celeste Jackson

Cultivate Individuality in Your Unique Home

Celeste Jackson

Creating Cozy Spaces

Every home should have at least one cozy space...a room that gives a feeling of comfort, warmth and relaxation. It should be a place you are drawn to when you want to curl up to a good book, watch a movie...even by yourself, take a nap, surf the net or listen to music. Whatever it is you like to do here a some tips on creating a place you can retreat from the everyday challenges.

• Select furniture that suits your size and embraces you the second you sit down. It could be a chair and ottoman, settee, loveseat or daybed. Take the time to try pieces out as you would a mattress so you can distinguish what kind of cushion you like. Be sure to select tables within reach to set down a drink or snack. 
• Lighting should be efficient enough to read a book but not bright. My preference is to mix floor lamps and table lamps that accommodate a 3-way bulb and general lighting and fixtures on a dimmer switch. This will create layers of light and will allow you to adjust the light as needed.
• Windows should be well dressed with privacy treatments to control the natural light and maintain the feeling of coziness. Decorative treatments will help warm up the space literally and figuratively and will help absorb and buffer sound.
• Use warm colors and textures to enhance the coziness.
• Accessories will give the space the final touches to create a cozy space...a magazine holder, shelf for books, a beautiful piece of art, area rug....etc. Be sure to keep the space uncluttered so that it always draws you in when you need to unwind.

Now it's time to snuggle up and enjoy!

"Cozy spaces create a state of mind that allows you to feel safe from the everyday challenges of life."

 Celeste Jackson

Cultivate Individuality in Your Unique Home.

Celeste Jackson

for more ideas visit my website

www.CelesteJacksonInteriors.com  

A Luxury From the Past Worth Revisiting...The Dumbwaiter

When I was a young girl my parents took our family to Cantigny in Wheaton, IL. which features a war museum and the property and grand home of Robert R. McCormick who served as a colonel in the army and was later the owner of the Chicago Tribune. Out of all the things we saw that day the one that stuck with me the most were the dumbwaiters throughout the home. It impressed me so much that I knew one day I would have one in my own home. Although I had some opportunities to incorporate a dumbwaiter into homes we renovated and built I never did. When we remodeled our 1893 Farmhouse in 2002 at first I did not plan for one. Shortly into the renovation I decided to research them and see how much it would cost...at the time all said and done it was around $3000.00 for a hand drawn dumbwaiter that would hold up to 65 lbs. After convincing my husband, my architect and my contractor that it made good sense we ordered one from the Vincent Whitney Co. in Sausilito,California. At the time they were the only company still manufacturing hand drawn dumbwaiters which is what I knew would be appropriate in a vintage home.

 Ten years later I can honestly say that the addition of a dumbwaiter has been one of my favorite features of our home. Since the shaft allows it to go from the cellar to the kitchen to the upstairs hallway outside our master bedroom we utilize it for so many things. It carries cases of wine to the cellar, newly purchased toiletries, laundry soap and cleaning products to the hallway upstairs where our bathrooms and laundry room are located. I also store larger kitchen appliances and stock pots in the cellar and load up the dumbwaiter when I need to utilize them. I use it to carry holiday items up and down to and from storage. The great thing is I can wait until my next trip up or down to unload it when I don't have time to deal with it now.

It surprises me with as many custom homes I have the luxury of working on that a dumbwaiter is rarely considered or worked into the plans. Some of the homes I work on even have elevators but why not a dumbwaiter too. After the home is complete and I am working on the decorating I see the kids books and toys and other miscellaneous items collecting at the bottom of the stairs waiting to be carried up when they could have been stored away in the dumbwaiter to avoid the cluttered look.

If you are considering a renovation or building a new home I highly suggest that you consider this luxury from the past. Maybe you want to look into a powered dumbwaiter for your project. Either way the results are the same....you can make life easier and uncluttered with a blast from the past.

"Everything old is new again." Peter Allen

Cultivate Individuality in Your Unique Home
Celeste Jackson

Adding a Pop of Color

Palatine General Store

Saddle Shop 

Palatine Hospital

Recently I had the honor of working on a historical property in downtown Palatine. The building had a history of many lives including a tavern and a hospital. The owner wanted to turn the upstairs space into 8 offices to rent out to small business owners so that they could have a professional space for meeting with clients at a reasonable cost. We decided it was important to preserve the historical aspects but to add a bit of edginess and bring it into the quickly moving millennium. There were a lot of details that went into creating the look but what topped it off and sealed the deal was the historical canvases we hung throughout. The Palatine Historical Society was kind enough to share the images with us. Using an online source that turns images into canvases we were able to utilize a Google application that gave these historical photo's new dimension with a pop of color.

This same application can be used to have some fun with family photo's and turn them into art. It is inexpensive and you don't need to frame them because the photo wraps around the edge but do keep that in mind when cropping the photo's so you don't lose an important aspect of the photo when it bends around.

Have fun and and don't be timid when it comes to adding color. It is a great way to brighten up your home.

"Colors are the smiles of nature." Leigh Hunt

Cultivating Individuality in your Unique Home.
Celeste Jackson

Defining Your Style

I often go in homes where it is very clear that the client is confused about what style suits their taste and lifestyle. I think part of the problem is that they select items based simply on trends they are being subjected to every time they open their mail box. I must admit that some of the items that mail order catalogues have to offer can work well but it is important not to overdo it. We all need to define our style. But where do we start? Here are some of the things I do to determine my client’s styles to help cultivate their individuality.

• As you browse through catalogues and magazines tear out pictures of rooms that appeal to your senses. Put them in a binder and organize them according to room.

• Pay attention to the details of these rooms in the pictures... are they simple, carved, sleek or relaxed?
  


• As you go through your closet pay attention to the details and colors you are drawn to. Are they simple and classic? Or bold and detailed?
  


• Go through books of art from the library or visit your local art musuems or galleries and take note of the styles of art that move you.
  


• What are your hobbies? Your home should reflect your interests.
  


• As you walk through a garden pay attention to the types of flowers you are drawn to. Even though you might not want to use a floral print on your sofa or window treatment touches of floral can bring life to a room.
  


• What style is your home…a ranch, Tudor, Cape Cod, farm house, craftsmen, traditional brick, stucco villa or townhome? Many times it is appropriate to carry the lines and details into the home but if you find that too limiting than go with what you like.
  


• Don’t rule out antique shops or estate sales…you can often find vintage furniture with clean lines as well as more traditional furniture either way it is usually a good investment that can be easily reupholstered and made to look new. These pieces add character to your home and often can help develop your style.
  


• Although we like to define our style with a name like traditional, contemporary, transitional, Country French, Oriental, Louis XIV, Arts & Crafts to name a few don’t restrict yourselves. Even these styles are a blending of details from varying periods and cultures. The key is to cultivate your style.
  
  Have fun and enjoy the process and if you need guidance call a professional designer to help with the process. Even a few hours of their time can set you on the right path.
  
  Cultivate Individuality
  Celeste Jackson
  
  Let your home reveal your passions. Celeste Jackson