A Stoke of Genius Interiors

Founded by Barbara Aylesworth, A Stroke of Genius Intiors is a full service Interior Decorating Company based in North Vancouver BC Canada servicing the Greater Vancouver area. www.aStrokeofGenius.ca

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Making Good Use of Our Time During the COVID-19 Lock Down

We’re all spending a lot of time at home as we work together to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It’s a stressful and uncertain time, and I hope you’re taking care of yourself and your family—physically and mentally.

I know it is difficult to stay at home and look at the same 4 walls day in and day out. However, there are things you can do to make the days go by quicker and give you a sense of accomplishment.

We are so fortunate to have homes to live in. Ones we cherish and feel safe in. Why not use this time to make them more comfortable?

Here are a few ideas to use our ‘Stay Home and Stay Safe’ time usefully.

Clean out your cupboards.

Now is the perfect time to do those chores that are the most daunting. There is only so much dusting, vacuuming and cleaning you can do.

How about tackling the kitchen, one drawer or cupboard at a time? I am sure you will find things in there you never even knew you had. Or, wish you still didn’t!

Take the time (you have it now) to wipe everything down and add fresh shelf and drawer liners.

Write a letter or email a friend.

We get so caught up in our daily lives that we neglect the simple things in life. Like letter writing. I used to do this all the time when I was younger. Before computers!!

Why not sit down and write a letter (or email) letting family and friends know how you are doing and what is going on in your life.

You could follow the format of a ‘Christmas Letter’ that many people send out during the holidays summarizing how life unfolded the year before.

Organize your linen closet.

Oh that closet!! How many of you still have twin sized sheets stored away even if all your kids have moved out and the only size bed in the house is your King Size!!

Haul everything out of there. Go through it all. Match up the sets, putting flat and fitted together. Did you know there is a trick to folding a fitted sheet? Go online, it is very clever.

And a good way to keep sets together is to tuck the folded sheets inside the matching pillowcases. Then it all stays together. Donate (when the time is right) what you no longer can use.

Mend your clothes.

Have you ever been running late in the morning and when you are getting dressed find that one sock in your only clean pair has a hole in the toe? Go through all your clothes, mend what you can, toss out what you can’t and donate (when the time is right) what you no longer wear.

And while you are at it, eliminate those wire hangers. I like the slim, space saving velvet non slip hangers, but anything other than wire will do. You will make Joan Crawford very happy. If you must, keep one in case you lock yourself out of the car.

Plan your next project.

If you had been thinking of home updates before we were confined to our homes, you can still plan. Look around the house. Pinpoint those areas you would like to improve. Put a list together. Go online to find some images or dig out those magazines and get started.

Find images of rooms you like and ideas you want to incorporate into your home. Build a concept board. Then when the time is right, you will be ready to tackle your next home improvement project, and I will be here to help you.

When all this is over and we can finally get back to our normal lives, your home will be clean and organized, your clothes mended and ready for use and you will be pretty pleased with yourself that you used this time wisely and efficiently. Kind of like ‘paying it forward’ to yourself.

Take care and stay safe. Barb

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Add the Finishing Touch with Interior Trim Work

Trim work – or the mouldings around your doors, windows, ceilings and floors are what define your rooms and give your home a ‘finished’ look.

The details embodied in the material finishing of your home are very important to setting the aesthetic style of your home.

Traditionally modern and contemporary style homes have very sleek, minimalist trim packages, where more traditional and transitional homes will have more elaborate trim work.

By adding trim work or a ‘moulding package’ to your home, you can create interesting detail, define spaces and increase the value of your home, with very little investment.

Many homes, depending on the era they were built, have lots of trim work and others have very little. There is middle ground.

Without question, a door is always trimmed out. This piece of moulding hides the area between the door jam and the wall material, giving it a nice finished look.

If this is the only trim work you have in your home, then you are really missing out.

If you have nothing other than door trim, at least consider adding baseboard moulding. The addition of this moulding creates a clean break between your wall colour and the floor.

Next, trim out the windows.

Believe it or not, by adding this simple trim you will make your windows appear larger.

Before adding the trim, the window jamb (the vertical area around the window) was probably painted the same colour as the wall.

This area now becomes part of the trim and should be painted the same colour as the trim. A clever way to enlarge the look of a window is to add a mock transom.

This will allow you to hang your drapery higher up on the wall, giving the sense of a larger window, thus a brighter room.

If you really want to ‘up the ante’, add crown moulding.

Believe it or not, this will give the illusion of a higher ceiling (and the feeling of a larger room).

You can add crown moulding to all areas of your home, but some people choose to use it to define the more formal spaces in their home, like the entry, living room and dining room.

In the case of crown moulding, don’t be afraid to go big. (Go big or go home as they say).

The addition of wainscot in a specific room, like an entry or dining room, will give that space ‘more importance’.

During one of our recent renovations we added wainscot panels to a curved staircase in the entry to the clients’ home.

Before the addition of the wainscot, the entry was outdated, uninviting and boring.

With the addition of wainscot panels, new carpet on the stairs and a fresh coat of paint the staircase now becomes the focal point of the entry.

Mouldings and trim work should be painted in a satin or semi gloss paint. These sheens are more durable than the standard eggshell used on walls.

Although high gloss paints are the most durable they tend to be a bit too shiny for this application and can end up looking like plastic.

Give your home the attention it deserves. It will reward you in many ways.

Read my blog on making a small space look larger.

A Stroke of Genius offers Material Specification Services that will pull everything together for you.

With information gathered from the initial consultation, Barbara will put together samples for you that reflect your desired style and overall design vision. Once all materials and finishes are approved, she will provide the contractor with the Materials Specifications list so your project can move ahead.

Contact us today to book your consultation.