Monday, January 19, 2015

Ourso Designs of Baton Rouge Receives Best of Houzz 2015 Award


Ourso Design's Most Popular Houzz Image:  Added to Over 10,000 Ideabooks
Over 25 Million Monthly Unique Users Rated Top-Rated Home Building,
Remodeling and Design Professionals in the United States and Around the World

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, January 19, 2015 – Ourso Designs has been awarded “Best Of Houzz” for Design & Customer Satisfaction by Houzz, the leading platform for home remodeling and design. The nationally recognized company was chosen by the more than 25 million monthly unique users that comprise the Houzz community from among more than 500,000 active home building, remodeling and design industry professionals.
The Best Of Houzz award is given in two categories: Design and Customer Satisfaction. Design award winners’ work was the most popular among the more than 25 million monthly users on Houzz, known as “Houzzers.” Customer Satisfaction honors are determined by a variety of factors, including the number and quality of client reviews a professional received in 2014. Winners will receive a “Best Of Houzz 2015” badge on their profiles, helping Houzz users around the world who discover and love a professional’s work to learn even more about that business’ popularity and satisfaction rating among their peers in the Houzz community. 

Houzz provides homeowners with a 360 degree view of home building, remodeling and design industry professionals, empowering them to engage the right people and products for their project,” said Liza Hausman, vice president of industry marketing for Houzz. “We’re delighted to recognize Ourso Designs among our “Best Of” professionals as judged by our community of homeowners and design enthusiasts who are actively remodeling and decorating their homes.”

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

A New Year, A New Outlook, and a few New Products


As many of you may know Ourso Designs is expanding in a big way.  We are now offering more product selection services than ever before and with that we have brought in a few new product lines.  We are now offering hardware from the following companies:
We also plan to expand our cabinet lines in the near future. Look forward to a post about that later!
For now, here are some of our favorite hardware pieces, feel free to contact us for pricing and information!


As see on the hit HGTV series "Candice Tells All"!- Atlas Hardware Optimism Collection
Top Knobs Nouveau Collection
Top Knobs Edwardian Collection
Top Knobs Asbury Collection
We love this new Champagne Finish from Atlas Hardware
Top Knobs Additions Latch Collection

Trending Alert: Gingham



Black and White Gingham printed fabric and patterns are showing up everywhere.  From interior design accessories to the runway.



Both Ethan Allen & Schoolhouse Electric offer furniture covered in this graphically intense and bold fabric. Apartment Therapy states:

"These distinctive checks are popping up everywhere, even in interiors that are decidedly non-country. Big checks feel bold and graphic; smaller patterns have a springtime freshness to them. Gingham is especially versatile, too — pair it with florals for a quirky, unexpected look, or use it to lighten up a dramatic interior. "

The Ethan Allen Parker Chair

The clean lines of this Ethan Allen Chair are amazing. Its a modern twist on the wing back.

We love the juxtaposition of the fabric on the camel back sofa.  The modern artwork above really makes this eclectic space interesting.
High Street Market- Big Check Throw Pillow
A throw pillow is a super easy way to bring a little of this fabric into your space without make a huge commitment. 

Chair Re-do by Vanhook & Company
Who doesn't love a Louis XVI chair?  What I really love about this chair is that the folks over at VanHook & Co. decided to leave the wood unpainted--instead of slathering paint all over it. Its masculine but soft--very well done.

Schoolhouse Electric Jack Chair
Schoolhouse Electric is a super cool company with some pretty progressive furniture designs.  We love everything on their website.

Quilt by CB Handmade
We love this quilt and all other quilts made by the lady over at CB Handmade.  Read more about her quilts by viewing her blog.

Gingham patterned flooring designed by BHDM Design
Alternating tile colors to create the look of a gingham fabric is a fabulous idea!  Especially in a commercial setting, this floor is beautiful, interesting, cost-effective, and durable.  A great way to take a simple, affordable tile and kick it up a knotch.



What's Trending & What's Ending for 2015

Top 5 Interior Design Trends for 2015 

from The Wall Street Journal 

Twenty design professionals give their highly opinionated takes on what’s trending, and what’s ending, in 2015

What’s In

 

 

 

Mixed Metals 

In London, designer Kelly Hoppen says mixing warm metals, such as copper and rose gold, with cool ones like silver is particularly hot right now. Los Angeles designer Jamie Bush agreed, saying he is no longer interested in matching every metal finish in a single room: “It’s too staged.” New York designer Thom Filicia suggested a “strategic, layered mix” of silvery, gold and black metals as a “riskier and more stylish” option. A great example: Arteriors’s Nolan Pendant, a brass-finished iron light with a dark bronze band.

Moody Indigo

Several designers are developing a case of the navy blues. Paris-based Stephanie Coutas said dark navy, as a counterpoint to white marble and mother of pearl, is a growing trend in luxury projects in the City of Light. Los Angeles designer Sasha Emerson hailed the color’s versatility: “It plays so well with other colors, such as pink, cream, gray, coral and sage.” Architect Barbara Bestor ’s tried-and-true: Benjamin Moore’s Old Navy mixed with a little black.

Painterly Rugs

Whether it looks like a Motherwell or a Monet, a rug “that is visually fluid with irregular patterns breaks the grid of rectangular rooms and furniture,” said Mr. Bush. (See examples from Marc Phillips’s collection here.) “They are true art pieces,” said Sydney designer Thomas Hamel, especially those rendered in silk “that shimmer and constantly change color.”

Smoky Glass

“Clear is so last year,” quipped Mr. May. Instead, Los Angeles designer Kelly Wearstler opts for smoked glass to “strike a tension between raw and refined, masculine and feminine.” That smokiness “adds a sense of mystery and intrigue to an otherwise typical material,” she said. For Mr. Harris, the effect, as seen in Sebastian Scherer’s Isom tables for Neo/Craft, “exudes a sultry 1970s vibe that reminds me of an intimate club that serves really good Manhattans.”

Graphic Tiles

Thanks to the allure of indoor/outdoor living, colorful concrete tiles (such as these from Amethyst Artisan shown here) continue to move from commercial to home spaces, said Los Angeles designer David John Dick : “It’s a perfect combination of graphic design and interior design.” Sam Allen, a Connecticut designer, views them as a sneaky image-booster. “These unusual ethnic tiles give the appearance that you are well-traveled,” he said.

What’s Out

 

 

Chevron Prints

If used simply and elegantly, the ever-popular military motif “can be a strong look on its own,” said Simon Rawlings, creative director of David Collins Studio in London. But as a repeated zigzag on wallpaper or pillows, it’s passe. “You know it’s time to kill the trend when you can buy a Crock-Pot with a chevron pattern on it,” observed Atlanta designer Kerry Howard.

Text as Décor

“French writing on linen is o-u-t,” said San Francisco designer Lisa Lorino. Ditto “Keep Calm” posters, suggested Lana Sexton of Manhattan’s Nest Interiors. And metal letters lit with light bulbs darken many a designer’s mood. When Boston-based James Swan, author of “101 Things I Hate About Your House,” spotted one such installation, spelling “EAT,” in a home, “I took a houseful of strangers out to dinner—on me—rather than be trapped staring at that sign,” he recalled.

Mirrored Furniture

This attempt to evoke 1930s Hollywood glamour is starting to show its age. “A mirrored accent piece may be gorgeous,” Los Angeles designer Christian May acknowledged, “but if I see the scuffs on my shoes reflected in one more cheap catalog credenza, I’m going to scream.” Only the reincarnation of Carole Lombard, said Atlanta designer Stan Topol, could make him reconsider the look.

The Ombré Look

When they first arrived on the scene, dip-dyed furnishings were a clever way to update familiar shapes, said upstate New York designer Jeffrey Harris, “but now Pinterest is full of the sad, clichéd DIY results.” Ombré fabric, Mr. May said, “will always be a décor classic, but chair legs dipped in paint are another thing entirely.” Richard Misso, design director of the Stylesmiths in Melbourne, Australia, offered this succinct advice: “Keep ombré in the hair salon.”

Beni Ourain Rugs

Along with overdyed patchwork Persian rugs, these shaggy Moroccan black-and-whites are overexposed. “Vintage Beni Ourain rugs that cost $10,000 are now being knocked off on eBay,” noted Ms. Sexton. Los Angeles designer Mark Cutler offered a more blunt assessment: “They got us through the recession with luxurious pile, simple color and a tempting price point, but it’s time for them to stay in the souk.”

Monday, January 5, 2015

History Lesson: Eames Lounger & Ottoman

 
Eames Lounger & Ottoman from Design Within Reach
"Charles and Ray Eames made the lounge chair and ottoman as a gift for their friend Billy Wilder, the director of "Some Like It Hot" and "Sunset Blvd." When we began manufacturing the set in 1956, we maintained as much of the hand-craftsmanship as was possible with mass production. Throughout the Eames/Nelson era, we came closer than anyone else to incorporating craft ideals into the mass production of furniture."

 Here is more information from the Herman Miller Company regarding production of the chair:


"But over the years, some efforts to improve the quality of the pieces came at the expense of craft. We chose a contract-grade leather that wore better and faded less than the original aniline leather, and in doing so we surrendered some of the soft hand of the original leather. We discontinued oiled wood finishes in the 1980s in favor of the more efficient and easily maintained lacquer.

Now we are restoring the balance—and letting you make the choice. The new MCL Leather provides much of the softness and "sink-into-it-iveness" of the original, along with durability and color-fastness. The oiled finishes, while requiring periodic maintenance, produce the rich, lustrous look of the original veneers.

These pieces have evolved over the years-- from handmade for a friend, to made on a production line with handcrafting details, to alterations meant to ensure consistency and durability, to reviving some of the original craft qualities while maintaining durability."

More photos of the Eames Lounger: