2017 Recap: Top 5 Best Trends of the Year

2018 is rapidly approaching, which means new trends, new colors and a fresh start for design. Let's look back over the year at our top trends, in order we have:

1. Texture in Marbling (May)
2. Low-lying Beds (June)
3. Burl Wood Furniture (April)
4. Acrylic Accents (July)
5. Woven Works (November)

1. Texture in Marbling (May)

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2. Low-lying Beds (June)

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3. Burl Wood Furniture (April)

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4. Acrylic Accents (July)

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5. Woven Works (November)

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What trends are you predicting for 2018? Be sure to check out our predictions in our first newsletter of the new year. 

2017 Recap: Top 5 Best Articles from Ourso Designs

We had a lot of fun writing these articles. We hope you enjoyed reading them. Here are the top 5 most popular articles from 2017!

1. Inspiring Backyards: Ideas for Sprucing Up Your Backyard
2. Simple yet Impressive: Simple Cabinet Door Styles That Make an Impression
3. Using Mirrors in a Big Way
4. Find your Niche
5. New Cabinets: Questions Your Cabinet Dealer Should Be Asking You

1. Inspiring Backyards: Ideas for Sprucing Up Your Backyard

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2. Simple yet Impressive: Simple Cabinet Door Styles That Make an Impression

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3. Using Mirrors in a Big Way

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4. Find your Niche

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5. New Cabinets: Questions Your Cabinet Dealer Should Be Asking You

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What kind of articles would you like to see us write next year?

Find your Niche

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So long are the days when we hung shower caddies from our shower heads or suction cupped them to the walls! The shower niche is now a requirement in shower design. They are an essential part of the efficiency of your shower space so they play a key role in the overall look and appeal of the shower. A key part of a successful design is when functionality meets aesthetic. What's your niche?

The Consecutive Row

Having more than one niche allows space to also add decorative items and plants.

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The Centered

This creates a nice center focal point to the shower and is great for including some decorative tile details.

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The Side to Side

Why not have the niche run from wall to wall?! When you let the niche span the whole wall, often times it runs long enough to double as a niche for more than one area of the bathroom.

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 The Justified

Asymmetry is a really good effective architectural detail. So often we gravitate to typical symmetry, but that is not always possible or necessary. A balanced room does not equal a symmetrical room.

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 The Ledge

Instead of a cutout niche, this shower has a ledge that runs along the back wall. This is a really cool alternative to the typical niche.

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The Tall Vertical Niche

This is a similar alternative to the consecutive row. Here we have one tall vertical niche with shelves in it, rather than separate niches.

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The Pass-Through 

These niches work for either side of the wall. With a center wall between the shower and the tub, the pass through niche would allow for your shampoos to be accessible to both areas. Great idea!

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Plant Niche

How about a niche with the sole purpose to house plant life! Bathrooms are a wonderful place to put your greenery and have them thrive. In-fact we wrote a trend alert on this last month!

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Having more than one niche is also extremely common. This way you can have one that is more decorative (for placing plants, and candles, and the like) and another that is intended more for useful (but not so pretty) items, like soaps and shampoos. That niche can be placed in a less visible spot so you don't have to see it from outside of the shower. All-in-all, when it comes to finding your niche, it is a combination of what your space will allow and how you would like to use your space.