Rich Starley Interior Design Studio
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(562) 987-3787      Rich @RichStarleyIDS.com

Creating an Outdoor Living Space

6/8/2015

 

Being that we live in California, we're lucky to be able to live outside almost year round. One of the things I strive to do in my designs, especially if I'm involved in a project early on, is to encourage my clients to create an outdoor living space as part of their new home.
PictureDesign by Rich Starley Interior Design Studio
The areas that we design can have a wide variety in the way they are executed. To create a full on indoor-outdoor feel we would create a loggia, an outdoor covered living space like this one we designed for a client in Pasa Del Mar.

PictureDesign by Rich Starley Interior Design Studio
Another way of developing an outdoor living space is to develop the space entirely outdoors. Then provide umbrellas or optional awnings to give sun shading like this uncovered outdoor patio we created for a client in Newport Coast.

Outdoor Furniture
Features for an outdoor living space can include an outdoor fireplace, kitchen, or outdoor barbecue area. New technology developments mean we can now have a TV outdoors along with a music system incorporated into an outdoor living space.

Most important though is comfortable seating and a place to eat. For the last 5 years I have represented a line of outdoor furniture by Summer Classics. I encourage you to take a look at their website www.summerclassics.com The furniture below is from Summer Classics'  Sedona series. This is just one of many venders I represent when it comes to outdoor furniture.
Picture
In addition to the great resources I have for outdoor furniture, my Designer Fabric Lines now carry outdoor fabrics which are hard to tell from the regular indoor fabrics. The applications go from draperies, to furniture upholstery, and more. The range has grown tremendously in the last 5 years.

Hardscape, Softscape, and Water Conservation
PictureDesign by Rich Starley Interior Design Studio
In any outdoor living space you have your hardscape surrounded by softscape, which is your planting materials and/or lawn.

Now that we are becoming more conscious of our environment and more water conscious, a great way to finish any outdoor living space is to use a variety of potted plants. These require considerably less water and can be changed seasonally. Drought tolerant planting can also be used.

When it comes to hardscape for an exterior, we have a tremendous variety of materials like natural stone, concrete or concrete products for pavers and for hard surface materials. There are concrete tiles as well as some ceramics which are suitable for outdoors. Then we have natural materials like compacted granite, gravel and of course natural rocks. Don't forget, we haven't even talked about the products we have for wood decks and/or patios which we can discuss if you are interested in that kind of material for your outdoor living space.

PictureDesign by Rich Starley Interior Design Studio
Noted in this design, we literally brought the inside material outside  to give the client a truly indoor-outdoor feel. We also included a vary unusual water feature that was produced from one solid slab of granite.

A variety of natural materials can be used for walkways, paths and seating areas. For someone who really wants the look of grass, but not the expense of the water bill, there are great looking artificial turfs too.


Time to Update Your Exterior Space
I encourage my readers to take a look at the Summer Classics website and contact me to design a new outdoor living space or update the one you have. Please make a point to  call us at the Design Center so we can come and take a look at your space and give you our suggestions. (562) 987-3738.

As always your comments and questions are very welcome.

Case Goods

3/10/2014

 
For our case good pieces (in this particular instance, they consist of wood and iron) Rich has selected those that have a clean line, but echo both traditional and contemporary elements.

On a whole, the lineage of the furniture is rooted more in the classic traditional style. But the finishes and the execution run toward a more contemporary direction.

Each of the pieces will be custom sized and custom finished to echo our warm neutral palate that we have executed for our upholstered pieces.
(see the original floor plan here, see the custom furniture pieces here)
Picture

The nice thing about doing custom pieces is that they can truly be modified to fit perfectly into our custom floor plan.

Our cocktail table and end table are custom iron pieces. with a unique finish for the iron that has an usual texture and color quality. The tops of the pieces are made of 3/4” travertine.


<< (design sample of cocktail and end table, with iron finish example, and travertine top sample)



Picture
We will have 2 custom cabinets that we’ll use on our floor plan to go behind the left and right ends of our sectional. These will add beauty and interest to the overall finished look of the room and also provide us a great location for our accent lighting – which is ultimately part of the accessory package (one of our last steps in the completion of this blog series).


Picture

The focal piece for the room will be a unique cabinet that will anchor our TV area, on the far side of the room. The carving on this piece creates a uniqueness about it that is both traditional and contemporary at the same time, and makes a great statement for the overall look of the room.


In terms of our overall production for all furnishings, we will start the manufacturing process around the same time. The goal is to have all the pieces completed in a 10-12 week time frame. By doing this we will deliver a completed room in one installation. This is a thrill for the client – as opposed to having furniture that is piecemealed – the client can live a normal life while the room is being created and they enjoy the gratification of completion when the pieces are all ready together.

At this point in the project, the client has come back  with an additional request for Rich – originally we were going to use their existing draperies that were in the room because they were relatively neutral and would work well with the fabrics the client had approved. However, after seeing how the room is coming together they decided they would like new drapes after all. So in our next post, we’ll be incorporating this and showing your some design ideas for the drapes as well as the fabrics we’ve selected.

As always, we would love your comments, feedback and questions!

Custom Furniture

2/8/2014

 
Our recent blog series has been focused on illustrating the design process from start to finish. This month, we're showing how Rich chooses the style and fabric of the custom furniture for the floor plan we showed you earlier. (Click here to see the original floor plan)

Now that we’re getting into the specifics of the design, we are creating completely unique pieces; being built specifically for the client’s home and needs. These furniture pieces designed by Rich cannot be bought in any store or showroom.
PictureSofa fabric color: Maize
The original look of the furniture that the client had was somewhat more traditional. However, they wanted to move toward a cleaner, more contemporary look, so we have selected furniture that has a little more tailored line to it.

The image to the left is the sofa design Rich has chosen, and the style of fabric to be used.

PictureChair fabric color: Cognac
For the chairs, we’re matching the style of the sofa, but changing the fabric to create more interest for our design.

It’s important that the relationship of the fabrics work well together in terms of color and texture.

Cognac, is the color choice, and was selected to bring out the warmer values that are in our sofa fabric.

Picture

Our final fabric is an accent fabric, which we’ll be using for pillows.

PictureCouch & chair fabrics, with wool rug & leather binding.
Lastly, all of our upholstered pieces are going to set in the room on top of our beautiful wool rug that will have a 2.5” leather binding around it.

The whole color palate is qualified as warm neutrals and this is the basis for all of our upholstered goods for the room.  In our next post we’ll be looking at our case goods – the wood pieces of this project.

As always, your comments and observations are welcomed and appreciated!

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