Chicago Interior Designer, Jordan Guide

School’s out for summer!  There is no better time to begin organizing and implementing fun new decor in your kids bedrooms.  Changing up their space can give them a renewed sense of personal style and inspire a summer full of imagination and creativity.   Whether you spring for a major overhaul, or only need something as simple as a wall decal, take a look into their bedrooms and try to involve them in deciding on fresh new bedroom decor for 2010.  For those of you in need of updated baby nursery ideas, there has never been a better time to find inspiration, products and resources.  For the modern family, there are amazing new furniture and accessory companies that cater to contemporary and modern styles.

Modern Nursery with Wood Slat Wall

Modern Nursery with Sitting Chair & Ottoman

Below is a stylish nursery that has an interesting color palette.  The side wall is painted a deep navy and the ceiling in white with yellow semi-gloss stripes.  Having this contrast allows the eye to travel, all the way down to the cow hide rug that grounds the room.  There is also a large armoire placed on the navy wall to help break up the solid color, as well as a window to offset the darkness the navy brings to the space.  I love the black mobile over the crib and touch of orange and camel fabrics in the furnishings.  It works harmoniously due to these well thought out balances

Stylish Nursery with Bold Colors

A simple solution to dress up a nursery, or any room for that matter are DIY, removable Wall Decals.  Sometimes a room only needs a pop of color and a fun design, such as this over-sized Kids on Swings wall decals by WALLTAT.

WALLTAT Wall Decal - Kids on Swings

Set of three… this room offers a simple furniture layout and color palette for a mini soccer team of boys.  The accessories and patterns within the bedroom create interest and offer a masculine and playful feel.

Boys Room for Three

Space is sometimes an issue for most extra bedrooms, and like all urban settings when you can no longer build out, you must build up.  This pink and white girls bedroom uses tiered layers for the study area with a slide under bed.  Tall cabinetry and wall mount shelving promote organization and  storage solutions.

Space Saving Tiered Layout for Girls Bedroom

Layers of millwork create this custom look below.  Space issues were also solved with building upwards and a central staircase that are used as drawers.  Every inch of this gender neutral bedroom is filled with cabinetry, drawers, shelving and cabinetry.  Now that’s efficient.  Another element worth noting is the continuous block under the ground level bed that serves as nightstands and bed support.  Brilliant.

Custom Millwork for a Gender Neutral Bedroom for Two

More simple solutions for kids bedrooms are full wall murals from Wall Stickers. These add huge amounts of color and are available in a wide range of characters, movie themes, comics and superheros.

Barbie & Thomas The Train Wall Murals by WallStickers.net

How much fun would your children have playing in their very own interactive playroom?  Equipped with study, dining table, sitting area, climbing net, tumbling mats, swing set and educational map of the world.  Sometimes dreams do come true!

Manhattan Residential Playroom by Diana Kellogg

Jordan Guide Luxury Interior Designer

Ritz-Carlton Residences, Chicago blog contributor, Jordan Guide, ASID, NCIDQ No. 021998 of Jordan Guide Design is a high-end luxury interior designer based in Chicago.

Kitchen & Bath Industry Show 2010

This year KBIS made another return to Chicago’s McCormick place to present the latest and greatest in Kitchen & Bath products and trends.  I scanned over dozens of vendor booths and came up a handful of notables.  Of course when entering KBIS, Kohler always wins my immediate attention considering their booth is so predominantly located.  To view their sparkling new bathroom trends, it would be easiest to visit their website directly.

Ann Sacks, part of the Kohler Interior Group has emerged with a gorgeous new wood tile called Indah Carved Teak in three designs “weave, circles and fingerprint.”  Although they are safe for the bathroom, I more so envision these 12 x 12 panels for use in main living and entry areas of a home.  They are stunning up close and personal.

Ann Sacks Teak Wall Tiles

Glass 2 is a new glass line that is 99% recycled.  It is anti-microbial, scratch resistant, heat resistant, colorfast and currently has 10 beautiful colors to choose from (9  translucent, 1 semi-translucent).  For purchasing or questions, please inquire on through my contact page.

Glass 2 recycled glass surface

I love the idea of building out the side shower walls to incorporate these rails for soaps and misc. shower products.  The boxy recessed niches are a thing of the past.  They have also included coordinating decorative trim banding on the walls and used schluter on the corners to finish the edges out for a clean designer look.  It is about time we evolve!

Integrated Shower Wall Rails

As much as I love to visit trade shows for the obvious reasons, I also pay attention to the creative designs and ideas used within each vendors booth.  These contemporary aluminum sticks can be used as interior room dividers or better yet, as outdoor decor that would make a soothing clacking noise in the wind.

Powder-coated Aluminum Decor Sticks

Shredded hanging fabrics from the ceiling caught my eye.  I have seen string curtains used before, but these large strands of fabric would make for a great room separator, informal door or dramatic ceiling treatment in dark fabrics.

Strips of Lightweight Fabric Borders A Booth from Above

I especially love this wire water display surrounding the MAAX booth.  It was custom designed for the show and is completely ingenious the way the water neatly falls from the above opening and trickles down each strand of metal wire into the lower basin.

Wire Fountain Display

Richelieu Hardware is a company that offers almost anything from fixtures, specialty hardware, decorative hardware and lighting.  Naturally, I gravitated towards the light… flexible RGB LED lighting that is!  Professional hard wiring is required for the transformer, but the rest of the lighting strips are literally a snap to install.  I also like that these strips have an adhesive backing for easy application and they can be bent in every direction.  I had to test it out. so with permission I did just that.

Flexible & Sticky Backed LED Strip Lighting

Another flexible material that caught my eye was Hanex Solid Surfaces.  This material can be bent and shaped during fabrication as seen in this shower display, and it also comes with a list of  additional advantages.  78 rich colors and textures,  inconspicuous seams, scratch and stain resistant for easy maintenance, durability is stronger than stone, resists heat, mold, chemicals, pollutants and bacteria, environmentally friendly,  renewable and repairable… and the list goes on.

Flexible Solid Surfaces by Hanex

There was also a very special find of a Spanish contemporary cabinetry company looking to expanded its distributorship to the States. We are currently in talks to launch their brand in the U.S. via my upcoming online furniture showroom!  It is a very exciting product line of kitchen cabinetry, kitchen accessories, solid surfaces and closet door systems that meet the mark in quality and affordability.  For purchasing or questions, please inquire on through my contact page.

New Contemporary Cabinetry Line Coming Soon

New Contemporary Cabinetry Line Coming Soon

MAAX is another bathroom company specializing in unique bathtubs, showers and medicine cabinets.  They have a very interesting collection ranging from ultra contemporary to glitzy traditional.

Maax Viaggi Freestanding Bathtub

Maax Roman Freestand Bathtub

KBIS was a wonderful way to kick off the trade show season.  KBIS will be held in Las Vegas in 2011, and back at Chicago’s McCormick Place in 2012!

2010 KBIS Lobby Opening Day

Jordan Guide Luxury Interior Designer

Ritz-Carlton Residences, Chicago blog contributor, Jordan Guide, ASID, NCIDQ No. 021998 of Jordan Guide Design is a high-end luxury interior designer based in Chicago.