Designing Maine: 3 Key Steps to Kitchen Space Planning

Designing Maine: 3 Key Steps to Kitchen Space Planning: 3 Key Steps to Kitchen Space Planning Today in a world of supersize we often think bigger is better. When it come to kitchens bigger is n...

Designing Maine: 3 Key Steps to Kitchen Space Planning

Designing Maine: 3 Key Steps to Kitchen Space Planning: 3 Key Steps to Kitchen Space Planning Today in a world of supersize we often think bigger is better. When it come to kitchens bigger is n...

3 Key Steps to Kitchen Space Planning

3 Key Steps to Kitchen Space Planning


Today in a world of supersize we often think bigger is better. When it come to kitchens bigger is not always better. Unless you’re a chef and you have a staff of cooks helping you prepare a meal, a more modest size kitchen will work best when designing a working kitchen.

Key 1: Know how many chefs’ there are in the family. A good rule of thumb if you designing a new kitchen for a family is design it for two people to be in it at any one time. Allow for enough space without being on top of each other, but not too much extra to spear.

Key 2: When designing a kitchen it is very important to create a functioning working triangle. The triangle is from the refrigerator to the stove to the sink and back to the refrigerator. The few steps you are require to take between these appliances the more functional the kitchen will be.

Key 3: Each working area on the points of your working triangle will need layout space for working without taking more than one step to get two it. The sink needs spaces for cleaning fresh fruits and vegetables as well as storing dirty dishes. Counter next to the refrigerator to place thing on so you can open the refrigerator door, and space need to the stove for preparing foods.

If you follow these three key step you will find you kitchen design to be far more successful!

Kitchen Design

Today kitchen are almost single handedly the most expensive rooms in the house. We buy the best appliances, the best cabinets and the best fixtures. The problem is we are so concerned with the best we forget the most important part of good design is function. It’s like baking a cake if you leave out an ingredient, it doesn’t matter how good it looks nobody will like it. Too often kitchens are design by individuals who are only trained how to make the cabinets fit into the space with very little consideration to how and whom it will be used by.  It’s like their building a puzzle with a piece missing. So when it comes to your kitchen make sure you have all your ingredients and or pieces including functionality in your formula as well as form. This way you’ll enjoy the use as much as the beauty!

Designing Maine: Canstruction 2011

Designing Maine: Canstruction 2011: No the title of this blog is not one of my typical spelling errors! Canstruction is a nonprofit group who hold an annual completion’s to rai...

Canstruction 2011

No the title of this blog is not one of my typical spelling errors! Canstruction is a nonprofit group who hold an annual completion’s to raise awareness of the plight of our communities food banks. It’s mission:” To engage, amaze and inspire the community to work together raising canned food to feed hundreds of thousands of hungry people.” This group has reach out to our design communities to submit entries from around the world. The object is to create a sculpture made from cans of food. After the competition the all the cans are donated to a local food bank. For additional information and photo's of the the international awards and a design treat go to: http://www.canstruction.org/photo-gallery/international-competition-winners. All I can say is don’t underestimate the mind of a creative thinker!

Maine’s upcoming Canstruction will be help in Biddeford on October 22 through November 4. The sculptures can be seen throughout the downtown area, with awards being given on October 28. For more information on Maine’s competition check out http://www.feedtheengine.org.

Canstruction is the type of activities that makes helping others a true pleasure!

Designing Maine: Dress your windows for winter!

Designing Maine: Dress your windows for winter!: Summer months are when we strip everything from our windows so we can enjoy our views and the warm summer sun streaming in. But with the col...

Dress your windows for winter!

Summer months are when we strip everything from our windows so we can enjoy our views and the warm summer sun streaming in. But with the cold temperatures creeping back in, it is time to cover up our windows and conserve energy for the winter. I really like cellular blinds they are one of the best for energy savings. Combined them with draperies and you will see a decrease gallons of fuel you burn for the season. Presently cellular blinds still qualify for energy tax rebate making them an even sweeter deal for your pocket book. That being said I like them because they are easily adjustable, which means on those nice sunny winter days you can easily pull them up out of your way and enjoy a little solar gain for the day and easily drop them for the even to conserve energy.

Cellular blinds in my opinion are a win win addition to your home or business. They look great and save energy, so consider dressing your windows for winter.

Designing Maine: To Much of a Good Thing!

Designing Maine: To Much of a Good Thing!: There are very few people today that don’t collect something. We all think if we hold on to our things long enough they will become valuable...

To Much of a Good Thing!

There are very few people today that don’t collect something. We all think if we hold on to our things long enough they will become valuable. And the fact is it just might. So we collect, and we collect, till the collection takes over our spaces and there is no room left for living. If you’re not one of these collectors, I’m willing to bet you know someone who is.

Collections can be a great asset to any space provided it doesn’t take over the space. Having too much clutter no matter what its perceived value is not a good thing. It creates very uncomfortable living environment. Have you ever enjoyed that afternoon stroll through a museum? How relaxing it can be. These are building design to store collections, yet in any good museum the collectables are arranged so each piece can be admired. The space almost seems sparse. The museum curator only displays a small amount of their collections at any one time. This allows you to enjoy the beauty or interest of each piece in a calm and pleasurable manner. The concept we need to bring to our own environments is the same as the museum. To display too much at once takes away from each piece and our brains become very over stimulated to the point they appear to have shut down on us. To fashion spaces at home or work we need to pick and choice what we what to display so we can enjoy these item as well as the space that occupies them.

Our home is our sanctuary the place we go to unwind from a long day at work. If you’ve had a bad day at work you don’t want to come home to an over stimulating environment where you can’t relax, unwind and enjoy the company of your family. Remember to much of a good thing is no longer a good thing.

Designing Maine: What’s behind the Home trends for 2011?

Designing Maine: What’s behind the Home trends for 2011?:  The Joy of Small Houses_ Businessweek  This year’s home trends have been for smaller, greener, and more urban homes. Why, might you ...

What’s behind the Home trends for 2011?



The Joy of Small Houses_ Businessweek



This year’s home trends have been for smaller, greener, and more urban homes. Why, might you ask? Smaller home are more efficient and take up less natural and manmade resources. This is good for the environment today and into the future as they continue to use fewer resources, such as fossil fuel to heat and cool the house. But there are other small impacts we don’t often hear about with a smaller homes, they take less chemical to clean it, less paint, and maintenance to maintain it and so forth. These small changes add up in a big way over time, so little thing when done by the masses can have a big impact.

Green trends continue to grow and will continue beyond 2011 as the world continues to learn that working with the environment is better for both the environment and all living creatures within it. The study of Biometrics has taught us what nature has already figured out. While in life we need checks and balances for sustainability. The green trend will continue to grow as we learn through these studies of natural how to better create sustainability.

Much like most ancient societies we are rediscovering the benefits of urban centers. The close proximity of living spaces brings down the cost of transportation, reducing the consumption of fossil fuels. It improves our psychical health as the most convenient mode of transportation becomes walking. And most importantly it leaves our country side for farming and wildlife, but which is critical for our existence in life. So once again our trends are good for both our health and our environment.

Time will tell if we can continue this positive trend into the future, but if we each take steps forward to educate ourselves and learn how the benefits out weight the inconveniences of changing old habits, we will be rewarded with a healthier life and environment.

Designing Maine: Planning for Mother Nature

Designing Maine: Planning for Mother Nature: When planning your next design project take a close look around and remember that it is sometimes wise to do a little pre planning. Someti...

Planning for Mother Nature

When planning your next design project take a close look around and remember that it is sometimes wise to do a little pre planning.  Sometime we can prevent a lot of hardships when we work with Mother Nature. This photo shows that Mother Nature is in control. This cabinet has only flooded once before, the last flood was less than 20 years ago. It was a 100 year flood, so why is it here again 80 years early. Fortunately during the last renovation the cabinet was jacked up. This time the floor inside stayed dry. The new plan is to raise it a bit higher just in case Mother Nature gets any funny ideas in the future. Planning for the unexpected is difficult, but can help reduce future stress!

Designing Maine: 3 Key steps in Space Planning 101

Designing Maine: 3 Key steps in Space Planning 101: 3 key steps for good space planning before you start your next renovation project. Space Planning is not a difficult process, but can be cha...

3 Key steps in Space Planning 101

3 key steps for good space planning before you start your next renovation project. Space Planning is not a difficult process, but can be challenging for those who are not intuitively visual, so here are 3 key steps to help you stay on track of achieving your design goals.

Step #1-Organization: Take a good look and inventory your belongings. Ask yourself the following questions about each item on your inventory list.

•   What do you use? How often do you use it? 
• Where do you use? Store it in the house and what room or in the garage?
• What don’t you use? Can I get rid of it?
• Clutter is one of the biggest sabotages of a good home renovation project. Your home needs to work with you and your life style so you should design it around that life style.

Step #2-Mastering Planning: You should be using your list from step #1. This is when you need to figure out if the room your needs. You should evaluate the whole house even if your plan is only to renovate one room.

• Proximity is a key element to the master planning step of a renovation project so think about the adjacencies of rooms. Is it convenient to have these spaces next to each other or is this a good time to make improvements. It could be the coat close is not located near your primary entrance; this typically results in outer wear being tossed on the first horizontal surface you come to. It does matter how beautiful your house is if it’s buried under a pile of debris. I think you get my point. If you look at how the whole house functions before you start you renovation you can save thousands of dollars in unnecessary redo work when you go to do you next renovation.  
• Sizing up your space. Does the room have too much or too little space for its intended function? Working though your planning process does mean you need a major renovation it could mean just changing or swapping how you use a space or even just replacing a piece of furniture to one that is better suited to your need.  Make sure you can easily move around your furniture. 
• Keep it simple. Always look for the simple solutions first, they you can get more drastic if need be. With the green design trends larger homes are not in fashion and making your home large does not mean it will be worth more money when go to sell it. A small more functional home is a much better investment.

Step # 3- Implementation: Now you’ve have your master plan sit down prioritize the work in a manner that is most logical and will minimize rework on future project. If you’re not doing the construction I strongly suggest you talk to your contractor(s) on which room you should attack first. You may have personal desires of what you’d like to get done first so make sure those desirer are weighed to the scheduling process before the implementation begins.

This process may change everything you planned, but rest assured that you will save money and have a much nicer end result with a home that supports you and your family’s life style. Making a house look good is easy, but creating a supportive living environment is what quality design is all about.

Understanding Color

Color is an import part of interior design so it is import to know and understand color. In Feng Shui the color peach is symbolic of long life, making it a great color to have sprinkled around your home. The pedals of peaches are thought to cast romantic spells on men making it a good color to add to a bedroom, if you’re single and trying to attract romance. Yet once in a committed relationship peach is considered to be the color of infidelity.  It may over stimulate your partner so it presence should be minimized in the master bed room.  As you can see colors can be a double edge sword when you only partially understand its meaning so when chosing colors for your home do a little research first. Keep in mind that meanings can change from culture to culture.  

Withstanding the test of time

Frank Lloyd Wright is one of America’s most famous architects, but his legacy isn’t standing up to the test of time. The maintenance on a Frank Lloyd Wright estate is such that if it didn’t have his name attached to it, we’d tear it down in a heartbeat due to the expenses. What he did give us is an appreciation of how to make our homes and buildings embrace nature, which has become so important in this era of green design. If you’re planning a new home design and going for that organic look and feel, make sure you ask your designer some tough questions about how he will design it for the test of time. Too often our great designers are more interested in the impact statement of today and forget about the future, which is what true green design is about!

5 Quick Tips for Your Spring Décor

1. Spring out of winter hibernation with a lighter touch. Slipcover any chairs or sofa with dark heavy fabrics with fresh colorful and light weight fabrics. It will energize your home and your spirits.


2. Cover or replace your throw pillows for accent colors to give your room a nice accent. A great way to spice up your life!

3. Roll up those dark heavy rugs for the summer and replace them with cotton or jute rugs for the spring and summer.

4. Take down your heavy drapes and let the view in. If the sun is too much hang solar shade or blinds. That let the light in without it overheating your space.

5. Lastly pick fresh flowers to bring in the aromas of spring.

I love Maine because we have 4 distinct seasons, which give up 4 chances throughout the year to make low cost modifications to our home which breeds new life into our spaces as we prepare for each season. Change is part of life which we need to learn to embrace; it helps us deal with stress which creates a healthier living environment.

Designing Maine: Earth Day movement for better health!

Designing Maine: Earth Day movement for better health!: "Earth day is about improving the health of our environment and our shelves. Those of us who are a bit older remember the disaster of “Love C..."

Earth Day movement for better health!

Earth day is about improving the health of our environment and our shelves. Those of us who are a bit older remember the disaster of “Love Canal”. Where and how we dump chemicals into the environment can have major adverse health effects on our lives as we saw in New York State, when chemicals from a nearby factory leached into the water system.

It took years before the abnormally high concentrations of people who were diagnosed with cancer was linked to neighboring factory who had no regard to what they had done to the environment. It took years to stop, people who didn’t lose their lives lost their homes because no one in their right mind wanted to live in the neighborhood. So let us be reminded of “Love Canal” and each of us takes a small step by buying greener products for our homes and businesses. If we change what we use to built with or even just to clean with, and slowly start purchasing items that are produced in a greener manner, we as individuals can make a big statement. The large corporations will learn that we value our health and our environment. If we, our families and friends stop purchasing these harmful materials, they will be forced to change and make products that meet our needs. But until we are willing to make the change, they will continue to supply hazardous materials our demands. For Earth Day take the time to look at what you buy for products and see if there might be a healthier alternative that is better for your family’s health as well as the environment. The power of the people can be a commanding movement once it is on a roll, let's move it in the right direction.

To learn more about "Love Canal"

Check out my newest Blogg at
http://ping.fm/Ugsuw

Spring is for rejuvenating you and your home!

Well spring is in the air and the warm weather is slowly creeping back into our lives up here in Maine. This time of year always make me feel rejuvenated after a long winter. This year more than ever with all the winter storms, none were especially large but it seemed like they were one right after and other and the roads stayed a rutted mess all season long. But that is all behind us now, flowers are beginning to pop through the remnants of snow and nature once again is rejuvenating itself, which puts us in the prefect mood to do a little rejuvenating of our owe around the home. With the economy being on the upraise we all feel a bit more confident to dig into new home projects, but let’s not forget were we been and be smarter about our renovation project. So let talk a about how we can be wiser with our investment into our dwelling.

A wise old man, my Dad, once told me a job well planned is a job half done. Carefully planning your renovation or addition can easily save you any money you may accrue, if you need to hire a professional to help you with the planning. Planning out what your project is, whether it is a large addition, or as simple as a facelift will organize; what your space will look like, what your material needs are, what your cost will be, and how long it should take you to do the project. Now you have this information you can take a hard look at your project to see if your investment is worth the cost of what you are doing. Take a good look to see if you are investing more into the house than the value of the house. This is a good red flag that you may want to reconsider your plans. Check with a local real agent to get a better feel for what the project will do to the value of your home. Other factors to consider our, is this project a long over do maintenance project? Or are you making your home assessable for an aging family member? Maintenance projects and accessibility project are a necessity in life and required for our homes livability.

So before you jump into your next project to rejuvenate your home, do your homework. Determine what your needs are, what the house needs are and what your budget is. If your budget is small, look at option on how to maximize your use of space for minimal cost. Also remember if your project is larger than your budget you can than look at how to break down the project into affordable stages without having to rework what you’ve already completed and your sure it will add to the value of the home without over spending. Once again the value of a well planned project.

If you do not have a back ground in planning consider hiring a professional for the planning process. For major large projects with complicated structural detail consider an architect. For most renovation project a good house designer or certified interior designer will be a more cost effective choice. Remember to check out property they have designed. Make sure their type of designer who digs a bit into your personal life, this often overlooked. It is important when designing a home to consider the family, what activities and hobbies they are into. This information is the bases for the house design. Little things like if you like to cook or not will determine the kitchen layout. If the kids are into sports it’s information on storage needs for the equipment. I think you get my point with this. Check the designer’s knowledge of green technology and energy efficiencies to insure you get the most for your design investment. Not to mention the money you can recoup form your investments of your renovation project. So as you can see a good plan will not only revitalize your home it will rejuvenate your confidence that you can achieve your project goals. This planning process will reduce the stress of your project, reduce costly error and when completed you will find life to be a bit more comfortable and enjoyable in a home that meets your family’s need.

Love your home, keep it warm!

As the cold temps are upon us here in Maine it’s a good day to check your home for air infiltration. Cold air leaking into your home or business is one your biggest sources of heat loss. Make a list of these areas and fix them. If you place your hand need the walls your will feel where the coldest spots are that need fixing. Common area’s to find leaks are as you know are around windows and doors. Area’s we don’t often think about leaking are along floor and ceiling lines on outside walls. Electrical switches and outlets on exterior walls are another great spot to check for heat loss. So take a few minutes to walk around the interior perimeter to find these money sucking areas of your place. Remember just because the building is relatively new doesn’t mean it’s not leaky!

So what to do about these areas? If you’re a do it you’re self-er than take a trip to your local hardware store get a cocking gun, some cocking, door sweeps, and switch and outlet insulators. You may need to remove the trim carefully to get at these areas around the windows and door to do the job right. Your efforts will be rewarded with lower fuel bills in the future. If you have an older home with older window treatments such as cellular blinds will help with the heat loss. This is a good option even if your windows are newer; the “R” value which determines the insulting quality of your window is much less than that of your wall. Your fuel bill will be less if you cover your windows up for the winter or at least for the evenings when it is typically the coldest. If the windows are really bad consider replacing them. So show your home you love it by keeping it warm this winter and keep the cold air out.

Not handy, consider hiring a handyman to do it for you. If your house is really leaky it won’t take long for you to get the pay back on your investment. Also helping to keep others employed is good for the economy. Not to mention the improvements in the comfort of these spaces when they stay a bit warmer.

So take advantage of these single digit days to easily find the leaks and plug them up from the inside so you can pocket that fuels savings for more important things in life! Remember good interior design is about more than just looking good it’s about functionality and comfort, looking good is just a sweet bonus!

If you have questions or comment please let me know, I'd love to hear form you! Or if you know someone who can use these tips feel free to forward them a link to this site!

Home renovation that give you’re the best return on your investment

If you’ve made a new year’s resolution to be wiser with your money for your home here’s a few things to consider for the best return on your dollar.


• Universal Design - One of the best investments you can make to your home today is Universal Design. So what is universal design? It is a design principle that makes a home or business functional for all people including, all handicaps and the elderly. With baby boomers grower older homes designed to accommodate the handicap and aging population are in a higher and higher in demand. When the front steps need to be replace change them out to a nicely designed ramp. Make open spaces for easier wheelchair access. These renovations are easy to do little by little over time. If you don’t plan on moving when you retire your house will be useable if you should be come unable to handle stairs which allows you to stay in your home longer depending on your health.

• Kitchens-Kitchen updates are an important to maintain top dollar for your home. How we cook and prepare food has changed drastically, along with the tools we use to prepare them. New technology in the kitchen often can save us in both time and energy cost. Not to mention making our everyday life more convenient. Remember when remodeling a kitchen it is good to make universal changes for your future use. Sinks can be plumbed for accessibility with removable cabinet front for a more stand look till you may need it. This is a very minimal cost that will allow you to be independent at home for a much longer period of time.

• Bathrooms- Bathrooms are much like kitchens have changed drastically upgrade are both good to save on energy cost and conservation efforts. Similar accessibility items can be added for your bathroom for universal design. Planning for future grab bars when renovating will make save lots of money in the future for a modest amount of money.

• Changing non bearing walls- This is a great way to make a home feel more spacious without a large investment. If a house is small, but you can’t remove walls add window openings so you can see through parts of the wall to make the space feel larger.

• Exterior Space- Creating rooms to enjoy outside is a great way to expand your living space and can be created for almost no money.

Talk to your designer and contractor for your specific on the cost to insure you don’t over invest in your home. Make your home into your dream home not a nightmare. Know your home’s value before you start so you don’t over invest.

Educating business owner on the benefits of good interior design practices.

I am writing you today to let you know with this New Year I’m making some changes in my business. The first as many of you already know is I am now working under my own name, LaRochelle Interior Design so it’s out with InEx Interior Design.

Another change is I hope to educate as many business’s as possible on how good design can save you money.

• Did you know your business’s interior reflects your brand and shows your clientele what is important to you? If brand marketing is important to your business so is your interior.

• Maybe your inefficient use of space is requiring you to lease more or less space than you need for optimal efficiency and cost per square foot?

• Or the color of your facility is under stimulating your employees or worse over stimulating them creating an adverse work environment.

• Did you know color can affect your appetite; does your business serve food?

Stay tune for more details and blogs to come on this subject and much more. If you know a business that could use a bit of educating please forward this information to them as well! And as always if you have design questions feel free to post them in your comments and I’ll be sure to answer them.

Out with the Old and In with the New

InEx Interior Design has a new Name, LaRochelle Interior Design. Every business needs the occasional shake up. This year I plan on shaking up something new each month. The economy is on a path to improvement and now it's time for the rest of us to add some improvements to our lives. May be it will be making our home or office a bit healthier place to live or just a colorful face lift. What every it might be I will be here to help you solve your design issues all year long. If you have an interior design issue you'd like to ask about, post your question here in the comments and I will be sure to give you my recommendation. If you have a problem there is bound to be others with the same questions answered. So let's shake up this new year and get the ball rolling on this year new years resolution to improve our home and work environments! I'm looking forward to hearing from you all soon!

Happy New Year!
Lori