Blog | Ada's Interior Design | economical interior decorating SOLUTIONS and ideas in NYC, Westchester, and USA

Foyer design: Triangle Stencil + Magnetized Wall

Posted on 06/18/2013 by Ada

Hi! Are you ready to come along with me to an installation? Yep, it’s that time again …. time to take you onsite with me to one of my interior design projects. Here’s a peek at some of the design steps that we’re implementing in a foyer – for my cool clients Stephanie and Bill.

The design for this apt included stenciling (more economical than wallpapering) 2 walls, and did you see the dark gray wall? …. it’s all magnetized paint! Yep, we (clients and our team here) are cool like that .. adding the unexpected! Here’s a closer look at the stencil:

This was actually STEP 1 in the stencil process. In STEP 2 we are going add some “sprinkles” (no, not the eating kind) of colors within a few of the triangles … adding pops of yellow and red paint. Stay tuned for that reveal! Aren’t these button hooks adorable?:

I’m so glad that my clients loved the button hooks.

Let’s reeeeeewind for a quick second. Before any installation starts, I work on the floor plan for the design with detailed measurements (which is a tad bit ‘OMG IMPORTANT’ to make sure suggested furniture fits). Here’s a peek at this project floor plan:..

The design includes foyer/hallway, dining room space, play area, and living room. In the dining room we are placing 2 large gorgeous photo canvases ….. note: always ALWAYS, seriously, ALWAYS get a proof before you approve a placement. I had to go back a few times to make sure the vendor printed the photo ‘perfectly’ .. at one time the photo was stretched too much that it cut details that we wanted to keep.

Wanna see what I carry in my bag for installations:

…. I never leave without my measuring tape, painters tape, punchlist (the to-do-list), and a copy of my furniture placement. I usually do wear comfy flat shoes (since I am zooming expediting the install), but (lil secret) my high heels do tend to give me more ‘height’ for when I need to reach objects up height (without having to draw straws with the contractor as to who gets to use the ladder next).

Ok, back to the design … in the play area, I placed a cutie-pie decal on a bookshelf (more pics on that next time):

And here’s a peek at a map decal (white color) what I will be installing on the magnetic (dark gray) wall.

More pics to follow (eventually) .. as installations are a process (let paint dry, blah blah blah <- yes, I need coffee). Stay tuned tomorrow when I bring you along to another client’s installation – Isela’s guest room! In case you missed her gorgeous living room reveal, you can see it here. Hey, have you used stencils in your home? Have a beautiful day! See you tomorrow.

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Tags: Ada gonzalez, economical foyer interior design idea, magnetic paint, triangle stencil

Sunday’s Soul Notes … with Terra Rose (Go Big)

Posted on 06/16/2013 by Ada

Color Story … Orange (bedroom chair inspired)

Posted on 06/15/2013 by Ada

Ready for more color stories? Today’s story is inspired by the orange chair that I purchased for my client’s bedroom. Warning: .. you may crave cream-sicle afterwards.

These are the carpet tile samples (a mix of 4 blue colors) that we added into the bedroom. And the cereal? (stolen from hubby’s cereal jar) was placed for texture and for having the color orange (plus I didn’t want to sacrifice my Fruit Loops cereal hehehe).

You can check out the before and after photos of the bedroom design featured in today’s color story here. Quick notes: the bedframe was custom made (with cool sliding doors), the chandelier that we added is part of a fan (soooo elegant beautiful) … yes, can u believe it ???? … an “elegant” ceiling fan! Check it out here. If you love any of the photos above, please PIN away with Pinterest luv!

Stay tuned …. this week we are commencing our Sunday’s Soul Note blog series – featuring the wonderful Terra Rose Ganem, a Spiritual Nutritionist with a heart of gold; clients work with her through a fun, spiritual approach, to create their best body & life ever. Also this coming week will be the peek into my client’s Isela’s guest room (psst, here’s her living room reveal). Plus, I am getting an hour Swedish Massage treatment with a Sea Salt Polish … errr … not that that is BIG news … well, to me it is … I gotta de-stress people! I was all r e l a x e d creating the color story for today .. then my camera battery died, then it starting RAINING (dark clouds not good when taking photo shoots), then … well, guess it doesn’t matter anymore it is in the past and all posted (woohooo)! (p.s. the clouds parted and sun shined AFTER the photo shoot! urgh!).

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Tags: Ada gonzalez, bedroom interior design decor with blue and orange, Color Story, Paint

Estate Sale (at a mansion!!!)

Posted on 06/14/2013 by Ada

Oh how I love weekends filled with house stalking (aka: tag sales and estate sales). Am I the only one that goes to estate sales and checks out the architecture of homes? I think not my fellow stalkers! I warn you in advance … I hardly have any photos of the items that were on sale …. too busy drooling over the architecture and touring the gazillion rooms that this house had (seriously, we kinda got lost). They had me at ……. hellooooo gorgeous walkway:

I am in LOVE with the adorable biushes aligned like soldiers – all so perfectly (cue in: me frolicking towards the door with a HUGE smile). There was security outside (super nice guy) to keep the house from getting too crowded. This is the entryway:

Me frolicking up the stairs . . . . (pretending to be ‘home’):

Of course I couldn’t help decorate the house (in my mind) ”my style”. What gorgeous shiny floors huh! Oh, here is the oval office …

. . . which I named it so since we couldn’t get access to it (all items were brought by the new owners so they locked the room). But we still got to take a peek at the gorgeous curved desk, button tufted leather chair, and oriental round rug. Room completely view-able from the 2nd floor – mezzanine style! Oh, I almost forgot to show you some of the furniture for sales … like this nightstand with feet bigger than mine:

… massive bed with amazing views through it’s balcony doors:

I want sooooo bad a ladder in my home (did u see their kitchen … ladder + ceiling details). Oh wait, I do have a bookcase ladder (in my home office). Ok, I want another one – maybe I’ll add one to our tall closet wall (maaaybe). I think I may love it so much bec it reminds me of a tree house ladder.

Checkout the kids bedroom …. with house panels (i LOVE this idea!), one panel is a chalkboard, one a corkboard, and one a paper roller with dryeraser board:

After hubby managed to pry me out of the kids room, we ventured downstairs where loooots of accessories + furniture items were stored …. um, though I didn’t take pics of any … (1) bec it looked messy and (2) I got distracted by the outdoor pool:

We had been looking for a patio umbrella, but theirs were tan color and we (me!) are looking for a cool BRIGHT color umbrella (search continues). I did managed to get these …..

Ok, not at all an antique (esp since I have seen them sold at Bed Bath and Beyond), but for mere $5.00 … I’ll take it!!! Kinda nice to know that people that live in mansions also shop at stores like Bed Bath and Beyond – my kinda living … save in some stuff, splurge on others. We also purchased 4 MEGA-HUGE clear containers (perfect for holiday stuff storing), and 2 magnetic paints …. tally came to $60. Actual price total at store would had been about $190 … most of the items still had a price tag. My fins sale … with a self-guided tour! Stay tuned this weekend where I will show another Color Story (see last week’s here) and our new Column called “Sunday’s Soul Notes” with my pal Terra Rose. Her quotes are AMAZINGLY powerful!

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Tags: Ada gonzalez, chalkboard, Kids bedroom, mansion estate sales, Playroom design

Isela’s Modern / Eclectic Living Room Reveal

Posted on 06/12/2013 by Ada

Ready to see how Isela’s living room/dining room turned out? The design concept was revealed (including the design presentation boards) last week here. <- take a peek if you want to see how the apartment looked before my design was installed. The above photo shows the entryway to her now gorgeous apartment. Welcome to the tour …. a modern apartment infused with decor from my client’s travels:

I am a professional pillow fluffer:

Even the door knobs got a new look:

We placed the dining furniture near the kitchen. The sleek / slim design of the table and chairs makes the space feel spacious – even when placed next to a huge sofa (aka: design magic!):

I looove the wood grain in these chairs:

Meow <- that’s my tigress sound effect when viewing the ooh so pretty zebra stripe mini-side-table and pillow:

Often there are items that I buy for my clients that I craaave for myself (if I were to re-decorate my home for the 5th time). The raw edge side table in this living room is SUCH AN ITEM! Stunning. Here’s a closer look so you can oooh and aaaaah:

In case you are wondering what I am doing here ….

… I was turning the ottoman over to reveal the gorgeous detail (belt strap) underneath so you can see it:

I love how you can see the stairs from the mirror (makes the space look ever larger than it is … which is a.w.e.s.o.m.e):

Did you notice the carved details in the wall mirror? This mirror was ROUND 2 … the original arrived with the glass damaged. The vendor replaced it and gave us the OK to dispose of the damaged one.

Closer view … Do you remember the original blue (waaay to small) pendant lamps in the kitchen? See here. The capiz shell rectangular pendant light fixture balances (in visual height + shape) the rectangular shape of the counter + upper cabinets … yep, I aim to balance EVERYTHING. This photo shows it lite up … let there be (ooh sooo gorgeous) light:

And here it is with the lamp turned off ….. yep, still gorgeous, right:

Cozy, comfy, leather chair – a perfect HUG shape chair:

Isela travels a lot for her work. I remember her eye shining with joy when I shows her the 3 panel Buddha head …

. . . she recalled seeing it in her travels and had hoped to acquire one, one day. Well, her day came + instead of having the added expense of shipping it from overseas, we purchased it locally and she STILL had a GREAT story of seeing it for the first time overseas.

The masks, African sculptured utensils, and knitted bench were already owned (and loved) by Isela, I simply found a spot to accentuate their beauty + memories.

Next week, I’ll show you her vivaciously colorful guest bedroom/home office. Here’s a peek through the door:

Did you notice the Moroccan inspired area rug? I love the color + still kicking myself that I didn’t get an extra one for my guest room. Tomorrow I’ll be posting photos from the estate sale at ….. ready for this … a mansion in Rye, NY! Yep, a mansion, that’s how I roll (spoiler alert: I didn’t take much photos of the items for sale since I was too busy oooh’ing and aaah’ing at the architecture of the mansion. Stay tuned.

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Tags: Ada gonzalez, african and mexican home decor, eclectic decorating, modern apartment decor, Wednesday's Wink, white walllpaint

Peonies, oh how I love thee!

Posted on 06/10/2013 by Ada

This is what I woke up to this morning … aren’t they gorgeous?

Hubby surprised me with 2 bouquets of them (mixed pinks + whites).

Lately I have been working more often in our living room (decorating it + actually doing ‘work-stuff’ on my laptop). I finally found a spot for the pendant lamp that I made with coffee filters.

I prepped this past Saturday’s Color Story’s in the living room, laptop on hand … um, on lap:

Here’s a closer look at one of the photos for the post (if you missed the story, you can see it [along w/more pics] here).

What do you think of Peonies flowers? The peonies below are actually artificial (looks AMAZINGLY real, right!). Oh, the tree is real. You can read about the tree here.

And below are the real ones … sooo pretty, aren’t they. What are your favorite flowers?

Stay tuned this week – I’ll be posting more of Isela’s living room transformation(design concept posted here), more pics of Hawaii (previous ones: the apartment house rental, and the helicopter ride), and more.

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Tags: Ada gonzalez, peonies flowers

Our Helicopter Ride to Volcano + Waterfall

Posted on 06/09/2013 by Ada

Our helicopter ride in Hilo, Hawaii was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!! The copter (<– yeah, I slang like that) had NO DOORS! A bit Magnum PI-esk. We had a quick “not what to do” lessons before we walked to the copter. It included how to inflate our life vest photo. I was super excited to get up in the air that it wasn’t until we were up up UUUP high that it dawned on me ….. why were we given ‘life vests only’ and NOT ‘parachutes?’ Ok, okay calm down, don’t think about it … just enjoy the moment. And, I did.

I was in the middle seat (I was the tiniest of the passengers, seats are given based on weight). Pilot was to my left, hubby was on my right side (you will be wel acquainted with his hands holding on to dear life on the little straps.

It was a TIGHT fit, hence the VERY close up pic:

Flying to the volcano first ….

Do you see the magna lava?

Now flying to the waterfalls. Seen far away here (below to the left of the clipped paper) …

Now closer ….

And closest ….

Flying back to the base ….

What a view, huh!

Thank goodness for camera straps:

I’ll eventually post the video of the venture (uum, maybe by 2014??)! Too crazy busy today to remember how to edit/upload/embed vid today. Oh, here’s a peek at one of the photos from yesterday’s Color Story (more pics here):

Color Story – Yellow (living room inspired)

Posted on 06/08/2013 by Ada

Our Color Story column is back baby! Woohooo. I love creating them (hunting down items in my office + home to feature), and it’s a destresser for me – some people paint, draw, yoga-size for their happy zone … but putting these color story collages (oh, and zumba classes) is my ‘Ada time’… a time that I am happy to share with you. Today’s accent color is yellow, featuring photos of my client Shumon’s living room design. Oh, did you see the yellow banana in the living room photo above? … it’s on the gorgeous clear nesting tables in front of the sofa. Ok, you maaaaay need to squint and move closer closer cloooser (just get a magnifier) to the photo to see it, but it’s there (I swear). I love adding fruits (for vibrant colors + so the crew can munch on them afterwards) in my design photo shoots. Check out more photos of the design I created for Shumon’s apartment here. I hope you come back every Saturday to see more new Color Stories. Feel free to PIN it (pinterest coolness). How’s your weekend going?

Tiny (adorable) pineapple plant brought home!

Posted on 06/07/2013 by Ada

As I was standing in line at Trader Joe’s I spotted it …….

It was the cutest (4″ tall) pineapple plant that I had EVER seen. Not that you see that many (any?) for sell or planted in NYC. I want one (there was a row of 4)!!!! But my brain shoved my heart and reasoning barged in …. “pineapple are for the tropics” not our (nowadays) crazy new york weather. So, I left the store and didn’t buy it, going home empty handed (umm, besides the 2 grocery filled bags) …..

…. my heart felt a lil empty and my hubby’s ear was getting an earful hearing over and over and over again:

“Wasn’t that the CUTEST thing you EVER saw”

“OMG, I can’t BELIEVE they are selling them!”

… 5 hours later (midnight, maybe) .. “I wonder how the pineapple is still there”.

Finally I (maybe, hubby too) couldn’t take it anymore, I.had.to.have.it! We went back, as I chanted “if it is not there, it wasn’t meant to me”. I walked (zooooomed, like this) to the back and spotted 2 (phew!) …..

… yeaaah! My heart SMILED! There was an elderly woman in front of me on the line who started chatting w/me smitten by the plant (back off lady! I thought). She then insisted that I get on line before her (aaaaaw, how sweet; esp since she had like 50 items and I had 1). I thanked her a million times (before, during, and after checkout). Then calmly walked to the car like this. It’s finally home:

We (hubby) planted it outside in our herb garden – it’s looking very devenir. I’m planning on bringing it inside our home in the cold weather. Oh, did you see the tree that followed me (sort of) home?

Bottom line, the pineapple plant may not grow much (um, or at all), bunnies may approach it for breakfast (visualize them with forks + knives), and we may never get to eat it ….. but what matters is that I find it sooo adorable that it makes my heart smile every time I see the unexpected element (of a tropical plant in NY) <– and that, my friends, makes it all worth it!!! Psst, cost – $12.99 of awesomeness!

What are your plans for the weekend? Stay tuned for upcoming posts … our helicopter ride in Hawaii (to the volcanoes), estate sale at a mansion in New York, and some other stuff that I can’t remember right now.

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Tags: Ada gonzalez, funny TV commercials, Gardening, pineapple plant, Trader Joe's