As an interior design professional I have always been so grateful for the many industry relationships I’ve developed over the past thirty years. Although I rarely need to call for a favor, it is truly gratifying to know that help is there when needed.

Here is a perfect example… Among many other items I ordered for a client, was a very large (120″) unique, contemporary dining room table. I also ordered fourteen chairs. The chairs arrived on schedule, the table did not! There was a serious production issue which was going to delay the delivery of the table and there was nothing that could be done about it.

We now had fourteen chairs, 150 guests for a very important business event, and NO table! Help!

Well, Sharon and Kevin Daroca from Design Mart of Silicon Valley, a “designer only” showroom, came to the rescue. They let me borrow the only truly contemporary dining table they had in their showroom and were allowed me to keep it until the new table arrived the following week. TRULY extraordinary!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Sharon and Kevin, as well as all my other team members. It is so gratifying to know that you are there for me and for my clients… As I am there for them and theirs. Thank you!

~ Carole

Carol Woodard, ASID – Woodard and Associates
Website: www.WoodardAndAssociates.com

It’s May 2012 and it is beginning to look like our economy is moving upward a little. If you or someone you know is considering a remodeling project, this is the perfect time to start thinking about the design process. Having been in business for over thirty years, I have seen it all—the highs and the lows… And while it is frustrating to wait to start a project, it is even more frustrating to be in the midst of a project, when everyone else is doing the same.

Be the First in Line – Start NOW!

The thing that is different this time is that this down turn has really affected the construction industry. Many large, well-established companies have had to seriously down size. Suppliers who are still in business have had to do the same.

What does this mean to you when you begin to feel secure enough to start your project?

Well, it means that you will have to wait for services and products, as companies cautiously ramp up again to meet the needs. Therefore, if you are serious about doing a remodel to your house, but you are just waiting, this is really the time to get started. Begin by putting together yours design team, the interior designer / architect.

10 Steps – Interior Design & Remodeling Process

1. Determine Scope of Project
2. Research Design Options
3. Create Master Design Plan
4. Get Rough Construction Estimates
5. Refine Design Per Budget
6. Get Working Drawings & Permits
7. Select All of the Finishes
8. CONSTRUCTION STARTS
9. Finish Detailing
10. Project Complete

You can see why this is the perfect time to start selecting your team.You now have the time to thoughtfully go through the design process, while you wait for the economy to stabilize.When that occurs, you will already have you team in place and they will be able start on your project, before everyone else gets started.

The design process is relatively inexpensive to the total cost of the project.Of course, you need to be serious about doing some work to your house, but if you or someone you know is serious, now is the time to get there before everyone else does.

Take a Class with Carol Woodard

Carol Woodard, ASID, is president and award-winning principal designer for Woodard & Associates. We work with people who love where they live, yet need some level of improvement to fulfill their lifelong dream.

Your Perfect Remodel…   Starts with Education!
A good class can help you know the best place to begin.

“I am passionate about education and love to share what I know. Because I understand that your time is at a premium, I fill my classes with valuable information and make sure that your experience is fun, interactive and engaging. The small groups make it possible for you to get answers to many of the questions that arise. You benefit from my experience in the industry and leave with information designed to enable smart decisions and make the best use of the budget you have – on any remodeling project. I’d love for you to be my guest at an upcoming class in the Saratoga/Los Gatos area.”  – Carol Woodard, ASID

Choose Your Class

COLOR – The Psychological and Physiological Affect of Color – How to use your biological response to color in combination with your personal, cultural, and symbolic color associations to create your perfect home.

REMODELING – Creating Tomorrow’s Home Today – How to apply tricks and tips of the trade to your remodeling project and create a healthy, safe, and sustainable home. Become a lifestyle trend-setter – instead of a trend follower.

Upcoming Class Dates – Call the Office at 408-867-5085 to choose the class that is right for you and a date that works best. You are welcome to email via our Contact Page.

LED Lighting is a great option if you are looking to remodel, you might find the same issues with lighting:  Incandescent, Fluorescent, LED, Title 24.  And within each of those selections can be different points which can affect you. Beyond that, the trend toward using inventive LED lighting scenes to add ambiance and entertainment to a property continue.
We’re all generally quite familiar with incandescent, halogen, and fluorescent lighting.  LED fixtures though, are comparatively new.  They produce light in an entirely new way.  And although LEDs have been around for over 40 years, it is only now that their efficiency is to the point where they actually exceed fluorescent lighting in normal fixtures.  Added to this, LEDs do not contain environmental poisons as do fluorescent lights.  They also use half the power of fluorescent, can last decades and many can easily be dimmed.

This makes them the perfect option for new constructions or remodels.  They immediately start paying back for themselves.  And in a kitchen, for example, LED bulbs will easily last 20 years.

Tal Mashadian – Lite Line, Los Gatos
Website: www.liteline.com
Email: liteline@mac.com

A special thank you to AskFurniture for the use of the picture of this wonderful countertop.

First-hand experience! In recent years I have shifted my interior design service to work with the population of clients who are 50+ and are looking forward to their best years ahead.  Their family is in transition, and their current home no longer reflects their new needs.  They are looking for a fresh “look and feel” to their home; one that will support them for the long term.

With over thirty years of design experience, I have a very clear understanding and appreciation for the needs and wants of these clients.  After all, I am a member of that population.  We have fewer financial responsibilities and can begin to focus on ourselves for the long term.  We appreciate quality over quantity.  We know what we want, and we are less influenced by what other people think.  I am very excited about working more with these independent thinkers.

To learn more about who we are and what we do for our clients, please click here.

~ Carol

Carol Woodard, ASID – Woodard and Associates

Website:  www.WoodardAndAssociates.com

Email Carol@WoodardAndAssociates.com

People have very concrete ideas about the surface choices for their home and want them to reflect who they are and how they live their lives. Surfaces used on a daily basis, like kitchen countertops, are a key part of a design that says “That’s me! (or us) Some people need a “fast and easy” option such as offered by a synthetic surface. These homeowners often lead busy lives that take frequently them away from home for meals. When they are at home, their home must be utilitarian and not require much effort to maintain.

Others choose more artistic materials. Choosing a stone or granite surface usually relates to an overall feel that the space is meant to reflect.  Colors, patterns and even imperfections are carefully considered in the process of choosing the surface. The qualities of the material must reflect the persona of the owner. The ultimate in material that reflects who the client is and what they want visitors to understand about them comes from having the surface created on a one-of-a-kind custom basis.

For example, concrete. With a concrete countertop, sink, fireplace fascia or other surface in the home, the client chooses the color, texture, and finish and that accurately reflects their personality.

10 Ways to Be Creative with Your Concrete Surfaces

You can do all sorts of things with concrete surfaces and can use it as a way to really express your personality or passion. Did you know, for example that as with mosaic designs, objects can be worked into you concrete surface. Here are 10 creative ones:

1. Shells or other nautical themed objects
2. Bicycle parts
3. Cool coins and trinkets
4. Antique objects, gears or tools
5. Tile pieces or broken bits your Grandmother’s family china
6. Children/Grandchildren’s footprints and handprints
7. Sealed pictures of people or favorite vacation spots
8. Glass time capsules
9. Your favorite quotes
10. Keys from your first home, car or the Key to Your Heart!

Precise color choice is possible and size and shape of concrete surfaces are specific to the client and designer’s specification.

Choose a Great Texture for Your Concrete Surface

Choosing decorative concrete surfaces is akin to purchasing fine art. Just as you would consider where to place a valuable antique vase or where to hang a fine painting to protect it from sunlight or moisture, considerations of maintenance and care must be part of the decision to purchase concrete. Sealers continue to evolve and improve and staining and etching are manageable issues.

Over time, a patina develops on concrete surfaces that are used daily. Like a fine leather chair, a little age wears well on concrete. Concrete is at the top of the list when it comes to sustainability. It is durable, can be recycled (crushed and re-used as aggregate) and can be fabricated using up to 95% recycled, locally sourced material. A new concrete formulation, IguanaCrete, has moved concrete near the top of the list for those who are striving to be environmentally sensitive.

Take time to learn about decorative concrete if you are unfamiliar. Know the options available to you and choose the surface that gives you pleasure each time you enter the room.

Mark Lesnick – Mark Concrete
Website: www.MarkConcrete.com
Email: Mark@MarkConcrete.com

As you consider interior design options for you home in Los Gatos, you head will likely be swimming win a vast sea of options and opinions. Over the years, I have heard people talk about trends in design: Smaller houses, kitchen at the back, master suite at the back, great rooms, no formal spaces and on and on… And on! Someone else is always ready to jump in with their two cents about what you “should” or “must” do.

Yet the most important design is what YOU want. How do you live your life? Do you spend most mealtimes outdoors, grilling everything all summer long? Does your family host Game Night once a month? Do you entertain or would you rather cozy up to a warm fire? Are you planning to retire in this house? The answers to these types of questions will help determine what is the best design for you.

For instance, I could never do without a family room AND a living room. My kids love to have their friends over to play games and I don’t really want to be holed up in my bedroom until they leave! And we’ve always used a formal dining room…OK, not because we always ate in there, but because that’s where the kids had their Monopoly tournaments or spent days painting their Warcraft models – and the dining room became the gift-wrapping room during the holidays. We do like to have friends over for dinner, though, so a formal dining room is a ‘must’ for me.

Consider Marketability win Making Interior Design Choices for your Home

Another important item to be considered is whether or not what you want is something that will be marketable when you eventually decide to sell your house.

Building a house larger than any other house in the neighborhood or having 5 bedrooms and only 2 bathrooms could mean you won’t recoup as much when you sell the house. Or maybe you don’t care about that and you really, really have to have a Jacuzzi tub in the kitchen. Well, OK, its your decision…as long as you’re sure…

Rick Hartman – Hometec Architecture, Inc.
Website: www.HometecArch.com
Email: HometecArch@hotmail.com

Knowing the right time to start a home remodeling project is a decision as individual as the leaves on the trees. As I look out my office window, I see the maple tree starting to show new buds. It reminds me that spring in right around the corner… A time for new beginnings. With this new season, I see that while some people are still cautious about getting started on significant remodeling projects, most area residents are becoming quite optimistic about their financial futures.

As a founder and active member of the Silicon Valley chapter of NARI (National Association for Remodeling Industries), I have the opportunity to keep a very close eye on the building industry. More and more people are saying… “Enough is enough! I don’t want to wait any longer!”

Spring is a Great Time to Start a Home Remodeling Project

If you are serious about doing a remodeling project, this is the perfect time to start. If you have done this before, you know that it takes more time than you might have imagined. The more details that you have and the more materials that you can specify, the more confident you can be that you are working with an accurate bib. This certainly helps make the project more enjoyable.

If you would like help putting together the team, pleas let me know. I have worked with some of the absolute best in the industry.

Carol Woodard, ASID – Woodard and Associates

Website   www.WoodardAndAssociates.com

Email   Carol@WoodAndAssociates.com

I have come upon the best discovery – 5 Tests for Stroke. While it may seem to have nothing to do with interior design, it has everything to do with quality of life, and that is after all what interior design is all about. It has to do with your health, specifically your heart.

Did you know that heart disease is the number one killer of both men and women. Early detection of a stroke saves lives and the quality of life. As a business owner who spends my days with clients, contractors and vendors, I would want to know how I could help with that… And I thought you might as well!

So What are the 5 Tests for Stroke?

These are some of the symptoms you will want to know to save someone’s life:

1. Ask the person if their vision is BLURRY or DOUBLE.
2. Ask the individual to SMILE – “Show me your teeth : )”
3. Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK a coherent SIMPLE SENTENCE – “Jack and Jill went up the hill.”
4. Ask him or her to CLOSE THEIR EYES and RAISE BOTH ARMS
5. Ask the person to ‘STICK OUT HIS TONGUE’. If the tongue is crooked or goes to one side or the other, that could be the sign of a stroke.

You are looking for symmetry… Or lack thereof! If he or she has trouble with any one of these tasks or seems to have less strength in one side of their body, call emergency immediately. ACTING FAST at this point is the MOST important factor!

PLEASE… Print This list of 5 Tests for Stroke and Save in Your Wallet!

Forward this to someone you love. It might save their life.

Carol Woodard, ASID – Woodard and Associates

Website   www.WoodardAndAssociates.com

Email   Carol@WoodardAndAssociates.com

There are many things to look for when making decisions on your new doors, windows, & hardware and we will cover several of them a bit later in this post. Right now I’d like to mention the most important thing to keep in mind… Whatever you do, make sure you purchase all your doors, windows and hardware from a reputable dealer that has  been in business for a long period of time so you know they will be here should  you need them.

Keep These Eight Things in Mind when Choosing Your Doors and Windows

1. Wider interior doors for easier accessibility.
2. Composite such as fiberglass, which can carry up to a lifetime warranty and require no maintenance.
3. Lever locks for ease of operation. Chose a style that is functional and aesthetically pleasing.
4. For ease of operation chose ball bearing hinges on doors most likely being used for ingress/egress.
5. Chose windows from a reputable manufacture who will provide a lengthy guarantee.
6. Look for a product that does not require any exterior and very little, if any, interior maintenance.
7. Casements & slider style of windows are generally easier to operate than double hung.
8. When selecting a window brand, check the ease of operation by physically operating a window prior to ordering.

That’s it. Short and sweet.

Dave Ickhert – Viking Doors

Website   www.vikingdoors.com

Email      dave@vikingdoors.com

When you clean your carpet at home, most people would like to have it restored to a “like new” condition. As you likely know, this requires you have them professionally cleaned. While there are many factors involved in getting them to look great again, the most significant factor that will determine how your carpet will respond to professional cleaning is its fiber content. Most residential wall-to-wall carpet is made from either nylon, wool, polyester or olefin fibers.

How Clean Will Your Home Carpet Your Will Be is Based on Two Primary Factors

1. Resilience – Is the natural ability to bounce back or to be able to regain their fluffy texture. A resilient carpet fiber will fluff up after a heavy object has been removed from the carpet or the soil has been removed. Once carpet fibers with poor resilience have become matted, even if the original cause of matting has been removed (furniture or soil), they will remain matted.
2. Color stability – is the other important fiber characteristic. How does it respond to fading, bleaching and staining from spills containing food color dyes?

How do the Different Home Carpet Fibers Compare?

Both nylon and wool dominate over polyester and olefin in their natural resilience. However, the colors in nylon and wool are vulnerable to color loss and staining. Their colors can be permanently changed from bleach, sun fading, pet urine, food coloring (i.e. Kool-Aid), coffee and medications. Once polyester and olefin fibers have been flattened from foot traffic, furniture indentations, or soiling they will never regain their fluffy appearance, even if well maintained. Polyester and olefin are definitely the winners for color stability. They never loose their color due to fading or bleaching and it is extremely difficult to stain these carpet fibers.

Generally the most important characteristic for a residential carpet to have is “good resilience.” Which fiber is best? Nylon is the most practical carpet fiber for residential use, unless you have color stability or staining concerns.

Ken Hart – Abreeze Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning
www.abreezemaintenance.com