Home Electronics : Home Design
Saturday, December 15, 2012
|What types of home electronics are available? From waterproof televisions to iPod speakers to turntables, there are many options for home electronic technology. To set up your media center, consider the basic media components: A television, audio and speaker equipment, and DVD player. Or if your entertainment center is a priority, build out a surround sound home theater system to enhance your TV and DVD viewing experience.
What size should your home electronics equipment be? Consider placement and storage: Do you have space for standing speakers or will they crowd your living room? Is there space in your TV or media storage stand to hide a video game console? Think about your vision for your living room, and what furniture will appropriately house all your components.
What styles of home electronics are available? Home electronic equipment can range from basic in function to trendy and flashy with cutting-edge technological features. If you want your television to blend in with its surroundings, choose a minimal and mountable flat screen that looks like artwork when turned off. If you’re looking to add speakers and a hint of retro to your family room, seek out an iPod player or stereo with a vintage design. Electronics and technology for the home are innovating and changing, so invest in a good quality, user-friendly home electronic, and that complements your overall design scheme.
What should you consider when purchasing home electronics? Home electronics are usually not a cheap investment, so be sure to do your research by reading consumer reviews. Decide on which on products are trustworthy and user friendly, and read the fine print on warranties to make sure you’re backed if anything goes wrong.
Check out a wide variety of home electronics here, from the traditional to the new age.Find home electronics design ideas here.
Valentine’s Day Inspiration - Home Design with Kevin Sharkey
Friday, December 14, 2012Happy Valentine’s Day! In the spirit of the day, I’ve compiled some beautiful romantically-themed eye candy that will inspire you to craft, create, or simply cherish the beauty of the holiday. I hope you enjoy these gorgeous images as much as I do!
1 A fabulous Warhol print.
2 via ourpapershop.com
3 A cute and easy decor idea, via Apartment Therapy.
4 "Adorable" and "regal" don't often go together, but here they work in perfect tandem. Via Opheleia's Garden.
5 Colorful icing turns these cookies into veritable works of art. Via couldihavethat.blogspot.com
6 via SwissMiss.
7 via MarthaStewartWeddings.com
8 via citified.
9 via MarthaStewartWeddings.com
10 I had so much fun creating this bejeweled candy box.(marthastewart.com)
Book Friday: Jamie Durie’s Outdoor Room - Home Design with Kevin Sharkey
It was such a pleasure to have Jamie Durie as a guest on my radio show recently. I admire his design aesthetic, which references the artistic and sculptural influences of GaudÃ, Richard Serra, and Andy Goldsworthy, as you'll notice in the images below. Jamie Durie's The Outdoor Room is an informative book for gardeners and designers who love the outdoors. Take a peek inside the book.
Book Friday: Organizing - Home Design with Kevin Sharkey
If you haven't had a chance to flip through our special collector's edition, The Best of Martha Stewart Living Organizing, I wanted to give you a glimpse of all of the beautiful, well-ordered spaces featured. Here are a few of the images I love.
Drawers can hold lingerie or belts; a pull-out tray above holds small purses and scarves.
Upgrade an existing closet by installing a ready-made system that incorporates a combination of shelves, drawers, and rods.
With a desk, bulletin board, and coat of paint, you can turn a nook in the kitchen into a functional workspace. I love the idea of adding a fabric shade for instant visual calm.
A pair of boxes and a pencil cup are corralled on a decorative tray. Look for even more ideas in the special edition on newsstands now!
Book Friday: Pools - Home Design with Kevin Sharkey
Wednesday, December 12, 2012Pools, a book of images celebrating the azure beauty and design of pools of all sizes and locales, was first published in 1992. Fifteen years later, Kelly Klein released a second edition of the coffee-table tome. For her seventh book, she revisited a topic she loves: Swimming pools around the world. Pools: Reflections is being released in October. Her first book used vintage images of lush blue pools, and Pools: Reflections will cover the 1970s onward. She asked photographer for their favorite photos and narrowed the pool of pools down to her favorites. The first three pools are a preview of her upcoming book, while the last two are some of my favorites from my copy of Pools.
Pools and Pools: Reflections by Kelly Klein are published by Rizzoli. Pools: Reflections will be released October 16, 2012.
Book Friday: Sea - Home Design with Kevin Sharkey
A couple of weeks ago I was shopping for some Easter presents for Jude and Truman at one of my favorite children's shop called Yoya. If you look on page 46 of the May issue of Living, you will find a profile on the shop's proprietor Cristina Villegas. While I was at the shop, I came across one of the most beautiful books that I have seen in a long time—Sea by Mark Laita. I urge everyone to get this book. The images are amazing and inspiring beyond measure. Take a look, below.
Giveaway Winner! - Home Design with Kevin Sharkey
Congratulations to Donna, who wrote in: "Love this! Sounds like you've got your weekend planned out!" We'll be emailing you about your prize shortly. Thanks to all of my readers who entered the contest!
Martha Stewart Home Office with Avery Giveaway - Home Design with Kevin Sharkey
If you’ve been drooling over the gorgeous new Martha Stewart Home Office™ with Avery ™ line of products, now is your chance to enter to win your own and get your home office orderly, organized, and looking great. If you haven’t seen the journals, labels, tags, files and more, zip over to your nearest Staples or see the entire line here.
Five lucky grand prize winners will receive a Premium Shagreen Journal, a $25 Staples giftcard, and a package of NoteTabs. Seven runners up will receive a Premium Shagreen Journal and a package of NoteTabs.
How can you win? Become a follower of MS_Living on Twitter and retweet MS_Living Martha Stewart Home Office™ with Avery™ Sweepstakes between 12 PM ET on February 16th and a minute before 12 PM ET on Febuary 17th.
Include both "@MS_Living" and "#mshomeoffice" in your retweet. See full rules here.
More cakes and colors - Home Design with Kevin Sharkey
All this talk about cake this morning got me thinking about an article we did in Martha Stewart Living magazine (May 2007) called Spectrum of Sweetness. We invented a group of recipes that are colorful, sweet, AND delicious. Now, although I don’t cook or bake, I can appreciate a good dessert when I see and taste one and these are among the best of the best.
Check them out and look online for the recipes.
Also, do not forget to pick up the May issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine. It's the annual color issue and covers everything from picking a palette to new neutrals and the power of paint.
It’s Monday - Home Design with Kevin Sharkey
Reader question day. And there are quite a few this week that I need to catch up on.
For everyone who emailed about my closet, thank you. I think I answered all your questions between this post and last.
Mary MacGregor wants to know where the bins in my closet are from (the ones holding the shoe and cleaning kits): containerstore.com, frosted totes, $2.99-$3.99
Katie, from Method Home, is curious about the motion-sensing LED lights in my closet: sylvaniaonlinestore.com, $15
Julie Natale, the valet rods in my closet are from californiaclosets.com, email for pricing.
My black rubber field boots, William Lutz, are from Aigle and the green are Asprey.
Laura McGowen: you can buy acid-free tissue paper for storage at amazon.com.
As for my bedroom:
To everyone who asked: The throw is vintage.
To bridgemcw at bmcwilliams@wowway.com: It was much easier for Eric Beare to build the canvas in my apartment as its size would have been awkward to get into the elevator and I was not about to have it craned through the window!
As for my sofa:
Thank you to everyone who voted for my sofa. It was pretty evenly split between the Wyeth and Probber. However, as fate would dictate, I saw yet another sofa that I liked above and beyond those two. I would love to reveal the design but I think I will wait, dear readers, for another day. Especially because it is out with the upholsterer.
Finally, there have been a lot of requests for the floor plan of my apartment. There has been great debate as to whether it should be published, as there are privacy concerns for myself and fellow building tenants. So, for the moment, I am going to decline publishing the floor plans. But who knows…that may change.
Get ready because the March issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine hits the stands this week and my column is all about paint. So, this week’s posts are all about paint and my apartment, from color choices to application.
Spring Showers - Home Design with Kevin Sharkey
With spring, comes showers. In keeping with my spring themed posts, I thought it would be fun to do a twist on April showers. Here are some great shower images.
I absolutely love my shower. It's so serene. The perfect place to start and end the day. (marthastewart.com)
A shower with no enclosure really opens up a small bathroom. (elledecor.com)
The rustic and utilitarian elements of this shower make it so interesting and beautiful. (marthastewart.com)
The random pattern and mixed sizes of tile make this shower unique. (decorologyblogspot.com)
This outdoor shower belongs to Decorating Editor, Rebecca Robertson. Perfect for showering off after a day at the beach. (marthastewart.com)
Posts
