The Style Estate Social Network and the Style Estate Blog were recently mentioned in The Hartford Courant by Writer, Deborah Hornblow.  I would really like to thank Deb for writing a fantastic editorial and keeping us informed from the start of the interview until the published result.  I would also like to thank our lead writer here at Style Estate, Jan Finlayson, for delivering an outstanding interview.  Jan is not only a talented writer, but a rising star in the world of Interior Design.  Jan continues to inspire me with her great ideas and a natural talent for spotting trends.  Our collaboration has been rewarding, albiet tiresome at times, in our effort to make an awesome design blog and more importantly the launch of Style Estate - Social Interior Design

Below is an except from the editorial which can be found in The Courant’s Home and Garden category or by doing a search for Deborah Hornblow.

Rustic Chic: It’s Cozy And Comforting

Say goodbye to this mod, mod world. Or at least toss a quilt on that Mies daybed.

The minimal, modernist furnishings that have enjoyed immense popularity for the past few years are ceding space in some stores and homes to cozier, homier pieces — the type that look hand-hewn or like something passed down from Grandma.

Rustic chic. Vintage decor. Homestead style. Call it what you will.

“While the modern, minimalist décor isn’t fading away entirely, the rustic look has definitely become more prevalent,” says Jan Finlayson, residential interior designer, trend watcher and lead writer for Style Estate Blog (blog.styleestate.com). “The sleek modern style came on strong … several years ago. … As beautiful as these pieces are, they do not [wear] well in homes that really use their furniture — the smooth finishes showed every little scratch and [they] have a cold, stark feel in many cases.”  …more

You might also like the following articles that I posted elsewhere:

Color Therapy and The Seven Chakras of Healing

Cheap Decorating Ideas for your Home or Apartment

How to Choose the Right Decorating Styles and Interior Design Styles

Natural Pet Products - A Guide to Having Environmentally Friendly Pets

Inexpensive Christmas Decorating Ideas

2009 to 2010 Interior Design Trends and Home Decorating Trends

 

If you have not yet visited our new and revolutionary interior design social network , Style Estate - please stop by and upload your first space.  We have big big plans in store there for the near future and I need as much help as possible getting our community jump started. To learn more about The Style Estate Social Network and all of the awesome features there, please read my post: 

Style Estate: Social Interior Design

Without Further Ado - I present Style Estate, a social interior design website that seeks to become a centralized source of information for interior design and home decorating.

Style Estate enables you to

• Upload pictures of your own interior design projects or pictures from around the web that you find inspiring
• Connect with friends and other Style Estate members to collaborate on ideas such a new design project or just simply make one of your interior spaces look better.
• Use our custom toolbar to take web clippings of products from any online store and attach them to your pictures.  By attaching products to your pictures yIou can either show of your current look or generate ideas for a similar look.
• Recommend products to your friend’s spaces or vice versa.  This feature allows for a friend to look at your space and then clip products from around the web and send them directly to you as a “recommended product”.
• Create or Join a group.  Like most other social networks, Style Estate has groups where like-minded individuals can can collaborate and inspire. 
• Create a guide.  We have a special page that lets you write a “how to” guide on any topic you choose.  Use links, clippings from information you have found, upload pictures and videos, etc…
• Create a Wish List.  Maybe you are brainstorming for you new home office.  Style Estate lets you keep a wish list of products that you find anywhere on the web.
• And Much Much More.

Style Estate is and always will be a Free Service for All.

 

In the example below, I have added some photos of my new apartment.  Since I will be decorating this apartment from scratch, I have chosen to enlist the help of my 4 awesome sisters who happen to live on the other side of the country.  Now that they have an idea of what my apartment looks like, the can start reccomending me products right away.  This feature is what I like to call “Remote Interior Design” - My sisters will virtually design my entire apartment by using Style Estate without ever having stepped inside.

There are sure to be many other uses for Style Estate beyond the scope of my imagination.  The core engine is complete and I need your help to get some of the smaller details polished.  I will be putting up a forum in the next day or two so that we can discuss usability issues, bugs, feature enhancements, etc…  I am very excited about launching Style Estate and I will be there interacting with the community and striving to make it the best darn design site around.

Please start uploading photos of your personal designs or interior design pictures that you have found.  There are still several categories without an entry such as swimming pools.  Lets see if we can get atleast one great design set up in each category.

 

More news coming soon.  Stay Tuned :)