Thank you to all that came out to our celebration on October 12th.

In case you were unable to attend our party to honor 40 years of business. Here are some photos and a video of the event.
slide show
Video of Toast

Thank you to Jesse Kitt photography and Russ Bauman for the video.

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The post Interior Designer’s Dream Project, Dream Process And Dream Clients Combine To Produce Incredible & Beautiful Results appeared first on Ambiance Interiors.

Every home design is a labor of love, and each presents its own challenges. However, some design challenges have more twists and turns than others. Linda Constable of Ambiance Interiors in Asheville has 30 years of experience creating warm, welcoming interiors that perfectly capture the unique spirit of each client. Her talent and years of experience helped immensely when she was asked to design two separate “forever homes” – for the same clients – on different sides of the country.

Images Courtesy of Ambiance Interiors ©

The clients, a husband and wife, had settled in Asheville, in “the Hilltop House,” as Linda affectionately calls it. They called on her to design that home, and then, to her surprise, they let her know soon after completion that they were relocating to California. They wanted her to help them relocate her design to their new home as well. North Carolina Design talked to Linda to find out about her inspiration for the North Carolina home, and about how she managed this unique situation.

“The clients’ North Carolina home was a Tudor-style house that was built in the 1930’s,” Linda recounts. “They fell in love with everything about it. When they purchased that house and did that project, they had no plans to leave.”

The Hilltop House project was such a great experience for Linda that she jumped at the chance to work with the homeowners again. “They were so much fun,” I was tickled when they called for the California project,” she reflects. “I have to say, moving a family and all of their belongings from one side of the country to another was a really interesting challenge for me. It took three trips to get it all done, but the way it all came together was so satisfying.”

Linda sought to use as many of the original furnishings from the Asheville home as possible, while transforming the overall design feel so that everything worked well for the California location.“ We created a very welcoming look to the home – a little dressy, without being too formal. The homeowners have eclectic tastes, which kept the design from feeling stuffy. Both the husband and the wife have a great love for nature, so we went with a color palette that was earthy and primarily had natural tones. Many of the fabrics and patterns used have natural elements to them.”

Linda wasn’t just focused on creating the home’s look, but on its overall feel. “The age of the house really worked well with the mood we created,” she notes. “The spirit of the house felt original, as though it hadn’t been remodeled at all. It also felt very settled, as though they had lived there much longer than they had. “

Transferring an entire design from one home to another – especially across the country – may seem like a nearly impossible task. While it did require some precise and thorough planning, Linda maintains that it wasn’t as difficult as one might think. “If you plan a space thoughtfully, and create a well-proportioned, quality design, you can certainly make it work for a different home,” she explains.

While she used many of the furnishings and accessories from the Hilltop House, Linda still had something original in mind for the new home. “The idea was never to duplicate the Asheville home,” she says. “It was to shake things up, and create something new. It was interesting though, because from the moment I saw the new house, I couldn’t help but feel that the souls of these two homes were related somehow. Everything seems to have worked out the way it was meant to.”

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Homeowners often think of window treatments as pretty accents that add a finishing touch to a living space. But, as Asheville interior designer Kathryn Long of Ambiance Interiors can attest to, they are actually a significant design element that requires thought, planning and preparation to get right. Kathryn is known for her beautiful and well appointed designs, as well as her impeccable attention to detail. She is passionate about finding the right window treatments for the right space, and North Carolina Design caught up with her to learn more about how she does it.

Images Courtesy of Ambiance Interiors ©

Kathryn became an expert at window treatments by necessity. “Usually seamstresses come to the worksite to assess the windows, but for years my seamstress never left the sewing room,” she says. “So I had to learn about fit, scale and proportion. I had to become very familiar with overlap, return and fullness. Over the years, I developed such an appreciation for well made window treatments and everything they add to a home.”

In fact, window treatments perform a long list of important functions in a living space. “They provide light control and privacy,” Kathryn notes. “They protect furniture and rugs. They add acoustics and help set a mood. They cover the intimidating ‘black holes’ that bare windows become at night. And they make a space warmer, both literally and emotionally.”

In spite of their benefits, Kathryn has found that homeowners don’t always embrace window treatments initially. “People fear they’ll lose their view and their light,” she explains. “But properly designed window treatments will frame the view and control the light, so that there’s ample illumination when needed, but no glare at the wrong time of day.

“This home is a prime example of that principle. The great room has a fairly western view, so at 5:00 you had to get out your sunglasses. We used custom motorized Roman shades in a semi sheer fabric. The shades block out the afternoon glare, but they don’t block the view completely. We used Roman shades in the same style in the dining room, as it also has a fantastic view.

“The sun was pouring in through the large windows in the breakfast room. My clients were reluctant to listen when I suggested window treatments, but in the end it really came down to a question of practicality. We used semi-sheer cellular honeycomb shades. They work well to control light, the stack up when they’re raised is really tiny, and they offer thermal protection. In the master bath the concern was privacy, so we used a more opaque shade on a wooden rod.”

Beyond function, Kathryn ensured that the window treatments fit in seamlessly with the home’s overall design. “This was a charming mountain home with fabulous architectural details,” she notes. ”The clients wanted it to be an inviting space, with nothing breakable or unapproachable. Somewhere you could put your feet up and feel truly comfortable.”

Kathryn created an elegant and richly detailed space that was also inviting and unpretentious. She used wood and natural stone to bring the outdoors in, antique furniture pieces to add traditional warmth, and rustic arts and crafts elements to provide a touch of simple mountain charm. For window treatments, Kathryn chose linen and cotton for a natural softness that would perfectly complement a mountain home.

“Window treatments are not designed in a vacuum,” Kathryn observes. “They have to relate to everything else in the space, and be so well designed that they’re part of the interior. When they’re done right, they should disappear into the background. And I think we achieved that here.”

Platt Architecture, PA, Brevard, NC

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