HOUSTON – Whether you are trying to declutter or create a more comfortable space, Interior Designer Paul Brockman shares his easy and affordable tips for creating a stylish and functional living space, including the outdoors for summer get-togethers.
FOR THE HOME - INDOORS
1. Create a Drop Station for your mail, magazines, bills, (sun)glasses, and keys.
- Instead of keeping the entire magazine or catalog, tear out the page you want and file it in a hanging file folder.
- Place a bin in an area to place your everyday items like keys, wallets, and glasses.
- Maybe even put a charging station nearby to charge your phone, watch, and earbuds.
2. Hospitality Station for the Guests with coffee and snack on trays and bins.
- Create a coffee area without having your guest leave their room or go to the kitchen.
- Provide snacks in a bin or a filled ice bucket before guests arrive.
3. Sustainable Cleaning Station for products that are easy to use and refillable (keeping plastic out of landfills).
- A couple of items Paul recommends for this station is the SimpleHuman decorative paper towel holder with a built-in spray bottle in the middle of the holder, which you pull out and ready to spray.
- And from Container Store, BLUELAND cleaning bottles. Fill in the bottles with your choice of cleaning ingredients, and refill them when the bottle is empty. As their slogan says - Buy Once. Refill Forever.
4. Laundry Station
- Fill in a glass container with washing machine pods - no more messy, huge plastic bottles and drippy soap everywhere.
5. Pet Station for those traveling with a pet.
- New to the market - a small apparatus with food and water bowls and a middle container that holds 6 cups of dry food.
FOR THE OUTDOORS
1. Use faux/ artificial grass turf
- It doesn’t require watering, no freeze problems, bugs, or brown patches. Paul used this for his backyard five years ago, and it still looks brand new. It only needs to be raked or blown with a blower to keep it clean.
- It is also perfect for creating a green space on walkways, apartment balconies, and porches.
2. New Outdoor Lighting
- Use rechargeable LED table lights.
- You can even use this indoors in an area without an outlet.
3. New Melamine Plates, Glasses, and Pitchers
- While they look like glass, they are plastic. No one can tell the difference, and they are non-breakable.
- Paul also recommends using a wicker serving tray to carry all the utensils and food outside and prevent multiple trips.
4. Add Faux Flowers to Existing Real Potted Plants
- Combine faux flowers with real flowers creating an expensive look to the garden without breaking the bank.
- Plus, faux flowers give the impression of growing flowers not typically grown in Houston due to the heat.
Watch the video above for a visually appealing demonstration of Paul’s tips.
And if you like to connect with him, visit his website.