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5 Reasons Why You Should Hire an Interior Designer

Melanie Morris April 21, 2020 Interior Design 0

If you’ve just purchased an island home or are ready to invest in remodeling, it’s important to hire an interior designer. Beyond making your home beautiful and well-suited to your family’s needs, working with an interior designer can save you valuable money and time in the long run. Here are five reasons why you should hire an interior designer to update your home away from home.

Interior designers do so much more than make a space look pretty. Lagnappe Custom Interiors can also save you time and money, among other benefits.

1) Interior Designers Will Save You Time

As the old adage goes, time is money. And home renovation projects take quite a bit of time. By hiring an interior designer, you’ll be getting back valuable island time — time spent at the beach, relaxing or enjoying the outdoors — that you would have otherwise needed to spend managing the project. Plus, design firms like Lagnappe Custom Interiors are so experienced that projects are often completed more efficiently because of all of the industry connections, experience and project management skills. All you need to do is stock the fridge to enjoy your island home.

2) They’ll Save You Money

Many people object to hiring an interior designer because it’s an added expense on top of a home renovation and decorating budget. While it’s true that designers do charge a fee for their services, it’s often earned back in project savings. Hiring an interior design firm such as Lagnappe Custom Interiors can save you money in several ways, like:

  • Managing the project finances to stay within budget
  • Securing designer pricing on materials, furnishings, art and accessories
  • Avoiding costly mistakes through professional interior specifications, furniture selections and project management. Undoing and redoing work is very expensive!

3) They’ll Improve Your Home Value

Aesthetics are incredibly important when renting and selling your beach home. Families researching vacation rentals will be looking for spaces that are a beautiful, relaxing retreat from their daily life. If your space has been planned and designed by an interior design firm such as Lagnappe Custom Interiors, you can increase rental fees. Similarly, buyers will also consider aesthetics when purchasing a home in the Caribbean. A well-designed remodel can easily pay for itself when done right, adding equity to the value of your vacation home.

4) Interior Designers Have Local Expertise

Home remodeling projects have many moving parts; you have to hire an architect, general contractor and possibly more vendors, depending on the home. Interior designers eliminate the burden because they can hire these vendors for you and know who to recommend. This characteristic is especially valuable when updating a second or vacation home, like one you might purchase in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Beyond local connections, interior designers also have local expertise. This is so important here in the Caribbean when the sun, salt and sand can impact the wear and tear on your home. We know which outdoor fabrics to recommend (sadly, silk is out) and which countertops are best for a rental (invest in Cambria, which is maintenance free and covered by a lifetime warranty). This information saves our clients a lot of sad stories in the future.

5) They Are Expert Process Managers

While interior designers are sought-after for their creativity and design eye, one of the most valuable skills they bring to the table is process management. One of the reasons our clients love working with us is because we oversee the complex process of shipping logistics in the Caribbean. We’re very familiar with freight forwarding and the customs clearance process.

Designers such as those on our Lagnappe Custom Interiors team are expertly trained to balance the moving parts of these complex projects, which can take weeks or even months:

  • Hiring and managing vendors
  • Managing budgets
  • Creating and maintaining project timelines
  • Ordering materials and managing delivery schedules
  • Shopping for furniture, art and décor
  • Commissioning custom furniture or original artwork
  • Staging the home and adding extra, personalized details that no one thinks about but everyone loves
This kitchen remodel project was a true transformation.
It takes a lot of planning, time and budget management to turn this “before” into an “after”. Design by Lagnappe Custom Interiors.
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How To Mix Metals In Interior Design

Melanie Morris April 7, 2020 Tips & Tricks 0

Gold is one of the hottest interior design trends right now, and manufacturers are meeting this need by producing a range of new gold tones and finish choices. There are many ways to style gold accents, from embracing the color and using gold on everything, to mixing and matching different tones of gold for an eclectic look.

If going all-in on gold isn’t your style, I recommend blending different metal accents. The casual elegance of this look is perfect for island living; it looks accidental, but in reality, was carefully planned. Here are some tips on what to look for and how to mix metals.

Types of Metals in Interior Design

When choosing metal accents for your home decor, you must select between the metal tone, type and finish.  There are three tones: warm, cool and neutral. There are also three main categories of finishes: polished, satin and hammered. Each of these tones and finishes can be applied to any type of metal.

Mixing metals can be difficult, but I have a few tips to help you. Many types of metals are used in interior design, but these eight are the most popular:

Cool Tones

  • Chrome
  • Nickel
  • Stainless steel

Warm Tones

  • Gold
  • Brass
  • Copper
  • Oil rubbed bronze

Neutral Tones

  • Cast iron
  • Black matte brass

How to Mix Metal Accents

Hiring an interior designer is the safest bet when it comes to mixing metals and making other design choices in your home. But if you’re looking to DIY the project, these are my three steps to successfully mix metals:

  1. Choose two or three metals you’d like to work with. Two is best if you’re not used to mixing. All of the metals should have the same finish (either polished, satin or hammered).
  2. Select one of your metals as the dominant color to be used on most of your accents in the space. The other metals will become the secondary colors.
  3. Begin decorating by item category. In bathrooms, the main categories are plumbing, lighting, accessories and mirrors. In kitchens, the main categories are plumbing, appliances and accessories.

Let’s use a bathroom for example. Regardless of whether it’s a full bath or a powder room, plumbing is the most dominant fixture in the room, so I would use the dominant metal there. Then apply the accent metal to lighting and accessories like drawer pulls or towel bars. Because there’s typically only one or two mirrors in a bathroom and they are large items, try using a third metal or another unique material like rope, rattan or shells.

Finding More Metal Inspiration

Following these tips should help get you started mixing metals in your kitchen or bathroom. Follow us on Pinterest for even more design inspiration and interior design tips.

If you’re still feeling lost after reading these three steps, it may be time to consider hiring an interior designer. Lagnappe Custom Interiors is the top authority on interior design in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and we’d love to help you design and decorate your beach house so it’s just as beautiful as the islands we live on.

The dominant color in this bathroom is silver, which is used on the plumbing fixtures, lighting and accessories. Matte black is the first accent color, used on the drawer pulls. The final accent color is not a metal at all, but a third, totally unique material — shells. Design by Lagnappe Custom Interiors.
In this bathroom, the light fixture and cabinet pulls are in brass with a satin finish, while the plumbing is in stainless steel. Design by Lagnappe Custom Interiors.
This kitchen mixes stainless steel, seen on the appliances and plumbing, with brass, seen on the cabinet pulls and lighting. Design by Lagnappe Custom Interiors.
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Open Door Decor: 8 of Our Favorite Indoor-Outdoor Home Pieces and Materials

Melanie Morris March 17, 2020 Outdoor Living 0

It’s springtime — the perfect time of year to open the windows and patio doors and let the island breeze refresh your home. Many of the island homes Lagnappe Custom Interiors designs have outdoor living spaces so homeowners can enjoy the beautiful landscape all year ‘round. We always stock these spaces with beautiful and functional indoor-outdoor pieces — furniture, finishes and décor that can withstand outside conditions like rain and sun. We also look for items that are easy to live with, clean well and require little maintenance because we’d rather spend the weekend at the beach than refinishing patio furniture!  Many of these originated in the yachting world but are just as common on land. In our work, the indoor living room and the outdoor living room should be equally lovely and comfortable!

Life on a Caribbean island means we are accustomed to enjoying our time outside and staging our spaces to support an indoor-outdoor lifestyle compared to those in more land-locked locations. If your permanent home is in an urban area, you can still take advantage of the outdoor spaces you do have. There are many ways to bring the outside in or properly furnish your outdoor areas with materials that can withstand the elements. Take a skim through the list below for some of our favorite indoor-outdoor items that can be seen across yacht and island designs.

8 Home Pieces and Materials Great Indoors and Out

  1. Rugs – Indoor-outdoor rugs are a great design choice because they’re made of synthetic fibers that hold their shape and color particularly well. It’s so easy to clean the sandy footprints off these rugs! Lagnappe will often purchase the same synthetic rug in different sizes and use one inside and one outside to flow the design past a home’s four walls.
  2. Melamine — Melamine is a nitrogen-rich compound that is virtually unbreakable, making it an incredibly durable product. We love using melamine dishware and glasses in our designs, especially for outdoor kitchens where plates and serveware may be stored outside. No more worrying about broken glass by the pool.
  3. Wood — No matter the style of home or its location, wood is one of the most-used materials in interior design. On yachts, you’ll see floors, cabinetry and furniture made of solid woods like mahogany and teak. Lagnappe always ensures any woods we use outdoors are high quality and of a species that will either weather in an attractive way (think old teak steamer chairs that gray over time) or is finished in a way that will hold up to the elements.
  4. Stainless steel — Stainless steel is a timeless metal finish choice. We love this rust and corrosion resistant metal and use it on appliances indoors and out.
  5. Antiqued brass — Antiqued brass is another favorite metal. Inside, we like to use it for accents and fixtures. Outside, we’ll select tables and chairs, or stools made from this warm, corrosion-resistant metal. It’s important to remember that solid brass is a “living” finish and will patina over time. If you don’t like the patina, simply polish the brass and it’ll look new again.
  6. Solution-dyed acrylics — Acrylic fabrics are a chic and long-lasting choice whether used on indoor or outdoor sofas and loungers. Sunbrella is one of our favorite brands because of its bright colors and nautical style. The material can withstand heat and moisture, and resists fading in the sun. Best of all, it’s easy to clean and mildew resistant. We regularly make pop-over covers for pool and yacht cushions in these materials.
  7. Natural stone — One way we create a seamless design is carrying through natural stones from the inside to the outdoors. We may use the same countertops for both the indoor and outdoor kitchens or may construct an outdoor fire pit using the same stone on the indoor fireplace surround.
  8. Synthetic woven rattan — This fiber has grown in popularity in recent years and we couldn’t be more thrilled. Rattan is a regular texture used in Lagnappe designs, including on patio furniture, accents and wall art. The new synthetics are long lasting and attractive enough to use inside and out.
Synthetic rattan is one of our favorite textures to use in island interior design. It works both inside, as seen on these dining chairs, and outdoors on the patio. The natural textures keep the organic island vibe throughout the home.
A beautiful teak wood dining set is the star of this Lagnappe patio design. We also chose this acrylic fabric for the upholstery to make sure the cushions maintain their crisp blue look all season long.
This covered patio has truly become a cozy and inviting outdoor living room thanks to the long-lasting materials – synthetic wicker and Sunbrella and Thaibaut fabrics. Lagnappe Custom Interiors carried the same color palette throughout the home to link the interior and exterior spaces.
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Using the 2020 Color of the Year in a Beach Home

Melanie Morris February 25, 2020 Color 0

Color is a key part of any home design, and this year’s color of the year, according to Pantone, the global expert on color communication, is “Classic Blue.”

I love blue in all its shades, and it’s featured front and center in Lagnappe’s business as part of the logo. Coastal locations naturally lend themselves to blue hues because of the water, and you’ll see that we take this blue inspiration seriously when designing interiors for our clients. I love using blue as a neutral; just like a classic pair of jeans, blue interiors go with everything.

If you’re looking for ways to add blue to your beachside property without doing a total remodel, here are a few tips you can try:

  • Update your bedding, towels or other linens to blue hues.
  • Paint an accent wall. I recommend adding the accent wall to a large, significant space, like the wall behind your bed.
  • Change a key piece of furniture, like a sofa, to blue.
  • Paint your kitchen cabinetry a favorite shade of blue.
This blue sofa adds a much-needed pop of color to an otherwise neutral room. Design by Lagnappe Custom Interiors.
Painting an accent wall in your favorite shade of blue is one way to bring the ocean indoors. Design by Lagnappe Custom Interiors.
One quick way to change the feeling of a room is by switching out the linens. This blue bedding set feels tranquil and relaxing. Design by Lagnappe Custom Interiors.

If you’re not sure where to start, it’s time to call in the professionals. Our team at Lagnappe Custom Interiors knows island style inside and out, and we’d love to work with you to make your home classic blue (or any other color you’d like). Contact us to learn more.

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4 Design Lessons I Learned Living On A Boat

Melanie Morris February 18, 2020 Beach / Caribbean 0

You may not know this about me, but I used to live on a small sailboat.  

In fact, I first came to the Virgin Islands because I wanted to sail every day. I thought my visit was only going to last one season, but then I met David and we fell in love and decided to make the Virgin Islands our home. David was living on his sailboat at the time, and I moved onboard with him after our wedding. We sailed our home down island and lived aboard for almost two years before having our daughter. Those of you with kids will understand why we couldn’t stay on the boat at that point — babies come with a lot of stuff!

Living on a boat taught me the values of simplicity and practicality, and that perspective still influences my interior design work today. But that isn’t the only design lesson I learned living on the water with David. Turns out, there are many similarities between designing a custom yacht and designing a custom home on land.

Lesson 1: Pare Down

Living on a sailboat is the original “tiny house” experience. Even large, luxury yachts are typically smaller than the average home on land. This experience will teach you to value your space and prevents a buildup of clutter and other messes.

Even if you’re living on land, consider purging your belongings so you’re only left with the things that serve a purpose or have supreme sentimental value. Try not to view paring down as a negative experience; it taught me how to enjoy life’s simple pleasures, like the feeling of a tidy, organized and beautiful home filled with the people I love instead of extra stuff that wasn’t making me happy.

The kitchen on this new Island Packet Yacht uses every available inch for cooking or storage — a principle I also like to use when designing custom kitchens for my clients like in the image below.
This small condo kitchen I designed uses every available inch of space, and the rich wood grain has the feeling of a yacht.

Lesson 2: Consider the Climate

Just like coastal homes, boats have a lot of exposure to the elements. That’s why experienced shipwrights like my friends over at Island Packet Yachts choose durable materials that can withstand the heat, water, humidity, salt and sand when constructing the interior and exterior of a boat or yacht.

This lesson is applicable to land-based homes also. When you’re choosing finishes, consider the local climate and how the weather will wear on the materials. In the Caribbean, for example, I recommend working with stainless metal, teak wood, rattan and outdoor fabrics. These materials, among others, can withstand the hot summers, salt air and hurricane season well.

Lesson 3: Embrace Marine Materials

Boats and yachts are always designed with durability in mind, but they aren’t the only kind of homes that can benefit from using long-lasting materials. When I’m designing an island home for my clients, I like to use marine materials that give a subtle nod to our surroundings.

In textiles, I like to use solution-dyed acrylic (Sunbrella is one of my favorite brands because their lovely “yachtie” canvas lasts) and rope, which add nautical texture to upholstery and decor items. Round windows or mirrors also evoke a coastal feeling because they look similar to a porthole window. When choosing metal finishes, I like using stainless and antiqued brass because they both have a maritime feel.

All of these materials add an element of seaside chicness without being too obvious or kitschy.

The round mirrors I used in this coastal bathroom remodel mimic the shape of porthole windows the homeowners might see sailing by outside their window.

Lesson 4: Intricate Woodwork Never Goes Out of Style

Wood is a key tool in boatbuilding, not only for creating the structure of wooden boats, but also for constructing interiors. It’s an incredibly versatile material because it can expand and contract with the humidity and movement of the vessel, but also because it’s beautiful and can last a lifetime.

When I’m aboard a ship, I’m always amazed by the beautiful woodworking details and inlays used to add an extra visual element to furniture and flooring. I look for this same level of craftsmanship when shopping for my clients’ homes. In my mind, you can never go wrong choosing a handmade wood item.

Wood inlays are an example of classic maritime design. This inlay, found on an Island Packet Yacht, is exactly the type of feature I look for when shopping for wood furniture for my clients.
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How to Stay Involved with Long-Distance Decorating

Melanie Morris February 6, 2020 Tips & Tricks 0

The U.S. Virgin Islands are an amazing place to visit, and many visitors love it so much they decide to buy a second home or vacation home in the Virgin Islands. That’s often when we get a call. Lagnappe Custom Interiors specializes in interior design for island living, so we’re accustomed to working on a project while the client is hundreds of miles away.

While this experience is old hat for us, it’s often new to many clients. They want to be involved in their home design but aren’t sure how to do so long-distance. Here are our top three ways you can stay involved in your island home design from afar.

Set a Standing Meeting

If you’ve ever been in a long-distance relationship with a partner, you know that communication is the key to success. And though your relationship with your interior designer isn’t a romantic one, the same rule applies. To ensure you feel involved in the design process, consider setting up a standing meeting where you can check in and get progress updates. The frequency of these meetings may change depending on the phase of your project. During planning, for example, your meetings may be less frequent than during construction when you may want to have a call every other week.

Though phone calls are a reliable way to meet, there are many other types of communication platforms, like video chatting via FaceTime, Skype and Zoom. Talking with your designer face-to-face can help build a relationship with them, but also allows them to show you what’s happening at your beach home if they’re on site during the call.

Ask for Visuals

Interior design is a visual medium. Many of the decisions revolve around color, texture, size, shape and space planning. It can be hard to fully understand your designer’s vision without seeing their plans for your home. To resolve this problem, ask for as many visuals as possible. At minimum, this should include a floorplan of your home. Many designers use computer programs to model their designs. Lagnappe Custom Interiors uses a program called Sketchup Pro, for example, which shows our clients a 3D rendering of what the final space will look like. This is especially helpful when making a decision on a paint color or furniture piece because the software allows you to see what the finished room will look like.

Depending on the product in discussion, you may also want to ask your designer to send you samples for the tiles, wood flooring, fabrics, paints and other finishes they are considering. And while it may not be practical to mail you a countertop sample, your designer may be able to coordinate a showroom visit near you if you’re choosing engineered stone countertops.

It can be hard to envision a space when it looks like this — an empty shell full of possibilities. Your designer should provide you with sketches or renderings to help you understand what the final design will look like.
The sketches or renderings should look almost identical to the final design, as seen here. Design by Lagnappe Custom Interiors.

Plan a Visit

Although you may not be able to live in the Virgin Islands while your vacation home is being designed, you may want to schedule a couple of visits during the design process. This will allow you to meet your interior designer in person and see the progress on your beach home first-hand.

I recommend scheduling at least one visit after construction has begun, but before finishes are being installed. You’ll be able to get an idea for the flow of the home with wall framing in place, and will still have an opportunity to change things if you don’t like what you see. This is also a great time to view all the finish and fabric samples in person and see them in the space.  We always recommend seeing finishes in person when possible before confirming your orders.

We recommend scheduling at least one visit after construction has begun. The home will look like this — a “before” photo — with old finishes removed.
After the renovation is complete, your home should be as functional as it is beautiful. This master bath is full of island hues and loads of storage. Design by Lagnappe Custom Interiors.
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7 Must-Have Accessories for Every Beach Home

Melanie Morris January 31, 2020 Beach / Caribbean 0

While big elements of a design like layout, furniture and flooring certainly have a significant impact on interior design, accents can be the things that make a house feel like a home. And when you’re living that laid-back Caribbean lifestyle, it’s important that your home decor is both beautiful and practical. When decorating your dream island home, make sure you add these seven essential accessories and decor pieces.

1. Shoe Baskets

A home’s entryway is always one of the first places to get cluttered and dirty, and this is even more true for a beach house. I recommend placing a chic basket near your exterior doors to corral flip flops and sand. This basket from Crate&Barrel has a beautiful woven texture and is perfect for storing shoes or even beach towels.

2. A Beautiful Tray

Reasons to entertain guests are plentiful when you have beachfront property. That’s why I always add at least one beautiful tray to a client’s home when I decorate for them; it’s the perfect accessory for hosting friends and family. You could fill this gorgeous Annieglass table from Neiman Marcus with wine and cheese while entertaining, and when the party’s over put it back out to keep your coffee table organized. Make sure it’s dishwasher safe (as this one is) so clean-up is easy!

3. Rattan

Bring the beautiful beach landscape inside your home by adding some rattan details. This woven material is made from palm tree stems, so it’s incredibly durable and adds a rich texture to furniture and decor. Rattan will never go out of style at a beach home and is especially popular in recent years regardless of where you live. This glass Anthropologie serving bowl with a rattan wrapper will add lots of texture to your tablescapes and is sure to become an island classic. I love these mixed with the touch of gold on the tray above as well. It creates an eclectic vibe on the table overall.

4. A Conversation-Starter

Every room needs that one-of-a-kind item that starts up a conversation. These items can be tricky to find — they don’t exactly match, but somehow, they mingle tastefully with what’s already in the space. I love a funky bench or ottoman for that piece. Whether you place it at the foot of your bed or use it as dining room seating, it’s sure to add a fun vibe to your room.

5. A Chinese Lamp

Mixing traditional elements with modern decor is so chic, and nothing is more traditional than chinoiserie — Chinese-inspired decor items that first became popular in 17th century England. You can never go wrong with a blue and white porcelain lamp in the Chinese style. It’s a classic look in any home, and in the Caribbean gives a special nod to the vintage British Colonial style. 

6. Linen Sheets

Nothing says luxury like linen sheets, which get softer with each wash. I always get them in white because they can be easily cleaned and evoke a feeling of cleanliness. This set from Parachute will make you excited to go to bed each night.

7. Natural Wallpaper

Make a statement on one or two walls in your home by installing a textured wallpaper that brings nature indoors. I recommend choosing a vinyl wallpaper (Phillip Jeffries is one of my favorite brands) because it holds up better against the humidity of the tropics.

Here’s what a vinyl wallpaper accent wall looks like in a Lagnappe Custom Interiors client home — gorgeous!