Julie Fergus, ASID | NH Interior Designer

Remodeling Survival Tips

An additon can interfere with many interior spaces, and distrupt your life while under construction.

Remodeling Tips

Living through a remodeling project is not fun. If you can avoid it, live somewhere else while the major work is being done. Either way, dust control should be a major part of the set-up for any remodeling project.

My top 11 tips:

1. Have a clear, complete design plan. The only way to get competitive bids you can rely on is by an apples-to-apples comparison. You must have finishes, fixtures, appliances, cabinetry, lighting, and budget all defined in order to get accurate bids from a contractor.

2. Have a realistic budget!!!

3. Who is in charge? Whether you hire a contractor to be the general contractor or whether you do it yourself, decide who will be the decision maker when you are unavailable. You have probably underestimated how much time (and money) can be wasted when a crew of workers has no direction. Letting the contractor control your project or letting it “come together on the fly” and may result in costly mistakes. Avoid being your own general contractor if you don’t have a flexible job or if you are a long distance from the home being remodeled.

4. Prevent the project area from spreading to the rest of your space. Use plastic, tape, plastic, carpet runners, plastic, and fans to keep air moving from the clean space to the “dirty space” while keeping adjacent areas clean. And be safe…throw out the plastic when you are finished. Static electricity will adhere hazardous material like lead dust to your plastic. Throw it out when you are done.

5. Stay three steps ahead of the contractor and sub-contractors.

6. Choose all of your fixtures and have them on site as soon as possible. DO NOT wait until the contractor is asking for them.

7. Be patient and don’t panic when things are not running smoothly or perfectly. Building construction is only perfect on paper. On the job things nobody anticipated with always come up. Be ready for them. Learn to go with the flow and not exactly according to the schedule. You’ve got to be flexible. There is a lot of balancing and coordinating.

8. Pick your paint colors way ahead of schedule and paint test samples to be sure of your choices. Again, DO NOT wait until the day before the painter is coming to make your final choices.

9. If you have a strict budget, stick to it by not increasing the original scope of the project. In my experience, most projects that go over budget are due to the homeowner increasing the scope of the project, after the project starts.

10. If the scope of your project grows, the longer your project will take so plan accordingly.

11.Have fun along the way and perhaps a festive drink toast the progress (or to get you through it!)

Julie Fergus, ASID, is a nationally published interior designer. Her studio and showroom is located in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Julie's clients are primarily in the Lakes Region and Mount Washington Valley, however, she will travel throughout the state and North East. www.JulieFergus.com | www.DesignByMail.com

Bathroom remodels require a staging area outiside
of the the bathromm - plan accordingly

This is the staging area outside the bathroom.

Summer Colors

Summer is a great time to enjoy more vibrant colors. Porches are the perfect spot to explore color. For this porch we chose a bright blue for the floor then softened it with the colorful runners that had that same blue it them.

Lime green is a great contrast to the blue and we brought that color into the accents and the cushions.

Porch just aster it was painted.

Porch after the plants have been added.

Detail of the color combination.

Other fun combinations are pink and lime green, as shown in these Lily Pulitzer fabrics by Lee Jofa.

Summer Entertaining

Summer is a time for gathering with friends and family. Make entertaining easy a simple pasta salad. I like pasta salads because they can be made ahead, saving you from being in the kitchen while guests are visiting. A lemon pasta salad is a fresh and easy recipe. Use any pasta you like, I typically use farfalle or rigatoni.

What you will need is:
Zest of one Lemon
Juice from one lemon
Olive oil
1 lb. pasta Feta cheese, crumbled – add as much as you like
Flat leaf parsley, chopped coarse or fine, you choose
Grape tomatoes sliced in half Salt & pepper

Cook the pasta and let cool. Toss with olive oil to coat. Add everything else except the lemon juice; save it for adding just before serving. You may like more or less lemon, but don’t omit it, that is the key ingredient to give this pasta salad a fresh taste. Enjoy!

Cottage Style Bathroom

Click on the photos to enlarge them.

This is a totally new bathroom in an old house with low roof. I had to maximize head-heights to create a shower and standing at the sink.

To see more details of the before, during and after remodeling make over of this bathroom click here.

Julie Fergus, ASID, is a nationally published interior designer. Her studio and showroom is located in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Julie's clients are primarily in the Lakes Region and Mount Washington Valley, however, she will travel throughout the state and North East. www.JulieFergus.com | www.DesignByMail.com

Custom Desk

This is a very simple desk I designed for a client. Reclaimed white oak from Bingham Lumber in Brookline, NH. Sometimes it is impossible to find the best furniture item, so custom is necessary.

Julie Fergus, ASID, is a nationally published interior designer. Her studio and showroom is located in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Julie's clients are primarily in the Lakes Region and Mount Washington Valley, however, she will travel throughout the state and North East. www.JulieFergus.com | www.DesignByMail.com

Best Irish Soda Bread

Soda bread just out of the oven.

Slice a piece and serve with soft butter.

I like it sliced in wedges.

This is the best Irish Soda Bread recipe you will find. It is moist and delicious.

Ingredients

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

3 tbs. sugar + addt’l for top

3 tbs. butter, slightly softened

1/3 cup currants

1 tbs. caraway seeds

1 cup buttermilk (this is the key ingredient)

Preheat oven to 375.

In mixer bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix in butter and mix until crumbly. Add currants and caraway seeds. Pour in buttermilk and mix until combined.

Take the dough out of the bowl and place onto a floured board and knead for 1 minute (add a little bit of flour so that it not too stick- but not too much). Roll the dough into a ball and pat down to about 2 inches thick. Slash a large X, about an inch deep, across the dough. Sprinkle well with additional sugar.

Bake for 25 minutes until light golden brown. Cool on rack and serve warm (with lots of soft butter). Yum!!

Entertaining Ideas

Entertaining is about connecting with your guests.

I like to entertain friends and family, but to do it well, you've got to be prepared. Here are my top priorities when entertaining:

A clean house is at the top of the list.
Keep your guest list simple or small, this makes it easier for you.
Plan the menu days in advance and purchase items no later than the day before. Avoid last minute running around, which equals stress.
Keep your menu simple, the food is not most important, visiting with friends and family is. A homemade pizza can be wonderful when served with a great salad.
Create atmosphere with lighting. Avoid all lights on at maximum wattage. Soft lighting allows people to relax.
Light candles. Nothing is more soothing than candles. Always have a stash of candles to replenish those that burn down.
Serve a light appetizer when guests arrive, and serve dinner forty-five minutes or so after arrival. Don't make guests wait hours for dinner or give them the opportunity to fill-up on snacks.
Create a comfortable dining table, and dim the lights so you can linger and talk after the meal is done. Create a low centerpiece so all guests can see each other.
Serve dessert in the living room. This allows guests to truly relax and lets you enjoy another room in your home.
My personal plan is to serve snacks or appetizers in the kitchen, while I finish up the meal. I serve dinner in the dining room, and dessert in the living room. I like the progressive approach and the change of scenery moving from room to room is fun.
When having a casual dinner, I like to serve in the kitchen. It is easy and guests always feel comfortable when I serve in the kitchen.
Remember that the most important element of entertaining is to connect with guests, so keep your menu simple, plan ahead so you can relax and spend time with your guests.

Conveying Design Concepts

Assisting people with home makeovers requires that ideas be conveyed in a format that helps with visualization. I do that in a few ways: computer imaging, hand-drawn sketches or with photo collages. Most of my projects are for vacation homes. This means that I have to communicate long distance to keep the project moving forward and to help clients make decisions.

Here are examples of how I communicate design ideas. This is the design process.

Click on the photos to enlarge.