distinctive home furnishings & interior designetite Surprise

NESTvol. 1 no. 2 a t h o m e i n s t u a r t

772.287.8030 • monday - friday 10 am to 5 pm, saturday 10 - 4 pm

218 sw federal highway, stuartwww.petitesurprise.com

poffers an extensive ever changing selec-tion of handpicked fine furniture, light-ing, decorative home accessories and un-usual gifts. We are an eclectic home bou-tique, a destination for homeowners who want what traditional furniture stores do not offer. Our un-common focal point home furnishings are often one of a kind. At the same time, we recognize that a room starts with sta-ple pieces and we sell only the best quality custom upholstered and slipcovered fur-niture.

Robe

rt H

olla

nd

tidbits

Editor and PublisherCecilia Anspach

NEST

he Wizard of Oz is my all-time favorite movie. There’s no place like home! Haven’t we all learned whenever you go

searching for your heart’s desire, you need not look any further than your own backyard? After a busy summer, vacations, moving kids out of college apartments and into new residences, I am happy to get back to a normal schedule and comfortable surroundings. Now is a great time to redirect our attention to home. Before we know it, the Holidays will be upon us, there will be parties, home entertaining and guests. For me, my first project is to reinvent my upstairs loft and kids’ bedrooms. Now that my twins are college graduates, we will use the space differently. Their high school bedrooms with thumbtacked posters not only no longer suit them; they are unsuitable for guests. With my son and daughter’s permission, their rooms are being transformed to grown-up spaces. They took most of their furnishings with them and I am left with a blank canvas. Can’t wait to start!

t

o paraphrase a recent ar-ticle available on Houzz by Steven Corley Randel,

architect, the following mea-surements should be kept in mind when designing your living room.

• To maintain good flow to seating areas, entrances and exits, circulation paths should be 30-36” wide. • Coffee or cocktail tables may be placed as close as 12” from the edge of the seating.

• Other furnishings might need at least 24” between pieces for people to easily move about.

• Place furniture so that people can easily hear one another when seated. Eight feet is ideal. • And if you must have a televi-sion in your living room, the size of your TV screen determines how far away your seating should be. Considering that the average screen today is 42-50”, keep your seating within 10 feet of it. Also, carefully consider the height of the television. It is best to place a TV out of a cir-culation route so that people don’t frequently walk in front of the set.

Our interior designer is availableto help draft your floor plan.

t

Loree Weeks, Cecilia Anspach and Carmen Quintero.

our next projectNEST

Please present this certificate for 20% off your first purchase.

Limit: one per customer | Expires November 30, 2014

218 sw federal highway, stuart772.287.8030 • www.petitesurprise.com

e were invited to participate in a special Designer Showcase event and accepted without hesitation. Molly’s House

is a seventeen year-old hospital hospitality house conceived by Molly Sharkey, a teenager battling cancer. She envisioned a home where families of patients experiencing a medical crisis could be close by and not exhaust their savings staying at a traditional hotel. Our project is to redesign one of the ten bedrooms/baths. We chose Room 106, a west facing room with a garden view. Our next issue of the Nest will feature our after photos.

w

choosing a natural fiber rugt Petite Surprise, we strive to offer our customers products that are eco-friendly. Natural fiber rugs made from

plant-based fibers are renewable, sustainable and biodegradable. Because they are pro-duced without the use of toxic chemicals and materials, they are hypoallergenic. They are popular because they are inexpensive and bring a nature-inspired look to interiors. Nat-ural fibers can be bleached or dyed, however, over time most natural fiber rugs darken to their original color. Most natural fiber rugs excluding jute are backed to protect the floor from scratches. When choosing a natural fiber rug, durability, comfort, and composition are important. Let’s ex-amine the myriad of options.• Jute rugs originate from India and Ban-gladesh. Jute fibers come from the jute plant stalk instead of the leaves so the fibers are softer than other natural fiber rugs. It more closely resembles wool than the other natural fibers. Jute is less durable than other natural fiber rugs and therefore recommended for low to medium traffic areas – bedrooms, formal liv-ing rooms, dining rooms and home offices. The natural color of jute is brown. Because no backing is necessary, the rug is reversible.• Seagrass rugs are derived from seagrasses grown in shallow coastal waters of the Asia-Pacific region. They have a smooth texture. They are generally backed with latex. They are stain resistant and very durable but not meant for outdoors. The natural shade of sea-

grass is light brown. • Sisal rugs are made from the long pointed leaves of the Sisalana plant native to Brazil, Mexico and parts of Africa. It is the most durable and well suited to high-traffic areas – hallways, entryways and family rooms. It does not build up static or trap dust. How-ever because of its coarse fibers, it is not ideal for bare feet. Although sisal absorbs humid-ity, which helps to cool a room, wet spills will leave stains. Sisal should not be used outdoors or on stairways where it can become slippery

after prolonged use. • Bamboo can be harvested from the fast-growing plant without killing the host plant. Bamboo rugs are naturally fire resistant, dura-ble and do not shed. They are well suited for kitchens. • Coir rugs are made from discard-ed husks of coco-nuts. Because they are hand-loomed, they will have im-perfections. They are well suited for

screened porches.• Hemp rugs are made from sustainably harvested mountain grasses grown in the highlands of China. The long, strong fibers result in a product that is durable, non-po-rous, and has a smooth texture which makes it naturally mold, mildew and stain resistant and soft underfoot. The natural color is a rich deep brown/copper. We are proud to carry several vendors’ natu-ral fiber rugs. We recently placed a dyed jute rug with a braided border in a client’s remod-eled living room.

NEST

a

ADD A POP OF COLOR

TO YOUR ROOM!

TURQUOISE DYED J UTE RUG