State of Design

How To Retire Big Without Losing Your Assets

February 15, 2021February 17, 2021 Stephanie ShamLeave a comment

Today we have a wonderful guest post by Bob Shannon of SeniorsMeet.org. I suspect my audience is varied in age and in different stages of life, so some of you should definitely be able to benefit from Bob’s wisdom. And if you are in an earlier stage of life, hey, it’s never too early to start planning ahead! Today’s post is for all of you retirees or soon-to-be retirees out there, especially those of you in the Bay Area, California.

Photo: Unsplash

Are you ready to take steps in your retirement that will help you enjoy the next 20+ years? If so, moving to a new area like San Francisco is an excellent choice. But before you head to your new hometown, there are some things you should know to help you streamline your move.

Photo: Pixabay

Bigger may be better.

While many of your contemporaries will likely move to smaller accommodations during retirement, you should know that this is not your only option. According to My Mortgage Insider, upsizing is a viable option if you want to have space for your adult children and growing grandchildren.

Buying a bigger home will also give you room to spread out if you plan to entertain, garden, or pursue a hobby, such as woodworking, that you can’t do in a cramped condo or planned community. When you invest in space, you can have a dedicated workshop, home movie theater, or any other dream features you’ve always wanted but never had time to enjoy. As an added benefit, buying a larger home and land can help you cut some expenses if you plan to grow your own food and prioritize self-sufficiency.

Photo: Unsplash

Protect your assets.

If retirement is not fully on the table, you might want to consider running your business from home. This is especially prudent if you plan to buy a bigger house. Unfortunately, unless your business is structured as an LLC, your new home may be at risk if you suffer business losses because of the move or an economic downturn. Consider restructuring as an LLC – but check your state’s local rules – and use a formation service instead of an attorney to save money. In addition to asset protection, there are a few tax advantages of forming an LLC. Discussed these with your financial advisor.

You will also want to take steps to make sure that your home and other large assets (including your business) are earmarked for your family, friends, or designated charities. Although it is difficult to consider, in case of your untimely death, dying intestate can leave the vast majority of your assets up in the air. Prioritize estate planning and, as Fidelity suggests, make sure your beneficiaries know what you have so there are no surprises if the need arises.

Transitioning into retirement does not mean moving to a smaller home. In fact, you may be able to downsize your expenses while upsizing your living arrangement. Talk to your Realtor, research the area you’re interested in, and make a list of your priorities. Most of all, be prepared to move quickly. If you want to retire in San Francisco, you should know the market moves fast, and you don’t want to miss your ideal opportunity.

Interior, Bedroom, Bed, Room, Home, Mattress, Pillow

Photo: Pixabay

Decorate your home.

Your home was probably dedicated to your growing children in the years you raised a family. But now that your fledgelings have flown the nest, it’s a great opportunity to make sure your new home reflects your style, not your kids’ needs! Of course, interior design, as its name implies, is an art. It can be a little overwhelming to nail down your personal aesthetic and what you want to add to your home’s decor to make it a reflection of you. That’s why it can be helpful to work with an interior designer like Stephanie Sham of State of Design. To get started turning your new house into a home, contact Stephanie today!

*Guest post by Bob Shannon of Seniors Meet.

How to Show Your Home Virtually During COVID-19

October 11, 2020 Stephanie ShamLeave a comment

Are you getting ready to sell your home during the pandemic? The following tips and resources will help you to sell your home virtually, while limiting in-person walkthroughs and tours to serious buyers only. Read on for some tips on showing and staging your home during COVID-19.

Show Your Home Virtually During COVID-19

If you’re selling your home amid the coronavirus outbreak, these tips will help to protect buyers from COVID-19 and keep potentially harmful germs out of the home you’re still occupying.

Learn how to buy or sell a home during the pandemic.
Prospective buyers can now view your home through live video-chat tours, 3D walkthroughs, and virtual showings.
Stage your home virtually if you need to furnish empty rooms.

Stage Your Home for Virtual Showings, Tours, and Photographs

Here’s how to highlight your home’s best features in its real estate photos, videos, 3D walkthroughs, and video-chat tours.

Review the State of Design blog for some inspirational home decor and staging ideas.
Stage your home just as you would for in-person showings with buyers.
Dirty or damaged windows can be a major turnoff for buyers, so have these professionally cleaned and repaired (repair costs average $170 – $375).

Sanitize Before and After Physical Showings with Buyers

In the event of an in-person showing with a prospective buyer, these tips will help to protect you, your family, and your guests from harmful germs, viruses, and bacterias.

Follow the CDC’s cleaning and disinfection guidelines to sanitize before and after in-person showings.
Keep your home safe and germ-free by leaving hand sanitizer and disposable gloves at the front door.
Leave shoe coverings at the door or ask visitors to remove their shoes prior to entering.

As you can see, it’s possible to show your home virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though restrictions have loosened in much of the nation, you’ll protect your home and family from potentially harmful germs and viruses if you opt for virtual showings and 3D walkthroughs whenever possible — and limit in-person tours of your home to serious, prequalified buyers only.

*Guest post by Natalie Jones of Homeownerbliss

How to Pass Time (in DIY Mode) during the Pandemic

September 18, 2020 Stephanie ShamLeave a comment

Hi Friends! Wow, it’s been a while hasn’t it? It’s been a whirlwind of a year, to say the least, and now we are in the midst of a global pandemic. Life is full of surprises.

I hope you are all holding up okay and staying as sane as possible during this limbo period.

To catch you up to speed, in a nutshell, the past year has involved me:

getting engaged
almost finishing the interior design program; and
buying a house!

This last one is VERY exciting. Get ready to follow along with the renovation journey, which is about to kick off!

In the meantime, we have a guest blogger today: Aimee Lyons, DIY goddess of http://diydarlin.com/. Aimee reached out to see if she could share her DIY tips and tricks to help you pass time (enjoyably) during the pandemic. Without further ado:

Here’s How to Pass Time (in DIY Mode) During the Pandemic

If you have both the spare time and the motivation, starting DIY projects during the pandemic might be a productive way to pass the hours and days. Start preparing your home maintenance to-do list and start those projects. Here’s how—and what projects you should focus on.

Consider Safety: Inside and Out

There are plenty of ways you can address home safety during the pandemic. Between outside threats and in-home hazards, you’ll have many items to check off your list. You can start your home security DIY by ensuring your home is as protected as possible. Consider ordering security cameras that you can install yourself or replacing (or installing) exterior flood lights that work on automatic sensors.

As far as indoor hazards, carbon monoxide leaks and fire safety are just two of many potential safety issues. But with a quick online order pickup at your local hardware store, you can start fixing those problems ASAP.

Of course, if you plan to sell your home after the pandemic is over, you may also want to get started on smaller repairs to prep the property. Selling as-is is an option—but it may not be the best one for your wallet. From kitchen and bathroom updates to replacing flooring, doing the DIYs now could get you a better sales price.

Make Your Home a Relaxing Retreat

If you’re feeling stuck at home, one solution is to transform your living space. With the right paint color—Bob Vila recommends light gray, pale blue, and even lavender—you can create a relaxing room where you can escape from it all. Incorporating comfortable seating, enhanced lighting, and some fresh air can help encourage relaxation, too.

Of course, indoor air quality can also make staying inside a challenge, especially with contaminants like lead, pollen, and even household products tainting the environment. Fortunately, you can “clean” the air in your home with simple steps like vacuuming and dusting often, opening the windows, and giving your drapes and curtains a regular washing.

As far as DIYs go, laundering and cleaning up is an easy project to tackle. But you could also choose to install an air purifier, schedule a duct cleaning for your HVAC system, or swap your carpets for wood flooring. Changing your flooring is also a healthy way to cut down on indoor toxins—which is especially helpful for people dealing with allergies.

Renovate Your Outdoor Spaces

Whether you live in a condo or on acreage, reinventing your outdoor space is an excellent DIY for these trying times. After all, spending time outside can help you feel rejuvenated and ease anxiety, notes Country Living.

Whether it’s something small like purchasing a new patio set or a bigger DIY like building a deck, there are plenty of ways to make your yard a relaxing oasis. To make your outdoor areas more inviting, think about planting a garden, trimming shrubs and trees, and even building a shade or privacy structure.

For small yards—or patios—consider container planting, hanging a hammock, or setting up a bird feeder and bird watching spot. Any element or project that makes your small yard or patio feel more comfortable and welcoming is worth the investment.

Whether you’re surveying home security or want to spruce up your home’s interior, there are tons of DIYs you can tackle during the pandemic. The best part is, these projects are easy to manage and will easily keep you occupied.

Photo via Pixabay

Guest post by Aimee Lyons

Seaside Retreat by Jamie Bush

March 18, 2019 Stephanie ShamLeave a comment

The shifts in weather have made me realize just how strongly affected I am by the weather, climate & environment. I’m sure we are all ready for some sunshine and blue skies. We got lucky this weekend with some amazing Spring weather in San Francisco that just came out of the blue (no pun intended)! We’re at a balmy 22 degrees celsius and I couldn’t be more chuffed.

With that being said, let’s feast our eyes on a perfect vacation home (or primary home, if you’re lucky) by Jamie Bush, located in Malibu, California. Jamie Bush maintains a soothing, cool-toned neutral palette throughout the house, which continues out to the terrace as well. The blue of the ocean is the perfect counterbalance to the home’s neutrality. It’s hard to decide which is the star and which is the backdrop – the view or the home… or maybe we shouldn’t have to decide at all. This is harmony between nature & manmade construction at its best.

Materials such as marble and stone are carefully selected to show off their natural beauty – such as in the marble kitchen island and this cylindrical side table. The marble’s strong veining acts like artwork. The bare white walls facilitate the eye being drawn towards them as focal points.

Oftentimes, people default to thinking of dining tables in circular or rectangular forms and neglect to think of more organic shapes such as the one shown here. The irregular shape of the table lends a more casual feel and invites additional people to pull up a chair and join the conversation, as seating space is less defined. The natural wood paired with the large sliding glass doors invite the outside in in an effortless manner.

The cool-toned, grey hues of the wood furniture, and the washed blue shade of the rug are very calming – aren’t you ready for a nap here? (I’d leave those terrace doors open to allow the breeze in while I snooze…)

Legs galore

The slight angle of the sofa is just enclosing enough that the space feels intimate, yet not so severe that the living area feels closed off from the rest of the space. It also enables easy access to the terrace.

This entry bench is another fantastic example of a material being shown off in all its natural glory. It simply doesn’t need any ornamentation to look complete (I’d remove that vase/vessel and let the bench stand alone). Sometimes less is more.

Texture is the name of the game in this bathroom – from the cerusing of the wooden vanity cabinet to the raw wood stool. There’s something about rougher textures that work magic in coastal locations.

We’ll end this tour outside (where you’d most likely want to be if you were in Malibu) …

Are these stone sculptures or seating or both? Design is truly celebrated when form and function merge – especially when the pieces are ergonomic like these.

Discover more of Jamie Bush’s work here.

In the Mood for Hygge

January 14, 2019March 18, 2019 Stephanie ShamLeave a comment

With the recent dreary and cold weather in San Francisco, my instinct is to hibernate and cozy up at home, with a candle, a hot cup of coffee (or red wine, depending on the time of day) and a good book. This atmosphere brings to mind Hygge, the ineffable Danish feeling in those slow, quiet moments – those magical moments when you are truly living in the present moment.

Here are some “Hygge”-like spaces by Studio Slow for us to picture ourselves in (a girl can dream). So slow down, breathe, and let me take you on a journey.

First, let’s hop in the bath for a long, hot soak.

Now that we’re all relaxed, let’s grab a hot beverage from the kitchen…

…or maybe from this one (because we like to have options).

Now that you have your beverage, let’s head to the dining room.

This tomato soup / lobster bisque shade exudes calm & warmth…

…and is carried through onto the ceiling in the living room…

Maybe you squeeze in a little diary entry at this table.

It’s getting a little late – time to get ready for bed.

If you fancy emulating this Hygge vibe at your home, Reforma Stockholm, a Swedish furniture line, carries plenty of chic and affordable Scandi pieces (furniture and decor items). They carry a variety of international furniture lines as well as their own designs.

Currently, they’re offering 10% off your first order if you sign up for emails.

Here are some of my favourite pieces from Reforma Stockholm:

*This is not a sponsored post

Studio McGee

September 4, 2017September 4, 2017 Stephanie Sham2 Comments

The bright and clean aesthetic of Studio McGee never gets old. Despite having only officially launched in 2014, the firm is already one of the most well-known interior design firms in the US and has been published in the likes of Architectural Digest, Domino and House Beautiful.

There’s nothing more relaxing than whiling away the hours on a lazy Sunday afternoon (or Labor Day weekend, in this case) watching Studio McGee’s Youtube videos (link here).

Fresh, modern and timeless, it’s easy to see why their work is so well-loved.

Promontory Project

One of my favourite projects of theirs is the Promontory Project – this new build is a modern mountain home in Park City, Utah. The YouTube video is an absolute visual treat. As you can tell, I had a difficult time curating photos for this project – I just love them all!

Check out more of their work here.

Narnia at Home

July 28, 2017 Stephanie ShamLeave a comment

I know I wasn’t the only child who dreamt of having a secret room at home, Narnia style, to escape to for a few hours with your friends and pretend that you’re in another world. This converted monastery in Poland designed by JRKVC certainly would have done the trick.

A bedroom is cleverly hidden behind a wall that is a bookshelf and door in one. Another ingenious feature is the master bathroom, which is actually directly accessible from the living room through the open hallway.

The optical illusion tile in the entryway is a firm favorite.

Despite its all-white walls, the apartment maintains a sense of warmth through the generous use of warm toned wood and a healthy sprinkling of greenery throughout. It treads the fine line between minimal and cozy by not being too stark, and at the same time, not cluttered.

The open shelving and floating hood, both in light colors, keep the kitchen looking light and airy, balancing out the dark lower cabinets, which ground the space. Kitchen hoods can often look heavy and imposing, but by painting the hood white (the same color as the walls), the hood almost disappears.

Catherine Kwong Design

Catherine Kwong Design specialises in high-end residential and hospitality projects. Their designs are elegant, fresh, contemporary and always refined.

July 5, 2017 Stephanie ShamLeave a comment

I first came across Catherine Kwong Design a couple of months ago, as a fresh San Francisco resident, and was excited to stumble upon interior designers in the immediate area. The stars aligned and I had the pleasure of meeting Catherine in person and hearing her speak about her interior design firm and design process during San Francisco Design Week.

Catherine Kwong Design specialises in high-end residential and hospitality projects. Their designs are elegant, fresh, contemporary and always refined. The firm is based in San Francisco, California. In 2015, Catherine was named “Designer to Watch” by Architectural Digest and it’s easy to see why when you see the samples of her work below.

Presidio Heights, San Francisco

The firm only had 3 months to furnish this home in Presidio Heights. Vintage lighting was sourced and installed, in-stock furniture was moved into the space, and everything was pulled together with the addition of large pieces of artwork.

Personal favourites: those tan leather dining chairs (so warm!) and the coffered ceiling (so luxe).

These armchairs were reupholstered in what appears to be velvet (love that sumptuous deep blue tone) and custom brackets designed by the firm were added for that final luxurious touch.

Pacific Heights, San Francisco

The handblown glass chandelier is in one of my favourite designs and its shape complements the long, rectangular shape of the dining table perfectly. The built-in cabinet with what appears to be iron hinges and pulls, together with the dining chairs finished in a leather seat, lend a gorgeous rustic feel to the space.

That huge slab of marble forming the mantelpiece is a showstopper. Again, we see a touch of sumptuous deep velvet in the form of an armchair, this time juxtaposed with the hard, linear shape of the glass coffee table.

Jackson Square Loft, San Francisco

The 800-pound steel firewood container designed by Catherine is the perfect counterpoint to the more traditional fireplace mantel. The leather slingback chair is one of the designer’s personal favourites.

The custom wooden ceiling bracket was added by Catherine to inject a personalised, rustic touch to the otherwise plain white walls.

The dining room wall is panelled with vintage wine racks. The panelling is functional and also serves as a unique decorative backdrop. The idea was that guests could help themselves to wine at their leisure. The dining table is from Blu Dot and the legs were customised by Catherine by adding gold leaf to the steel legs. Velvet appears to be a favourite material of Catherine as it’s seen again here in the form of the dining chair upholstery.

The kitchen is comfortable and casual with at touch of country. The grey cabinets keep the space from being too feminine.

Explore more of Catherine Kwong Design on their website.

Leanne Ford Revisited

June 9, 2017 Stephanie ShamLeave a comment

It’s finally Friday and you deserve a treat. A treat for the eyes – eye candy, if you will.

Leanne Ford strikes just the right balance between industrial-cool (through her use of concrete and metal) and natural warmth (through her use of warm, natural wood). Interior and exterior spaces can very easily look too cold once too many industrial elements are introduced; however, Leanne Ford always manages to create welcoming spaces full of warmth and character, which almost give off a soft glow with the help of some natural daylight.

The pictures below were not all taken from one residence but are in fact a collection of images that I feel best demonstrate the aforesaid balance/equilibrium she manages to achieve.

Click here for more Leanne Ford goodness.

Yellow Brick Home

June 5, 2017June 5, 2017 Stephanie ShamLeave a comment

I stumbled upon Yellow Brick Home about a month ago and have been hooked ever since. Kim and Scott are DIY experts – a husband and wife duo from Chicago who have turned their (almost 130-year-old) house into a beautiful home with their own bare hands. They also run The Pet Shop and The Print Shop.

Simple, all-American and timeless, their home is full of hidden treasures and fun little details, topped off with a generous sprinkling of love and adorable dogs for good measure.

A few things that stand out to me most (apart from their clearly impeccable taste) are:

(1) the paint colours – sophisticated neutrals that are just different enough from the standard neutral wall colours to keep things interesting but still timeless. If I had to pick a favourite paint colour from their home, it would have to be Benjamin Moore’s Intense White used on their living room and bathroom walls; the soft warm tint keeps the rooms warm and inviting but still bright and fresh;

(2) the light fixtures – many of which are from Rejuvenation. Again, simple, timeless classics;

(3) the gorgeous headboards;

(4) the rugs; and

(5) the amazing mosaic honeycomb tiles on the bathroom floor (which they also DIY’d themselves!).

If you enjoyed this post and/or enjoy DIY, I highly recommend checking out their Pinterest and Instagram for more!