Interiors that Inspire
Everyone knows Dutchmans in the Village as the store that smells so delicious and has such wonderful finds for your home from furniture to wall décor and more. What you might not know, however, is that Dutchmans offers in-home design services as well.
For a fee, Dutchmans can provide the expert eye and touch that you may need to transform your space into your dream home. Stephanie Nieuwendijk-Bramble, Owner/Creative Director, says that they can help in a variety of ways. They can come in, look at what you have, and make recommendations on how you can change the room by moving furniture or bringing in new pieces and accessories. If you want to go a step further, she says, they can help you select paint colors, lighting, and floor coverings too. She says they can even guide you through a complete room remodel if you’re thinking about changing the space entirely by knocking out a wall, or can create the look you desire from scratch with a new construction project.
“We have been doing more this last year, customers would come in needing held and direction with their homes, whether it was a new home they were moving into or a renovation.” She adds, “The manager from my Highlands store has recently relocated to South Georgia, so is now working with Sharon and our team at the St. Simons Island store. The girls are really talented at helping our customers pull it all together, so it has allowed us to expand our services in that area.”
The creation of a dream home or room starts with having “fresh eyes.” Stephanie explains, “Walking into a space and seeing it for the first time allows me to view a project from a different point of view. It’s the ability to imagine what the space could look like from start to finish. What if we were to remove a wall, or reveal and open up a space with a vaulted ceiling? Perhaps we could add new flooring or simply replace rugs, pick out new paint colors, add a few new pieces of furniture, or just change out the accessories? All and all for me it is the rearranging of a space with layers that will update a dated look to today.” This is how she recently approached the design of the newly opened store in Chamblee, and also how she works with clients who request her assistance with renovations, finish selections, new furniture, and creation of a final completed look.
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By following six simple steps, Stephanie says anyone—yes, even you!—can develop their own dream home:
1. Know your boundaries with rugs. Furniture can go all on, all off, or front on (only the front feet of your seating pieces rest on the rug).
2. Choose the star of the show. There should be that one piece to which your eye is drawn to when you first enter the room. That should be the focal point and the anchor which everything else complements.
3. Place accessories in odd numbers; threes and fives are more pleasing to the eye than even numbers.
4. Don’t rely solely on overhead lights! Layer your lighting with chandeliers, table lamps and other ambient lighting.
5. Stay away from overcrowding a room with too many pieces.
6. Hang pictures and artwork so they’re within anyone’s sight line (Hint: the average human eye level is 57 inches!).
If you follow those steps, Stephanie says it’s simple to create the look you’ve always imagined for your dream home. However, if you still want a professional eye, you can contact Dutchmans for a little nudge in the right direction. They can help you design rooms to last a decade, not just for the latest trend. They believe in little investments like paint, new pillows and throws, lamps, and maybe a rug, to transform a look. They are also aware that mixing florals and stripes doesn’t come easy to everyone and understand that proportion play may not be in your regular vocabulary. So if it’s a challenge for you to visualize your own space, Dutchmans is happy to be your style guide of inspiration.
Dutchmans is located at 312 Mallery St. on St. Simons Island. Stop in or call 912.634.2764. You can also shop online, learn more about Dutchmans and their products, and see rooms Stephanie has transformed at dutchmansdesigns.com.
