3 Luxury Hotel Interior Design Lessons To Bring Into Your DC Home

^{The nicest hotels in the world have a few things in common, and through thoughtful observation of what makes these places so magical, you can apply luxury interior design elements into your own home and heighten your life. With a focus on three specific areas– ambience, sensory inputs, and functional order, you will find your home to be a respite from the world, and a welcome pitstop for friends and family. That is why hotels are such a useful reference point. They show what comfort looks like when it is intentional.}

Creating Ambience like a Luxury Hotel through Interior Design

^{You know you have arrived at a landmark luxury hotel upon the first moment you step into the lobby. Luxury hotels often create big moments at their main entrance to make a statement, set a desired tone, and welcome guests for a relaxing stay. I’m not saying that you put a Chihuly glass sculpture in your front hallway, but there are ways to apply the idea of creating an ambience in your own home. Let’s start with lighting. Every light needs a dimmer, and be thoughtful about the bulb temperature you use. 2700-3000 Kelvin temperature offers a warm, soft light– anything higher than 3000 Kelvin will lean towards cold, bright, and more like an interrogation room!}

^{We prefer to have table lamps, sconces, and other levels of lighting that generally avoid ceiling can lights that can often blanket a space in light, and have the ambience of a hospital. Consider how the items in a room tie together, and tell a story. We wrote more about this in our modern luxury design guide, because lighting is quietly doing so much of the heavy lifting. For us, this often means a blend of materials, colors, and both new and old items to create a layered, warm, and lived-in and thoughtful effect. We also see many homes that have too much in them– be it wall hangings, furniture, or just other items that clutter the eye and mind.}

^{We note that “cluttercore” is having a moment right now– the idea of “intentional clutter,” where a room is chock full of wall hangings, items on top of furniture, and no place for your eyes not to see an item collecting dust! We suggest that you significantly edit, while also allowing yourself flexibility to make changes to a room that gives you opportunity to restyle without breaking the bank. One way to do this is with picture rails, from which there is beautiful hardware to make for easy changes to wall hangings.}

Consider All the Senses

^{In addition to ensuring the right ambience through thoughtful lighting and blending of finishes, luxury hotel interior design considers all the senses in creating a space that’s memorable, comfortable, relaxing, and inviting. Room scent diffusers have come a long way in the last few years, and offer terrific options for creating a welcoming scent in your home. We also pay attention to key touchpoints, such as door hardware, light switches, the thickness and softness of a rug in spaces where visitors may be barefoot.} 

^{Luxury Hotel Bathroom Design Details Worth Stealing}

^{Many luxury hotels provide heated flooring in bathrooms, which is a decadent joy nearly year round! Luxury hotels often integrate sound systems, or use well-placed water features to create an auditory experience that resonates and calms. A warm fire during cold months is another way to make a room feel inviting, and a contemplative quiet moment for restoration. If bathrooms are where your brain goes first when you picture hotel luxury, here are a few of our favorite bathroom transformations that lean into that feeling.}

^{Every Item in Its Place}

^{It’s not just in big cities like Manhattan that space is a limited commodity. Even in the nicest of luxury hotels, every space is thoughtfully designed to anticipate and provide for your every need. To put this idea into practice in your own home, consider storage options that can help wrangle your family’s items, or otherwise identify key storage solutions for the things in your life. Think about how someone may experience your home, and where it makes sense to design around this experience. This is not simply taking a Marie Kondo approach to your home, and ensuring that all your things have a place where they belong. Additionally, if a shoes-off household, maybe there’s a place for guests to sit to take off their shoes, and house slippers ready for borrowing. Where does your family put their items upon returning from excursions, and how might you create the space you and your household need to make the home work around your lifestyle? For some clients, we have designed mudrooms that include a doggy shower zone. For a family with two young children, we redesigned the footprint of their first floor to offer them key stowaway storage at the entryway to hide the little shoes and jackets and backpacks, and create order in a key transition space.} 

Luxury in Your Everyday is Only a Few Steps Away!

^{Reach out to us for a consultation to see how we can bring some of the charm and warmth of luxury hotel interior design into your own home! Everyone’s needs are different, but the solution is often the same: a thoughtful consideration of who you are and how you live. We can’t wait to see what we can do together!}

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How You Can Work With Us

At Lorla Studio, a modern interior design firm in Washington, D.C, our talented team of designers craft modern, livable and functional spaces throughout the district and beyond. Hire us for a seamless renovation process, and a modern, approachable design you are sure to love!

Check out the five questions to ask yourself before hiring an interior designer in Washington D.C. If you think we’d make a good team, contact us today!

Ready to transform your space with us?

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