Hello. My name is Jim Rascoe, and I am one of the owners of Ireko, an interior design firm and retail furniture and home decor store here in Sonoma County, California.
After more than 25 years of interior design work throughout the county and the country, many of you suggested that writing this blog might be a great way to share some of the design projects Ireko has created and the techniques I’ve used in this ever-changing, and illusive world of interior design. So, I’ve decided to give it a try. I’d like this blog to encompass a series of topics, thoughts, and comments about questions my clients most frequently ask me. Let me know your thoughts!
Posted Under: Accessories, Inspiration, Interior Design
Scale of Accessories When it comes to decorating with accessories, the single most important thing to consider is the use of scale; meaning making strong statements with fewer items. In other words, in one’s grandparents house accessories meant a lot of little things that made collections. In today’s accessory world, the goal we want to…
Posted Under: Interior Design
November 2019 Update: See how we worked with homeowners to design a rebuilt Coffey Park residence. 2019 is expected to be an important decision-making year for Sonoma County homeowners who lost their homes in the devastating wildfires of 2017. A Press Democrat article titled “Move back or move on?” pinpoints the enormity of the situation…
Posted Under: Accessories, Inspiration, Outdoor Design
One of the big perks of living in Northern California is the ability to enjoy the outdoors during the spring, summer and fall seasons – whether it’s exploring all the area has to offer or from the comfort and convenience of your own yard. But just because the temperatures drop and winter weather creeps into…
Posted Under: Inspiration, Outdoor Design, Space Planning
Stylish and comfortable outdoor living spaces offer the perfect place to relax and entertain during warm weather. At Ireko, we approach exterior design projects from the perspective of creating the equivalent of an interior living space or floor plan in an outdoor setting. Our approach entails creating one or more distinct sitting areas within a…
Posted Under: Accessories, Inspiration, Interior Design
Home decorating purchases were significantly impacted by the great recession of 2008. Home decorators have become more conservative when it comes to accessorizing for special occasions. We have also seen a decrease in spending on overall home decor and accessories. Whether your fall decor or holiday decor budget is large or small, going big with…
Posted Under: Inspiration, Interior Design
Our clients in Healdsburg purchased their wine country home many years ago and have been in the process of remodeling ever since. They recently approached us to help them with their biggest interior design challenge: retaining the open space quality of the home while creating a personalized and human scale that defines the unique space….
Posted Under: Inspiration, Interior Design, Lighting
Lighting is one of the most important components of an interior design. It enhances the feel of a room and highlights important architectural details, artwork and focal points. Lighting also functions as art, defining the style of a room. A perfectly lit room blends a mixture of overhead lighting, task lighting and accent lighting. Good…
Posted Under: Furniture, Interior Design, Upholstery
At Ireko, we pride ourselves on the fact that we present to our interior design clients and the retail public, the best of all options in both design and affordability. We are proud to promote the use of high quality furniture and upholstery manufactured by American companies right here in California. We’d like to share…
Posted Under: Inspiration, Interior Design, Space Planning
At this time of the year, our clients’ thoughts turn to renovations and improvements to their vacation homes. Here at Ireko, we are thrilled to be working on a home in Kenwood with a design savvy couple based in Southern California. Though the design project is still underway, we wanted to share our progress. This…
Posted Under: Furniture
Ireko, one of Northern California’s premier interior design and furniture galleries, is honored to announce that it has been awarded the prestigious Best Of Houzz 2016 award! Every year Houzz, the leading platform for home remodeling and design, honors the design professionals behind the most popular photos on Houzz. Houzz recently counted how many times…
Posted Under: Furniture, Inspiration, Interior Design
The owners of Ireko, Jim and Michael, pride themselves on helping repeat customers who decide to renovate their existing homes or start anew. Their latest project has them working with a previous client who, along with her partner, is a lifelong collector of art and antiques. The setting is an idyllic twenty-four acre property above…
Posted Under: Interior Design
Benefits to Shopping at Ireko Creating beautiful interior designs for Sonoma County clients has always been a primary focus of Ireko. Our rich and varied interior design portfolio offers the opportunity to see many of our finished projects, providing a great visual sense of what we can create for your home. But Ireko is more…
Posted Under: Interior Design, Space Planning
Passion and Professionalism At Ireko, we believe interior design is the realization of a passionate idea. It is the discovery of that idea, selected from countless possibilities, that inspires us and moves us to make that idea a reality for our clients in Sonoma County and throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Our interior design…
Posted Under: Inspiration, Interior Design, Outdoor Design, Space Planning
The redesign of a luxury retirement home in a golf course community of Indian Wells, California provided the opportunity for Ireko interior designers to develop an architectural design in addition to recreating the interior and outdoor living spaces of the master home. Making Connections Between Guest House & Main House This affluent Indian Wells community originally…
Posted Under: Furniture, Inspiration, Interior Design, Space Planning, Upholstery
Updated March 2021 Insights from an Interior Designer Sectional sofas have enjoyed a long period of popularity as an interior design element. Their popularity spiked when chain furniture stores began foisting the concept on customers as a quick fix. The piece does provide an easy, and often least expensive, solution to a seating problem –…
