Summer Entertaining: Designing Outdoor Spaces
Summer is officially here in Walnut Creek, CA, and it's the perfect time to spruce up your outdoor spaces for family get-togethers and BBQs. As an East Bay interior designer,…
Master Interior Photography: Tips from Your East Bay Interior Designer!
In today's tech-savvy world, snapping photos of your home's interior has never been easier or more popular. You don't need to be a pro to showcase your design flair –…
Yoko Oda Interior Design
Crafting Your Renovation Budget: A Comprehensive Guide
Are you eager to rejuvenate your living spaces but feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of budgeting for your renovation project? Look no further! As a dedicated full-service East Bay interior…
Wallpaper Wonders
Many of my interior design clients and friends ask me about wallpaper. In Japan, regular walls almost always have wallpaper of some kind, whereas in the U.S., we mostly have…
Japandi
As a Japanese interior designer living in California, I have always been fascinated by Japanese architecture and Scandinavian design. Even before “Japandi” became a popular trend, I often found myself…
2021 Design Trends
Here are the 4 biggest interior design trends for 2021. Interior design trends are always influenced by changes in fashion and culture. Most of us are okay to say goodbye…
Interior Design Tips to Styling Open Shelving
https://vimeo.com/985273035 Whether you are in a tiny apartment in the city or live on a rural countryside in a farmhouse, you might have some open shelving in your home that…
Fixtures and Interior Design
When people think about interior design, they envision glamorous, totally wild, creative artists. I think many would be surprised to discover that I mathematically think about the space planning and…
Interior Design and The Color Purple
This blog is a bit personal, because color is personal and purple/violet is one of my favorite colors. I personally like cool colors more than warm ones. I get tired…
Photography by Chibimoku
Clean Lines Open Up a Condo in Walnut Creek
Terry and Steve moved from Seattle to Walnut Creek to retire in sunny California. The 1200 square foot condominium was dingy, cluttered, and lacking the open, airy, indoor-outdoor California feeling…
Design Your Room
I want to help you to DESIGN YOUR ROOM! Yes, it’s a room, not a house. My interior design philosophy is to divide and conquer! This room should be…
Biophilic Design in Interior Design
What is Biophilic Design in Interior Design? Biophilic Design or green architecture may be new concepts to you so let me explain. Biophilia translates to “love of nature." As humans,…
Trending Elements: Will These 2018 Interior Design Trends Go Out of Style?
Trending Elements in Interior Design What's trending in interior design? As the year is starting to wind down and we begin to think about projects for next year, it is…
Texture: Textiles in Interior Design
Textiles are one of the key elements. Texture is an often overlooked factor in interior design but all successful rooms possess different levels of texture that work together to keep…
Lighting II: Statement Lighting
Do you want to know the secret to creating a space that shines above the rest? Does your living space seem to be lacking warmth even though it is cohesive…
Wallpaper 101
Create a Focal Point Paint is one way to transform your space as you have learned from my previous blogs about paint but wallpaper can take your space to the…
Adding Personality to Your Home with Interior Styling
Think of your room as an outfit. You can wear a classic tee and jeans to blend in or you can make the look your own by adding unique accessories.…
How to Transform Your Space With Paint
What is the easiest way to transform any space? One simple answer is paint. Is it really that easy though? First, there is deciding on a color scheme, then choosing…
Enhance Your Interior Design: Add Finishing Touches
Finishing touches are not afterthoughts; they need to be thoughtfully planned when you decorate your space. Even the most interesting design can look bland and basic without the appropriate finishing…
SONY DSC
3 Things to Consider Before You Hire an Interior Designer
You’ve just bought a new house and you want to move in, but you need to make the space your own so you decided to hire an interior designer. Here…
Mood Board – This isn’t “Interior Design”
Designers often use mood boards to convey ideas, moods, feelings and materials that are hard to communicate in other ways. Mood boards come in handy when you are tackling decorating…
Top 5 Tips for Making Your House Home
Many customers ask me how to make their house home. Here are my five top tips for making your house home. These are from my personal and professional experiences. Read…
Image via Hunter Douglas
Window Coverings – Part 2
Many customers ask me about window treatments. When your house has unusual shaped windows, what would you do for window treatments? We call these unusual shaped windows “specialty shaped windows”…
Via – Flor.com
Interior Design Thinking Process Revealed: Fixing Living & Dining Room
LIVING AND DINING ROOM PROJECT While challenges can appear daunting at first, they are what make many remodel projects exciting to me– especially when the finished product is a beautiful,…
Via - Elfa.com
Organizing Your Home
So many customers ask me how to maintain organization in their homes. Start organizing your home! In my blog today, I will share three tricks to keep your home organized…
Via - Hunter Douglas
Window Coverings – Part 1
Dear Yoko, How do you select window coverings? Light! Light! Light! When you consider window coverings, the first thing you need to consider is how much light you would like…
