Spectrum Interiors

Spectrum Interiors is a true interior designer working with the owner's program with a spacial vision which achieves solutions greater than expected within an ambiance never envisioned. We need this type of designer's caring Colleague John W. Allegretti,FAIA LEED AP+ BD+C

The consummate definition of passion for his field of expertise; Steve knows his stuff and paints a vivid picture through a simple conversation that creates excitement and helps you visualize his shared ideas to bring a space to life!

We have a Greek revival home built in 1861. We retained Steve to redo our master bedroom and its adjacent sitting room. Because the discovery aspect of his work is so vitally important, he asked many questions that were deeply revealing in order to arrive at the essence of what we were trying to grasp and envision. We love the charm of our old home, yet wanted to bring things a little more up to date. We needed a fresher look while respecting the interior architecture. We were thinking of something a little more eclectic and contemporary to counterpoint the house architecture. Steve came up with a marvelous design that was clean, crisp and exciting. He delivered floor plans and sketches, which captured a look and feeling that we could not envision ourselves. He even designed a custom four-poster bed and two nightstands wrapped in faux leather and trimmed with brass moldings. The nightstands have claret colored faux lizard tops banded by brass moldings. He also installed specialty track lighting in our old home, which brought life to each of the rooms order to bring the rooms to life, as well as enhancing texture and color. One of the most interesting aspects of the project was removing the old hand-sewn wool carpet in order to have hardwood floors with oriental rugs and runners. We were aghast when it appeared to be a dirty pine floor instead of hardwood! After securing and sanding the floor, we were rewarded to find out that the flooring was actually Tulipwood. It has streaks of green and red in it that worked perfectly with the color scheme … as if it was planned that way from the beginning. We are delighted with the way the rooms have turned out. The resultant ambiance that is also clean and refreshing while still respectful of our old-world architecture.

We have an old English Tudor house that had a combination powder room and bathroom that was in need of redoing. It consists of a small room with a counter and two windows. There’s a tiled archway opposite the counter, which leads into a small toilet chamber. It includes a toilet and sink, and has a window over the sink. All three windows overlook the dog run. Obviously, it’s not the best view to envision. Steve came up with a design that was absolutely stunning for such a small space. Because of the black and gold tiling, it reminded Steve of Egyptian or Assyrian aspects from antiquity. Knowing his history came in pretty handy! Anyway, I wanted something significantly more elegant than what it looked like with its brown floral wallpaper. You brought in oriental rugs, fabric wall covering, and painted the ceiling and trim black. He also brought in low-voltage lighting with well-controlled beam spreads to add contrast and drama. In addition, he custom-designed three pieces of unique furniture that fit the space superbly. He designed a bench, a pedestal, and a marble top console table. The materials on these one-of-a-kind pieces of furniture utilized black lacquer, faux lizard, and Birdseye maple veneer. One of the unexpected, unique things that Steve did was to cover all the windows. He completely covered the two windows in the small room in special artistic panels with beautiful blue draperies framing the panels. He covered the sink window in the toilet chamber with a mirror and then draperies over the mirror. He did the same style of window treatment over the toilet that was opposite the sink and hung a 500-year-old Chinese woodblock print that was the perfect combination of blue to go with the draperies. Additionally, a beautiful antique watercolor is now hanging between the pair of windows in the small room over the pedestal he designed that holds a beautiful example of a quartz crystal geological specimen. A pinpoint beam of light now illuminates geological specimen and another beam of light illuminates the watercolor. It is truly stunning and dramatic, especially when you first enter the room! I'm so elated with the total completed environment that I feel like Cleopatra every time I enter the room.

OVERVIEW We live on a lake near a golf course. We had hired several different architects at different times to come up with plans to expand and enhance our lake residence. We finally came upon one that had a design that we liked, and subsequently commenced construction. At this early stage of construction, Steve happened to call “out-of-the-blue” to ask how things were, as we had not talked to him for a few years. I filled him in on what we were doing and he was interested in seeing it. He came to the site and overviewed the architectural plans. Since we had worked together years before, he was keenly aware of the furniture that we would be using. I have a very ornate oriental table that is inlayed with mother-of-pearl. Steve felt very strongly that the architectural details did not mesh at all with the furniture. He asked if the architect ever inquired as to the type of furniture that I have, and I told him “No”. Steve said that was a big mistake on the architect’s part. Because of that one small question that Steve asked, it saved us from going in a direction that would have not ended up well. Thank God, he has a very holistic vision! He sees and makes sure that both the architecture and interior design work together as a unit and complement each other. He always says, “You can never really separate architecture from interior design.” Well, to make a long story shorter, Steve ended up designing everything from custom moldings, a custom stairway and handrails, three custom fireplace surrounds, and custom bookcases so everything would be conducive as architectural backdrops and tie-ins to all the furniture that would come later. Wow! And, talking about furniture, he ended up designing several custom furniture pieces. Steve designed custom nightstands for the master bedroom, a Tansu chest for the master bedroom, and an armoire for the master bedroom. Their style and elegance are impressive. In addition, he created a pair of wonderful consoles for sitting right next to the library chaises', as well as a pair of very unique drum tables between the chaises". In short, he envisioned and designed five very exclusive pieces of furniture. Steve created all the wonderful and comprehensive architectural millwork. All the walls and the cathedral ceilings in the major rooms are covered in custom wallcoverings hand-made in Italy and Japan. The master bedroom walls and cathedral ceiling are covered in hand-painted silk wallcovering … very elegant! There is such an immense value added to the final finished look and feel of all the rooms when Steve outshines his peers by incorporating the electrical and specific lighting plans with the floor plan and furniture layout. Rarely, if ever, do interior designers know to do this. Our architects never considered it! How can you, when you don't know what the final finished rooms are going to be like with all the furniture in place? That's where Steve comes in! Nothing looks right if you don't light it right. It's become a wonderful environment for living, especially when you couple it up with living on a lake as well. Without Steve, it would never have come to fruition, and we would have missed a great opportunity! We are so appreciative of his time, talent, wisdom, insight, perception, vision, attention to detail, and most of all, his ability to see things done before they become a reality. Because of his knowledge and having carpentry skills as well, he relates very well to contractors and tradesmen. All I can say is WOW! What a blessing to have the right people and the right designer! The look he developed is an extension of the tastes, personalities, lifestyle, and dreams of my husband and me. Steve is truly a master of his craft! ABILITY TO SEE THINGS IN THEIR COMPLETED FORM BEFORE THEY ARE FINISHED This particular attribute that Steve has was extremely beneficial for me. It’s challenging for me to fully explain it, but I will do my best. Steve has a very remarkable, valuable, and precious gift. He has a knack to not only envision beautiful interiors, but also the ability to fully explain his ideas in careful and accurate details before they are transformed into reality. I personally do not have that skill, nor could I picture the total finished project in Technicolor before we met. By using specific words, he helped me create a picture in my mind of what he had envisioned. This is a gift to and for him as a designer, but also for the recipient. In this case, I was the recipient. If you are wise, you will be a recipient, too. He is precise with his word choices. I appreciated him taking the time to initially ask the right questions so that we were able to get the best results. Would you want to go on an expensive design and decorating journey in uncharted waters without an expert guide?! Do you prefer a guide who can see and visualize things before you arrive at the destination? One who can explain it to you in crisp detail, so that you can see it and feel it before you get there? It’s both an exciting and secure feeling to experience! Honestly, I’ve read so many reviews here on Houzz. The majority of the comments include “So and so designer is just awesome and wonderful!” Yet, I don’t see it in their work. I have been to New York City and have immersed myself in some of the best interior design work available. It’s only when you’ve seen and been exposed to the best that you can accurately judge the rest. CUSTOM FURNITURE DESIGN There are many cases in a home where nothing on the market can be found to elicit the right connotation, look, and feel. One can look the world over to find that perfect piece of furniture and not find it. This is where custom furniture design comes into play. It’s absolutely wonderful when you can find within one designer the talent to create great interiors which have ambience. To also have that same person design furniture to go perfectly with it. . . WOW! It reminds me of French history where the Architects/Interior Designers Percier and Fontaine designed not only interiors but all the furniture as well. One can find these types of designers in New York, but it’s a rare treasure to find one in southwest Michigan. Steve has a great command of form, shape, proportion, and texture. He has a very fine-tuned eye. This is of immense benefit and value to any discerning client. For the master bedroom, Steve designed a custom Japanese stairway chest that was fabricated in three parts. Another piece is an armoire with a gold-leaf arched top and carved finials on the front corners. The double doors were subdivided by moldings in increasingly smaller dimensions moving toward the top and inset with burl veneer and unique hardware pulls. One of my favorites is a pair of custom lacquered nightstands done in an oriental design with beautiful hand-painted oriental scenic fronts. It is designed with radius corners and a scalloped open area beneath the top. The three drawers below are all sitting on a scalloped base. The Donghia chaises’ in the library are covered in a hand-blocked, large-scale English chintz. Next to those, Steve designed a pair of consoles with a stepped body covered in Afromosia veneer. These have silk swags on both sides. On the corners were gold-leaf spheres. This base portion sits on a plinth of birds-eye maple with Japanese calligraphy. A marble top is supported by studs which makes it appear to be floating. The marble top rests in a frame that is reeded and gilded. Steve also designed some beautiful cylinder tables that are hand-carved for texture. They are gold-leafed, and wrapped in a suede “napkin” with tassels on the corners and the addition of lion’s head pulls for easy moving. It was a treat and a pleasure to have something designed exclusively for me! P.S. Check out Steve’s YouTube video, where he has his work side by side with the work of French Architects/Interior Designers Percier and Fontaine. His YouTube design channel is “DesignAmbiance.” LIGHTING DESIGN When the architect designed my home with cathedral ceilings and a two-story dining room, there was no inclusion of lighting other than what was required by Michigan State codes. We thought that the electrician would automatically know to create lighting for our particular needs. We were fortunate that we started working with Steve before we needed that. Steve said, “It’s always a bad idea to have an electrician do the lighting plan, as they don’t know where furniture and other items will be finally placed. In addition, the fact is electricians are not lighting designers.” We ended up with a marvelous lighting plan keyed to the furniture placement. It brought the interior magnificently to life, and it’s more alive now than ever before! Every bulb or lamp was chosen for its’ effect regarding brilliance, color rendition, and textural revelation. Anyone building a new home or remodeling an existing space that doesn’t create and use a personalized lighting plan is just in the dark. Without incorporating a specialized lighting plan, you’ll never attain the full level of presentation, even if you place your expensive furniture and accessories in it. Steve is the only one that I’ve found who has a total vision. You need Steve’s skills and talents to showcase the particular elements, features, and characteristics in your home. CUSTOM PICTURE FRAMING Steve’s artwork selection and custom framing is fantastic! Not only has he designed custom frames and then built them from scratch, but he’s constructed intricate stacked and multiple frames for artwork. His ability to coordinate accessories as well as have artistic inventiveness produces a one-of-a-kind presentation which promotes a cohesive feel within the space. BOOK I recently read portions of Steve’s forthcoming book. It is absolutely fantastic! There’s lots of information that needs to get out there to correct a lot of errors and wrong thinking in the realm of interior design and decoration. It is all about the magic of ambiance and how to achieve it in your home. Your home is the only environment that you can truly control and the only environment that affects your life the most. ARTICLES I want to inform people that Steve has a lot of excellent articles online. He is a Diamond-Level Expert Author on EzineArticles.com. I believe he has around 25 articles written there. I have read many of them, and they are truly excellent. It is definitely worth investing your time to read them. SEMINARS If you haven’t been to one of Steve Adamko’s interior design seminars, you are really missing out. Not only is he extremely knowledgeable and informative, but he’s very energetic and animated, too. His funny and humorous personality shines through in his presentation as well. When he gets done explaining things, you would actually need help … to misunderstand him. He's that good. WEBINARS Webinars are some of the best ways to learn and be enlightened on different topics. Steve’s interior design webinars are full of information, helpful tips, and insights. There are designers out there practicing that don’t even know their stuff. A large number of them don’t implement (or know) the stuff that Steve teaches. Many “designers” are thinking they are professionals, yet they are operating without the requisite knowledge. I can see why so many clients are deceived in thinking so much out there is awesome when it truly isn’t. TELESEMINARS For pure information and for those great question and answer sessions in regards to interior design and decorating, you’ll have to partake of Steve Adamko’s teleseminars. They are very insightful. You’ll definitely experience a variety of “ah-ha” moments!