Green with Envy

Earlier this month I conducted an unofficial poll on my Facebook & Twitter sites. ‘What is your favorite color to decorate with?’ The majority of the votes were greens just to name a few, Chartreuse Green, Sage Green, Fern Green, Nantucket Green and Hunter Green where all hits!

It came as no surprise when various versions of green were the winner! See when you examine the psychology of the color green, it represents growth, serenity, nature and money. In these ever changing times all four of these elements describe our needs and our lives! We need economic progress; and we strive for some sort of peacefulness both on our home front and in the world. We are more conscience of our planet, we need to return to the basics and we all love to have a little extra change in our pockets to go ‘jingalingaling’!

I thought I could celebrate ‘green’ as the winner with some of my favorite home design green design items!

So, if you follow my blog you know that my No. 1 Design must have is life! What a bonus, the plant life usually is in the green color palette. When I am selecting plants for spaces I am always on the look for interesting textures & shapes in the leaves. This creates exciting patterns as light penetrates the leaves.

Here’s another fav of mine! Granny Smith Apples! Yep, simple elegant accessory that transforms into a tasty apple crisp! Honestly the warm yellow green color gives a great punch to any center piece! Think outside of the box and use unexpected containers to showcase your delicious splash of green! A Stainless Steel Colander, get daring stack the apples on a cake stand, give the illusion you just picked the apples and display them in a basket or one of my favorites fill a tall wide hurricane!

I just adore painted furniture, especially pieces from the Somerset Bay line. This line not just stunning and beautifully crafted, the designers have a great sense of humor…..all the colors are named after food! My kinda line! This flip top table shown to the right is in ‘jellybean green’ Yumm!

Nothing satisfies me more than finishing a room with great art! Here’s one of my favorites by artist Aleta Gudelski. The soft green hayfield is so soothing……I could almost walk right into the painting!

I could go on for pages on great green design elements……..I would love to see some of yours please do share! By the way the runner up was red….I can’t wait to share my reds with you!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Remodeling on a budget, are those contradictory terms? Some people may believe so, although with 20 plus years of experience in the design field I have come up with a few ideas that don’t break the bank!

I have continually told clients over the years to pay attention to the details. Just as a real estate agent preaches ‘location, location, location’ I advocate ‘detail, detail, detail’. One major design element that is overlooked continually is architectural mouldings. Before you dismiss mouldings as an expensive labor intensive project read on to find out how I have save clients big dollars and created the illusion of character and history! In many homes built from the 1960’s on trim details were an aspect of the interiors that were minimized.

So how do we build character? First remember it is a work in progress, it will evolve as you move through each space…….. instant character won’t happen! I don’t know about you but I am not prepared to push the hands of time ahead anytime soon!

· Take those small 2.5”-3.5” door and window casings and beef them up. Add a 1.5” of flat stock and top it on the outside edge with a picture moulding. Caulk and paint ……. Presto! Enhanced bold mouldings without ripping out the original and paying top dollar for new 5” moulding. You will need to use an undercut saw to cut back the baseboard moulding

· Don’t ignore your baseboards! Once you have enhanced the casings the baseboards will look out of scale. This is an easy upgrade run a picture frame moulding ¾ ” to 1” above your baseboard and paint the picture frame moulding, baseboard itself and the wall space left between them your trim color. The baseboard will appear taller without replacing it with the costly taller baseboards.

· The same idea can be applied to crown mouldings. First I must say if you don’t have crown mouldings do install them! Crown mouldings create definition between the wall and the ceiling, a must for those wavy ceiling lines…it also is much easier to cut in when painting. If already have crown, consider adding an additional layer. Very much like the application with the baseboard, a picture frame moulding can be added just below the bottom of the crown on the wall again leave a reveal of ¾” or so and paint the wall, new moulding and crown all the trim color. If your ceilings are low add the picture moulidng to the ceiling and give the illusion the crown is wrapping onto the ceiling

· Can’t afford a new kitchen backsplash? Consider MDF Beadboard……if you are daring you can bring the beadboard around the entire kitchen. Again adding character and a really easy surface to clean!

· Kick your dining room up a notch, install a chair rail and use picture frame moulding to create a panel detail under the chair rail…….this is much more cost effective than true raised panels & great look for little monies. The same idea can be applied to the foyer….remember this is the first room your guests will enter. You only have 3 seconds to make a first impression…….wow them!

Friday, May 22, 2009

Repetition & Variation

In my first fine arts basic design class my instructor Chuck would begin each class bellowing out the elements & principles of design. He always began with …….repetition and variation. The first few weeks I didn’t say much but I thought repetition & variation, doesn’t that contradict itself? Then it all came clear, in design you cannot have repetition without variation! Repetition without variation can become dull …… who wants monotonous design! Here are some examples on how to use repetition

· Repeat color in varied elements. A room can be completely successful and only be one color! The trick is to change the texture and patterns of fabrics, use different shades of a color in accents or faux finishes

· Repeat plants (design must have no. 1) use various different plants with different textures and colors in the foliage

· Use repetition in accessories. Line up five small crystal vases that are different styles down your dining table ……finish them off with the same flower in each. Love candles? Use 3 ivory candles on a tray, but three different sizes.

It’s easier that you might think. Go examine your spaces, have you repeated elements? Did you take your repeated elements and make them different in some way? Check out the picture of the room I designed at the top of the page! See how the colors & elements are repeated and varied?  This concept is a breeze once you can get your head around it! Remember you can always send me your pictures and questions …… and I’ll guide you through!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Ideal Illumination!

Basically….. use Lamps!

Many years ago at a dinner party I walked by a mirror, caught my reflection and almost screamed! Now, gals we all have bad days but whoa! I had spent extra time primping for this dinner party….this was not what I wanted to see. Immediately I realized why I literally looked like ‘death warmed over’! In this very narrow hall the only lighting was overhead recessed cans! The mirror that caught this dreadful reflection was placed right under the recessed light. The result created the most horrid shadows on my face …… which leads me to the No. 4 Design Must Have………… The Ideal Lighting!

It is not uncommon by any means to have a home filled with recessed cans; I affectionately call these ‘Swiss Cheese Ceilings’! Still your designs won’t a complete disaster if you sport the ‘Swiss Cheese’; just follow some of my simple design points

Use lamps to supplement lighting.

· Lamps wash our faces with light from an appealing angle. The light also tends to be softer and warmer even when using some of the compact florescent bulbs; the lamp shades themselves diffuse the harsh light.

· Lamps also offer an added design element; some are so unique they are works of art!

· Consider thinking outside the box, coordinate lamps flanking a bed or sofa instead of matching

· Vary heights of lamps for added appeal

Sconces

· The narrow hall which only has harsh over head lighting can be softened with wall sconces. Again just like lamps the sconces offer a design element. Narrow halls have limited opportunities to add interest, so fun interesting sconces can add color, pattern, and texture all the while with the added benefit of pleasing light.

· Always have hardwired lighting on dimmers. This puts you in control of the ambiance of the space.

· Careful to not fall into the trap of installing sconces too high on a wall this will defeat the goal of achieving the ideal lighting! Somewhere around 5’0” off the floor usually works well although, the size of the sconce and height of ceiling may change the final installation height.

Creative Soft Lighting

· Sometimes appealing light isn’t traditional light. Consider wrapping your silk trees with white lights. This offers subtle light as well as texture on the walls with the shadows created

· Candles in a fireplace form a soft glow! The fireplace box creates a ‘black hole’ fireplace isn’t roaring with a fire, filling it with candles softens the box and adds a wonderful glow!

Look around your home, is the lighting appealing? Remember, it’s not only you who sees and feels the lighting in your home. When you have guests they need to feel good in your home, most importantly not wanting to scream when they see their reflection! If they for even an instant believe they don’t look nice, they won’t enjoy themselves during their visit. Remember all the concealer in the world can’t hide the dark circles that poor lighting creates!