Decorating Junkies Unite!!!

Good Morning Junkies,

This is my first posting to my newest endeavor. I am looking to express my love of decorating and the passion I have to see good design, color and that punch of WOW!!! that we all love in our homes. I am looking to correspond with people that can't hire a designer but love it when there homes are the talk of their friends.

The hottest trends in color, at least for the Virginia area, are as follows; Chocolate, Sea Glass blues, Dill Pickle and Eggplant.
We are so traditional here in the Richmond area, that it takes us about 10 years to come out of a color choke hold in decorating. It has always amazed me that we can change our wardrobes quarterly but take sooooo long to change the colors in our home, that we have to look at everyday.

If you are starting with a blank canvas, of either a first home or complete makeover, find an inspiration piece that will be your starting point for color decisions. For example, an area rug, a great piece of artwork or your favorite aunt's vase. If you loved the piece enough to buy it then the colors can be pulled from the piece to give you a starting point. Common areas(Family room, kitchen,dining room,;) is easiest on the eye if the colors have a flow. In decorating, everything is easier to look at in odd numbers. 1,3,5 of something is easier for the eye to flow from one beautiful thing to another. There is a predominant color in the family room, a secondary color and a third color that we use for the accessories. The secondary color becomes the predominant color in the dining room and the first and third colors play into this room as the supporting role.

Let's say that the family room is painted dill pickle above the chair rail, chocolate brown below. The sofa is sage green and the drapes are colors that created the pallet for this room. Chocolate background, sage greens, russet, eggplant with a little yellow and white for hightlight. The predominant color is dill pickle, secondary color is chocolate and accent colors are russet and eggplant.
The hallway is a neutral(1/2 shade lighter than chocolate) with the secondary color being russet and third color eggplant. The kitchen is golds and browns with the secondary color being dill pickle.
This has created a flow of the same colors but using the first, second and third colors in different positions, throughout.
The eye will then "flow" between these spaces and make the area feel open and airy. The easiest way to create a "Decorator's" space.

The private spaces in the house are completely a personal preference of color and design. You may have the most pulled together look going on in the main floor but each of the rooms in your home that is for a member of the family should be decorated to their individual taste. This gives everyone a freedom of expression and the personal stamp that all homes need.
I will be posting more information to this site concerning these decorating issues and more. I look forward to your questions and pictures of how to best handle those decorating quantries. Let me know your thought and happy decorating!!!!