Decorating is a dangerous thing- You start with one room and the next thing you know, you're ripping out the walls and tearing up floors.
When I moved into our home, 7 years ago, I started at the front door and over the next 5 years redid the whole house. No room was left untouched. Even the closets were organized and made to give me the best use of space. Now that we have lived here and my taste have changed (AGAIN) I started back at the front door for the next round. I wanted a updated look that was bright and dramatic that made people want to sit down and enjoy my home.
I started my own business 2 years ago and decided that my dining room was a waste of space. I stripped the wallpaper, pulled out the carpet and turned around my table to make it a desk. I found some great industrial shelving, a hutch/lateral file and a comfy chair. My home office was born!!! Very little money but a huge improvement for my business. Everything in one place and easily accessible. I needed alot of storage for the 300 fabric books, reference books, catalogs, flooring samples, blind books,etc; The large industrial rolling shelf that everyone is using in kitchen spaces looked great in my space and held all of my sample books. The lateral file holds all of my client info and the hutch is for pretty stuff. My office faces the front porch where I have 2 windows that lets in lots of sun and I get to watch the birds on the front porch. I didn't want to cover the windows up so I installed bamboo shades and the texture looks great. The walls went from a red,navy and cream wallpaper to robin's egg blue. With all the brown furniture and a faux bamboo fiber floor, the room is cozy and inviting. Maybe the next thing to be added will be french doors.
Don't be intimidated by change, it all works out in the end. Even if it takes every 7 years to come back around.
Happy decorating!!!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Decorating Junkies- Color
Color is the easy place to start in decorating. It is one of the most personal things you can do to any room. The right colors can improve our moods, stimulate the appetite, make a statement about who you are.
The biggest pitfall in choosing a color is we don't understand how that little paint chip is going to look spread out all over that room. Color is fickle. It changes according to so many different factors. How much sunlight the room gets, what time of day is the room usually used in, is there a large red sofa in the room that is going to make the beige turn to blushy pink? All understandable questions that the homeowner doesn't take into account for, until its painted and put back together.
Here are some of my hints for choosing the right color.
Always remember that red, yellow and blue intensify, once up. I have had customers breakdown crying, when turning into the driveway and they catch the first look at their newly painted "Butter Cream" house that looks like it stepped right out of Sesame Street. What may look yellow and creamy on the swatch has turned into Big Bird on the side of your home.
Test your colors- Invest in a quart of something before painting the whole room and deciding you hate it. Paint it on poster board, paint it on the wall behind pictures(for when the in-laws come over). Don't paint little 2" swatches either, paint 2 foot by 2 foot samples and don't place another new color right against that one. Spread them out so that when you look at them from another room, that color alone stands out. View the color in different lights. Morning, noon and night. A rainy day and a sunny day both should look good. The only people that have an opinion are you and your family and that sometimes is debatable. It doesn't matter that your best friend hates red or that your neighbor can't stand any vegetable color, as long as you love the color, GO FOR IT!!!!!! A good decorator will guide you to the right shade of something not give their personal opinion. If you don't like their choice, tell them, and if they don't pick another color pick another decorator.
Alot of times, I will see a color at a friend's house or a clients house and get the info on where the color came from. I then try a sample to see how I may use it in my home. What looks good there may or may not look good in my setting. Try it and you may like it.
Sheen of paint also changes the look of the color. I typically use flat, matte or at most, eggshell, on my walls. Flat isn't washable but is the easiest to touch up. The more sheen a paint has the more imperfections are highlighted on a wall. Matte is flat but washable and eggshell is scrubbable. This is based on Ben Moore's paint and I only paint with quality paint. The cheaper the paint the harder the painting will be. Why suffer?
Semi gloss goes on high abuse areas, trim, furniture, etc; Never on the WALLS!!!!! Flat on the ceiling, except for high humidity areas such as bathrooms, without vents or teenagers that take 2 hour showers, then you can use eggshell to prevent streaking.
Keep a compostion book in your glove compartment filled with all of those color swatches, ripped out pictures of your dream kitchen, the area rug you love, anything that helps you pull together color when the time comes. The brain can't remember color, so make it easy and keep good records. Even a piece of DMC floss can help you in picking out the bedroom color.
When choosing a color take a favorite blouse, a pillow sham or the mug you got from the beach and lay it down to see how those colors look together. Take home 3-5 paint chips and narrow it down by process of elimination. Then get the quart or 2 oz. sample if available and try it out.
Grab some paint chips and happy painting!!!!!!!!!!!
The biggest pitfall in choosing a color is we don't understand how that little paint chip is going to look spread out all over that room. Color is fickle. It changes according to so many different factors. How much sunlight the room gets, what time of day is the room usually used in, is there a large red sofa in the room that is going to make the beige turn to blushy pink? All understandable questions that the homeowner doesn't take into account for, until its painted and put back together.
Here are some of my hints for choosing the right color.
Always remember that red, yellow and blue intensify, once up. I have had customers breakdown crying, when turning into the driveway and they catch the first look at their newly painted "Butter Cream" house that looks like it stepped right out of Sesame Street. What may look yellow and creamy on the swatch has turned into Big Bird on the side of your home.
Test your colors- Invest in a quart of something before painting the whole room and deciding you hate it. Paint it on poster board, paint it on the wall behind pictures(for when the in-laws come over). Don't paint little 2" swatches either, paint 2 foot by 2 foot samples and don't place another new color right against that one. Spread them out so that when you look at them from another room, that color alone stands out. View the color in different lights. Morning, noon and night. A rainy day and a sunny day both should look good. The only people that have an opinion are you and your family and that sometimes is debatable. It doesn't matter that your best friend hates red or that your neighbor can't stand any vegetable color, as long as you love the color, GO FOR IT!!!!!! A good decorator will guide you to the right shade of something not give their personal opinion. If you don't like their choice, tell them, and if they don't pick another color pick another decorator.
Alot of times, I will see a color at a friend's house or a clients house and get the info on where the color came from. I then try a sample to see how I may use it in my home. What looks good there may or may not look good in my setting. Try it and you may like it.
Sheen of paint also changes the look of the color. I typically use flat, matte or at most, eggshell, on my walls. Flat isn't washable but is the easiest to touch up. The more sheen a paint has the more imperfections are highlighted on a wall. Matte is flat but washable and eggshell is scrubbable. This is based on Ben Moore's paint and I only paint with quality paint. The cheaper the paint the harder the painting will be. Why suffer?
Semi gloss goes on high abuse areas, trim, furniture, etc; Never on the WALLS!!!!! Flat on the ceiling, except for high humidity areas such as bathrooms, without vents or teenagers that take 2 hour showers, then you can use eggshell to prevent streaking.
Keep a compostion book in your glove compartment filled with all of those color swatches, ripped out pictures of your dream kitchen, the area rug you love, anything that helps you pull together color when the time comes. The brain can't remember color, so make it easy and keep good records. Even a piece of DMC floss can help you in picking out the bedroom color.
When choosing a color take a favorite blouse, a pillow sham or the mug you got from the beach and lay it down to see how those colors look together. Take home 3-5 paint chips and narrow it down by process of elimination. Then get the quart or 2 oz. sample if available and try it out.
Grab some paint chips and happy painting!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Decorating Junkies- Top 10 Decorating Mistakes
Good Morning-
I wanted to start the morning off with what I think are the top 10 mistakes in decorating. There are really too many to sum up in one posting or for that matter 100 posting, but here we go.
TOP 10 MISTAKES IN DECORATING
1)Toliet Rugs- Hate to see them down!!! They should all be replaced with a pretty area rug or a gorgeous textured rug that feels great to walk across. Never skimp on the little details.
2)Fear of Color-In one fan deck from your local paint store, there are over 3000 colors to choose from. Being bold and choosing one is better than a house full of White/Beige that feels like you walked into a color void. Painting is the cheapest way to transform any room(as long as you paint it yourself) and makes the biggest bang for your buck.
3)Outdated accessories-We all get attached to stuff! That doesn't mean it has to stay around FOREVER. Every store you walk into now, from Target, Walmart and even the grocery store, has home accessories. Don't get tied into a rut in decorating because your old accessories don't go with a new look.
4)Tacky couch covers-There has yet been made, a readymade slipcover that looks good. Custom slipcovers/reupholstered furniture is the only way to change the look of an existing piece. If recovering isn't an option, the piece isn't 8-way, hand tied, kiln dried or hardwood frame then replace it with the best you can afford.
5)Pushed back furniture-Every piece of furniture in the room has been pushed to the back wall and everyone has to shout to have a conversation. This is the way most of us arrange our furniture. If the sofa can fit a small sofa table behind it that gives some storage or a place for reading lamps, pull it off the wall. The chairs should be between 5-6 ft. from the sofa. The can be angeled off the wall and not shoved back against it. This creates a cozy space instead of a stark place to hang out.
6)Fake Flowers-Not all of us can keep a plant alive. But that doesn't mean that fresh cut flowers, an "almost" indestructible, house plant or one of the beautiful, silk tropical trees can give your home a inviting look. Don't use any if they don't as least look real. There are too many options on the market that fool the eye, so again, buy the best you can afford.
7)Improper Lighting-I hate to use my over head light. The only time I have this on is when we have lost the TV remote and my husband has started to hyper ventilate. There are 3 types of lighting, overhead or ambient(see previous comment), task lighting and accent lighting. Kitchens need a lot of light. We spend time in there cooking, cleaning, entertaining, homework, bill paying, etc; Overhead lighting should not be the only source of lighting. Under cabinet lighting for task lighting and beautiful sconces on the wall for accent lighting, will go far in creating a cozy, inviting kitchen for everyone to hang out in.
8)Everything Matches-Most of us would not be caught in public with a matchy-matchy outfit. The bag matching the shoe that matches the jacket, that matches the...@%$%^&! YECK!!!! Take 3 colors and mix it up then add another 2 for spice. This goes for pattern as well. Big floral print, medium width stripe and little polka dots will carry you far in the decorating scheme.
9)Following fads-What is hot today may go down in flames tomorrow. Don't build a room around one fad. Live with a style you love and let the fads come in, as a little bling. Don't go crazy with one style. The worst thing that happened in decorating was the "Country Fad". We all went crazy with stained furniture, God help me, Mauve and Blue, knick-knacks on every imaginable space known to man. And because of this, some people are still stuck in that rut and think they have to change the whole house before making ANY change. A daunting and overwheming task for anyone.
10)Keeping something you hate. For me this would be my husband BIG SCREEN TV. Of course, this would probably cause a divorce or at the very least a whole heap of trouble. So think smaller, the recliner from his bachelor days, the bedroom suit that came from your parents or the kitchen table that has 5 different styles and none of them are pretty. Budget in one of those to be replaced and you will love yourself for it.
I am sure there are 100's of other mistakes but I don't want to overwhelm anyone and create chaos. Happy decorating and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
I wanted to start the morning off with what I think are the top 10 mistakes in decorating. There are really too many to sum up in one posting or for that matter 100 posting, but here we go.
TOP 10 MISTAKES IN DECORATING
1)Toliet Rugs- Hate to see them down!!! They should all be replaced with a pretty area rug or a gorgeous textured rug that feels great to walk across. Never skimp on the little details.
2)Fear of Color-In one fan deck from your local paint store, there are over 3000 colors to choose from. Being bold and choosing one is better than a house full of White/Beige that feels like you walked into a color void. Painting is the cheapest way to transform any room(as long as you paint it yourself) and makes the biggest bang for your buck.
3)Outdated accessories-We all get attached to stuff! That doesn't mean it has to stay around FOREVER. Every store you walk into now, from Target, Walmart and even the grocery store, has home accessories. Don't get tied into a rut in decorating because your old accessories don't go with a new look.
4)Tacky couch covers-There has yet been made, a readymade slipcover that looks good. Custom slipcovers/reupholstered furniture is the only way to change the look of an existing piece. If recovering isn't an option, the piece isn't 8-way, hand tied, kiln dried or hardwood frame then replace it with the best you can afford.
5)Pushed back furniture-Every piece of furniture in the room has been pushed to the back wall and everyone has to shout to have a conversation. This is the way most of us arrange our furniture. If the sofa can fit a small sofa table behind it that gives some storage or a place for reading lamps, pull it off the wall. The chairs should be between 5-6 ft. from the sofa. The can be angeled off the wall and not shoved back against it. This creates a cozy space instead of a stark place to hang out.
6)Fake Flowers-Not all of us can keep a plant alive. But that doesn't mean that fresh cut flowers, an "almost" indestructible, house plant or one of the beautiful, silk tropical trees can give your home a inviting look. Don't use any if they don't as least look real. There are too many options on the market that fool the eye, so again, buy the best you can afford.
7)Improper Lighting-I hate to use my over head light. The only time I have this on is when we have lost the TV remote and my husband has started to hyper ventilate. There are 3 types of lighting, overhead or ambient(see previous comment), task lighting and accent lighting. Kitchens need a lot of light. We spend time in there cooking, cleaning, entertaining, homework, bill paying, etc; Overhead lighting should not be the only source of lighting. Under cabinet lighting for task lighting and beautiful sconces on the wall for accent lighting, will go far in creating a cozy, inviting kitchen for everyone to hang out in.
8)Everything Matches-Most of us would not be caught in public with a matchy-matchy outfit. The bag matching the shoe that matches the jacket, that matches the...@%$%^&! YECK!!!! Take 3 colors and mix it up then add another 2 for spice. This goes for pattern as well. Big floral print, medium width stripe and little polka dots will carry you far in the decorating scheme.
9)Following fads-What is hot today may go down in flames tomorrow. Don't build a room around one fad. Live with a style you love and let the fads come in, as a little bling. Don't go crazy with one style. The worst thing that happened in decorating was the "Country Fad". We all went crazy with stained furniture, God help me, Mauve and Blue, knick-knacks on every imaginable space known to man. And because of this, some people are still stuck in that rut and think they have to change the whole house before making ANY change. A daunting and overwheming task for anyone.
10)Keeping something you hate. For me this would be my husband BIG SCREEN TV. Of course, this would probably cause a divorce or at the very least a whole heap of trouble. So think smaller, the recliner from his bachelor days, the bedroom suit that came from your parents or the kitchen table that has 5 different styles and none of them are pretty. Budget in one of those to be replaced and you will love yourself for it.
I am sure there are 100's of other mistakes but I don't want to overwhelm anyone and create chaos. Happy decorating and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Friday, January 25, 2008
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!!!!
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!!!!
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