I have two areas of monstrous blank walls I have to deal with. The sheetrock installation gave me a revelation. Wide but variegated, horizontal stripes would be striking in my color palettes, some in my beloved metallic paint. I went to the web for some inspiration:
via PadCandy
also via PadCandy
via Apartment Therapy
via The Lennoxx
via Your Decorating Hotline
via Harlequin
via Mary McDonald
…On to work it out in Photoshop.
This email has been sitting in my inbox for a while now. Melissa sent me her dilemma for me to answer here on my blog. I asked her for a few more pictures and some additional information, but perhaps a cyber monster ate it up because I haven’t heard back. I’m going to address this email anyway and use it as an illustration for what a decorating “typical” Decorate Your Space consultation looks like. (If there WERE such a thing as typical.)
Here’s the email:
”Hi
I have a decorating issue. I’ve attached a photo. I am leasing this house, but I hate the color pallet. There is emerald green tile in front of the fireplace and in front of the door. What color paint should I use if I want to down play the green, and what kind and color of furniture would go as well. I currently have big red furniture, but I am afraid it will look like Christmas all year round, so I am willing to buy something new.
Thanks a bunch.
Melissa”
Melissa,
Thank you for reading Design Strategies. I love it when someone tells me about their decorating dilemma and gives me the chance to solve it.
If you had hired me to come into your home for a consultation, I would ask you a whole lot of questions. (I do hope you read this, and answer!)
1) What changes are you actually allowed to make?
I am assuming from your email that the owner of the home you are leasing is ok with you painting. You will be doing her a big favor by bringing this room out of the 80s, but sometimes owners intend to move back into their homes one day and they don’t want anything changed. This is especially true where I live and work, as we have a high number of military families who will one day return to the area.
The wallpaper border really dates the house. The first thing I would suggest is to remove it. Now we need to decide what color to repaint the walls. The high contrast between the tones above and below the chair rail also screams “twenty years ago!”
2) How old is the current big red furniture? Does it fit well in the space? Are you looking for an excuse to buy new? Is red a color you would choose again?
If you love your furniture, let’s make it work. From the picture, the room looks large and will give you plenty of configuring options.
3) How many people are living with you? What will the room be used for? How many of those people will actually be using this room? (I told you there would be a lot of questions!)
4) What is your style? Are there other pieces that you own that you want to highlight? What are your favorite colors? What colors do you hate?
A lot of these questions I never need to ask. I can get plenty of information from the client by having them show me around their space and talking to me about the things they own and how they acquired them. I try to always ask about what the client absolutely does not want as well, as that can be as revealing as it opposite question.
Since I have none of the answers to the questions, I am just going to wing it. I am going to give you a palette that suits a variety of tastes, can blend with most shades of red, and will downplay the green in the tile. I hope your “hate” is not….Neutral.
Without further information, and taking into consideration that you are leasing this house, I will suggest a rich but safe neutral scheme. Aura Paint in Affinity Colors by Benjamin Moore is my personal favorite right now. The palette is limited, but gorgeous, and good for situations like this. (Normally I need every single swatch from the three separate manufacturers’ cases that I would bring to your home to find exactly the right color.)
Try Carob AF- 160 below the chair rail and Pensive AF-140 above. These colors are pretty, and will prevent you from having to paint the cream trim.
…Oh but I can’t stop before you get your money’s worth. Funky slightly greenish golds instantly update dated tones of green. A dark brown as a backdrop for reds? Perfect.
Try Wenge AF-180 below the chair rail and Anjou Pear AF-425 above. If you dare.
I stalk on Facebook.
I know, you are probably thinking BIG DEAL. That’s the whole point, isn’t it? Even Betty White knows this.
My version of stalking is a bit different. I love to look at the background environments in the photos people post. Especially when they are of people and places I know nothing about. (If one of my friends is tagged in a photo, if I press the right or left arrow key I can see the whole photo album, even if I am not friends with the person who uploaded the group of pictures.)
It’s the interiors in the photos that intrigue me. Are they messy? Usually. Does it look like the room was created with intention? Sometimes. Are there regional differences? YES.
Last week my husband worked a job fair in Pittsburgh. On the day he returned, the first words out of his mouth were, “People in Pittsburgh are different! They have strange accents and I never realized how style [of dress] can change with only a few hundred miles.” He has been talking about this the last few days, which made me notice more what I have always been just slightly aware of. Interior decorating styles can be regional, too.
Out of my 500 or so Facebook friends, the majority fall into two categories. The largest group is local: my friends and business associates who live and work where I do, in metropolitan Washington DC. The second largest group is from my hometown in Ohio. The rest are from everywhere, even some who live out the US.
Ohio people like it…gaudy. Lots of oversized floral arrangements, gilded candlesticks and long fringe. They are still faux painting there. DC people are all trying to streamline. Tassels were shoved into hiding two years ago.
Am I biased?
My friend-for-life, Betsy, is having her first baby. She just found out yesterday that it is going to be a boy. Here is my Congratulations Gift to her: a virtual consultation. She wrote me yesterday to tell me she didn’t want any kitschy character crap and her hallway upon entering the baby’s room had chocolate walls and vanilla trim. (Hint Hint, right?)
When I give a client a Design Recap, the copy is formal. But Betsy is my friend, not my client, and I am posting this on my blog for the world to see. So just imagine me standing in room with her…
Run out NOW, Betsy, and get the DwellStudio Space Baby Bedding Collection because it is really really super cheap at $64 for Designer Bedding. They have it at your Target (I checked) but in limited quantities. Plus, its blue and green and should remind you of my dorm at Westminster. (Readers, Betsy and I went to college together, but we go back waaayyy before that…) And space stuff is cool, not dumb like trucks or trains. The world needs more scientists.
The paint swatches are from Benjamin Moore’s new Affinty Colors mixed exclusively in Aura paint. Aura paint is scrubbable, which is good since you are having a boy, and is environmentally friendly. It is more expensive, but take my advice. This high quality paint is worth the few extra dollars.
An outdoor rug will protect your light carpeting, and can be hosed off when the baby has an explosion poop or barfs all over the place. It doesn’t look like an outdoor rug, does it? I have had great luck with Home Decorators Collection. Go for as big as you can afford, but try not to get any smaller than the 5 x 7, which is more than I wanted to find at $169, but remember I saved you a bunch on the bedding.
I love this earth decal. It’s pretty big at 27 x 27, only $30 and is removeable, so have no fear. You can use it to point out where mommy and daddy are from. And teach Biddy Baby how important it is to clean up after your oil spill.
Brown furniture will coordinate well. I tried to find something for you on CraigsList, but I wasn’t too successful. The good thing is you have time to keep checking. I do love this $99 small dresser from Ikea. You can use it for a changing table, and buying it will give you a reason to come and see me. I found this crib at Target and it looks pretty nice for only $149.
NO GLIDERS! Get a Poang instead. Plus I really want you to make an Ikea trip so I can rub your baby bump.
The drapery panels are from Pottery Barn Kids. They are clearanced priced at $49, and if you have only one window, you will need two. (A panel for either side.) They are Blackout, and if you have a baby that sleeps better in a dark room you will love me forever for suggesting them. Choose navy in order to avoid Matchy Matchy Syndrome.
Last but not least, understand that every baby’s room needs a little kitsch. It’s the American Way, Betsy. This Rocket Lava Lamp is the bomb diggity and only $23! The green goo sparkles as it warms up. And when Biddy is the first man on Mars, you can tell him to thank his Aunty Denise.
It’s been a few weeks, and I don’t think better photos are just going to miraculously appear so I am going to just have to post what I’ve got.
You probably already know that I have found myself with two jobs. If I can even call my second a job, for don’t you have to actually earn some money for what you do to be called a job? Otherwise, isn’t it actually called volunteering? I teamed up with my friends Kye-Won Kopko and Doug Burney to give Northern Virginia an alternative children’s theater company. We successfully completed our first community-wide musical a few weeks ago. And by successful, I mean our ledger ended in black.
When I work on a show, I can’t just produce. I have to get my nose into the Design of the show. I obsess over the LOOK. I insist that the PR material, the sets and the costumes complement the tone of the script. You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown was an easy show to clarify stylistically. I drew the sets based on a rather obsessive study of Charles Schulz and his style.
Thanks to one amazing woman, Carol Hostetter, and her husband, Joe, I am very proud of the way the sets turned out:
If I get more photos, I will add them. Next time I will be sure to take some of the stage lit but without actors.
Cinde’s backsplash and counters are now installed. The new rug we ordered has arrived and the Garland Casual Dining Set is on sale and will be purchased this week. She gave me some options for barstools that she is considering. My choices are in order from best to worse: 1 2 3 4 5 6
I first met Michele and Stan in the winter of 2007. They understood that the once swift real estate market was changing and they hired me to help them prepare their residence for sale. In a series of consultations over the course of many months, we worked diligently to update and improve their well-loved home.
Finally, here in the spring of 2010, the house is listed. I think it shows very well on the virtual tour. I have had success staging homes in this area of Lake Ridge, Virginia. Let’s hope the luck holds for these two wonderful people. (The third pair, coincidentally, to retire to the Carolinas!)
Here are some befores and afters:
The Living Room before decluttering, new floors and fresh paint.
The Living Room after:
The Family Room before: (This is after we painted the paneling white. The photos of the paneling in its natural state were too dark for posting.)
The Family Room after:
The Kitchen before:
The Kitchen after new counters, appliances and wallpaper removal:
The Dining Room before:
Bedroom before:
Bedroom after:
Do you remember Suzy’s Dilemma? She wrote to me describing the trouble she was having getting her brand new Kitchen to coordinate with the existing elements in her home. The wallpaper in the Dining Room was giving her fits, so I suggested a color palette to coordinate with some of the colors, while maintaining the more current tones in the new remodel.
She is pleased with the result, as she should be. Her new Kitchen is gorgeous.
