I met again with JoDee and Jonathan a few weeks ago, and they have been finishing projects faster than I can assign them. This is our second home together, and this time the vision is RANCH. JoDee wants the house to look modern, yet timeless. Cozy but Clean-like a vacation property out west, without the requisite kitsch.
Working beyond the usual triumvirate of furniture, wall color and window treatments, we are adding some unique touches to the structure of their new home. Texture is a key element in creating a warm and cozy space, especially in homes with larger square footage. Their home has upgraded elements such as picture frame molding in the Second Floor Hall and in the Dining Room, and while these are beautiful on their own, we decided to kick it up a notch.
The upper section of the Hall, above the chair rail, was painted Tavern Taupe from Sherwin Williams. Normally I am a fan of leaving the entire lower area, moldings and all, high gloss white, and we did this in the more formal Dining Room. But the Upstairs Hall needed that all important texture. Unconventionally, I chose a lighter shade, Stone Lion, for the bottom beneath the chair rail. And here comes the fun part: JoDee, at my suggestion, upholstered the framed area with batting wrapped in burlap.
Although I have yet to see it, here is what she said as she sent these photos from her iPhone. “Perfect!” “AMAZING!!!” “You have GOT to see this!” Yea, I think she likes it.
Design Notes: the DWR Newsletter & Blog
I put this here using the little icons at the end of the article, which I thought was pretty cool and super easy. And while this article does support my political leanings/belief system, that is not the reason I have posted it…’cuz People! This is a Design Blog! I shared it because of the picture of the book shelf with color coordinated books. We just talked about that… Weird, huh?
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An email from a reader:
Hi Denise
I have noticed a lot of photographs lately on the decorating blogs of books displayed by color on shelves. What do you think about this? Thanks for taking the time to answer, Jesse
Well, Jesse, I’ve seen a lot of this, too. We must be reading the same stuff! This picture made the blog rounds many times. Whoever did this certainly caused an uproar!
I decided to go around my house and take random pictures of a few of the millions of stacks of books I have. It is hard not to notice that I tend to do this. Not as rigidly as the picture, mind you, but certain colors tend to–congregate. I can’t really help myself.
We went to Ohio this weekend. Yes, it was nice to spend some time Mother’s Day with my mom and sister, but the actual reason for the trip was for my eldest daughter to attend a sailing clinic. As is the norm with these things, I hung back, listened and watched. Sailing is not MY sport, but my two girls’. I possess the “book knowledge” thus, as my kids will tell you, none of the skill.
Well, lo and behold, Nicole, the instructor, spent a portion of her time discussing the importance learning to distinguish distances. While she referred to boat lengths in her topic, I have to say, I gained some insight on how I can improve my own design skills. If I am to be completely honest, I must admit that as good as I am at memorizing and visualizing color, I am conversely deficient in my skills at judging distances.
Nicole stressed to the junior racers how important it is to portion out an area the length of their boat and get familiar with it. She told them they need to walk the space over and over, and then memorize it visually from a distance.
Perhaps I should do this with…a standard sofa length? A queen size bed? An armchair? Or maybe a just 12 feet as a standard reference.
I had an appointment last week with an empty-nester planning to leave the rat race of the metropolitan area of our Nation’s Capital for (literally) greener pastures. My job was to give an opinion on the decisions made in preparation to place the home on the market.
A concern of Diane’s was her deep red foyer. She wanted to know if I thought she should change it to the neutral muslin tone of much of the rest of the house. Once I walked through the entire house, I knew my original first impression was right. The brick tone should stay.
Yes, a deep red foyer speaks to the character of the homeowner, but not any more loudly than the clean, clutter-free, well-maintained rest of the home. And this is crucial. Because the impression the rest of the home gives would be appealing to anyone, the red serves to distinguish the home among the masses that may be viewed.
Builders do this all the time with their display models. Their designers attempt to create subtle themes that will make a lifestyle impression. I have been to model homes with golf themes too many times to count. A few years ago a builder in a new development near me displayed a 2 million home with every single room decorated in pink. It was the talk of the town. Just about everyone I knew went to see it.
You just gotta love the internet. It only took me a few clicks to find it. From Basheer & Edgemoore:
Nature produces perfect color schemes. And I spend a lot of time considering them. If I am outdoors with you, and you find yourself repeating what you are saying a lot, it is because I am distracted. I am noticing the shades of green in foliage, the browns in branches and the blues in the sky. Or as in the case of rainy today: the grays in the sky. I simply cannot help myself.
The sky can produce the most wonderful shades of gray. Complex, heavy, moody and yellow. That’s right, I said yellow. Perhaps it is the sun we know to be hiding behind the water suspended in the sky, but I noticed today that the key to a genuine sky gray may be the tiniest addition of yellow tones.
Using gray in decorating successfully requires a color as complex as those provided by nature. Simply lightened black looks dull because it is. There is a world of color out there. Take off your sunglasses and pay attention.
I found these beauties on Flickr:
*tap tap* Hello? Anyone out there?
I know, it ’s been me that has vanished. Sorry for the unexplained absence. I got so tied up with the musical production that I couldn’t even lift my fingers to type. When it all finally ended, aside from sinking into a mini depression, I realized that I had been writing quite religiously for an entire year. A blog vacation was in order.
So today I will begin with baby steps. I don’t want my fingers to cramp from lack of use.
Here are some fuzzy pictures my client put on my Facebook. (Obviously taken with a phone…sorry.) Somehow we were inspired by the vast collection of pictures stacked from the move in her basement and we determined that a collection of empty frames would fill a blank wall space without closing it in.
These frames were purchased on a family trip in South Carolina. JoDee texted me during the process, so the transcript is gone, but I believe they came from a flea market. Looks wonderful, doesn’t it?
Christopher Lowell has created four “lifestyles” for Smith+Noble. From the website:
America’s leading resource for window treatments teams with America’s most trusted designer to bring you an exhilarating new way to decorate your home. With easy, beautiful, premier quality window coverings and décor accents personally selected by Christopher Lowell. Achieve top-notch designer results in any room with materials pre-coordinated to harmonize beautifully with four universally appealing lifestyles: TOWN, COUNTRY, CITY & SHORE Each lifestyle covers a world of design influences from global destinations visited by Christopher Lowell.
I have two of Christopher Lowell’s books. I was introduced to him by a friend about 10 years ago who had checked out of the library Seven Layers of Design and used his advice to paint her family room. EXACTLY as he listed in the book. At that very moment, I knew I needed to write a business plan.
(I purchased that very book the day I registered my business license. If ministers and nuns have a higher calling, than this was mine. All those lost souls using a color palette out of a book…when millions exist in nature…)
I spent a little time perusing the site and thus far the lifestyles consist of exactly the same products. Perhaps the release came before the website was ready??
Order now for free standard shipping. Just don’t expect pre-coodinated universally appealing lifestyles.
I felt like I was participating in an episode of America’s Top Decorator Design Idol Top Design. I confess I’m not a big reality show watcher. But to the point, I spent my weekend on a tight schedule helping my friends prepare for the huge gathering they were having in their home to celebrate their registering a civil union.
The painters were leaving as I arrived on Friday. The Living Room walls were now clean and glowing in the palest pink (Benjamin Moore Wild Aster 1240). The first and immediate task was positioning the furniture to accommodate guests and heaping trays of food.
You may recall my series on this gorgeous home. The owners have upset the cosmic balance of talent by remaining together for 18 years; Kirk is an artist and Arijit is an architect. They have piles of art. Literally. Piles in baskets and stacked on the floor. It was my job to display it.
Here are some photos.
From House & Garden’s Complete Guide to Interior Decoration, Seventh Edition, by the Editors of House & Garden published by Simon and Shuster, New York, 1970.
