Bedrooms & other interior designs
***COLOR***Misty Blue. This muted sea-blue wall color is the perfect choice for this nautical-themed bathroom. Combined with bright white wainscoting and natural wood flooring, it creates a fun, beachy look. I think this would also be a wonderful combination for a bedroom because it looks so tranquil. The wall color used here is Dufour by Zoffany. A coordinating white to try: Architects White by Zoffany.
***COLOR***Mocha. Coffee colors are naturally muted because of their earthy undertones. These hues make a nice backdrop for artwork and furnishings of any color. For a look that’s tranquil, introduce an upholstered piece in a contrasting color, but make sure the fabric is also in a muted tone. Mocha can be a little boring for some, so one great trick is to add an area rug that has a big, dramatic pattern. Also, make sure you’re including pops of white so the eye has a place to rest. Paint colors to try: Balanced Beige and High Reflective White by Sherwin-Williams
Create a focal point. Using colors and patterns together is powerful and eye-catching. It allows that one special room to stand out from the rest of your home and become a focal point. Mix different sizes of patterns with bright colors for an even more dramatic effect. Wall color: Palladian Blue, Benjamin Moore
New Orleans glamour. This home office encompasses an entire study inside a Seattle-area home built for a Louisiana owner. The designer selected finishes that would feel elegant and strong, from the deep blue built-in shelving to the brick fireplace wall. The sturdy desk features a stainless steel top, iron supports and reclaimed wood. At right, cowhide covers the bench.
Cool and Serene Color palette: Leaf green, light sage, white, deep blue, sky blue As calming as puffy white clouds moving across the sky or a sailboat on the water, planting palettes made up of blue and white blossoms set the tone for a tranquil landscape. To keep beds looking crisp and clean, restraint with the color palette is key. Choose blooms in clear shades of blue and as close to true white as you can find, and mix them with plenty of evergreen foliage.
Dramatic and Energizing Color palette: Pomegranate, dark purple, yellow ochre, periwinkle blue, medium gray-green High-contrast jewel-toned color palettes command attention, making eye-catching border displays that stand out on the block. Gardens in this rich color palette shine all year but are particularly dramatic in late summer and fall, when the deeply saturated tones complement the red, orange and amber leaves of trees changing color.
Cheerful and Inviting Color palette: Medium blue-green, light green, bright orchid, eggshell, deep violet Evoke the look of Monet’s garden in Giverny with a watercolor palette of pink, blue, purple, green and soft yellow. Pastels feel fresh and harmonious in the garden, transitioning smoothly from one soft hue to the next. Like the first blooms in spring, pastel color palettes feel cheerful and inviting — making them a great choice for entryway and front yard plantings. Pastel color palettes can include all hues on the color wheel in muted tones. Adding one or two plants in a more saturated color — like a dark green-leaved shrub or deep purple perennial — can keep a pastel color palette from looking washed out.
Green wanted this room to feel warm and sumptuous, which is why she chose the rich velvet fabric for the sofa. “I like purple velvet — it looks very luxurious, and it works well with turquoise, which is my favorite color,” she says.
look at lighting and floor--dinning room?
Pacific Bliss from Kelly-Moore is a similar paint color that contains a nice mix of blue and gray. It’s a rather cool hue, so it might not be the best option if yours is a predominantly cold and overcast climate.--blue on island base
Buck Convention Most of us have bedside tables that stop at mattress height, right? But what about all that wall space above (remember the tip about vertical storage)? Instead, maximize your storage opportunities with bedside tables and wall-hung cabinets above them. These cabinets are big enough to hold a ton of clothes. If you choose a storage bed too, you’ll effortlessly keep your bedroom neat.
paint color: Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore “Because of the fog in San Francisco, gray paint can sometimes look blue, so we need a warmer gray,” interior designer Tineke Triggs says. “This one is my go-to color.” Here it provides a great backdrop for bold colors in the painting on the wall and textiles in the room.
gray paint on the wall-- Paper White by Benjamin Moore “This is a beautiful white that has gray and blue undertones,” interior designer Emily Griffin says. “Depending on how it’s lit, it reveals stunning colors.” In this north Toronto entryway, it reads as gray with the slightest hint of periwinkle to it.
guest room
Tip: For those of you looking to spruce up your guest room, I invite you to try this little test: Sleep in your guest room for a night or two. By spending some quality time in your guest room, you’ll figure out very quickly what needs attention and what’s really working well. Go one step further: Pack a little overnight bag so you can better understand the needs for dealing with luggage and clothing in the room. kelly mcguill home A good guest room should feel welcoming and comfortable. It should also have the necessities ready for your guest to use. So let’s break out a checklist: Bed, fold-out couch, futon, day bed or air mattress made up with clean sheets and pillowcases Extra blanket and pillow Dresser with empty drawers (If you use this dresser for your costumes, fly-fishing gear or holiday wrapping paper, be sure to clear it out so your guests have enough space to put clothing away during their visit.) Closet (If your room doesn’t have a closet, consider using a small clothes rack so that a guest can hang clothing as well.) Variety of hangers: regular, heavy duty for coats, clips for pants and skirts Bedside table Lamp Curtains or blinds on the windows Luggage rack or other t...
floor
Music Room (this photo, previous and next) Design team: Parker West Interiors In the music room, designers Greg Parker and Paul Heintz kept things traditional but mixed in contemporary furnishings — “to create a dialogue between new and old,” Parker says. A custom music case contains 18th- and early-19th-century instruments from a collection of premier harpsichord builder Curtis Berak.
English Antiques in the Dining Room “I took a thorough inventory of my clients’ existing furniture, and we sat together to determine which pieces they wanted to bring to their new home,” Griffin says. The beautiful English dining room antiques — the table, chairs, buffet and beloved clock — were a shoo-in. Griffin updated the space with a contemporary glass chandelier that doesn’t steal the spotlight away from the antiques, and by again painting the millwork and walls in the same color and sheen. The homeowners wanted visible window treatments only on the west-facing windows. The linen drapes soften the space and reduce early evening light without completely blacking it out. There are hidden roller blinds above the windows for additional light control.
Light-Filled Library--401 living room--open up the curtains Griffin knew that this cozy library space could accommodate a livelier, more colorful rug because of all the natural light washing over the room. She designed built-in shelves for books and artwork. It’s just the spot for reading the Sunday morning paper over coffee or enjoying the skyline views with an evening cocktail. Throughout the home, Griffin had the walls and millwork painted in the same color and sheen. “Before I started this project, I had traveled to the U.K. and I noticed how well the Brits do this,” Griffin says. “I thought it was a perfect approach for this project.”
Divide-and-Conquer Strategy--consider this for the living room at 401 The main living area has spectacular sky-high views toward downtown Toronto and Lake Ontario. But Griffin knew that the expansive space with all the glass had the potential to skew cold and sterile. So she divided it into three parts: this main living area in the center around the fireplace, a library area to the left and a dining area to the right. Then she delineated the spaces with area rugs. They add warmth, as do the creamy walls, inviting furniture, layers of textures (silks, wools, linens), eye-catching light fixtures and well-placed artwork. She centered everything in the living room symmetrically on the fireplace, which is topped by a snowy rural landscape painting. A contemporary chandelier and metal-and-glass coffee table reinforce the center of the long space.
ceiling
I love the idea of not just creating a reading nook, but also incorporating your reading material there too. Finish one book and grab another without ever having to stand up.
Q