Inspiration found through Color.
Part 5…
Trend 5: New Darks
Last year, black was the big colour for interiors. This year, the New Dark’s signal a bold move away from the hard, dull greys and blacks towards a softer, palette that is accented by bright, vibrant hues. Purples, blues and blacks take centre stage but texture is also a consideration. Patent and lacquered finishes contrast with smoky, matte metals and velvety fabrics. What is created is both dramatic and beautiful. Lots of texture and a more subtle scheme than from the above is used.
Living room
Choose a dominant piece of furniture, such as a sofa, in the dark, dramatic shade that encapsulates this look, but use lighter, toning shades for the walls. Not every home or room suits dark colors – and if you spend a lot of time in a room during the day, you might want to choose lighter colors for walls and floors to make the room feel bright and spacious. Ask yourself if you liked to be “hugged” by the room or feel as if you could see for miles???
Bedroom
This look is perfect for a posh bedroom. Rich colors and soft natural fabrics create a cushy feel and warmth to keep you warm at night. Do be careful to not go too dark, unless you have lots of natural light, to make sure the room does not create a “depressing” atmosphere.
In the end, when designing and decorating for your home, decide the overall feel and concept you would like to achieve and pull-out lots of pictures to show your Designer to make sure you are all on the same page.
Happy Decorating!!!!
Tags: Advice, Budget Design, Decorate on a budget, decorating styles, Design Styles, design trends, Do's & Don'ts, Eclectic Design, Home Improvements, Home makeover, inexpensive tips, Interior Design, Interior design style, Interior Design Tips, Interior Styles
Inspiration found through Color.
Part 4….
Trend 4: Treasure Trove
We all have our own personal treasures that we want to display in our homes. They usually take the form of furniture, fabrics, paintings and objects that have been passed down through generations, as well as vintage clothes and objects found on holiday or when browsing in antique markets. These are the things that we want to preserve and admire. Intense, deep colours such as opulent gold, rich burgundy and bold teal; lavish and glittering, concealing our keepsakes and priceless pieces. It’s a colour palette that forms the backdrop to our own treasure and is guaranteed to bring out the inner magpie in all of us. Not ideal for every room in a home, but great in Living Rooms, Studies and Guest Bedrooms.
Living Room
Reminiscent of an old Country Manor. Alternates to the heavy wood paneling on the walls could be paint in a deep chocolate brown to make it cozy, or a pale yellow-green to make it feel brighter and more spacious.
Bedroom
Deep earthy shades are ideal for a bedroom due to the mood the room transcends. The result? A welcoming space that you’ll feel relaxed and cozy in.
Tags: Advice, Budget Design, Decorate on a budget, decorating styles, Design Styles, design trends, Do's & Don'ts, Eclectic Design, Home Improvements, Home makeover, inexpensive tips, Interior Design, Interior design style, Interior Design Tips, Interior Styles
Inspiration found through Color.
Part 3…
Trend 3: The Recycled Look
Head out to your favorite flea-market or vintage store and rummage through to find pieces to compliment your design. Whether edgy, subtle, minimalist, cluttered or over the top, you are sure to find that… “one person’s trash is another’s treasure”.
Living Room
What’s good about this look? Essentially, its eclecticism and its eco-friendly attributes. What it’s telling you… get yourself down the local antiques/junk arcade and rummage…
Bedroom
So, rummaging isn’t your thing? The key… choose a dominating colour that has a faded look, furniture that isn’t the same style, and think out-of-the-box for placement. Take this room as a great example. The bed is upholstered in a dove grey, while the throw’s colour is a faded version of the bedside table. The bedside table itself doesn’t match the rest of the room, and is really a side table, yet it works within the room because it’s colour ties into the beds throw.
Kitchen
Ideal for a kitchen, simply choose units painted in faded shades, recycled worktops (like Cork/ Bamboo/ recycled stainless), rustic style tiles (mismatched/ hand-painted/ vintage) , match it with furniture that’s recycled rather than brand new and, finally, pick wall colours to complement, adding splashes of bolder shades in accessories.
Tags: Advice, Budget Design, Decorate on a budget, decorating styles, Design Styles, design trends, Do's & Don'ts, Eclectic Design, Home, Home Improvements, Home makeover, inexpensive tips, Interior Design, Interior design style, Interior Design Tips, Interior Styles
Inspiration found through Color.
Part 2….
Trend 2: Femininity With A Hard Edge
This is a more dynamic trend, which includes pretty yet powerful colours, from their palest to most dramatic shades. Think of peonies that burst into colourful life and then slowly reduce in intensity as they fade. Imagine delicate whispers of texture from vintage lace and silk, offset by hard modern ceramics and metals. You could sum it up as femininity with a tough edge. While not ideal for every room in the home, this does work best in living rooms and bedrooms.
Paint Colours
It might be that you choose a white or pale green background colour for your walls, then add a touch of ‘wow!’ with stronger shades of the accent colour like, raspberry or periwinkle with accessories and soft furnishings. This scheme does not need to be dramatic, if you want something easier to live with, try something a little more understated.
Wallpaper
Just as choosing a paint color can be difficult and tiresome between a man and a woman…ditto for wallpaper! Go for soft, feminine shades as a base, add sharper (or more masculine) tones to pep up the scheme.
Living Room
This room, with all the tendencies of a more feminine room; also, sways toward the masculine with the finishes and shape. Find this look a little heavy? Keep the wallpaper, but swap it for a lighter colourway and change the flooring to a pale, soft carpet…
Bedroom
The idea of a pale lilac bedroom would turn most men’s stomachs, but this one is edging into grey, while the contrasting colour – mustard yellowy green is a fabulous foil for the walls soft tones. Add to that the contrast of white furnishings with a single high gloss black piece and you’ve got femininity, masculinity, light and dark all in one space. Brilliant.
Tags: Advice, Budget Design, Decorate on a budget, decorating styles, Design Styles, design trends, Do's & Don'ts, Eclectic Design, Home Improvements, Home makeover, inexpensive tips, interior, Interior Design, Interior design style, Interior Design Tips, Interior Styles
Posted by PC Design on Mar 18, 2009 in
Interior Design Tips The Eclectic, Interior Design, Style is NOT a mish-mash of styles thrown together haphazardly. It’s a style with a deep thought, mixing patterns, color, line, scale, theme and texture.
This room combines traditional and asian inspired elements with neutral colors and a punch or red used as an accent and well placed balancing the room.
This room incorporates natural elements with solid sleek surfaces and metal with contemporary leather upholstery.
This setting includes african wood panels, modern furnishings, asian elements with the lighting and a traditional flair with the area rug.
This room has a great Modern feel with added bright asian accessories and contemporary fabrics and artwork. The 70’s style lamp with the tall shade and the 60’s Dresser adds a real simple but unique look to the room… especially adding the white lacquer floating shelves above.
Eclectic, is one of the most unique styles, creating an environment, much the same as a painting on canvas does. It might consist of collections from areas traveled around the world, antiques, accessories of a specific theme, furniture of different periods with a common element, modern and traditional items mixed together and neutral colors with a bold color mixed in as accents.
Eclectic is not a formal environment. You most often see the Eclectic style used (not necessarily on purpose) in people decorating their first apartment or home and are collecting furniture from various sources; your parent’s basement, a friend’s hand-me-downs or thrift store finds.
The Harmony between the elements must create a flow and have a purpose. You may have an old English style chest you found at a thrift store that would work great against a wall in your living room, but it needs a coat of paint. You have occasional tables that have an ebony finish on each side of your sofa. You then, might want to spray the chest a lacquer black finish and update the hardware to give it a fresh look and have it “flow” with the occasional tables.
This would be a great chest to paint and add some unique glass hardware to it.
There is the unique detail at the bottom but still simple enough to go with everything.
The same thing can happen if you find an old lamp at a thrift store that needs a little love, but you like the shape. You have collected white porcelain vases that are displayed on your shelving. An idea would be to spray the lamp white and find a coordinating white shade (or go for a bold shade that coordinates with an accent color you are using in the room).
Lamps painted white and adding a modern shade with a punch of color.
Lamps found at a Thrift Store, slightly different in height, but could be painted and have a bell shaped or drum shade placed to coordinate them.
There are so many options of things you can do, it’s just a matter of opening your mind to the possibilities.
Tags: Advice, decorating styles, Design Styles, Eclectic Design, Eclectic style, Interior Design, Interior design style, Interior Styles
