From the Floors Up

Color Scheme — Gray

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If there were a race to be the color of prevalence in home design in 2015 the clear winner would be gray! Visit any design gallery or home furniture store and you are sure to find oodles of items in gray. Not just furniture though! We’re seeing it in flooring and cabinetry too.

The challenge of incorporating gray into your home has to do with avoiding anything too dreary or institutional looking. If done wrong you might end up with a room that lacks a sense of energy or life. However, the modern take on decorating with gray relies on one simple difference. In 2015 gray is nearly always featured alongside a bold pop of color! It’s fresh, it’s fun, and it’s an entirely new way to do gray. Ready to get started? Enjoy our guide to the very best combos.

  1. Black, Gray, Cream Mustard
  2. Navy, Coral, Gray
  3. Gray, White, Pink
  4. Purple, Gray, Cream
  5. Beige, White, Gray
  6. Powder Blue, Pastel Pink, Lavender, Gray
  7. Gray, Cream, Mandarin Orange

Once you’ve chosen the color scheme you like best be sure to try it in various combinations before settling on one. For example, try gray in unexpected ways like artwork, lamps, and wood flooring! In all of these examples, however, the pop color is intended as an accent. So use it mainly on soft furnishings and accessories. 

Color Schemes — White

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White might seem like the easiest possible option when it comes to decorating your home. In theory it coordinates with everything. It’s basically a blank canvas. However, the difficulty level sometimes increases if you want it to be the most prevalent color in a room. If you’re ideal room is large expanses of white it’s important to ensure that you balance it well.

If not, your home will look more like an institutional structure than a place you’d love to live. Which isn’t to say you can’t feature more white than any other color. In fact, we think it often works best to tip the scale in favor of white. To use it like a pro just be sure that you combine it with colors that are equally eye catching. This will ensure the room looks well coordinated instead of un-unified. Ready to get started? Enjoy our guide to the very best combos!  

  1. White, Beige, Gold
  2. Tiffany Blue, Pink, Yellow, White
  3. Aqua, Fuchsia, Lime Green, White
  4. White, Silver, Gold, Dark Brown
  5. Warm Yellow, Coral, Dark Orange, White 
  6. Red, Fuchsia, Black, White
  7. White, Purple, Grey
  8. White, Beige, Brown, Gold

Once you’ve chosen the color scheme you like best visit the paint store and pick up paint chips. Get a few of each color so you can experiment. Take them home and lay them on a large piece of white paper. Use scissors to trim them to different sizes and combine them in various ways. This will give you an idea of how much of each color needs to be used to achieve the effect you want!

A Country Kitchen

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When you think about reimagining your kitchen, do you imagine it a place full of warmth and comfort? Is it where you go to cook your meals for your family and it fills up with the smells of cooking and laughter? If you are thinking about redesigning your kitchen and that is how you would describe your vision you may want to consider looking into your options for country kitchen design.

 

The focus for country-styled kitchens is to use natural, hand crafted materials to create a lived-in feel to the room—a place where your guests will feel comfortable pulling up a chair at the table and chatting while you cook dinner or a place where your family comes to gather and share their stories. The focus here is to use uniquely designed wood for your cabinets, chairs and tables to create a rustic look. You might even add paneled glass to the front of some of your cabinets so that your dishware and stemware show through.

 

Speaking of, these utensils, dishware and home appliances are a great way to give your kitchen that lived-in country feel. Mixing and matching different glazes and designs on your plates and bowls can add character to your kitchen. It harkens back to when most people had a mix and match of dinnerware, and can look as though you might buy one here and there at the local farmer’s market. If you used that glass paneling in your cabinets then your efforts will always be on display. Consider using mason jars as glassware as well, as they can also add to the overall design.

 

There are certain design patterns as well as color schemes that are more common in a country kitchen as well. Warmer colors are a must although blue is also commonly found, usually within a pattern or as tiling. Plaid and gingham patterns can be used as dishtowels or tablecloth to add a touch of pattern. If you are unsure about the color or pattern you want to use, imagine if you think it would fit in to a kitchen you would see in a traditional farm setting.

 

One of the most powerful statements in a country kitchen is the floor.  The right choice of flooring material can pull the room together and set a tone of cohesiveness in the space.  Think about the materials that would be used in a farmhouse setting: wide plank hardwood or large stone tiles are great choices. 

 

A country inspired kitchen is a place where your family and guests can congregate and spend quality time together in a space where you have intentionally created an ambience of warmth and invitation. It is a great way to add life into your kitchen!

Color Pallet: On Vacation, Baby!

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Have you ever considered decorating a space based on inspiration from something other than a photo of a room? How about referencing a whimsical photo, such as the one below? We adore the jewel tones in this image of a baby girl who appears to have landed on the beach after an ocean journey in a suitcase! Most people would simply frame the photo and hang it on the wall. Instead, we suggest making it your primary guideline for designing an entire room!

How, you ask? By using our easy to follow bullet points for each style aspect of the décor. We’ve found that it’s often easiest to use our style advice if we offer it up in quick snippets that you actually have time to absorb before running off to the next thing on your to-do list. Simply extract what works best for your personal vision, or rely on it all to make your decorating project super easy.

 

The color pallet: Pure Sunshine Yellow, Seaside Teal, Nature’s Burgundy, Mocha, Punchy Pink Lemonade

What makes the colors work well together?

  • They are all jewel tones (with the exception of the neutrals.)
  • Jewel tones play especially well off of each other, compared to other color combinations, because their beauty is greatly enhanced when there are multiple shades of with equal vibrancy. In other words, it never seems as if they’re competing.
  • The browns are warm and rich, so they work exceptionally well with jewel tones.

What themes within the color scheme set the tone?

  • Yellow – joy, optimism
  • Teal – fresh, vibrant
  • Brown – earthy, stable
  • Pink – fun, spunky

What furnishings might work well in a room based on this inspiration?

  • Mahogany wood furniture
  • Wicker and rattan
  • Linen textiles
  • Life sources – aquarium, terrarium, plants
  • A water feature such as a fountain
  • Maps and globes
  • Designer ceiling fan

What spaces might best benefit from this design inspiration?

  • Beach house
  • Sun room
  • Spa or bathroom
  • Family room
  • Indoor porch

How To Use the Elements and Principles Of Design To Decorate Like An Interior Designer, Part 8

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Part 8 Time

This particular principal of design may come as big surprise. However, it’s a critical component of decorating a room, because its effect is inevitable. Think about it. At any given time of day or year a room can transform and be quite different. Let’s examine.

You inhabit certain rooms in the house according to what time of day it is. Thus, light becomes an element of time in design. How does this effect decorating decisions? Many ways, but one of the most influenced factors is color.

Let’s say your bedroom is painted lavender. In the early morning it will have a softer tonality, diffused by the pristine, crisp morning light. By midday the light is perhaps a bit too harsh because bedrooms don’t generally feature excessive direct daylight, and this makes the lavender less appealing. You can control that element of time by installing sheers and possibly leaving them drawn through the rest of the afternoon!

Another way that time relates to a room is with regard to season. When designing you home it’s fun and effective to consider what a room will look like in any given season where you live. Maybe when it’s cold outside you just want to stay in bed, and so choose soft, warm furnishing. Perhaps when it’s warm you can’t wait to leap out of bed a go outside. Time to change the linens and textiles to something that feels cool and fresh! 

You should also consider long periods of time in your home such as months and years. Look at the photo above. One of the most beautiful attributes of real wood is that it gains character over the years. If you wish to preserve the original color as much as possible you can install drapes to completely protect it from the sun. But you’d be sitting in a dark room most of the time so it needs to be the right space for that. On the other hand, wood responds beautifully to natural light by slowly changing in color over time. Another time focused feature of the room is the fireplace. It’s merely a fixture when no fire is lit, but when there’s a fire burning it becomes a fabulous focal point. If it’s using during cold weather its role in the room is once again changed by time, because the fire is there for more than just beauty. It’s there to keep you warm!

Next read Part 9 – Color

Don’t forget to go back and start by reading Part 1 

From the Floors Up

From the Floors Up blog was created with the goal of providing a destination for consumers, designers and those interested in the flooring, design, and kitchen and bath industries. Here you’ll find, current, accurate and informative information that is always just a click away!

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