We all stress about color – is it too bright?  Does it match my other colors?  Is it too bland or boring?  Is it too safe?  Too bold?  What colors go with what I already have?  What’s the hot new color and can I use it in my space?  Some of the best things about accessories is that they’re portable (move them from room to room), often quite affordable (but not always), available in just about any color under the sun and the easiest way to make a difference in a room.  (unless otherwise stated, these pictures are all from my vast -and old- photo archives)

STAND OUT COLOR ENERGIZES A ROOM

Accessories are really useful when you want a bold blast of color to contrast with a neutral room – or just to add a touch of brightness or variety in a colorful room.  If you use a vivid or contrasting color, your room will have more energy and to really maximize the color, try to use it in a variety of forms and places around the room.  Have the accent color in pillows, the rug, a vase on the mantel, book covers on the coffee table and maybe picture frames in a bookcase.  You want to use that accent color to move your eye around the room…..but don’t make it too perfectly spaced, it starts to feel contrived.

A little too perfectly balanced. (via Do It Yourself magazine, winter 2009)

This room has the right idea with using the pink & teal accents spaced throughout the room as well as the white bookcase.  But don’t you think it’s a little too perfect?  Instead of feeling inviting, it feels …. too staged. 

Flowers can reinforce a color theme.

Red is a very bold accent color and here’s a good example of using it judiciously.  It proves you don’t have to be hit over the head with the color to appreciate it.  A touch in the art, on the tabletop, flowers and even the ribbon, makes a very understated but attractive statement.

Lime green makes a good accent.

Here you’ve got an essentially neutral room and the pillows introduce the accent colors.  The green is taken to the coffee table, the art and the vases on the console table (note how the vases overlap the art to visually connect the groupings).  Although we can’t see the other side of the room, I’m sure there’s a touch of green opposite the sofa to draw your eye around the room.

A pop of lime green for pizzazz.

This room in shades of blue uses the same lime green as a pop of color to keep the room from being too boring.  The throw in a totally different color (something rosey it seems) warms up this otherwise cool room.

Accessories can reinforce colors in the art.

Colorful accessories are a great way to pick up colors in a piece of art or rug and emphasize them.  This pottery collection plays on the colors in the painting and the little bit of orange (the complementary color to the blues) makes the grouping more dynamic and not so matchy matchy.

The littlest touch of color can have an impact.

 This room boldly uses small touches of a variety of colors – gold, green and cobalt blue.  Don’t be afraid to mix the colors of your accessories to create something unexpected.  Too much of a good thing will make a room feel jumbled and messy, but bold color balanced by blocks of neutral (sofa, flooring, walls) will be lovely.

Which is the accent color?

This room is a little confusing to me – it’s not so easy to pick out the accent color.  Accessories are red – pillow, magazine basket, flowers, book covers.  No, they’re blue - vases & plates on the shelves, chairs, valance.  The colors are so evenly matched I think it’s not very interesting.  The one thing I do like is the back of the bookshelves painted red.  Now that’s some drama!  So maybe that’s the accent color……   

QUIET COLOR SOOTHES A ROOM

Accessories don’t have to contrast with the room to contribute.  Quiet colors that blend with the room and don’t make an individual statement contribute to a soothing, relaxing, peaceful environment.  Ideally your home would have both quiet rooms (bedrooms, maybe a dining room) and energetic rooms (family room, kitchen).

Everything in this room is blue or tan which makes a very restful room.

Soft blue, creamy beige with a tiny touch of blush rose - warm and cool - restful and calm.  The blue and white accessories reinforce the color scheme in a quiet way while the few touches of darker wood furniture ground this room.

A monochromatic room.

A monochromatic room is all shades of one color - here it’s tan.  From golden tans to creamy tans, the accessories blend right in and none of them stand apart and say “look at me”.  The collection of pottery is used throughout the room but supports the color scheme rather than contrasting it.

A monochromatic dining room.

Another monochromatic room – brown, lots of brown and white.  The art, the lamp, the flower bowl, the grouping on the console…everything stays within the scheme.  And then there’s this fabulous pop of the only color in the room.  Dramatic, elegant, unexpected and totally gorgeous.

A really quiet room.

This very quiet tan room has accessories that are …… brown.  What makes the accessories shine is their shapes and the light background is perfect way to showcase those shapes.

Understated accessories work in this bedroom.

Sometimes accessories contribute color, sometimes scale (size).  In this bedroom, the small size and limited color palette of the accessories contribute to the calm and restful atmosphere. If those vases were orange, red or even bright green, the energy of the room would feel different.  Not wrong, just different.

A calm blue brightened by silver.

One last example of accessories that reinforce a quiet color scheme.  All in shades of blue, this serene room could sink into drabness.  What saves it?  In my opinion the sparkling silver is the accent color and the gleam and shine of it moving around the room keeps this room from being bland.

MAXIMIZE YOUR ACCESSORIES

You now have all the tools that interior designers have when they create stunning accessory displays.  You have the knowledge, the interest (it is your home after all), the doodads and tchotchkes, so go forth and accessorize with confidence.

To summarize:  Start with your walls - make good use of proportion and scale to bring interest to the biggest segment of the room to fill.  Next bring in your favorite treasures and display collections in one spot in the room to maximize their impact.  Vary the height and size of the pieces for interest.  Add a plant here and there in your groupings to bring life into the space, add a new texture and use a style appropriate flower to fill in.  Lighting will make a huge difference in being able to see those wonderful displays so choose accent lighting carefully.  And finally, use color to bring focus to an area or collection or use color to reinforce a calm, peaceful space.

Amazingly, as I was writing this series of posts I kept thinking of more tips to share …… so I’m sure I’ll revisit this topic after the first of the year.  If you don’t want to miss all the tips I ran of out room to share here…..subscribe and you won’t miss a word.

Related posts:

1. Ledge Accessorizing Tutorial
2. What Color to Use With Gray?
3. You Can Develop a Color Scheme

MODEL HOMES VS. REAL HOMES

I’m the first one to agree that you can pick up some great ideas from model homes.  However, one of the reasons we all think model homes are so beautiful and inspiring is that they’re clean, tidy, organized, so pulled together and ……. totally unreaslistic.  Those homes are lovely because no one has to actually live in them (have you ever wondered where the TV would go?).  Interior designers are hired to play up the strengths of the house and minimize the weaknesses so they arrange furniture with that in mind – it doesn’t matter that there’s no room for children to play on the floor or a place for all your craft supplies. 

Designers often use model homes as an opportunity to create a themed residence.  Tuscan, Modern, Country, Tropical are all styles of homes that designers create.  The problem with a themed model is that designers carry it so far, so perfectly, that again, it feels unrealistic.  Real homes are usually created over time with furnishings gathered from here and there.  The joy in creating our real homes is that the art isn’t perfectly matched to the sofa and the bathroom shower curtain doesn’t exactly match the towels and the soaps.  But there are a few designer tricks we can take advantage of:

LESSONS TO LEARN FROM MODEL HOMES

A small condo model is full of ideas. (photo by Terrie P)

 I designed this small condo model home a few years ago and feel like there are several lessons to be learned throughout the unit.

 1.  Establish a color palette and use it throughout the home.  It creates continuity and immediately makes a home feel “pulled together”.  It’s also much easier to shop – if all (or even most) of your rooms share basic colors, you know that anything you buy will fit somewhere.

Here I used a pastel, soothing glass green/blue color throughout to create a serene, light atmosphere.

2.  Use floor to ceiling, corner to corner drapes to disguise an ugly view or create a focal wall.  These shimmery sheers let the light from the sliding glass doors into the room but obscured the unsightly deck outside.  The sheers are suspended from a drapery wire and hung from little clips.

3.  Even in a light colored room, touches of dark wood or accessories help ground the room.  Here dark frames and furniture create just enough balance to all that pastel color.

4.  In a small room use smaller scale, open furniture so the space doesn’t feel cramped.  Here I’ve used wood frame, open arm chairs, sofas without big rolled arms and side tables with glass tops – all to reduce visual bulk.

Use a glass sofa table to keep visual bulk at a minimum. (photo Terrie P)

 5.  Use glass (or glass topped) furniture to make a room feel airy.  Even though this sofa table is generously proportioned, because it’s glass, it doesn’t take a lot of visual space so the room doesn’t feel crowded.

6.  Seating is always at a premium.  Find places to tuck mobile ottomans – under a sofa table or coffee table or in front of a hearth like a bench.

7.  Use large, dramatic art to make a statement in a small room instead of a bunch of little pictures spread over the wall.  Small pictures make visual clutter which make a room seem smaller.  Designers love to go big, go bold.

Glass table, acrylic chairs and bright art make this eating area feel roomy and appealing.

8.  Don’t have a large dramatic art piece?  Frame a group of pictures in the same frame and hang them just a couple inches apart in a very even grid.  Doesn’t it give the impression of a single large piece of art? (The key is frame unity and hung really close together.)  And these are all pages from a book bought at a discount store cut to fit standard sized frames.  Really affordable!

There is no dining room in this condo, just a small eating area in the kitchen. Notice that I kept the see-through “trick” going here with glass table and acrylic “ghost” chairs.

The color palette continues into the home office. (photo by Terrie P)

The color palette continues in the second bedroom which was shown as a home office.  In order to fit a lounge area as well as a desk in a small 10×12 bedroom, I used slipper chairs (no arms to take up space), glass end table and modern glass desk.  The one large piece of art is placed opposite the entry door so that it can be seen from the hallway.  It serves two purposes then – an “end” to the hallway and a focal point in the office.

The master bedroom expands the color palette. (photo by Terrie P)

9.  Use mirrors to expand the space.  In this smallish bedroom a three-fold mirrored screen serves several purposes:  creates a “virtual window” by reflecting light back into the room and visually expands the space.  I maintained the color palette but changed it up a bit by adding the warm golden tan to the light blue – the stripe marries the colors and the chair, pillows and throw bring in the warmer tone.  The dark wood tones from the living room are used again and create a focal point along that wall.  Notice the shimmery Roman shades at the window, taking the brightness of the mirror onto another wall.

10.  Designers use plants liberally – for several reasons.  Plants are usually silk in model homes, but you may choose to use real plants. If you do, make sure only your best specimens are on display – if it’s more yellow than green, don’t use it! 

Plants bring a touch of life to often sterile looking, perfect rooms.  Plants fill dull, dark corners, provide architecture or texture and add height in otherwise level seating arrangements.  You’ll notice there’s some sign of plant life in every photo of this model unit.  Even in the little eating area, there’s a simple silk flower arrangement.  (A caution here, choose the best quality silk flowers you can afford – you want them to look as real as possible, not cheap and cheesey.  If you can’t afford a big, fancy arrangement, start with a couple of quality stems in a bud vase and save up your pennies.  The impact will be worth it.)

USE DESIGNER TRICKS IN YOUR HOME

I give you permission to use any and all of these ‘designer tricks’ in your own home.  Do you need help with a specific room or corner of a room or maybe figuring out a unifying color palette?  Do you need help creating a gentle version of a theme so you don’t feel like you’re living in a showroom but your home still feels pulled together?  Contact me (your questions go directly to my personal email) with your questions (send pics when you can) and I’ll help you with specific tips.  I look forward to hearing from you. 

Related posts:

1. Art of Accessorizing – part 5: Color
2. Guaranteed Design Success
3. What Color to Use With Gray?

6 COLOR SCHEME RULES

1. Carry a main color throughout the house.  It doesn’t have to be used in the same way in each room, or even the same intensity, but keep a unifying thread of color in all the rooms.
2. If you’re new to decorating, fewer colors are certainly easier and less intimidating to work with (start with 3).  Hopefully with my guidance and a little decorating courage, you’ll be able to expand your view and try mixing multiple patterns and colors but still keep a cohesive look.
3. Using equal amounts of all 3 colors does NOT give a balanced look.  The room will actually end up feeling jumbled – you need to have your dominant color be 50-70% of the surface of the room (depending upon how much you love it).  That means it will usually be on the floors and/or walls.  A secondary color would show up on the major pieces of furniture and drapes.  Finally, your third and smallest color will be your accent color and will be found in accessories, art, pillows, lampshades, etc.
4. Make sure adjoining rooms share colors in common.  Again, the proportions don’t have to be exactly the same, but there should be some color coordination.  For example, you could use a tan wall in rooms 1 & 2 and accent with medium and dark green.  Then in room 3, your wall could be a soft green with accents in tan and dark green, maybe throw in a splash of red for spice.  Then, in room 4, take the tan wall a shade darker, use the red as the main accent and a little bit of green here and there. Imagine how the color palette flows from room to room, keeping the same colors of tan, red and green throughout but in varying proportions.
5. Use your accessories, drapes, pillows and wallpaper to reinforce your color scheme or introduce a touch of a new color.
6. Use a bold, contrasting or accent color to help highlight or create a focal point.  This could be painting an accent wall, painting a fireplace, or using patterned drapes on a window with a plain view to ‘manufacture’ a focal point.

For those of you who work better with visuals, here’s how a color scheme might develop:

Color scheme inspiration fabric.

This ‘fabric’ has lots of colors to pull into a variety of rooms and would suit several styles.  Because it’s a modern interpretation of a paisley, it could work in a modern room, certainly a traditional room and would be a good compromise pattern in a couple’s bedroom. 

The key to successfully mixing patterns is 2 fold:  using a similar color palette (it’s okay to have one or two coordinating but different colors in one of the patterns) and scale.  Scale is perhaps the hardest thing to see.  If you’ve got a large swirly, busy pattern like this, calm it down with some nice wide stripes.  Generally florals or organic shapes and stripes complement each other well.  Little, dense patterns need to be contrasted with large, bold patterns.  A busy damask is beautiful against a stripe.  Do you see a pattern developing?  You want to pair curvy with straight lines and small with large patterns. 

Working from this pattern, here’s some options on mixing fabrics and creating a cohesive color scheme.

Working with the inspiration fabric, room 1 would have tan walls.

This tan is pulled from the orangey tone in the paisley and then softened to a tan for the walls.  I found a great stripe that complements the paisley colors beautifully and could be used for an accent chair.  Try the paisley as draperies or an ottoman.  The darker orange and bright green would be small accents like trim, lampshades, vases.

Color scheme with tan walls and a stripe.

Moving to the next room, you keep the same tan walls and stripe fabric.  This time the stripe moves from the accent chair to some pillows on this green sofa or as an edging to solid drapes.  The floral picks up the colors but introduces a small amount of a new pattern.

Now introduce a new wall color: green.

Now you’ve decided you’re ready to be bold in a room so you choose this delicious green from the paisley (it’s greyed down a little so it’s not quite so bright).  The stripe still works beautifully but this time you introduce a chunk of a solid beige, maybe to paint the fireplace or for draperies.  The little, sweet floral could be used sparingly just to spark up the color scheme.

Brighten a dark room with beige walls.

Now you’ve moved to the back of the house and this little room is darker than the others.  Now you pick the lightest color from your inspiration piece for the walls.  For this high-energy family room, you choose a blue sofa and the bright orange to really punch up the colors a bit.  The paisley is still the glue holding the color scheme together and could be used prominently as draperies again, as trim, or maybe it’s your rug……

This is only one scenario built from this fabric.  The possibilities are endless.  Let your inner decorator loose and put your imagination to work seeing how you could build a cohesive plan from a single inspiration piece.  Need help?  Ask me.

Related posts:

1. What Color to Use With Gray?
2. Art of Accessorizing – part 5: Color
3. Tuscan Style and Color

Gate on a house in Palm Springs

I was in Palm Springs, CA over the weekend visiting friends.  On our morning walk we went by this house and I noticed the striking gate – simple, elegant, dramatic – a perfect courtyard gate framed by this great slate tile. 

As I walked back to the house I noticed that the same motif of the gate is repeated in the front door.  The impact is instant and impressive and you just know the rest of the house will be equally cohesive.  Note the symmetry of the potted spiral trees flanking the front door – it reinforces the clean modern lines but adds a touch of green and life to the entry courtyard.

Palm Springs home with repeating motif.

Model home living room.

Model home dining room.

Model home bathroom.

Have you had a successful use of repetition as a design technique?  We’d love to see some photos.  If you want some help in recognizing or developing a motif, ask me.  If you’ve got a room started but are not sure where to go next, ask me.  I’d love to help.

Related posts:

1. 10 Things to Learn from a Model Home
2. How to Begin a Makeover
3. How-To Accessorize A Side Table Perfectly