OT: Interior Design Help/Question
Jennifer
I'm in the midst of having a home addition completed. Not only do I
need to figure out what color paint to use on the walls, but I want to
repaint the rest of the house in a complementary fashion.
I've done a lot of research online IRT interior design, and I have a
list of 10 companies to call tomorrow in and around Annapolis.
Mostly, I wondered if any of you had particular insights on home design,
how it's best to draw everything together, *particularly* IRT color. I
am having the worst time with color! I have a picture ripped out of a
magazine that shows this olive-y color I like for the living room. But
after that, I have no idea what would work.
Any suggestions welcome :-) TIA,
Jennifer
Geri and sometimes Brian
>magazine that shows this olive-y color I like for the living room. But
>after that, I have no idea what would work.
Well, you suckered me in with this question, because this is what I wish I did
instead of being a nurse, if I could get brave enough to go back to school. (I
guess one of these days I will take a basic design class just to see if I
actually have talent, as opposed to desire.)
In answer to your question, I think it kind of depends on what kind of mood you
want to set for your room. Do you want to make a bold dramatic statement with
your colors or do you want a more muted look. (The color you mentioned sounds
muted, but you could liven it up depending on what you use with it. My bedroom
is done in sage and red.). Is your look more contemporary or classic? If you
are having a decorator come in, that is probably good, since he/she can see the
room size, where the windows are for lighting, etc.
I think seeing the place IRL is important when it comes to decorating, to get
the "feel" of the room, so it is good you are bringing in a decorator if you
aren't sure what you want. When I was married before, we built a house in KC.
It had a huge kitchen and I wanted my kitchen counters (and there were a lot of
them) to be in a color called, "Hollyberry", which was red. My (now ex)
husband thought that sounded terrible. (The man had dreadful taste in anything
artistic.) I wanted the kitchen to be done in red, white and black, actually,
but I wanted those red counters. (One of the reasons I also wanted that was
that the kitchen was open to a breakfast area which was open to the family
room, and I did the family room in red and forest. I used all of the colors in
the breakfast area.) Anyway, I was stubborn about it and got my way, and when
the house was done, he thanked me about it because it ended up looking so cool.
We got a million compliments from everyone who came to the house.
As far as room paint color (I hate wallpaper - I think it is so limiting.), I
like to use a light neutral color like cream, (sometimes just barely tinged
with another color - like in your case that olive color - that you are using
predominantly in the room). The reason I like to do this is because I get
bored easily and am always getting new (for example) bedspreads or other room
accessories or even furniture at times, and I don't want to have to repaint my
room every time I change my mind. But that is just a me thing. (OTOH, I am
looking forward to when we can finally get our own place, because I am going to
paint the walls of my next dining room red, I think. It sounds wild, but I
have seen it done, and it actually looked really cool, and will go with the
kind of style we are emphasizing throughout the house.)
Anyway, good luck with your decorating. It sounds like much fun. When I got
divorced, the only regret I had about it was leaving behind that house I picked
out and decorated myself. (I walked into the first model of that home when the
it was in the frame stage and found it had everything we wanted. I could
visualize the house at that point, and the builder told me that being able to
do that is pretty rare. On our home, I had them make some structural
alterations, in order to accomodate our furniture and some furniture that I
planned to get. We had them build the house in a different neighborhood where
the builder also did homes, but not that house, so our house was different than
any of the neighbors' homes. I picked out every color, carpet, woodwork, light
fixture, doorknob, faucet, cabinet pull, etc. in the place, and it was great
fun.
Geri
"I declare to you that woman must not depend upon the protection of
man, but must be taught to protect herself, and there I take my
stand." - Susan B Anthony
WhansaMi
Oh, Geri, could you PLEASE come to my house and do it then???? I hate it, I
hate it! I just KNOW I'm going to goof up AGAIN, and I will have to spend
three more years living with something I don't like!!
We are putting down new flooring and changing the walls in the living room and
dining room. Mike's ex was into "country" stuff.... lots of "doo-dads" all
over the place, in creams, blues and yellows. When we got together he REALLY
wanted to go with a less cluttered look, but with BRIGHT colors. Believe it or
not, we ended up with two purple walls in the living room. :-O I never liked
it, but he did... and since he had never felt like he had a place that
reflected his taste, I acquiesced. I'm not sorry I did... he needed that, but
now I'm ready for something a bit more... ummm.. subdued.
We BOTH really like the Prarie Style stuff... big fans of Frank Lloyd Wright,
here. Of course, the architecture of our house is more traditional than
"Wright-ish", so we can't get that pure look, but we'd like to sort of go with
that look. However, we have a forest green sectional couch... and that we
can't change in the foreseeable future. <<sigh>>
Any suggestions???
Sheila
Geri and sometimes Brian
>here. Of course, the architecture of our house is more traditional than
>"Wright-ish", so we can't get that pure look, but we'd like to sort of go
>with
>that look. However, we have a forest green sectional couch... and
>can't change in the foreseeable future. <<sigh>>
Let me think on that a little. I have not been a big fan of FLW, because all
of the straight, especially horizontal lines bug me. How much of your room does
the couch take up, BTW?
WhansaMi
>Wright,
>>here. Of course, the architecture of our house is more traditional than
>>"Wright-ish", so we can't get that pure look, but we'd like to sort of go
>>with
>>that look. However, we have a forest green sectional couch... and
>>hat we
>>can't change in the foreseeable future. <<sigh>>
>
>Let me think on that a little. I have not been a big fan of FLW, because all
>of the straight, especially horizontal lines bug me. How much of your room
>does
>the couch take up, BTW?
>
>
>
>
>Geri
We have pretty large rooms, so it isn't too bad. Basically the living room is
14 by 20, with two openings along the long wall. One leg of the couch sits
along that closed section of the wall, and then the back of the other leg forms
a pathway from the first opening. Does that make sense?? Gosh, I wish I could
draw it! The other long wall has a bay window out to the front yard.
By the way, the one room we did that I really DO like is our den. Again, we
wanted some color, so we took industrial grade tile (color-thru) and cut it
into pieces to form shadow-boxes for the flooring. The large internal pieces
of the boxes are a light cream color, with green strips running along one
perpendicular angle, and then cranberry red strips along the outside of the
whole thing. It took FOREVER to make... rather like piecing together a
patchwork quilt, but the tiles weren't self-adhesive, so it was a LOT of work
(Mike cut the tiles, there were over 400 pieces altogether!). Overall it has a
nice sporty look. We matched the wall to the center cream-colored tiles. I
really do like that room. :-)
Sheila
Jennaii
paint our rooms. I didn't want to have to paint again for a long long time. I
didn't want to get sick of the color later. I didn't want to have to
coordinate all the furnishings around the color of the walls and carpet.
I decided on off - white walls, (it's actually called Designer Grey, but it's
off white).
I know.. I know... I went WAY out on a limb here, but I have NEVER been sorry
:)
>I
>am having the worst time with color! I
"This time: gonna do it RIGHT!" -- Bob Seger
Jennaii
Kathleen and Steve
My Mom got into the "feng-shui" movement and I helped her redo her house.
It is the "ancient art of chinese" decorating - placement of furniture, etc.
It boils down to a basic map of a square, broken down into 9 boxes which
relate to different aspects of your life. You pick the area you most want
to enhance (each area has specific colors and elements like metal/wood) and
then you work on that area. I am not one to beleive in this type of stuff
but we finished and it looks GREAT! It is fairly simplistic but you have to
get a book and read up a bit. There is a wealth of information out there
and you can really get into it, or you can go the simplistic route that Mom
used. She commented that she did her desk at work in the same fashion and
it seems to work well for her. A lot of it is basic common sense.
With hope and heart,
Kathleen
a simplistic explanation:
http://www.allsands.com/fengsheigood_by_gn.htm
Ruth Berry
http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/tradingspaces/tradingspaces.html
(I really *love* that show....just don't get the "lamp lady"!)
--
God Bless!
Ruth Berry
---------
1 John 4:8 He who does not love
does not know God; for God is love.
WhansaMi <whan...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20011027094726...@mb-fl.aol.com...
Jennifer
pull it all together! I've always gone with more vivid colors, but I don't want
the "red room...green room...blue room" syndrome, esp. downstairs in the "public
area." I want to set a consistent look that will be restful but innovative,
interesting w/o being disturbing :-) When we constructed our master bedroom, I did
it in all neutrals, b/c it was a "no kids" zone that would be a peaceful area.
Cream walls and carpet, muted tiles, but a gorgeous colorful mobile, a vivid
original oil painting I bought in NY, and a bright seriograph I bought in DE. Can
I just say that I'm tired of the beige after 4 years? I just ordered a "cinnabar"
colored set of bedding from Company Store last night to liven up the joint :-)
I loved our kitchen when we did it nearly 10 years ago--it's painted green, very
vivid green, kind of in between emerald and teal. Hard to explain, but pics of it
are often developed with the paint looking Smurf blue, lol :-)
Then the living room and hallway were painted cream on the walls. Now that the
addition's going to be done soon, we're going to be putting wood flooring on the
entire downstairs (kitchen, living room, dining room, laundry room up to our master
bedroom door, plus the 1st floor of the addition), so suddenly I can go with a new
look, more of the Colonial style (we have a 1962 Colonial-style house). I like the
Colonial colors, and I like a lot of color, but I want it to look classy and not
garish.
I want there to be various focal points but a good flow. I love the Not So Big
house movement (I've mentioned it before) and really go for the wood and white trim
look. I want artwork to shine. I want to get rid of the cream paint on the walls
b/c it bores me to tears, and I'd rather get new furniture that's simple and put it
against colorful walls (I suddenly hate my modern multi-colored couches, so they're
going up to my MIL's, lol).
I have a lot of ideas I plan to execute IRT things other than painting. I want to
put multi-colored stone tiles as a backsplash for the kitchen (butcher block)
counters (the bubbly kind of fired tiles, not something shiny and polyurethane
looking). I want to have sofas with beautifully turned legs. I want the living
room a *little* "oh, how tasteful but stunning" since it, for once, will get to be
mostly for adults (the addition is a playroom for kids on the bottom, and a game
room for adults on the top).
I want the look to be that of glass and wood and stone, and natural. I don't like
country, and I'm not into the modern look anymore. I want things to be comfortable
but sophisticated. I don't like slipcovers or frou-frou things. I want light
streaming into the rooms. I want bright colors in the children's playroom, but it
needs to flow from the rest of the house (the playroom will be accessed through an
opening in the existing kitchen, right by the living room). For the game room
upstairs, I need a neutral carpet that will work with the rosewood pool table, and
I want walls that are pubby looking, maybe wine or red or otherwise beautiful w/o
feeling oppressive.
The carpet of the game room upstairs will be echoed in the carpet going up the
existing stairway in the main house, so it should be compatible with the
downstairs, too, and all its colors. Oh, and one important part is that our
ceilings are low, probably 8' in most areas, though the spaces are typically long.
Just to clarify, here is our downstairs:
Walk in front door--no real foyer.
To the left, opening into living room (long and slightly narrow).
Straight ahead, hallway leading to kitchen.
Also straight ahead, staircase leading upstairs.
To the right, bathroom and office (which is off limits for the most part & will be
left out of the decorating scenario, lol).
If you are in the kitchen, it's also long and narrow.
There are various openings: gridded wood french doors to living room, new opening
to playroom addition, gridded wood patio doors to deck, doorway to laundry room
(and then to master bedroom).
Upstairs is easy. Four children's bedrooms laid out just like four corners of a
square, with a bathroom on either end of the square and a staircase coming up in
the middle. Through the back bathroom is a doorway to the upstairs game room
addition (locked to the kids).
Children's rooms are decorated already. I don't care so much if each room there
tells its own story. SD 15 just had her room entirely redone this past spring, and
it's *gorgeous*. She picked a blue carpet and a brighter blue for the walls, which
I thought wouldn't work, but it's awesome. DH put up these celestrial beads for
her closet and installed lights inside. There are lights strung up along the
ceiling, and she has a ton of cool lamps and a neon clock. She has this new steel
bed with denim-y bedding and bright chenille pillows in red, yellow and blue.
DD 7 has a deep green carpet and a beautiful wallpaper up to a chair rail that DH
installed. The wallpaper matches the curtains, which are both whimsical creations
from IKEA from many years back.
DS 7 has a dark blue carpet, and I'm having a muralist paint the night sky on his
ceiling that will include some glow in the dark paint. I plan on replacing his
current bedding with a celestial set (if you know where I can find a celestial
comforter--not comforter *cover*--I'd love to know).
Finally, there's DD 3, who's still sleeping off our room until the renovation is
done (one of her windows is being removed). I'm having the muralist paint a whole
scene in her room on all walls. Fantasy theme--castle in the clouds, Pegasus with
a rainbow trailing behind, Alpine-type trees, flowers. After that I'll probably
replace her carpet with something lavender and paint a matching color up to the
chair rail.
So is that a lot of information or what? I appreciate your input *very* much!!! I
could use all the help I can get.
Thanks,
Jennifer
>
Jennifer
> hehehe, "perfect" solution:
>
> http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/tradingspaces/tradingspaces.html
>
> (I really *love* that show....just don't get the "lamp lady"!)
ROFL, Ruth :-D I don't *think* so!! (Not that there's anything wrong with
that.)
If you could guarantee me a trade with an architect or interior designer,
sure...! ;-)
Jennifer
Jennifer
> I am NOT the decorating type. I stressed for a long time over what color to
> paint our rooms. I didn't want to have to paint again for a long long time. I
> didn't want to get sick of the color later. I didn't want to have to
> coordinate all the furnishings around the color of the walls and carpet.
> I decided on off - white walls, (it's actually called Designer Grey, but it's
> off white).
> I know.. I know... I went WAY out on a limb here, but I have NEVER been sorry
> :)
I made the same decision many years back, so I did neutral walls with more colorful
furnishings (except for my green kitchen). But now I am just so *bored*!!!!! Are
your sofas and other furniture mainly solid or patterned? What livens up your
rooms? Maybe you're one of those people who doesn't kill every plant and you have
some natural greenery for decor. I wish I had that option :-)
Jennifer
Jennifer
> > I'm just seeking for knowledge from the vast pool that is assp :-)
>
> My Mom got into the "feng-shui" movement and I helped her redo her house.
> It is the "ancient art of chinese" decorating - placement of furniture, etc.
> It boils down to a basic map of a square, broken down into 9 boxes which
> relate to different aspects of your life. You pick the area you most want
> to enhance (each area has specific colors and elements like metal/wood) and
> then you work on that area. I am not one to beleive in this type of stuff
> but we finished and it looks GREAT! It is fairly simplistic but you have to
> get a book and read up a bit. There is a wealth of information out there
> and you can really get into it, or you can go the simplistic route that Mom
> used. She commented that she did her desk at work in the same fashion and
> it seems to work well for her. A lot of it is basic common sense.
>
Thanks, Kathleen, that's a great suggestion! I know a little tiny bit about
feng shui, but I love the natural elements, and I bet the books show some
beautiful rooms that would spark my imagination. I'll start the research first
with your website and then Monday at the library :-) (Or, hey, I could always
hang out at Borders all day today, right?)
Jennifer
Jennaii
the winter. My favorite color is blue so most everything is blue. Couches are
in blue / mauve pattern. I don't have tons of knick knacks because that would
require more dusting :)
>Are
>your sofas and other furniture mainly solid or patterned? What livens up
>your
>rooms? Maybe you're one of those people who doesn't kill every plant and you
>have
>some natural greenery for decor. I wish I had that option :-)
Wendy
WhansaMi <whan...@aol.com> wrote:
> We are putting down new flooring and changing the walls in the living room and
>dining room. Mike's ex was into "country" stuff.... lots of "doo-dads" all
>over the place, in creams, blues and yellows. When we got together he REALLY
>wanted to go with a less cluttered look, but with BRIGHT colors. Believe it or
>not, we ended up with two purple walls in the living room. :-O I never liked
>it, but he did... and since he had never felt like he had a place that
>reflected his taste, I acquiesced. I'm not sorry I did... he needed that, but
>now I'm ready for something a bit more... ummm.. subdued.
I must admit I found it really therapeutic when ex moved out to do my
bedroom over completely. It became a labour of love. I ripped out built in
wardrobes, layed a wooden floor, colour washed the walls, bought a cast iron
bed, a pine wardrobe, wicker and cast iron chests of drawers for things, hung
a raw silk roman blind, hung prints I'd had since I was at University which
had sat in the loft for ten years, and then did the en suite shower room in
Italian tiles that looked like the same kind of beige stone I'd used to colour
wash the walls. I love my room.
I've done the girl's rooms recently and they both have purple walls, YD purple
and blue, OD purple and a deep sensuous pink.
Wendy
Wendy
Jennifer <gaz...@theironpig.com> wrote:
>Thanks, Kathleen, that's a great suggestion! I know a little tiny bit about
>feng shui, but I love the natural elements, and I bet the books show some
>beautiful rooms that would spark my imagination. I'll start the research first
>with your website and then Monday at the library :-) (Or, hey, I could always
>hang out at Borders all day today, right?)
What I like is simplicity. Less is more, IYSWIM. The size and scale of a
room tends to dictate how much colour to use.
We've been talking about a terracotta colour for our living room, but may
not do it on all the walls. We're starting from scratch with furniture
too, though I've quite a few paintings and prints (many with autumnal themes).
Wendy
Jennifer
Oooh! Sounds gorgeous! :-)
Jennifer
Anne Haas
>We've been talking about a terracotta colour for our living room, but may
>not do it on all the walls. We're starting from scratch with furniture
>too, though I've quite a few paintings and prints (many with autumnal
>themes).
You can also do just one wall in a strong color. Or glaze it to lighten the
intensity. In my living room, dining room & kitchen I have three walls which
are a light, pale, almost not there lavender. The living room & dining room
share a wall which I painted a much darker mauve color. I used that same color
in the kitchen in the bay window area.
Also, even small rooms can work with a strong color, such as red (or
terracotta). Keep the trim very white and use the color in accents like throw
pillows.
Christopher Lowell talks quite a bit about color on his show. His web site is:
http://www.christopherlowell.com/
AnneH
Raising a teenager is like nailing Jello to a tree.
Jennifer
Thanks! I've bookmarked the site.
Jennifer
Wendy
Anne Haas <asta...@aol.comnospam> wrote:
>You can also do just one wall in a strong color. Or glaze it to lighten the
>intensity. In my living room, dining room & kitchen I have three walls which
>are a light, pale, almost not there lavender. The living room & dining room
>share a wall which I painted a much darker mauve color. I used that same color
>in the kitchen in the bay window area.
>
>Also, even small rooms can work with a strong color, such as red (or
>terracotta). Keep the trim very white and use the color in accents like throw
>pillows.
Mmmm, I did the study/tv room with two blue walls and two light colour washed
walls in a sort of gold over cream tone.
It's funny how certain colours are echoed between different rooms, tying them
together.
I like the sound of the lavender and mauve. Mmmmm, purple.
Wendy
Anne Haas
>together.
>
This is a good thing, from what I understand. I did the front (guest) bedroom
& our bedroom in blues. I have a very large tapestry hanging in the entry with
lots of blue in it, but also some pink. I have other pictures helping to
transition between the areas. My throw pillows are blues & pinks/mauves. It
gives a feeling of continuity and a sense of flow.
Wendy
Anne Haas <asta...@aol.comnospam> wrote:
>>It's funny how certain colours are echoed between different rooms, tying them
>>together.
>>
>
>This is a good thing, from what I understand. I did the front (guest) bedroom
>& our bedroom in blues. I have a very large tapestry hanging in the entry with
>lots of blue in it, but also some pink. I have other pictures helping to
>transition between the areas. My throw pillows are blues & pinks/mauves. It
>gives a feeling of continuity and a sense of flow.
I've got a wall hanging from Turkey which is all blues, plums, and pinks -
embrodiered and beaded, of all sorts of different fabrics and textures. It
was something I got after choosing the colour scheme rather than before, oddly
enough.
Wendy