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Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inspiration. Show all posts

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Inspiration- Neutral dining room

Today's design board is a nod to the neutral color palette lovers. Neutrals are a great way to play with pattern and built a hierarchy with scale and theme. Hierarchy, you say? Yes! Just like a diagrammed sentence, Manslow's hierarchy of need, or a Venn diagram, there is a visual hierarchy in place in all rooms. Building this hierarchy with patterns, colors, size, scale, texture, or a mix is what makes a room great. When you eliminate some of these options, like color, or pattern, it is easier to see the built environment's hierarchy.

For this space, I added one color that is different from the rest- a green buffet. It is the top of the hierarchy, because you see it first. It is the lead singer in the band. The next is the arabesque wall paper, it is the most graphic (greatest contrast in tones close together) pattern and it is the tallest and biggest item in the room. The hutch is the tallest furniture in the room and breaks up the wallpaper, which would be overwhelming with out the visual breaks of the hutch and the art. The art provides a place for your eye to rest from all the pattern. It ranks third. Lastly, are the table and chairs, they are why you are in the room. You are naturally going to gravitate to them and you will physically interact with them, so there is less reason, design-wise, to make them the star.

Laurl Designs boards can be found here.
Another hierarchy to think about is the senses. You see the space first, let your first sense get the top billing for all the reasons listed above. Then, you hear the space. Is it loud or quiet? Carpets on the floor, drapes and other textures change the noise level in a room. Fine dining has carpets, texture wallpaper, tablecloths and sometimes draped interior spaces. They are very quiet. In fast food places, there are no soft fabrics... I'm not counting the dust mats at the doors. You want your space to sound like fine dining, not McDonald's or like McDonald's, you will be leaving the space quickly. Last sense in a space is touch. The things that you would touch in a space, the chairs, table, possibly the buffet, should have textures that are interesting to feel. In this space the chairs are cane and linen, the table is zinc topped, and the buffet is painting wood. These are all interesting textures to feel and contrast with each other.

Then there are the smallest of details, the brass tray that moves the light around the room, the pretty buffet lamps that add a warm glow and the antler chandelier which add an unexpected element in the space.

If you are interested in any of the items on the board, you can find there here!


Friday, April 18, 2014

Inspirations- The Pink and Green family room, a modern classic design

Today's inspiration board is a pink and green family room. The large chesterfield sofa in olive green velvet prevents the space from being saccharine sweet. I have also used my rule of threes, to incorporate three shades of green and of pink so that the any one shade does look off.  The space is grounded with the neutral wallpaper, drapes, coffee table and lamp shades. Lastly, adding touches of gold and brass provides the spark. The real design comes in with mixing the prints by using a variety in scale, as well as referencing multiple cultural elements with the Greek key on the drapes, foo dog lamps, and adding a trunk for a coffee table gently references travel and worldliness.


If you see anything you want, you can click HERE to go to the inspiration board and purchase! If you love the mirror top side tables, I have a pair in stock and ready to go, just contact me.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Color Inspiration- Light Grey and Pale Gold from Michelle Dockery at the Oscars






Inspired by the dresses from the Oscar's this weekend, I loved the subtle palette of Michelle Dockery's dress by Oscar de la Renta in pale warm grey and light gold.  Really pretty! It would be really pretty in a home, as well. The strength of this dress is in the patterning of the fabric. The embroidery creates a tonal pattern of shades of grey from the shadow lines.

All shades of grey are popular in home right now, from the darkest grey browns to the palest cool grey white. Any of these can make a space seem cold without adding warmer colors like gold- as this dress did with gold sequins and the stylist with the pale gold accents. Taking this color cue, I have found some great inspirational examples for the home!





Note the light gold fingernail polish and the pale gold shoes in an almost matte silk satin.
master bath. light grey. area rug. gold picture fraes. gold fixture. chevron floors. gold curtain rod. tub faucet.
Here from Chyanne @ The Yuppie Closet
Ginger / Winged Grey and Gold Horse Articulated Decoration  / Hinged Beasts Series
Here from Ben Conservato on Etsy... love his work!
Studio Isle - kitchens - gray kitchen cabinets, gray cabinets, gray kitchen, gray kitchen island, gray islands, gray cabinets with brass hardware, gray kitchen cabinets with brass hardware,
Here  from Decor Pad
twotwosix7
Here from Studio Ilse
Here from Paris decorator Jean-Louis Deniot's own home via afflante.com
Gilded Wood Picture Frame 8x10
Here for a "cheap and cheerful" from Sav-on crafts



Friday, February 21, 2014

Color inspiration- the Grey and Bronze of Adelina Sotnikova's costume

I love the combination of color on the Gold medal winner, in Ladies Figure Skating, free skate costume. Rich dark grey and warm bronze.... Matte grey and sparkle bronze... Pretty silk drapes and bronze hardware... Dark grey linen pouf with bronze nail heads... Soapstone counter tops with copper sink... I cannot decide how best to apply the combo!

Some inspirational riffs on that combo-
Here
IMG_8312
Here
Beautiful Kitchen area. Bronze and grey/.
Here

Here's one I want but have never seen feathers of.  Bronze-tailed peacock pheasant
Here

Grey, black white with bronze, gold touches
Here
Bronze hardware on grey cabinets; via FarmHouse Urban
Here
A medieval-looking chandelier and use of opulent bronze and gray velveteen give a rich-lush-castle feel to this beamed, cathedral-ceiling bedroom.
Here


Thursday, February 20, 2014

Kitchen inspiration- the black and white kitchen

My sister asked me to help her re-do her kitchen. So, we have been sharing a pin board on Pinterest to banter about ideas. We have different views on what would make a cool Black and White kitchen!

Her contemporary kitchen pick-
From blog: searching for style
My contemporary kitchen pick~
from blog: SF girl by the bay
Her Shabby Cottage kitchen pick-
from blog: cupcakes and crinolines
My Shabby Cottage kitchen pick~
LOVE this white kitchen!
from website: Jennifer Hutton Interiors
The constancy between both of our pins is glass on the doors to exposed shelves.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Silver fabrics to shine at home

Inspiration can come from many sources- the silver screen, great jewelry, your new mirrored Ray-Bans. Today I am offered up a collection of fantastic fabrics with a dash of shiny silver for your inspiration.  They are great options for a neutral space. By playing well with greys, yet contrasting, they will add a glint and a wink to a space.

I particularly like the linens with a screen printed silver damask patterns! The collection includes linens to silks, vinyl to velvets, printed to embroidered from maker Vervain to Duralee. If you are interested in more information or yardage any of these fabrics, let me know!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Inspiration: Great on the outside and in

This pattern could go traditional or Southwestern
depending on the accents- great warm color selections.
I have been inspired by a neighbor. I don't live in a neighborhood where we leave the drapes open for all the world to see the living room. However, I passed by a house the other day who does leave the drapes open and I was inspired by what I saw. The house is a medium tone brick with cream shutters and trim, and a soft orange front door. Doors are a great way to express your personality and utilize a little color theory to tell your guests about your home. They are also the easiest to change- and the cheapest costing about a pint of paint and a Saturday afternoon.

The inspiration came from the bigger picture than the orange front door, because the large plate glass window framed a pair of wing-back chairs in a bold cut-pile fabric in colors of oranges, browns, greens and cream. This pattern and colors expressed the energy of front door and created a repetition of color and pattern that is most comfortable for the mind.

To celebrate great facades, I have created great pairings of fabrics and exterior trim paints for you to spice up your home! The upholstery fabrics are paired with Sherwin Williams paint colors using their new Chipit! online program. It's fun to see what colors the programs pulls, of course choosing colors in person is best to take lighting conditions into account, but this program is a great start!
Fun cut velvet giraffe fabric with great beach-y paint colors


A twist on animal print makes this fabric contemporary and a great home accent piece. I would love to see the Eminent Bronze on a front door of a contemporary style or international style house!


Modern classic damask pattern would be striking on a large chair in a picture window on a cream house with a Tricorn black or a Raisin front door!


Robert Allen floral for your formal spaces and very pretty when viewed with a creamy white exterior and a Polished Mahogany or Saguaro painted door.
Robert Allen Velvet Stripes perfect on contemporary lines of a chair or chaise in the front window! I'd choose the Rookwood Dark Red on a light house or the Garden Sage on a medium toned house.

Need help coordinating a paint color or with fabric selections. I'd love to help! Color is one of my favorite things to work with and fabrics are a long passion of mine! Drop me a line and we can chat!
laurlself@gmail.com

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Home Office-English style- Turquoise and Chocolate

For my weekly room design, I have taken the home office from my last post (image from country living) and as inspiration for a home office.  It's soft, romantic, and looks highly functional! I choose a chocolate and turquoise as the color palette for my office. Below is the decorators story board including wallpaper, paint, carpet and furnishings. All you need to add you office supplies!