Design trends for the new year

This time of year many design blogs and magazines present trend forecasts for the coming year.  They are interesting to read, but one has to recognize they are best guesses based on the knowledge and intuition  of the individual writer or design group.

On every newstand this month you'll see design magazines with design trends a prominent feature on their front covers. On closer inspection you may find there isn't a great deal of overlap from article to article and you have to work to piece together exactly what the trends are.  Exploration online offers almost too much information on the subject and the sheer quantity boggles your mind, but I keep reading.   Over the next several posts I'll  explore the  trends that appeal to my design aesthetic. 

Re-purposing 
This is a continuing trend from 2010 and I predict with the focus on everything green it will continue well into the future.  Finding creative ways to use what you have or to recycle furniture and objects from other sources  provides satisfaction on many levels. Re-purposing will be combined with buying new to develop a more unique, individual look that has a history. 

photo: Margaret Ryall

 artwork:  Will Gill  

This wicker chair acquired from a second hand store is one of my favourite pieces of furniture. I was attracted to it because of its unusual shape and I could see  beyond the horrible orange wicker and brown seat pad.  After four cans of spray paint it took on a new life.

I like a comfortable, more casual feel in my home,  therefore re-purposing has always been part of my design approach. I'm on the look out for a new chest of drawers to replace my sad little wicker set which is lost next to the chair. Then a  long overdue reorganization of this  space will be necessary.  The hunt is part of the fun.Yes, decorators have design problems like their clients and solutions need patience.


Sculptural White Objects:
The simplicity of grouped white pottery and sculpture has always appealed to me and I've used this interest in different ways over the years.  Finally it's a trend according to Canadian House and Home!

photos: Margaret Ryall

White vases to covet.....

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Check out the attic and the back cupboard, talk to your family and friends. Perhaps you can re-purpose white objects into a beautiful grouping.

Day 3, More Green Tape Please!

I underestimated how much woodwork this room had, and therefore, how much Frog Tape I'd need to tape off the walls before painting it. It took me almost 2 hours to get everything taped off.

Progress at 11:45 am: Room is taped and I started painting the trim. 

There's nothing terribly exciting to report today, except that I finished painting the first coat of trim. I wish that I'd been able to finish, but as the natural light disappeared, it became difficult to see where I'd already painted and where I hadn't. It will have to wait until tomorrow.

In addition to the scaffolding and paint/primer combo that I mentioned in this post and this post, there are a couple of other "new to me" products that have made this paint job a little easier. One is Frog Tape, which in my humble opinion is far superior to the blue painter's tape we used in our old house. It leaves a nice clean line and doesn't pull the paint off the wall when you remove it.

The other is a paint additive called Floetrol. When mixed into latex paint, it will slow the drying time thus reducing brush strokes. It is supposed to give latex paint the appearance of oil based paint without the smell. I'm using it in the trim paint and have been happy with the results so far. 

That's it for today. If all goes well, I'll have pictures of the finished room in the next post :)

Day 2, Bye Bye Blue

It has been an exhausting day, but I got a lot accomplished since yesterday.

Started the day sanding the ceiling and walls to remove the excess joint compound until they were smooth, then I vacuumed up all the drywall dust. 

Progress at 3:15 pm: Sanding finished. Man, that took longer than I thought it would. Moving on to painting the ceiling. I decided to get a little crazy and paint the ceiling a lighter shade of the wall color. I really want the crown moulding stand out and I'm also hoping the darker color will help disguise some of the cracks in the ceiling.  

Progress at 4:53 pm: My favorite part, first stroke of the new paint color on the walls. We're using Behr Premium Plus Ultra which is paint and primer in one. HUGE timesaver.  

Progress at 5:30 pm: Chris installed crown moulding on the top of each bookcase. 

Progress at 8:30 pm: First coat done. I'm really pleased with the condition of the walls now. All my effort in skimcoating and sanding paid off.  

I'm on a mission to get the second coat completed before I go to bed tonight so that the walls will be dry enough for me to tape and paint the trim tomorrow. I can't wait until this project is finished!

Day 1, Skimcoat Done

Today marks the first day of our home office makeover. I started out by applying a thin layer of joint compound to the walls and ceiling to smooth out the pitted texture and cracks in the plaster. I also caulked the crown moulding and most of the bookcases.  

Prepping the room

Paint samples.

We're going with the second one from the right, Behr Washed Khaki (UL170-8) .

My helpers. 

That's me wearing my super sexy painting clothes.

Btw, the scaffolding has been one of our smartest purchase yet.

Progress at 10:30 am

Progress at 1:30 pm

Skimcoat finished 5:30 pm

 Phew. I'm wiped out and my shoulders are sore, but I got a lot done. Calling it a day. 

Should I follow colour trends?

Do you plan to change your colour scheme in the new year?

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Have you been  looking for a colour scheme you won't see in every other house you visit?

traditional kitchen design by seattle architect

Do you want to put the stamp of individuality on your home?
  

traditional family room design by atlanta interior designer Cristi Holcombe

Here's a post just for  you.

Striving for individuality in your home is an up hill battle as I know from choosing colour scemes for my own home. Six years ago I repainted the first floor of my house at a time when heavy earth colours were popular .

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 The thought of using  dark  colours on my walls depressed me because they absorb too much outside light, and I need light to be happy.  So I choose a  colour scheme that was light and  neutral based on creams and grays.  I threw current trends to the four winds and created rooms I was happy in.  Six years have passed and now  my house is trendy!
 
While I'm very aware of design trends, there's an aspect of my personality that likes to fight them a little. Rather than giving advice to follow the latest colour trends, I feel the most important aspect of my role as an interior decorator is  to help clients develop a colour scheme that makes them happy  and comfortable.  That means keeping an open mind about all colour.

I'm a firm believer that you can use any colour you want in a room if it works with your furniture and the light. It's a matter of finding the value of the colour that works  and then expanding the scheme  with accents.  

You can develop your own style by starting with a colour you love and building on it. If you love yellow and think it is too much on walls, use it as an accent.

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 If you love pink, use it!

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If pristine is more to your taste , go there.  

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Remember...

"Be faithful to your own taste because nothing you really like is ever out of style." ~Billy Baldwin

Home Office Before

Here are a couple of pictures that we took during the home inspection. It is a nice size room for an office and perfectly located on the first floor of the house adjacent to the family room. This was the only room in the house that hadn't been wallpapered. 

At one time, this was probably a very pretty blue, but by the time we moved in, the color was faded and chalky. Overall, the walls are in bad shape. I have to deal with holes, flaking plaster & paint, and old outlets & covers.

Stay tuned. I'll keep you updated on my progress...

Home Office Inspiration

I'm going to be working on the home office this week. Just need a few more inspirational pictures to get motivated. 

via Apartment Therapy?

Domino

The magic colour

Is there a magic colour that solves a lot of problems when developing a colour scheme? 

Read on.

 White furniture provides  relief from vibrant colours

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This is a vivid colour scheme that could become a problem without the balance provided by the sofa and chair.  Soft white shows the other colours to great advantage creating a clean, crisp scheme.

White furniture in a dark colour scheme

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Brown on walls can create quite a dreary colour scheme, but  this room it is anything but dreary. The touches of yellow brighten it and white is quietly doing its job.

Crisp white and green

Amy Lau Design

Can you have too much of one colour in a room?  Yes,  this could have been such a room without the judicious use of white and creamy yellow accents.

Soft white in modern decor

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What other colour could produce this much impact with a purple wall?


This-eclectic-bedroom



Blues softened and connected by white, the magic colour. 
But.....


Is white a colour?
Scientifically speaking, it’s actually the combination of all colors in the visible spectrum of light.