Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams

As a designer, I'm always on the hunt.  I'm always looking for that new and interesting take on things that are very old and common.  I may stop into the same shops and showrooms a couple of times a week, to see what's new and what I may have looked over the last time I visited.  As I'm making my rounds, I always make sure to include a Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams stop on the route.  I think this is more for inspiration than anything else.  MGBW has a very modern, yet classic, take on furniture and I just love the clean, sophisticated feel of the store and its contents.  It also helps that they incorporate a lot of rich color and texture within their fabric selections.  Below I've posted a few pics of color and texture done right in the DC store.

Rust colored chairs paired with a midnight blue
leather ottoman with brushed steel nail head accents.
Photo my own.

Tangerine and teal. Plush velvet and soft cotton.
I'd like to sleep here.
Photo my own.

A velvet chaise in eggplant alongside a
creamy milk white side table.
Photo my own.

Handsome yet elegant stripes in varying
shades of blue on this wing chair. Nailheads
give it that extra bit of glam.
Photo my own.

Jewel Tones

It's no secret that I love color.  I always have, it's just something that makes me happy.  Color inspires me to be creative.  When I see a well designed room with rich, vibrant colors, it evokes an immediate reaction.  Pair color with texture and well, it's like I've died and gone to heaven.  But while I like color, my favorite colors are jewel tones.  Jewel tones are intense, rich, and highly saturated (meaning that the hue is dominant; a color like grey would have very little saturation). They are modeled after precious gems.  Interiors that have a good command of jewel toned colors leave me feeling as though I've just visited a special place. Here are a few "special places" I love. 

Excellent job of blending the citrine, garnet, teal and aubergine
tones in this space. 
Image courtesy of www.blog.decoratingden-ma-nh-me.com

Jewel toned pillows set against neutral window treatments and
upholstery works beautifully.
Image courtesy of www.yourdecoratinghotline.com

Varying shades of violet blend perfectly in this
lapiz living space.
Image courtesy of www.entertainingchic.com

Live Colorfully!

Yesterday, I spent some time on Houzz and I stumbled across these two spaces by two different designers and I fell in love with both.  Both completely represent the Kate Spade catch phrase "Live Colorfully".  Do you agree?  Why or why not?

Photo Courtesy of Houzz.com.
Interior Design by Gina Willman

Photo courtesy of Houzz.com. 
Interior Design by Michelle Salz-Smith

Color: Why You Shouldn't Be Afraid Of It.

I’ve always been very in tune to my surroundings, even as a young child. Studying design has only intensified that awareness of space and how a particular space makes me feel. There’s something about a place that has been wonderfully designed and appointed that excites me, inspires me, and emboldens me. But I’ve found very rarely am I “wowed” by residential spaces and I have come to attribute these lackluster feelings to boredom. Time after time after time, I enter a home and am greeted by white, beige, taupe, and/or grey walls. In addition to the insipid paint choices is insipid, beige, taupe, black, or brown furniture.

These dull spaces, while “nice” (I always use that word. “Oh, it’s nice.”), are boring. Very little is memorable about them except that they are “nice”. I’ve deemed these spaces the “I-don’t-want-to-step-on-any-toes-not-even-my-own-so-I’m-going-neutral” homes. I get it. Picking paint/furniture colors that are bold or a little off from center may be shocking. It may cause someone to actually comment and have an opinion. Or it may cause someone to actually remember something about the house, other than that it was “nice.” The spaces I remember most are those that surprised me with a bold, teal living room or a shade of purple so deep, it can only be described as eggplant. In other words, spaces that have embraced color have also left a lasting impression upon me. Think about it.

The point of this blog post is not to harp on why neutral is bad. The point is to explain why color should be embraced. Color is light that is reflected. Some time ago, a color wheel was invented to demonstrate the relationships between primary (red; blue; yellow), secondary and complementary colors. There is a whole field of study devoted to color called color theory and it examines color using the color wheel, color harmony and the context of how colors are used. For someone like me, this is all very fascinating but, for others, the main thing to understand is color harmony.

Photo courtesy of www.colormatters.com

Color harmony is exactly what it sounds like, selecting colors that are pleasing (harmonious) to (with) one another. According to www.colormatters.com, color harmony creates an inner sense of order and balance in the visual experience, “When something is not harmonious, it is either boring or chaotic.” Color harmony can be created using colors that are side by side on the color wheel or those that are directly opposite each other on the color wheel.

Color harmony using adjacent colors
Photo courtesy of Posh, LLC

Color can invoke emotion. Subtle, cool hues can relax you, while vibrant, warm tones can be stimulating. Some colors can be jarring. Others can be boring and blah. But really, there are no wrong colors. There may be wrong color combinations but there are no wrong colors. An example of this ideology can be seen in the production of Caesarstone’s (www.caesarstoneus.com) “Apple Martini” quartz countertop.

Caesarstone, Apple Martini 2710
Photo courtesy of www.absolutemarblegranite.com

Some may be taken aback at the thought of a lime green countertop but in the right environment and paired with the right accessories and appliances, a lime green countertop introduces an interesting talking point and adds a feeling of whimsy to the home. It says a lot about the homeowner’s personality without him/her ever having to utter a sound.

Photo courtesy of www.granitegurus.com

Often clients tell me they haven’t selected a paint color because they are afraid they won’t like it. I always reassure them, paint is the easiest and least expensive thing to change. It’s not permanent; if you don’t like it, choose another paint color. It’s a very simple fix. Color strikes an emotion. It resonates with something deep within us. We see color and immediately form opinions. Don’t allow the fear that you may not like your color choice stop you from allowing your personality to shine through in your home. Be bold or be subtle. Be daring or be traditional. Just be something and whatever that is, please don’t let it be “nice”.