Archive for the ‘Color Trends’ Category

Raise your hand if you made a New Year’s resolution this year!

All month long we’ll be bringing your tips and advice to help stick to your home improvement resolutions. We’ll be covering topics such as adding getting your home organized and picking the best “green” products for your home. This week we’re tackling the subject of adding color to your home.

Adding a bold color to your home may seem a but scary and a little too permanent for some people. The trick to stepping outside of your color comfort zone is to incorporate colors that work with your existing color scheme vs doing a complete overhaul.

Create an accent wall
An accent wall can define a space, add interest to a room and even highlight an architectural feature of your home. Here is some advice when considering an accent wall:

• Not all walls are suitable accent walls. There needs to be a reason for an accent wall and it needs to make sense in the overall design plan. A fireplace wall, a headboard wall or a window wall all make good accent wall candidates.
• Accent walls don’t always have to be paint – Wallpaper works great for accent walls.
• Accent walls allow you to incorporate bold colors into your home without committing all four walls– try dark charcoal, or dark chocolate color.

You don’t need to put paint on the walls
Adding color to your home doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to put paint brush to wall. Welove this idea of painting ceiling medallions in a bold color and then displaying them on a wall. Choosing a large object, such as these medallions, makes a big impact in a space with very little commitment.

Casa Sugar

Give your colors some punch
Sometimes adding a bold punch of color to an otherwise neutral space can have more impact than adding lots of color all over. Just take a look at these rooms featured on Apartment Therapy. In the top photo, all it took was a beautiful plant and a throw blanket to give the room some life. And the turquoise throw pillows in the bottom photo look so sharp next to the white sofa.

Apartment Therapy

Apartment Therapy

I am sure you have seen various stories about the color of the year from many sources and for the most part they do not agree. From a pale yellow to a bright green with a blue in between the favorite colors are all over the spectrum.  It does not stop with the just a favorite hue it varies in value from light to dark and in intensity from bright to muted, but that is all part of the mystique.  Color trends are based on their end use so a color palette for an interior color can be 180 degrees away from an exterior selection.

The automotive industry has their forecast of the standard neutrals from white to black, bright primaries and twists and tweaks on current best sellers. Colors trends are different for sports cars than they are for trucks, small from large and pricey versus economical.

Fashion gurus predict colors from diaphanous tints to earthy tones, with no single hue standing out. They take some of their cues from Hollywood and the entertainment industry and the high couture houses. Color is very dependent on price point, style and end use.

Home furnishing colors are all over the board with a small palette for wood tones and a huge palette for paint. Long term colors like those found in carpet and tile lines are small selections that have neutrals as their best sellers and area rugs and pillows have brighter ranges.

When you take into consideration there are dozens of industries with even more color trends and possibilities it can be overwhelming and perhaps the answer is in naming one color as color of the year but that can be a disservice the all of the other colors that will emerge as important in 2013. With that in mind the resolution is in picking one strong color from each color family to feature as a strong frontrunner.

As we look ahead we also look back at childhood memories for comfort as expressed in Keepsakes. Copper is an earthy tone that is seen as both an interior and exterior favorite.

Comp Hues are based on computer generated design and new technology. Of all the colors you see in print, on the web or on the tube, bright blue stands out as the most commonly used hue.

Subhued. These soft, easy on the eye colors are perfect for any space in the home as they take us out of the maddening crowd into a haven of peace and a cloud of softness. Soft grays have emerged as strong contenders against the beige overload in today’s styles.

Out of Bounds are colors that express excitement, imagination and a look of surprise. We constantly look for the “new” in everything and finding what is the next big thing, color and design can provide that. Bright greens have come to light as everyday occurrences, no longer just a spark in the palette but a strong leader in some products.

Elemental describes a group of colors used to express our connection with nature and mother earth. This mango hue may not look like an earthtone when first viewed but think of a sunset and how it is nature’s curtain call on the day.

No Rules. Just when we think we have seen it all we find that to be totally untrue. Fashion is famous for breaking the rules and in fact breaking the rules is the sometimes the only way we can call something “new”.  Pink is a shining star in the fashion palette that has moved over into home furnishings schemes.

There may not be a single color for 2013 but look at this pared down palette of six stunning hues, each a star in its own right.

As much as we ridicule fashion shows for their outlandish styles and ridiculous clothes that few of us would wear in public these spectacles are just that; spectacles! They do this so that by the time the trend trickles down to ready to wear and then into home fashions a semblance of the designer’s idea is still present.

The most seen fashion is what appears on TV and in the movies. Because they are so widely watched they have a large influence on all of us. Youth markets have emerged as a strong impact on other markets, including high end and home furnishings. Young people have no boundaries when it comes to what coordinates with what and the mix of patterns and colors show their independence.

Grafiti has been an ever present icon for the youth market and its strong influence spreads to interior walls, especially for teenagers’ bedrooms and media rooms.

Often you will see fashion literally translated into home furnishings, here a common mix of patterns and color is rendered into a teen’s room.

Other motifs that appear in today’s youth market are tattoos, layering, Goth continued, vampires, dragons and magic.

The interest in vampires reinforces the black trend that has been common to teenagers for decades. The need to belong and fit in bolsters this trend.

It is not unusual for a teenager to want their bedrooms to be painted black, actually it is a strong influence even for adult bedrooms and other rooms in the house.

We’re all familiar with the 3 R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle – but we would like to add a 4th “R” to that list! Repurpose!

Repurposing old and outdated furniture is a simple way to help reduce landfill waste and cut down on the carbon footprint required to make and ship new furniture. Plus, it’s just plain fun!

Some tips for refinishing old furniture include:

• You can paint metal: You can paint metal, just make sure to prime the surface first!
• The more you sand, the better you’ll get: The more you sand, the more you’ll pick up a technique. You don’t want to sand so deeply that you go beyond the top layer of wood. Learning how your sander handles will also help you when you “distress” painted objects.
• Don’t take shortcuts: If a piece has hardware or drawers, remove them entirely for prep and painting. Because these areas get a lot of use, they are ripe for eventual paint flaking. Sand drawer edges carefully so the old paint is gone before applying new. Two coats of sealer should give the drawers “armor” for future use.

(Source)

Now that you’ve got the basics, here are some of our favorite repurposed projects from around the web!

Old drawers as shelves via RemodelAholic.

Remodelaholic

Read the rest of this entry »

The color black has been steadily trending on the design scene. From dramatic touches of the dark color to entire rooms blanketed in it, black is back and it looks like it’s sticking around! One of the latest trends we’re seeing with black is using it to paint interior trim and doors. And we’re liking it…

House of Turquoise

Decorpad

Dark trim gives a room depth and adds a sophisticated touch. Of course, there is a right and a wrong way to incorporate this trend into your home. Houzz.com recommends,

“For the most lustery sheen, use a high-gloss oil paint and apply it with a sponge roller for a smooth finish. Latex is fine for lower sheens, but even coating it with glossy polyurethane will not achieve the same luscious look as oil paint. Remember, high-gloss or low-sheen, paired with white walls, black casework is a perfect example of a timeless classic for the home.”

Burnham Design Project

Read the rest of this entry »

The Color Marketing Group has reported that blue is the color of the year, so here are ways to use it.

What is Blue’s mood? What do I put with Blue? Are you blue about Blue?

Blue is one of the most versatile colors in the spectrum; it is also the most often selected favorite color globally. Blue is a happy color coming from the cool side of the palette that also is soothing and calming. This hue has been associated with boys but not as much at present as it is considered gender friendly.

Blues on the aqua side are perfect for bathrooms since they remind us of water or even a tropical beach getaway.  This color works great with the browns and beiges in granite and wood and of course deeper and brighter versions of the color family.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you are just starting out with your office at home you need to consider the right color for your work environment. If you choose a color that is too bright it can affect your eyesight and give you eye fatigue resulting in headaches and eye strain.

A calming neutral is perfect for home offices. The color should complement the rest of the home if it is open to those areas. Keeping clutter to a minimum makes a working environment efficient and productive. Task lighting is important especially if there is no natural light available. The lighting should not be so bright that it causes a glare but light enough to easily view reading material.

Your office environment should reflect your product or your service. If you are a designer a trendy office is essential, especially if you have clients visit your office. Keeping work materials hidden in cabinets streamlines your office for a clean look.

Read the rest of this entry »

Each season has its own uniqueness and beauty. Winter is glittery and glamorous, spring is all about fresh, bold colors, summer means carefree living and design and fall … sigh … fall is all about coziness and comfort!

So what’s new in fall design for 2012? Let’s see what the experts are saying…

We’re hearing that bold, graphic wallpaper will be a huge design trend.

Schumacher Chiang Mai Dragon

Eijffinger

Read the rest of this entry »

Can we all just agree that summer goes by much too quickly? Ok? Agreed.

Thankfully, design transcends time and allows us to keep summer alive in our homes all year long! Here are some of our favorite year-round summer-inspired design elements:

Grasscloth wallcoverings
Adding natural elements, like grasscloth wallcoverings, to your home evoke the feelings of nature and the great outdoors. Grasscloth wallcoverings not only look great, but they also help cover any slight imperfections in walls, absorb noise and create a dramatic backdrop to any room.

Thibaut

Keep it clean with white…
Read the rest of this entry »

When you have the right design plan, you don’t have to worry about accepting a space as-is. There are very few flaws that can’t be “designed away!”

For example, if you have a room that feels dark and gloomy try these design tips and tricks to make it feel lighter and brighter!

Add a mirror
Mirrors trick the eye into thinking that a room is larger than it really is and also help reflect light. Add a floor-to-ceiling mirror for a dramatic effect or combine small, tile mirrors for added interest. Yard sales and estate sales are great places to find mirrors at affordable prices.

Elle Decor

Add some white
White gets a bump rap for being “boring.” But when done properly, an all white room can be dramatic and Read the rest of this entry »