Decorating with Color: Black and White are Colors Too

Previously we discussed that the use of color when decorating can be an important and personal choice and that we really needn't fear using it. One thing, however, that I feel I neglected to mention is that black and white are colors too.

Once again, I'm going to mention that the misuse of white in a room typically occurs when the only thing that is actually white, are the walls. They do not look intentional. Typically it looks purely like we couldn't choose a color so we left the walls white. A great color palette comes from the repetition of whatever colors we choose, but most importantly, white. That being said, I want to move on to talking about decorating with black and white.

Black and white can be a strong, contrasting color statement. It can be bold, contemporary, and have a lot of energy. Strong geometric patterns are sure to make visitors stop in awe.

But perhaps your taste is more traditional. You love the beautiful contrast but want to lose some of that strong, bold statement. that certainly doesn't mean that you have to give up this palette. Your choices are going to be less graphic and perhaps less obvious. This photo demonstrates a somewhat restrained use of black and white.

This photo strikes strikes me as more of an eclectic look. It seems to have items that have been collected over time and much of the room's owner's personality is interjected throughout the space. The decor feels updated and modern, yet has a slight art decor period feel to me.

One of my favorite decorating techniques when using black and white, is choosing one color that really stands out in the room. This is a great way to use a bright, bold color in a very restrained way. Sometimes 2-3 accent pieces in the color are all that is needed to make quite a statement.

This room might almost be considered boring if it weren't for it's
bold splashes of yellow.
I love this soothing aqua blue and the choice of both modern and
traditional furnishings.

This room starts with a soft grey-blue and interjects bold
choices of black and white pattern.

I love that this room, despite the strong black and white color
choices was warmed up with blues and green,
giving the room a more tropical feel.

Bold Floral in Black by Studio E

Baroque Scroll in White by Studio E

Iron Scroll in White by Studio E

Wire Rose in Black by Studio E

Decorating With Color - Don't be afraid!

Yesterday I said that in today's decorating world, anything goes. Granted, there are trends that will make us look back and remember the decade, but we are not as restricted as the "mauve and country blue", "hunter and burgundy", or "avocado green and harvest gold" of the past. Here are a few examples of rooms exploding with color that I found while browsing the Better Homes and Gardens website. I think just about every color of the rainbow can be found among these pictures.

First is the classic white room with beautiful punches of color. In this case, the choice of white for the walls certainly isn't due to a fear of color. It makes for a soothing neutral backdrop against the bright bursts of color. One important thing to note, and what makes these walls work, is that they are not the only white in the room. Too often, homeowners choose to leave their walls white, but then do not repeat that white anywhere else in the room. White works, and can be stunning, but you must repeat it throughout the room.

This room is nearly the exact opposite of the first one. Every single corner is bursting with bright color. Repeating the colors throughout the room is what makes it feel more soothing and less like a jumbled rainbow.

This room demonstrates more restraint, even through the bold color. The palate stays in the warm tones of orange, yellow, and red, and again are repeated throughout the room. A small splash of aqua blue adds interest and a cool contrast.

Compared to the warmth of the previous room, this one is cool and airy. It has a monochromatic feel with it's shades of bluish lavender in light, medium, and dark hues. This is a great choice for a room that gets a lot of sun and heat throughout the day.

This room's ultra urban industrial style is well balance with rich jewel tones. The cool lavender brown walls are warmed up with punches of bold red and orange.

So what do we learn from these pictures? Don't be afraid to use color! Find your favorites and balance throughout the room through repetition and pairing them with classic neutrals.

Decorating With Color - Finding Inspiration

Today I'd like to begin a new series that focuses on how to decorate using fabric color trends. There are so many bright, beautiful color combinations available and choosing the right one for the right project can be intimidating.

One of the great features about using color today, is that there are virtually no rules. Thanks to the advances in technology, we are free to discover color combinations from around the globe. We can take color inspiration from cultures all over the world and adapt them to accommodate our own style and personality. From the sun drenched Italian countryside to the vibrant, rich colors of Morocco, you are limited only by your imagination.

The single best way to incorporate color into your decorating is to find inspiration. Whether it's a picture of a room from your favorite decorating magazine or a photo taken on a summer vacation, find inspiration that moves you. Colors are able to evoke emotion, so by incorporating them into your decor you can take yourself to any destination imaginable.

Take a look at these inspiration pictures taken from Sherwin Williams 2009 Forecast Influences. Can you see your room decor evolve from on of these breathtaking scenes?

Global Tapestry

Techno-color

Conscious Luxury
Local Momentum

Office ideas from Better Homes and Gardens

During lunch I was flipping through a recent copy of Better Homes and Gardens that was lying on the table.  I found a decorating section that showed the office I am longing for.  So neat, so organized.  Look, they even have their fabric oh so neatly folded and stored.  Here's a copy of the entire page from May's issue.

It's so pretty and girly.  I wonder how long it would stay neat.

Bad, Bad, Bath! Take 4

One late night after the tiling was complete and we were at a standstill because we were waiting for the shower doors to be shipped, we found...you guessed it...another water problem.

Jason's closet is just outside the bathroom door.  We discovered that the carpet inside was sopping wet.  So Jason takes yet another trip down to the crawl space to check things out.  He finds a steady drip that appears to be coming from one of the pipes that leads up through the wall to either the shower head or the body sprays.  PANIC!

Why is the pipe behind the newly tiled wall leaking??  Why is the water spreading under the tile, across the floor, and into Jason's closet??  At 11pm, one doesn't expect to find answers to these questions easily.  Jason immediately called the contractor and left a message, and then turned off the water main to the house for the night to try to prevent further damage.

Problem solved...the contractor came back first thing in the morning and discovered that the water problem in Jason's closet was likely due to the amount of water he used to clean the tile the previous day.  Sounds like quite a bit of water to me, but that's what he said it was.  The dripping was caused by one of the body sprays.  None of the fittings were back on yet, and there was a small steady drip from the pipe directly down into the crawl space.  Easy fix, put the fitting on, and no more water leakage.

We ended the day feeling good that there were no major problems (our worst fear being that the shower would need to be torn apart to find the leak) but a little more frazzled and worse for wear.

Then I began to do the walls... 

Bad, Bad, Bath! Take2

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING SCENES MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ...ANYONE!

When our construction worker,

who is absolutely wonderful 

by the way, tore up all the old 

tile, he found our worst nightmare lying beneath.  There was so much water damage that

 the flooring looked like it should be what you'd find in a house about 100 years older!  Had we gone on much longer, we likely would have fallen straight through the subfloor and

 down into our crawl space.  The water damage was also so bad that we needed to have part of a load bearing beam replaced.  So our wall could have come down too!  

So here we are, happy that we decided to have this done when we did,  and reassuring ourselves that it wasn't out of vanity or that we didn't like it, there were going to be serious problems had it stayed that way.

But, our little vacation away from home, within our home, is disrupted, because now there is evidence that the other shower pan was installed the same as the first INCORRECTLY.  So in order to avoid further damage in that shower, we moved into our son's bathroom.  A dire inconvenience for all of us because now his bathroom is just full of mommy's and daddy's no touches, and we don't have anywhere to put anything that he won't get into.  

So you got it!  Some things stay in the guest bathroom and some have gone to his bathroom.  The GBr is in between the 2 bathrooms so we feel like we have some sort of refugee camp set up with all of our worldly belongings strewn through 3 rooms.  Opps!  4 if you count that we are now just leaving our clothing stored in the washer and dryer rather than taking all the way back to the bedroom time has seemingly forgot.

And the beat goes on..stay tuned for part 3

Bad, Bad, Bath!

So in the midst of opening 2 new Etsy shops, ByEveryWord and Fabric Flair, we have had a major bathroom renovation project going on.  Let's just say, some things just never quite work out like you plan.

Months ago, maybe in the beginning of February, we decided we were going to redo our bathroom.  When we moved in we weren't very fond of the previous owners choices and we suspected that there might be a leak or something causing water damage in the shower pan.  So we decided to change all the tile.

Once we decided, I began taking down the ugly pink wall paper, which I wish I still had a photo of but lost on our last computer.  I decided I hated having to look at the bright walls through all the glass of the shower, and moved to our guest bathroom.  It was nice having my own bathroom, not sharing with my husband.  It was warm, it was pretty, it was great...for a while.

At the end of March the tile guy came to begin tearing out the old tile.  Well, low and behold it turns out that there was serious water damage occurring under the tile and that our subfloor was rotting away.  Mind you this is a 6 year old house.  Well, that was problem number one.

Here are some photos while I keep you in suspense. (keep your screen wide to see them matched up with the captions.

ugly lights and cabinets     bottom of ugly cabinets               weird tile floor pattern    shower with stupid

                                         & part of ugly tile and pattern      & no tub                         shelf and seat, boring

      

MOVING SALE!

   Joel Dewberry - Aviary            Amy Butler - Daisy Chain
     

I am going to be dividing up my Simplicity Interiors Etsy shop so that fabrics are in a different shop.  I am still working on my grand opening of FabricFlair. There's nothing there yet and I just registered the shop name.

In the meantime I am having a store moving sale.  Instead of relisting all the fabrics in a new store, I want to clear out my inventory.  I have reduced prices on almost 70 items. 

Stop by and take advantage of pricing that is far below retail!

Pear                                           Multi Floral

  

Do you have a fabric related blog that you'd like to link?

If you have a link or just a story to tell that relates to fabric, etsy, remodeling, or decorating, please share it! Contact me with the info and we'll see what we can do.

I see this blog heading solely down the fabric road again for a while...and I love it! I love decorating, but I LOVE LOVE fabrics. My dealer has the best supplies and it gives me the chance to really sink myself into their collection. Right now I dream in fabrics!

Prioritizing

When you are overwhelmed with an entire new house to decorate, the task can be quite daunting. It is easy to stand slack-jawed at the mountain of boxes and not be able to decide where to begin or what to open first. If you are not careful, you can end up bouncing around from box to box and room to room like a ball in a pinball machine. I have done this many times. You don't get a higher decorating score for how many obstacles you can bounce off of.

This time I am trying to go about things in a more organized, logical fashion. Yes, that implies that there was, in fact a last time, that wasn't so organized or logical. 3 years ago when we built our previous house, Jason and I went out and bought everything imaginable BEFORE we so much as stepped foot into the finished house. Yes, we were there every day and really got to know the house as it was being built, but that's no substitute for actually living there. You can't truly know what your house will need until you spend more time in it, get to know it, let it tell you what it needs.

Sounds crazy, right? It's not. It was the first house we had ever lived in that had higher ceilings and open spaces. Lack of experience in these two areas alone was enough to knock me down before I ever began. Nothing I bought fit the space. The house ended up with a cluttered, out of scale feeling from the lack of balance. If you have a big space, you cannot just put more little things in it to fill it up. And no, even though it's what I've done to compensate, you can't just fill up the empty spaces with more greenery. I have enough greenery to put Michael's to shame.

So priority number one should be to get to know your house first. Some very wise friends of mine have recommended that I make sure to do that this time. And I'm so GLAD! It has already made me realize that there were things I thought I'd have to change, that I really ended up liking once I spent time here. And things that I will change, I'm taking the time to make those decisions so that I only have to make them once.

The next priority for me was to pick the most important room in the house and complete it from top to bottom. I was trying to decide if I wanted to work a little bit at a time in each room, or one room at a time. I decided that I feel as if I am making more progress when I finish a room. Yes, my mattresses are still lying on the floor, and no, there's nothing on any of the main living walls. But my son's room is completely finished. A huge priority. I wanted to help his transition into his new house.

Then working on the guest room was next. Why the guest room? Partly because it is on the same side of the house as Conner's room, so we painted them at the same time to cut down on how much he would be exposed to fumes. Also partly because I had the most pieces for that room. Lastly because we live away from our families and that's where they stay when they come. Just because it looks like we live on the inside of a toy box doesn't mean that guests have to feel that way. I want them to be comfortable.

My priorities may make no sense to anyone else and that's okay. You need to come up with the priorities that work best for make sense for you. In the meantime, if I want to enjoy a little peace, I walk into the guest room, close the door, and take five minutes in the tranquility of a completed space.

Back Again and Decorating Avidly!

It seems that all plans to decorate anything came to a screeching halt last December 30 when my son joined our lives and became part of my decorating team. I say he became part of because he altered my home in such a vast and unimaginable way. Suddenly I felt a camaraderie with all those women who said that they couldn't get a thing done now that they had kids. My naive thoughts were "so just do it when the kid is sleeping"! Well....then God blessed me with a child who never slept. This was just to spite the fact I always had that preconceived notion that all babies sleep all the time. Not mine. He definitely cried, ate, and pooped far more than he ever slept!

But now he's 8 months old and much more independent, so mommy can find herself again. However when I say "find herself" I mean literally. We moved a week ago and my life is crazier than it has ever been. I will never find anything, ever! At least once a day I find myself saying my new favorite mantra, "I knew I put it in a box that with with such and such and had something or other written on the front". Then I spend an hour looking for this wonderful missing piece of our lives that has disappeared somewhere in the very long 5 mile move up the street. Why do we have to pack so well we we are not moving very far, anyway?

But my favorite is when I am asked where something might be. I have 2 or 3 answers of logical places the missing item might actually be. If I am the one who asks "did anyone see" then I get a response very much like I just asked for the 3rd character to make an appearance in the second act of William Shakespeare's The Tempest!

I will be decorating again. I have to make the new house my own. I will be doing this at the whim of my children: 8mo old Conner, 32 year old Jason, who is really my husband but is more like keeping after a child, and 3 fur kids (cats) Mabel, Max, and Matty. I will post pics and advice as I am able. It's going to be fun! And as always feel free to give me any advice/criticisms (as long as you love what I am doing!) and overall discussion. If there is something you want to know more about, please let me know!

And we're off!

Trim That Tree!

Looking for new ideas to liven up an old tree? Like traditional Christmas decorating with a twist? Here are some ideas:

Choose a Theme

First, choose a theme for your Christmas tree. This can be anything from traditional reds and greens, golds, or silvers, to a style theme such as country, cottage, or romantic. Sometimes choosing a style theme is as easy as looking to your everyday decor. If your style is formal, then sparkly balls, shiny garland, and velvety ribbons work wonderfully. If your style is casual country, then popcorn and cranberry garlands, raffia or plaid ribbons, and gingerbread ornaments may be your choice.

What to Put on the Tree

There are no rules as to what can or cannot go on a Christmas tree, nor is there a rule stating how much is too much. As long as it works with your theme, put whatever you like on your tree! And as long as you try to evenly space and distribute color, put as much as you like on your tree! I have learned from experience that it is far easier for a tree to look sparsely decorated than overly decorated!

• Natural Materials - Dried flowers, twigs, pine cones, nests, and nuts are all ideas for adding elements of nature to your Christmas decorating. You can't go wrong with natural materials, since afterall, that is how nature decorates for Christmas!
  
• Metallic Spray Paint - If you love the look of the natural materials, but your tree is too formal, try spraying them with gold or silver spray paint. Beautiful bay leaf branches with a touch of silver spray gives just the sparkle and embellishment your tree needs!
  
• Silk Flowers - Let's face it, real flowers may work for the trees at the White House, but most of us do not decorate on their budget! Instead, find beautiful silk florals that coordinate with the color or decorating style of your tree. Evenly space them on the branches throughout the tree for added splashed of color.
  
• Ribbon Garland - Instead of traditional garland, attach coordinating ribbon from the high branches of your tree and stream and wind them down to the lower branches.
  
• Ribbons and Bows - A tree can look all dressed up if you tie bows to the branches. Also consider dressing up ordinary ball ornaments by attaching bows to the tops. Again, coordinate your ribbon to you style or color theme.

Be creative! There are no right or wrong answers as to what you can put on a tree!

Do you have a great idea or an example of something you have used to decorate your tree? Share it here!

Decorating with Color for the Holidays

Holiday decorating can easily take on a life of it's own and with so many different themes and colors available, it may be difficult to choose a direction. Very much like choosing a color scheme for your home, holiday color choices also evoke a specific mood or atmosphere. Here are a few ideas:

White Christmas

Is there anything as peaceful as gently falling snow on Christmas Eve? Anyone can come home to a winter wonderland! The simplest way of creating your own White Christmas is to swap out traditional red decorations with white. For example, exchange red pointsettias for soft white ones. To avoid dull, flat decor, think texture. Consider trimming the tree with soft white feather boa garlands. Make it sparkle by using clear or white glass or crystal ornaments. Decorate simple ball ornaments with frills and glitter. Use greenery and natural materials, like twigs and leaves, throughout the house to add contrast and color to the winter landscape.

Seeing Red

Red is a classic Christmas color and it adapts easily throughout the seasons. But think beyond Santa's red velvet pants. Consider a less traditional holiday fabric, such as red toile. Red toile stockings hung from the mantle could coordinate with red toile ribbon on the Christmas tree. Holly berry branches and cranberry sprays add a touch of natural class to any centerpiece, wreath, or garland.

Pretty in Pink

Pink is certainly not a traditional holiday color. But why not have fun or play off a room's year round decor? Mix soft pinks with icy silver, white, and glass to really make a statement. Spray branches with silver paint and stretch across the mantle. Add white candles in glass hurricanes and pretty pink ornaments to complete the look. Trim the tree with crystal and pearlescent ornaments and beads. Mix with naturally pinkish white seashells.

The Golden Years

Gold makes other colors in your holiday decorating more bold and vibrant. It can be accented with white, green, or red. Red and gold are a classic, warm holiday combination. Today's reds and golds vary significantly from their ancestors. Golds are tending to include an array of coppers and bronzes. Red are bolder, juicier, and tend run anywhere from berry to grape. Pair red and gold to set the stage for an opulant Christams dinner. Rich red table linens with gold/bronze chargers and hurricane candle holders give holiday entertaining a luxurious warm feeling.

Icy Silver and Blue

This color scheme is in strong contrast to the previous red and gold holiday decor. The cool elegance of blues, lilacs, and silver can be a refreshing change from the traditional holiday red and green. This color scheme works exceptionally well when the normal color scheme in your home is cool or contemporary. Iced and silver branches, jeweled ornaments, pretty blue table linens or ribbons , silver and blue beaded garlands all help to bring this Christmas color scheme together.

Remember when choosing a color scheme for your Christmas decorating, it is important to keep your home's year round color scheme in mind. Draw on colors and fabrics that you use everyday for inspiration. If you love warm colors, stick with a Christmas scheme that draws from that warmth. If your home is cool, then keep with either the coolor blue and silver or winter white color schemes. Regardless of what color scheme you choose for your holiday season, remember to keep decorating fun!