Don’t be Down on Brown

Delicious Velentine's Day Chocolates

I have been eating a lot of chocolate since Valentine’s Day and that has got me thinking about the color brown. I did not used to be very fond of brown – I found it dull and depressing. But over the years I have come to really love the color and now use it in my wardrobe as well as my interiors.

Brown reminds me of so many yummy things – chocolate (milk and dark), coffee, cocoa, and cinnamon. When I see shades of brown that remind me of those foods, I feel cozy and warm. Brown is also the ultimate earthy tone – it is the color of dirt itself and represents the groundedness, stability, and reassurance that comes from a strong connection to the earth. Similarly, brown is the primary tone in wood, which brings warmth, nature and texture into our homes.

A soothing brown bedroom

Brown is made up of many colors so it can take on hues of most of them. Reddish browns remind us of clays, bricks, and soils. Yellow or gold browns hint at mustard, wheat, and fall leaves. Orange browns evoke pumpkins, terracotta pots and southwestern landscapes. These are all warm and rich browns and are excellent choices for creating cozy and welcoming spaces.

A cozy brown living room

Browns can also have a bit of green in them so they suggest military or hunting colors, deep forest shades, and soil hues. If brown shows gray we usually call it taupe and think again of soil and rock colors. All browns are neutral which means they can coordinate well with any other color. Lighter browns like beige and taupe make an excellent backdrop for any decorating scheme. Deeper browns like cocoa or latte add drama to a space.

If you’re scared of brown, try adding it in little bits to start - a pillow here, an area rug there, and set of towels in a bath. Before you know it, you’ll be buying a gallon of milk chocolate paint or a sofa in a deep golden brown. And you’ll be adding warmth, richness, and a bit of the great outdoors into your home.

Decorating Albums

Scrapbook page about winter

I just spent the weekend at my annual scrapbooking retreat. As I was working away at creating decorative pages of photos, I noticed how I was using the same principles of design that I use when I decorate. No wonder I like both so much!

In both scrapbooking and decorating, I am working with color, shape, pattern, and texture. As I figure out a pleasing arrangement of these elements on a page or within a room, I keep in mind these basic design principles: balance, scale and proportion, harmony, emphasis and rhythm.

Scrapbooking page about sports

When I walk into a room to redecorate or look at a stack of photos in my hand, I think about what feeling I want the room or page to have. Then I think about the colors of things that are already there – either in the room or in the photos. Which ones do I want to emphasize to support the feeling I desire?  Then I consider pattern – do I want to use just solid papers (or fabrics) for a more subdued look or one or more patterns to support a theme?

With both processes, I am often trying to fit together disparate pieces that don’t necessarily go together. It might be furnishings and accessories from different eras, or it might be various photos from different events or of different colors. In either case, I look for common themes that I can use to draw things together and ways I can de-emphasize large differences.

Scrapbook page about music concerts

As I choose furnishings or am deciding how to crop my photos, I consider shape – which shape shows off the picture best or which shapes fit the room the best? I also consider shape when I layout the room or page making sure the overall look is balanced and that it has a pleasing rhythm and the right emphasis.

Finally I accessorize. In scrapbooking it is with cut out shapes, buttons, stickers, or ribbons; in a room, I am hanging art, filling in bookshelves, and decorating mantels. Either way, I am carrying the themes of the room with smaller objects and filling in gaps so the room feels finished.

My final step in both scrapbooking and decorating is to step back and take a critical look. Does it need one more thing? Can I take something away? Does everything work together to create a pleasing whole? Once I am sure the page or room is done,  I do the best part – share it with a friend!

Color Trends – What Gives?

An array of color choices

So there are these color trends and forecasts – what are they all about? If you are someone who likes to be in with the latest fashion, then you will want to pay attention to trends and follow them closely. However, I am the type to decorate according to what works for the homeowner. If they hate orange, but orange is “in,” I won’t use it. I firmly believe that a home needs to reflect its inhabitants, regardless of the latest trends.

Yet there is one way in which paying attention to the trends makes sense. Manufacturers follow the trends and use them to choose the colors and materials for their products. So, if you decide that lilac towels would be perfect for your bathroom and lilac is not “in” right now, you may have trouble finding them. Similarly, if you decide that denim bed coverings would be just right for your guest room and denim is “out” you will have the same problem.

Benjamin Moore has just released its Color Pulse 2013 outlining upcoming trends in colors. patterns, and materials. Designers will be reviewing this and creating interiors that reflect the latest trends. In my work, I will review it to know what will be readily available and what may be harder to find. Then I will continue to help people create interiors that work for them, even if they are not the hippest and trendiset homes around.

Pretty in Pink

Pink drape detail

Pink is probably my least favorite color. I don’t hate it; I am just not drawn to it. But when a client asked me to help her transform a room into an elegant and soothing office, retreat, and guest room, I knew pink and gray was the color combination for that space. It is feminine and sophisticated, soothing and warm.

We started with a lovely light gray on the walls and chose a soft ballet pink for the drapes. We added a charcoal gray armchair which anchored the room with its size and darker tone. The client selected a side table made my local mosaic artist Carole Hass which had

Effiel tower and bookshelf

pinks in the broken china top but also introduced a lovely blue-green.

Gray armchair and mosaic table

A custom throw pillow on the armchair and seat cushion on the desk chair carried the color themes. She selected the artwork (notice the pinks, blue-greens, and grays) and placed the accessories.  A blow-up bed in the closet can be brought out when company comes to stay. Otherwise, she

Computer desk

can curl up in the chair with a good book, work at the spacious desk, or just sit back and enjoy the functional space which is all hers.

Corner shelf and pink drapes

 

 

 

Picture Perfect

overflowing box of photos

I am about to dive in and try to organize all the boxes of family photos we have. That got me thinking about displaying some more of them around the house. What are the best ways to showcase favorite personal photos?

FRAMES – choose frames that work with the rest of the room in terms of finish and style. You can keep the frames uniform or vary the size of the frames and how many images each frame will hold. Consider throwing in some circular or oval frames to add some interest.

tabletop photo display

TABLETOPS (or bookshelves or mantels or any other horizontal surface) – group them in threes (or fives or sevens…) or as part of an odd-numbered group of varied accessories. Be sure they are not placed above eye height or they will not be appreciated. You can give them more importance in a display by putting them on top of something else, such as a stack of books or a decorative box.

photos on a rod

WALL – hang them directly on the wall, prop them on a narrow wall shelf, or add a ribbon and hang them from a decorative hook or rod.  Again, keep them at eye height and in a spot where people can get up close to them (hallways are perfect). If you are creating a collage of frames, set it out on the floor on top of a big sheet of paper. Mark where the holes will go, hang the paper on the wall, tap in the hangers, and remove the paper.

ROOMS – personal photos can be added sparingly to public spaces like living and dining rooms. But keep most of them in

photos in hallway

private spaces, such as bedrooms and office, or in pass through spaces, such as halls and entries. If you are hanging them in a damp location like a kitchen or bathroom, use a copy so the original doesn’t get compromised.

Photos personalize a space, bring us pleasure, and are great conversation pieces. Display them well and they will be an invaluable part of your decor.

Home Resolutions

January 2012 Calendar

Happy New Year! Have you made your resolutions yet? Most resolutions have to do with getting in shape or losing some weight. How about a different kind of resolution this year – one for your HOME!

Sometimes the To Do list at home can feel endless. So just focus on a few do-able projects and ones that will really make a difference. Big bang for your buck projects can involve COLOR – either with fabric, paint or wallpaper; PURGING – if you aren’t up for losing some weight maybe your house could shed some pounds of stuff; or LIGHT – add some lamps or take down some heavy drapes.

In my home we are planning a big renovation upstairs so there will be a lot of changes there. Beyond this big project, my home resolutions are:

1) Get some colorful throw pillows in my living room. I have been meaning to for years and the room REALLY needs a pick-me-up. I think some fabulous fabrics and some great trims will do the trick.

2) Change out the sconces in the entry and hang a mirror. We had a new entry built a couple of years ago and I just got the bench cushions and window treatments in. Now all we need is new sconces and a stylish mirror and the room will be DONE! That will feel good!

3) Paint the powder room. I have had a painting plan for this room since we moved in 8 years ago. It hasn’t happened yet, but it will this year! It is going to be fun to do – two colors on the wall and a painted chair rail stamped with flowers. A garden themed powder room.

What are YOUR home resolutions for 2012? Put them in writing and tell someone about them – it makes them more real and more likely to get done.

The Shortest Day

winter solstice

It is the winter solstice today – the shortest day of the year. I try to think positively and realize that the days only get longer from here to June. But in the meantime, we need plenty of light in our homes to chase away the dark and function at our best.

In most rooms, you want to have three types of lighting – ambient, task, and mood. Ambient, or general, lighting illuminates the room as a whole and is most often achieved by a ceiling mounted fixture. Task lighting sheds light in one small area such as by a chair for reading, over the stove for cooking, or at a desk for working. Lamps usually do this job, but some ceiling fixtures, such a recessed, pendant, or track fixtures, can also function as task lighting.

Finally, be sure you have some mood lighting. This may be a separate fixture that casts a soft glow, such as an uplight placed behind a potted plant or a wall sconce or two. Or you can have an existing ambient or task light do double duty as mood lighting by adding a dimmer switch. If it is an installed light, the dimmer switch replaces the wall switch. If it is a lamp, you may want one that has a three-way switch. Or you can buy a dimmer switch which intercepts the electrical cord. However you do it, be sure to provide a way to softly light the room for special occasions.

So, celebrate the winter solstice with candles, firelight, and festivities. But also take a moment to inventory your indoor lighting. Then resolve to improve it before the NEXT shortest day.

It’s not looking very much like Christmas!

Snowy Scene

Up here in Northern Vermont it is NOT beginning to look a lot like Christmas! The skies are gray, the landscape is dull, dirty, and snow-less, and the temperatures have been unusually warm. I actually DO want it to get snowy and cold because that is the way it is supposed to look at Christmas-time in my neck of the woods.

 

I have, however, been trying to keep my spirits up and enjoy this busy, joyful time of year, despite Mother Nature’s quirks. While I can’t change how it looks outside my window, I can have some affect on the ambiance within my home.

 

Nothing cheers me up and makes me feel more cozy than candle light. If I am home, I keep a candle burning all day. And, once the dusk descends, I light some more. The shadows, the flickers, and the warm glow make my home feel festive despite the grayness outside.

Candle display

 

Our Christmas tree, with its fresh greenery and holiday scent, keeps my spirits up as well. I have tucked other fresh boughs of greenery into vases, baskets, and bowls so I can enjoy them throughout my home.

Aromatic potpourri

 

Sometimes, I crave more holiday aromas (and I haven’t started baking yet!), so I’ll burn a scented candle or put out some lovely potpourri. Cinnamon, cloves, balsam, and bayberry are my favorite scents this time of year.

 

I am not one to block the natural light that comes in my home, but on a gray, rainy day, why not? Any window coverings that are light filtering (sheer drapes, some cellular and pleated shades, woven wood blinds) or have vanes to control light  (wood, vertical, and metal blinds) can be fully or partially drawn over the window to reduce the view of the blah scenery and increase the cozy feeling inside.

 

It is a wonderful time of year and I am determined to enjoy even if I can’t yet  get out my skis or sled down our hill with my kids. How do you keep up the Christmas spirit when Jack Frost has yet to call?

 

 

 

A Few of My Favorite Things

My family and I have been getting our home all decked out for the holidays. Every thing we pull out of the boxes of decorations is a treat to see again. I remember where I got it or who gave it to me and all the different places I have displayed it over the years. My children get a new ornament every year and they love to identify their decorations and to hang them on our tree. They are also so proud to see again the ornaments they have made or purchased for my husband and me in past years.

This year, I have some new additions to my collection and have had fun fitting them in among the old favorites. It was hard to choose, but I selected three of my favorites to share with you.

Goosefeather tree and santas

I bought this goose feather tree from a friend’s home furnishings and accessories store. I love the simplicity of it, the elegant white “pot” is comes in, and the green-blue color of the “needles.” This year I posed my two wooden santas under it (they are some of my favorites, too).

Birchbark angel

This angel was new addition last year – a gift from my husband. A fried of mine makes these lovely birch bark angels . I just love the walnut face and the sweet little wreath head dress. She’s even holding a bouquet of little dried botanicals!

Wreath with buffalo plaid bow

Finally – my wreath this year. Don’t you just love the bow? Perfect for our rural Vermont home. I like a more natural wreath like this one. I add sparkle and shine in other parts of my home. But for the wreath, I like it to be simple and natural – like the great outdoors in which it hangs.

What are your favorite decorations this season?

Chair for Chair-ity

Our Eric Carle chair

My husband and I were the high bidders on this hand decorated chair at our community Harvest Dinner. The event raises money for our local foodshelf and the local foods program at our elementary school. This year, they added a “chair-ity” component. Wooden chairs were donated and then decorated by the students in each class.

Our chair was decorated by the first and second graders in the spirit of Eric Carle, a book author and illustrator whom they are studying . The students took pieces of tissue paper and decoupaged them onto the chair. We’ll add a couple of layers of polyurethane so it will last.

A close look at the decoupage work

We are delighted to own such a unique piece with such a great story behind it. It will replace an antique monster of a chair which has been paired with my husband’s antique roll-top desk since he was a child.  While the surface of our new chair is colorful and modern, the form of the chair is a classic. So the chair will blend with the desk in form but contrast in color and finish. It will add energy and interest to the room and remind us of the creativity of children, the importance of community, and the value of good design.

Our new chair in place with the roll-top desk