Decorating in Reds!

LOTS of red in this room - see pinterest board for details and origin (link)

Now this is a stimulating room - see pinterest board for details.

I love the color red and would love to see more of it in home decor. I have a pinterest board dedicated to the subject (link).  It is a color that I've used extensively in my own home. I have a traditional/transitional style in my living and dining rooms anchored by Chinese red rugs. The color may not be at its height of popularity right now (although "burgundy" is a 2015 color of the year), but it never entirely looses its advocates and is a favorite for many designers.

Red 101

“When people walk into a red room, they immediately respond,” says New York City interior designer Scott Sanders. Color experts describe red as a stimulating shade. It grabs focus (think stop signs and fire engines) and, on walls, becomes the defining element of a space.link to article

One article I found talks about how to incorporate red into a variety of decorating styles - with an emphasis on walls and woodwork:

Contemporary design incorporates neutral elements with pops of bold color, often red.On the door: Bold, bright redInside: Bright red shades in a pillow, rug or throw Modern design calls for all kinds of reds: from primary hues to classic shades with burgundy or brown undertones.On the door: Any red you love that makes a statement.Inside: Consider injecting red through a painting or piece of art. Traditional design stays away from primary reds and instead involves burgundy or black tones.On the door: A deep, rich redInside: Decorate with Oriental rugs injected with darker reds. Transitional design relies on a neutral palette, a perfect canvas for pops of red.On the door: Match this red to hues you use inside the home, or skip the red door entirely to keep a more neutral theme.Inside: Choose a softer and more indirect approach like a red lamp or piece of art. Country reds are chalkier and softer: Think barn or scarlet reds. Choose reds with pinkish and purplish hues, like the color of a ripening apple.On the door: Barn redInside: Accessorize with country reds in knickknacks and fabrics.link to article

Illustration of Country Red decor - link  

I love the red "pops" in this space - a good example of contemporary design - see pinterest board for source information

This is a little dark for me but does illustrate how reds can brighten and energize the space - see pinterest board.

Lovely space - I would call this one transitional! 

Red in a French Country style - love the fabrics used here - see pinterest board for details.

 I always have a few reds in my Wydeven Design Collections but never more than a few. Truthfully, they do not sell as well as either neutrals or blues but they certainly do need to be available for those discerning clients who want that pop of color in whatever decorating space/design they like! My pieces are currently available on Etsy, eBay and One King's Lane!

I was surprised at how few pieces I had in this great color last year - I have to try harder this year!

I love this stripe and wish I had more than just enough for one small chair. 

I bought this fabric in four colors - love the red version! 

A great piece for a patriotic themed bedroom!

I do love reds and wish more people were bold enough to use them in their space - they really could not go wrong with this great energetic color.

Part II - Creating Harmonious Homes - Color and You

Colors affect your mood and influence your health and happiness - link to extensive article about how different colors affect mood

This is the second posting in a series I am calling - Creating Harmonious Homes. The first posting dealt with managing clutter. This one is all about selecting primary colors in a home - colors that sustain you - emotionally, physically and psychologically! 

Studies have shown that color can change body temperature and appetite. It can affect your mood or level of energy. Begin to become aware of how different colors impact you before determining what hue to paint your walls. link to article

Color is a universal language, it stimulates the emotions, shapes, cultures and forms the background of our world. Everybody's life is enriched by color, which both energizes and lifts the spirit. Color can be a tremendous enhancement when you love it, or cause a real depletion in energy if you don't.

The rights colors are silent music; the wrong colors irritate and disturb. Louis Cheskin link

There are many articles about color and how it affects your personality. There are tests you can take to determine how color affects you.  It is important to choose colors that make you happy, content, and at peace with the world. For me, that is quite an array - I like reds in some areas and blues and greens in others. I have tried to like primarily neutral colors but find that I just automatically start adding color to spark interest and variety.

Blue is said to bring down blood pressure and slow respiration and heart rate.

What mood do you want to create? Which colors will help you achieve that mood?

Find clear answers to these questions. If you find this task difficult try to look at magazines, decorating books, blogs and websites for ideas, or let your fabric be your guide. In fact, this is a good approach to take even if you’re starting from scratch. Fabric, carpeting, furniture and tile are available in a more limited range of colors than paint, so choose them first and then decide on your paint color. Once you find something you like, limit the number of colors in a room to no more than three or four. Too many colors can make a room look busy or cluttered. Paint is fairly inexpensive and transforms a room more quickly than anything else, so you can afford to experiment a little.

Read more: http://freshome.com/2007/04/17/room-color-and-how-it-affects-your-mood/#ixzz3Opf2LHp1 

Yellow captures the joy of sunshine and communicates happiness.

This is an important subject to tackle before getting too far in decorating a new home or making significant changes in existing space. It is easy to do right, there is a lot of help out there!

Closing out 2014 Trends - Popular Colors

See my pinterest board - link

For source, see pinterest board link above

As we close out 2014 - how quickly it has gone - I am reflecting on decorating trends and aspirations. This brief posting is about the colors that were most popular. In this case, delicate blues with hints of green that continued to be seen in the decorating magazines.  These colors show well with taupes and creams and even navies.

I love these colors and have incorporated them (in 2013) in my renovated lower level. I am glad they continue to be so well regarded.

I have added quite a few pieces of upholstered furniture using fabrics in this color group this year and will probably continue to do that into 2015 - I do not see a diminution of their popularity in the near future.

Here are some of my 2014 favorites! I love them all!

Blue and Green - A Refreshing Color Combo!

All images (other than my own collages) are from my pinterest board - link here for sources

Although fall is in the air with its emerging golds and reds, the crispness of the air and brightness of the landscape still celebrate the blues and greens of nature. This is such a cool and calming color combination and looks wonderful year-round. I always find that I have more blues and greens than any other color in my finished upholstered furniture products.

Here are some products in my current collection that work wonderfully together - available on Etsy, One King's Lane and/or eBay.

Enjoy!

Blue and White Combos Continue to be Best Sellers!

Check out my pinterest page referenced below for source!

TRUE STORY:  Over 10 years ago, I was shopping at Calico Corners Fine Fabrics checking out their deep discount bolts. I found a nice deep blue and white toile fabric that was discounted over 75%. I asked the saleswoman/designer about the fabric and why it was so deeply discounted. She said that blue and white were just not a popular color combination and were well past their prime. Since I LOVE (and have always loved) this combo, I was surprised by the vehemence of her pronouncement. I also bought the fabric thinking that at least I would love it! End of story: I bought the fabric, used it on a pair of club chairs intended for resale, liked the results and installed the chairs in my (then) new sunroom where they remain proudly today!

Today, you cannot pick up a decorating magazine without seeing a lot of blue and white - in some cases this color combo dominates the entire interior. I pinterest boards for each major color and my blue one has the largest number of pins - link to board.

I save my House Beautiful Magazines (link) and happened upon an article called "Blue and Brio" in their April, 2014, issue. The owner had indicated that "Navy blue is my favorite color" and the designer, Megan Winters, took that color throughout the house in very creative ways. The blue and white combo connects every room. In the same issue, a segment called "Blue Crush" leads out with "Paired with white, the many shades of this popular color have graced rooms in grand castles and humble cottages".

Blue-and-white is practically a neutral - it works with everything!

In just looking at my files - current and archival for the past 10 years - I have chosen the combo of blue and white quite a bit. It is always fresh and always "in".

 Well, I guess this color combo will not be going away any time soon - I do love it!

Fearless Color Combinations!

I faithfully follow House Beautiful link to magazine both on-line and in print - it has been on my reading table for over 15 years. Today, I saw an article entitled, Color Combinations for the Truly Fearless link to article, that showed some wonderful combinations that are probably a little out of the norm but work quite well together.

Several of the color combos show variations of purple/lavender with other colors. Purple is one of the colors I have NEVER yet used on my refurbished upholstered pieces. I have over the years bought nice fabrics that incorporate purple (purple and grey, purple and green, purple and yellow) but have remained nervous about the "sale-ability" of this color combo - other than for little (or big) girl's rooms. I am not sure that this article or the illustrations will make me bolder but some of the other color combos I can readily see.

I have created several collages showing photos from this article with some of the pieces in my current collection that would work in the illustrated setting.

This sweet mint chair would work so well in this type of setting.

Big color for 2013/2014 is this emerald/kelly green - and how wonderful with pink and other warm colors.

I have always loved red and use it extensively in my home. This color combo is one of the "with purples" illustrated in the article - it certainly does draw your attention. My chair is a Henredon and the fabric a matelasse - quite a combo in and of itself!

I see purple in this one too but the intended color combo is red and teal - quite striking. This set of chairs is upholstered in a rich red cotton velvet. 

Nice - and my chairs work so well. They did just sell but I hope to find more in the great look.

Well, this article just shows that you need to be fearless in thinking about color combinations and sometimes to take "... the road less traveled".

Yellow is the Color of Sunshine - Spring is Near

Daffodils at Gibbs Gardens website

Last Sunday, my husband and I traveled about an hour north of the Atlanta area to visit Gibbs Gardens and the first event of their season - acres and acres of daffodils. It was a beautiful day and a great outing. We became annual ticket-holders last year and are going to try to make all of their big events!

The fields of yellow just glowed in the sun and yellow is the color that most reminds me of spring and sunshine. We've have a harder-than-usual winter here in the South and spring is beckoning! Yellow is also my personal go-to color for decorating - at least 75% of my house has either some or a lot of yellow. Even on gloomy days, the rooms retain a certain amount of sunshine!

I just added a great little settee and chair (very nice Mitchell Gold products) reupholstered in a wonderful large pattern daffodil yellow and white and thought I'd use this posting to highlight it and other yellow favorites from my recent collections.

Here is the Mitchell Gold set - love this fabric!

The buffalo plaid has to be my all-time favorite bright yellow fabric - I had enough to do three pieces! 

Nice pieces from last year! I have some of the yellow and blue toile left over and am doing a bergere chair and ottoman right now - should be available soon!

Nice pieces as well - the two fabric on the lower-right chairs is actually brighter than it shows here!

Clearly, I need to keep the sunshine going with yellows and pale golds - more to come soon!

Dreaming in Gray - a BIG 2014 Color!

Shade of Gray - A BIG color for 2014!

source via my pinterest board

Today is a cold, rainy, snowy-mix day in Atlanta and it has inspired me to look for the brighter side of this color choice.  Gray, in all its permutations, is one of the big colors for 2014.  It is a color with surprising range from dark and "calm/cold" to lighter and livelier. It is a neutral that works with almost any other color - particularly with splashes of brighter colors.

A mix between black and white, gray is by definition a neutral. But its varying shades, from light dove to dark charcoal, make gray as versatile as any color. article on Better Home and Gardens website - source 

The color grey doesn't have to be dull, cold, and boring. It can actually be quite hip and romantic. Depending on the shade, it also matches and coordinates with about any color in the rainbow. link to eHow article - source

love the addition of yellow - see source above

A splash of orange - see source above

I have a client in the area who is renovating a wonderful late 30's house in the historic Marietta area - a northwestern suburb of Atlanta. Her primary color choice is gray and she and her husband have created the most amazing kitchen primarily using various shades of gray and other neutrals (great expanses of marble). She has purchased almost a dozen chairs and other upholstered pieces from me in various shades of neutral - all to go into this wonderful setting. Her only two color exceptions have been a deep blue velvet wingback chair and a patina-rich green caned accent chair.  She is convinced and has convinced me that all shades of neutral work well with gray but also that an insertion of a key other color can be wonderful. She has promised me that I can come back into her setting once it is all finished to do some photography - so with any luck, there will be one or more postings on this subject in the future.

Select a third color to bring interest into your room. Depending on the shades of grey you're using and your décor, you may want to choose a third color to liven things up. If you have a modern décor, this color could be black. If you have a formal look, you may want to incorporate silver or blue. A splash of red or green will bring excitement to your rooms. Source

Here's a great color palette with various shades of gray and golds - see source above

Decorating by Color - Black and White

Black and White Image - from my Pinterest board Decorating in Black and Grey

I have always loved the crisp clean look of black and white decor (with just about any pop of color imaginable). As a poor college student, I painted wooden boards a shiny black and placed them between bricks and white mortar board to create elaborate bookshelves and places to put things like the small television we had in those days. I painted matching old tables and dressers and had a very "sophisticated" flat!

Fast forward (many years) and I still love the look of black and white and find it to be an easy way to create sophistication and elegance in any space.

Black and white décor is an affordable way to make your home look sophisticated, elegant and dramatic. You can easily transform any room into this style by repainting old furniture and purchasing a few basic accessories.  Link to article

This color scheme may be the easiest to accomplish. There are no tricky color coordination challenges and just about ANY other color will coordinate well. I found many articles on the subject but feel that the actual photos were the best advocates for this great color scheme. Some of my pinterest boards are set up by colors and I have one showing a lot of black and white images. Of course, most of my emphasis is on upholstered pieces but the scheme works well with all furnishings. The images below are all from my board (see link above) and the original sources are there as well.

I always have some items in my inventory of fine refurbished upholstered pieces in this great color combination but I must be truthful here - they do not sell well. They sell eventually but not quickly. I am always amazed to see how hesitant buyers are about using this great color combination. I get a lot of compliments but the buyers are slow to come forward - an interesting paradox!

Here are my latest black and white pieces - available on eBay and Etsy - you can also contact me directly at wydevendesigns@comcast.net.  Enjoy - and let's see if my prior experience is wrong on these beauties!