Happy 2017! Hot Colors for the New Year

Greenery

pantone.com

The 2017 Pantone Color of the Year has been announced and it is Greenery! This choice is a bold one with its bright and cheery tone as well as its nod to the environment. This will certainly be seen throughout interior trends this year. It would be best used in small doses with accessories and real or faux plants!

pantone.com

Poised Taupe

sherwinwilliams.com

This Sherwin Williams paint color is their 2017 color of the year! This is a gorgeous mix of grays and browns which creates a balance of cool and warmer tones all in one. This photo shows the paint color used in a kitchen which looks great as a contrast to the cabinets. 

sherwinwilliams.com

Shadow

benjaminmoore.com

Benjamin Moore chose their own color of 2017 and, drum roll please…it is Shadow! This is a deep, rich purple hue that will fill which ever space you put it in with added drama and depth. 2017 is going to be the year of bursting out of the norm and taking risks when it comes to interiors. Shadow is a perfect example of this trend!

benjaminmoore.com

Peek a Blue

behr.com

Finally, while Behr didn't choose one single color as their color of the year, they did choose Peek a Blue as a color in one of their 2017 palettes. This is a bright, happy aqua that will add light and whimsy to your home. This color would be right at home in an office or bathroom, or if your willing to really commit to this fun color, try it in the living room or kitchen!

behr.com

How to put Together a Kitchen Renovation Timeline

Polka Dots & Rosebuds Interiors

There is no “standard” kitchen renovation timeline simply because every kitchen is a different size and renovation needs vary.  You have to factor in the availability of the sub-contractors (electricians, plumbers, etc). Ideally you can line them up back to back, but it rarely works out perfectly, so expect a couple days of downtime where no work is being done on your project. 

Polka Dots & Rosebuds Interiors

If you have all your selections made and materials ordered before demo begins, a project could be completed in as little as 6 weeks. If there are a lot of custom elements, walls torn down, plumbing moved, or hiccups in the project it could take as long as 3 months. 

Polka Dots & Rosebuds Interiors

Typically, cabinets take 4 weeks to manufacture.  When having custom cabinets made, the timeline can increase to 12 weeks or more, depending on the workload of the carpenter.

Most materials, such as tile, take 3 weeks from order to delivery, assuming the stock is good.

Granite takes 2-3 weeks from template to installation. The template cannot take place until your cabinets have been installed.

Polka Dots & Rosebuds Interiors

When talking with your contractor about the timeline of the project, add 2 weeks to the total timeframe.  This is simply to offer a buffer in case of any surprises found along the way.  Surprises could be anything from materials being backordered, to discovering the wall you want to tear out has an HVAC vent running through it, to ripping up the floor and finding rotten floor joists. Building codes also offer challenges in the renovation process. What may have been up to code when your house was built, may now be out of date and require some changes while you are renovating (think plumbing and electrical).

Brick House

I am partial to brick homes.  I love the rich look the deep red colors bring to the exterior of a traditional house.  I think the whitewashed brick shade gives a house a casual feel that is so inviting.   If you had asked me a few years ago about painting brick, I would have said “don’t do it!”.  However, I’ve changed my tune. 

It is becoming a frequent occurrence for a home to not be entirely brick.  In an effort to save money, many homeowners use brick on the front of the house but are placing siding along the sides and back.  Others may use brick for the first floor and siding for the second floor.  (NOTE- I am not referring to the well-designed Charleston style homes that tastefully use shakes and brick together.)  Due to this mix & match trend, I think painting the brick is a great idea.  

A home can look awkward to have tan siding and red brick paired together.  An effective solution is to paint both the brick and the siding so the color of the house is unified.  Using a continuous color makes the structure look larger, as well.  One of my favorite shades for the exterior is Sherwin Williams’ Ruskin Room Green (0042).  Coating a home with this color and placing tan, black or even red shutters on it is gorgeous!  Another popular option is painting a house a warm tan (like Sherwin Williams Camelback 6122) and using black shutters.  Paint allows for a major transformation in the look of a house at a significantly smaller price than making structural changes.

Make Way for Gray

I will admit that in the past when I thought of gray a lot of drab, dreary and prison-like images came to mind.  Most ladies tend to freak out when someone utters that color name because we dread the day when it will take up residence on our hair follicles.  But I have been converted to become a big fan of this color (for decorating, not on my hair).  Shades of gray are popping up in rooms all over and people are loving it.  No longer is the shade only a cool and institutional color.  It has warmth, it can neutralize, and it can offer gorgeous contrast to other colors.  Everyone can find a gray that suits their style- from silvery shades to deep charcoal tones.  If you want to see what this color can do, check out some of my favorite gray paints from Sherwin Williams:

Cityscape 7067

Dovetail 7018

Mineral Deposit 7652

Pavestone 7642

There are thousands more beyond what I listed, but these are some of my personal favorites that will compliment almost any design plan. If painting the walls are not an option, consider adding throw pillows in a deep slate.  Or how about a gunmetal gray side chair with a colorful throw draped off the back??  You can really go wild with this color.

So go ahead....I dare you to go gray!

Create Your Own

When I’m in line at Qdoba, I can "craft" my own meal, at Panera I can pick and choose different items to create my lunch, too.  A cute little boutique down the road called Caught Ya Lookin let's me take any of their fabrics and they will create one of their bag styles for me.  Call me spoiled, but I love being able to customize things to better suit me.  That’s why I am absolutely in love with the option to create my own fabric design.  I read about it in a newsletter from a fabric vendor and it peaked my interest.  A few weeks later I saw an article about it in a Sherwin Williams publication.  That hooked me, I had to check out this Spoonflower site. 

You can upload your own photo and then play around with the layout to end up with a unique piece that no one else can duplicate.  After exploring the site and creating my own look, I held my breath when it came time for the price tag.  I was pleasantly surprised that the cost was under $40/yard.  You can be hard-pressed to find mass-produced fabrics at that price.  I see a flurry of fabric designing in my near future!  Hope you will try it, too!

Office Space

Do you remember that movie, Office Space?  That crazy guy in suspenders would always ask for the TPS reports.  The guy that wore the glasses was obsessed with his stapler and nobody would ever tell him he was fired.  Jennifer Aniston worked at a Friday's knock-off.  I'm sure there are a lot of us that would love to change something about our office space.  The colors are drab.  The furniture is held together with duct tape.  Your cubicle feels too institutional.  The carpet is from 1972.  Sadly, if the problem is your boss, your co-workers, or your desire to date Jennifer Aniston I'm not going to be of any help.  But if a cosmetic makeover is in order, I'm your gal!

Recently, I wrapped up a total transformation of a local office space.  The business had been in the same space for 10 years.  When faced with some challenges, the options were to move or to renovate.  They chose to renovate.  Enter me.

When we began there was a small room blocked out in the main area that chopped up the poorly lit office.  On top of that, everything- carpet, desks, walls and ceiling were beige.  So as you can imagine, it left a lot to be desired for the business owner and her employees.  They took this opportunity to update the style of furniture, blinds and art that was housed in the space.  The result was a sleek and colorful new office with an open floor plan!

Every employee received an ergonomic desk chair with a stylish fabric on the seat.  Streamlining the back work stations and opening up the wall to the kitchen area makes the space feel larger.

What once was a private office, has now become an intimate conference room for office meetings and private discussions with customers. 

 A major problem with afternoon sun bouncing off the cars outside was solved with some new window shades that also added to the office's sleek new aesthetic.

 
The warm color scheme (Sherwin William's Harvester, Folksy Gold, Marshmallow & Concord Buff), rich wood tones and extra details like the crown molding now invite employees and customers alike into the space.

Pssst....Be sure and tell your boss that under section 179 you can write off all furniture purchases made for an office space this year (instead of over 7 years, like in the past).  That's a sure-fire way to get that office makeover you are dying for!

Magnetism

Few things excite me more than finding a unique solution to a challenge. Sometimes the answer comes right away and sometimes I have to think on my presented obstacle awhile.  One of my favorite challenges of late was deciding what to do with this door.  

This space had to go from a home office to a toddler's bedroom, thus an outside door wasn't a positive feature.  At our first meeting, the clients proposed having their handyman fill in the door and seal it off.  What they needed my help with was hiding it.  We decided an armoire would be a good solution.  Easier said than done.  No furniture piece was tall enough to completely cover the former door opening.  A custom piece really didn't make sense in this instance, so I was back at square one.

As someone who is in love with my profession and an avid reader, my head is always buried in magazines and websites to learn about new products and ideas.  So, I started to think back to some of the pages I pulled from decorating magazines as inspiration.  I went to the file where I store those tattered edge pages and started digging.  Aha!  There it was.  The answer to my conundrum.   I didn't have to hide the sealed doorway, I could use it to our advantage.

I reconvened with my clients and presented the option of either turning the old doorway into a chalkboard OR a magnet board.  A women after my own heart, the idea of cleaning up chalk dust did not appeal to the mother of the toddler so we went with the magnetic option.  We kept the doorway framed out and painted it to match the rest of the woodwork.  The door received a coat of RustOleum's magnetic primer and then the wall color- Sherwin William's Resolute Blue overtop of it.  The result was a place for creativity to ensue.

Switzerland is not Beige

I’m not really going to talk about the country of Switzerland here.  But I do want to chat about what Switzerland is….neutral.  This is a buzzword in home décor and is often a misused word.  Everybody says, “the house should be neutral if you want it to sell”; “neutral colors are so soothing”; etc.  Neutral is a great thing, but somewhere along the way, neutral wrongly started to equal beige.  My goal today is to help you understand that neutral is a whole lot more than beige! 

Some of the BEST neutral paint tones are blues and greens.  This year’s most popular shade of paint happens to be a smoky lavender hue and it is NEUTRAL!

These definitions of neutral describe best my point: 1. matching well with many or most other colors or shades, 2. inoffensive.  House Beautiful published a great go-to list for neutrals in last year’s edition of 500+ Favorite Paint Colors, here’s a sampling of that list:

C2 Paint Sorcerer

Benjamin Moore Mesquite

Benjamin Moore Horizon

Sherwin Williams Determined Orange

Benjamin Moore Glass Slipper

Benjamin Moore Wenge

Pratt & Lambert Deep Jungle

Benjamin Moore Peace and Happiness

Some of these are a little bolder than others but they still neutralize a space and work well with a slew of others colors.  Happy neutralizing!

more Stripes!

As I mentioned in a previous post titled "Stripes!", I was inspired by perusing photos of striped rooms.  I had been mulling over how to decorate my foyer for the last year- jumping from wallpaper to faux finishes, etc.  Finally I settled on STRIPES....and I love them!  Here are photos from the process:

 

The walls started out a gold color that carried into the main living area.  I used a laser level and chalk to draw out the pattern I desired. then I taped off the lines.

1.5 days later, I had a striped foyer.  The use of gold stripes allows the space to flow into the living area.  The uneven spacing of the lines keeps it fun and lighthearted.  The horizontal direction makes the small space feel longer and the stripes draw you in.  The lighter shade keep the walls from getting too dark.

If you like the color scheme, the shades I chose were Sherwin Williams Golden Fleece, Navajo White & Granite Peak.

Happy stripe-ing!

Colors for 2011

I am loving this year's color forecast from Sherwin Williams.  there is a little something for everyone- understated tones, bright & bold, exotic shades and fresh hues.  Some of my personal favorites are:

Bracing Blue (6242)

Peppercorn (7674)

Parakeet (6711)

Armagnac (6454)

  
Whole Wheat (6121)

Looking forward to using a number of these shades in the coming year!  Happy painting!