Gentle, Charming Bedroom January 31, 2012
Posted by creatingyourspace in : Design and Decorating , add a comment
Would you like to add charm to your bedroom? This room provides some great ideas for warming up a space. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Choose a soft color palette. The peaches and delicate creams work well with the light wood furniture and mid-tone wood flooring. The overall feel is comfortable and inviting.
Add some black. The fireplace and accessories, along with the china dog in the foreground, add just enough dark tones to keep the room from becoming bland. Minor touches of black ground a room and provide a good contrast to the lighter elements.
Include puffs and ruffles. The extra fabric and padding make the room feel more comfy and encourage stretching out on the soft-looking bed. This gentle mood has support from the plush area rug, which looks particularly inviting for bare feet.
Look at lighting. The window light is diffused, indicating a covered patio or porch that’s reducing any glare from outside. Inside, candles in and above the fireplace offer light without being too bright. The almost-white walls and ceiling also reflect and carry the light.
Keep window-coverings simple. In this case drapes that match the walls provide a functional answer to light control while staying in the background. Light-toned blinds or shades would serve a similar purpose.
Take advantage of architecture. The fireplace in the corner provides a warm focal point that really suits the style of the room. Don’t hesitate to play up advantages like that to add personality to a room.
What ideas can you capture from this room to make your bedroom more charming?
Add Pattern with Rugs January 23, 2012
Posted by creatingyourspace in : Area Rugs, Design and Decorating , add a comment
If you love patterns but are nervous about selecting furniture in anything but solid colors, you have another choice – a patterned rug.
Whether you prefer contemporary or more traditional rugs, a pattern on your floor is less obtrusive than patterned upholstery, but still adds interest.
Whether your primary flooring is wood, tile or carpeting, adding a patterned rug creates a focus area, brings one or more colors to a room, and serves as the foundation for the rest of your décor.
In this room, the light straw color in the rug is echoed but not repeated by the yellow-gold chair and light maple coffee table.
You don’t have to use a rug’s colors exactly. Because the material and texture is different enough, upholstery fabric can connect without a perfect color match. The simple pattern on this rug opens up a selection of options for the rest of the room. The sofa could fall in the mid-to-dark brown range, and accessories could come in as light as cream or even true black for an extra pop.
Notice the maroon throw pillow on this chair. Even with the neutral rug, there’s no reason why you can’t bring in some colors. This maroon works, and you could choose from almost any color family as long as you choose a color that suits the rug’s tones. For example, hot pink would not be a good decision, but a dusky mauve could work. Cobalt blue would be a mistake, but a soft grey-blue would bring in that brown-blue combination that’s still so popular in today’s homes.
If you’re not sure what to do with a room and want to introduce pattern, starting with an area rug can create just the right mood and inspire your decorating.
Design Perspective: Laminate Flooring April 30, 2010
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One of our favorite posts on our blog is to examine room scenes and talk about what works and what could be improved. Let’s dive into this room scene and talk about what works and what can be improved!
What works:
- Note the dark walls and light floors. Great contrast!
- The way the floor extends from the dining room into the foyer helps both rooms appear larger.
- The installation direction of the laminate elongates the room.
- Oak is used on the floor and the dining furniture is a similar stain color. Nice blend.
- The white trim around the doors and windows compliment the window treatments and table decor.
Improvement ideas:
- On the one hand, it’s complimentary that the floors and the furniture are similarly stained, but adding an area rug to separate the two could add contrast and texture.
What are your thoughts? Do you like this room? What would you improve on?
Design Perspective: Mixed Granites and Accent Tiles March 3, 2010
Posted by creatingyourspace in : Ceramic/Porcelain, Design Perspectives, Natural Stone , add a comment
This kitchen is a good example of how to use multiple granites in one room. It also shows how you can use contrasting accents of the same material. Let’s dive in and talk more about what’s happening in this room that’s worth noting from a design perspective!
The colors in the room blend and compliment each other very well together. The silver and black flecks in the granite on the countertop and the floors subtly tie the plumbing and appliances together.
The use of a slab of granite on the countertops, the granite backsplash and the same granite cut into tiles on the floor shows how you can use the same material in different forms.
On the floor, there are granite dots placed in the intersections of the granite tiles. Some might say that the number of “dots” on the floor draws too much attention to the floor because the rest of the room is so simple and that a better use of the granite accent dots may have been to use less of them. Others may argue that the floor with all of the dots serves as a focal point for the room.
From an installation standpoint, using the same material for the accent tile as the field tile (main tile) helps with the ease of installation because the materials are the same thickness.
The good thing about this kitchen is that all of the major cost items in this room are all neutral choices. If the homeowners of this kitchen would like to change the look in a few years, they can easily do that with a BOLD paint color or wall covering. Another way to add some punch or WOW to this kitchen would be to add a backsplash. Adding a backsplash made of the same granite may be a little too much of a good thing, but a complimentary ceramic or porcelain tile or a stainless tile might be a nice addition.
What are your thoughts on this kitchen? What would you change? What would you add down the road?
Design Perspective: Patterned Carpet January 12, 2010
Posted by creatingyourspace in : Carpet, Design Perspectives , 1 comment so far
When it comes to choosing patterned carpet, many questions always seems to come up. Today’s post is dedicated to the pro’s and con’s of patterned carpet.
First, ask yourself: What look am I trying to accomplish in this room? What is the function of this room? How many other fabrics and textures are in this room? Once you have thought about the answers to those questions, you are ready to think about patterned carpet.
One of the biggest misconceptions about patterned carpet is that it will make the room too busy. That can happen if there are too many focal points, fabrics and textures in the room, but if the room needs a focal point, texture or additional design element, patterned carpet can be the perfect solution.
Another reason people tend to shy away from patterned carpet all starts with the sample. It’s extremely difficult to visualize what an entire room of patterned carpet will look like from a typical carpet sample size. Most of the time, the sample isn’t even large enough to see the whole pattern. Thankfully, most have room scenes available either on the sample or the website. Our website offers a virtual room designer tool that can help you visualize what a patterned carpet will look like in a room. You can even upload a photo of your own home!
The image shown here is an example of how patterned carpet can be used successfully. In this case, it helps tie together the personality of the room and compliments the other textures in the room. This room doesn’t have a lot of patterned upholstery so the pattern on the floor is not distracting. (This is also a great example to answer the question – Will dark floors make my room look small?)
Patterned carpets can give a room depth, dimension and personality. Not all patterned carpets have objects such as the trees or leaves shown here. There are many pattern carpets that are simply abstract textures. You can use patterned carpet throughout your home if the pattern is not too distracting or defined. One way to use a patterned carpet that has a distinct pattern like the picture above is in a stand alone room such as a living room, home office or bedroom. Patterned carpets can make a guest room appear special and unique. This method will help keep you from growing tired of a distinct pattern.
Patterned carpets are not right for everyone, but if you want something unique and you want your floors to have a personality – give patterned carpet some consideration. Use the image here to help you visualize when looking at a sample in our store. Our sales staff can help talk you through specific patterns and whether they are right for your application. You may find a pattern that you want bound and made into an area rug to go over hard surfaces floors.
