Greens are IN
It’s the time of year in the Pacific Northwest where we all work to find a little more green in our lives but this year, the look and feel of green is prevelant in interior design. It’s a great way to add a pop of color as well as a deeper, more luxurious look and feel to your home.
According to Lux Deco “From that Kips Bay Show House dining room to India Mahdavi’s Ladurée salon for the Hôtel des Bergues, green shows up in the most prestigious of places and, unlike its blue counterparts, is always slightly unexpected, making it a confident design choice.”
Home Decor Tips for a Mental Health Boost
The inside of your home can influence your mood, emotions and even your overall health. “Our ability to find physical comfort and visual inspiration in our home is vital to our well-being,” says Noel Gatts, interior designer and a host of HGTV's Home Inspector Joe. “Universal comforts—like shelter, privacy, natural light, running water, and clean air—are important for every body and mind. The ability to surround ourselves with home spaces that speak our love language is a bit trickier to master.” While this topic has been at the forefront for the last few years when people were spending much more time at home - and even working from home - decluttering has been the focus. But decor and design elements can make your home a magical and peaceful place to be. This article focuses on the wisdom and science based strategies for making a space that lifts your mood and supports your mental health.
Defining Decor Moments of 2022—And Which Ones Are Here to Stay
There are so many of the newer design trends that I just adore; from wallpaper to mirrors and back again. There’s something so fun about all the color that people are bringing into their spaces right now, too. With Viva Magenta being Pantone’s color of the year, there’s more and more color everywhere, and I’m here for it!
Architectural Digest has their trends for 2023 and it’s a great article to make sure you’re staying up on the most up to date styles as you remodel and revisit the spaces in your home. Take a look!
Death by Decor: 5 Telltale Signs a Design Trend Is All but Over
How do you tell if a design trend is on point or on its way out? According to Realtor.com there are five very easy ways to figure it out.
Take sliding barn doors, for example. A few years back, they were all the rage. By 2017, they were ubiquitous. And now? Now they’re just worn-out. The same might be said for other recent hall-of-fame fads such as Edison bulbs, succulents, and Mason jars.
So how can you tell a decor trend’s on the outs? For starters:
1. It’s all over HGTV
Call it the Chip and Joanna Gaines effect: When a trend’s in constant rotation on home improvement shows, you know it’s probably not long for this world.
“I know a trend is heading toward life support when I see it in mass market retail or it’s become ubiquitous on HGTV,” says Susan Matthews, a Realtor® with Carolina One Real Estate, in Mount Pleasant, SC. After all, she says, “These shows are filmed months in advance.”
Terence Michael, who (fascinatingly) works as both a mortgage broker and a TV and film producer in Los Angeles, couldn’t agree more: “Suddenly my set dressers want everything to be gold and brass and navy blue,” he says. But by the time the show actually airs, a previously current trend like that combo will be so yesterday.
2. It’s in all the catalogs
Love that reclaimed wood-meets-industrial look, but unsure if it’ll still be in style next season? For another clue that a design trend is on its last legs, just check your mailbox.
“When all the catalogs in your mailbox feature the same trend, you know the trend is dying a slow but comfortable death,” says Lance Marrs, a broker at Living Room Realty, in Portland, OR.
3. It’s permeated the big-box chains
Experts are quite unanimous on this one: When a trend’s filtered down to Target, Lowe’s, or Ross, you know it’s nearing the end.
For example, “I knew white subway tile was on the outs when it became the least expensive option at Home Depot,” says Justin Riordan, principal at Spade and Archer. (Ditto that for “anything Tuscan,” Harmon says, which she says is a mainstay of home improvement stores.)
Their take? If you can buy it alongside your toilet paper and La Croix, it’s probably no longer really on trend.
4. The price plummets
When a trend’s been there, done that, you’ll see it displayed en masse at discount retailers, Harmon says.
These closeout businesses do “opportunity buys,” Harmon says, meaning they’ll purchase a lot of product at a time because it’s been sitting unsold in a designer’s warehouse for some time.
“If the designer could sell the product at market to retailers full price, trust me, they would,” Harmon says.
5. It shows up beyond interior decor
When a trendy pattern such as the chevron or pineapples starts cropping up in multiple media (think home decor and clothing and office supplies), “it’s a sign of death,” Harmon says.
“It’s been selling well for a while so big retailers are splattering it on everything,” she says. “As soon as it’s done blowing up, it’s over.”
In reality, of course, trends do last longer than a single season.
“Every season, magazines want what’s new, but most people don’t shop that way,” Scott notes.
In fact, even the experts agree that following trends can be unsustainable; once everyone freaks out about, say, charcoal and eggplant, the pendulum swings back to light and bright. And then there’s the obvious: Changing up your home decor to follow every of-the-moment design whim can be exhausting and expensive.
Perhaps the best real-life advice, according to Realtor.com? Find a style you like, stick to it, and freshen it up when you get bored.
Creating a Cozy Home for Fall
It all begins with an idea.
The first red leaf to show up on your local tree, the days are getting crisper, the sky a richer shade of blue, - now’s the time to slow down, take stock of your surroundings and create a space that allows the season to be meaningful. There are so many simple, natural decorating ideas to make your home come alive this season, from cozy library corners and colorful quilts, Houzz offers a set of ten really simple ideas to make your home pop!
What’s your Halloween Decor Style?
It all begins with an idea.
This year there was talk of canceling Halloween, but it seems that homeowners have taken that as a personal challenge and now a walk around the neighborhood gets my heart racing more than usual. With decor ranging from bone chilling to happiness inducing, my neighborhood is doing amazing things with their yards and porches. What’s your neighborhood doing?
Great Living Room Design Hacks
Is it time to spice up your living room? Here are a few ideas to get you started.
With Covid still puttering around the country a lot of us are at home considering changes to the decor that we’ve been staring at for a half a year. While a complete design overhaul may seem out of the question (and budget), there are still some simple ways to create a look and feel that makes you feel at home. From framed wallpaper art to clever furniture upcycling, here are a few tips from top interior designers will transform your living room - or any other room - in no time.
We all know the woes of limited square footage; according to designer Kimberly Valente of Brick + Beam Studio, however, the key to the lack of space problem is finding furniture that pulls double duty in a room. “Select furnishings that can serve multiple functions to make the most of your budget and square footage,” she explains.
According to Beth Diana Smith, owner and principal designer of Beth Diana Smith Interior Design, using a favorite wallpaper swatch to create your own custom art is a great way to bring texture and pattern into a space without adding a huge project like wallpapering. “I love to frame unexpected items such as fabric, wallpaper, and gift wrap,” she says. “The pattern choices are endless, and I’m usually inspired by the pattern itself or the colorway.”