Choosing the Right Colors for the Rooms of Your Home

06 Thursday Jun 2013

Posted by melissaoconnor in Color Inspiration, Everyday Design, Guest Posts, The Home

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bedroom, blue, color advice, colors, cream, design, dining room, earthy tones, exercise room, gray, home, kitchen, living room, neutral, office, orange, red, white, yoga space

When choosing to paint a room in the house it is best to strive for a color you like, but also a color that likes you. Color can have subtle, yet profound, influences on moods and feelings, and recognizing that can help a room to be aesthetically pleasing as well as beneficial. The correct colors in a kitchen or art room can help inspire creativity while the wrong colors in a bedroom can induce irritability when relaxation is being sought. Below are different types of rooms commonly found within a household, and which colors would best compliment them.

Living Rooms
Homeowners use living rooms for a number of different things. Some use the larger rooms for hosting guests and parties, but generally living rooms are used for relaxing. Colors for living rooms should be neutral to help accent furniture, but also light and calming.

Photo Credit: Digs Digs

Orange instills feelings of warmth and stability and manages to tone-down a space, allowing people to relax. Red is good for sociable situations, as it provides energy. Light gray is very popular for living rooms right now as it compliments other colors very well and is not overbearing. A primarily gray room with orange accents could provide the perfect tones for a living room.

Photo Credit: Real Simple

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Kitchens
Kitchens are difficult to figure out as they are rarely used for one activity. Modern kitchens are used for cooking, eating, meeting, crafts, and many other activities. However, creativity usually happens in the kitchen, whether it’s from cooking, conversation, or something else. Soft earth tones like whites, creams, and blues, cater to a number of needs and puts people at ease, allowing creative juices to flow. Bright elements like red or orange are good accents as well.

Photo Credit: Katy Elliott

Photo Credit: Cottage Modern

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Dining Rooms
Modern dining rooms are rarely used by the average family, and are typically only sat in when guests visit. Therefore, a dining room should encourage energy and liveliness, and red is the best color for this. Too much red can have negative effects though and can promote aggression, so a balance is desired with a softer color.

Photo Credit: Allrakse

Bedrooms
These rooms should ultimately reflect the individual living in them, but some types of colors serve to help promote calming emotions. Light blues are great for this and people generally feel safer and calmer when surrounded by them. Turning to a dark blue can have negative effects, however, as it can produce sadness in individuals.

Photo Credit: Weekend Escapades

Exercise Spaces
Power lifters and those going for hard workouts will want red highlights throughout their room to inspire energy and controlled aggression, but those looking to jog on an elliptical or relax with yoga will want earthy greens and blues to help calm and extend the workout.

Photo Credit: A Charmed Yogi

Home Offices
In a room where people need to focus and avoid distraction green is the way to go. This color has been found to promote concentration and productivity and workers. Plus, it is also a soothing color which helps relieves stress.

Choosing the Right Colors for the Rooms of Your Home
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Even if a color has great potential to influence moods in a positive manner it may not be worth it if the color is unpleasing to the residence or causes the room to appear small. Whatever the case, it is worth realizing that color choice is much more important than many people realize.

Lisa Henfield is an exterior designer who spent a few years designing outdoor furniture covers for hotels along Las Vegas. She mostly writes about her design experiences, providing tips on outdoor accessories and furniture for both businesses and the average person. When she isn’t practicing her sewing or writing about the right colors for the outdoor seasons she usually works on her paintings.

The Key to a Cozy, Comfy Living Room

25 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by melissaoconnor in Everyday Design, The Home

≈ 1 Comment

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comfort, Country Living, cozy, design, floor plan, furniture, home, interior design, living room, Simple Country Wisdom, Susan Waggoner

Being a designer, I can’t help when I am in someone’s home and my mind is racing with ideas. I usually pick out a few things that aren’t working, which is normal because not everyone has the eye for design. I find that most people have issues with layout and not understanding the space. This is the most important key in creating a cozy and comfortable home that not only you love but others love being in as well.

I am currently reading Country Living’s, Simple Country Wisdom and it has so many great ideas and advice. Its a great book to run through for helpful tips and ways to simplify your life. Author Susan Waggoner hits a lot of good points and includes so many beautiful photos. I just came across the section on how to stage a room and it reminded me how many people get this wrong. I had to write about the issue so my readers can learn how to create a fantastic space they love. Even if you have layout figured out, you can gain some inspiration.

I think the number one problem with living rooms is ignoring the center. Having a small space can be easier to figure out but when you have a large room, it gets tricky. As Waggoner states, “the bare space in the middle of a room becomes an alley people want to pass through as quickly as possible, because there’s nothing to keep them there, no objects of interest or comfortable places to perch.” I think we’ve all been in a space where the furniture lined the walls and the middle of the room was like a black hole. You’re far from the TV, far from the other couch or chairs, and everything is just laid out without any thought of people actually living there. And its funny because the resolution is easy!

All you need to do is focus on the center of the room. This is where your furniture should be along with a coffee table and side tables, if you have them. This will enable all foot traffic to stay around the edges where it belongs. It also helps you create clusters of little areas where people can relax, talk, or just admire your belongings on display. I like how Waggoner mentions, “life takes place in the center of the hut,” which is how it has been for hundreds of civilizations such as the Vikings, Native Americans, and villages in Africa, to name a few. This creates coziness.

The room below isn’t really cozy. The warm colors in the space help but with the furniture so far apart, it seems a little bare. By bringing in another 122DESIGN chair, adding a small table in between them, and shifting the pieces a little closer, it will surely be cozier. The addition of a small rug will top it off nicely. It’s always good to have an anchor in the room so your furniture doesn’t look like its floating.

Photo Credit: Shelterness

This next space may look a little cozy, thanks to the colors and textured rug, however, it seems very museum like. There is at least two feet between the couch and the table, so the spaces seem like aisles. This is not cozy in my book. I think the room would be more successful if it only had one large couch and maybe a smaller one across from it. The space is so airy and lofty, it’s screaming for cozy! Focusing on the middle of the room would do the trick.

Photo Credit: Home Interiors

To successfully pull this off, its good to draw up a floor plan and play around with different scenarios. Pay attention to the scale of your pieces. For example, if you have large furniture, don’t crowd lots of pieces in the space. Let everything breathe. A good thing to keep in mind is what Waggoner suggests, use the letter H to guide you. First, start from the center. Then, arrange two large pieces {sofas, a sofa and chairs, etc..} across from each other acting as the two parallel lines of the H. Adding a coffee table in the middle links them together.

Photo Credit: They Call Me Domesticate

Arrange seating in the space so that they are facing each other instead of just next to each other. This also helps create an inviting and more friendly environment. With the open space you now have around the room, you can dress up windows and have a corner or two to create another cozy cluster. Who doesn’t love a reading nook? And finally, with the addition of textiles, accessories, and wall decorations, the space will feel much more comfortable, inviting, and whole.

Here are some good examples for inspiration.

Photo Credit: Ohua 88:Interior Design Resources

Photo Credit: Country Living

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Photo Credit: Country Living

Simple Tips for Home Makeovers

01 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by melissaoconnor in Daisy Hart, Everyday Design, Guest Posts, The Home

≈ 1 Comment

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bathroom, decorate, diy, home, interior design, living room, living room decor, Remodeling

Having the perfect home is not so much about finding the perfect property, but about creating it yourself. There are plenty of interior tricks and design improvements you can utilize to turn an ordinary house into your dream home. Both exterior and interior are important parts of the house, but the interior affects our mood, health and life the most. The more time you spend improving it, the better you will feel at home.

Some things will require major renovations and changes, but the result will be worth the time and the investment. Some improvements can be accomplished without professional assistance. All you need is a solid plan, a checklist and a clear vision of how you want your home to look like.

Determine the areas you’d like to work on. If you don’t have the sufficient budget to cover all of the places that need renovation, focus on the focal points at home – the kitchen and the living room. The bathroom usually takes a big amount to be fully renovated. If you have a kitchen and living room you are proud of, your home will look much better. Make sure the changes coordinate with the rest of the house and each room has something in common with the overall design.

Go to a furniture store and home improvement store to look for pieces which will bring something new and better to the space. You can change the fixtures in your bathroom or get a modern cabinet which can accommodate all products. This will declutter the the room considerably. When you have enough storage, the area will be a tidier and cleaner place.

Photo Credit: Bathroom Improvements

Photo Credit: Paperblog

One way to have a better looking living room is to keep the furniture to a minimum and make sure the shelves and the cabinets don’t reach up to the ceiling. Buy plants, paintings, and frames for any photos you would like to feature and add unique accessories that will brighten the room and add some pop of color. Choose a quality carpet or a rug that will bring flair and style to the space and change up the curtains. You can easily rearrange the sofa and armchairs as well. With just a few minor and affordable changes the living room can look like a completely new one.

Of course you can use the assistance of a professional interior designer, who will determine the budget you need and what can be done to freshen up the space. Interior designers know how to combine style, trends, and comfort within a certain budget. Even a friend with a good sense of design can be a great help. Don’t rush the process – it’s best to do little positive changes to your home once in a while than to renovate what you can afford all at once. You don’t want to miss the chance on any further modernization you can do in the future.

Written By Ella Andrews

The Cool Winter Blues

09 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by melissaoconnor in Color Inspiration, Everyday Design, The Home

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bathroom, bedroom, better homes and gardens, blue, cool colors, Country Living, cream, eclectic, interior design, living room, neutrals, patterns, texture, white

I simply love the color blue. I always have and always will. It’s just one of those colors that can make you happy or make you sad, can brighten or calm a space and really help to bring the feel the nature inside your home. Let’s just say its the color thats filled with surprises.

Always having a special connection with blue, it has been used throughout all my color schemes in my spaces. You will find it everywhere in my home. I’m a big fan of the cool color palette and blue is a rising star in that category. Mix it with grays, creams and other cool neutrals, and you have a space that is peaceful, fresh and brilliant.

Here are some great examples of how to use blue in your home. I hope they inspire you to incorporate this amazing color into the spaces that make you happy.

This bedroom is certainly a place to rest. With pale blue on the walls, it enables to space to feel light and airy, like your surrounded by clouds. The addition of white makes it feel fresh with soft layers and the warm wood tones helps ground the overall design. The small pops of garden inspired colors throughout the room brings more interest and a bit of glamour.

Photo Credit: Country Living

This reading nook is all sorts of fun. Although comfy and relaxed, the various pops of color and patterns allows the space to feel alive and stylish. Blue and yellow are the main characters here and as you follow your eye around from the stool to the plaid curtains there are all sorts of details that help this room have an eclectic feel.

Photo Credit: Better Homes and Gardens

The various blues in this living room allow the space to feel fun and classic. You don’t have to stick to one hue. As long as they are close enough in the spectrum as far tone, it should work nicely. Here, the owners a light toned rug, a couch that matches the rug nicely and then included a brighter more saturated blue for pop. Using this color for the bookshelves really make them stand out as apposed to using the pale blue, which would help blend them in. Again, whites, creams and warm wood tones help to balance out the space while a few hints of green add a touch of whimsy.

Photo Credit: Country Living

The same idea as above is being treated in this bedroom. Various blues in all different patterns and textures really bring a unique feel the to space. Although the room has a neutral backdrop, the blue elements keep it lively, fresh and interesting.

Photo Credit: Better Homes and Gardens

Feminine and cottage chic, this vanity area is all dolled up in light blues, pinks and lavender. These soft colors keep the space light, pretty and fit for a queen. The addition of white and ruffle details really add a cottage feel while keeping modern with how its treated.

Photo Credit: Country Living

A nice way to express your love for nautical design is to simply use blue and white in a simple way. This bathroom keeps with the streamline aesthetic with dark blue walls and white furniture accents.

Photo Credit: Country Living