Jonathan Adler: Colorful Geometry & Fun Decor
Design Trends Spotted at HD Boutique 2010: Strong pop inspired colors, black and white, and geometric shapes were on display at Adler’s booth.
Loving these Adler table lamps.
Furniture sporting contemporary infused Asian style – reminiscent of Chinoiserie styling seen in Hollywood Regency.
Bold, fun and colorful tea towels, and whimsical salt and pepper shakers (those elephants are too cute).
Elegant, yet not stuffy (nor pretentious) sculpture from Alder. Can see these pieces working in a variety of interior environments.
David Francis: Pretty in Pink
Spotted at HD Boutique 2010, Miami Beach: Months before Pantone trumpeted to the world its 2011 Color of the Year, ‘Honeysuckle’, David Francis was already bewitched with a shade of pink that exudes confidence, sexiness and vibrancy. This David Francis rattan chair is upholstered in a bold shade of pink that breathes new (modern) life into a traditional material and design.
Hot orchid pink squares beckon the eye to the sexy, tapered legs of the David Francis console/desk.
The combination of the sensuous, yet minimalistic lines and curves of this bench coupled with the flirtatious pink upholstery creates a fun and youthful vibe.
Pantone Color of the Year 2011 is…
the gorgeous “Honeysuckle” (Pantone 18-2120). LOVE this color and I’m so excited to see a move toward a more fun, confident hue. But then again I tend to be somewhat biased toward pink-leaning hues…
According to Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director, Pantone Color Institute, its Color of the Year for 2011 was selected because “In times of stress, we need something to lift our spirits. Honeysuckle is a captivating, stimulating color that gets the adrenaline going.”
For more information on the Pantone Color of the year visit their website.
Photo Credit: Pantone Color Institute.
Read More »Retro Christmas Trees
Funky, colorful, unique and incredibly retro if that’s the kind of Christmas you’re dreaming of then we have the perfect Christmas tree for your home.
Shown: Pretty in Pink Christmas Tree, Winter White Christmas Tree, Candy Apple Red Christmas Tree and Black Tiger Christmas Tree. All Available at Treetopia.com. 6′ Christmas tree with lights $299.
Read More »Designing with Color: Gatega Interiors’ Color Use Case Studies
Guest Post By Joanne Fitzgerald, Gatéga Interior Design, LLC
Embrace Colors That Make You Happy
The most important rule about color is to not to be afraid of it. Embrace colors that make you happy and don’t worry about what’s fashionable or the current color trend du jour. With a little research and some experimentation you can develop a color scheme that makes you happy, and beautifully compliments and enhances your home’s decor and features.
I’ve been very fortunate to work with clients who love color and trust in my ability to successfully incorporate the colors that make them happy into their home environment. I’ve detailed how I’ve used color in several of my design projects, and I hope these color-filled images will inspire you to create the perfect color scheme for your home.
Friedman Design Project
For this project the clients, after many years of living with their hand-me-down furniture from their college days, were more than ready to upgrade and reinvent their family home to reflect their more sophisticated tastes and to stylishly exhibit their burgeoning art collection.
The warm lime walls and pale gold ceiling were a natural fit for this bedroom, and accessorizing with the hand blown glass table lamps, with their more saturated hues, made for a perfect color design compliment. Decorating their master bedroom was particularly fun due to the fantastic window treatment fabric I had found. Interestingly enough, despite a vivid, brilliant pink swirl, it was the husband who was thrilled with it and the wife who was skeptical. Only after assuring her that I would showcase the other colors – lime, yellow and orange – did she agree to give the bright pink patterned drapes a try. The finished room is now her favorite in the house.
Downstairs the color scheme is decidedly more serious. I confess, I am partial to red dining rooms due to the ability of that color to really create a “nest” feeling, and the color red is also know to compliment the food being served – two important elements I strive for in dining rooms. Essentially the colors are all the same – green, red and gold, just deeper, more saturated and moodier hues. 
The adjacent powder bath incorporates a fantastic, textured wall covering that beautifully compliments the copper/bronze glass wall tiles. This is an excellent example of how to get really saturated, jewel tones in a tiny space. Evidently the small space doesn’t suffer from the dark tones!
Kaplan/Bernstein Design Project
This design project was especially fun because this client collects vivid, colorful art, and she wanted a colorful, playful kitchen space that mirrored her art passion and one that would inspire her and her three young sons.
KITCHEN BEFORE |
KITCHEN AFTER |
This client’s kitchen is an enormous space that required manipulation to achieve a more intimate scale, thus the use of deep wood tones and rich, saturated color.The accent blue chosen for the exposed wall above the custom Mixed Up Mosaic tile is an intense, Mediterranean blue that the client had been partial to for as long as we’ve worked together.
 |
 |
The adjacent dining room incorporated a more brilliant hue of the blue in a luxurious velvet woven upholstery fabric. So as not to get too busy with color and pattern, the wall covering and custom Rug Company rug were chosen for their graphic, monochromatic patterns. The resulting effect is plenty of interest and texture without jarring, competing colors.
The parlor is a quiet, simple space directly adjacent to the front entry but in full view of both the dining room and kitchen/family room beyond. The open plan of the home required that all spaces were themes and variations of each other, so once again, a neutral, taupe wall was chosen with a terra cotta accent which is another color to which this client was partial and also the dominant color of the family room (not pictured here).
Kisling Design Project
Having just moved from a small, east coast townhouse to a much larger Texas duplex, this client was ready to jettison most of her heavy, traditional furniture in favor of a lighter, more contemporary and ethnic design scheme. In her first house we painted using aubergine, lavender and crimson, but because this new house had tall, cathedral ceilings and interesting architecture, rather than betray the architecture with distracting color, we decided to embrace the cool, white stone and walls and added depth with rich wood tones and small splashes of color. Keeping the walls a fresh white directed the focus to the dramatic architecture and the beautifully crafted furniture. Though this was a great departure color-wise for this young woman, it turned out that she liked this refreshing color approach.
Simons/Korn Design Project
This couple live in a lovely, modest home directly across the road from an urban situated National Park. They are active, outdoor enthusiasts and wanted a kitchen that brought the outdoors in. The original space was an ode to the 1980s, with a sheet vinyl floor and plastic laminate cabinets and counters, so the ensuing kitchen remodel and design transformation turned out to be dramatic.
KITCHEN BEFORE 
KITCHEN AFTER
The scheme began with a fantastic piece of Blue Persa granite – a gorgeous stone, unusual with its dramatic veins of blue, creamy white and taupe. Coupled with a Mixed Up Mosaic custom glass wall tile, the scheme was complete. Using wide plank, fumed walnut floors and a bank of walnut pantry cabinets complimenting pale stone-painted cabinets created a feeling of warmth, water and sky.
 |
 |
In order to maintain the quiet sophistication of the small, narrow space, walls were painted to blend with the painted cabinets and a cathedral ceiling alcove was painted a pale, gray blue. The petit, adjacent dining room incorporates a significantly more saturated hue of the blue established in the kitchen, completing a graceful, serene suite.
About Joanne Fitzgerald
Joanne Fitzgerald, founder and owner of Gatega Interior Design, brings a lifetime understanding of art and design to each project so that color, light, texture, scale, and pattern all work in harmony with each other, ultimately creating spaces that are interesting, inviting and supremely comfortable. Her approach is not to brand each project with her signature style, but to create each space as a reflection of the client: their culture, their lifestyle.
Joanne has a diverse educational background, having begun by studying engineering and eventually graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Her technical training, combined with extensive experience in and a deep appreciation of the decorative arts has enabled her to bring to each project a broad understanding of form and function. After working for several area architecture and interior architecture firms she started her own, award winning design business in 1996.
Read More »Jacaranda Tree Color Scheme
{ Series: Inspired by Nature }
This beautiful photo of the Jacaranda tree was submitted by Florida-based kitchen and bath designer and the editor of “Kitchen and Residential Design” blog, Paul Anater. Paul writes:
St. Pete is filled with them and they bloom in March. It’s usually too cold for them in Tampa though there are a few stragglers. It’s always just a few degrees warmer on this side of the Bay and they really thrive. The older neighborhoods in St. Pete are jaw dropping when these things are in bloom.
The Jacaranda tree blooms are indeed beautiful and I find that you can’t go wrong selecting a color scheme for decorating your home – if you look to nature for color inspiration. Though I am using Pantone based colors here, you can go to any paint store, show them a photo of your nature inspired color palette, and they should easily be able to create your dream color scheme in an instant.
Resource: Pantone
RELATED
- Orchid Tree Color Scheme
- Kitchen Designer Paul Anater’s profile on Spotlight on Design
- Design & Colors Inspired by Nature
Orchid Tree Color Scheme
{ Series: Inspired by Nature }
Purple Orchid Tree flowers in beautiful shades of purple set against vibrant green leaves create a striking and memorable color palette that you can translate to the home.
Paint Resource: Pantone Paints & Interiors
Read More »Urban Safari Glam in Black & White Sophisticated Palette
Color trends for 2009 and 2010 continue to showcase the simple, elegant and dramatic color scheme duo of black and white as a popular home decor choice for contemporary styled homes. Black and white alone can create a sterile, sharp and often harsh contrast, but add in the soft lines and patterns of the Zebra print; mix in shades of silver, platinum and slate with just the perfect touch of crystal sparkle and you’ve got the recipe for a glamorous, feminine inspired, interpretation of sophisticated modern design.
- Artwork by Festoni ($1125) – festoni.com
- Brushed Metal Vases ($129) – brocadehome.com
- Owen Barry Large Zebra Stripe Pony Cushion ($265) – barneys.com
- Gillian Chandelier- danielstuartstudio.com
- Nelson Coconut Chair ($3899) – hermanmiller.com
- Zebra patterned Drapery (custom) – drapestyle.com
- Zebra print rug ($299)-hollywoodloverugs.com
Vera Wang Bedding Elegant Edges in Mandarin
We knew Orange would be a hot home decor color trend for 2009 and we continue to love this vibrant , joyful color and are even more excited to see one of our favorite designers, Vera Wang incorporating orange in her home fashion designs. Vera Wang combines crisp whites with just the right amount of mandarin orange to create a fresh, clean, feminine yet tailored bedding ensemble for her “Elegant Edges” bedding collection. We love it and think you will too.
Images copyright of respective companies.
Home Decor Buyer Resource: Vera Wang
Read More »Kitchen and Laundry Room Color Trends 2009: Purple
Purple has gained tremendous popularity in tile, wall paper, wall paint and accent pieces for kitchen and bath for 2009. Shown above Plum Brule and Iridescent Inkwell tile from Glass Tile Store . Viking Ranges offers custom ranges in a rich and varied palette of colors including 2009 color trend favorite Plum.
Images copyright of respective companies.
Home Decor Buyer Resource: Glass Tile Store, Viking
Related: KBIS 2009 Sneak Peek , Kitchen Design Trends 2009, Bath Design Trends 2009, Home Decor Color Trends 2009
Read More »