I have been seeing a lot of dark walls in my design wanderings lately. Not previously a fan, I have to admit they are growing on me, but they have to be done right. Dark colours are tricky to work with and if pulled off right you get something like this:
Source / Photographer: Sharyn Cairns
What do you think? Would you do this in your home?
Happy Weekend…Donna
Please contact dh designs if you are ready
to create a home that reflects your style and your life
The weather is warming, the snow has disappeared and apart from the evidence that I have dogs, the lawn is starting to green up. Spring has arrived!
Source: fanpop.com
Outside your home is showing all the signs of spring, but what about the inside of your home After a long, cold winter, here are 5 easy ways to bring spring into your home:
1) Declutter
Over the course of the winter our nature is to nest and when we nest we tend to surround ourselves with items that give us happiness and comfort. Spring is all about new beginnings, so here’s a little exercise to help you declutter.
deniseinbloom.com via Michelle on Pinterest
2) Floors and Windows
Spring cleaning routines typically involve a good window cleaning. Not just the glass, but the mullions, sills and trim. While you are doing this take the opportunity to change up your window treatments. Replace heavy draperies with sheers to give the room a breezy look. If you have horizontal blinds, consider removing all other treatments to give the window a cleaner look.
Give the floor a good cleaning, including the baseboards. If you have an area carpet, replace it with a sisal type rug. The room will have a much lighter feel. Area carpets are pivotal to defining your furniture arrangement so make sure the carpet is the right size for your room. A carpet that is too small, unless it is there for it’s artistic value, will make the room look cluttered. A good rule of thumb for the right size is to have a minimum of six inches and no more than two feet from the edge of the carpet to the wall.
3) Rearrange
I’ve said it before and will continue to say it. Move things around! The art on your wall, the carpets, the furniture – if it fits with the colour scheme, move it between rooms. If it doesn’t fit with the colour scheme, rearrange it in the same room. You will be surprised at how fresh and new a room feels when you do this!
4) Colour
Adding colour can be done in various ways. If you are ready for a change, a coat of paint does wonders to up the newness of a room. If you don’t want to commit to new colours, then try a couple of new accessories or pillows in a bright spring colour.
Source: colourlovers.com via Pamela on Pinterest
Hint: You don’t have to buy new pillows – just pick up a few pillow covers and recover existing pillows. Ikea, Homesense or Bouclair are great places to pick up spring accessories and pillow covers without breaking the bank.
5) Flowers/Plants
Bringing the outdoors in is as easy as adding plants or fresh flowers to your home. Fresh flowers are a wonderful way to add a pop of colour to any room. Houseplants are a more permanent way to bring the outdoors in, but keep them to a minimum (see #1), you don’t want your room to look like a greenhouse. Plants are also a commitment – watering and pruning is required on a regular basis. If you don’t have a green thumb, there are plenty of beautiful life-like silk arrangements available that would have the most avid gardener fooled.
| |  |
| Contemporary Spaces by Vancouver Architect Kerrisdale Design Inc | Mediterranean Living Room by Atlanta Architect Summerour Architects |
Happy Decorating!
Please contact dh designs if you are ready
to create a home that reflects your style and your life.
Emerald – the Pantone colour of the year for 2013 is a bright, bold shade of green, that you will see incorporated into many interiors over the next year or so. Will it work? That depends.
Source: Pantone – www.pantone.com
This colour is a strong one and unless you are in love with it, you are not likely to paint your walls with it. However, if you are trend conscious, there are plenty of other ways you can us this colour in your home.
Here are 6 ways you can incorporate Emerald into your home decor:
1) Throw pillows are one of the easiest ways to refresh your decor and incorporate a new colour. Depending on your colour scheme you could add bold emerald pillows, or you could go with patterns that incorporate a touch of emerald.
Source: laylagrayce.com via Grace on Pinterest
Source: updatedallas.com via Update on Pinterest
Source: inspiredbythis.com via Amy on Pinterest
Source: hgtv.com via Donna on Pinterest
Source: homedesign.marthastewart.com via Susan on Pinterest
Source: so-much-more-than-nl.blogspot.ca via Caroline on Pinterest
Source: Room designed by Amanda Nisbet via La Dolce Vita blog
However you do it, have fun with it. Try a combination of the above, and where it make sense use groups of 3 or 5 (as in your accessories) so that the colour does not seem out of place.
If you do add emerald, I’d love to hear about it!
Happy decorating!
Don’t you love saying chartreuse? It’s even cool to spell, and I have to admit in my younger, pre-design conscious days, I didn’t even know what chartreuse was *gasp*!
Being a blonde with hazel eyes, chartreuse is one of my favourite colours to wear – especially in the summer when I have some actual colour to my skin.
I have several tops in chartreuse, even a purse (or two), and there’s a green pair of shoes (suede shoes I might add) that if forced, I could say they are chartreuse, but in reality they are really lime green. I still love them though ….
I sat down recently with Chartreuse and had a chit-chat – here’s how it went….
dh: So, Chartreuse, what can you tell us about yourself?
Chartreuse: Well, dh, I’m actually a 500 year old herbal liqueur. I’m produced by the Carthusian order of monks in the French Alps and my ingredients are a huge secret – HUGE!
dh: I knew I liked you! Liqueur you say … well well, let’s talk about that for a minute …. what are you served with?
Chartreuse: I come in two varieties – yellow and green – and both pair well with desserts. My green self really goes well with chocolate. You can have me straight up or on the rocks and I lo-o-ove cocktail parties – some of my favourites are:
dh: Wow, I think I’m in love …. I will definitely be trying that last one! So you say your ingredients are a mystery – how so?
Chartreuse: Well, originally back in the olden days I was distilled as the “elixir of long life” and as such my ingredients were a secret. Then there was like 500 years of upheaval where the recipe was copied, hidden, sold, bought, and finally returned to the Carthusian Monks. Today there are two monks who know the ingredients and they’ve sworn a vow of secrecy... so don’t even ask!
dh: Cool … hmmm … next trip to France, there will be some time in the Alps required… So, I’m guessing the colour Chartreuse is based on the green liqueur?
Chartreuse: Yes, you’re right, but there are really two colours of chartreuse; chartreuse yellow and chartreuse green. And there are dozens of in between colours that are derived from chartreuse. From a light greeny yellow down to a darker olive green!
dh: Wow, I didn’t realize there were so many variations on the colour. So I guess those lime green suede shoes I have really are Chartreuse – sah-weet!!! Now, as a colour, what other colours do you like to hang with?
Chartreuse: Good question. Because I’m used mostly to make a bold statement colour, I go with many colours. As they say a picture tells a thousand words, here’s a few pics that should give you the idea…
dh: I see what you mean about being bold!! These are awesome interiors, but now tell us the truth, how do you hold up on the exterior?
Chartreuse: Is that a challenge? You’ll be amazed – I’m actually very present in nature from algae to moss to grasses and many many plants. Here are some examples…
dh: Ughhh Algae …. our pool was that lovely shade of chartreuse a couple of years back … ick!!! So, I get it that you do nature well… but how about as exterior colour on or around a home … in the non-natural elements?
Chartreuse: Geez….It’s like you don’t believe me … I actually add a really nice pop of colour in a lot of exteriors – here… check it out…
dh: Well, I can certainly see you have all the bases covered as far as interiors and exteriors go. You are quite the versatile colour! Thank you so much for agreeing to talk with me, it’s been really great getting to know all about you – from the ancient monks to the cocktails to the algae. I’ll be looking for you as I browse through my Food and Drink magazines as well as through my home decor magazines. And I’ll salute you as I have my very first Chartreuse Martini!
Chartreuse: Thanks for having me dh, it’s been fun!
So folks, now we know a little bit more about chartreuse. If you’d like to see more examples of using this colour check out my Pinterest board and my Houzz Ideabook.
How have you used chartreuse – the colour, or the liqueur??? Share….
Twice now, I’ve been walking through our local “Bay” (aka The Hudson Bay Company) store and come across this table setting.
And twice now, I’ve taken pictures with my iPhone (sorry for the quality …)
I’m thinking this means something. This last visit, I took this picture also…
… which means two things … one - I am seriously crushing on this pattern and tw0 – it’s way out of my price point.
But one of the reasons for writing a design blog is to be able to dream – right?! So, I’m dreaming of a virtual table setting including this lovely china…
I think it would be lovely paired with this set for contrast …
matched with this glassware…
And this flatware …
On this linen tablecloth …
On this table …
In this room …
In this house …
Well, look at that, a whole new life, just from one little table setting :).
What do you dream of setting your table with?
![30548A92FAA8E7E295C558C62B466B77_thumb[1]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfcsJHK4OfQL2-LToznSBUY1A2__GP2XV1bUbIxGCnH8sfcyL7PDyIdOH6ngKZ9XNBSC_3332zwBBP2zKKqFhWfWk1tzrP9MHjNPQj6kGcUpM16LWo3BaoemuLQnR_2bI8LNtQbxgw1sMS/s1600-h/30548A92FAA8E7E295C558C62B466B77_thumb%25255B1%25255D%25255B3%25255D.png "30548A92FAA8E7E295C558C62B466B77_thumb[1]")
![30548A92FAA8E7E295C558C62B466B77_thumb[1]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfHvuHlkAQNKsRbv7sHJrdp_PG2dolrsOebENKaukF6XQIBS1q5U83yo-qVWMRfI_kQUTJHTEmsPrxRfSHlRg2u8YhSxX_b-KQsk1uRKDF2sCgm5bdsTzbE-gfWSY5Js5Apqm2aKz8lfAC/s1600-h/30548A92FAA8E7E295C558C62B466B77_thumb%25255B1%25255D%25255B3%25255D.png "30548A92FAA8E7E295C558C62B466B77_thumb[1]")
![amanda nisbet3_thumb[2] paloma81 blog](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNLsw6yjUNxjyDD2xrdTw1nWApHmDeC0-vf7W_jkWHko0UaxJQa9zachVWRHE0dTEpeB877cI2_eivY91chr6f9I-zrCLQZlOyEuxD_UJoPwQoTmMXdFEF50kD-IYL9rEpyZLa0n-J2fdd/s1600-h/amanda%252520nisbet3_thumb%25255B2%25255D%252520paloma81%252520blog%25255B3%25255D.png "amanda nisbet3_thumb[2] paloma81 blog")
![30548A92FAA8E7E295C558C62B466B77_thumb[1]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjehZwU1r_FhNNQ0V_vfcfJwb5h51I-Xv90TfbgLiHCwMOhBb25DgU_MhGLt6QYVnEJuqvX-1WYiopAtmvTn5d6lgI-8Kq6qrSlL2WiDGYptnLeh8snlu0Q9QSt8cIu9of6ffQoyiis0BfH/s1600-h/30548A92FAA8E7E295C558C62B466B77_thumb%25255B1%25255D%25255B3%25255D.png "30548A92FAA8E7E295C558C62B466B77_thumb[1]")
![30548A92FAA8E7E295C558C62B466B77_thumb[1]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7b81qv5mYHQVVYqqtPOvxjJWnWchBJPFpF89JsRkVUQduANO9NBbouyr5ZB8YBtGetTv3AisRn7B2j8tV8h1hzvorgLlncvjXfOl5XxtxrqyiubsCr7YYGh7EILA9lJtOFeQzEy_oy79c/s1600-h/30548A92FAA8E7E295C558C62B466B77_thumb%25255B1%25255D%25255B3%25255D.png "30548A92FAA8E7E295C558C62B466B77_thumb[1]")
