Maison Decor: May 2010

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Redecorating: Neutrals or Color?

Gorgeous and elegant...and very grown up!

It's time to redecorate and you have to decide: are you going to go in a new direction with a neutral palette that is sophisticated yet simple, or go with a color scheme for walls and furniture that will translate your taste and style? I enjoy looking at the beautiful and subdued interiors that are basically done in soft whites, grays or taupes..but is it really something I want to live with day to day?
Would I miss my colors?? I love color and pattern! .

I decorated this Cape Cod living room with ocean and garden views in creamy whites.

We used scrim draped over poles to enhance the airy feel.

Who wouldn't want to sleep in these dreamy creamy bedrooms? Yet I think something is lacking...

I designed beautiful silk striped drapes

for this fun colorful take on French Country!

This was my version of a MacKenzie Childs sitting room...

pinks greens and yellows and lots of cheeriness!

I called these draperies Gwyneth Paltrow Pink!

Remember that pink RL gown she wore to the Academy Awards years ago?

I never forgot it!

This was a serious victorian dining room tamed with the fun and happy colors of pink and green.

Set a place for Lilly Pulitzer won't you?

These yellow damask and blue toile valances

made this kitchen come to life!

This is my sitting room at my Lake House in New Hampshire.

I love toile, and the black and white fabric

complements my tole tray collection.

The yellow walls make it sing with happiness.

Could this be any happier of a window treatment?

See this green country cabinet....it makes the room, doesn't it?

I just had to get one for my Lake House...and it is my FAVORITE piece of furniture!

If it was white, I don't think I would love it as much....just saying!

I'll pick color over neutrals all day long.....its a natural mood enhancer!

Chandeliers are a girl's best friend

The grand scale feels right at home in this commanding entryway. It calls attention to the painted ceiling!

Lets face it, women love chandeliers and men don't. Perhaps most don't understand how much ambience a room gains when it has the right chandelier. They set the tone. They become the story. The chandelier is the most important accessory a room can have.

Yummy

This room above is so inviting to me with the chandelier hanging extra low over the coffee table! Not a dining table--a coffee table!

A beach cottage deserves a chandelier too, this one encrusted in little shells.

My favorite of all time, this pearl laden chandelier is so feminine and elegant.

I could soak all day looking up at this beauty! Notice the round crystal drops on the ends of the trailing crystal strands.

This chandelier has been around for a long time.

I remember back when my girlfriend bought it at Ethan Allen about 15 years ago....it is still lovely.

How about some Bohemian style lanterns..I guess they could classify as a chandelier..Annette Tatum would love these I bet!

We end with the classic crystal chandelier over a round dining room table.

My husband is in the process of hanging my crystal chandelier that

I bought at an auction 20 years ago in my office.

I changed out some of the clear crystals for pink ones that I bought on Ebay.

I can't wait to show you all!

Painted Cabinets

Painted cabinets just happen to be one of the things that I put at the top of my list.

                                                                        I adore them.
I have a mahogany secretary sitting in my living room that is going to be a painted secretary one day....
                                                            she just doesn't know it yet...
                    but until then stroll through these cabinets with me and see which one rings your bell.

Lovely Swedish blue grey cabinet

See the pink armoire? Daring or darling?

This is my own green country hutch....

Ok, its not painted, but still lovely...

So fresh and charming.

One of my favorite images from House Beautiful.

The decorator called this Chippendale piece a "big honking cabinet" until he had it painted white.

This grand old dame is hiding in the background

in an elegant milky gray paint. I'd buy her and take her home in a heartbeat.

Yellow and marvelous!

Last but not least, this magazine has been hanging around my house

for two years all because of this fabulous painted secretary!

Bedrooms to Dream in...

Welcome to My Bedroom! Not really, but a girl can dream, right? I want to share some beautiful bedrooms with you, and I think you will see a common link in styling. I call this one Frenchy Victorian.

Rustic Feminine. The brick wall is juxtaposed against the antique iron lamps, the lace laden iron bed and feminine details.

This sweet cottage bedroom is painted a color like BM Guilford Green, with painted bed and nightstand.

Enchanting isn't it? Serenity is the word with neutrals operating to showcase the french details like iron and crystal sconses and and a white bed piled high with white ruffled pillows.

Cottage Farmhouse with a bed in a painted distressed finish with BM Woodlawn Blue beadboard and Van Alen Green walls. A bed dressed in white adds to the simplicity.

Swedish Farmhouse Style.

Whites and Blues with white painted floor and toile pillows.

Feminine Frenchy bedroom grounded by black needlepoint carpet and dark wood bed dressed in soft pinks and beige.

Cottage Farmhouse Styling in buttery yellow like BM Weston Flax with distressed painted night stand and old fashioned rose paintings.

Blue and White are a classic combination that lets you take the feminine one step further. The sweet details like ribboned mirror and toile and lace bedding are held in check by the blue walls, painted in a color similar to BM Buxton Blue.

Feminine Cabin with a big dash of whimsy with mosquito netting!

A classic French Country Bedroom with the layering of florals and toiles in golds and reds. Walls remind me of my favorite color, BM Hepplewhite Ivory.

When you are a girl at heart, you can never have enough pastels! Flea market finds abound with success in this mix and match paradise.

The only thing missing is a chandelier!

Sweet Dreams!

All photos courtesy of Country Living Magazine

Country French

Inspiration Boards

When I am going to embark on a decorating project there usually is a source of inspiration.

Anything can inspire you. A painting you love, a favorite dress, a page in a magazine you can't forget.... this beautiful urn of flowers in soft pinks and yellows speaks to me!

I take my inspiration and build a grouping of fabrics and trims and wall colors that give the essence of what inspired me to begin with. A simple way to build your inspiration board is to get snippings of fabrics and trims and paint chips and assemble them on paper and slip into a protective clear sleeve. On the other side of the sleeve you can have pictures of rooms or furniture or window treatments that you love.

This inspiration board has fabrics that include a pink leopard, a yellow toile, and a pink and yellow houndstooth check! I paired a paint color by Martha Stewart called custard from her new line at Home Depot. A dainty pink/yellow tassel trim adds sweetness and detail to the board. I would love to come home to a sunroom done in these colors, wouldn't you?

A fun table like this one adds the personality that makes a room really special. I would put my urn of flowers right on top! This pink table looks great with that pink leopard fabric. Maybe all the soft furnishings would be slipcovered in white....mmm...I feel inspired!!

So that is the essence of an inspiration board. To get you excited and confident enough to move forward!