More on Color Trends

I was just reading a trade magazine.  The article was called What's Moving Tomorrow's Markets Today.  It was a great article, but here's a highlight that caught my attention. "Some surprises are on the horizon....."  "Designers find that their clients are gravitating towards stronger colors not only as accents, but as major players in the design......Now it is not unusual to see lime green countertops, or an artisan backsplash combining oranges, greens, and metals.  Even divergent color schemes are striking a successful chord.  Imagine a color scheme of navy, black, chartreuse and bronze..." 

I was wondering what these rooms would look like, and I found these pictures to share:


Lime Green Counters.  And, check out the stools.

 







Orange, Green, and Brown. 

 



Navy Walls, Chartreuse Chair, Bronze Frame

Happy Decorating, Atharva

Be Yourself Creatively (Keeping it Fresh part 2)





Use in an entry, or a wall in the dining room.



Keeping your place beautiful and fresh, and just relaxing and being you,  is sometimes hard to do.  We all need our stuff.  All the things that aren't so pretty, but that are convenient to have at hand, can create clutter and make your place look messy.  It takes away from your wonderful interior design efforts.  Here are a few  ideas with furniture that double as a storage space where you can tuck away papers, crafts, toys, and clutter.  I included some great rugs that might go well with each furniture peice, after all, we are Cartozian Fine Flooring and Rugs...

 



Shabby Chic Storage

This makes a great desk in a Country Kitchen.

Happy Decorating, Atharva

The Art of the BACKSPLASH

Here are 3 backsplash focal point areas of some recently completed jobs. Each one is as individual as the clients.

Sleek yet Organic.  Matte 4x12 subway tile with natural pebbles.

Zen with a touch of Asian.  6x24  subtle wood textured tiles with a custom sandblasted and painted tile by Sandblasted Art.  Metal bamboo liners finish the center piece.

Very Traditional. Matte grey and white marble 3x6 with herringbone pattern above the stove.
Thank you to Randy Hayes from Creation Cabinets for sending these clients our way.
 Happy Decorating, Atharva
 

Meditation Room

This cushion is a nice size and I like the visual weight the base gives the cushion.

I went to a home the other day that had only 1 room without a theme or decor.  It was a nice little space above the garage.  I was thinking that it would be a perfect Meditation Room.  Especially since the owner collects Buddhas.  It would be a good excuse to get another decorating project going.  Here are some pictures for inspiration of things that could be used to decorate a meditation room. 

The room needs to have these just for the sheer joy of searching for and collecting something so pretty.



I don't know where you could find fabric displayed like this, but I love the idea of it. 

The warm colors working together with green.



If you like to sew, you could have fun finding fabrics and making some cushions.

Color inspiration for the room.  Blending many warm colors and adding a pop of maybe the green of the pillow would be an idea.  I think just using warm colors without the green works as well. 

Perfect!

You have to see this rug in person.  Karastan "Antique Legends".

The colors are brilliant, yet it looks "Antique" at the same time.

Happy Decorating, Atharva

Keeping It Fresh

I went back to visit a home I worked on a few years ago, and I noticed all kinds of clutter across the surfaces.  Some were nick knacks, mail, papers, and crafts.  This home was stunning when completed, with every color, wood, surface material and piece of furniture working together in a fantastic way.  Next I had a luncheon at my house with another designer and an artist.  As I prepared for the luncheon, I was frantic.  There was again, nick knacks, mail, papers, and crafts where they shouldn't be.  Great objects that I had picked up here and there for the house were just shoved in places.  I felt it was less than impressive.  On both of these days I wondered, "What happened?"

This is a great example of a way to refresh your bookcase. It can be changed at intervals.

Sometimes we lose sight of our homes and what made them beautiful to us in the first place.  The clutter of life takes over.  (The next post should be about dual duty storage for stuff!)  Let's make a plan to look at things with a critical eye every six months or so.  Refresh our rooms, and put clutter back in it's place.  Change things around so it doesn't get stale, and acquire some new pieces now and then.  Re-arrange the furniture.  I used to do that a lot.  I don't know what happened.



Display a vintage collection. Change the display now and then.

Don't forget the front porch. Add some seasonal decor at the holidays, including the 4th of July.



Pull some pieces together with color and ground it with a great new area rug.

Happy Decorating, Atharva



"For the Love of Lavender"

We received some new samples at the showroom the other day.  The style is called "Indescribable" It's the new "Silk"Smart Strand carpet fiber.  When I first heard about the "Silk" I secretly thought to myself, "can it reallllly be any softer than the other already super soft "Smart Strand"?  The answer is "yes" .   We just love it.  It is "indescribably" soft.  Rachel picked up the Lavender Lace color sample and held it up to show me how much she loved the color.

But where to use lavender carpet?

 I found two rooms that would be lovely with this color.
If one color provides enough of a base in a room, it can become the "neutral" for your color scheme. It doesn't need to be beige to be neutral.  This dining room really illustrates that point.  Lavender is definitely the neutral backdrop for this traditional room. It has the feel that the background  is  understated.  The interest comes from the fireplace, mouldings and accessories.  

What is your neutral?

Happy Decorating!  Atharva

"She perched on the sofa which was upholstered in a faded antique tapestry"



My favorite part of a novel is the scene where it's set.  It seems like in the books I like to read the characters are sitting on some delicious sofa upholstered in faded antique fabric.  Imagining the rooms is one of my favorite parts of the story.   Here are some faded things that could be right from a novel..

This Karastan rug "Persian Garden" could go with either of these faded romantic sofas.

I have noticed quite a few rooms with old books used as accessories. ( Even Ralph Lauren's house.)

I found this faded antique fabric on Etsy. It would make the perfect throw pillows for the room above because it has the same colors as the books on the top shelf of the bookcase. 

This wool Stanton carpet would be lovely with the fabric pictured above.  (The actual scale of each is reversed due to the photos)  The creme pattern is  dimensional like crewel work, and the linen colored wool is very natural.

This is one of the new rugs we have at the showroom. (Karastan Shapura "Arabella")  I love the faded look of it. It just feels like an antique.  It would be wonderful with this faded velvet sofa that I found on an auction website.  The sofa is brighter than the rug, though it is faded as well. Happy Decorating, Atharva

Branches, Trees, and Woodland Themes

Looking through " Home Furnishing News" today I saw this ad.  It just took my breath away, it was so beautiful.  Spending more time outside lately is so inspiring.  At home we have a vase of tree branches, a rock with moss on it, and a hornet nest under glass as our center piece.  In another home that is full of fine art and antiques, I saw bare branches tucked in every where.  Behind the buffet, grandfather clock, and in the powder room.  The contrast was surprisingly pleasing. 

This room has a branch motif wall paper.  It is a commitment to use this, but picture how comforting it would be to have something like this if you didn't have the real thing near by.  Or it could be used if you love nature so much that you want to continue a natural theme inside and out.

This Chandra rug by Thomas Paul might work in the house above.

This fantasy dining room has some great design tips.  Emphasis on lighting is important and creates romance and mystery.  This room shows how to bring out the beauty in the rustic and natural by enhancing it with the shiny and decadent.  A pop of green provided by the moss finishes the look.

This nursery has a woodland theme. Birds perched on white birch tree branches gives a little of that outside feeling.  The rug below would be fun with this room, and pick up the green in the bumpers, and at the window, as well as the white of the crib.  The rug photo here is enlarged, but in real life it would actually scale to this room nicely. I love how this room is fun, yet not like the typical nursery. 

Below right is a good example of how to decorate with branches.  This is a rustic mantle, but a more formal mantle would work just as well.

Another Ad.  They must know how we love the feel of the outdoors.

Happy Decorating, Atharva

Kitchen Backsplash

The trend in the Kitchen Backsplash is no trend.  From our experience, the kitchen backsplash is as individual as the clients themselves.  Here are some great selections our clients recently made:


These and a stone porcelain with a beautiful green granite that captured all of these colors.

In 3x6 with a herring bone pattern over the stove.

Long and narrow 3x36 with a bamboo motif sandblased in a 24x24 above the stove.

Pewter metal leaf with black ceramic tile to go beautifully with black granite...

Happy Decorating, Atharva