Room Gallery ~ Life Without Colour?

I’m having a colour moment today.  Perhaps it’s the drab and dreary grey day (has anyone else had enough with this rain already?!), and so I thought I’d treat my eyes to some wonderful colour from my design library, and share with you not one but four featured rooms of the week, all with different layers of colour, texture and feel.

Colour encompasses life, with all its feelings and moods. It has infinite possibilities and manifestations and it can awaken or subdue our desires. It can refresh or it can relax. Not many of us think in depth about colour. Yes, we often have our favourite colour or a colour we naturally gravitate to, but few take time to understand the complexities of colour.


{via eastmanimages.com}

Colour can play hide and seek between the candid and the vulnerable, it can be both nostalgic and noble, luxurious and sophisticated. The complexity of colour can be explored through its multiple layers of shade, tone, and saturation.


{via chateaudemoissac.fr}

The absence of colour creates an immense void ~ imagine a white sheet of paper. It contains every possibility and flirts at what could be, and is a foundation on which to build up your scheme.


{via housetohome.co.uk}

A singular colour can be powerful, dazzling, striking and intense – often monochromatic schemes are very masculine. Paired with a complimentary colour, you can create a balances or you can also ‘clash it up’ to make a loud statement.

 


{via coco+kelly}

How does colour revive your life and influence your lifestyle?

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Design Detail ~ Spring Trends


Top to bottom, L to R via: Elle, Hapers Bazaar, Elle,  Pinterest, A Blond and A Brunette, Martha Stewart Living, Kelly Wearstler

The colour trend of the S/S 12 catwalks was definitely pastel, pastel, and pastel.  With Spring peeping it’s head around the corner and lighter days upon us, our collective mood naturally lightens and we gravitate to brighter colours.  Both on and off the fashion runway we have seen plenty of pastels, and the reigning champion is most definitely mint.   This flirtatious colour is best paired with coral, and a neutral base palette as seen in our extremely well put together ‘Street Style’ lady.  This is one of my own personal favourite colour combinations, and I’m so thrilled to see it in both the fashion and interiors spotlight.

1. Pompadour Day Bed 2. Imperial Trellis II wallpaper  3. Tulip Embroidery cushion  4. Tree of Life printed cotton fabric  5. Cap Ferrett ice bucket  6. Tam Tam stool  7. Pumpkin Bowl  8. William Yeoward lighting and crystal accessories in ‘Aurora’  9. Duck Egg stoneware set 

Do you love mint and coral as much as I do?

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Feature: Hallways


{image via Modern Exposures}

Today’s Room of the Week Feature focuses on this casual yet chic hallway.  This is not a difficult look to achieve, and the visually appealing palette and layout would look as good in a cottage by the seaside as a country retreat.

What does your hallway look like?

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Room Gallery

I love this home office recently featured in the NY Times.  The colours! The fabrics! The furniture! Delightful…

How do you have your home office?

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Thursday’s Inspiration ~ From Haute to Home

During fashion week, both on and off the runways we saw plenty of fur.  Whether you agree with it or not, fur has always been a luxurious addition to any scheme, be it fashion or at home.  The world of interiors works at a slower pace than than that of fashion, however the influences of previous year’s looks are often seen filtering into chic interiors.

Ryan Korban is well known for his use of fur, adding to the sexy and grown up feel of the interiors he creates.  Schumacher has a fantastic and (trust me) eye wateringly beautiful range of hand crafted wallpaper using all natural feathers.  A fur throw on the end of a bed, or a feather trim on a lampshade are just the beginning for ideas on fur and feathers in the home.

Do you have a favourite animal print?

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Thursday’s Inspiration ~ Blue is the Colour

I’ve been asked to expand on my previous post about how to achieve a great look in blue.  Blue is once again the hue of the moment (although, when does it ever really go out of fashion?!)

From the runway to the home, blue is having yet another renaissance.  Giorgio Armani shows off with different shades of cool blues and playing with silk in the S/S12 Fashion Week.

Speaking of renaissances, you can see how the popularity of the colour blue was prevalent even during the Renaissance, when the pigment derived from the mineral lapis lazuli was so prized that it was used to paint the sacred robes of the Madonna.

Anyway, I digress. Using Giorgio as a springboard for inspiration, here are some key elements of putting a colour scheme together.


1. For nautical, denim and blue fabrics go to Ralph Lauren Home, Elanbach, and Sanderson
2. For silks in a variety of blues, go to Fox Linton
3.  For  traditional ikats and matching trims, go to Turnell & Gigon,
4.  and 5. Hand glazed tiles from Fired Earth
6. Oyster Slate Split Face Split Mosiac from Topps Tiles
7. Paint palette – various {via Elle Decor}.  Another excellent colour to add is ‘All White’ by Farrow & Ball


1. Blue and White Amari Vase from Vaughan
2.  William Yeoward Piers Court Navy cushion from Designers Guild
3. Twisted tumblers and wine glasses from OKA
4. Johnson Brothers Blue Denmark Plate from John Lewis
5. Square Blue and White Vase from Vaughan 

The key is to mix as much as possible! What I mean is mix the patterns and prints, but be careful of mixing shades of blue that could clash. There is a difference between colour and tone ~ colour is blue, tone is navy. You wouldn’t mix a turquoise tone with a navy tone unless you were intentionally clashing up the colours, which is best left to bright and bold to make a statement.

Blue is of course best contrasted with white, so pick a tone you like, layer it with pattern, texture and sizes and you’ll be on to a winner.

 What is your favourite blue?

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Friday’s Breathing Space


{via wasbella102}

The last week of snow has inspired Friday’s Breathing Space.  Although we like to complain how cold it is, doesn’t this image fill you with calm? This could actually be a good colour palette for a restrained drawing room, with the dusky pinks and muted greys. Gorgeous!

Happy weekend everyone!

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Room Gallery ~ Taste the Rainbow


{via Andy Martin Architects}

How eye popping is this open plan kitchen? It’s not often that clients are willing or have the inclination to really ‘go for it’ with colour, and such blocky colour at that.

You’ll notice that the walls have been kept neutral in a light off-white, and the colour has been injected through joinery and furniture, allowing the space to ‘breath’ and maintain a sense of perspective.  Even though the colours pop and sparkle, it’s still very much a grown up space. I need this pink and green kitchen in my life!

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Room Gallery ~ Flower Power


{via Domino}

You don’t need to be a hippy to enjoy the beauty of nature or the pleasing colour combination of a flower. I love the colour of this pink flower sitting on the greyish-green colour of the walls. The whole room hangs wonderfully together with the off-centre sofa covered in dark purple velvet and grey armchairs.

What would you call this colour? I seem to be seeing it everywhere at the moment.

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