The Owl and the Phoenix

A Classic Office

August5

The other day I received a comment on the Hot Paint Colors for 2010 post. Joyce wrote to ask this:

What will be the hot colors for 2011? I am getting ready to create an office space for my husband in our bonus room. The walls are short because it is over our garage. There is only one window, but a lot of ceiling since the walls are short and the ceiling peaks. Presently there are two navy leather chairs and light beige carpet. He has an old oak desk that belonged to my father. I am thinking deep mustardy gold or gray. Help. Thanks, Joyce

From the early projections I have found, the palette for 2011 will be similar to this year’s – with some variations of course. Mustard gold and gray will definitely still be ‘in’. I’ve designed a mood board with some sample paint colors and fabrics. Since I don’t have pictures of Joyce’s actual room or furniture, I pulled a pair of simple navy leather chairs and a classic antique oak desk for a visual.

As far as how to integrate the colors into the room, since the walls are short, I would keep the mustard yellow there and paint the ceiling the light gray. We want to keep it open and airy feeling up there! If you have end walls that are tall, it might be kind of fun to do some wide, vertical stripes to make the ceiling feel even higher.

For fabrics, I would choose a couple of different patterns and a solid if you’d like.  A few throw pillows around the room will help distribute the color and make everything look cohesive. If you have a side table that has a skirt, use one of the fabrics there as well.

Add some simple curtains to the window to accent it. If you can, avoid having the curtains hang in front of the window. An easy way to make windows look larger than they are is to hang the rod a few inches wider than the window on each side. This way your curtains are covering very little of the actual window. For even more drama, put the rod just a few inches down from the ceiling, rather than right above the window trim.

Joyce, I hope this gives you some ideas for your husband’s office space. Best of luck on your decorating venture!

Wordless Wednesday

July28

Whitetail Bucks by Bruce Tyrell (via Facebook)

Wordless Wednesday

July21

Photo via Michigan in Pictures

Wordless Wednesday

June30

by Laura O Photo via Poppytalk

Wordless Wednesday

June16

via MSNBC

What’s Your Decorating Style?

June15

Today on Inspire, Admire and Design, my good friend Christy posted results from her decorating quizzes. I decided to do the same – and to see if I have a consistent style. At first I didn’t think I did, but as I read the descriptions of the styles, I realized three were very similar. More on that later. My results from the four quizzes were Scandinavian Natural, Hollywood Couture, Country Eclectic and Estate. Huh?

I started by taking the IKEA quiz, which shows you different sets of pictures and asks you to choose your favorite. I guess modern is not my thing.

Next I took the Sproost quiz. This was the hardest for me, as you have to rate how much you like a room (there are six ratings). Here is where I ended up with 100% Hollywood Couture. I’m pretty sure anyone who has been to my house will tell you that is NOT how I live. It’s pretty, I like it, but I’m not sure I could live with it.

Third up was HomeGoods. This only has 10 multiple-choice questions, but they were hard for me to answer. I felt like I didn’t fit any of the choices very well so I just chose the closest I could.

The last quiz was from Ethan Allen. The store that sells pillows that cost as much as my television. Anyway, this is another ‘choose which you like best’ quiz – similar to IKEA.

The three most accurate (for me), were IKEA, HomeGoods and Ethan Allen. They all describe a more eclectic look with light, bright colors. I got some good tips from the results as well. Give it a shot!

What is YOUR decorating style?

Wordless Wednesday

June9

Land of Ampersand by Katie Daisy

Wordless Wednesday

June2

“Flaming June” by Frederick Leighton (1830-1896) via Pre-Raphaelites

Wordless Wednesday

May26

Gardener’s Den via Ideal Home Magazine

I’m Famous! Ok, not really…

May23

The lovely Erin over at Room by Room recently posted the kitchen remodel from her first house. It’s fabulous. I’ve added her before and after shots below so you can see how great it looks.

I had commented with a question about her cabinets and today was greeted with a screenshot of my comment (including my scary thumbnail picture)! Click here to go to the page =)

Before:

After:

Doesn’t it look great?

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