This is somewhat of a departure from my usual blogs. I would like to take the opportunity to point out what design traps not to fall into and to show you that to change and improve the look and feel of a room, you often don’t have to do much!
I went to an AMAZING restaurant last week for my anniversary in Porte Maillot. The food was beyond perfect, wine unbelievable, and service and chef attentive. The only thing that bothered me was the décor!
(Apologies for the poor quality of the photos, they were taken quite quickly on my Iphone)
The chairs were beautiful, comfortable and probably cost a small fortune, the curtain sheers worked lovely with the chairs, the curtain poles and finials added a different layer with their shiny chrome finish and cost I would think upwards of 500 euros each.
The thing that DID affect my appreciation of this expensively decorated room was the colour of the wood work. It was that horrible dark honey coloured wood that you see in cheap condominium kitchen cabinets and was used CONSTANTLY in the 80’s and up to the mid 90’s.
The wood on the chairs is a lovely mahogany coloured stain, the curtains have flecks of the SAME dark brown, so why oh why would they not sand and re-stain all of the wood work in that colour as well! It would TRANSFORM the room. Take it from in my opinion a disjointed ill-flowing space into a chic, modern and elegant dining room.
The only thing that I could possibly think of is whoever was making the decision may have thought it would be TOO dark. Of course that would not be the case with the light colour of the wallpaper and curtains. However; I have come across this MANY times with clients. They are too scared to create either too dark or too light a space. And many times the reason is because “Oh well if I use that red or dark brown, my room won’t look right in the summer”. If you have that mindset, you might as well just use beige throughout your entire house and be done with it.
Yes certain colours and shades are related to the seasons. Reds and browns are great for a cold room in winter because it warms it up. Lavender and blue is perfect for a room in the summer because it cools it down. But, you just can’t be so white and black about colours like that or you would be painting your room a different colour every season! If you are VERY concerned about this “colour problem” let me assure you – it is so easy to transform a room with the seasons simply by changing window treatments, accessories, cushions and throws - All things that do not have to be expensive and that you can store away. For example, if you wanted a cozy red room in the winter, all you would have to do to make your room summery is to take down your heavy winter curtains and replace them with flowy, cotton sheers. You could also put some light linen throws and cushions on your sofas. Add lots of white and cream in your accessories with candles and flowers and voila! Not hard and it doesn’t have to be expensive (hint – IKEA has great cheap white and cream cotton sheers). As long as you’re creative you don’t have to be SO restrained by this never ending question of colour. Redoing a room can be expensive, so if you’re going to do it, DO IT RIGHT! Don’t be scared by the unknown, let yourself go and don’t be restrained by these “RULES” I hear so much about. Yes as I designer there are rules in terms of design theory, but these other colour “RULES” are just hogwash! Probably a rumour started by the woman on your street WHO’S HOUSE IS BEIGE!
