Monochromatic with a Pop

We were asked to help create a fun bedroom space for a soon to be teenager.  Often the struggle with decorating for a "tween" is how to design for the teenager to be, while still accommodating the child that they are.

When we started this project there was some great 90's era wallpaper and borders on the walls and we were asked for paint options.  The client had already found new furniture for the room and we also offered some bedding ideas as well as fun "man cave" ideas for the space.

This room has a bay window area that became the mini man cave equipped with tv, video games, seating and a fluffy rug to add a pop of color.  We purchased comfy bean bag chairs from Pottery Barn which are great for kids to grow with.  They have a chair shape instead of being a bag and provide more of a structured seat, which is helpful for all of those hours playing video games.  What's great about using something like this is that in years to come a sofa or other structured chairs could easily replace the bean bags and create the perfect teenage lounge space.

The colors chosen for the space were Scribe and Slate by Kwal.  Slate was used on the headboard wall of the room as an accent and Scribe was used everywhere else.  Both of these colors are in the blue-grey family so it created a monochromatic color scheme.  The Quicksilver plaid bedding utilizes the same color scheme and allows for numerous possibilities as the child grows and changes their mind, like children do.  In this room we added orange for the perfect pop of color.  There are orange drapes, a pillow and accents in the lamp shade and the fluffy rug.  These all could be changed out for a different color like yellow, lime, red, or even pink if his sister were in love with this color scheme.  Blue in girls' rooms is adorable by the way.  The benefit with this monochromatic scheme and adding different colors to it makes it inexpensive to change things up when your child wants something different. 

Before: Awesome wallpaper border in need of freshening up.

After: Monochromatic room with a pop of orange.

Before: Bay window area.

After: The mini man cave.

After: The bed with fun new linens.

 

Overstock.com in the SLC Parade of Homes

A week ago we were privileged to tour the Overstock.com sponsored parade of homes prior to the start of the parade.  It's a fun urban town home that has a rugged meets chic vibe.  When initially walking into the home you are greeted by the inspiration of nature.  There is leafless tree wallpaper, a pebble floor and an earthy brown textured carpet that is a welcome change from more traditional entries.  These elements are a reminder of what we see everyday but in an unique installation.

Moving upstairs the rugged chic theme continues using slate tile on the floor.  It isn't the typical multi-colored slate that is most often used.  It's a beautiful sleek platinum that has wonderful movement in each tile that immediately grabs your attention.  Seated on the floor are wonderfully sleek modern furniture pieces, including and Eames Rocker and Noguchi Table both of which have been in production since the 1940's; great design never goes out of style.  Marrying these classic pieces with existing modern sofas is a fun tied leather rug.

 

The master bedroom aside from having a wonderful view, has an even more beautiful interior.  This simplistically stylish bedroom has a great faux wall finish and crystal chandeliers.  The elegant palette of white, black and grey gives the room a spa/resort like feel that anyone would love to escape to.  Design wise it also leaves the user with limitless possibilities to personalize their space at a later date; pink, red, chartreuse, turquoise or even camel. 

What makes this home so wonderful is the pairing of old meets new, natural meets industrial and rugged meets chic.  They've used leather for flooring, various unique wallpapers and great accessories that make the space feel lived in.  It's definitely a must see on this year's Salt Lake Parade.  I'm actually headed back for a second look, because it is visually that much fun to walk through.  When you go, make sure you touch and feel everything you can.  You'll be surprised at the materials used and how they used them.  Thanks O.Co for the great opportunity to walk through before it all began.

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Home by Novogratz on HGTV

Last fall we, The Design House, had the privilege of meeting The Novogratz'.  Cortney and Bob (Robert) Novogratz are a husband and wife interior design team based on the East Coast.  This pair of designers travels and hunts for the perfect pieces to place in the spaces they design.  Searching antique and vintage furniture shops they find and refurbish many items giving them new life and purpose for their design.

If you've watched their previous show on Bravo TV "9 by Design" you'd know that they rehab old properties as well as do interior design.  On that show we saw their family dynamic, the balance between work and home as well as them moving into their newly rehabbed home.  They have since moved from Bravo TV to HGTV and they have a non-conventional way of tackling interior design.

What is so fun about this duo is that nothing is off limits. Recently I've been watching their new show "Home by Novogratz" on HGTV and so many of their ideas are crazy, but crazy good.  There was an episode that they designed a family room in the basement for adults and kids.  What was so fun about this space is that they added in a slide next to the basement stairs. 

The slide into the family room.  Photo courtesy of HGTV

I have not seen the episode that goes with this room, but it is so fun and quirky.  They took the "traditional" animal head/bust and placed a pop art spin on it in this retro mid-century modern room.

Mid-Century modern furnishings are paired with eclectic pieces in the room to give it an updated look but still keeping that retro vibe.  Love the faux moose art.  Photo courtesy of HGTV

This next room is from tonight's episode where they made over an entire beach condo in New Jersey.  The entire condo received a color makeover and wow at times I even had that moment where I questioned what they were doing, and as a designer I don't do that often.  The beds in the boys' room were covered in duct tape to give a new feeling and appearance.  They used carpet tiles alternating every other tile to create visual interest on the floor.  So much fun in this room.

Duct tape covered head boards, you wouldn't know it from the picture.  Photo courtesy mycentraljersey.com

The master suite in the same condo was kissed by the sun, literally.  I wasn't sure how it would work out because it is A LOT of yellow, but I think it came together nicely.  They opted for yellow carpet tiles and yellow walls.  To tame it they used white window coverings and multi-colored art posters from the 60's. 

The shining master suite. Photo courtesy of lohud.com

There are so many more designs that the Novogratz' have created and I'd love to show them all to you, but what fun would that be.  You really need to experience them for yourselves.  Head over to HGTV and watch them.  Their episodes are on Saturday nights and hopefully soon they'll be online for you to catch up on.  Definitely a must watch, they push the boundaries of design and it's fun to see.

Traditional Chairs with a touch of Whimsy

A little over two months ago we started a client project and proposed doing a traditional chair with a twist.  We selected an accent chair with a rush seat, or woven seat, that has upholstered cushions for the seat and back.  The fun thing about the chair we chose is that we had numerous ways we could customize it from fabrics to welting and wood color; our options were really endless. 

For this particular client and space we decided to do one specific fabric for the cushions, another on the chair back and a third for the welt cord that runs around the back as well as the cushions.  If you're not familiar with what a welt cord is, it is the decorative edge around a pillow, cushion or sometimes what you'd see on a cornice box.  It is another way to add character to a piece. 

The fabric selected for the cushions is a whimsical floral with a neutral background.  This particular floral is very colorful without being ostentatious.  Grounding this great floral on the back of the chair is a tweedy fabric with tans, greens and reds blended together.  It has great texture and pairs nicely with the rush seat.  The welt cord is a strawberry red that pops off the cushions and the chair back around the tweed fabric. 

All of these great fabrics are brought together with a beautiful mahogany toned wood that gives these chairs a touch of elegance.  What is great about blending all of these traditional options with that touch of whimsy is that it creates a more light-hearted space that the entire family will enjoy, not just mom. 

We will have the finished room to show you in the next few weeks, but until they are taken I want to share the chairs with you because they are vibrantly fun and whimsical.  Wait until you see them in the room, they are fabulous. 

The chair! 

Side profile allows you to see the rush seat, tweed fabric back, gorgeous floral and that strawberry red welt cord around the cushions and back between fabric and wood.

Here's the back fabric with welting.

Movin' on Up.....

So the title of this post may be a bit deceiving, but I couldn't resist.  No we're not moving, but you could be.  This year Bangerter Homes in Salt Lake County asked and received permission to build a replica house from Disney Pixar's "Up."  It is currently for sale and you could be the one movin' on up.  ;)

The builders are having custom furnishings made to match those from the movie and they've painted it to match the house in the movie.  It will also feature murals on the walls as seen in the movie as well as balloons on the weekends.  This home will be available to tour during Salt Lake County's Parade of Homes which runs from July 29 - Aug. 14, 2011.

Check out some of the pictures:

Photos courtesy from KSL.com.  To read the article and see more pictures head here.

Happy Fourth of July!

The Design House hopes you are having a fun Fourth of July weekend.  In honor of the Fourth, check out some great patriotic rooms over at House Beautiful.  They put together a few images here.  All of the images are great, but we're loving number 7.  Which is your favorite?