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| Style: Sharing Style Preferences with your Spouse |
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Sometimes it's hard enough
to agree on what to have for dinner, much less try to design
a home with your significant other. Finding home furnishings
that you both love can be a challenge, but with a little compromise
and creativity, it is definitely possible to find stylistic harmony
under the same roof!
Here are a few ways to
get past your differences and design a home that reflects both
of your personalities and style preferences.
Find out what is most
important to your partner.
Is it comfort? Color? Shape? Fabric versus leather? Price? Sit
down and discuss what you both want and why. If your color preferences
are extremely different, pick a gender-neutral color for bigger
upholstered furniture pieces or window treatments. A few bold
color accessories can highlight personal preferences - males
typically prefer the neutral leathers and hardwoods, and women
can add their own style with throw pillows, linens, and other
accent pieces. Try mixing rustic styles with sleek, sensual fabrics,
or contemporary furnishings with earthy, soft colors and textiles.
Give your partner the
respect of listening to his or her point of view, because he
or she has to live there too! You should both feel comfortable
and happy with the furnishings in your home. Thankfully, with
the range of options available at every price point, couples
can find furniture to combine both of their preferences.
Have a plan.
If you're just starting out and need to furnish you entire home,
focus on one or two rooms at a time. This will help keep you
both on the same page about what you need to shop for and help
you see progress in your home more quickly. After you come to
a consensus about the style of a certain piece, let your spouse
do what he or she does best.
Women tend to enjoy doing
some legwork at home, first by going through magazines and looking
for ideas, searching for items online, comparing prices, and
enjoying the shopping process in general. This helps men too,
because they appreciate the more targeted approach to shopping
and will be more helpful in making final decisions when you're
actually in the store.
Combine your favorite
things.
There's no rule that says all your furniture needs to be the
same style - having an eclectic blend of home furnishings is
perfectly acceptable. If you both like a particular item, buy
it! Combining your styles will make your home a unique place
that is a reflection of both of you.
Take advantage of free
services.
Many furniture stores offer such benefits as interior design
consulting, room planning guides and product brochures. Working
with a designer can help you coordinate new furniture with your
existing pieces, or they can help you design your home from the
ground up and find solutions that will please both of you.
Having a designer's assistance
not only can help you choose the right piece of furniture for
your room, but he or she can help you and your spouse with space
planning, traffic flow, color schemes, and coordinating fabrics.
Designers also can help you find unique solutions to any unusual
room layouts or space challenges you may be facing. They also
have access to hundreds of catalogs of furnishings that are not
on the store's showroom floor, giving you options that you may
never have considered otherwise.
In other words, they can
take your home from looking like a mish-mash of items to a complete
"look" that works together seamlessly.
Have fun and enjoy
the process.
Your home is the place where you should be able to relax, recharge,
be yourself, and nurture each other. Furnishing a home that allows
you to do those things together should be a fun and rewarding
experience. Enjoy the process of creating a home that is uniquely
you!
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| Style:
How to get the
look: The New Look of Country |
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In an uncertain world,
we all look for the comforts of home, and reminders of the past,
when life seemed simpler. While we may indulge in the richness
and sophistication of an elegant crème brulee, it doesn't
compare to the reassuring comfort factor of a homemade apple
pie. The same could be said of country style.
Country style can range
from French provincial and English garden to American Cottage.
Each variety has their own essential elements, but common to
all is a feeling of relaxed comfort that soothes the soul in
a weary world. The newest trends in country style are decidedly
up-to-date with touches of modernity intermingling with an updated
vintage design. The result is a new look for country that is
decidedly current, while it treasures the best of the past.
Clean and Uncluttered,
Not Cutesy
Country style often takes more traditional, elaborate designs
and pares them down to their essential, unfussy elements. For
example, a great up-to-date option for country style dining chairs,
choose chairs that feature a key-hole design or a ladder back
with undulating horizontal braces. These designs are clean and
classic, not at all sparse or austere. They also do not cross
the line to over-the-top cutesiness. The extremely feminine varieties
of country in the past have given way to a more balanced, streamlined
approach.
To balance the two extremes
in your home, you might try, for example, pairing a feminine
sofa with dainty rolled arms with a straight-lined cocktail table.
The reverse of this combination, a clean-lined, more contemporary-style
sofa with feminine table featuring curved lines, scallops, or
other ornamentation, can be equally effective. The contrast between
feminine and masculine in the same room creates a balance.
For the newest take on
country in your window treatments, stick to simple sheers, textured
blinds or Roman shades instead of ruffled cabbage rose curtains.
Details Make the Difference
Many of the hallmarks for country style are found in details
such as bead board panels and whimsically scalloped aprons. Excessively
ornate or heavy carvings are not present, but smaller scale embellishments,
like simple rose carvings or turned finials, do appear. These
simple elements add interest, but they remain under-stated and
don't overpower the usefulness of the furniture they enhance.
Eclectic by Nature
The lived-in look of country style lends itself well to an eclectic
approach to interior design. Valuing heritage is a cornerstone
of country style and meaningful heirlooms, as well as quirky
hand-me-downs, are easily combined with more modern furnishings.
For example an old steamer
trunk would make an unexpected occasional table, beside a comfy
chair in a modern print. Each piece is interesting on its own,
but together they create an irresistibly charming scene.
You can also try to bring
the feeling of outdoors in by incorporating wicker and galvanized
metal surfaces. These elements, more typically seen in the garden,
add a touch of whimsy to country décor. Current country
style trends also incorporate rough-hewn natural elements, like
a slice of tree trunk, stripped of its bark and lightly sanded,
for an end table, or a wooden bowl carved to follow the reaching
branches of a tree.
Another hallmark of updated
country style has been the casual mix of fabrics, with solids,
checks, plaids, stripes and florals all coordinating for a cohesive
look. Try adding a bold graphic print or a botanical silhouette
to your decor. Textured fabrics are making more of an appearance
in country style as well. These can be homespun in feeling, or
more polished with thick embroidery and crewel work.
Colors of Country
For years the colors of country style have relied on an understated
palette of dusty rose, burgundy, sage green and tea-stained linen.
A more modern approach throws vibrant punches of color inspired
by nature into the mix.
Bright spring greens,
delectable oranges and sunny yellows are bringing new life to
country style with combinations that conjure images of roadside
farm stands, filled with freshly-picked produce. Lively colors
are not just for the walls; they are also making an appearance
on the painted finishes of accents and occasional pieces too.
Country style can make
you feel at home where ever you are. Today's approach to updates
this tried and true favorite with new, cleaner color palettes,
sleeker lines and touches of natural elements to create an easy
and eminently livable style.
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| Style: How to get the look: Coastal Style |
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As the weather turns warmer,
thoughts inevitably turn to the shore. The sea, the sand and
the surf conjure feelings of carefree summers and peaceful serenity.
While we may not all be able to escape to a cottage by the shore,
we can bring the feeling of fresh sea breezes into our homes.
When we think of coastal style, the first question to come to
mind is which coast? There are stylistic differences between
the relaxed sophistication of California coastal, the traditional
nautical influences of Atlantic seaboard coastal and the tropical
flavors of gulf coast style.
California Coastal: California's coastal style consists
of an eclectic and sophisticated blend of Old World European
furnishings with dark finishes, and comfortable fabrics with
touches of exotic, oriental influences.
Gulf Coast: This southern style features
wicker and rattan furnishings with vibrant colors and tropical
motifs. Often gulf coast style has a modern / retro flare with
art deco lines and tropical floral prints.
Atlantic Seaboard: Nautical themes differentiate
this variety of coastal style with lighthouse motifs influencing
palettes of white, black, red, navy blue and yellow. Furnishings
may incorporate shutters and louver elements on traditional,
American Colonial forms.
Fabrics
Coastal style, wherever it is found, is breezy and relaxed. To
bring coastal style into your home look for natural fibers for
upholstery and floor coverings. Canvas and stripes embody the
relaxed preppy style of Atlantic seaboard. If the gulf coast
suits your style, look for cool, saturated colors in tropical-themed
prints. California coastal style can combine intricate ikat or
batik fabrics from Java and Indonesia with the understated simplicity
of linen upholstery over jute rugs.
Colors
Thoughts of the seashore immediately bring certain colors to
mind: the cool, deep blue-green of the ocean, the soft beige
of the sand, the softer, lighter blue of the sky, and the subtle,
muted green of dune grass. While these colors can be found in
all varieties of coastal style, there are variations. Atlantic
seaboard coastal style punctuates beige and blue palettes with
crisp whites, and bright red, yellow and black. Color palettes
for gulf coast style can be vibrant to compensate for the intense
tropical sunshine; the colors of lush foliage in deep shades
greens, and the colors of exotic tropical flowers enter the mix
as well with red, yellow and orange. California coastal brings
more subtle and sophisticated colors to the mix with spice-inspired
colors, and elegant gold shades contrasting with darker wood
tones.
Case Goods
Coastal style case goods vary from region to region. Atlantic
seaboard coastal style incorporates cottage influences with turnings
and bead board details. Finishes for Atlantic seaboard style
are light, weathered or painted. Gulf coast style case goods
are, in general, either sleeker and more modern, or more exotic
with carvings inspired by tropical motifs. Finishes tend to be
lighter on Gulf coast style case goods and they may incorporate
rattan and other textures. California coastal style often uses
darker finishes to contrast with lighter-toned fabrics and floor
coverings.
Accessories
Sea-themed accessories add the finishing touch to the design
of coastal rooms, no matter the variety. For an elegant take
on California coastal and gulf coast styles you might incorporate
a seashell encrusted mirror, accent table or light fixture. Coral-form
accessories and prints add organic abstraction to elegant rooms
with sea-themes. A simple glass cylinder filled with sea shells,
sand or sea glass showcases the natural beauty of the shore.
One of the newest coastal trends in accessories that can be incorporated
into any coastal style room is found in glass vases and candle
holders that mimic the form and nubby texture of sea urchins.
Whether you live by the
shore or are land-locked in the mid-west, you can bring elements
of coastal style into your home for the breezy relaxed feel of
a sea-side vacation all year long.
Comfortable decorating
in traditional style:
One of the most popular
styles of decorating is the traditional style. There are several
reasons to use the traditional style decor but the main reason
is that it is readily available in furniture stores and department
stores so you can always find something to use. You don't have
to wait to inherit your grandmother's furniture you can get the
look you want today. Because of modern changes you can get even
more choices in the traditional style.
Traditional design tends
to lean towards soft colors instead of bright. You can find them
accented in jewel tones, gold or even silver. Using soft colors
can give your room a relaxed feel and look to any room. Using
a few antiques in your decor can give the room a stylish look.
If you have a dining table handed down to you then add modern
dinnerware to give it a lift.
The fabrics you choose
for drapery, furniture upholstery, and accent pieces can do much
to add to the traditional feel. While fabrics and textures don't
need to match perfectly they do need to work well together and
be durable enough to withstand regular use. In a living room
or dining room consider using a large area rug to pull all the
different colors together. Since these areas are usually high
traffic consider choosing an area rug made of a very durable
material or putting a rug pad underneath the rug. Synthetics
are usually the best material for area rugs in high-traffic areas.
Accessories are important
but keep them to a minimum. Too may accessories can make the
room look smaller and more crowded. You can also add a few modern
pieces to create the best of both worlds look; traditional and
modern.
Most bedroom sets come
complete; bed frame, chest of drawers, dresser, and a nightstand.
You can accent this traditional look with pastel sheets and low
lighting.
Today you can purchase
dining room tables and chairs in so many different patterns and
styles. If you have an oval or rectangle table you want to use
Queen Anne or Chippendale style arms. This will give you a traditional
look and feel. Traditional interior furniture now comes with
a lot of storage space that is tucked away where you can only
see it.
Any home can use the traditional
style. It just needs a little planning and a little time to achieve
the look you want.
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