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Fashioning Interiors Part 1: How to Turn Your Home Into a Supermodel
Hello there! I'm Erika Ward, Owner and Principal Designer of Erika Ward Interiors. It's my greatest pleasure to inspire you to live well, to live in style, and to extinguish the myth that style and budget are mutually exclusive. Read more about my design philosophy and my work at http://www.blulabelbungalow.com
Hello there! I'm Erika Ward, Owner and Principal Designer of Erika Ward... More »
Have you ever had the experience of being backstage at a fashion show? The production going on behind the curtain is as important as the production on the runway. There are makeup artists, hairstylists, seamstresses, and the main designer working feverishly to complete the final look worn by the supermodel.
Preparing a supermodel for the runway is much like preparing a super model HOME for potential buyers. The collaboration is much the same, with a different set of players. Painters, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, decorators, and many others work hard to present their model to entice you to purchase in that neighborhood. What people often forget is that what they eagerly paid for is not the super model, but her cousin Plain Jane.
So without a glam squad in place, how do you begin giving Plain Jane a chance at being a supermodel, too? Part 1 of this series starts with the least expensive and most effective way to turn a starter into a stunner: paint.
One of the first things you notice when touring a model home is color flow. It's not by chance that each room complements the other.
Preparing a supermodel for the runway is much like preparing a super model HOME for potential buyers. The collaboration is much the same, with a different set of players. Painters, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, decorators, and many others work hard to present their model to entice you to purchase in that neighborhood. What people often forget is that what they eagerly paid for is not the super model, but her cousin Plain Jane.
So without a glam squad in place, how do you begin giving Plain Jane a chance at being a supermodel, too? Part 1 of this series starts with the least expensive and most effective way to turn a starter into a stunner: paint.
One of the first things you notice when touring a model home is color flow. It's not by chance that each room complements the other.
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| In this space, the artwork above the table is a great guide in choosing the perfect paint palette. Because the colors work so well in the piece, they will definitely work well together as paint colors in your home. |
by Niche Interiors
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Fabrics also are a great starting point for color inspiration. The drum shade on the pendant light provides the red color for the dining room and the neutral color for the adjoining room.
Many people are hesitant to paint a room black, but stark white trim, drapery and neighboring room create a pleasing contrast here.
Painting the back of a cabinet the same color as the next room unifies the spaces.
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by Amoroso Design
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| Similarly, the back of this cabinet is painted the same color blue as found in the drapery and upholstery fabric. This has to be one of my favorite designer tricks. |
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by Amoroso Design
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| Allow your favorite wallpaper to inspire your color palette. Look closely at the adjoining room to the right of the photo. You can see the darker color in the wallpaper is the same as the wall color in this living room. |
If you dislike the color of your carpet and cannot change it, embrace it. Do not work against it. Choose a paint color that complements the existing floor covering. This bedroom's blue-gray carpet may have looked odd if the decorator had decided to ignore it instead of working with it.
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| Final thought: With each paint color you choose, make sure it could exist in another room in your home.
What methods have you used to choose paint colors for your interiors? Part 2: Achieving Supermodel Balance |
Ideabook updated on Nov. 5, 2010.
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I have used an incredible 10 (!) distinct colors in each & every room (including the kitchen, bathroom, hallway & LR "media alcove" [actually a walk-in closet w/doors removed to hold a lg. white plywood entertainment shelving unit, & a sm. table w/lamp]) of my SF Edwardian 1-BR apt.!
Nonetheless, the overall effect is totally "soothing" & classically-sophisticated, since all of the main wall colors are of a pastel palette, w/the bolder colors used mainly as accents for flooring/ceilings/moldings.
All of the 10 colors used are by Benjamin Moore {& many thx to "G&R Paint Co." on Sutter St. in SF!}. I undertook this demanding & very detailed & precise remodel in the Fall of 2004, and here 6 yrs. later, the entirety is still as pristine as it was from the start!
Colors used:
1. (generic) OFF-WHITE [flat finish] used for all ceilings in all rooms.
2. "REGAL BLUE"[hi-gloss]: a rich royal blue, used for the topmost piping of all the 3-surface Picture Rails (approx. 12" down from ceiling/wall junctures), & topmost piping of all the 3-surface Pediments of both LR/BR bay windows (& an addtl. west window in bdrm); also used for the same topmost piping of the 3-surf. Pediments for all the door surround moldings in LR (3) & BR (2) & in Hallway (7!); also used for the bottom piping of all the Architraves of each bay window & door surround; also used as topmost piping of all Chair Rails in LR/BR.
3. "ULTRA-WHITE" [hi-gloss]: for all of the middle (& broadest) portions of the above "3-surface Pediments" of the Picture Rails/Chair Rails & Bay Windows & Door Surrounds (but not on the Architraves), & for all interior surfaces of both the Bays & of all Door Surrounds.
4. "CORAL" [semi-gloss]: bottom-most of all "3-surface Pediments" of Pict. Rails/Door Surrounds.
5. "DESERT ROSE" [semi-gloss]: a med. dusty rose, used on main surfaces of all Bay Windows' & Door Surrounds' pilasters (except for 7 in Hallway), & all Chair Rails' Wainscoting.
6. "TILE RED" [hi-gloss w/a built-in polyurethane protectorant]: used on all hardwood Floors in all areas (except Kit/Bath).
7. "EARLY SUNSET" [flat]: a soft, light blush-colored pink, used as main wall color in LR & Media Alcove.
8. "ORANGE SORBET" [semi-gloss]: also a soft, light blush-color, but of orange; used as main wall color in both Kitchen & Hallway.
9. "VENETIAN MARBLE" [flat]: a soft, light, lavender-infused/almost off-white, used as main wall color in both BR; & in Bath [semi-gloss] & for main pilaster surfaces [semi-gloss] of all 7 Door Surrounds in Hallway (outside Bath [west] & connecting passage to LR [north] & to BR [south]).
10. "BEACON GRAY" [flat]: a soft, light grayish blue, used on all lower wall surfaces (below Chair Rails & above Wainscoting) in LR/BR, Media Alcove, & for the window & medicine cabinet surrounds in Bath.
Finally, since the lower half-walls of both the Kitchen & in the Hallway are tongue & groove clapboards, these are painted w/a series of alternate Beacon Gray & Desert Rose, with the Orange Sorbet used as the intervening piping between these 2 colors!
The overall effect is a truly winning combination! (As all visitors do so attest!)
Photos taken thereafter were not digital, so after scanning some of these, I will post them herein soon to make better sense from the detailed narrative above!
My main goals in undertaking this exhaustively painstaking painting project was to:
1. Custom-create a distinctive palette for each room.
2. Provide a connective flow throughout the apt.
3. Highlight the classic Edwardian surfaces in abundance throughout the apt. (i.e., the classically-inspired surrounds (w/3-surface Pediments, Architraves & Pilasters) on all Bay Windows & Door Surround Moldings); the Tongue & Groove Clapboards in Hallway & Kitchen lower
3. Highlight the classic Edwardian surfaces in abundance throughout the apt. (i.e., the classically-inspired surrounds (w/3-surface Pediments, Architraves & Pilasters) on all Bay Windows & Door Surround Moldings); the Tongue & Groove Clapboards in Hallway & Kitchen lower walls; & to "bring the eye up" in order to appreciate & definitively highlight the 9+ ft. ceilings throughout.
4. Upgrade my fine-boned (but generic & somewhat decrepit) apt. in a truly signature style, utilizing my own artistic creativity & personal tastes, along w/my own "elbow grease" & devoted time, to accomplish just that.
Sorry for the great length of this post, but I'm glad I've finally put into words the justifiable proud job I've done on my abode!
Ciao!
Steverino_50
in San Francisco
Pix to follow soon!