2nd and Strand

Well the time has come yet again for Pantone to announce the upcoming year's "color of the year".  2013 apparently calls for emerald green, which they describe as, "Lively. Radiant. Lush... A color of elegance and beauty that enhances our sense of well-being, balance and harmony."

Below are some simple ways to add this beautiful color to your space - 

Stand-out furniture pieces

Drapes

Chairs... or repaint ones you already have.

Pillows and wall color (through various methods such as paint or wallpaper, etc.)

Art and accessories 

What do you think about this new color? I'm always curious to see what the new color for the year will be, but don't feel the need to incorporate that color into my home just because Pantone says its going to be popular. Luckily for me this year though, emerald is a color I naturally gravitate towards... so who knows, maybe this year I could find a little emerald accessory for my home.

Click here to see our post last year about the 2012 color: Tangerine Tango

-Megan

I find this space incredibly inspiring.  I love the neutral palette that is made interesting by lots of textures and white washed wood.  I love the shiplap ceiling, I love the mobile that actually makes sense for a baby (dark and light contrast is the only thing that newborns can see), and the twinkly lights would be nice touch for a Christmas baby.  Why is this space so intriguing to me?  Because I'm expecting my fourth and probably last baby (tear) this Christmas season. I am dreaming of warm things to wrap my New England winter baby in, and cuddly places to rock with him,   Having a new baby is magical, but having a nice place to be with him is icing on the cake.  

-Andrea

Shibui. Its not often I remember a new, foreign word I learned 6+ years ago. But, it's a Japanese word, and I grew up in Tokyo... so I guess that sort of explains why the word stuck. I really loved my color theory class while I was studying interior design, it might have been my very favorite. During this class when my instructor was teaching us about shibui, we analyzed a pear. Sounds sort of weird, right? 

So what is shibui? To design using shibui, you take an object from nature, analyze the colors in it, pick the percentages of color in that object, and apply it to your room. So essentially it's- 

% of color in the object = % of color in the room

It was a pretty interesting experience holding a pear and really analyzing it. As you spin it around you start to see the different shades of color in it. 

This way to find color inspiration doesn't necessarily need to be restricted just to nature, or be strict about exact percentages. It's a fun way to draw color inspiration that can be loosely interpreted in different ways. Do you have a painting that you love? A vase? A shirt? This way of finding color inspiration can come from anywhere. Here are some examples of how you can find color inspiration from every day things around you (click the image to get the link)- 

Inspiration from art

Inspiration from a favorite outfit

Inspiration from an accessory 

So what do you think? I'd love to hear where you draw inspiration from, whether it be outside in nature, art, household accessories, etc.!

-Megan

A general rule throughout my life was to stay away from drama, especially the nonsense you can easily find in those glorious middle school and high school years of life. But, I do have to admit that I've been drawn into the drama as of late... but a healthy, beautiful form, that is a black wall.

After searching and searching, I can't find my inspiration picture for this post. On Pinterest I saw this amazing circular entryway painted in a high gloss black paint. When I saw it I thought, "Wow. That's amazing!" But then I thought there was no way I'd ever do something like that in my home, mainly because its intimidating, and because I'm typically drawn to more lightly colored spaces. BUT, obviously that room has stayed with me these past few weeks and every time I see something cool that's black, I think back to that lost picture (why didn't I just pin it?!?). 

So what is it about black? A long time ago we did a post called Color Psychology 101 where we talked about how different colors make us feel. How does black make you feel? Although there are negative feelings every color can give us, as black can feel extra dreary (like reminding us of death for example), it also has some cool connotations as well, like: sophisticated, mysterious, glamourous, formal, dignity, etc.. The main word for black I've already used plenty of times (and yes, its in the title) is drama. 

But even if my inspiration picture is lost, I have found some other gems that are also inspiring to me (from most dramatic to least dramatic). 

I love brass, and I love how these amazing bookshelves (and the art) pop off the wall and the solid black really highlights them.

I can't help but try to imagine this room with a different color accent wall and drapes. I gotta say I love the accent wall, especially with that quilt on the end of the bed and how it highlights that gorgeous headboard and wall trim.

The black wall makes this space.

This is a great example of adding a little dose of drama with black paint without making it seem overwhelming or too dark. 

Painting nooks black is such a great idea. What a great way to highlight the beautiful things you want to display and really make them stand out. If you do decide to do this, I'd make sure you had other black things in the room so the nooks didn't feel totally random and out of place.

So what do you think about black walls? There are endless images of black walls that are beautiful, so if I haven't sold you, search it online and see what amazing rooms you can find. 

Would you paint a room black? A wall? How about a nook? Or nothing? I'd love to hear your thoughts on using black paint in your home.

-Megan

I've been very inspired by mostly neutral spaces, with pops of color. This has been where my personal design aesthetic has been for a few years now, but ever since Andrea's post on neon colors, I can't get bright accents out of my head. Also, since fashion seems to seep into my inspiration for blog posts at times, I recently received this coral sands necklace in the mail (I thought I might as well make a shameless plug for my sister's nonprofit company she started...) and may or may not have worn it three days in a row. It gives my usually more neutral outfits a great pop it needs, and I can't really get enough of navy + coral right now anyways!

The room below has a pleasing analogus color scheme (if you imagine a color wheel, analogus color scheme is when you use three (usually) colors that are all touching each other, as in, three in a row). This room is beautifully done, with a mix of textures and patterns to add visual interest to a calming color scheme. But whats that on the wall? Oh yeah, that's an awesomely bright accent piece that adds a needed pop to the room. I love it. 

I pinned this picture on Pinterest a few days ago. Like I mentioned before, I can't seem to get enough of navy blue + coral + white lately. This room has a lot of pattern going on, but the pops of coral is what makes your eyes move around from the stools, to the pillows on the sofa, then the pillows on the side chairs... then having your eyes settle on those amazing drapes. Using the same color around a room is a great way to bring cohesiveness to a space, but also to make your eyes move around the room.

When it comes to making a bright color really pop, pairing it with white is an obvious choice. I really love white kitchen's, and I love the one below because you can always keep the base color (white) the same, but give the kitchen a new feel and look by introducing a new accent color (like, repainting the stools a different color).

What are you inspired by lately? Are there certain color schemes that you are drawn to?

Today's post is all about a popular trend in fashion and home design.   I think a little neon this summer is totally fun and easily accomplished on a variety of budgets.  I've selected a few items from around the web that will add a POP of color to any decor.  

First we have a few pieces from everybody's favorite inexpensive stop, IKEA.  They've got two new textile lines that have some great brights going on.

Design Public has some GREAT shower curtain rings and curtain; not inexpensive, but definitely NEON.

Urban Outfitters has so many pieces to pick from that I am only highlighting my favorites, there are LOTS more options if you are looking to add some neon to your home.

And last, but certainly not least we have FLOR's Groovy Button Rugs - always a blast, but even better in a blast of neon color!

Do you have any neon in your home?  We've got a few items, mostly kid things.  But I will definitely consider neon as I buy new home goods this season.                
                                                                                                                               -Andrea

Megan's post on Monday about complimentary colors has been on my mind a lot.  I've been thinking about how we attribute different styles to the sexes.  Megan and I are friends for lots of reasons, and speaking to our design sensibilities we have a LOT in common.  We both gravitate to a clean aesthetic, and typically, like she said, we both lean slightly masculine in design preferences.  I wanted to highlight a few amazing chairs, and talk about how they read; are they masculine, feminine, or a nice balance?

In this picture I'm looking specifically at the amazing black, white, and pink stripped dreamy club chair on the right.  I LOVE this chair.  I love it because it is clean lined, bright and bold and reminds me that whimsy is a great element in a room.  This chair is quite possibly the most masculine thing in this very girly room, while it's shape is 100% male, the hot pink stripe is not.  That's why I say this chair is a great balance between the two sexes.  

This chair is 100% female.  I know some of my husbands friends who would refuse to sit in this chair as it might lead to talking about feelings and the tweezing of eyebrows.  Thin curvy legs and arms+ bold floral pattern=super feminine.  

I would say these chairs are a good balance between the male and female.  The color could go either way, the simplicity and lack of upholstery is masculine, the line and scale is more feminine.  What's your take?

I picked this chair as the counterpoint to the feminine orange and white chair above.  It is the same color combination; however, this chair is decidedly masculine.  From the choice of materials to the squatness of the shape and the simplicity of the design this is a man's chair; or a woman like me who just loves the fresh presentation!  

When designing a room I generally like to keep a good balance between feminine and masculine.  Even if you choose one of these decidedly male/female chairs you can always counter the chair with another element in a room.  I like everyone to feel comfortable in a space, whether they wear a skirt or a tie.
                                                                                                                            -Andrea

When I was about to walk out the door for church I hurried back to my room to get some shoes. Of course I was about to grab the typical neutral colors that I'm always drawn to: black, nude, white or brown. But, I saw my green shoes and knew wearing complimentary colors would be the winner. 

To see a post we did talking about complimentary colors with room examples of each, click here.

It may be a bit weird that my inspiration for this post came from picking out shoes, but it had me thinking about red and green all day today. 

Like I said in our last post about complimentary colors, red and green can be an intimidating combination of colors to put together, mainly because it automatically makes people think of Christmas. But since these colors have been on my mind all day, I wanted to show more examples of rooms that are totally working it with this color scheme. 

The first few have a common theme for why they don't scream "Christmas!" when you see them. They have taken different tints and shades of red and green from the typical kelly green and apple red used for Christmas. For example, in the first image, the bunk beds have been tinted a lighter shade of green.

In the next two examples they've also tinted the green, but have also added additional pops of accent color (predominately blue) to combine with the red and green. 

Another way to takle the red and green color combo is to stick with mainly one color, like the example below, and add pops of the complimentary color pair. The small pops of red still make a big impact in the room.

This last example to me is the kicker. Yes I've mentioned changing the shade or tint of red/green into not the typical Christmas colors you see. I also mentioned just above about sticking mainly with one of the colors and using the other as a strong accent. But this image below kind of threw me. It seems the use of red and green are pretty even in this room. And not only that, they are totally the shades of red a green that remind me of Christmas... although when I looked at this picture 'Christmas' wasn't the first thing I thought of. Well done, room! I would love to hear your opinions about this, but I'm going to attribute the lack of 'Christmas' in this room to the beautiful brown wall (which I guess makes this room an example like pictures #2 and 3 with the pops of blue). The brown has such a calming neutralizing effect. It still lets the red energize the space and the green pop, but it calms the mood of the room down. What do you think?

All I have to say is this color combination is totally growing on me. Something new I realized today was out of the 3 complimentary color schemes, this one seems to be the most gender neutral. Blue+orange seems more masculine, while Purple+yellow seems more feminine. I am usually drawn to more gender neutral things (actually, I'd usually tip on the more masculine side) so maybe that's why I'm loving this color combination that seemed so off limits before. 

-Megan