A common design mistake is painting the walls a color that doesn't work. While it is absolutely true that nothing makes as much impact for the dollar as painting, most people choose a color that just doesn't work. This mistake often is based on picking a color that is too overwhelming. While color is important, keep brighter more saturated colors to your accents and decorative accessories such as throw pillows, vases, art, and area rugs! Though there are hundreds of thousands of paint colors to choose from...stick with the muted categories. I typically use colors from Benjamin Moore's Historic Colors and American Colors as well as Restoration Hardware's fan deck of around 20 selected colors.
Contemporary vs ModernWhile, many people use contemporary and modern interchangeably to define a style of design, the two are quite different. Modernism is a movement that is most closely associated with Mid-Century Modern (Mies Van der Rohe and Le Corbusier are two of the best known leaders of the Modern Classics movement). Modern is all about minimalism, clean lines, linear forms, geometric, and the perfect combination between form and function with nothing extraneous. Contemporary design is more about comfort and what is current, softer edges, plush seating, and the incorporation of color and texture. Sometimes contemporary is used with Modern to soften the linear lines up a bit and warm up the look of a space.
Affordable Flooring OptionIf hardwood flooring is out of your budget range, consider Marmoleum (a all natural product made mostly from linseed oil, wood flour, and cork). While it is almost as attractive as wood, it is very affordable at around $5/sq ft. And new contemporary designs have made this product quite chic and stylish!
Small Space SolutionAn ottoman is ideal for a small space...it can function as a footstool, coffee table, and extra seating space when you are entertaining
Two trends have dominated the mainstream home furnishings marketplace for the past decade: 1) An urban loft style of skinny sofas and plastic chairs, and 2) A masculine look of big brown leather sofas and chunky dark tables and chests.
You can achieve the look of a built-in wall of bookcase simply by installing a trim around the top and bottom of your bookcase. Be sure you take the measurements before going to your home improvement store in search of the perfect trim piece.
Open Concept, Multi-functional Space
The best way to attack the challenge of an open space is to designate zones for different function and then tie in those zones with one cohesive style by introducing alike accessories or colors that flow from one area to another
File Cabinet With a Punch
By painting a standard filing cabinet in bold fun colors, you can give your home office a punch of personality and a custom look that inspires productivity and creativity.
