I try not to tip toe around certain situations, so when I met with a new client last week, with a bad case of color - I had to give it to her straight.
She was so excited, having just moved from the busy city to the blissful 'burbs - Enjoying the wide open spaces and oodles of trees that her new mature folks, golf community boasted. But as I drove the winding roads of the Oak Hills golf community, my mind wandered – “What is delightful for one homeowner is disastrous to another – Beauty is truly in the eyes of the beholder.” After narrowly missing a caravan of golf carts, I pulled up the house. I gathered my thoughts, briefcase and color fan decks and knocked, not knowing what I was walking into…
My business, Interior Styling, my M.O. “Let’s start with what you have and move on from that. “ I’m the clever decorating sleuth that homeowners bring when they need home help – Got a decorating dilemma – Give me a jingle, I’m your gal.
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After casing the joint, asking pertinent questions and feeling like I had just took a dip in a big bottle of Pepto Bismol, we sat down and got to business.
"Pink can be chic if used in moderation, after all it’s just the tint of red" I said. She then stated that she needed to keep some of it, can you make it work I've got a budget. I can make pink work, but we need to resolve it a bit...So how does she fix the prior owner's Pink rampage without spending a bundle? With infusing new COLOR of course! From wall color to accents we’ll create a new palette.
And Here's How -
Her furniture was great, nice modern dark sage sofa, two red leather accent chairs, plenty of accent tables and lamps, nice dining room pieces. We repositioned the furniture into a cohesive arrangement, which cleared the path for color options.
Taking cues from her existing stuff, I created a new palette for her. With a flick of my wrist the fan deck unfurled. I chose a warm putty color as her overall hue to give her a harmonious back drop. She just installed some oak flooring, so a touch of herbal greens as secondary colors will fix the fire place mishap, be used as an accent wall color to define and balance the spaces. We'll incorporate pops of red and pink, from the chairs, existing art and use the pink, instead of fighting it – We’ll make it work.
- Main Color: Ben Moore, Abingdon Putty HC-99
- Fireplace Brick Color: Ben Moore, Hampshire Gray HC-101
- Dining Room Accent Wall: Ben Moore, Gloucester Sage HC-100
(The greens will play well with her new oak floors, existing oak trim and cabinet material. Green too is the compliment of red, making for a nice juxtaposition.)
We “shopped” her home and I made suggestions on what to hang where, what she needed to shop retail for and what needed to be repurposed and renewed (i.e. Lamp shades, etc…) She had some great art pieces with thread of reds that will be just the ticket to bringing all the colors together, allowing her to fall in love with her stuff all over again and giving her old stuff a new lease on life.
We chatted about a future reinvention her window treatments, keeping the sheer panels, but replacing the pinch pleat valance (Ugh..) with some eye lifting cornice boards, furthering her decorating makeover.
She scribed her projects, and I put away my decks. Is the case complete, nope, but, we’re done with the 1st step, and off to a good start. Once the place is painted, and shopping done, I’ll be back for the rest, so stay tuned…