September 11, 2012

Pattern Play- Jewel Tones and Off-white backgrounds

This Martin Lawrence Bullard embroidery is so fabulous.  For whatever reason, I don’t use green very often, but I love how it mixes with blues and pink and creams in this fabric.  One slightly challenging aspect to pairing it is the off-white background.  Nothing irks me more than pattern pairings where the backgrounds mix bright white and off-white.  All of the fabrics featured here are more off-white and really blend splendidly. 

I’m really having a jewel-tone love affair these days!  Oh, and I think I may need to incorporate more green into my work…

ps- do you guys like it when I list sources?  I’m feeling lazy.  If you like one, just ask me in the comments and I”ll give the deets.

September 4, 2012

Pattern Play- Just Because

Well hello again.  Raise your hand if you could have used one more day off?  I’m honestly so beat from all that relaxing.  It wasn’t all laziness- yesterday I went to task organizing my fabrics while cleaning out my DVR.  I realized that I have SO MANY fabrics, yet still want so many more.  I’m still missing key pieces for my next place (which is still not set in stone, but an announcement may be coming soon.)  Either which way, it feels good to be a bit more organized heading into a new month.  

These fabrics here are rejects from another design project.  I just adore them on their own and how they intermix together.  I actually just threw them on this chair while I was sorting and I like the result.  Just because.

Time to finally finish this cup of coffee and really get to work.  Happy Tuesday!

August 24, 2012

Pattern Play- Atypically Teal

One of my favorite fabrics is GP&J Baker’s Heron and Lotus.  I love the pattern, the scale, the color and the texture.  I recently worked with it in a dining room scheme.  My client fell for this pattern too, but didn’t want to work with the fabric’s blues, or pinks or greens- they felt too bold to her.  Instead, she was drawn to the smallest detail in the fabric- the teal wisteria.  We used that as our inspiration color and pulled coordinating fabrics to work in the room.  The result is a softer, atypical teal scheme.

I love the idea of pulling a minor color out of patterned fabric and running with it.  It’s unexpected and a nice subtle twist.  As a person who is not matchy-matchy, I like that it doesn’t feel “over-decorated.”

Bird/Floral- GP&J Baker “Heron and Lotus”

Squares- GP&J Baker

Greek Key- Jim Thompson “Apollon”

Spots- Osborne & Little “Charanga”

Paisley- Jim Thompson “Santosh”

Scales- Jim Thompson “Marsan”

Have a great weekend, everyone!  I’m planning to lay low and scheme big

August 15, 2012

Pattern Play- Pondichery in the bedroom

Here is another fabric scheme for the same family I shared about last week.  This pairing was for the bedroom and again we were working off a gorgeous rug.  The rug has pinks, reds and mints with just a hint of blue.  We wanted to pull colors out of the rug and avoid getting too red or too intense.  When working with a busy-patterned rug I only like to do one other big pattern in the room.  In this scenario it was this Pondicherry floral which matches the rugs colors perfectly while still holding its own in the room.  Small scale geometrics, textural solids and shimmery silks finish off the room by adding depth but not competing with the statement items.  This was option 1 and my client chose option 2.  It’s totally different and equally gorgeous.  You will just have to wait to see the finished space… 

Headboard- Floral- Scalamandre “Pondicherry”

Sofa- Cream Velvet- Brunschwig & Fils “Florent Silk Velvet”

Pillows- Pink Geometric- Brunschwig & Fils “Vanessa Woven Texture”

Pillows- Blue Solid- Kravet “Venetian- Royal”

Roman Shades- Ombre Silk – GP&J Baker “Perandor Stripe”

August 10, 2012

Friday Fabric Pairing- Persimmon and Royal Blue

I’ve been working on a family room design that is based around a gorgeous Persian rug.  You can see it in the top left portion of the photo below- it has rusty reds, camels and blues.  The existing furniture, walls and window treatments are red, maroon and brown, which are far too little drab for my liking.  I came up with a new scheme that will still respect the traditional roots of the house, but liven things up a bit.  The theme will pull out fresh tones of persimmon and royal blue for the upholstery and the walls will most likely lighten up a bit to pick up the beige tones in the rug.  I came up with three schemes for the family to choose from and this was one of the ones that was not selected.  I just wanted to share it here because I’m a big fan of it myself…

Sofa- Stripe- Lee Jofa “Penshaw Stripe”

Chairs- Trellis- Schumacher “Imperial Trellis 2”

Ottoman- Velvet geometric- Scalamadre “Pomfret”

Pillows- Floral- Lee Jofa “Montmartre EMB” & Velvet geometric- Scalamadre “Pomfret”

Have a great weekend everyone!