A Fresh, Young and Colorful Project!!

Since I have retired from doing design consults in my clients homes it has afforded me more time to help family and friends.   I have a close family friend that is moving to her and her hubbies first house. This darling  young girl is, talented, very stylish and absolutely gorgeous. I asked her permission to do a blog post on the process we are going through in selecting a look she loves that is budget friendly. She sent me this photo image and said she loves everything about this room done by Judith  Balis of Nest Interiors. Judith also has a blog Nest Instinct here.

You can tell from this room that my Little Sweetie loves turquoise. She told me that is the one thing she is married too, besides her adorable hubby, who by the way, I also adore!!

We spent lots of time emailing back and forth. She sent me pictures that inspired her and items that she loved. I sent her pictures of items that I thought she would love and some guidelines. I take great pride in talking to whomever I am working with to find out what they really love. I then figure out how we can incorporate what they love into their home. After talking at length with her, I discovered that she needs a fun, cheerful, colorful, but also a look that is feminine and sensual. She loves soft curved lines on some furniture, but also wants a pop of the unusual in the room. She told me the colors that she loves and where she thought she wanted to use them. I then worked with her to place those colors in the right rooms and on the right pieces. We started with their living room since that is the very first room you see. All other rooms will work off that.  I sent her pictures to show her different ways of incorporating the black and white and bright pink she wanted with her beloved turquoise for their living room.

This picture shows a good use of how the bright pink is combined around the room. I call this cross pollinating. You know like a little pink bee went around the room dropping pink pollen !

I thought this picture was a good study on using turquoise as your main color with fabrications. I also liked the use of the chevron rug to give the effect of stripes in maybe a less expensive way than trying to re-upholster a sofa. This also shows the introduction of some bright yellow which is another accent color that would look great with her base colors of turquoise and black and white. Notice how the artwork also brings in the color combination.

Here we have a room that is done with chocolate and a soft mocha or gray. I love the way the gray looks with the turquoise. The large scaled wallpaper on one wall is also a fun look. I thought this picture showed how mixing some large scaled patterns can make a room look very interesting

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I love all the art glass in this image. I also think it is a good study on using different textures, the shine of the glass and the rough texture of the balls on the bottom shelf.  I think the chairs could make a wonderful and fun makeover for a thrift store find. You could paint a wooden seat the bright turquoise and just put a store bought cushion in a fun print on top of the wooden seat for comfort.

Simple but so dramatic. Buying a few yards of wonderful fabric and covering a board of Homasote from Home Depot and you have instant art for you dining room wall.( Homasote is a light weight fiber board used to insulate floors and walls for sound. It is used a lot to make the fabric covered bulletin boards. I like that it is somewhat flexible also)

I thought this picture could show Sweetie Pie how a mirror painted turquoise could also be used with the black and white.

This is another way to add black and white for less money by using an animal print foot stool. I also like the big punch of the artwork. Instead of a black and white striped rug this room shows the turquoise stripe which is just another option.

I wanted her to see this picture to show her how a fabric ties all the colors together. We are at the beginning of the project and still talking about ideas. However, you can see by the picture how fun this project is going to be.

I made a few suggestions. I thought the famous IKEA Ektorp slipcoverd sofa would be a great way to go. She had her heart set on using black and white stripes, so I found the best web-site that makes slipcovers out of Marimeko fabrics. Here is the Ektorp in the stripe. The slip cover is only $299 in a Marimeko fabric- amazing. They also have many other fabrics and furniture pieces that they make slipcovers for. You can find the website Bemz here.

We are in the process of choosing paint colors so I will do some more post on this fun project as we proceed. This sweet young couple lives a distant from me so we are doing it all via email and phone calls. I love to help and it is fun to do something fresh, fun and young. I will keep you posted with their permission of course.

“Enjoy the Process” Of: Mixing old with new and using bright, fresh colors.

Kathysue

BTW: If you would like a dose of more turquoise go to Erin's blog House of Turquoise it is full of wonderful eye candy!