home about me our home

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Change Is In The Air For Design

 




While perusing the web, or looking at design magazines I have been noticing a trend in décor lately. I am seeing a brighter, happier, collected over time look.

4cb1a9d2daf00e0b19b8fe6fdf5fd2b2

The look has a Traditional bend, but with a fresh twist of using unmatched pieces, and patterns, with brighter, happier colors.

.

The patterns in the room don’t coordinate, but for some reason they work together.

The shell of the rooms are usually in the color family of whites.

Robin's Egg Room

What is it that makes these rooms work?

I believe it is the love of each piece by the homeowner. There is a quality in each piece that creates a room that is pleasing to the eye when a homeowner chooses pieces that they love.

Cozy Corner Collected look

One of the things I love about rooms decorated in this manner is that they really make me look into every little detail trying to figure out why it works.

Personally I don’t think this is an easy look to get right. It could go terribly awry with just the wrong element placed in the wrong area of the room.


The collected room

These rooms tend to look effortless, but there has to be a very discerning eye to pull this look off. 

There is no particular theme going on. There is a bend towards Traditional with a mix of more contemporary, and the addition of found objects.


A Collected look with color
These rooms never look contrived, or obvious in their elements. You won’t find pillows matching the window treatments, or the chair fabric. It truly is a mixed bag of goodness!

COLOR seems to be the common thread in most of these interiors.

lovely look for the corner nook.
It is so much easier to coordinate fabrics in the same color family than it is to do a mixed bag of colors and patterns in a room  as pictured in the images in this post.
Easy and Breezy
Personally I am liking this look very much. It makes me smile, and I find it very interesting. 

Small Space Interiors - Claim the space around your Living Room or Bedroom Window. Painted built-ins.

In fact I had to make a Pinterest board  called, "INTERESTING!" because these rooms did not fit into any particular design style, or theme.  

Many call this look eclectic, but I call it good design.

What do you all think about this mixed bag of goodness in a room?

(All above images can be found HERE!)
 
 
 

13 comments:

Melissa @ The Inspired Room said...

I love it too, Kathysue! It all makes me happy! But yes, I agree, it is a look that can go so wrong. Sometimes I see rooms thrown together with no real sense of good design and the result is just a messy hodgepodge. But these rooms prove you can mix things up and do it well!

Lovely post!!

Christine @ Suburban Charm said...

These rooms are fabulous but I could not ever pull something like that off, and it really would not be "me" although I love many different decorating styles. I am unlikely to venture very far out of my classic/traditional style!

La Vie Quotidienne said...

I love to see these 'mixes' and the increasing look of more colorful rooms. I have inherited my mother's very elaborate French sofa and I am eventually going to try and incorporate it into my living room ~ wish me luck!

Patty Day @Pattys Epiphanies said...

Kathysue it is "interesting". I could never live in these rooms. Too much going on. It would take a very, very talented person to make it work.

Sharon @ mrshinesclass said...

I've been noticing it too and I absolutely love it!!

Carol@6WilsonBlog.com said...

Hi kathysue, I love this look too. Not necessarily some of the bright happy colors (I'm a dusty color person), but the collected and "unplanned" look simply says HOME to me. And you're right, it's the hardest to achieve, I think. Overly coordinated rooms for me are just pretty, but not homey. Life is far from perfect, which is just how I like a room -- perfectly imperfect ;-)

Francine Gardner said...

Love the "collected over time"look, my design theory indeed.

Donnamae said...

I love these rooms...so wonderful and relaxed! It's the collected over time look that can trip one up...has to have a balance between a curated look...and a cluttered look. Great post Kathysue...could we have more on this? ;)

Tiffany said...

I like them but I could never pull it off. I do like the idea of collecting things over time. Definitely has more meaning.

Merlin said...

That first photo with the red leather chair!!! LUV IT! franki

stephanie at Stephanie Kraus Designs said...

Such a great observation Kathy Sue! I love these rooms too - they forgo the look of big box stores like RH and introduce the look of reall vintage pieces in every room along with color!

Ivy Lane said...

I am so happy you posted this! I love this look and feel it works because the elements in the rooms are not "matchy, matchy"... I love that there are not two of everything..makes the eye "study" the room without too much chaos.. Love that colour is a common thread..such a great way to express one's self. Great inspiration Kathysue! Thank you!

Ivy Lane said...

I am so happy you posted this! I love this look and feel it works because the elements in the rooms are not "matchy, matchy"... I love that there are not two of everything..makes the eye "study" the room without too much chaos.. Love that colour is a common thread..such a great way to express one's self. Great inspiration Kathysue! Thank you!