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| Karastan Carmel Monte Vista in Crimson |
Dear Readers,
The article below expresses a fundamental decorating concept that many of our customers and designers practice. Changing your decor for the season brings a whole new look and ambiance to your space. Of course one of the easiest ways to do this is with area rugs!
A great idea for freshening your decor this fall and winter is to incorporate the 2011 color trends of deep shades of purple and eggplant, shades of gray, brown, red and orange.
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| Purple Rugs at Mark Gonsenhauser's |
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Below is some color inspiration for you from Pantone.
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| Fall 2011 Home Fashion Color Report from Pantone |
Enjoy the article!
Fresh new look;
You'll be 'less bored of your space' with a seasonal change
Kelly Olive's decor changes with the weather.
Every winter, the 25-year-old chooses warm shades of purple and grey, infusing it into her bedding and self-made abstract artwork. Come spring, Olive changes it up with colours that scream summer - white, yellow, green and red splashed on the sheets and walls.
Though a biannual update makes perfect sense to Olive, she says her friends think it's "weird." In fact, until recently she thought she was the only one with the odd seasonal habit. But being a confident nonconformist sort, Olive is sticking to her plan.
"When spring is coming and you stop wearing winter jackets, that's the switch time for me," explains Olive. "When it's sunny and nice outside, it should be sunny and nice inside my home. It refreshes it. You get less bored of your space."
Walk into any home decor store right now and it's clear that Olive and others like her are on to something. After a long cold winter, Canadians desperate for a reprieve are refreshing their homes to welcome gentler weather.
In response, stores are bursting with fun bright hues of yellow, green, blue and coral infused in everything from pillows and rugs to furniture and accessories.
Andrea Mills, design spokeswoman for Ikea Canada, likens a spring home makeover to a wardrobe update. Just as people tuck away their winter clothes at the first sign of spring and buy a few new pieces for a different look, she says, the same can be done for the home.
"The change of season, especially into summer, is a time of renewal," says Mills. "The days are longer and lighter. There's just a new feeling in the air and it's a good time for change and to clean up. It's a time when a lot of people start exercising more and going out more and socializing more, so it's nice to celebrate that and reflect that in your home as well."
Refreshing a tired-looking space can be as simple as rearranging furniture or splashing a new coat of paint on baseboards and trim, on one wall or an entire room. Ottawa interior designer Ellen Lee suggests dry earthy neutrals such as pebbles, sand colours and greys since they're lighter and less insulating than darker shades.
"When it's drier it gives an airier feel, so when you're walking through the space it feels very clean, it feels very refreshing but it's not boring," says Lee. "You don't get tired of those colours all that often. With accents you can go for brighter, but only for accents because you don't know if you're going to change your mind later on.
"Particular colours come and go and your tastes change, and if you stay with some of the drier neutral colours for some of your bigger walls and some of your furniture, you'll have a lot more to go on. As the year changes, you can change up the decor a bit more easily."
Pillows, throws and mats also transform a space. Frank Turco, Home Depot's senior manager of trend and design, says the fruits and florals on today's fashion runways have found their way onto drapery, sofas and scatter rugs. For those who can't afford to reupholster, he says slipcovers, throws and pillows in vibrant shades and patterns can make a tired piece of furniture look fresh again.
Texture also plays a role. Toronto interior designer Michelle Mawby says spring means putting away cashmere throws, velvet drapery and shearling rugs and bringing out linen or silk drapery and cotton pillows. Texture makes a home interesting, she explains, but in warmer weather it should be light and airy.
Still, don't think seasonal decorating has to be costly. Start by cleaning the windows to bring in more light, says Lee, or remove one chair to open the space. And if money is tight, head to the hardware store.
"If something is not the right colour, spray paint it," says Mawby.
TIPS TO BRIGHTEN UP A HOME
Do your rooms feel tired? Here are some perk-up tips from the experts:
■ It's a lifestyle thing. Do you use your living room as an entertainment room or is it a room where you watch TV? Frank Turco, of Home Depot, says examining how you use it will better prepare it for the season. He says a casual room calls for seagrass or jute area rug on the floor, natural wood throughout, an open and airy feel and white and natural fabrics throughout, while a formal room begs for more tailored or sophisticated accents.
■ Make it feel good. If yellow is your favourite colour, paint or accessorize in yellow or invest in picture frames or artwork that have yellow in them. Says Turco
■ Look for bargains all year long. Think of more than the designer stores. Check out the mall's home decor stores for inexpensive items and then collect them over time.
Says Toronto interior designer Michelle Mawby, "For $250, you can probably bring in a lot of nice items if you searched in the right places."
Source:
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/Fresh+look/4991097/story.html#ixzz1ag1yjRl5
Mark Gonsenhauser's Rug and Carpet Superstore
4153 Virginia Beach Blvd.
Virginia Beach, VA 23452
757-486-6600
Website: http://www.IGotYourRug.com/