Tag Archives: Redesign St. Paul MN

To match, or not to match, that is the question!

Maybe you’re ready for a living room refresh, or you’re moving into a new home and wanting to redesign your spaces; in either scenario, you’ll have to make a lot of decisions around matching and clashing items. Will you have one color stain throughout the room, or can you mix and match woods? Will all finishes be the same, or will you include a variety of metals? Can you mix in rattan, wicker, or other vintage pieces, or will that look funny with modern lighting? Here are just a few tips and tricks around when to match (or not!) while designing.

FURNITURE SETS

Ten years ago, the average person owned a matching furniture set: a three person couch, two person loveseat, and a single chair or two. Each piece had the same fabric and pattern, and sometimes even came with similarly style end tables and coffee table. These days, matching furniture sets are still available, but we are fans of mixing and matching furniture. Choose a comfy sofa in a neutral color and add two colorful or patterned accent chairs to add some flare to a room. Another big trend right now is pairing a colorful sofa, often velvet fabric, with matching vintage accent chairs. What joy and life color can bring to a room! Here are a few examples of mismatched furniture sets.

sofa and mismatched chairs

Ballard Designs

Mismatched Sofas - Good Idea, Or A Colossal Mistake? - Laurel Home

Studio McGee

Living room curtains in a blue floral pattern in comfortable living room

Ballard Designs

METAL FINISHES

Clients often ask, or even question, this next piece of advice: it’s okay to mix metals and finishes! We don’t want you to go too wild with variety, but it is okay to have two or three different finishes in a room. Try to mix warm finishes with cool finishes and avoid putting two similar tones together such as chrome and brushed nickel. The great news is you can pair black with any finish! Here are a few examples of mixed metals in kitchens and bathrooms.

Love this beautiful timeless kitchen design with white cabinets, a coffered ceiling treatment, and a mix of brass and polished nickel metal finishes - kitchen ideas - kitchen island ideas - kitchen lighting ideas - gorgeous kitchens - kitchen trends - mixed metals - brandon architects

Jane at Home

Bria Hammel Interiors

Leclair Decor powder bath

Maison de Pax

WOOD TONES

You’re probably starting to notice a theme to this post – it’s okay to mix and match when designing your home! The same goes for wood tones, it’s okay to have a little variety in your design! With wood, it can be helpful to have one main wood tone, perhaps the hardwood flooring or color of trim, and add an additional accent or two with a different tone. When matching wood tones, try to have grain patterns look similar, or match the finishes – glossy with glossy, rustic with rustic, matte with matte, etc. With wood, you also want to match warm and cool tones if the colors are very similar, or go for a large contrast in tone, almost opposites in color. Here are a few examples to bring these ideas to life:

how to mix wood tones - california cool living room with sofa and wood accent chairs

My Domaine

Chris Loves Julia

Curated image with Ansel Rug, Royce Side Table, Arlo Chair, Gulf Shores, Lebon Floor Lamp, Eileen...

Studio McGee

Mixing and matching in design provides interest and warmth when done well. If the process of choosing feels overwhelming, we’re always here to help with our interior and re-design services!

 

Guest Blogger: Katya Larsen, Stager, A Home Revival

Using Wallpaper as a Design Element

Photo credit: Homesandgardens.com

Wallpaper is all over the place these days and there are so many fun fresh patterns.  Plus with peel-and-stick, you can easily apply it yourself and not be tied to it for years to come.  Wallpaper is a very easy way to add some personality to your space.

Great spaces to try wallpaper for the first time are:

Powder Bathrooms: A small, safe place to do something different or bold!  This paper is from Rifle Paper Co.

Photo credit: Stylecharade.com

Primary Bedroom or Kids Bedroom: Less visitors in these rooms, so you can design more specifically to you or your children’s taste.

Photo credit: Thespruce.com

Laundry Room: Add some spunk to an ordinarily not-so-fun room.  Maybe you’ll enjoy doing laundry more!

Photo credit: Bria Hammel Interiors

Anywhere with bookshelves or open shelves: Try it just inside some open shelving for a peek of color or texture.

Photo credit: Decorpad.com

Great places to look for wallpaper are:

Good price point — Amazon + Home Depot + Etsy

Some of the prettiest, unique designs — Spoonflower + Wallshoppe + Chasing Paper

Happy papering!

 

 

Decorating With Coastal Colors

Ahhh……I think it is finally Spring and with that comes an urge to redo a room or two in your home. An easy way to do that is with a paint color change or even changing a few accessories like throw pillows, accent pieces or artwork.

I love Coastal Colors as they are so fresh you can almost smell the salt air. I will say I have some coastal color favorites when it comes to paint.

Let’s start with Drizzle by Sherwin Williams SW 6479. There are so many rooms that I have used this color and have never been disappointed.

In a Family Room:

 

A guest bath:

 

 

And even a Laundry Room:

 

 

Another great coastal color is Rainwashed by Sherwin Williams SW 6211.  Again I have used this in a laundry room and also a Master Bedroom and Living Area.

 

 

 

Sherwin Williams Comfort Gary SW 6205 and Sea Salt SW 6204 are probably the highest on my list for coastal colors. They are so spa like as well.

 

 

 

 

If you don’t want to commit to a new painting color (but why not it’s only paint after all), accessorizing in coastal colors is a great option.

 

 

 

 

You do not have to live at the beach to use Coastal Colors in your home. Pick a room that you would like to add some color and head to the paint store this weekend!