Love it or Leave it | Lacquered Wood Paneling in Bold Hues

I'm seeing lacquered walls and wood paneling everywhere these days. The beauty of lacquered walls is that they fit equally well in modern and traditional room decor. Lacquering a serious library in a not-so-serious color can modernize and relax a space, making it more inviting a family friendly. On the other hand, lacquered rooms can create a traditional and sophisticated design. Lacquered walls are definitley on trend right now and I want to know - do you love it or leave it? While all lacquered spaces are hot right now, I'm seeing these rooms primarily in blue tones. Blue is hot, lacquer is hot... makes perfect sense to meld the two together.

 

via House Beautiful

via HGTV

via Better Homes and Gardens

via Veranda

via Architectural Digest

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While blue seems to be popular everywhere, and especially in lacquered walls, I am also seeing lacquer in other bold colors with stunning results. Blue is a little more serious. The following rooms, however, and bold, relaxed and FUN.
 

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via The Painted Furniture

  And finally a gray tone is a bit more calm, but still equally breathtaking in result.
 

via Twelve Chairs

 What do you think of lacquered paneling in place of stained wood? Do you love it or would you leave it? Do you have wood paneling that you would lacquer? What color would you do?
 I'll admit, I absolutely love this look. We have a library space in our new home and I would love to lacquer the whole room. I'm not sure if I can squeeze that out of my remodel budget... Stay tuned for more on that. 

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Orange & Blue Decor

Colorado is all abuzz about the Denver Broncos heading to Super Bowl 48. In honor of  the big event and my favorite team, I've got to share Orange and Blue decor ideas. Orange & Blue look great together because they are complimentary colors, or colors that are directly opposite each other on the Color wheel. Other complimentary combinations include Red & Green and Yellow & Violet. The opposite nature of the colors creates a pleasing balance to our eyes. The colors are dynamic together, playing off of each other. For more on this, read about Color Theory 101.
 
 Moving forward with orange and blue, we have two great options from the Pantone 2014 color report: Dazzling Blue and Celosia Orange. Don't these colors look lovely together? Imagine adding just a hint of each to a neutral room to really spice it up.
 

Now let's really see orange and blue in action together. The following rooms feature Blue and Orange at deep, full hues. However, some rooms go full color and others add just a splash of the two colors. Both techniques create interesting and energetic rooms.

via House Beautiful

Contemporary Kitchen by Weston Interior Designers & Decorators Katie Rosenfeld Design

via BHG

via Mary McDonald

As often happens with colors opposite on the color wheel, the full hues can be quite intense. Toning down the blue to a softer turquoise and the orange from tangerine to coral, creates softer rooms. The intensity and energy is lowered, but the resulting combinations are still incredibly pleasing and balanced.

Modern Kids by Atlanta Interior Designers & Decorators Erika Ward - Erika Ward Interiors

I often see rooms with just a neutral and blue combination. Adding just a touch of orange could completely change the mood as in the room below.

Traditional Bedroom by Little Rock Interior Designers & Decorators Tobi Fairley Interior Design

via Quadrille Fabrics

What do you think of orange and blue interiors? Do you love it or would you leave it? Do you live with orange and blue interiors now? Share with us on Facebook.

By the way...

Go Broncos!

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Prepare Your Dining Room for Entertaining

The Holidays are coming, the Holidays are coming! That's right. It's Dining Room season in the world of Interior Designers. It's time to think about that new dining room design if you want to have it ready to go for your holiday dinners, parties and lots of entertaining. Whether you are in need of a full blown make-over, or just a little refresh, I've got some tips for you to consider for your Dining Room Design.

via Pinterest

Table

The foundation of your dining room is the table. I prefer a pedestal table to a traditional table with four legs. The pedestal provides more flexibility when entertaining larger parties.

via New England Home

Don't forget to top your table with a fabulous table setting to welcome guests and set the mood.  

Upholstery

Notice, I said "upholstery", not just "chairs". Dining chairs should be upholstered, whether just the seat, or the whole chair. Dining chairs should be comfortable and invite guest to linger long after dinner has been served.

via House of Turquoise

  

via Pinterest

Lighting

Dining Rooms deserve fabulous lighting and it must be on a dimmer! If you've got a larger dining room or table, don't do a round chandelier in the center or your host and hostess will be in the dark. Take a cue from this Red dining room below - two lights are better than one.

via Colorado Homes & Lifestyles

via aesthetically-thinking

Display/Serving

Do you have a large dining room? Lucky you. This is a great opportunity to beautifully display your pieces, or to set up additional surfaces for meal serving.
 

via Beautiful Habitat

Drapery

If you are fortunate enough to have a window in your dining room, dress it up!

via Pinterest

Wall Treatments

Create a stunning focal point with dramatic wall treatments or artwork.

via Pinterest

via Houzz

 

Don't forget the Ceiling

I love a ceiling with something other than white paint. (see previous posts) Your Dining Room is a great room to add pizazz on the ceiling.

via Marcus Design

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Designing with Bed Draperies | Half Testers and Coronas

My last post was all about bed drapery, specifically canopies with and without four poster beds. Today is all about 2 other looks - half testers and coronas, with can be achieved through hardware (an actual half tester bed or corona) or "faked" through clever drapery. Are you a bed drapery person? Which look is your favorite?

Half Testers

Half Testers have a similar relationship the the four-poster and canopy relationship in my last post. A half tester is a type of bed which has a low foot board and a canopy that projects from the head of the bed.

via fourposterbeds.com

These half tester beds are not common unless you've got some serious European antiques. However, the "look" is one often created by mounting drapery from the wall or ceiling above a standard bed as in these examples.

via House Beautiful

 

via Meghan-Blum Blog

 

via Veranda

via Centsational Girl

Coronas

Corona is a super beer and reminds me of summer. It's also the Latin word for "Crown" and in bedding and draperies, that is exactly what it means. A Corona is a crown for your bed. Coronas can be wall mounted or ceiling mounted and can be circular, oval, or half circles. Coronas can also be an elaborate pre-made wood or metal piece to which the fabric is attached, or it can be created through fabric as in the House Beautiful example below.

via House Beautiful

 

via ZsaZsaBellagio

via Splendid Sass

via Architectural Digest

Other Creative Bed Drapery

I couldn't help but include this bed project. It's very much like a half tester, but the box and molding are built in to the room and simple fabric panels are installed inside of the box. It's clever and a very dramatic look.
 

via Home Depot

  Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com

Designing with Bed Drapery | Canopies

Bed Drapery has been around for a long time. It was essential in Northern Europe during the cold winters in drafty homes. Beds were draped in fabrics and woven tapestries to create warmth and privacy. Kings and Queens would receive courtiers at their bed, so the beds were of importance and were lavishly decorated. Just think of the beds in the Palace of Versailles and you'll get the picture. Today, Bed Drapery is a fun way to customize your bedroom design, add more color and pattern, or create a cozy cocoon for yourself and your loved one. And they don't necessarily have to be elaborate or expensive. There are several ways to incorporate bedding treatments into your own dream Master Suite. Today, I'll discuss canopies, both with a four-poster bed and without.

Canopies and Drapery on a Four-poster Bed

The first way to achieve Bed Drapery is with a proper four-poster or canopy bed. Using the bed as the base, drapery can be added in many creative ways.

via Abode Love

via Pinterest

 

via Elle Decor

via The Enchanted Home

via House Beautiful

Faux Canopy

A second way to add Bed Drapery, is to fake a a four-poster bed by adding a drapery at the wall, ceiling, or both. One of the easiest ways to do this is hang drapery rods from the ceiling and drapery at the corners make a convincing look of a four-poster bed.

Via Tobi Fairley

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A second way to create the look is adding Drapery at the ceiling that falls behind the bed as in these bedrooms featured below.
 

via Splendid Sass

via Design Tripper

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

Next time I'll cover 2 other types of Bed Draperies: Half Tester and Corona. More inspiration for your own beautiful master suite design. Are you inspired to add bed drapery to your bedroom design?

Beautiful Habitat: Interior Design & Decoration www.beautifulhabitat.com