2012 « Design Like the Pros | Saffronia Baldwin | Interior Designer | Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Mercer Island

Color of the Year – Tangerine Tango

Is tangerine your color?

Heather Garrett

It wasn’t mine until lately. I confess…I have been seduced. I find that tangerine (or red orange) really elevates my spirits. It makes me smile. It is Pantone’s Color of the Year.

And what that means is that this color is in demand. We, the Design Junkie Community, want it and need it. Now! Tangerine is the color of optimism and individuality. Something about that rings true…do you agree?

Too bright?….not always.

Yes, it CAN look sophisticated

It can even be subdued

Ann Rue Interiors

And understated…

Tie it into the next room

A soft version of tangerine (below) covers two upholstered chairs, two sofa pillows and is repeated again in the adjacent dining room wall color. Here is a gorgeous example of continuity and “flow” from room to room.

Tangerine-orange makes a memorable accent wall

…especially when repeated in an accessory like this bolster pillow

It makes a snappy focal point

Orange with gray – A very hip combo

…very handsome

Style At Home

Orange with blue makes a welcoming guest room

Combine it with rose and lots of white for a feminine statement

Style At Home

Put a contemporary spin on a room with antiques

Better Homes & Gardens

Go bright with orange accessories for extra punch

Betsy Burnham

It holds its own against magenta and lime

Tangerine/orange is easy to find in stores and websites

You don’t have to hunt very far

Bindu Rug – www.potterybarn.com

Garden Stool – insideavenue.com

Albert Pinto design – devinecorp.net

Climbing Vines Curtain – anthropologie.com

The mouthwatering tangerine…inside and out

May your imagination take you to delicious places…

Walk in beauty…it will change your life.

Big Florals Are a Hot Trend – Not Your Grandmother’s Roses

Posted Apr 17 2012 by Saffronia Baldwin in Color, Color Flow, Contemporary, Continuity, Floral Design with 0 Comments

We love flowers, but we require new and different designs so we don’t get bored. We don’t want old school florals like grandmother’s cabbage roses. Nor do we want 60′s flower power. As always, fabric designers and artists have listened to us…the Design Junkie Community. Our new choices are de-LIGHT-ful and refreshing and have today’s heartbeat.

Wide open patterns as if they were painted with a broad brush

Splashier…

Just Scandinavian

…not like grandma’s roses

In colors we are loving right now!

Combined with geometrics and stripes in a whole new way

Samantha Plyn

Even a little floral makes an impact

Flowers unleashed…if that’s your thing

Tara Seawright

Stylized flowers in brighter palettes

Z3 Diseno

Kathryn

In classic black and white

Watercolor flowers

Fiona Douglas

Suzani inspired floral shapes for an ethnic look

Lindsay Buckingham

Nikki Papadopoulos

Floral rugs are staging a comeback. They look very different in today’s colors, don’t they?

Nicole Rubens

Floral paintings are favorites right now but in all-over random compositions

Erin Feasby

Kim Parker

Flowers are as old as dirt but we never tire of them. We just need a new fresh spin every once in awhile. am excited to start using these fun flowers. Girls just wanna have fun, right? Boys too!

Walk in beauty…it will change your life.

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Posted Apr 9 2012 by Saffronia Baldwin in Accesssorizing Shelves with 0 Comments

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One wouldn’t think that 450 square feet would be enough to turn around in, much less breathe but….miracles do happen in the world of interior design.

There are three tricks to creating the illusion of space. One is to use a limited palette. There’s lots of white in this place, grounded by accents of black with shades of taupe and sepia to soften the look. ?Even the floor is painted white. No other colors are inserted to distract the eye.

The second is to arrange furniture so as to create mini rooms.

The Courage to Be Quirky – Do You Have It?

Posted Apr 4 2012 by Saffronia Baldwin in Antiques, Architectural Salvage, Eclectic, Flea Market, How to Add the "Wow Factor", Vintage with 0 Comments

It takes Courage to Design With a Quirky Flare

But a single quirky piece in a room makes a huge difference. It sticks in our mind and we never forget it. I define “quirky” as different, unexpected, off-beat, out-of-the-box and memorable. Quirkiness gives a room personality.

For example, who could forget this striped ceiling? Following are more examples of quirkiness that will str-r-r-e-e-etch the imagination so that we, the Design Junkie Community, can express our wonderful weirdness

Random color is quirky

Over sized objects are quirky

Rick Baye

Giant Branch Canopy

Over sized art is boldly quirky

WL Interiors

Wild wall color is startlingly quirky

Michael Penney

A unique chair is energetically quirky

Russell Groves

Quirky salvaged architectural pieces are unforgettable

Brown Cranna / Douglas Callaway

oliveandlove.com

Flea market furniture adds quirky personality

….even a small inexpensive chair

An unusual contemporary light fixture adds quirkiness

Christine Hanlon

Unique decorative painting is delightfully quirky

Animal prints are a great place to start

for those who are shy about stepping out…

Lisa Sherry

Go quirky at Restoration Hardware

It’s like a flea market!

1890 Iron Stag Head and Antlers approx. $289

Dry Dock Pendant $1695

Deconstructed Wing Chair $1995

(notice the back is intentionally exposed as if it’s unfinished)

Watchmaker’s Task Table Lamp $459

I hope this blog post jogged your creative mind. I need to stretch my quirkiness muscles too so….thank you! my dear Design Junkies, for prompting me to explore more fun ways to create eye candy so I can share them with you.

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How to Use Texture As Color

Posted Apr 2 2012 by Saffronia Baldwin in Architecture, Core Idea, Ranch and Farm, Rustic Interiors with 0 Comments

Color can come in the form of texture! Instead of drawing on the traditional color wheel, this designer explored her world for textures. Chunky. Craggy. Splintery. Smoothe. Woven. Wrinkled. Translucent. Rusty. Peely……and etcetera. There is so much to take in that I dare say I might fall over in a faint if she had added actual color. By the way, I’ll bet you think this is a dining room. Actually it’s a free standing structure! A dining house, so to speak. Isn’t that brilliant? The interior was designed by Wendy Owen for her family in Sonoma. California. Fieldstone was collected locally for the walls, and the floor is poured concrete. Those unique paper light fixtures were found at local designer Erin Martin‘s St. Helena shop.

The dinnerware from Astier de Villatte is rustic yet curved and feminine providing a nice contrast to the table made of enormous reclaimed Douglas fir boards and flat backed plank chairs.

The theme is Natural-Materials-With-Muted Palette… in a very big way. Owens was rigorous about sticking to her core idea without getting side tracked by anything that does not fit. “I wanted to keep everything oversize and use texture as color.” The circular piece on the mantel is a salvaged well top.

An antique pine island stands in the middle of the kitchen with chunky antique Brazilian wood bar stools. The breakfast area features unexpectedly two crystal chandeliers hanging over an old baker’s table and two stone benches. This designer really pays attention to continuity. “It makes the space look larger when you use the same materials all the way through.” she says. And I would add to that, it createsvisual flow. As I walk through this house I am both inspired by the remarkable selection of furniture and materials and soothed by the repetition of color and materials. Inspired and soothed.

You’ve never seen this bed before, and I guarantee you will never see it again. Chunky railroad ties make up the frame and antique sugar molds make up the headboard. The splash of color amongst the bed linens is a fun statement and can be changed out so easily.

The master bath has a pair of sinks made out of old horse troughs. The mirrors above each sink have been created out of ceiling tin showing off the texture of peeling paint.

This designer has been very much inspired by the work of legendary designer Michael Taylor (1927-1986) who broke new groundwith his California Look by using overscale furnishings and natural elements. He also championed the idea of making the interior and the exterior interchangeable.

The free standing dining house with its other structures and the surrounding fields.

Designer Wendy Owen. As you can see the chartreuse used in the master bedroom is a color she wears very well. This is always a great way to develop a color palette for your home. Select colors that flatter your complexion and hair color. It works!

Photos courtesy of Western Interiors October/November 2007

Sassy New Ways to Use Gray and Yellow in Your Interior Design

Posted Mar 21 2012 by Saffronia Baldwin in Color, Color Flow, Staging with 0 Comments

What is today’s spin on gray and yellow?

Have you noticed that beige is out and gray is in? That’s what’s happening now in the world of design, fashion and marketing. So…do we like gray again? I do. I love it, in fact. Especially when it’s paired so refreshingly with yellow!

Caroll Paige

Some still think that gray is synonymous with “dull.” Well, my dear design junkies, we know that’s not true, don’t we? Look how contemporary, lively and original this bedroom is.

Sophisticated yet very inviting

This breakfast room is serene. But what gives it energy? Certainly the contrasty wallpaper adds playfulness, and the warm undertone of the gray draws us in rather than freezing us out. But most of all, it’s a color scheme that is “happening now.”

The sassier the better

This room is anything but somber. It’s sassy from the get go because of the richly saturated warm yellow, darker gray on the walls and dark dark charcoal on the upholstered ottoman. Here are the colors from Benjamin Moore.

…in a contemporary setting

Karina Garrick

….in a traditional setting

Applying this color scheme to a traditional room, such as the one above, gives it a slightly contemporary spin. Less stodgy!

Gray and yellow can go with any style interior

Big over scaled patterns are wildly popular these days. As are striped rugs. All done up in gray and yellow it has a very “current” vibe.

Dark saturated gray sends a different message

and sets a different mood. What mood does this room have?

We see lots of daybeds like this in design magazines. Do you like them? They’re great to look at but…no back support.

Understand the undertones

When yellow goes toward lemon it is “cool.” When it goes toward orange it is “warm.” Is the yellow bedding below cool or warm?

Yup….you see it. It’s a warm yellow.

About grays…there are green grays, blue grays, purple grays and brown grays. Consider this when you plan your color scheme. Learn more about grays from Maria Kilam’s wonderful blog Colour Me Happy. What undertones does the gray below have?

You’re right…it has a purple undertone!

Go shopping for gray and yellow – it’s ubiquitous (love that word!)

Ballard Designs

Beautiful Pillows and Home

Graham & Brown

fab.com

Draw your color schemes from nature

Perhaps this little bird was born in Photoshop What do you think?

Walk in beauty…it will change your life.

Create a Color Scheme the Easy Way: from Pattern to Palette

Posted Mar 9 2012 by Saffronia Baldwin in Color, Color Flow, Continuity with 0 Comments

Find a pattern you love and use it as a springboard to select colors for EV-erything in the room…or in the house, for that matter.

The rug above has a lovely palette of blues, soft rust and khaki. I could do a whole house in that…could you, my little Design Junkies? Here are the colors from Benjamin Moore Paint Company.

If it were mine, I would add a darker bricky-rust and even more saturated deep blue for contrast. Dark colors will ground a color scheme in a very strong way…as you can see the black iron table base does.

Using a patterned rug is fun and convenient

that is…if you like patterned rugs

bhg.com

(an unusually refreshing color scheme but somebody should have steamed the wrinkles out of that flatweave rug…doncha’ think?)

bhg.com

Patterned wallcoverngs give us some beautiful palettes

already built in…just for you. No thinking involved.

Cynthia Mason Interiors

Adi Tatarko

Art is a great source of stunning color combinations

which you can pick up and use for bedding, pillows, rugs and upholstery

Which cam first…the art or the fabrics? What do you think? As a designer I often work everything at the same time, all the while visualizing my end result

Patterned fabric is an awesome springboard into color

(Wow. It’s pretty but…it almost makes my eyes water)

…even a teacup can provide a beautiful palette

Don’t get too matchy-matchy

Here’s an delightful color palette using great chairs (from Anthropologie). The orangey-yellow from the art work repeats in the upholstery. The blue on the wall is almost the same as in the chair fabric…but not quite the same (atleast on my screen)…and that makes it even more interesting.

In the room above, the chair fabric and the glass plate echo the orange-red from the painting. The flowers are not red but pink. It’s not an overly decorated room. Very balanced. The painting asks the question. The chair and the glass plate answer it.

Be subtle…you will live longer

You may find that being subtle is much more liveable and just as “memorable.”

Colors from the rug tie in beautifully with the throw pillows, the artwork and even the front door color. The small pops of bright-yellow give this room great energy. But most of the space is a quiet subtle neutral.

Having fun going from pattern to palette, my dear friends.

Walk in beauty…it will change your life.

How to Design Your Home With Collections

Posted Mar 5 2012 by Saffronia Baldwin in Accesssorizing Shelves, How to Add the "Wow Factor", Staging with 0 Comments

Collections are Eye Candy on Steroids

Accessories are the frosting on the cake of interior design. And when you accessorize with a beautiful collection, your frosting becomes the most melt-in-your-mouth loveliest delicious thing you have ever seen.

Same and Different

What is a collection? A collection is a grouping of things that are the same in some way and different in some way. In this photo above, the collection is all the same material, finish and color, but different shapes. I love the way the robins egg blue color is repeated in the framed map.

Tim Cupper Architects

This collection of leaf paintings are the same color (with a tiny bit of variation) and the same theme. What is different? The shapes of the leaves are different. I like the way the designer created an extra enormous display of leaf print…it took some doing. 5 rows of 8. A total of 340…which really makes an impact! Sometimes (not always) the bigger the collection the more dramatic.

Same Function and Color - But Different Shape

Vicente Wolf

I’ll bet whoever made these shovels never thought they would be used in home decor. Go figure! The function is digging. The color is brown. The material is wood. The shape?…all slightly different. This makes for a fascinating collection silhouetted against white walls as shown here.

Just a few small objects…

Vintage wooden pull toys tell a story about their owner

Marcel Wolterinck

A cluster of little white ceramic vases of varying sizes

Ballard Designs

Rustic cowbells. I like the way one is turned on it’s side.

An enormous display of small things…

Stephen Falke

Do you like this one? or is it too much?

A collection of a few very large things…for drama!

Egg shapes are lovely to look at. So primal

This arrangement of huge ship’s wheels was done by Tom Felicia for his beach house.

Small, medium and large

Vicente Wolf

Same material and finish. Different shapes. Different sizes.

Display things you use every day

Vicki Mansell

Don’t hide them in a closet if they’re this pretty

Take those jazzy retro glasses out of your drawer and show them off !

Wendy Lewis

Distinctly recognizeable Fiesta ware dishes are the same material and finish. Large bowls are grouped along the bottom in different colors. Dinner plates are stacked at the top in different colors, etc. This collection is both functional and fun to look at.

Flours, sugars, pasta and herbs all in the exact same jar

Collections Under Glass

Lee Stanton

Big and small birds eggs under glass cloches are fascnating to see

Collectible vintage baseballs

Show off family heirlooms (only if you like them)

Linda Keenan

No family heirlooms? Start your own

It’s easy to start your own collection. Select something that interests you or that you just like looking at. I love these industrial style gears

from Restoration Hardware

Rustic stone urns from Wisteria

Collect a favorite artist’s work

Decoupaged glass pieces by artist John Derain make this bathroom much more iteresting.

I hope this has sparked your interest in collections. As you can see, they are one of the most fun and most dramatic ways to accessorize.

Walk in beauty…it will change your life.

13 Ways to Add “WOW” to Your Bathroom

Posted Feb 20 2012 by Saffronia Baldwin in Accesssorizing Shelves, How to Add the "Wow Factor", What Makes This Room Work with 0 Comments

If your bathroom is boring, ordinary or just plain ugly…and you crave something inspiring, here are thirteen ideas that can really perk up your space.

#1 Cheapest and Easiest – Paint the Walls

Not just any color though…make it fun, current, energetic. Yellow-green is currently a very popular color. Whether you are trend sensitive or not (guess what? everyone is to some extent…but that’s a whole other article) you will want to use colors that appeal to you right now.

With a freshly painted wall, the color scheme above becomes green, black and white. I love the way the black is repeated in four different ways: lamp, stool, floor tiles and picture frame.

Here’s another bathroom in a delicious mocha brown. Note the interesting collection of ornate white framed mirrors in an otherwise un-fussy room.

#2 Change Out Colored Accessories.

This could even be less expensive than painting the walls. New fluffy towels, artwork that echoes the towel color, and a wastebasket that carries it through. It’s a simple but delightful change that will lift your spirits.

#3 Paint the Walls Decoratively

This takes a bit more effort than rolling just one color on the walls. The bathroom below is very eye catching indeed. Our homeowner simply marked off stripes with painter’s tape and created a very cool look for the same price as a solid color.

#4 Use a Towel Display as a Design Element

Keeping the color palette limited to yellow, black, white and gray adds pattern without getting too messy looking. In other words, let’s keep our red towels stored in the linen closet…know what I mean? They wouldn’t fit into the color scheme and would simply create a distraction.

Nicole Lanteri

#5 Add Wallpaper that is Eye Candy

Bathrooms are small. Powder rooms are even smaller. They are a great opportunity to use wallpaper that is wilder than you might ordinarily use. There will not be much of it…especially if you only cover one or two walls. Here are a few great examples to tickle your imagination.

Elegantly Asian

Talk about a conversation piece

Handsome Arts & Crafts style

#6 A New Vanity Can Do Wonders

You can pick up something contemporary like this for very little money

This special chest was repurposed into a vanity by drilling a hole for the faucet and another for the sink. Not a complicated job.

Let your imagination go wild! I love the way the bicycle is used to hold spare towels.

#7 A New Medicine Cabinet

The one below is shabby chic and brings lots of character into the room.

#8 A Unique or Oversized Mirror

Utopian Lifestyle

Here’s a mirror with plenty of personality. What do you think?

It’s not for everyone, huh? But…you get my point.

Note how this enormous framed mirror extends behind the vanity all the way down to the baseboards. Very dramatic. Wow!

#9 Replace Your Old Sink With a Snazzy New One

Vessel sinks are so popular nowadays. If you get a glass one, make sure you select something that you can clean easily. Nothing worse than blobs of toothpaste on your exquisite hand blown glass.

McLean Quinlan

#10 Replace Your Old Faucet with Something That You Love

Michael Penny

An oversized spout

Hego Faucet

Dual purpose vase ad faucet. I couldn’t resist including this

#11 Light Fixtures – Get Rid of the Ugly!

The badf news is that there are very few attractive bathroom light fixtures on the market. The good news is that they are relatively inexpensive for the important job that they do.

Sconces on either side of the mirror throw better light on your face than light bars mounted above. The ones pictured above are quite handsome. My hunch is that they are on a dimmer which allows the homeowner to create some “atmosphere” when brighter lights are not required for a task such as putting on makeup.

#12 Beautiful Tile Adds Class (and cost)

Tile does not have to be designed in a complex way (like this one below). If you don’t want to stretch your budget this much, consider plain white subway tiles.

#13 Art Work Speaks Volumes About You

Utopian Lifestyle

Here’s a Combination of Many Ideas

Scott Yetman

I think this is an inviting room that feels good. What do you think? What would you do differently?

I invite you to leave a comment below. We would love to hear what you love and what you hate….seriously!

Until next time…

Walk in Beauty. It will change your life.

Classy Funky Teeny Tiny Apartment

Posted Jan 23 2012 by Saffronia Baldwin with 0 Comments

You wouldn’t think that 450 square feet would allow for much style, let alone breathing room but…miracles do happen in the world of interior design.

There are three tricks to making this iddy biddy Gramercy Park (NYC) ?apartment such a functional stylish place.

One is the willingness to pare down your possessions to the minimum. Two is to use a limited palette (in this case it is white with accents of black and tan). And three is to arrange furniture into mini-rooms so that each area has it’s reason for being. Above the mantel, homeowner and designer Ellen O’Neill has placed some topiary forms in an open arrangement full of character. I suspect she found them at a flea market.

A “long” view of the space describes the incredibly beautiful window wall. The seating area is on the right. The sleeping area is on the left defined by a custom made screen and daybed covered in a pale but elegant toile pattern.