Wednesday, September 14th, 2011
Summer may be nearly over in most of the country, (Minnesota is cruel – I’m actually wearing slippers and the thermostat says 45 degrees!) so it must be time to find that product that would have been great for enjoying the summer sun. Isn’t that always the case?
I don’t really ever sit in the sun on a beach, but if I did, this would be a product I’d enjoy. I love that this is compact (rolls up to the size of a yoga mat), has a convenient carrying case, offers UV protection (which recreating this with a standard piece of fabric wouldn’t offer), and comes in such cute colors and patterns. All that for a decent price considering you could get years of use out of it? I say go for it and you can use it to build a fort in your living room during the winter and play make believe that you’re sitting on a beach reading a magazine. By the time NEXT summer rolls around you’ll be an expert at setting it up. (Just don’t forget where you put it away over the winter.)
Ready to order? Check out their website. It looks like a feature in the NY Times has boosted their business…the Moroccan blue style is on backorder. But you’d still have it in time for your winter getaway to Jamaica.
Photo credit: Image and article via the New York Times
Tags: beach, New York Times, sun shade, sunny yellow
Posted in Design & Home Living Tips, Industry Updates | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Celerie Kemble is an rising star in the interior design community. Based in NYC but raised in Palm Beach, her mother is an interior designer as well, so she was exposed to great design from an early age. I had the chance to meet her a few years back at an event promoting a line of textiles she designed, and I even got a photo with her! Unfortunately, the person who took the photo gave the camera to her techie, who deleted my picture with Celerie (sadness!) But I’m sure I’ll get the chance to fix that in the future.
I finally got around to reading Celerie’s book “To Your Taste: Creating Modern Rooms with a Traditional Twist,” and while our styles can be very different at times, I love both her bold use of color and her restrained application of color and pattern. The book explores her own personal design evolution, and then covers how you can create your own personal style. It’s worth checking out from the library and seeing what inspires you.
Here are a few of my favorite images from the book.
Last week I wrote about using bold greens, and here is a great example of incorporating a bold green and bold patterns, but tempering them with restful expanses of white. It’s fun and playful, but still retains a polished hint of traditional.
Don’t you just love these palettes? I love the use of orange in different color palettes, either as a dominant element or a supporting player. It’s always fun to see the paint, fabric, wallcovering, and trim details pulled together to tell the story.
Lest you think all she can do is bold, check out the lighter palette of this breakfast nook. Spring yellows, greens and white are layered with textures. The chandelier, the bamboo style chairs, tweedy fabrics on the banquette, ruffle edged plates on the wall, and wainscotting on the wall and ceiling add layers of interest that the eye only observes slowly.
Can I just say I love the mix in this small dining room? The morse code like dots pattern on the banquette and drapes is fabulous! The tree like base on the table is textural but subtle in black. The metalic finish on the slim chairs is unexpected, but works. And the faux snakeskin fabric on the chairs is one of my favorites from her line of fabrics. I can’t wait to have dining room chairs that I can reupholster in something similar. They look so fancy, but wipe clean with a wet cloth. Excellent!
So can you relate to any of these rooms? Do you like the mix of traditional and modern elements? How do YOU define your personal style? I’d love to hear your definitions!
Tags: Celerie Kemble, color palette, dining room, green, midecentury modern, sunny yellow, To Your Taste, traditional, white
Posted in Reading List | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
Color Palette - Sunny Yellow with Greys, Bright Blues and Crisp Whites
So last week I showed you how chocolate brown and white can ground a palette with accents in sunny yellow. This week is about taking that sunny yellow and balancing it with saturated blues, all layered over a backdrop of muted greys and whites. It’s amazing how different it looks in these rooms with the added drama of those bold blues. As you can see, you can go more towards the turquoise end of the spectrum, or stay with a true blue, just don’t pick a washed out shade…. it needs to stand up to the saturation of the yellow as an equal.
Tags: Blue, color palette, Grey, sunny yellow, white
Posted in Color Pulse | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
Baby it’s FREEZING outside here in Minnesota, so I decided to warm things up with a cheerful sunny yellow color palette to remind me of warmer places.
The chocolate brown and white elements in these rooms help ground the vivid splashes of yellow. In most of the rooms the yellow is used as an accent in the accessories and artwork selections. But I’ve always loved the bold choice of the yellow dining room chairs at the top. It looks so inviting, and the glossy white floors and crisp table cloths offset them perfectly. Bonus: they’re probably really kid friendly with a quick wipe up after a messy meal.
Tags: chocolate brown, color palette, sunny yellow, white
Posted in Color Pulse | No Comments »
Colleen Fox Slack | email: colleen@colleenfoxinteriors.com | phone: 612.868.0348
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