Energize Your Home Interior with the Color of the Year
Sophisticated, dramatic and seductive best describe Tangerine Tango, Pantone’s 2012 Color of the Year.
A cool reddish orange hue, Tangerine Tango will be used to inspire, recharge and move us forward. The lively color will not only be featured in interior home décor, but also on the fashion runway, product packaging, store displays and cosmetics. In fact, Sephora will launch its first Color of the Year beauty collection this spring.
“Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it,” said Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy.”
Pantone has been one the design profession’s leading color authorities for nearly 50 years.
To incorporate this hot color into your home, look first at areas that need a burst of energy. An accent wall in the kitchen, bedroom or bathroom may already work with the existing colors you have painted on the walls. If the color seems too strong, try it in small doses for unexpected pops of color. Pillows, candles, bedspreads and throws are easy ways to incorporate the color into your existing décor and add spice to any room. Look for appliances in Tangerine Tango for the kitchen. You’ll also see this hue become available in personal electronics.
Color pairings that work well with this year’s top color are Tangerine with either Spa Blue or Minty Green, Tangerine with Icy Blue and Lime Green, or Tangerine with Pale Blue Violet and Glitzy Gold. For subtle sophistication, pair this sassy color with a soft neutral, like brown, gray or silver. The results will be stunning.
By Cynthia Keenan
Westchase resident Cynthia Keenan is certified in Interior Redesign and a Color With No Regrets Color Consultant. See www.cynthiakeenan.wordpress.com.
Redesign Your Holidays
The biggest trends in holiday decorating this year are tradition and simplicity.
Simple color palettes of green and red, white and silver and red and gold are being used on Christmas trees, mantles, table settings and linens. Finishes range from a dull, matte weathered and somewhat vintage looks (think French country and farmhouse) to glittery, metallic and glamorous (think of your grandmother’s silver artificial tree). The best news is that using what we already own should be very easy. Creativity is key, however, to giving your old pieces a new, inspired look. Here are some tips to help get you started.
Wreaths aren’t only for the front door. Hang them from unpredictable places. For instance, try hanging one over a large mirror in a bathroom, over a headboard or from the footboard in a bedroom. Why not also hang them from the backs of chairs in the kitchen or dining room? Wreaths don’t necessarily have to be hung, of course. Think about laying one flat on the dining room table as a centerpiece surrounding a group of candles. A smaller wreath lying flat can also become a frame for a candy dish on a side table.
Scatter your stockings. Instead of hanging them from the mantle, think of other places in your home that could use a little cheer. Try hanging personalized stockings on each bedroom door. They also look nice hung along a banister.
Display your collections in new and unexpected ways. Santas, angels, snowmen and ornaments make beautiful dining-table centerpieces. They can also create a dramatic tableau on an entry table or console. Use glass blocks or stacks of books to vary heights for added impact. If your collection is large, think about separating it into smaller groupings throughout your home. This helps to build a holiday theme that tells your guests a story from the front door to the kitchen table.
Happy holidays!
Cynthia Keenan, a Westchase resident, is certified in Interior Redesign and is a Color With No Regrets Color Consultant. See www.cynthiakeenan.wordpress.com.
Seasonal Decorating Made Easy
One of my favorite ways to keep up with trends is to create seasonal displays.
For the most part, my home is decorated and stays the same throughout the year. But by making a few subtle changes to honor a season, holiday or family event, a room can get a fresh new look that makes a current style statement.
To keep things simple, I focus on just a few key areas. The front door is a welcome spot, so I usually begin there. Once they enter, I like to surprise visitors with changes to my dining room table, my kitchen island and my kitchen table. By limiting the areas I choose to decorate, I enjoy the process much more than if I tried to do something everywhere. I find I am less overwhelmed and get greater satisfaction in the process and from the end result.
Before I started this process, these areas each already had a “standard” look. For instance, a few years ago, I invested in an assortment of coordinating candlesticks at Pottery Barn. This was one of the best decorating investments I’ve made. My everyday look for the table coordinates with everything else in the room and uses a combination of candles, wine bottles with interesting labels and four wooden placemats that I use as a runner.
When I want to seasonally decorate, I change the runner, add or subtract candles, and add any custom items to go with my theme. When one season is over, I either go back to my standard look or go right into a new season. In the past few years, I’ve accumulated custom collections for several looks: my winter, spring, summer and fall tables, as well as Valentine’s Day, Easter and Christmas ones. Valentine’s Day items can also be used if we are celebrating an engagement or wedding anniversary in our family. This year I look forward to adding a graduation theme and St. Paddy’s Day theme to my collection.
Seasonal decorating can make a dramatic impact on your home and keep it looking current and trendy. Keeping it simple is key.
By Cynthia Keenan
Cynthia Keenan, a Westchase resident, is certified in Interior Redesign, Real Estate Staging and is a Color With No Regrets Color Consultant. Visit her blog at www.cynthiakeenan.wordpress.com.
Color-Infusing Your Home
Of all the design elements, color inspires me most.
Scale, form and function are all certainly important, but color has the distinct ability to transform a space and grab attention. Whether colors are soft and subtle or bold and outrageous, there are guidelines to using them effectively.
After defining the mood a client wants to create in their home, I look for color inspiration. Sometimes this can be an existing painting, rug or patterned fabric on a chair. If the room is empty or if my client isn’t particularly attached to anything, I’ll use the floor and fixture colors as my starting point. From there, we zero in on colors that will coordinate well.
To use colors, I look at the walls, floors, furniture, accessories and all the elements that will interact in the room. My goal is to infuse the space with appropriate color. If the goal is to create a serene, calm environment, I will pick one hue and work with it in various values. If more energy is needed, I will pick one to two coordinating colors and place them in the proper amount and proportion around the room.
Color then must be strategically placed in the room. Lighter colors on walls are usually a safe choice, with mid-tones used for furniture and darker colors for accents. If my client prefers a more dramatic approach, this process is reversed. Darker colors are used on the walls and lighter colors are used for accents.
The step that is most ignored in many homes is the proper balance of color. Different hues should be used a minimum of three times each within a space. They should relate to each other in a triangular formation and occur at varying eye levels. The goal is to use the color to create visual interest and move your eye around the entire room. The color then effectively becomes the element that ties everything together.
By Cynthia Keenan
Cynthia Keenan, a Westchase resident, is certified in Interior Redesign, Real Estate Staging and is a Color With No Regrets Color Consultant. Visit her blog at www.cynthiakeenan.wordpress.com.
Bringing the Fall Decorating Trends into your Home
Good things come in threes, as do this fall’s hottest decorating trends.
Knowing overall design trends makes decorating decisions very easy.
According to AmericasMart, the leading international source for consumer goods, the look for home fashions this fall will focus on three main themes. First, the trend is toward simplicity. “Contemporary” used to mean sleek, modern and cold. Today’s interpretation is uncluttered and comfortable.
Less is definitely more and quality trumps quantity. Scaling back is considered the right thing to do and using recycled and repurposed items are hot in the industry. There will be more choices available for dual-purposed furniture, which helps to make the best use of smaller spaces. Overall, the home is considered a sanctuary and it should promote relaxation without a lot of clutter.
Another way to stay current is to allow global influences into your home. Patterned fabrics, exotic woods and bold, tribal colors will continue to dominate interior home goods stores. New for the fall will be the addition of other cultures. This past spring’s royal wedding has launched an English vintage palette of mulberry, mauve and warm gray.
The desire to show solidarity with the people of Japan has also made all things Japanese popular. Global influences, either through our own personal experience or shared experiences through the media, can make a definite statement in your decorating choices.
A final trend for this fall is conscious color selection. For instance, this year’s color of the year is Honeysuckle, a bright raspberry pink. If you like being current and the boldness of this color inspires you, go for it. For others, the color can be toned down or fired up. The key is knowing the color and then finding a variation that will work in your own home.
Meanwhile brown undertones continue to prevail. This doesn’t mean dull and dark. Instead, think of mustard yellow, shimmering bronze and spicy cinnamon.
With these three tips in mind, open the door to fall!
By Cynthia Keenan
Cynthia Keenan, a Westchase resident, is certified in Interior Redesign, Real Estate Staging and is a Color With No Regrets Color Consultant. (www.floridaredesigner.com).