I. Want. COLOUR! Is there a little kid inside of you screaming for colour? It’s like this deep longing inside your soul that jumps up an down with glee every time you see bright pretty toss cushions and brightly painted walls. You are reminded of summer, and amazing vacations and sunshine and life. Oh but you can’t! What will people say? Would if you got sick of it in a year? I love this blue wall. I look at it and think “can’t someone out there want a blue wall?” And then I remind myself that if I renovate the house again, or even suggest a paint colour change; my dear, wonderful husband who just finished this house, might be a little miffed. Bang! Bang! Ok, so maybe you aren’t as sick of gray and white as I am. You haven’t done countless homes in that colour palette over the last ten years. But, the trends are leaning warmer now, and begging for more colour. I guess we could sneak some in? Just a little? We can warm up your grays with creamy pinks, or pops of blue? Tans and olive greens? It’s a slippery slope. You […]
All the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow -Leo Tolstoy “Shadow”. It sounds so dark, exotic, sexy. It’s Benjamin Moore’s colour of the year. And it’s a good one. Can I be tacky for a second? It’s like an aged grape. Hints of gray, notes of neutral. A smoky, warm aroma. Goes well paired with a “dark burgundy” dressed with a pale “porcelain”. The muted shade honestly goes well with almost anything. I think a powder room completely enveloped in this shade would be dramatic and rich. While I am pretty much done with painting a feature wall (wallpaper and plaster finishes are much more inviting), I could imagine a staircase cove, or library. This photo by Benjamin Moore displays it perfectly. A slightly brighter tone of this colour, would be amazing as a velvet sofa. How luscious would you feel lounging on this? Wallpaper, as I often suggest! One here, uses golds to offset the darker grape hues. It’s modern AND classic in design, and injects the colour without over-committing. The second wallpaper, a complimentary shade. Imagine using this one a wall, and shadow on the ceiling. Talk about an intense and dynamic paring! […]
Well, let it be said that design occasionally reflects on past trends (dreaded stirrup pants and neon pink t-shirts), but design’s true calling is moving forward: bigger, bolder, inspired and, well, ALIVE, to be honest. With so many designers being focused on greige the last few years, it is a welcome breath of fresh air that Pantone has released some awesome, bright and, dare I say, happy, forecasted colours for 2016. Not one greige in the deck. It’s a designer’s dream. It truly is! FINALLY, something awesome to play with! It’s like giving a kid a million dollars and letting them loose in a candy shop. And not some variety store, but like a serious, of Disney proportion, candy shop. But alas, what to do? More toss cushions? I might be sick if one more person puts twenty different toss cushions on one sofa and calls it good design. Are we not bored of toss cushions? White walls, greige sofas and twenty toss cushions. Just add in a white kitchen with a black island and your house will look just like everyone else’s house! So let’s inject some personality into our homes. They are our homes, after all. Let’s stand […]
It’s back! It’s been back for quite a while, and although most of us associate wallpaper with the 1970s velvet flocked granny papers, modern times have propelled wallpapers into the future. No matter your design ethic, wallpaper can add anything from some simple texture, a splash of colour or an artistic element. Use it to complete your design, add sophistication or even frame it as an inexpensive, yet unique, piece of art. Super thank you to Joanne Fabrics (www.joannefabrics.com) for these great wallpapers, and for providing Monaco Interiors will all the books for our clients!! Let’s look at different styles and how wallpaper can be used to enhance a space. Cottage/Vintage Chic Pretty wallpaper, in either a neutral as shown, or a lovely shade of your favorite vintage inspired colour, can really create the look you are after by acting as your jumping off point. Here we can see that the paper used initiates the colour palette, and instantly gives the homeowner that cottage chic, almost French inspired look. Add some feminine furnishings, and there you go. Design done. Un fait acompli! (means job well done) Hollywood Glam Going black and white is a classic, Hollywood inspired design concept. […]
