2013 Pantone Color of the Year Is...

And now the moment we've all been waiting for!  Pantone has announced that the 2013 color of the year will be Emerald!

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This beautiful green is easily paired with other jewel tone.  It has a hint of blue and Pantone has shown some great color ideas pairing it with periwinkles and ocean blues.

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I know green is not for everyone.  Does it work for you?  May this green is a forshadow that there will be more green in our wallets??  Let's hope so!  Go green!

Images via Pantone

Biomimicry and Design

What is Biomimicry?  It's the observation of nature's structure and method and implementing it in man made designs and materials.  I was sent the link to this interesting video on Biomimicry from my Interface flooring rep.  I thought it was worth sharing:


What is Bomimicry? video link

Old With The New

Today you will find me over at IAMTHELAB with my guest post on incorporating vintage items with your design.  I met Brett Torrey from IAMTHELAB during our #IntDesignerChat on Twitter, which takes place every Tuesday.  I was happy to write for his readers and have been enjoying his posts as well all about handmade.  

I am also honored to be a part of his style council! 

Now, Go read my post here!  Here is a peek at one of the images....

How Many Designers Does It Take?

It is always interesting to get a group of designers in a room to decorate a space for an event.  For our ASID Design Excellence Awards Dinner and Annual Social, we all had to brainstorm a little to put our well thought out design in action. 

ASID Designers coming together

There are always changes that happen when the installation day arrives and I think we handled it well.  We certainly had a great finished product!

ASID Design Excellence Dinner

ASID Design Excellence Dinner tablescape

Photos by Rebecca Ward

Award Winning Design

This weekend, my local chapter of ASID held our Design Excellence Awards.  I am so happy to announce that my bathroom submission won second place!

 You have seen these before but here are the photos of the winning bathroom:

I was up against some great competition, First place winner, Laura Neuman and Third Place Kerrie Kelly.  I am fortunate to have such a wonderful chapter of designers as my colleagues.  More to come on the event itself....

Bathroom photos by Steve Folino

Dining In Style

Dining Rooms and Nooks can be very high impact places in a house's design, depending on their location.  I recently completed some refurnishing of a client's Dining Room and Nook.  The Dining Room was directly off the entry and turning the corner into the Kitchen you look directly into the Nook, so these are highly visible spaces.  It's important that these places are not only functional for everyday eating but also for entertaining.  A lot of social gatherings center around food so the eating areas get a lot of exposure. 

Here is the dining room with it's stunning long table that comfortably seats 10.  One of the design parameters was that 10 placemats could lay nicely on the table without overlapping.  Luckily, this room was the perfect size to permanently accommodate the long table (128" long).

Dining Room

Dining Room with custom tablecloth

 Adding correctly proportioned art and back cushions to the existing benches made the Nook a more inviting space.  Previously, a line of throw pillows were used to cushion the back but they made it difficult to slide in and out.  These fixed cushions supply a small pop of blue color on the buttons that is accented throughout the home.

Nook with custom tablecloth, pillows and back cushions

With family or friends, my clients can now dine in style!

Photos by Rebecca Ward

Color Seasons

Each December, Pantone publishes its color of the year, which I usually am prompt to report.  They also release each season's colors.  Pantone mostly dictates to the fashion industry but there is usually a quick trickle down into interior and home fashions.  The colors we see in our fashion magazines we also want to see in our shelter magazines and on the shelves of our stores.

I recently took a look at the Fall colors to see an overview of what is currently showing now that we are already in to September and then a look at the Spring projections.  I found them to be very similar, naturally but the subtle differences do reflect the change in the season:

Fall 2012 via Pantone

Spring 2013 via Pantone

Spring has left out the browns and greys and has a more crisp yellow and blue tones.

Do you pay close attention to the seasons' colors or do you stick to your favorites?

White Hot

I have been very attracted lately to "white hot" interiors and photos.  Bright Whites with saturated indigo and fuchsias.  The contrast of hot and cold colors is very refreshing, bright and cheerful.  A cool splash in the pool on a scorching day. 

I remembered that I had this book by Tricia Guild.  While this book is over 10 years old, I think her color principals in here are still pertinent.  White is timeless and never out of fashion.  Such beautiful, exotic imagery and text throughout the book.  The photography is captivating.  I find myself drawn to them often for inspiration or just to refresh my eyes - like sorbet cleanses the palate.

How do you feel about "white hot" interiors?

Photos by Rebecca Ward

Looking Good

I have been reviewing my finds from my trip to Las Vegas Market and still am finding a lot of inspiration from these great items.  Let me share some of the good looking pieces I am loving:

Which is your favorite?

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Photos by Rebecca Ward

Design: Sacramento

I haven't done an installment in this column for a while but I found something worthy of noting for Design: Sacramento - I only wish I had noted it earlier!  Listen up my Sacramento readers!

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If you love design and are looking for something fun to do tomorrow, Sunday the19th, head to midtown and join the Design Rides on their bike ride around midtown's design hot spots!  They will be stopping in one of my favorites, Scout Living.

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If you can't make it this weekend, like me, they have another on planned for October 14th.

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What a great idea!

Photos via Facebook and Scout

New Ravenna Mosaics

I have been drooling the past few minutes over these fabulous tile mosaics.  They were too good to keep to myself.  After checking my inbox for new product emails I casually clicked through to this one and am glad I did!  The photos speak for themselves but be sure to visit New Ravenna Mosaics to see all the great inspiration!

Via New Ravenna Mosaics

Via New Ravenna Mosaics

Via New Ravenna Mosaics

Via New Ravenna Mosaics

Via New Ravenna Mosaics

Went To Market

I made a whirlwind trip down to Las Vegas to see what's new from my vendors and then find some new vendors. Success on both accounts! I just wish I had more time to spend there, but alas, with all my client projects I could only afford to spend two days out of my busy week down there.
Besides visiting showrooms and taking a few CEUs, the market kept us designers well fed and entertained. Monday night had a circus in the breezeway complete with carnival food.
I will go into more detail about my great finds at market in the posts to come. In the meantime, have a great weekend!

Back to Business with a DIY Guest Post

Well, I'm back and have already been busy working away on all my fabulous clients' projects.  The vacation was perfect for allowing me to clear my head and come back focused and energized.  While I am still catching up on emails and such, I thought this is a perfect time for a guest post from my wonderful designer friends, DeAnna Mackensen of REDesign Interiors.  She is definitely a DIY designer - always working on a project!

Here is her post which features her latest DIY project:

Inspired by Target and Missoni

Hello, I’m DeAnna Mackensen, interior designer and owner of REDesign Interiors.  I have been a do-it-yourselfer since before that term became popular!  Last week I was inspired by Missoni and Target to DIY this chevron chair.   

I have a very small porch and I wanted to sit outside and drink my coffee every morning.  I needed a small chair and some inspiration.  The chair came from Target and the inspiration from my Missoni coffee mug.

Cost of Project:  Approx. $40

Materials Needed:

Target Chair (1)

Spray Paint Primer (1)

Spray Paint in white (1)

Spray Paint in Green (1)

Painter’s Tape

1. Create your Chevron design

2. Block off the Chevron design with Blue Painter’s tape.  Be sure to cover the back side of the chair also.  I used painter’s tape and a sheet to cover most of the chair.  You want to be sure to cover the back so no spray paint flecks go where you don’t want them.

3. Begin with painting the large white block of Chevron with primer.  This is a fast process however be sure to allow for adequate drying time.  Follow the directions on the paint can.  The more time spent on prep means your paint job will last longer.  Be patient.

4. Spray on the white coat of paint.  Allow to dry.  Spray another coat.

5.  Tape off the green Chevron pattern. 

6.   Spray on the green coat of paint.  Allow to dry.  Spray another coat.

Time spent prepping:   30 minutes

Time spent painting:     10 minutes

Time spent waiting for paint to dry:  Priceless. . . 

Every morning I enjoy my coffee and I put my mug on that stump of firewood! 

Cheers, DeAnna

Photos by DeAnna Mackensen

Down Time

I am taking a much needed vacation this week in sunny San Diego. It comes at a perfect time. I've taken on several new projects recently and this down time will recharge my batteries.

It is amazing how being creative can be draining for me. I pour a lot of myself into my projects and clients, knowing that I am blessed to be able to do what I love for a living.

A little down time is just what I need! See you all in a week!

Inspiring Colors

Happy Friday! 

For this new project I'm working on, I decided to make a color inspiration board for the clients. They are excited to see this concept come to life in their home - and so am I!  I think I get as excited as my clients about their projects - or maybe even more than them.  I can easily conceptualize it in my minds eye while it's difficult for them to see what I envision sometimes.  Color inspiration boards are always a great tool:

What colors have been inspiring you lately?

Image by Rebecca Ward

4th

Wishing you a happy Independence Day!

Photo Ready

The month of June has flown by and the blogging class I have been taking is coming to a close. 

I have once again found Holly Becker of Decor8 blog's class so enlightening.  I have been instructed by Holly and other fabulous guest teachers such as Jeanette Lunde of Fryd and Design.  Without her inspiration, I probably would never have considered and e-magazine (which I now am!).  Also, I was already a huge fan of Nicole Bach of Making It Lovely, who showed me how to find balance in work and life and how to grow your blog and possibly make income from it (I hope to one day, thank to my supportive readers!).  Katrina Tan of the Pugly Pixel showed so many creative ways to feature photos in more interesting formats.  I will definitely start to practice these tips and integrate them into my blog.

Since my blog is largely visually based, I found a great benefit from these photo teachings.  I especially enjoyed Holly sharing some of her favorite photo apps for my iPhone that I have already started to use.  One of these apps is instagram, which I have been using for a while but not really for my blog.  I love the effects that you can do to the photos right off your phone to enhance them.

Photo I took at a Sacramento River Cats Baseball game

I added a few apps to my repertoire on Holly's recommendation such as Pic Stich. This app will combine two or three photos in various configurations:

Progress photos of a recent installation

I also like Labelbox, which will allow you to add fun labels to any photo:

My cat having a crazy moment

I also picked up a photo booth app.  I chose a free one called photoautomat, which is a lot of fun!

My sister and I being goofy

Bottom line, I loved this class and would recommend it to anyone wanting to blog.  It has a great support community as well and I look forword t contiuing to get to know the other bloggers in the class.  I will soon be sharing a few new favorite blogs of mine that have come out of the class.


Photos by Rebecca Ward