Lime kitchen cabinets are a confident choice based on a paint-store color. When I’m attracted to something strong in the kitchen it’s usually coffee, horseradish or the color green, particularly an acid – or sharp, yellow-green – hue like the one that gives these lime kitchen cabinets such amazing verve. It’s also great to be able to get specific about the color which, in this … [Read more...]
Fabric-Draped Table’s Dramatic Return
It’s been years since the fabric draped table has been fashionable. Now it's back, quite grandly. After decades in the corners of every room, the fabric draped tabled exited in the ‘80s along with shirred fabric on the walls and the ubiquitous apricot and green color scheme. Now, with ‘80s trends on the rebound, the draped table made a prominent appearance in the elaborate … [Read more...]
Fuchsia Flashes
Dubbed Hollywood Cerise and Fandango in the early part of the 20th century, fuchsia is a floral hue. While the magazines and color gurus are trying to sell us a saccharine hue dubbed Honeysuckle, I’ve been seeing something stronger – fuchsia -- pop up as an accent color with black and white, green and gray. We’ve see a lot of it on the web (FFOOFF) and forever in Crayola boxes … [Read more...]
Dining Room Personalities
Choose one dining room style feature as a core idea — call it personality — for maximum visual success. The dining room can be the most romantic place in the house or the most dysfunctional. It depends on the dining room style. Too often it’s infrequently used because it's not been updated or it doesn’t have a visual point of view. All too often it's a repository for outmoded … [Read more...]
More Modern Life Show House
Part two of our Modern Life Concept house tour in a NYC condo continues. Ten young “Designers to Watch,” have decorated rooms in Elle Decor magazine’s first Modern Life Concept House. Apartments are on the tenth floor of a new condominium in Manhattan’s trendy Chelsea neighborhood. The elegantly minimalistic flats have wide-plank floors, window walls, and economies of space … [Read more...]
Modern Life Show House
Tour the Modern Life Show House, one of two Manhattan apartments presenting new décor ideas. Ten young “Designers to Watch,” chosen by Elle Décor, have decorated rooms in the magazine’s first Modern Life Show House. Two apartments joined by an expansive terrace on the tenth floor of a new condominium in Manhattan’s trendy Chelsea neighborhood provided the blank canvases for … [Read more...]
High Voltage Walls
I think of tent stripe walls as pattern on demand in almost any combination for colors. I love tent stripe walls but gave up using them in my bedroom. A small confession: I had it wrong. I was trying to make awning stripes (also called pavilion or tent stripes) — work in two shades of yellow, a hue that’s difficult enough on its own. Basically, stripes are easiest to do when … [Read more...]
Dining Room Bookcase Walls
A dining room bookcase transforms a single-purpose room into a modern multipurpose space. Think about a dining room bookcase. Seriously. Ask yourself how much a dining room table and chairs, buffet and cabinets costs vs how often those pieces are used? Apart from answering “I just like it,” most of us could put the dining room to better, more practical use. For me, it feels … [Read more...]
Corner Picture Walls
Corner picture walls are like visual libraries that say a lot about their owners. Perhaps more than any other type of arrangement, corner picture walls are highly individual expressions of taste and style. Each time I see a photo of a wall composed of images or objects it’s like putting one more piece of a life-long décor jig-saw puzzle into place. I always learn something … [Read more...]
Mid Century Furniture Kitchens
French designer seating and lighting set the tone for two 60's inspired kitchens. Red-tone, slab-front, wood cabinets are one element in common to these 1960s style kitchens. They also share a fondness for French mid century furniture from the same generation, particularly designs by Jean Prouvé, whose distinctive sheet metal and wood pieces are 20th century … [Read more...]
Wet Rooms
Elaborate home spas with wet rooms are designed to pamper the owners. Showers have been pushed out into elaborate wet rooms complete with floor designs, seating, shelving, windows, steam and ventilation in addition to multi-functional features. The desire to create the effect of a luxury spa at home has reworked shower design thinking well beyond the old tile and curtain … [Read more...]
Seafoam Bathroom
How design ideas for a seafoam green guest bath were collected over time and evolved. The prototypical seafoam and white cottage style bathroom could be called a new classic. Variations are as numerous as shades of green and vary from old-fashioned hues on the tasty side of mint to the elusive color of water. The hallmarks include white fixtures and beadboard wainscot also … [Read more...]
Femme Fatale Kitchen
Two reflective surfaces -- red lacquer cabinets and glass tile -- double the pop of this color scheme New York City apartments are notoriously small and often lack ventilation. That's why an alternative approach to outfitting a postage stamp kitchen is often required. The approach to creating this glamorous red and white kitchen was to create reflective surfaces that would … [Read more...]