Design Inspiration: Historic Homes

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If you have an older home or a home design based on a historic style like Craftsman or Victorian, looking for design inspiration in historic homes is a good idea.  Historic homes in your area can give you an idea of what interior design was popular in other time periods.

 

Looking at historic homes for inspiration doesn’t mean you should attempt to duplicate the interior designs exactly the same way in your own home. Styles and tastes have changed. While historic patterns, paint colors, flooring and fabrics can be lovely in today’s interiors, living in the past might not be the best choice for today’s lifestyle.

 

Inspiration means using bits and pieces of the past in new ways that suit the way we live today.  Tin tiles for the ceiling, farmhouse sinks, batten and board paneling, wainscoting, and black and white checkerboard floors are all borrowed from previous generations of interior design. Look for inspiration for lighting, color palette, flooring and wall treatments in historic homes that can work with your home’s architecture.

 

If you don’t find inspiration in the historic homes in your area, design books and blogs can be wonderful resources for images. Books on famous American historic homes and European estates not only work to inspire your designs, but make gorgeous coffee table books.  Historic homes and properties often have the best design ideas of their time. You might even be surprised at how timeless and beautiful some of the design ideas are in these historic homes.

 

Furniture with Texture

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Amongst the common design elements, we often overlook texture in favor of color and pattern.  Texture is one of the key design elements in creating an interesting interior design.  Along with color and pattern, texture can bring life and interest to both interior design and furniture design.

Accessories like area rugs and pillows are an easy way to bring more texture into a room. An area rug doesn’t have to be a deep shag to add texture to a smooth wood or tile floor. Even a flat weave rug has texture.  Besides rugs and accessories, furniture is a great way to add texture.

Woven furniture, like the contemporary chairs pictured here, has tons of natural texture.  A single woven stool or ottoman can bring texture to a room. You don’t need an entire suite of wicker furniture to make an impact; a single piece can make a big design statement.  Mixing materials of furniture is a great way to add texture. Wood, glass, chrome and upholstered pieces all have different surfaces and different textures.

Upholstery is another way to add texture. Soft cotton velvets, chenilles, and wools all have a subtle texture. Layer these with a knit throw or silk pillow for additional textures.

Leather is another beautiful texture to have on furniture.  Think with your fingers when it comes to bringing in more texture to your space. Imagine how it would feel to touch the piece.  Creating a space that is both visually and tactile appealing means you have created an interesting room.

Karastan’s new area rug styles for 2012

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(DALTON, GA—JANUARY, 2012) — Karastan is stepping into the New Year with a stellar line up of area rugs that celebrate timeless design yet are clearly in sync with today’s lifestyle needs. The group of newcomers—eight to be exact—joins two of Karastan’s most crowd-pleasing collections, and boast captivating colors and magnificent motifs.

All of the additions are nylon construction, woven in the U.S., and perfectly portray Karastan’s distinguished design principle of creating heirloom-quality floor coverings that stand the test of time.

Carmel Collection

Four new patterns have been created for this collection. They are fresh, fashion-forward looks brimming with botanical motifs and bold geometrics. Monte Vista Fog features a pleasing patchwork of traditional Persian florals in soothing shades of chocolate brown, steel gray and caramel that’s punched-up with paprika and lime green. Whitman Place Brown is a style that elevates a traditional classic to a modern masterpiece with its luminous interpretation of a Persian panel rendered in warm grays and cream with accents of ochre and amber. Bristol Lane Gray is a beauty boasting a Regency inspired fret pattern that caters to contemporary and classic styles with its caramel, ivory and gray tones. Portola Sage resonates with an earth-colored field of philodendron leaves that come to life against an ivory ground.

Knightsen Collection

Designed for connoisseurs of classic who appreciate contemporary compositions, this collection offers time-honored styles that have been enlivened with eye-catching colors. Among the four newcomers is Walnut Park Red, with a pleasing pairing of palmettes and vines that dance across a brilliant red field accented by ivory and chocolate brown. Equally expressive is Westridge Slate/Ivory, which entices with a scene of traditional rosettes and curvilinear vines in coral, yellow and gray. Its counterpart, Westridge Taupe/Plum, offers a similar sensation, yet is bolder in its beauty with coral, gold, purple and gray tones. A more traditional take is Prewett Ranch Fog that incorporates a decoration of spice, lime green and aqua-colored florals found within a gorgeous gray border.

Color Inspiration for the Kitchen

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For color inspiration for the kitchen, look no further than your produce aisle in the grocery store.  Colors taken from fruit and vegetables can make beautiful wall and accent colors in the kitchen and dining rooms. Letting food be your inspiration makes sense in a room devoted to preparing and eating food.

 

Soft creamy white parsnips to bold oranges and lemons can inspire everything from wall color to the color of counter top appliances and runners on the floor.  Bolder colors for the walls can be inspired by the red of tomatoes, the purple of eggplants or the green of lettuce. Soft artichoke green, creamy banana yellows and pale browns from potatoes are more neutral and perfect for walls or even the cabinets.  A throw rug by the sink or stove can be a bolder color to add a pop of bright color to the room. Play off your floor color with lighter or darker colors to make the floors and the rugs pop. Tea towels and canisters are also great places to add bolder colors.

 

A bowl of fresh fruit on the counter or island makes for a great accessory in the kitchen. Using herbs and produce as accessories are inexpensive and functional ways to decorate your kitchen.  These edible accents can also add a lovely fragrance to the room, as well as colorful visual interest.

 

Next time you need inspiration for decorating your kitchen or adding a punch of color, look to your garden or produce bin in the fridge for color ideas.

Using Neutral Colors in Decorating

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In decorating magazines and blogs today there is so much talk of colorful decorating and pops of bright colors.  This might make you think everyone is decorating their homes in washes of strong colors and bold accents. This isn’t the case. Many people prefer to use neutral colors and whites in their interiors. No matter whether this is a preference or a fear of color, You can still create inviting and warm interior using neutrals of creams, white and browns as this living room shows.

The color palette for this room is set by the architectural elements of the fireplace and wood column.  Leaving the stone fireplace and wood column natural lets their beautiful materials be the stars.  The two colors are then carried throughout the furnishings, curtains and flooring to create a well designed room.

The wood of the column is repeated on the coffee table. The warm hue also becomes an accent color in the area rug below the coffee table.  The rug ties in both the cream of the walls and furniture along with the stone fireplace and wood colors.

Using different shades of neutrals creates a layered look.  Pattern and texture can add interest like they do in this living room.  The pattern of the rug as well as the texture of the wood, stone and upholstery mix together to make for a more lively design.  Adding patterned throw pillows to the seating or a bit of the wood or stone color would bring more interest to the cream upholstered sofa and chairs.

Using Upholstery to Create a Polished Room

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Along with the major design decisions like flooring and wall finishes, furniture is what sets the tone and style for a room.  Furniture style is how we define ourselves as traditional, modern, country or contemporary.  How we finish our furniture can be just as important in creating the look of a room as the style of the furniture. Upholstery plays a huge role in decorating a living room.

This contemporary space is a great example of how upholstery can be used to create a polished and pulled together looking space.  The furniture in this room is all contemporary in style but is not a suite of furniture that completely matches in form.  The sectional’s clean lines are echoed in the simple square upholstered ottoman that serves as the coffee table.  The curved side chairs are more fluid and sculptural than either the ottoman or the sofa.  What unites the pieces together is the matching upholstery fabric.

While this living room uses the same upholstery throughout the soft furnishings, that doesn’t have to be the rule for all upholstered pieces in a room.  In fact, having an accent chair in upholstery fabric that contrasts or compliments the sofa upholstery can make the chair more of a focal point. Choosing an accent fabric that contains the sofa color is a way to tie the two different fabrics together. Accents like area rugs and pillows can also play off the colors of the upholstery to bring the entire décor together into one cohesive and polished look.

Wall Treatments Beyond Paint and Paper

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Beyond paint and wallpaper there are other options for decorating the walls in your home. Thinking a bit out of the box you can come up with a variety of unique and different treatments for walls. These include fabric, upholstered panels, leather, wood and stone.  Of course in the kitchen and bathroom tiles and stone are common wall treatments.

Fabric can be applied to walls in a similar fashion as wallpaper. Applying it with starch and water makes it easy to remove and a great option for a rental property. Adding padding behind the fabric and finishing with trim will create a traditional look that can also help block sound.

Upholstered panels, as seen in this room, are great for a media room or home theater where they can muffle sound from outside as well as in.  Along with carpeted floors, these panels create a sound barrier for the room. Panels can be covered in coordinating upholstery to your furniture or flooring. Leather and suede are also good options for these panels. Panels can also be cut and created in a range of sizes, from squares to larger vertical panels.

Wood panels, beadboard, wainscoting and board and batten are all additional options for wall coverings. Wood can add pattern and texture to the walls. These can be stained or painted to match your décor.

Next time you are making over a room or hall, consider one of the above options beyond a coat of paint or wallpaper for a look that is anything but ordinary.

Decorating your Hallway

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Hallways need decorating love too.  These thoroughfares of the home are perfect opportunities for design. You can be a little bit playful or bold in a hallway since it is not a space that you’ll spend a lot of time.  Like foyers and powder rooms, hallways can become jewel boxes of design in your home.

If you have a hallway that opens into a room, make certain you have something of interest on the far wall that is visible from the hall.  In this hallway, there is a bookcase at the far end of the room that creates a visual interest for the hall.  If the hall ends in a wall, place a work of art or interesting wallpaper on that wall to create a focal point.

Hallways are wonderful places for a bold wallpaper or stenciled paint design.  You can also paint the hall a bolder or deeper color than you would in a room. Pick a color palette for the hall that relates to the rooms off of it for a more coordinate look.

The walls in a hallway are the perfect place for a gallery style grouping of art or family photos. These gallery walls will give you something to look at as you move down the hall. Hall lighting can be a chandelier or a row of track lighting down the hall that highlights the art on the walls. Finish the hallway with a carpet runner if you have hardwood floors. This will make the space feel more polished.

A Minimalist Look For Your Home

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Minimalism when it comes to design may be intimidating for many of us. Since we love stuff and stuff leads to clutter, minimalism with its clean lines and lack of stuff can be out of our comfort zone.  This doesn’t have to be the case. Minimalist and contemporary design is about form and function.  Storage and organization is key in a minimalist contemporary style space.  All that stuff and clutter is neatly tucked away and out of sight.

This dining room is a great example of minimalism in contemporary design.  The room has but a few design elements yet feels completely finished and polished.  The table and benches form the seating group; a group of pendant lights create a light fixture; and a collection of vases make for table décor.  The entire design consists of six elements; a table; two benches; two vases; and a lighting fixture.

The lines of the table and benches are clean and sleek yet the dark wood has presence from the thickness of the wood.  Using a wood that is closely related to the dark wood floors anchors the table and benches to the floor.  The dark colors on the floor and table emphasis the height of the room, which is done in crisp white on the walls and ceiling. The white pendant lights blend into the white of the walls and ceiling.

Because of the lack of color and pattern, shape is more important. The tubular shape of the pendants, the rounded vases and rectangles of the table and benches become the design focal points in the minimalist design.

Light Colored Floors

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A big design trend of the past few years has been deep, dark stained wood floors. Ebony floors can be found in homes that range from traditional to contemporary and everything in between.  On the opposite end of the spectrum from these super dark floors are ultra-light wood floors.  Pale woods like beech and ash as well as floors that have been lime stained or painted white are showing up on blogs and in design magazines.  Lime stained floors have a white, almost light gray look to the wood that recalls Scandinavian style and works well with both traditional and contemporary styles.

These light floors work well with contemporary and modern spaces in homes, apartments and lofts. This living room features very pale wood floors that perfectly suit the all white furniture scheme. The textured area rug helps break up the smooth surface of the floor.  Texture is important in monochrome or neutral spaces that don’t rely on colors for interest.  Sisal or jute would also bring texture to the floor without adding too much pattern or additional color.  Having just a pop of color in a throw on the sofa doesn’t take away from the white floors or furniture.

Lighter floors can be a bonus because they don’t show as much dirt as dark wood floors.  This is good if you have a pet or kids who track in dirt from outside.  With any flooring choice, wall colors and other features in the room should be taken into consideration to make the best choice.