Happy summer colour combos

Mother Nature has an amazing way of "getting things right". Just look at all the fantastic colour combinations that surround us this time of the year; what a great palette to draw inspiration from!

Check out these tried and true colour combos and how they look in some interiors:


A field of purple, pink and blue lupins, with some

white thrown in here and there to calm down the

intense colours. 

Interior by Jamie Drake.

The ultimate happy summer combo: orange and yellow.
I fell in love with this colour mix when I saw it applied

to two rugs in an old home filled with character and
white-painted floors. One small rag rug was yellow, the
other, of the same size, was orange. Such an effective
and cheery colour statement!

Interior by Amy Lau Design.

Here, the yellow and orange are
combined with navy blue.
Photo: Houzz.









 

 

 

For those of us who love all things simple and crisp,

nothing beats yellow and white!

 

Interior by Jan Skacelik. Photo: Houzz.

In the swing of spring

While we're waiting for this...

As we're anxiously waiting for the ground to thaw, the ice to melt, and some greenery to peek through the fading snow....All we can do when spring is keeping us in suspense is.... hang in there!

Here are some things that will get you in the swing of spring. Happy Easter!








...let's sit down and dream about this.

The Nautica swinging chair, made of

powder-coated aluminum, at this year's

IDS show in Toronto.



A hanging planter in a happy spring colour.

 

 



Eames' "Hang-it-all" coat rack with multi-coloured knobs. A design classic! Through Houzz.

Suspended bowl by National Design Collective,

as seen at the Interior Design Show in Toronto in

January.

 

Modern pendant from West Elm.

 

DIY wall art: smart and effective!

DIY "paper wreath", aka Juju hat knock-off.

 

 

Wow, that's neat! That was my exact reaction when I saw my client's DIY wall art. So smart, decorative and inexpensive!
 
An old book, a cardboard circle and hot glue were all the materials she used to create this fancy wall decoration. Here's a tutorial on how you can create your own: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNLmdnbud48

Circular shapes in general are great for breaking up the many sharp angles and corners that so often exist in a room. Think: walls, windows, doors and shelves - most of the time they are rectangular or square.

Introduce some round shapes and the space will immediately look more interesting and friendly. 

As with so many things in design, it's all about the mix!



Close-up of my client's DIY "paper wreath". Doesn't it look

a bit like... 

...a fluffy Juju Hat? This African, feather headdress, also called Bamileke,

is a quite popular decoration above fireplace mantels, and is often seen 

in contemporary spaces, and in very vibrant colours. See below.

Photo: Houzz.



         

Photos: Pinterest.



 

Here's the inspiration photo for this post, as seen in the March issue of Canadian

House & Home and Western Living Magazine. I love the textured,circular wall art.

Not to speak of the tiles on the fireplace surround!

Colour beats the winter blues

If you, like me, spend most of your visit at the Royal Ontario
Museum at their aquarium, awestruck by the vibrancy inside,
you know for sure that you're suffering from colour deprivation!

Some call it cabin fever, I call it colour deprivation!

As winter is holding us in a firm grip, let's lift our spirits by springing into colour, and let's do it pronto, no better time than now.

While we're at it, let's also have some fun! That means going beyond the typical addition of accent pillow, colourful throw or bouquet of tulips. I'm talking real projects here with a colourful impact. After all, when we're over it, we can always paint over it.

Here we go:

Paint trim, baseboards and mouldings a cheery yellow!

Photo: Remodelista.

If youre walls have wainscoting, try a vibrant green that goes

so well with this black-and-white scheme. Photo: Benjamin

Moore.

I am craving colour in my windows now! In this

photo the purple/mauve curtains provide nice

contrast to the yellow-green chairs and pillows.

Photo: House Beautiful.

This is such a fun idea, which can be done fairly quickly,

with a lovely, humorous result. Photo: Better Homes and

Gardens.http://www.bhg.com/

Here's a variation of the same idea.

Photo: Petitepassport. 

 

Let me know if you have other colourful ideas to beat the winter blues. I'm off to get more inspiring ideas at the Interior Design Show in Toronto. Watch out for my trend report!