Q. My wife and I are about to renovate our living room. We plan to repaint our walls, add new window treatments, and possibly add chair rails and crown molding.
We plan on keeping our black leather sofa and red leather easy chairs. We also have medium brown hard wood floors and dark brown baseboards and doors. The walls are currently a textured egg shell white. Lastly we have ample natural lighting from the sliding glass door and large living room windows.
Please give us suggestions on what color to paint our walls and a suggested window treatment for the sliding glass door and windows. If possible provide a web link to show the colors and treatments.
BTW, we are looking for a more modern or exotic look. Oh, we're not a fan of wall paper. Would beige paint look ok?
A. First, you have to decide the style that you like. Is it traditional? Modern? Exotic? Then decorate your home accordingly. If you like exotic influences but don't want to go overboard, just have accent pieces here and there, e.g. use cushions with African pattern or have mini elephant statues or Chinese-inspired vases or something.
Since you don't mention it, I'll just give you a suggestion based on what I like. I prefer a traditional look, just because I think it's both elegant and comfortable.
Since you have red arm chairs, why don't you have a bit more red in the room? Maybe a red rug for the living area? Or red cushions for the black sofa? Make sure the textures of the cushion and the leather don't clash, though. Or you could have red curtains or walls. If you do go with curtain, make sure it's lined or it's a blackout material, because otherwise the light entering your house when the curtains are closed may be too eerie. Oh, instead of curtains, maybe you could use Roman blinds; stay away from vertical or horizontal blinds. (Except if you got the latter in the wooden varieties - those look so elegant!)
Personally, I think it's best to keep the curtains a bit more neutral, though. So, maybe use something more beige or sheer curtains. Instead, use red on the walls, BUT don't go crazy. I think the more burgundy, dark red colours would look better than bright reds. Also, depending on your budget, you could choose to use wallpapers instead. With wallpapers, you could play around with patterns as well. I'd go with beige/cream wallpaper with red accents, and red borders. That would look awesome! Or, if you prefer to paint, your current wall seems okay, maybe just paint ONE wall red. For instance, if you have a fireplace, maybe that wall could be red, and the rest could be more neutral?
Otherwise, you could play up the browns of the wood floor and door. That would be great as well. Play with textures. Look for curtain material that's not plain to prevent your home from looking drab.
Or, you could actually keep both the walls and curtains neutral, and instead have more wooden furniture, and keep your house bright. This will give the feel of a larger, more open space.
Also, play with lights. You know how there are the yellowish lights and the white, daylight sort of lights? They can really change the atmosphere of your room. So decide which one you like better, and then see if they'll go with your decor. I mean, if you like the white, daylight sort of light (like the sort they use in offices), then that probably won't work with red walls. The yellowish lights would work better in that case, as it creates a certain ambiance. However, I would go with your light preference first, since you spend more time at home at night. So if you don't like yellow lights but insist on using them just so they go with your decor, you probably will not like spending time in that room.
Here are some ideas:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/homes/design/design_inspiration/factsheets/726.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/homes/design/design_inspiration/factsheets/466.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/homes/design/design_inspiration/factsheets/130.shtml
http://www.housetohome.co.uk/galleries/living/Red_and_white_living_room_355.html?subslug=/galleries/styles/classic
http://www.housetohome.co.uk/galleries/living/Cosy_living_room_534.html?subslug=/galleries/styles/relaxed_modern
(the windows look awesome too):
http://www.housetohome.co.uk/galleries/living/Sleek_living_room_1471.html?subslug=/galleries/styles/relaxed_modern
Here's what I mean about the lighting:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/homes/design/design_inspiration/factsheets/534.shtml
Imagine if there were white lights instead. Wouldn't look as good.
Different types of window treatments:
http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/dc_window_treatments
Some wallpaper ideas:
http://www.ballarddesigns.com/Wall-Decor/Wallpaper-Designs/Red-Wallpapers/c/1600?path=1%2C2%2C1468%2C1545%2C1600
http://www.wallpaperillusions.com/images/RS5812295.jpg
Hope I helped a bit. Sorry for not giving a shorter answer. I'm bored and I miss my interior decorator dad. Good luck with your home! :)
EDIT: Sure, beige goes well with both black and red, and it's a whole lot better than white.
Maybe you better re-post this question to get input from more people :) Try to post it when the traffic is slightly heavier, so there would be more people reading.
What type of window treatments should i use for our basement appartment windows?
Q. We live in a basement apartment where the windows are at ceiling height, small, and wide. Im having trouble with finding nice window treatments. Im tired of blinds, and ugly curtains. Someone help?
A. Have you considered cellular shades? They're not "industrial" looking like mini-blinds can be, and they'll add some texture and fabric to your windows. They're also great insulators, which you may need if you're living somewhere with cold winters.
Symphony Double Honeycomb cellular shades offer tons of colors to choose from so you can choose a pattern that fits your style. You can find them at http://www.blindcrafter.com/Symphony/symphony.cfm. And if they're not your style, you can do your window treatment research at BlindCrafter.com, too. They have a variety of styles and fabrics to choose from.
I hope that this insight helps.
Happy Designing!
Kristina
What type of window treatment should I use for sliding glass doors?
Q. I want modern and sophisticated window treatments for sliding glass doors. I have been able to pull most of my decor together, but I cannot figure out the best way to cover my sliding glass doors. They are approximately 7' tall x 10' wide. I enjoy the light that comes in during the day, but wish for privacy at night.
A. Because 10' is a lot of window space, you may want to consider a window treatment that is simple and effective without being fussy to use and always looks fresh.
I would install a wooden drapery rod 5" above the uppermost molding with a center support and install the brackets 12" beyond the sides of the sliders. Do not use a skimpy rod or it will look out of proportion to the sliders. The reason to have the rod extended beyond the width of the sliders is so that when the drapery is opened, there is some stack space for the drapery in order to allow more sunlight into the room. By hanging the rod higher than the window, you are adding height to the room and also leaving wall space so the drapery hardware can be seen instead of being distracted by the molding.
A sophisticated window treatment is one that is timeless and looks as good open as it does closed. May I suggest panels with either a box pleat header or a pinch pleat header or a goblet pleat header -- all of which should be hung on the rod from wooden drapery rings. I would use two large panels, one on the left and one on the right. I suggest a wooden rod and wooden rings because metal drapery hardware makes a horrible and annoying noise and the telescoping rods always catch on the rings as you attempt to open and close the drapery. Use drapery wands (long dowel like 'sticks') that you pull to draw the drapes open and closed as not to tug on the fabric and leave stains on the fabric from oils in your hands.
Traverse rods are an effective way to open and close a slider window treatment; however, you will see the ugly utilitarian rod when the drapery are opened. Not sophisticated enough for your taste, I'd say.
Do not select a printed fabric as most people tend to regret a large space with that much busy. Instead try to select a solid fabric with a texture or a tone on tone print or perhaps an embroidered swirl design to keep the eyes moving. Love the fabric you pick and do not settle for anything you have to think twice about because after you buy 21 yards of fabric and lining plus the labor for custom drapery, you do not want to regret your choice.
I hope my words have been helpful.
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