The Decorologist

Paint Swatch Valentines

January 27, 2012 By Kristie Barnett Leave a Comment

Whew. Yesterday was a very long and busy day – I got my car stuck in the mud in the morning, conducted an Exterior Color Consultation in the rain, and then did a Speed Staging in the late afternoon. More about the Speed Staging in a future post, but for today I am reposting a post from last year especially for color-lovers everywhere:

Although I love to send vintage or vintage-inspired Valentine’s Day cards, I thought it might be fun to send out something like these instead:

Handmade Valentines Using Paint Swatches

I picked up these paint chips at Lowe’s while I was shopping for lighting and plumbing fixtures for a client this week. The paint swatches with the holes work great – just glue card stock to the back and stamp in the white spaces that show through. You can get a million different decorative stamps and ink at Michael’s. I got the idea from Vanessa over at Silly Eagle Books.

Paint Chip Valentines

Follow me on Pinterest and you’ll find my pinboard, Paint Swatch Crazy, for more ideas for crafts made with paint chips!

Filed Under: My Decorology Tagged With: crafts, ideas, paint chips, paint samples, paint swatch, the decorologist, valentines

How to Spruce Up a Hutch with Shelf Liner

January 25, 2012 By Kristie Barnett 15 Comments

I was at Home Goods last week and found this fabulous repositionable shelf liner. Isn’t this flamestitch pattern gorgeous???

Macbeth Self-Adhesive Shelf Liner from HomeGoods

Recently, I encouraged one of my clients to paper the back of a dark hutch in her dining room with some wallpaper or scrapbook paper to bring in more of the colors in the palette we had chosen for that room and the adjoining room (avocado green and blue). I knew immediately that this color and pattern might be just what she needed, so I scooped it up. And then I thought about my own dining room hutch:

Antique Hutch Before

Nashville Home Stager Shares the #1 Secret to Getting Your House Sold

January 23, 2012 By Kristie Barnett 18 Comments

I started out in this field as a Home Stager before I became an Interior Decorator, Color Consultant, and Design Blogger. I guess I just don’t know when to stop! I actually don’t do as much staging as I used to – that’s because I am typically booked out too far to be ready to “stop-drop-and stage”, which is what is typically needed when time is of the essence.

Cutest Doggie Ever

But I love a good stage – it’s definitely a wham-bam, thank-you-mam kind of deal. Instant gratification for a design addict like me. I’m sharing my latest home staging in this post, as well as the #1 secret to getting your house sold. See if you can figure it out as we go along. Let’s start with the “before” photographs of this house. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Design Intervention Tagged With: color consultant, decorator, design blogger, home, home stager, interior decorator, kristie barnett, mls, nashville, realtor, realtracs, stager, staging, the decorologist

Fireplace Face-Lift

January 20, 2012 By Kristie Barnett 20 Comments

Do you have a fireplace that fades away into the background? Maybe it needs some coaxing to bring it out of its shell.

This fireplace mantel was painted out the same color as the wall behind it. That’s a big no-no in my book. A mantel is architecture, like trim moulding, and should never be treated like a wall!

Blah Fireplace

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Design Intervention Tagged With: black, fireplace, mantel, paint

Paint Some Stripes – But Ditch the Paint!

January 18, 2012 By Kristie Barnett 12 Comments

I ran across an image on Pinterest that caught my eye -this fabulous striped floor in Kate Spade’s flagship New York store.

source

Have you ever had a secret desire to paint stripes or some other cool pattern on your floors, but were too chicken to try? Guess what? That floor wasn’t painted at all – it was created with colorful vinyl tape!

Vinyl Tape

Imagine what you could do with a little of this inexpensive product.

Does Your Dining Room Need a Make-Under?

January 16, 2012 By Kristie Barnett 13 Comments

Although it’s a simple and small space, this dining room is a fresh and inviting place to share an intimate meal.

Simple and Elegant Dining Room

This was not always the case! This homeowner was looking for an interior decorator to give her a new perspective on this dining space, without breaking the bank. Rather than a makeover, this room really needed a make-under. This room was like a woman who wears make-up in such a way that all you notice is the make-up. Below, a make-under highlighted and enhanced this woman’s natural beauty:

Before and After “Make-Under”

The overdone make-up in this room includes the high-contrast colors, the brassy light fixture, and the showy window treatment.

Dining Room Before Design Intervention

By choosing a fresh, light color for the wall (vs. the dated pinky-beige) and painting out the area below the chair rail in trim color (white), the room appears less choppy and more elegant. By choosing simple panels that hang above and outside the windows, we revealed (rather than concealed) the beautiful view and natural light. Both of these changes put the focus on the inherent beauty of the architecture of the room (moulding and windows).

Dining Room After The Decorologist

The brassy light fixture got a make-under, as well. We didn’t replace it – it’s the same light fixture, only better. Here is the rather dated brass light fixture before:

Brassy Light Fixture

I had my clients take down the brass fixture, remove the glass hurricanes, and simply spray paint it before rehanging it. Just a can of metal primer and a can of metal finish spray paint in iron or oil-rubbed bronze – less than $10 for a whole new light fixture!

Updated Light Fixture

The showy window treatments, high-contrast color scheme, and brassy light fixture were distracting – now you notice the architecture of the room, the lovely view, and the special collection of dishes my client has collected. Next time you think your room needs a make-over, perhaps you should consider a make-under instead!

Filed Under: Design Intervention Tagged With: blue walls, brass fixture, chair rail, decorator, dining room, interior, makeover, painting brass, room, updating, window treatment

Pipe Dreams, Airstreams, and Pinterest

January 13, 2012 By Kristie Barnett 20 Comments

Let me be clear – I am no camper. but I have had a pipe dream for years about restoring an Airstream trailer.

Wouldn’t it be fun to decorate it out all retro-dreamy, like a giant dollhouse?

My girls could use it as a playhouse in the backyard. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Decor Addiction, My Decorology Tagged With: airstream, decor, design, exterior house colors, hanging art, interior, kristie barnett, pinterest, trailer, wall art grouping

For the Love of Gilt and Downton Abbey

January 11, 2012 By Kristie Barnett 15 Comments

I bought this interesting coffee table for my living room at an estate sale a few months back for $85. I’ve been debating over what color to paint the base of it. I’ve been dying to try out the new Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, but couldn’t decide on a color. Off-white would be too predictable, black might be to much contrast for this room.

DSC 3446 For the Love of Gilt and Downton Abbey

So, I was watching the season premiere of Downton Abbey on PBS – did I mention I am OBSESSED with this show??? The sets and costumes are absolutely luscious. And the colors – oh, the colors! [Read more...]

Filed Under: Color Consultation, Decor Addiction Tagged With: annie sloan chalk paint, color, decorologist, dining chairs, dining room, downton abbey, furniture, gilt, gold, interiors, mismatched, paint, rooms

Ceiling Light Dilemmas: How’s It Hanging?

January 9, 2012 By Kristie Barnett 23 Comments

Don’t you wish builders would use a little forethought when they install ceiling light fixtures? Aargh. Most builders hang ceiling light fixtures in the dead center of each room. Is that where they should be hung? Not always.

source

Just because someone installed the light in the middle of the room doesn’t mean that’s where it SHOULD be. Yesterday, a reader sent me a FaceBook message: “When one installs a banquette in the dining room along one wall, pushes the table up to it, and aligns chairs at either end and the other side of the table, where does one hang the light fixture? Centered over the table or centered in the room?”

Breakfast Room in Southern Living Showhouse – photo by Kristie Barnett

Ceiling light fixtures should always hang dead-center on the most important architecture of the room. Like dead-center to the fireplace, where ideally your conversation area should be situated. Whenever possible, ceiling lighting should also be centered on windows and doors that are architecturally-significant.

source

If there is a bump-out in part of the room or if the room is L-shaped, that can change everything and needs to be considered in your interior lighting design. Particularly in a large or L-shaped room, you may need multiple ceiling lights hung over different areas of the room where seating or dining occur. If you don’t have this, you can easily hang your own ceiling light fixtures with long cords that can plug into the wall. There are lots of plug-in options in drum shade fixtures.

source

To answer my reader’s question: the ceiling fixture needs to hang over the dining or breakfast table rather than in the center of the room, unless you have a secondary ceiling light hanging over the table. If you can’t rehang or rewire the ceiling fixture, simply screw in a ceiling hook above your table and swag the fixture (you may need to add more chain). That’s how we solved the banquette dilemma in my own kitchen. See how the chain is swagged here?

The Decorologist’s Breakfast Nook for Gatherings Magazine

Your lighting should always be centered over your conversation or dining area. If not, your room will always look “off” no matter what you do. As much as I love the image of the room below, it doesn’t feel quite right because the table and light fixture aren’t centered on the fireplace. However, the fireplace is in an odd place in the room – which makes it impossible to center the table on the fireplace. In this case, the center of the table wins out over centering it on the fireplace.

source

So ultimately, the placement of conversational seating and your dining table should dictate where ceiling lights should hang. As part of good interior decorating, it may be worth having those fixtures moved so that your space feels “right.” Or you can try the ceiling hook method and swag the fixture where it needs to be. Either way, you’d be surprised what a difference it can make!

Filed Under: My Decorology Tagged With: breakfast nook, ceiling lights, dining room, drum shades, gatherings, hanging lights, interior decorating, kristie barnett, light fixtures, lighting, living room, southern living showhouse, the decorologist, where to hang lights

Nashville Interior Decorator Weighs In: What’s “Out” in Design Trends

January 6, 2012 By Kristie Barnett 28 Comments

In my last post, I wrote about a recent Elle Decor article where high-end designers were deeming certain decor trends to be “so out.” I obviously disagreed with them and (judging from the unprecedented amount of responses from you guys) so did you! Several of you wanted to know what’s on the The Decorologist’s list of trends that should be thrown out the window.

source

In working with real clients in real homes, I don’t get bogged down in what design trend is hot or not. However, I am going to tell my clients if they have something going on in their home that makes it look “dated” and is holding them back from having a beautiful space. So here’s my top 5: