benjamin moore

Going to School with The Decorologist

January 30, 2012 By Kristie Barnett 25 Comments

In the part of the country where I live, there are many families who decide that homeschooling is the best option for their children. I have had multiple clients over the last few years who homeschool and have particularly challenging decorating dilemmas.

This particular family has been successfully educating their 5 children in their home for many years, but their surroundings had been less than inspiring. This is the front room of their home as it was before The Decorologist stepped in:

Before – Homeschool Room

It was lined with bookcases full of books and curricula, a few tables and chairs (most of which were too small for their growing children), and various toys and other items.

Before – Homeschool Room

Pantone’s 2012 Color of the Year Announced: Tangerine Tango!

December 8, 2011 By Kristie Barnett 15 Comments

As a Nashville based Color Consultant, it’s my job to pay close attention to the color trends coming down the pike. Those trends affect what we will see in the stores in the coming year and what options you will have in fashion and home decor. Scant hours ago, Pantone announced that Tangerine Tango is the 2012 Color of the Year!

Pantone

Following on the heels of a vibrant and uplifting color like Honeysuckle Pink, Tango Tangerine is a vibrant, exciting choice for the new “it” color in fashion and design. It’s a reddish-orange, like a beautiful sunset. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Color Consultation, Popular Posts Tagged With: benjamin moore, color consultant, color of the year, color of the year 2012, color trend, honeysuckle pink, interior decorator, nashville, pantone, tangerine tango, the decorologist, wythe blue

Interior Design for a Nashville Living Room and a Few Designer Secrets for You!

December 2, 2011 By Kristie Barnett 32 Comments

This is one of my favorite room makeovers to date – just finished this one on Monday. The client and her daughter follow my blog and contacted me a while back about doing a revamp on their living room here in Nashville. The reason why I love this project is because it was all about enhancing the beauty and function of the space while using what was special and meaningful to this family.

Ok, let’s get started! This is the view of the living room from the entry of the house when I first arrived. To be fair, my client had pulled a couple of extra pieces of furniture into the room for me to consider, like that wood dresser in the front. Anyway, she was looking to freshen up the paint colors (currently sage green in the living room and light yellow in the dining room. She also really wanted to add an electric fireplace, but feared that it might look too fakey in the room.

living room before

Child’s Play – A Virtual Design for Boy’s Room

November 21, 2011 By Kristie Barnett 4 Comments

As an interior decorator based in Nashville, you may think I only design for local clients. Over the weekend, I worked on a Virtual Design for a 9-year-old boy living in Pennsylvania. This is the current state of his room, and it is definitely time for a change!

Boy’s Room Before

Serial Furniture Rearranging & Other Disorders

November 18, 2011 By Kristie Barnett 17 Comments

As many of you know, I switched out my living room and dining room a few months ago and enjoyed a change of scenery in my home. As the holidays approach, I decided I wanted enjoy the fireplace (sans books – see here what I’m talking about) so I switched them back.

That doesn’t mean my living room looks like it used to, since I traded sofas in the living and enclosed sleeping porch. This is where the red sofa used to sit:

photo by Heather Spriggs

Kickin’ It Old School on Halloween

October 31, 2011 By Kristie Barnett 2 Comments

My youngest daughter decided she wanted to be Frankenstein (of all things!) this year for Halloween, so we decided to go “old school.” My oldest daughter was a mummy, I was the bride of Frankenstein, and Mr. Man was Dracula. Here are the kids in the scary costumes we created:

Frankenstein & Mummy

Pretty scary stuff, eh? A gallon of milk cut in half and some fabric fur from JoAnn’s was the starting point for our Frankenstein costume.

We attached bolts, screws, and nuts on either side of the milk jug. The jacket was an older boy’s suitcoat we got from Goodwill - we cut down the sleeves and bottom hem and pinned a large pair of shoulder pads inside. Two coats of Benjamin Moore’s Agave AF-420 latex paint (!) was the perfect shade of green for this little Frankenstein. Don’t worry – it came right off with a little warm water and soap!

Cutest Little Frankenstein Ever!

Our mummy was wrapped in strips of muslin and cheesecloth. I dipped paper towels in cold coffee, let them dry completely, then stuck pieces of it to her face with a paste of flour and corn syrup. It was kinda nasty, but she certainly looked like the undead. Or maybe a burn victim.

Scary Mummy

What were your costumes for Halloween this year?

Filed Under: Seasonal Meditations Tagged With: AF420, agave, benjamin moore, childrens costumes, frankenstein costume, halloween costume, halloween ideas, mummy costume

Nashville Color Expert Announces 2012 Color of the Year: Wythe Blue

October 24, 2011 By Kristie Barnett 14 Comments

For those who questioned the staying power of blues, paint giant Benjamin Moore recently announced their Color of the Year 2012 – and it’s one of my favorites, Wythe Blue HC- 143.

Wythe Blue is in Benjamin Moore’s Historic Color Collection, but don’t let that fool you. This watery greeny-blue is fresh enough for a contemporary space. Last summer, a new client asked for my opinion on the color in her entry and living room. Her grown son told her it was dated, but she still loved it after 10 years. Although I had lots of ideas for updating her home, this was one of the few times I advised a client to keep the same paint color. Guess what color it was? Yep, Wythe Blue. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Color Consultation, Popular Posts Tagged With: 2012, 2012 Color of the Year, benjamin moore, benjamin moore color expert, benjamin moore expert, choosing a paint color, color, color consultant, color consultation, color expert, color of the year, color trend, don draper foyer, kitchen cabinets, mad men, nantucket kitchen, nashville, paint color help, paint colors, picking paint colors, the decorologist, Woodlawn Blue, wythe blue

Knowing What to Change and What NOT to Change When Decorating

October 10, 2011 By Kristie Barnett 18 Comments

Here in Nashville, there are many houses that were built in the 1960s and 1970s. I see a lot of entry floors from that era that look exactly like this:

Existing Entry Floor

This client had grown weary of her dark, dated entry but wasn’t sure she wanted to completely redo the floor.

Entry Before

Add a Little Something to Your Ceiling

August 24, 2011 By Kristie Barnett 8 Comments

If you have a hanging light fixture, you need to consider a ceiling medallion. It may be just what you need to add a little something architectural to your ceiling – to create a finished look. Particularly if you have a chandelier with crystals. I painted mine out the same color as my trim and ceiling – Benjamin Moore’s Prescott Green HC140.

DSC 5562 Add a Little Something to Your Ceiling

My Dining Room Chandelier and Ceiling Medallion

There are all kinds of medallions available, from plastic to plaster. Even the plastic-paper kind from Home Depot can look fabulous – you can’t tell the difference from so high up. You just need to make sure the medallion fits the look of your space and works with the style of the room. Paint them out your trim color, even if your trim is white – your trim color probably isn’t the same white that the medallion comes in, and you don’t want the medallion to feel stark, stick out too much, or scream plastic-y. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Decor Addiction Tagged With: benjamin moore, ceiling, chandelier, medallion, prescott green

What Did They Choose? Exterior Paint Colors Revealed

August 17, 2011 By Kristie Barnett 5 Comments

If you read Monday’s post, this is the exterior paint scheme that my client chose to go with for her Federal-style home in Brentwood.

And the winner is . . . Option 3!

Initially, my client told me that she had always wanted a home with white trim and black shutters. This was the option with white trim – Benjamin Moore’s Cloud White 967. [Read more...]