furniture

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

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

IKEA Has Gone Gray – And That’s a Good Thing

October 12, 2011 By Kristie Barnett 14 Comments

I’ve been ordering furniture for a client over the last week from IKEA, so I was really excited to see that they have added another option to their black, white, or birch furniture finishes. IKEA’s finally gone gray! Actually, gray-brown. I hope this is the final evidence if you need confirmation that gray-brown is the new expresso brown.

Hemnes Dresser from IKEA

The gray-brown finish is available only on selected IKEA furniture, and they can barely keep them in stock right now. I found gray options in the Hemnes, Isala, and Lack series. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Color Consultation, Retail Therapy Tagged With: coffee table, decor, decorating, furniture, gislev, gray, gray is the new brown, gray-brown, hemnes, ikea, isala, lack, table, trend, wood finish

How To Personalize IKEA Furniture – A Decorologist Tutorial for Additik Stickers

September 23, 2011 By Kristie Barnett 18 Comments

I’m really excited to share a little Before and After of a pair of LACK side tables using a fabulous new product. Additik is a company out of France that has launched a whole line of appliques to personalize many of our favorite IKEA furniture.

Sometimes it’s good to be The Decorologist – the nice people at Additik sent me a few samples so I could show my readers how they work! I pulled out a few of the LACK tables I use in home staging – these are black, but they also come in birch, white, and red.

IKEA LACK side tables – Before

The appliques from Additik arrived in the mail in these tubes.

Additix Delivery

Peacock Blue

August 20, 2009 By Kristie Barnett 5 Comments

This gorgeous pair of Peacock Blue wedding shoes donned by my friend, Audrey Kidd, is the inspiration for this Color Therapy post. Peacock Blue is one of those old-school colors that make you think of grand hotels and beautifully appointed dining cars. It’s beautifully elegant covering the walls of libraries, butler’s pantries, and other spaces where intimacy and a little intensity seem appropriate. I think it’d be fabulous on a ceiling of a dining room.

I love the drama of this magazine room. They served up lots of peacock blue, heavy doses of white to lighten it up, and black accents to make it dramatic. Love that zebra rug – it adds some levity to a formal room.

Coffee Tables

August 13, 2009 By Kristie Barnett Leave a Comment

Coffee tables. You gotta love them. They only became popular in the early 1900′s – before that, your only option to put down a drink was a petite tea table. Now we have lots of options for what sits in front of our sofas, and lots of options to express our personality and increase functionality when making the choice of just what we’ll put there. You can really set the mood here – are you going for a traditional feel, rustic modern, swedish, farmhouse, retro mod? Or, are you trying to tone down or change directions of the style that is already in the room?

OK, standard height for coffee tables is 17″ to 19,” but I am NOT a stickler. In fact, variation in heights can make your perch more original. The lower the table, the more modern of a feel you will get. I have even used a dining room pedestal table in the middle of my living room during the holidays, but that is mainly for a decorative focal point. You can definitely use a tea table that is taller, but it will look better if it isn’t centered on the sofa – off to one side a bit.

Make sure you leave room for legs between the sofa and your table. But also make sure you don’t leave the table “floating” in the middle of the room where you can’t reach it. Keep it close enough to put down a glass without having to stretch really far to reach it.

Let’s talk about shapes. The typical is the rectangle that is roughly 2/3 the length of the sofa. Rectangles and ovals tend to look more formal and traditional.

Rectangles and squares are great as a backdrop for decorative books and trays. Try 2 squares rather than the expected rectangle. They don’t even have to be the same height to look great in a modern room.

Circular tables always look neat and tidy, because they’re never crooked. They soften a room full of sharp-angled furniture. I like to repeat with at least one other circular end table in the same room.

What about the finish? Obviously, a dark wood table will look more formal and traditional. Lighter wood looks more contemporary. Painted tables let you express your personality and are a great foil to a room with lots of wood finishes. Glass and acrylic tables make small rooms appear more spacious, and solid tables that match the floor seem to disappear. You can even do wicker for a warm but casual look – either a rectangular wicker trunk or a pair of square wicker baskets.

Of course, you don’t have to use a real table. Ottomans are definitely popular and fabric slipcovers can be changed out with the season.

Leather ottomans are everywhere. Some even give you lift up storage. This one has a magazine shelf below and top sections that flip over into trays.

An old flat-top trunk is a great option and gives you lots of hidden storage.

Something else to think about – any old table can be cut down to size for a coffee table. An old pedestal table, a side table, a dining table, whatever. That’s what I did here.

Think outside the coffee table. Use what you’ve got, paint it, chop it down to size, top it with a tray. Set or change the mood of your room, all with a simple table. Now, what to put ON the table . . . well, that’s for another post!

Filed Under: Decor Addiction Tagged With: alternatives to coffee tables, coffee table ideas, coffee tables, decorating, decorating living rooms, furniture, living room furniture, occasional tables, ottomans, styles, tables, tea tables

That’s What I Like!

August 5, 2009 By Kristie Barnett Leave a Comment

Let’s play “That’s What I Like!” I sometimes use this exercise with clients who are at a total loss as to what they want or would like to have in their homes. It’s a great way to discover what you love and why, and a good way to get you in the habit of making choices. Grab a friend and go window shopping at any store that sells home-related items.

The game is this: you have to make a choice and decide on one thing you would buy from that window, display rack, or display table. Don’t actually buy anything – but decide to pick up one thing you would take home if you had to. You have to pick something, even if you hate everything you see.

Kiddie Ghost Chair

July 18, 2009 By Kristie Barnett 1 Comment

The current object of my desire: the Lou Lou Ghost Chair by Philippe Starck for Kartell.

Maybe it’s just because I’m a design junky, but I’ve always wanted a Philippe Starck Ghost Chair. So when I saw this pink, child-sized version [Read more...]

Filed Under: Retail Therapy Tagged With: all modern, chair, design, furniture, ghost chair, kartell, lou lou ghost chair, modern chair, modern furniture, philippe starck

Form Follows Function

July 15, 2009 By Kristie Barnett 1 Comment

Small spaces require creativity and flexibility to use them most efficiently. Think outside the box and make your home more interesting at the same time. Use these ideas to multi-task and increase the functionality of your small space:

Don’t use your dining table much? Push it against the wall and use it as a desk, buffet, or library table. You can always pull it out into the room when you need it for dining.

[Read more...]