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I like the direction — especially echoing the upstairs hallway, so the two dark colors feel intentional rather than accidental. In the photos the split at the interior corner reads cleanly, and the blue on the left and green on the right both pick up the stainless and grey palette you chose earlier.
My one caution is how it will feel at night or on a grey day: two very dark walls in a hallway and entry can close the space in quickly. I'd live with it for a few evenings with the torchiers on and the overheads at the brightness you'd normally use, before extending the same treatment elsewhere. A lighter ceiling, crisp white trim, and a light rug or runner would keep it from feeling tunnel-like without softening the drama.
If you like it in person after that test, I'd keep it — it's distinctive, and it ties the entry to the rest of the main floor.
Our hallway continues to amuse us as the sun shifts is angle through the year. Here is the latest.
That fixture IS your hallway decor. Wow. I’m glad you’re moved in and getting everything back to normal. It’s a process, for sure. Big “yay” to the closet.
I hear you, kl23! Function, function, function! I also live on a farm... in the woods... lots of mud, pine needles, animal fuzz... etc. I like the progression of your "stations." I'd add a sink for extra clean up capacity. as well. We're building a barn at the moment... and just yesterday, I had to come in and clean up tools and paint brushes, paint and mud spattered clothes and boots and keep from tracking it into the rest of our very small home... sigh. Our "mud room/laundry" facility could definitely benefit from redesign and expansion.
What do you do when you have NO entry? I tried to create one by facing the backs of two book cases towards the carport door. They do not go up to the ceiling, but I do use their tops for basket display. Just wonder what I might have done instead?
When I think about it, all homes will have certain colors in their whole-house color scheme simply because it's too expensive not to. Stainless steel appliances in the kitchen means grey must be included. White porcelain toilets mean white must be included. Wood furniture means some version of brown must be included.
I've been feeling sorry for folks with grey and/or white homes lately. Grey and white are beautiful neutrals but they apparently were overdone or used badly. I happened to have missed it, so I'm accepting all the critiques in the articles.
The new thing is "warm" colors. And I swear this must be some kind of cruel marketing ploy, because the major examples are yellowed browns and yellowed woods that look terrible with whites and greys.
Red is warm too. As caramels are muted yellow-oranges, mochas are muted reds. And mochas look awesome with greys and whites. How much kinder this industry would be if it featured different ways of adding mochas to warm up a grey and white house. Two of my favorite natural reds are rattan and dark oxblood leather that look fabulous with greys. Oh, and Jacobean-stained red oak so many bemoan also is a nice way to add chocolate and cancel the yellow to work better with cool grey.
I just realized the way to deal with a mix of woods you get when your floors and furniture and cabinetry are a mix of pine, maple, oak, and walnut is to treat them as colors: yellow, orange, and red. Then you can decide if you want to heat things up by adding brighter reds, oranges and yellow to fully embrace an analogous color scheme, or if you want to go for a split complementary color scheme by adding blue, or if you want to get really exciting with a split-split complementary scheme by adding periwinkle and teal. Why not mirror the full range of woods you have with the full range of blues available with periwinkle, teal, and blue in the middle? And of course you can tone them down for walls and ceilings while including accents in brighter colors. I may just head that direction in my living/dining room of antique wood pieces instead of staining the newer pieces.
After all these years, your stories are still my favorites! This home just looks like a big, warm, beautiful hug! 🥰
The thing i would be most concerned with when combining a real stone (quartzite) with a faux (quartz) is the finish. Your sample you have a high polished quartzite and the quartz sample if dull in comparison. The difference in the two is what is going to draw your eye and make the quartz look even more unreal than it does. To get that high polish found in quartz i would consider Porcelain counters if a faux counter is what you want. Quartzite is beautiful and in no world is it a downgrade from granite. That said the cost difference for your permimiter should be somewhat nominal as you do not have a ton of counters there. I would try to do one counter throughout. At the beginning of this thread there was recommendation to keep the granite and just change the backsplash, lighting and hardware and furniture. I still think this can easily lighten and brighten the space.
here is your kitchen just changing to a warm creamy backsplash.
here is your kitchen with the second slab you showed and a solid quartz on perimeter
Again i would brighten up your hardware, lighting and barstools. This is your kitchen and all that was done was changed the metal finished on what you have, replaced the backsplash and change the finish on your counter stools
My vote is this one from DIS…and with all the money you save with not doing new counters you can really splurge on great quality lighting and hardware:
When the bubble bursts on Taj Mahal, it is going to be staggering. It is already close to, if not already, a caricature.
Thank you for this article..I have a man that does that cedar 2 tone, or redwood, that I've talked to about making me a Kitchen Island on wheels. He said not a problem..so your article will help in figuring the correct measurements. Thank you!
Thank you so much for bringing these trends and advances to those of us who cannot attend these delightful shows. I am especially interested in the technological advances in lighting and multi-purpose furniture. I hope greater detail about the Lutron lighting systems will be coming in another article. How do they work? How do the affect the colors in the room? How can we choose colors to work well with the system?
I am delighted to see patterns in full appreciation and guidance on combining multiple patterns. Patterns and mirrors are such blessings to the young in their first spaces... before they have accumulated a lifetime of photographs and quality paintings and sculptures. Even more welcome to me personally is the celebration of textures that come naturally through materials like stone, wood, rattan and wicker, and through materials like glass (including beveled, etched and frosted), pottery, anaglypta, and a myriad of metals and their finishes.
Nice rooms, but all except two are some variation of white. My personal preference is to have color in a bedroom, which can still be soothing and appropriate for a retreat space.
Hi kl23, that is a cool light in Bauhaus style. I believe this design is not attributed to a specific designer (I could be wrong) but similar products can be found on platforms like Etsy,Pamono, 1stDibs (overpriced but some interesting designs). I love vintage shops
On Etsy that are located in Italy, Spain, Danmark, Germany. Also you can checkout international websites who ship to Australia like Finnishdesignshop.com , they have unique designs. Also depending on where in Australia you are, there are lighting shops that bring authentic designs from all over the world like Richmond Lighting or Creativelighting in Vic, Nook Collections in NSW or designFarm in WA. Plus there are so many small businesses here in Australia who hand make products, like WePonder. It takes a little time to search and find the right product but personally I love the hunt and I see so many new things that broaden my sense of style. Anyway, hope this helps…
Thanks, Ediz. I am in the US on the east coast. I just placed an order with Lamps Plus shipping from the west coast. https://www.lampsplus.com/p/lite-source-sappho-72-inch-black-finish-led-torchiere-lamp-with-down-light__69f89/
They market lamps from all over. I never had torchiers before and am anxious to try them. The light I want to get from Vakkerlight is a downlight I want to pull over to a puzzling table when needed and otherwise highlight a step down from my dining room to my living room. I will check out the names you mentioned. Thank you. I absolutely go nuts over artistic lighting design. In my recent upper level renovation I think I've been happiest with these lights. The idea was that they are the bottoms of dandelions and the anaglypta on the wall represented grass.
Hooray! I can't believe it, #4 picture and there are unpainted windows and actual wood in the room!! YAY!!
I am happy I took a chance and added color to my home during a recent renovation. The walls are SW Rock Bottom and the ceiling is SW Charcoal Blue. Both are chameleons. The SW Rock Bottom can be anything from deep evergreen in warmer light to a very dark eucalyptus in cooler light. The SW Charcoal Blue can be a dark teal in northern daylight to a dark periwinkle in 3000K. I'm still learning about these two colors. Whatever their mood, I love them together and especially with chocolate. The floor is darker than the image shows.