Design Direction

July 6, 2011 · Posted in Design Direction

Do you have a challenging space or need some design guidance? Design Direction is a chance for you to submit photos or videos of your design challenge(s) and a Vastu interior designer will provide you with some help. Every Wednesday we will feature one reader’s submission.

“I want to redecorate my kitchen, dining room, and great room (open concept), but don’t have any idea where to start because I really don’t want to paint over the venetian plaster. We currently have a whole wine/grape theme going on in all three rooms and as I look to redecorate, I would also rather not have such a specific theme.

We have an odd floor plan and large furniture to contend with as well (such headaches!) – we have a beautiful corner floor to ceiling fireplace that is in the opposite corner from the open staircase and railing to the basement (our foyer is also on that side of the wall). We also have a wall of floor to ceiling windows flanking one side of the fireplace and that wall leads into the dining/kitchen area. Our flooring in the foyer is a natural slate in gray, green, red, and tan tones. The carpet in the great room is a low-medium shag in mixed browns. The floor in the kitchen/dining area is 16×16 ceramic tile in a whole wheat bread shade. Our American Woodmark cabinets are maple with the mocha glaze. We also have stainless steel appliances and brushed nickel finishes on our lights, faucets, handles, etc.

I feel clueless about where to even start injecting color because of how much beige and brown and tan and BLAH we ended up with and I really don’t want a “theme” like I ended up doing – I feel like I walk into a touristy wine shop every time I walk through my house! Not a good feeling! I do love rich tones and my husband and I both especially love blue, but somehow have not used it to decorate at all. So any help would be appreciated – even just a jumping in point! I don’t know if I’m getting thrown by the fireplace… or if I’m just cluelessly decorating.”

Here’s what Sarita has to say:

Thank you for your Design Dilemma submission; you have quite a task on your hands! Your home is very nice, but you’re right about the tan, brown, and beige…there is a lot of it! One of the easiest ways to inject color in a space is to paint the walls, but since you are not open to painting over the Venetian plaster you will have to find other ways to bring in the color. One option would be to consider the flooring; are you open to changing the carpet in the living room? You could install hardwood floors and then bring in color with rugs in that space. You could also keep the existing carpet and layer area rugs over it if you don’t want to commit to the hardwood floors. In the kitchen, you could bring in color with new artwork and some type of fabric window treatment, like a Roman shade with a fun print. You could also replace your light fixtures with something more colorful and interesting. It’s best to find a piece of art or a fabric as an “inspiration piece” that you can build your room around. Use your inspiration piece to build a color palette for the space, pulling out colors to use on furniture, rugs, and window treatments. Try visiting fabric stores and browsing art in galleries or online to find that inspiration piece and get decorating!

How about some of these inspiration pieces?