“I have a cape cod contemporary two story on the water with large windows facing east. We have a beautiful whitewashed cedar ceiling. The floor has stark white 10″ floor tiles that are very hard to keep clean. I’d like to replace it with porcelain floor planking that looks like wood. I’m stuck trying to decide on the color for the floor. There are so many options. By the way, the doors are all whitewashed with a bright white wood trim. My style is classic with a bit of contemporary thrown in. We are planning on a redo of the fireplace as well as well as the kitchen.

Here is a summary of my decorating challenges:

1. What color floor planking (porcelain) to put on the floor.
2. What color to paint the new wood around our new fireplace.
3. The kitchen cabinets are white washed.  I’m selecting white painted ones.  What color granite – light or dark for more or less of a contrast?
4. The wood doors are all white washed too.  As is the railing going up the stairs.  Do I paint the railing white or?
5. Do I paint the walls a lighter or darker color?

Whitewashed Cedar Ceiling

Here’s what Vastu senior designer Sarita Peresada had to offer:Thank you for submitting your design dilemma, I am happy to make some suggestions for your home.  First, concerning the wood grain floor time, I would definitely go with something in the mid-range tones, not too dark, but not too light either.  You really need some contrast between your floors and walls, trim, and moldings.  Currently everything is very similar in tone and a bit washed-out.  I like the tile below from Daltile:

Timber Glen(TM) RUSTIC in 'Heath'

As for the wood mantel around the fireplace –  if you are keeping the existing mantel, I don’t think that it is necessary to paint it.  However, if you are removing it and adding a new mantel, it can be painted to match the trim or you can go for a real focal point and paint it an accent color that ties into your existing décor.  I think that the wall color should be considered in this decision, too.  Before you make any of the wall color and mantel decisions I would suggest taking some time to determine what overall look and feel you are going for in the space.  Why are you considering changing the wall color?  Why are you changing the mantel and what is the new mantel design?  Do you like the open, airy feel that your home currently has?  Darker colors on the walls and floors will detract from the open, airy feel.  Have you looked through any design magazines or websites for inspiration photos?   Are you planning to replace any of the furnishings in the space?

Upholstery selections should be made before paint colors, it’s much easier this way!  Once you determine the look and feel that you are after and what furnishings you will keep or add, you will easily be able to choose paint colors based on your preferences.  It is especially easy if you start with an inspiration piece (artwork, rug, fabric, etc.) and pull your colors from that piece.

Lastly, in the kitchen, I would go with a mid-range color on the granite.  Not too dark, like black, but not white-white, either.  If you are going to change the floors to the wood grain tile in the kitchen, then something like Crema Bordeaux would like nice with the white cabinetry.

Borelli Granite in 'Crema Bordeaux'

I hope that my recommendations have been helpful to you, at least as a good starting point!  If you need more help with color selection after you have discovered your objectives for the space, please don’t hesitate to ask!

“Hey Vastu! So here’s my problem. I just purchased a new home and in the dining area is a standard, and ugly, brass chandelier, similar to the picture. It’s too traditional for my taste and the brass finish just doesn’t fit my style at all. I’d like to replace it with a more modern chandelier but am not sure which direction to take or where to look. Can you guys give me any ideas?”

Here’s what designer, and Vastu co-owner, Jason Claire had to say:

Thanks for submitting your design dilemma and congratulations on the new place!

As for your lighting problem, I’m assuming when you want a “chandelier” you’re really searching for a more formal-looking hanging or pendant light for the space. One way to go about this is to look for lights with chandelier shapes but made out of modern materials. That way, you can mix the traditional feel of a formal chandelier (usually seen in the lamping, or the interior) with the modern look of materials like steel, mirrors, and resin.

As for the light bulbs themselves, a modern approach is to use LEDs or halogen bulbs. The problem with these is that they’re harsh and not suitable for a dining room, and many LEDs are still not dimmable. A solution is to use incandescent bulbs. The traditional look of these bulbs can bring a warm twist to the modern materials found in many pendant fixtures.

Check out some of our favorite lights below!

The Meri Drum Chandelier is made of pierced resin so that the light can shine through.

The Grayson Chandelier is made of reclaimed glass that is given an antiqued gold finish on the interior and a mirrored finish on the exterior. The lamping consists of four 60W bulbs.

The Sola Chandelier has five incandescent bulbs that can come with five different hand-blown glass shapes (in various colors) oriented either above or below a metal ring.

I hope these give you some ideas or inspiration in your quest for a modern chandelier! Let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with for your new home!

“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?

Bilbao Rug

Art by Michele de la Menardiere

Art by Joel E. Traylor, III

“Due to the economy, I am downsizing from a 3600 sq ft home to a 900 sq ft home. I am desperately trying to figure out what furniture to keep and what to say ‘good-bye’ to. I would love to turn this not so exciting move into a cozy home for my daughter and myself. I feel overwhelmed and desperate. Please help!”

Ray says…

Going from 3600 sqft of living space to 900 sqft is quite a challenge. A few years ago I did a cross country move and went through a purge myself, so I know it’s not easy. Here are some pointers for determining what to keep and what to get rid of:

• You and your daughter need to generate a list of things that are deeply personal and can not be parted with – family photos, personal objects, etc. When you need to get rid of things it always helps to have a priority list. You can also use the 3 Pile system. Pile 1 – Keep, Pile 2- Sell or Donate, Pile 3 – Discard.
• Shred all unnecessary papers. Do as much as you can online to eliminate paper, download documents, and backup files to portable hard drives.
• Eliminate all clothing you haven’t worn in two years. Use the three pile method.
• Keep your best quality furniture that will fit into the new space. If you have good quality pieces that won’t fit into your new place you may be able to get a consignment store to take the items you can’t sell directly. You may not get what you paid for them, but at least it can help pay for the furnishings you’ll need for the new space. If you can have a garage/ yard sale try to get organized and have it. Advertise it on Craigslist with pictures of the best items. Be realistic when you’re pricing things, take only cash and be prepared to bargain.
• You’re going to have to get super organized. Trimming your life down from 3600 to 900 sqft is difficult. Make sure your daughter is as involved as possible in the process.
• Last but not least – if you can afford it, find a good storage space. Or you may have friends that have some extra space and are willing to store things for you for a year while you’re getting back on your feet. Impose a one year limit and donate the stored items if your situation hasn’t improved in a year.

I want to wish you the best of luck.

Have you ever had to downsize? What would you suggest?

“We bought our first house a year ago and remodeled the kitchen, master bedroom and bath. During the renovations our baby girl was born. Suffice to say, we haven’t had much time to devote to the actual decoration of the house. Specifically, we are struggling with what to do with living room and dining room area. We want this space to be modern, grown-up and loungy… a place for quiet conversation and adult time. We don’t know where or how to start except that we want warm, vibrant tones (leather, reds, oranges, yellows/gold) and we want to use some of our Brazilian art paintings. Can you help in terms of how to place the seating/arrange the room…should we consider tearing down the wall between the living room and dining room to open up the space??? Any help you can lend would be appreciated! We would Vastu!”

Sarita Says…

Congratulations on your new house and baby! You have been really busy in the last year and it’s completely understandable that you have put the design of your living room and dining room on the back burner. Now that it is time to start working on these spaces, there are a lot of things to consider and it sounds like you have already put a lot of thought into it. You know how you want to use the space and you know what colors you want to introduce into the space – those are two of the most important decisions in the process!

The next steps in the design process are to create a furniture plan and then to select the pieces of furniture, the fabrics and finishes, and then finally the accessories for the space. In order to create a furniture plan, the decision about the wall between the living and dining room needs to be finalized. It is hard to say if this is the best decision or not without seeing the space in person, but big open spaces are usually preferable to smaller, closed off spaces in general. If the wall stays, I think that you could make a cozy seating arrangement where you currently have the sofa placed. Perhaps the tall storage piece could be relocated and two arm chairs could be placed across from the sofa. The challenge in this space is that there are two major pathways going through it, including one between the sofa and two proposed chairs just mentioned. It could definitely work; however, I would need to measure the space in order to determine specific chairs would fit best. I think that your next step as far as the furniture plan/space plan is to draw the floor plan of the space and start playing around with furniture sizes and layout.

As for the color palette of your space, you have a great advantage over most people that say they have no idea where to start – you have inspiration pieces! Your Brazilian artwork is your inspiration! You already know you want those colors in the space, now you have to find the fabrics and paint colors that complement your artwork. My suggestion is to pull the main colors out of the artwork and find various shades/tones that are complimentary. There may be a specific shade of orange in the paintings that you really like. You can find a fabric that is close (I don’t recommend matching every color exactly) and have a chair or sofa made in that color. Then you can do the same with another color in the artwork, find a drapery fabric that is close and have some drapes made. It’s usually easy to find a neutral color to work with all of your bold colors (I think something in the beige or brown family will work nicely) and I recommend using the neutral on the walls and some of the furniture. You don’t want everything in the space to be bold and colorful, it will be overwhelming!

I hope that this helps, please let us know if you have further questions or needs!

“I am buying a new house on the water. I want to make it warm but I need to use my old furniture that is black and red leather, black and red carpet, and also a glass coffee table. How do I combine it with my dream of a warm, light and woody living room?”

Ray says…

Hello! Congratulations on your new home! In order to achieve a warm, light, woody living room, I would consider introducing some Asian-inspired motifs. Silk embroidered pillows, wall hangings with black script, roughly hewn wooden bowls and vase – think Shanghai in the 1920’s. Natural materials, like the roughly hewn wood bowls, will warm up the black and red color palette and help play into the ‘woody’ feel you’re going for. Along the lines of natural materials, I’d also recommend natural linen draperies and hand stitched items to soften things up – make it light. Lastly, selecting a paint color that works well with these elements will really help you achieve the look and feel you want for your room. Consider earthy grey paint colors – think colors like pumice or stone. Hope this helps!

What do you think?

“I want to know if it is possible to paint the fabric on an upholstered dining room chair. The chair is in perfect shape but the color doesn’t go with my dining room. I believe I saw this done on TV a long time ago. Thanks.”

Jamie says…

Yes, it is possible to paint upholstered furniture. If you plan on tackling this do-it-yourself project you should consider using an upholstery spray paint in order to achieve a nice smooth finish. Before painting the entire chair, paint a small (discrete) portion of the chair to test the absorbency of the fabric. If the fabric has a finish that won’t allow the paint to absorb into the fibers then I might suggest simply reupholstering the chair. If the fabric won’t absorb the paint it will eventually chip and peel off which will certainly look worse than the current color that doesn’t go with your dining room. If the fabric absorbs the paint without a problem be sure to let it dry for a minimum of 72 hours before inviting your friends over for a dinner party; the idea is to have them rave about your new, awesome chairs and not have them enraged that your new, awesome chairs ruined their outfit. This is definitely a cost efficient project that should be fairly easy and fun! Good luck and be sure to send us pictures of the finished project if you decide to paint your chairs.

What do you think?

“I have the old ugly olive green bath tub, toilet and sink. The counter top has a green and white swirl look, the floor has 3 different kinds of green mixed in it. There is a beige and olive green tile border around the shower and bath tub. In my opinion there are too many greens, they don’t match – the whole things looks straight out of the 70s. I will get it all redone one day, but for now do you have any suggestions? We don’t have much money to put towards the project right now, but I’m wondering if we should paint or maybe wallpaper? Thanks!”

Jason says…

Thank you so much for your Design Direction submission. Having grown up in the 1970s, I can imagine your bathroom very well! I would keep things really simple until you are ready to renovate. I would paint the walls an eggshell finish off-white that has a tiny touch of green in it like Sherwin Williams ‘Pearly White’. You could also paint the vanity (if there is one) the same color in a gloss finish. Another low budget solution to make the bathroom enjoyable until you renovate is to have the tub reglazed. There are lots of companies that will do this, and I would recommend doing it in white. Finally, depending on how your sink works (is it part of the counter or undermounted to the counter surface?), you could find a remnant piece of granite or marble at Home Depot or Marmara in Washington, DC and have the counter replaced with something light in color for a minimal amount of money. I would pair this all with white towels and simple bathroom accessories. The avocado greens matched with lots of white could result in a more 2010 spa look instead of Greg’s bathroom from The Brady Bunch. Good luck!

What do you think?

“Hello. I just moved to DC into a rental building in Columbia Heights. Other than painting walls, what sort of non-permanent updates should I consider to make my new place reflect my style more?”

Sarita says…

Welcome to The District! A lot of renters have the same challenge. They’re looking to make their place feel more like home, but the fact that the changes you make must be removed when you move can make things difficult. Other than painting your walls (which can very easily be painted over when it’s time to move out), I’d suggest:

• Framing wallpaper or stretching fabric over plain canvases to create a large visual statement on a wall. It’s super easy and really inexpensive! We did something similar in an apartment model unit to create a focal point above a sofa. Check it out here.

• Punching up the upholstery. Consider getting a lounge chair or some upholstered dining chairs in a great fabric that reflects your personality.

• Doing something with the windows. If your new apartment has the standard white blinds or (even worse) vertical blinds make sure that you cover those up with window treatments that fit your style. You can find great off-the-shelf curtains and shades at so many places these days – but don’t stop there, you can personalize those off-the-shelf curtains by sewing on a band of fun fabric to the top or bottom, or both!

• Incorporating a shelving unit into your space. It’s not permanent and you have the ability to show off your favorite books, photos or items you’ve collected from traveling – all of which share a little bit about who you are.

I hope these tips help. Best of luck in your new space!

“So… my new condo has a small deck area (yahoo!) and the sliding glass door currently has vertical blinds as the window/door treatments. I hate them. Do you have any suggestions for a more modern looking alternative that will still give me easy access to my outdoor space? Thanks so much!”

Jamie says…

First, congratulations on your new condo! I usually like to think of the traditional vertical blinds as a temporary place holder until you can replace it with something that reflects more of your personality and will actually enhance the rest of your space. Here are a few window covering recommendations for your sliding doors:

1. Solar Screen Panel Track Blinds – they can give you a sleek, streamlined look that will reduce overheating, glare, and protect interior fabrics without sacrificing your view (if you have a view).

2. Ripplefold Drapery – Allows you to add a little pattern and color in the space with the fabric that you select. Vertical blinds can make a space feel really stiff and heavy so installing a sheer ripplefold treatment above your doors will make that area feel a lot more light and airy.

Both options allow easy access when entering and exiting the space (without the extra sound effects that you usual get from vertical blinds). I hope this was helpful!

What do you think?