Here is an example of many different patterns all brought together by color.

Afraid of the Word Clash?

Mixing patterns and textures in the same room can give that room a feeling of coziness, design, sometimes a vintage feel, but always a feeling of being alive. A room filled with pattern and texture will never feel sterile.

Many people are afraid of mixing pattern. They are afraid mixing different colors, patterns, and textures might clash. There is that scary word. This is usually not the case. Never be afraid of mixing patterns and colors. Put a stripe with a floral, a floral with a geometric, a small print with a large print. Let the combinations become endless.

However, if you are afraid to just go for it, start by threading the same color through each pattern. For example, take the color blue, regardless of the hue let blue run through each pattern. This will pull everything together every time.
Don’t be afraid. Just go for it.
I think that you will like the results.

There is a synthetic fabric out that is green. It is also stain resistant and chemical and PFC free. This fabric can be cleaned with bleach, and it is affordable. The fabric is a byproduct of refining petroleum. It used to be discarded or burned off, but not anymore.

The great thing is not only is this fabric amazing for all of the above reasons, but it is also beautiful.

The scientists who discovered this process won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

I just got back from the Spring Furniture Market in High Point, N.C. For those of you who are not familiar with this, the Furniture Market is where all the furniture, accessory, and textile manufacturers come together to show their new products, new color schemes, and give you a peek at the new trends.
As a buyer, it is exciting being there. There are hundreds of manufacturers present, and people attend from all over the world. You can be in an elevator and literally hear three different languages being spoken.
What did I see? Well as far as color goes, gray is still the it color (dark gray, light gray, gray with pastels, gray with bright colors). Gray is here to stay for awhile. As for bedrooms, dinning, and occasional tables, if a manufacture did not have gray tones last year, they have added them this year, and if they had them last year, they have added more this year.
The look is casual.
The living is easy.
Comfort is the key for all.
Something that I saw, that was very different, were tables with reclaimed wood tops and chrome Queen Ann legs. When I first saw them, I wasn’t sure how I felt, but the more that I looked at them, they started to grow on me. They were more in the high design areas. So if they make it there, the look will filter down to the mainstream manufacturers. I don’t know if they will ever be in my house, but I think that they look pretty cool.

What do you think?
Linda

LOVE WHERE YOU LIVE!

When it is time to get a new sofa, decorate a room that has been the same for the last twenty years, or put together a new house, most people are concerned with what the current trends are. What is the hot color this year? Are woods carved? Are lines clean? Are rooms neutral? Are rooms colorful? Once those questions are answered, then people go about making their selections, but what if you do not love the new trends? Remember, in two years or so, there will be a new hot color or style, and the majority of us do not change our furniture every two years. So maybe you should paint the colors, and buy the furniture that you love. Love looking at. Love being with.

There are so many designs and color options that I like. I love rooms that are all white. I love rooms that are five shades of beige. I love rooms that are filled with color. I love rooms that are minimalist, and rooms that are filled with antiques. However, that does not mean that I can live with or want to live with all of them.

Whatever the trends, you should live with what you love, and what fits into your lifestyle. While an all white room might be in style, putting my children and two large dogs in there would make me a mad woman. Hence, I certainly would not be at peace in my own home.

Wherever the color trends, you should put the colors that you love around you. Use fabrics that you love, but also fabrics that make your life easy. You should walk into your room or home and feel relaxed, and each room should have something in it that you love, something that makes you happy. Look at new trends as new ideas to draw upon, but if the trend is not for you, draw upon the styles and colors that are.

BE HAPPY IN YOUR HOME!