Pick The Right Color The First Time!

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Need help choosing the right paint colors?

Like to see them in your home not the paint store?

 

Let me confidently select the colors based on your interiors, your preferences and your lifestyle with 20+ years of expertise.

A Paint Color Consultation can save you lots of money and the agony of a re-do!

 Make your appointment

925.862.9064

or email  

Toni@marieantoinetteinteriors.com

Call NOW Offer Expires: May 31 

*Toni Berry is the Color Consultant for the Bay Areas leading Painting Contractors and their clients.     

How To Add 2013's Color Of The Year To Your Home

When Pantone LLC announced that emerald green was its Color of the Year for 2013, reaction among designers and interior consultants was mixed. I was one who applauded them!

The company, Pantone, which creates and matches colors for the home and fashion industries, picks a top hue each year based on current use and expected continued popularity.

For me, emerald green’s boldness means it should be used only as an accent. My experience tells me you either love it or hate it. Greens have been strong for a while because of interest in nature, Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of Pantone’s research arm known as the Pantone Color Institute, has said. She calls green “a color of growth, renewal, healing, unity and regeneration.”

So can you decorate with emerald green without becoming overwhelmed by it? Yes you can but you’ve got to be careful.  There’s no getting around it, emerald is flat-out dramatic. Which means its best used in small doses, as accessories.  

For those liking the color enough to consider paint, I suggest this; True emerald should go in tiny spaces like foyers or powder rooms, and then dining rooms, which always benefit from a theatrical touch. But it’s too harsh a color for rooms in which you linger in my opinion.

In contrast to any other color family, the human eye perceives that no two greens clash. This is because we’re accustomed to seeing every variant of green coexisting harmoniously in nature so it’s perfect for accessories like pillows, table top accessories, lamps, dish and stone ware and of course draperies .

Want to add a little or a lot of green to your space?  Call for a Color Consultation!

925.862.9064 or email Toni@MarieAntoinetteInteriors.com

 

 

Lets Just Wing It, Shall We?

Not your Granny's Wing-Back Chair!

As a child I remember seeing these chairs in family friends home. I loved to curl up in them to enjoy the cozy feeling the side wings gave me. I didn’t know then that these chairs were called “Wing-Back” chairs. We didn't have one in our home so they seemed very stylish to me.  When I married years later and had to buy our first upholstered arm chair I knew instantly that this was the style of chair I wanted.  I bought mine at a tag-sale for $20.00 and re-upholstered it myself in a camel colored velvet.  I loved using it in almost every room in the house!

The Wikipedia describes it this way; a wing chair (also, wing-back chair or wing-back) is an easy chair or club chair with "wings" mounted to the back of the chair typically but not always stretching down to the arm rest. The purpose of which was to enclose the head or torso areas of the body in order to provide comfortable protection from drafts, and to trap the heat from a fireplace in the area where the person would be sitting. Hence, in historic times these are often used near a fireplace. Currently most examples of wing chairs are fully upholstered with exposed wood legs, but, many of the oldest wing chair examples have an exposed frame with padded cushions at the seat, arm rests, back and sometimes wings.

Perfect a dining room ambiance.

These days this chair is making a huge comeback and it is seen in virtually every home décor magazine.  Lots of different variations on styling and in every imaginable fabric color and print.

 

 

 

 

 

Decorating Tips; Use them in pairs with one round foot stool for both.  Placed flanking the fireplace or a credenza it makes a fabulous focal point for the room.

For an interesting look some come in two different fabrics. One fabric or leather (a solid) on the inside of the chair back and seat and a different fabric (a large print) on the outside back and arms. Some are available as recliners; done in leather they add a masculine touch to a family or living room. 

And to add a sense of Old World style to the bedroom, many Wing-Back Beds are available as well. Sometimes called“Shelter” Beds they have the same qualities and style as the chair.

 

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL….WHO’S THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL?

The key to every well-dressed woman or man’s wardrobe are the accessories!  And so it is true also for the interiors of any room.  You can spend many laborious hours with the selection and placement of what I call “the bones”, or the furniture, but the rooms will just NOT look truly finished if they are not accessorized.


A silver mirror updates a 80's bathroom. Hung right on top of the plate wall mirror!

One of the accessories I like to use in designs are Mirrors, here are 5 ways to mirrors as accessories in your home with great success and results;

1. Use a mirror as a focal point. Whether over a buffet table (to add drama to a dining area), on top of a fireplace mantle (to add width and height), or over a bed (to add romance and charm), a mirror can be a stunning star. After placing your mirror, dress up the focal point area. For living or dining rooms, flank the mirror with matching candle holders or floral arrangements.

Small living space suddenly doubles in width by artfully placing the mirrors!

2. If you wall is wide, be sure the mirror is as well. Or to fill a very wide wall you can use many mirrors placed in a symmetrical pattern to make a dramatic statement and enlarge the room. Traditional spaces do well with chunky frames in burnished gold finishes. Modern spaces should have sleek frames in smooth finishes or with a geometric styling.  

3. Use mirrors to expand a small space. They work wonders in entryways to keep the area from seeming too narrow or cramped. Place a large wall mirror in an especially small guest room to open it up. Or do mirrors in pairs leaning against the wall to double the square footage of the room visually.  Always secure them to the wall for safety.

4. Use a small mirror on a table as part of a centerpiece when entertaining. Select an unusually shaped frame such as an octagon, oval, or circle. Place it in the center of the table, and layer it with items of color and texture, or top it with candles and glass beads. Dim the lights and celebrate the evening with sparkling beverages and hors d'oevres.

5. Position your mirrors for good reflections. Check to make sure what you see in the mirror is a great sample of color, texture, and favorable design elements. Avoid eyesore reflections such as air conditioning vents, one blade of a ceiling fan, a random section of molding, or a window that throws off a glare. Aim for mirroring a window with a view, artwork, greenery, a nice display of accessories, or an open space that represents good design.

Our favorite mirror "the leaner"!

When your mirrors are used correctly and creatively as a key accessory, your room will be the fairest one of all.