Inspirations of Color

Spring is almost here and brings new inspiration to designing! As the weather warms and flowers begin to bloom, Pantone's "Color of the Year" becomes more of a reality. Honeysuckle has been named as the "Color of the Year" in fashion and home design.

Honeysuckle is...

"A Color for All Seasons. Courageous. Confident. Vital. A brave new color, for a brave new world. Let the bold spirit of Honeysuckle infuse you, lift you and carry you through the year. It’s a color for every day – with nothing 'everyday' about it."Pantone

The Top 10 Colors for Spring 2011, including Honeysuckle, were announced in December. These colors will take your design on an "exotic journey" with colors like Regatta, Blue Curacao, Coral Rose and Silver Cloud. It is time to get on board!
http://www.pantone.com/downloads/articles/pdfs/FCR_SPRING_2011.pdf

Honeysuckle continues its journey through 2011 with the Fall color palette from Pantone (as seen below). This palette is being translated into home fashion by the "designer's brush" and the manner in which they juxtapose vibrant colors with neutrals in their works of art.

Color is a catalyst for inspiration! Spring is rapidly approaching and Fall is around the corner. Seize the opportunity to animate your designs with these new trends now!

Brass is Back

Brass is back with a classy and contemporary twist. The finish is being used to tie in modern and eclectic genres by minimally using it throughout the design. The soft glow of brass can also be responsible for warming up a space or showing off subtle Hollywood glamour.

So don't throw away your brass fixtures or replace the brass hardware on your furniture! This is your chance to update your space in a new way!

Brass often accents modern patterns in wall coverings and fabrics like the bed covering shown above. It can also be used in Asian inspired designs, Moroccan motifs, and traditional living spaces. The key to using brass in today's designs is to coordinate a few key elements like a mirror, a piece of artwork, lighting, a small piece of furniture or drapery hardware by placing them sparingly throughout the room.

Finestra will be launching a new metal hardware line in April 2011 which will include both a natural brass and antique brass finish. This 1 1/8"D metal line will allow you to achieve clean, glamorous lines.



Grommets are also another way to insert brass into your design. Mixing metals and wood tones together is a very popular design style. Brass grommets can be a perfect solution for existing wood poles with darker finishes. This "pop" of brilliance can bring distressed wood to life in a new way and create uniformity in the textures and finishes displayed throughout the room.

Brass grommets from Rowley Company

Before and After with Button Embellishments

Designer Carrie Antonello with Tuscan Touch Designs and Cathy Cuddington with Dogwood Designs are responsible for this fabulous before and after transformation. As you can see their work was cut out for them to elevate this 80's color palette into a much warmer and sophisticated modern day design.

Wow!

Carrie and Cathy were able to lift the veil off of this dated design and open the room up substantially by adding custom hardware and raising the draperies above the arched window. Instead of replacing the existing wall covering which is more prominent in the Before photo, the gold tones were picked up in the header of the drapery and pulled throughout the length of the fabric panels creating a more luxurious and cohesive design.

Even more impressive as professionals, they did not stop at a good design. Their attention to the smallest detail in the draperies created a fantastic custom design...the Pièce de résistance...They matched the hand-rubbed finishes of the drapery hardware and furnishings by adding Flower Button embellishments by Finestra to the goblet pleats at the top of the drapery. Custom accents like these can turn a good design into an outstanding one!

Finestra offers a wide variety of button embellishments and finishes to accent your custom designs. Try renewing your tired designs with these handmade accents!

Illuminate with Drapery Hardware

In the Middle Ages, all books were hand-written original works of art. These "illuminated" manuscripts were so called because of their frequent incorporation of gold or sometimes silver leaf onto the page. Illumination comes from the Latin word illuminare,

meaning “light up.”

Just as manuscripts illuminated a piece of paper during the Middle Ages, drapery hardware can light up a room of modern design. Long ago, these illuminations were available only to the wealthy and considered a luxury. Affording illuminate accents for your decor today have been made easy and accessible to everyone.

Finestra Square Pole in Gold Leaf with Bronze Square Rings

http://www.finestradecorativehardware.com/07_square.asp

Rise above the Ordinary...

Illumination occurs when accent pieces are chosen wisely to coordinate with the design. The photo shown above is a perfect example of using drapery hardware to "light up" your design. As you can see, the bright gold leaf was not used on both the poles and the rings. This would have caused it to either fade away into the background or create a "bright light" detracting from the cohesion of modern design. Instead, this designer used the bright gold leaf with an accent of blackened bronze to tie the finishes of the room together, and to incorporate the varying textures and patterns placed throughout the room.

Other ways to illuminate your designs are through accents of furniture, lighting, fabrics, mirrors, and wall coverings.

When used sparingly, gold and silver leaf accents become conduits for illuminous texture.