If you have trouble deciding what to purchase for your home
or office, this article may help you. I talk to a lot of people about their
décor and style because I work at Furniture Works, so naturally I need to match
people to a piece that suits their needs but also appeals to their sense of
style. I can usually tell people what their style is if they tell me what they
like, but some people don’t even know what they like. The “I’ll know it when they see it”
expression can be very self limiting. First of all, you won’t, and secondly it
wastes your time. In the design industry, when a client says this colloquial
expression it means they will never
be happy and you should drop them as a client, immediately. I know a lot of
customers like this who whim buy and end up with furniture that is not true to
their needs. A good salesperson is there to guide you to the right purchase,
that you’ll really be satisfied with. They are not there to just take your
money. If you can’t bring yourself to accept help from a professional, invest
20 minutes of time investigating your style and you’ll end up saving yourself
time and money.
Style can be summed up in four basic categories:
- Color
- Tone
- Silhouette
- Culture
I will explain each of these categories in a moment. It’s
important to note that even if you prefer one style over another, feel free to
mix it up a little. Most great decorating scheme incorporate a dash of
quirkiness and personal touches. For example, a modern décor scheme might break
the ice with a collection of framed LP’s or an ornately carved accent piece
painted a bright unconventional color. Don’t be afraid to experiment with
different styles.
Color
Color preferences and how a color influences us is extremely
important to know about yourself, since it drastically affects your mood and
can make you depressed or tense if it’s the wrong color for your personality. I
once painted a bedroom a dark red, which looked great with the red and black
accent furniture, but I felt very tense in the room. It was too much for me,
and the reason is because I’m naturally high strung. If you are easily excited,
you should try to steer away from bolder colors like red, orange and yellow if
you can. There are ways to tone down these colors if you must have them.
Pairing grey with any of these colors will immediately make the color seem a
lot more conservative. If you’re calm and laid back, bold colors may be your
thing.
Try to think about what you want to feel in a room. Do you
want to feel rested and relaxed in your living room, or energized and awake? If
you’re not sure which color is right, here’s a list of common color schemes and
how they affect mood in general. Read through them and pick two or three that
resonate with you based on your personality.
Red: Exciting, passionate and warm, red stimulates appetite
and makes some people feel awake and alert. Be careful though, it can also
cause tension, stress and anxiety in those prone to hypertension. A good
compromise for red is merlot or coral.
Blue: The opposite effect of red, blue is soothing and
calming, lowering heart rate and blood pressure. It especially shines in
bedrooms where it can provide a restful sleep. People who are already very
relaxed sometimes dislike this color, as it may seem cold or boring. It’s not a
good color for offices or kitchens in general because of its soporific effect.
Don’t think color can have an effect on you? Just try it and
see. The subconscious will almost immediately pick up on the effect of color,
and even if you don’t notice that immediate effect, over time – say a few hours
- you’ll come to understand how powerful color is.
Orange: Optimism, sociability and youthful impulse all
describe orange. It’s the go between color of yellow and red. Orange retains a
degree of its power even at subdued levels. Terracotta or Peach are still
orange and can stimulate the appetite and evoke conversation just like the
stronger tones, without being too pushy. Orange is one of the most
controversial colors. Some people immediately dislike strong oranges but enjoy
terracotta without realizing it’s in the orange family.
Yellow: Optimistic
like orange, but with a more cheerful spirit, yellow bestows joy and has a
streak of intelligence. Some people don’t like it and it can make people feel
ill at ease, so you may consider pairing it with grey or blue.
Green: Green is the color of vegetation and has a calming
effect. It can make some people feel uncomfortable as it is also the color of
mystery and the wild. Classically it has also been the color of luxury as it
used to be difficult to create as a dye. Everyone associates green with
emeralds of course, and Pantone recently announced Emerald as the color of the
year, explaining that people were tired of the lean recession years and wanted
some luxury in their lives. I’ve been seeing
a lot of faux malachite treatments on DIY blogs, which is indeed an elegant and
rich look. It creates a sense of coolness and intimacy with nature. A very
small percentage of people report that it makes them feel sick. I have a pea
green paint color from previous owners on my bedroom wall which needs to be
repainted, because even though I love green, it does indeed make me feel
nauseous.
Purple: Calming and relaxing like blue, purple has a regal
feel that is the associated with luxury and new modern ideas, science and outer
space. It’s also a classically rare dye, used only by royalty in Rome when it
had to be distilled from shellfish . It’s a popular color, but effects vary
amongst audiences. Some people report having it make them feel powerful and
energized, others report that it’s a welcoming and friendly color. It happens rarely, but a few people find it
cold and repulsive.
Brown: Warm and homey, brown has a wide range of colors that
can lean towards yellow, red or orange. It tends to make a room feel less
sophisticated and puts most people at ease. Too much brown can be oppressive. If
you’d like to make a room feel both luxurious and relaxing, different shades of
chocolate and gold accents can make you feel like you’re living in a chocolate
box, which can be wonderful.
Grey: One of those colors you either love or hate, grey
tends to be elegant and formal. Some find it boring and conservative. When
paired with brighter colors it tends to formalize the brightness and ground it
out. It pairs well with red, yellow and orange. Grey lends a seriousness to any
room and too much of it can be oppressive. All colors look wonderful with Grey
so it allows us to play around a lot with palettes.
White: Cleanliness and elegance is conveyed by white, and it
can make you feel alert and make the room feel bigger. Some find it to be
sterile and cold, so it’s up to you whether you find it appealing. Blue makes
it more relaxing, while red can create excitement. White tends to amplify any color you pair with
it, so if you want to brighten a room without drowning in color, white is the
way to go. A whole room done in whites and the family of whites can be very
relaxing and clean.
Black: Black is another love it or hate it color. Morbid to some, elegant to others, it can
make a room feel smaller, so it’s useful for spaces that feel too large. It
pairs well with any colors but does best with a mixture of neutrals and solo
bright accents, such as a grey, black and red palette. Dust and dirt tend to
show up quite badly, so if the surface will be soiled regularly try not to use
black.
Tone
Have you picked your favorite colors yet? Great! Now we need
to know your tonal preference. This is just a very simple preference that
determines what shades of your favorite color you like best. Try playing around
with paint chips from your local hardware store and mix it up until you get a
color combination you like. You might discover that, while you hate purple many
shades of purple, you love a dusty eggplant, for instance. Combine your favorite colors with one of the
following categories, and you’ll know your best decorating palette.
Pastel: Very light colors, with a lot of white in them. It’s
used to evoke a light and airy feel, and should be paired with some earthtones
or white to avoid a cloying, easter egg feel. Whites are a special category
within tones as they tend to be very specific and the white family is quite
diverse. Pastel whites tend to be tinted with a little color. Add white to
almost any bright color to create a pastel.
Neutrals: Colors with grey added to them. Neutrals are not
necessarily what we traditionally think of as a neutral – beige, taupe, grey
and cream are common, but any color can be a neutral. For example, a grayed
jade green is a perfect example of a neutral color, and a very popular one
lately. Neutrals tend to “middle”
between extreme darks and extreme lights. This can be a very relaxing and
sophisticated palette. Neutral whites
tend to be very understated, neither bright nor colored, like their pastel
relatives. Eggshell would be a good example of a neutral white. Adding grey,
black or white to any color can create a neutral.
Jeweltones: Many people do not understand this category of tone. It is not
synonymous with earthtones. In fact it is quite different. It means a fully
saturated color, such as fire engine red or lime green. The name can be
misleading, because many actual gemstones can be dark, subdued or pale, which
is not a design “jeweltone”. Jeweltones
are used in many design schemes, from modern to moroccan. Beautiful
complementary opposites can create excitement. I use emerald and bright red in
my Chinese themed study to create warmth and an energizing effect against dark
wood and heavy carvings and sculpture. Jeweltone white is stark, often
enameled. It’s also referred to as modern white or titanium white. Jeweltones happens when you add saturation to
a hue.
Earthtones: Earthtones tend to have a lot of “mud” in them,
or black, plainly put. A burnt orange happens when you add a little grey or
black to bright orange. Earthtones are warm and friendly, though they can also
be drab if used improperly. You can usually combat this with the addition of
shiny or metallic elements. Olive green
is an example of an earthtone green. Take any color and add a darker shade to
it and you’ll probably get an earthtone.
Silhouette
Silhouette talks about the underlying structure of an piece,
whether it’s a room or a piece of furniture.
Silhouette is very important because it can set the tone for the whole
piece. It’s just as important as color; however, color tends to have more
power. It’s easier to work around silhouette issues than color issues, which is
why Silhouette is placed after color. You may find you love all of these
categories I’m going to describe to you, which is perfectly alright – the goal
is to find which silhouettes you absolutely cannot live with, and the ones you
love. You can combine silhouettes – there are no hard and fast rules. Here I’ll list a few of the more common types.
Ornate: This silhouette is over the top and likes to
announce its presence. It tries to entertain the eye with scrollwork, lots of
curves and intricacy. A good example of this silhouette would be the Victorian settee
or Chippendale chairs. It can also include complicated modern art styles.
Bold: Big and often with comfort in mind, bold designs take
up a lot of space and are less popular than they used to be, but they still
exist. An “overuse” of materials is often utilized, such as thick lumber,
overstuffed cushions and oversized bases or legs. A good example of a bold
silhouette would be the Papasan chair or column canopy beds.
Minimalist: Understated, often sacrificing comfort for
style. Minimalist silhouettes play down decoration and emphasize simple
straight lines and geometry. It has a clean and modern feel. They can be very
functional pieces, but tend to be less forgiving when it comes to allowing for
soft cushions and color and pattern options. A good example of minimalist
silhouette can be found in traditional Japanese furniture, midcentury modern
and Scandinavian design.
Contemporary: This is a mix of curves and straight lines,
sometimes with a little bit of ornamentation. Modern and contemporary styles
have been merging lately, and this trend is expected to continue. Contemporary
tends to be a little softer than Minimalism, and may include transitional
elements. Sometimes function is chosen over form, and this is where
contemporary diverts from true minimalism and modernism.
Classical: Soft edges, symmetry and flowing design are all
hallmarks of classical design. Of all of these, symmetry is probably the most
distinguishing mark. They may not be heavily decorated or even very old, but
they will have symmetrical structure, tasteful ornamentation – if any – and
emphasis on traditional beauty from the old world.
Culture
You can turn to any point in time on any place on the globe
and find a unique style of decorating based on a culture. Having a sense of
your favorite culture is something that happens over decades, but one almost
certainly can find fast favorites by browsing through an antique/vintage store
or by looking through decorating books. Try to write down a style you find, if
you like it. There are so many that knowing whether or not you prefer Hollywood
Regency to Mid-century modern can save you a lot of time and energy!
For example, I have loved Asian art since I was a teenager.
I began collecting asian furniture in my twenties. I started with Japanese
décor, which is generally minimalistic or rustic but later discovered I really
preferred the more ornate and refined furniture of Southeastern China. I also
found out that even though this doesn’t mix that well with American Chinatown
glitz and glam, I like all of that, too. I wasted a lot of money on pieces I
loved from department stores and lifestyle stores that never really fit right
with the rest of the anchor pieces in a room. If I had known my style before I
went out shopping, I would have saved the money to spend on pieces I knew
immediately would match my taste and the rest of my décor.
If you love a certain type of style, find out who in your
city carries that era or style, and check back with them frequently. Get to
know the salespeople so you can get an inside scoop on the next great piece for
you décor. For example, if you love Victorian antiques and their ornate,
classical style, figure out which antique stores specialize in Victorian era
furnishings. As always, no matter which era or style you’re looking for, always
check back at Furniture Works, because we carry furniture from every era in
every style!