about us: diane's design philosophy

Each interior designer has their own unique design philosophy. This is mine...

If you aren't EVER planning on moving from your current house, DO WHAT YOU WANT! You don't have to live in a stark, white-wall house. Add some zip to your life with color—I know color can be intimidating, but don't be afraid of it—it's your friend.

"Who cares what anyone else thinks about your decor — you are the one(s) that has to live in it — not the people that occasionally visit. Make your house a home!"

Our place is extremely eclectic and WIDE OPEN. The sunroom, foyer, sitting area, living room, dining room, and kitchen circle the center staircase — no walls. This means color needs to blend a bit from room to room.

I love a variety of different period furniture, fabrics from around the world, and LOTS of different colors. Colors are a fabulous way to create a mood. Now a days you don't have to limit yourself to what's available off the shelf, you have the entire web to surf for unique goods from all around the world!

It's really not that difficult to design a room if you use these simple thoughts:

Use at least three (3) colors in the room. For example. This is our sunroom. I have a light yellow/orange, dark forest green, and dark burgundy/maroon tone in the room as my dominant colors. I've also added some reds, mainly because I like the punch it adds. It has a bit of a Indian (India) flare to it. It's vibrant and fun.

Have one of the dominant color throughout your house. I like to use green because plants are a great substitute as an inanimate object.

In our sunroom, I have needlepoint for texture and sari fabric for my drapes. There is a awesome fall ceramic tile leaf floor and matching stained glass door. And because I'm STILL a kid at heart, I've added some hanging beads in yellow/orange/red tones—hey, you only live once—go for the gusto!

Focal points — leaf tile floor and door.

We have three living areas and one sitting area in our house. The sunroom is my favorite room in our house. The yellow-orange walls are extremely striking when the sun comes in and bounces off the satin walls. It makes me feel good all over — even on a cloudy day it's great. And, I never get tired of looking at my leaf tile floor, even after 6 years.

Across from the sunroom is a conservative foyer and staircase. It has cranberry glass collection and a burgundy oriental rug. I dragged a little burgundy into the foyer from the sunroom. There is also an orange/green nightlight on the newel post.

There is a cobalt blue, 1/2 bathroom next to the foyer area, but it really doesn't matter. Each room in your house DOES NOT have to contain the same colors —blah! That's an old design rule. I have, however, brought some green into this room from the other rooms.

This is a little sitting area to the left ë of the foyer and right ì of the bathroom. It looks nothing like the sunroom. It's just a little getaway.

As you can see, there is green (again), cobalt blues, creams, and golds (also in the sunroom). What I'm doing is adding a new color to the next area, but keeping a few of the colors from the other room. This lessens the shock of transition between areas.

Another thing you might notice is that the decor is very eclectic...

• A vintage 1800's mahogany drop-leaf table

• Two modern mahogany office chairs with navy blue coverings

• Sari, cobalt blue wall hanging as a tablecloth

• Navy blue and gold Sari on a chair

• Original water / bog watercolor painting with green, blue, black, cream, and gold tones

• Lots of shiny vintage cobalt blue glass

• Handmade green/cream fabric bunny

• A tiny bit of orange/red on the same wall as the sunroom wall.

I've added a LOT of blue, some green and a tiny bit of gold. This color combination is quite soothing. Now I have a place to sit that relaxes me, instead of invigorates me like my sunroom.

Focal point — water painting flowing down to the sari wallhanging/tablecloth.

Lesson for the day...blue + gold = green. These are complimentary colors.

There are a lot of different textures going on here!

• Smooth / shiny glass

• Carved beeswax candles (hexagons)

• Beaded / woven Sari fabric

• Smooth wallpaper

• Flowers

Don't be afraid to combine your textures. Wood is also a nice touch.

Once again, the only color that was added was blue. It's that simple!

Recap...

• Use at least three (3) colors in the room.

• Have one of the dominant color throughout your house.

• Don't be afraid to combine textures.