Help with high,low, old and new

As we go through different stages in life, our homes do too.  There are the post-college years, marked by posters and Ikea furniture; the Big Purchase years where we finally have income and invest it in a dining room table or sofa; the children years, where toys and scrubbable wall paint enter and then there is a time where some of us might find ourselves right now - the Acquirement Years.  Your parents are downsizing or perhaps you have lost a grandparent... you find yourself the recipient of a family heirloom or maybe Grandpa's lounger.  Regardless, you are now in a place where you have to meld styles, incorporate looks and you would like to do seamlessly.

Acquiring handed down objects can be stressful.  Perhaps you really don't love Gran's victorian vases; maybe they don't seemingly match your modern decor.  Maybe you love the dining room set your parents just passed on to you, but you already have one.

At these times, inviting an unbiased discerning eye into your home might be necessary.  Holcomb Gray Decor can help you with the tough decisions... should we recover Granny's chair, keep the oil lamp, dump our current sofa... these can be daunting decisions.  We can help you develop a holistic approach to incorporating the new with the old.

The Nursery grows up too!

After you have discovered that you are pregnant and you have been to your doctor and taken all the necessary steps to ensure a healthy pregnancy, the fun part begins; decorating the nursery!

There is a lot of really cute baby stuff out there.  Ethan Allen has gorgeous cribs and bedding that sells in the thousands of dollars.  Target has beautiful more budget friendly baby decor.  Pottery Barn nestles safely in between the two.  You can definitely go a little crazy decorating for baby... the ruffly tutus and the truck bedding.  Pinks and Blues, toile and stripes.  You can easily be tempted to go all out.

Don't.  Baby grows up quickly.... really quickly.  Take it from me, your little princess might come home one day and declare she wants get rid of all of her "girly" stuff.  Let her.  Here's how you can decorate to appease your wishes and still let them grow up.

Stick to basics.  Paint your nursery a warm sunny yellow or a soothing green.  These are gender neutral colors.  Buy your baby bedding inexpensively at Target; indulge your desires here for ballerinas or cowboys.  Use accessories to define the room; pink baskets with pink gingham ribbons; red bookshelves with firetrucks stenciled on them.  Want to get really crazy?  Paint one whole wall in the room with chalkboard paint.  Remember, people love to buy babies gifts - pink teddy bears or dinosaur pillows - so you will receive a lot of the fun stuff to decorate with.

The bottom line is you don't want to spend a lot of money on a room that will morph as your child quickly grows.  Have fun but do it cost efficiently.

HGD can help you outfit that nursery!  Call us today for fun, affordable consultation.  571-232-4507

Let's paint this town!

I have received my paint fan books from Benjamin Moore and Farrow & Ball!  It's like Christmas at Holcomb Gray Decor!

Paint affords you endless possibilities on a small scale budget.  I sat in my living room, painted Benjamin Moore's Castleton Mist, and salivated over some new colors.  In particular, Farrow & Ball's French Gray is so enticing.  A greenish gray, the color is at once elegant and slightly shabby.  It reminds me of the walls in Napoleon House down in the Quarter in New Orleans.  Walls which have SEEN so much, walls which convey life's rich pageant.

I will confess, as much as I love my little house, I do fantasize about stripping it bare and starting all over.  I would LOVE to paint my kitchen cabinets a high gloss mandarin red or gild my small bathroom downstairs.

I love paint.  Call me today and let's look over the new shades for fall!  571-232-4507

Creating your atmosphere

So we have established that decor in your home is a direct reflection of you.  Let's take that a little deeper.  You know when you are feeling a little down and you pull on all black?  Ever thought of trying to lift yourself by dressing differently?  Put on that cheery lipstick or that favorite football jersey instead.  Well, you can surround yourself with positive vibes in your house too.

Ok, so maybe you don't have the budget to overhaul your house daily; who does?  You can however decorate daily to set a mood.  Sunflowers on the dining room table.  A bowl of green apples on the dresser in your foyer.  On a cold December day, put out an array of photographs from the beach.  Switch out your white towels for chartreuse.  Buy an assortment, in varying heights, of inexpensive glass candle holders and pumpkin colored candles for your mantle.  Donate all of your paperbacks to Goodwill and reorganize your hardbacks.  Buy some brightly colored throw pillows for your chocolate sofa or throw a turqoise blue blanket over the back.  Buy some wide, grosgrain ribbon in a primary color and tie back your curtain panels in a pretty bow.

Your house can lift you up or bring you down.  Decide how you will let it affect you.

Holcomb Gray Decor can change up the mood in your house!  Let's work with what you have.  Book an appointment at 571-232-4507.

It's all subjective

So in my never ending quest to educate myself on interior decor, I checked a number of books out of the library today.  One was House Beautiful's 750 Designer Secrets.  Here is the interesting part... almost all of the "secrets" contradict one another.  "Use bold colors!  Go neutral!  Flowers should only be in art!  Use big florals for a big effect!".

What can you learn from this?  What's the big secret that all designers know?  I'll let you in on it... it's you.  You're the secret.  You and your own style.  Decorating is all subjective.  Like red?  Use it.  Hate florals?  Avoid them.  Want to mix your lucite with your Hepplewhite?  Go ahead.

In the end, decorating is all about mixing and/or matching what you love in order to represent who you are.

Use the bold, the neutral, the stripe, the floral, the cheap, the irreplaceable... use any and/or all.  Think about what matters to you most.  Do you want the pets to be comfortable on all your furnishings?  Think about leather or microsuede.  Want the children to be able to jump on the sofa?  Consider slipcovers.  Like filtered light?  Opt for no lining on the drapes.

It's all about your lifestyle.  Think about how you live and how you want to portray that lifestyle.

Holcomb Gray Decor is here to help.  571-232-4507.

Living with Kids in the Living Room!

It seems kind of unfair... just about the time you get your act, and bank account, together and can decorate that family room, you notice someone decorated it for you - with Elmo.

Relax.  People understand you have children (and if they don't, do you really want them in your house?).  However, there should be a place for everything, even if your house isn't 6000 square feet.

A little parenting tip I gleaned along the way... kids under the age of 10 (after that all bets are off), love to help pick up.  The important thing is to have a place where they can store their things.  If you can make the investment, think about a storage ottoman.  An ottoman is versatile - place for feet or it can be a coffee table - , can balance a room, and can hide a multitude of toys.  Ballard Designs makes great ones and has a terrific choice of upholstery fabrics.

Too hefty a price tag on that ottoman for right now?  Check out Pier 1 or World Market.  They stock great baskets, even some little woven chests or the handpainted wooden ones from India.  Place your basket/chest next to the fireplace and put the toys in there when they are not in use.

Of course, the best solution is to have the kids take their toys to their rooms, but hey, we are trying to be realistic here!

HGD can help you reclaim your space for Kiddie Wonderland!  571-232-4507

Inspiration comes in funny forms

Don't ignore your sense of style.  Maybe you are off beat; embrace it!  Go ahead - use that bookend as a doorstop.  Make that antique wrought iron birdcage the centerpiece of you dining table.  Who says you can't use those old lace hand towels in the kitchen?

Be open to inspiration.  You never now where it might come from.

Paring down to dress it up!

Sometimes pulling together your best look is a lesson in editing.

You might have beautiful built-in bookshelves but they are crammed with paperbacks from Sophomore year.  You have lovely black and white photos but they are scattered throughout 4 different rooms.  You have a lovely tailored sofa but it is covered with 7 throw pillows.

Delve back into the books, literally.  Recycle those dog-eared paperbacks; invest in some quality hardbacks of your favorite authors.  Remember to use decorative pieces in your shelves as well.  Stack some books, place a vase next to them.  Try using one color palette, for instance, all cobalt blue glassware.

Round up your treasured photos.  Put them all in similar frames, like silver for a polished traditional look or black for a clean modern appeal.  Group them together, paying attention to heights and size, larger photos in back, smaller ones to the front.

Find new homes for those pillows.  Typically 3 is enough for any sofa.

You've just updated your look!

Defining your style

You really love your ceramic owl that you made in third grade.  You're not too sure about that chair you picked up off N. 17th street's curb.  You want a carpet to tie everything together but can you find one that will do that?

Hang on.  Let's back up a bit.... a ceramic owl, a chair and a carpet.  Ok.  Let's define this room.  It's a bedroom.  Ceramic owl is perfect.  Let's put it on the bookshelf along with a collection of family photos all in black frames.  Bedrooms are perfect places to show a more intimate you.

So we've defined the room's function - bedroom, personal oasis - now let's talk about focal points.  Windows?  Fireplace?  No?  What about a nice headboard?  If you can't find an architectural focal point, create a point of interest.  Let's use a headboard between two windows.

Function?  Check.  Focal point?  Check.  Now let's work on traffic flow.  The bed is centered between two windows on the far wall.  We have nightstands on either side and dresser on the wall facing the bed.  Now , what about that neglected corner?  Perfect for our chair!  Out of the way and providing a nice little reading niche.  Perfect.  Remember, we can always reupholster our junkyard finds.  18th Century Upholstery in Farifax picks up AND delivers.

So, let's review... we've defined the function, focal point and traffic flow of our room... and decorated with what we had on hand.  Start with the definitions... think of them as a collective Little Black Dress!

Your favorite room is within reach.  HGD can help you discover it.

Decorating with you in mind

Trends come and go.  Good style lasts forever.

So what defines good style?  Is it inherent?  Can it be acquired?  Do you have to wear an ascot?

Good style comes when you use the fundamentals of good decor; do you really think hot pink vinyl will always be hip?  Olive shag carpeting anyone?

But do you have to outfit your house with toile and oriental carpets to be stylish?  The answer is no.

Good style is YOUR style.  Good style is apparent when your home reflects your own personality and maybe that does mean you use pink vinyl and olive shag carpeting.  Think about your possessions; what best expresses who you are?  It can be the wall clock you found at Goodwill, the Tiffany candlestick holders you got as a wedding gift or the lucite box you bought at Target.

So be honest with yourself about your own likes and dislikes and find what best reflects who you are.

Holcomb Gray Decor can help you hold up the mirror.
www.holcombgraydecor.com