Style challenge
If you're just starting out in your first home or are blending two homes into one, you probably have a mishmash of furniture and accessories to contend with. Some items may have been handed down, some gifted and others found along the way.
What you're left with is a mix of styles, colours and vintages to deal with. Blending an eclectic mix can be a challenge but it can be accomplished to a successful end. Just look at the very different styles in our feature photograph, courtesy of CIL Paints.
This bedroom shows how two very different decor styles can be successfully merged. The designer even went so far as to create two distinct style areas in this room.
On one side of the room are all of the ornate antique elements and on the right is the modern bed with a zebra design set against a splash of orange wall colour, which further delineates the modern area of the room. The ceiling light fixture over the bed also features a zebra pattern.
Why it works
Rather than try to incorporate the two styles, a definite line has been drawn, so to speak. The choice to emphasize the differences really works in this particular example. The antique furniture and ornate architecture are very stylized and could be visually overpowering if they were all in their original colour or finish. Neutralizing all of these items by painting them in the same, pale colour downplays any potentially unwanted style and colour contrast. This allows the bed area to become a focal point, which doesn't compete with the ornate items on the other side of the room.
There are a number of scenarios that can occur to put you in a similar design dilemma. As mentioned above, you may be merging two homes with varying decor styles or perhaps your adult child decides to move back home from college. Now, suddenly, your pretty guest room, which is filled with antiques and feminine touches must make room for a masculine, contemporary futon. In either situation, neutralizing one of the styles may be a good option for blending the items successfully.
Play up the differences
There is no mistaking the zebra bed and headboard are at the other end of the style spectrum in our feature room. The designer is not trying to hide this glaring fact, but rather, chose to play up the difference. Not only does this bed 'not belong here,' they emphasized that by painting the wall around it a bright colour! It works though.
Working with style differences rather than against them is contrary to what we're used to doing when trying to blend decor items. Normally we carry colour and pattern over to the other side of the room (through accessories like toss cushions) so there is a relationship between the items. This is definitely a good practice in most instances but if it's not working in your particular scenario, try focusing on the differences as a design statement. Either technique can work. It just depends on what you're working with so keep your options open.
Painting tips
The use of a colour-blocking technique helps create the focal area around the bed and gives the room a splash of colour. The room would be pretty bland without it. As an aside, any vivid colour could work in this particular room. Royal blue, red, green, purple or hot pink could be used in place of orange with just as much success.
People often ask where they should end their paint colour, especially in an open concept home where the walls run into one another. In this particular room they chose to end the orange colour at the door frame. Above the door frame, where there is no trim to use as a stopping point, a crisp line was created with painter's tape. Most would carry the colour around the entire door but there are no hard and fast rules here. You have the option of creating your own start and stop lines if need be. Another neat thing about using the orange paint in a localized area of the room is that it's fairly easy to revert the room back to its original look. Perhaps your student decided to go back to college and you now want to have your guest room back to the way it was. Repainting that small area would be a quick weekend job.
Painting wooden trim and furniture is still a contentious subject for many people. If you have fine antiques you probably want to leave them in their original state. If you have nice older pieces that are perhaps, mismatched and/or well used then giving them a new look with a coat of paint is a great option. Painting wooden furniture and trim is not an easily reversible decision so consider this before you dive in.
Blending styles can be a challenge but can also be rewarding when it works.
connieoliver@shaw.ca
