It’s about time to start thinking about your gardens! Still a little too cold outside to start those delicious homegrown fruits and vegetables? How about these eco-friendly, well packaged, Grow Your Own kits from EcoSource. Start them now, and when it gets warmer they’ll be ready to transplant outdoors!
Kristi recently emailed in curious about how she can create a gender neutral nursery. In her own words, she says:
I am embarking on a nursery design project in my home and I would like some ideas if you have any. My husband and I will be refinishing the wood floor and then I can do whatever I would like with it. I am struggling because I would like to have a basic design that would work for both genders but could be customized with each child. We plan on staying in our home for several years so I was hoping that the basics could be gender neutral and then I could switch out bedding, window treatments and wall hangings depending on the gender of the child that is currently in that room. I like the combination of brown/pink and brown/blue. Do you have any ideas that might help me out?
And here is my two cents. As you know, I have a 2 year old. When we found out we were having him, I had the same concerns. I didn’t want to worry about redecorating every couple years. We decided to keep the walls a neutral tan color and decided to accent the room with blues and greens to give it a more “boy” feel.
I think sticking with an overall brown tone to the room, you should be gender neutral enough and be able to make the room feel more girl or boy once the time comes. Other colors such as greens– like seaform and limes are also gender neutral. I think orange is also a gender neutral {and modern too!}; however with the wood floors you mentioned, depending on the stain, it might be too much orange.
I think the important thing is to stick to your gut and what you like. Paint is one of the least expensive changes to make in a home. Even though we kept our son’s room neutral at the beginning, when his personality started to show, I started getting really excited about decorating his room. We have now paint the walls a dark blue, and are working on creating a space that we feel like reflects him and allows his imagination to grow. So in a nut shell: have fun, and love the space your in!
How about you, Fresh Nest readers? Do you have any pointers that will help Kristi?
So did you have a chance to watch the Oscars on Sunday? I did! I love watching it for all the fashion statements. And this was my favorite outfit that I saw all night.
Didn’t Cameron Diaz look stunning? To me, fashion isn’t that far off from interior design. They are both about assembling and “outfit” — but just in different formats. Seeing Cameron Diaz’s beautiful dress with subtle accents and jewelry with red lipstick make me want to spruce up the house with a little gold. She’s glowing and to me, looks so inviting. So here are some gold pieces that could easily be incorporated into any space.
What do you think? Do you like a touch of gold in your space?
Today’s redesign was based off of this lovely new set of dishes from, believe it or not, Walmart! It’s their new Citrus Blossom Collection. I love the colors! Bright and Cheerful!
1. Citrus Blossom Dish Set from Walmart
2. Chelsea rug from Plushrugs.com
3. Cecelia Napkins from Crate and Barrel
4. Spire Vases from Home Decorators Collection
5. Nottingham Pedestal Dining Table from Target.
6. Jasper Dining Chairs from Target.
Tags: dining room, spring
Balance is VERY important in a great room design! It gives the person in the space a sense of calm and peace. There are two different types of balance:
Asymmetrical Balance and Symmetrical Balance.
Symmetrical Balance is very balanced and even in nature. It has a sense of symmetry and many times is much like a mirror image. If you take half the room and mirror it, it will look the exact same! Symmetrical balance is very easy to design and is great for a beginner!
Asymmetrical Balance is just that, asymmetrical. It uses different elements of design like color, texture, and size variations to appear balanced, even though it’s not a symmetrical mirror image. Asymmetrical balance is a little more difficult to balance out but can be done with a little practice.
Here are some examples and my explanations of how they are balanced:
This one is almost symmetrical, but not quite, therefore I’m labeling it Asymmetrical. The left side has three different similar colored objects (picture frame, small yellow vase, small yellow bowl) that balance out the two darker objects (green frame, pine cone) of the right side.
This is a great example of asymmetrical balance. In this photo the artwork on the mantle is not symmetrical. The white and black accessories, though they take up much more space than the orange arrangement, are balanced well. By choosing the white candlestick, it blends into the wall and feels less visually heavy than it really is. Even the furniture is asymmetrically balanced. The large white sofa balances well with the smaller, darker wood chairs and end table.
This (besides the little purple orchid) is a great example of symmetrical balance. It’s perfectly balanced between the matching end tables, lamps, and single pillow to add a nice focal point.
Great example of asymmetrical balance (and a great arrangement for a wall with a slanted ceiling line!) The large sculptures on the dresser on the left seem to balance that side well and are balanced well with the white lamp coming down into the space. The white lamp actually seems more visually heavy in the space because of the high contrast between the light lamp and the dark wall paint.
This is another great example of asymmetrically placed accessories on the mantle. Imagine the mantle with just the circular mirror and the two picture frames. It’s not balanced with just that! By adding the dark book holders and small accessories in front of the gray framed picture it’s visually balancing the darker frame and print.
Hope you enjoyed the lesson! (Click on the photo to be taken directly to the source. There are more examples of asymmetric vs. symmetrical design. It’s a lot easier to see symmetrical, but sometimes the asymmetrical designs can be less obvious.)
