LIVE LIKE A STAR!!!
The Top Spring Decorating Trends – Celebrity Style for Less Than $500
Spring issues of celebrity and shelter magazines are brimming with fresh ideas for warm-weather-inspired decorating trends. Some, like surround-sound wired spa tubs and high-speed wall ovens, can cost thousands of dollars. With most of our cash going toward gas, there’s little left over for luxuries like those (and let’s face it – do you really want to wear ear phones in the tub? Must you roast a chicken in 10 minutes, when you can buy a rotisserie bird down the street in 5?). On the other hand, there are plenty of more affordable design details and improvements that will make your house worthy of a red carpet moment. Here’s a look at my top five picks for spring 2008 – these ideas are worth it because their appeal will last for years to come:
- Mesh wire “fabric.” Add some shimmer and sparkle and soft light diffusion with wire mesh drapes or room dividers. These mesh fabric panels were originally designed for industrial and commercial use, but they look very “right now” for home interiors. They look perfect in an ultra modern setting, but would also give an edge to more traditional interiors. Best of all, wire mesh drapes come in assorted metals: stainless steel, copper, brass and aluminum. Prices are Cascade Coil Drapery start at $6 per square foot. Even cheaper: use lightweight screening, which also comes in a variety of finishes, starting at half that price.
- Reclaimed wood. Reclaimed barn board has been a trend for sometime, and it continues to be since it’s both beautiful and green – and new sources of wood, like old wine barrels, are being discovered and repurposed all the time. Fontenay Woods sources old wine casks from France and transforms them into countertops and flooring, starting at $32 a square foot, less than the price of granite. Even cheaper: If you’re handy, do some dumpster diving (not hard on the streets of new York) and collect wine crates from liquor stores or wooden palettes from construction sites, and have a carpenter cut planks to size and then sand, stain and protect with wax of polyurethane and use to top off an kitchen island or a coffee table
- Wallpaper. Wall coverings are hot right now – with interior designers starting their own lines. I’m not talking about fussy floral or boring stripes – but big, bold graphic prints, retro-inspired modern abstract designs, textures like grass cloth, and brushed or soft metallic finishes. If you’re afraid of covering an entire room, paper one feature wall, an entryway or bathroom. Graham & Brown’s Mystique in Avocado would be lovely in a breakfast nook – 50% of the paper comes from recycled sources. $60 per single roll. Twenty2 has several ultra modern designs, including grass cloths. Their Terrace (the Blanche shade is soothing) is a modern take on the traditional trellis pattern and would be perfect in a dining alcove. $149 for a single roll. Even cheaper: Look for vintage examples on auction sites like eBay that often start as low as $10 for single and double rolls.
- Blue. The Pantone Color Institute has named blue as the color for 2008. Benjamin Moore (the decorator’s number one brand) has nearly 170 different shades in its new collection. I love Blue Lapis (beach without being a cliché) and Gentleman’s Gray (great for his den!). From $54.00. Farrow & Ball, another designer’s secret, has 24 beautiful blues – their Chinese Blue is especially modern without being cold. From $32.50. Even cheaper: print out a swatch of high end paint – or use a swatch of color from any photo or fabric – and have your local home super store color match it with high quality by much less expensive store brand paint.
- Accent it. Blue is beautiful – Highlight it with this year’s hottest and anything-but-predictable accent colors and finishes: acid green and eggplant purple or flax and russet red (so much more exciting than last year’s ubiquitous blue-brown-orange combo). Add in a few silvery and Lucite accessories, and mirrored side tables and your room will be ready for its close up! Uncommon Goods bike chain bowl, $90, offers a smart and sassy place for change and keys on an entryway table. Williams-Sonoma sells a mirrors console table for $1000. Even cheaper: J. C. Penny has a mirrored étagère (perfect for small space storage in a bedroom, or as a bar in a glam living room) for $315. Overstock.com sells a white jade and silver Dragon and Phoenix bowl handcrafted in China for about $30.
See, you too can have what any celebrity home has while saving money to buy those great pair of Jimmy Choo’s!
If I Can Do It So Can You!!
Peace, Love, Tools & Screws
Barbara K
