Classic with a Twist: January 2013

HOW TO...Choose Paint for your Living Room

HOW TO...Choose Paint for your Living Room

Paint may be the most difficult thing for the majority of our clients...and for good reason! There are MILLIONS of paint options and color out there! How do you narrow it down?
Where do you even start?!

We have found a few tips recently featured on Pottery Barn to help you in this ~~exciting~~
patience-trying experience ;)

1. Narrow your Focus:

We like to look at the full picture of your home design when selecting paint...what other colors do you have throughout? Are you trying to bring in color to a neutral house?

Many times we will play off of an accent color already in the house. For example, if the main furniture is all neutral, but the pillows or art have a pop of sea green...may be paint the walls a soft green color. OR if you already have a lot of color, we pick a great neutral.

Traci Connell Interiors

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2. Slow Down:
Decide on a handful of colors and take a trip to the paint store! Buy small samples of each of the paints and paint a poster board with these samples. Place these poster boards in various places throughout your room and look at them in all lights (daytime, dusk, nighttime, etc). This will help you really know what you will be getting. TIP.. from our experience... do not paint samples directly
on wall! It can leave a sheen behind which is noticeable under new paint...

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3. Put it in Neutral:
You're always safe with a neutral! But watch out for those neutrals that might turn yellow...not good! You don't want your house to have a yellowish-hue to it. You want classic, sophisticated and of course...neutral.

4. Get to the Finish:
The infamous question...what is the best finish? Well...for walls never go with with a high gloss. The two that most people flip-flop between is eggshell and flat.
We prefer the flat finish here at TCI, this give you no "shine" on your walls, just a nice even coated finish. But a flat finish might be a bit harder to keep clean. With an eggshell finish, you can wipe off grease and grim very easily.... for our clients with little ones.

5. Enjoy your Choice!
Afterwards, sit back and love your decision!

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Maybe even make a mobile out of all your leftover paint swatches ;)

If you get stuck, we do paint consults by the hour and would love to help!!

Thursday, January 31, 2013 Comments: 0

HOW TO...Update your Home in Minutes

HOW TO...Update your Home in Minutes!

As we always say to our clients..."people notice what's wrong before what's right"...
SO adding a few pops to fix the "wrongs" makes all the difference ;)

Here are a few tips to help you jump start your home:

1. Make an Entrance

Adding color and fabric to the entrance of your home instantly helps to soften the arrival, and create a more approachable entrance. Whether it is through a small settee, or an area rug and a gallery wall of art...this area sets the tone for the rest of your home.

Traci Connell Interiors

2. Fabric Eye Catchers

What catches YOUR eye first?! Probably the pretty patterns in pillows and drapes. This is an easy addition for a huge change. Once you decide your scheme for your home, you can add patterned or colored pillows and drapes to create a cohesive look.

Traci Connell Interiors

3. Remake your Bed

Sounds silly?? Try it!! Just a fresh re-make will help your pillows stand up taller and you stand a little straighter knowing your bed is neat and tidy ;)

Traci Connell Interiors

It's as easy as that ;)!! Have fun!

Monday, January 28, 2013 Comments: 1

Friday Favorites ... Owl Decor!

Give a HOOT...about owl decor!! ;)

Not only was one of our designers a Chi Omega in college (where the owl is their mascot), but we are starting to see an explosion of owls in home decor everywhere we look!

From lamps, to art, to accessories...the owls got it covered!

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Even wallpaper! This little hooty hoot figure has become a budding trend today!

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Don't be scared...give it a try ;)

Happy Friday!

Friday, January 25, 2013 Comments: 6

Banquette Seating in Kitchen and Dining Spaces

Custom Corner Banquette for our Custom Build!

We are loving the built-in banquette look right now!

"Corner banquettes are great for a casual eating experience, morning coffee or a conversation hub while cooking. Pull up a chair and take a look at these cozy, corner banquettes. You would be surprised how little space is required for such a seating arrangement; the cozier the better." - Houzz

We spent some time out at one of our projects this week drawing out a custom banquette in the kitchen of our client's new home build.

In order to get the angle and curve just right, we literally had to draw out on the floor what we wanted and measure it accordingly. Check out the trim carpenter helping us with the measuring ;)

Getting it perfectly drawn out...

We will keep you updated on the progress of this special touch to their home!

Read on to learn more about banquettes and their

uses in kitchen and dining spaces today!

1. Think outside the box : banquette seating provides ultra flexible seating to cramped spaces

2. Banquettes help to delegate an eating space: Make it clear and concise where you and
your family may gather and relax

3. Family Gathering: People flock to comfy, and cozy seating

4. Easier Maneuvering: No more getting tripped up on chairs! Built-In banquettes
solve that problem quickly!

5. Include Storage below the Bench: Why not add a little hidden storage beneath your banquette? Doors can hide books or whatever you might need to be hidden ;)

Wednesday, January 23, 2013 Comments: 0

Design Delivered: Recent Online Design Packages

Have you discovered our "online design" package for those of you that like to Do-it-Yourselves??

It's called Design Delivered!

You can read ALL about it by clicking the link above and going to our website.

We recently completed two different projects through Design Delivered

and wanted to share them with you!

The first was a beautiful Master Bedroom:

We created a floorplan for the family --

And then the stunning design! Each item was described in an excel spreadsheet also given to the client with links of where to purchase the items and prices.

When needed, we also supply elevations to help the client with hanging art and decor.

Definitely one of our favorites!!

Another project was this full home accessory and a few furniture pieces project:

This specific project was "made to order" as they had several different areas of their home that needed items:

From their entry:

-That included a few accessories and small console

To their Dining:

- they already owned a dining table and chairs but needed the items to complete the room.

Their Stairway Nook:

And lastly their open Kitchen Nook and Family Room:

The client had already purchased the green plates shown below so that was our starting point for the color scheme of this design! We decided to add in navy blue and use pops of the green for accents throughout the home.

I know the ending product will be fun, sophisticated and well put together!

Are you a DIY fan but need a little guidance?? Let us help you!! Check out HERE for more information!!

Thursday, January 17, 2013 Comments: 1

Navy Named Newest Neutral

NAVY is the new NEUTRAL!

A few weeks ago, Surya ran a Facebook story from Elle Decor saying "forget black and beige!"

After we saw this, we knew we had to feature a few spaces from our designer, Courtney's home

in McKinney. She has used navy throughout her home and created a cohesive look by

popping the color in every space of her house!

A.) Bring your navy (or whatever your color of choice is)

in your space through rugs, art, pillows and accessories.

B.) Transition in between spaces with vases or colored

accessories to help draw the eye throughout the home.

C.) Using coordinating colors in the same family,

you can create a unique look for each space in your home.

D.) This color can follow you all around,

depending on how much you want it to ;)

The bottom floor of this home is all very open so we wanted the color scheme to be

cohesive wherever you looked.

Take a chance...choose your color....and start designing your home!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013 Comments: 0

Rockin' the Color Block!

Should I take my son's advice in regards to fashion?

Especially when he is extremely vocal in his opinion?

My soft spoken 17 year old called me out for wearing Emerald green

jeans and a Cobalt blue top... he said I didn't ~~coordinate~~ match at all.

GASP!

Little did he know that I was color blocking with green, blue and black-

my boots and necklace. Little did he know that I color block in my

interior design work frequently, yet it was highly amusing to listen to him!

Sometimes, we steal it from fashion-

However, this gal is rockin' the colorblock- way better than me!

and... the green and blue look sassy on

my friend, Cassie, from Hi Sugarplum,

A great definition from Apartment Therapy:
"While color blocking has been a big trend in fashion for quite a while, it's just starting to take off in the world of decor. The idea is to use contrasting blocks of color, and the same rules tend to apply to both fashion and interiors: stick to just two or three bold colors, and colors in the same family tend to work best together."

Here are some great examples from Apartment Therapy's blog: