Tag Archives: decor tips

Design Inspiration: Set a Stormy Mood

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5775664_SThere’s nothing restful about a stormy day. Clouds roll over the sky, threatening rain or hail or snow. Lightning flashes unexpectedly, followed by the rolling roar of thunder. A stormy room wouldn’t be restful or dull. Instead, it would demand your attention.

Take a look at the stormy scene to the left. Even in a static photo, you can see the movement of the clouds and the explosion of lightning. Dark colors, browns and greys and touches of black, provide the color palette for a stormy room.

731973_STo begin to determine what makes a space feel like the outdoors in a storm, take a look at the photo on the right. This indoor space – a tunnel – echoes the mood of the storm. The ceiling is dark like the stormiest of storm clouds in the sky. The lights and the stripes on the street move like lightning across the sky. Unintentionally, this tunnel mimics some of the feel and even the sounds of a stormy day within its enclosed space.

15750868_SLet’s take a look at a room that captures the intensity of a storm in its design. While this could be a residence, it could as easily be a hotel lobby with its air of grandeur.

The colors are primarily dark, appropriate to a stormy mood. But the shiny lit stripes across the back of the ceiling and the walls provide the same stripes of light we see in the storm above and the tunnel to the right.

Lightning is more than just white – it is a light that temporarily blinds your eyes if you look right at it. The silver shine and lighting design of this room carry a reminder of lightning at its powerful best, as though it strikes and then lingers in the mind.

This design is daring and strong like a stormy day at its most powerful and overwhelming. A design like this may be too much for most homes, but how about capturing this mood in one corner of a den, or in an exciting dining room?

Storms can be frightening, but they are also energizing and interesting. Think about capturing a bit of that energy inside your home.

Design Inspiration: Set a Snowy Mood

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22974805_SThe number of times we’ve seen snow in the Phoenix area in the last decade can pretty much be counted on one hand, but we can visit snow country all winter by driving just a few hours.

With the holidays coming, some people from other parts of the country may miss the winter weather, while others are grateful for no shoveling off driveways and scraping snow and ice off cars.

If you would like to capture some of the feeling of a crisp snowy day, your decorating decisions can help make that vision a reality. Let’s imagine a January morning in the country just after the first fall of “real” snow – the kind that sticks to the ground and piles up rather than just melting away.

Here’s the first surprise. There’s a lot more than white happening. In the photo above, tree trunks look black against the snow, and shades of grey appear with the contrasts of sunshine and shadow.

Look again and you will see textures and patterns visible at no other time of the year. You can make your home reflect this mood with a few choices.

22549326_STake a look at the room shown to the right. White shares space with several shades of grey and some black. But it’s about more than color – notice the texture of the wall – matching well with the dappled look of snow in the shadows of the landscape above.

The rug mirrors the mix of white and grey visible in the scene in the combination of branches, ice and snow. If you look at that rug with winter in mind, it almost seems as though it might melt under your feet. The sheer curtains mimic the white sunlight coming through the snow in the distance.

The blue and white coverlets on the sofa bring in a color often visible on a snowy day, and the space finishes up with pops of red – always a powerful contrast color and perfect with a winter landscape.

Would you like to bring a snowy mood into your home just in time for the holidays? You can do it, with the right combination of color and texture. And maybe just a few sleigh bells?

Design Inspiration: Set a Foggy Mood

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14773707_SNow, we’re not talking about a place where you can’t keep your mind focused and aren’t sure where you’re going. Instead, think of it as a soft, misty feeling that is soothing and somewhat private – maybe with screens or curtains hung so that everything is not right in sight when you walk into a room.

Think of grey and white, with maybe just a few glimpses of a strong color once in a while.

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Take a look at the room to the right. The sheer roman shade can come down to hint at what’s outside, and the frosted glass on the French doors keep the next room half hidden.

There are a few surprises awaiting you as you move into the space. Only the bright green plants and the black clock in the corner provide any density of color and tone, just as a glimpse of a tree or flower can appear through the fog.

The wood flooring is touched with a bit of a grey wash to keep it from taking over a room characterized by warm grey walls and white trim and furniture. The space provides a sense of softness – this room allows you to relax in its soothing fog-filled mood.

18918213_SThe entryway on the left also captures a bit of the feel of fog. Very cool grey walls fit well with the soft-toned tile flooring. Every other piece of furniture and trim is white, with the half-table showing some soft edges of grey with its shabby-chic-style paint.

Notice again that there are only a couple of accessories to add contrast. The silver candlesticks ,the wall sconce and the mirror reflect light softly the way fog captures and reflects the sun. A small pop of the dark purple candle gives us the startling appeal of some item suddenly coming into view through a foggy day.

Driving in the fog can be unnerving, but taking a walk can provide an unmatched sense of magic. You never know what will appear with the next step. If you want to create that mood in your home, visualize a foggy day as you make your decorating choices.

Design Inspiration: Set a Breezy, Windswept Mood

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17624016_SAt first it may seem impossible – to create the movement of the wind in a static room design. But if you take a look at the photo to the left, one thing stands out – the wind creates curves.

Palm trees fare well in windy areas because their trunks bend with strong breezes rather than break. The fronds also create a lovely picture of curving branches in this strong wind.

The photo below takes full advantage of curves to create a windswept mood. While the flooring is a straight plank wood, it still captures the curves with the line of three steps from one section of the space to another.

Curves are echoed throughout this room. The ceiling’s curving flow really stands out thanks to the contrast of orange and white. Lights follow the orange streak in the middle, providing a curve of light along the room in the evening.

9348004_SThe outside and inside walls are also curved, and the open-air stairway arc sweeps into the room like its own breeze.

The hanging lamp and black chairs continue the theme with circles and ovals as part of their design.

Even the plants look windswept, with their leaves demonstrating a number of curving positions. There’s hardly a straight line in the place, and the shift of colors keeps the eye moving.

You don’t need a fan to create a breezy mood in your home. Look for opportunities to introduce curved rather than straight lines – in furniture, rug designs, artwork and fabrics. Add some sheer curtains or blinds to the mix and you can create your own windy day.

Design Inspiration: Set a Cozy, Rainy Mood

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9851687_SWhat’s the best way to enjoy the rain? From inside, of course. The wetter it is outside, the nicer and cozier you feel watching out the window from your dry and warm home.

There’s no denying, however, that sometimes it’s nice to spend time in a space that gives us that fresh rain feeling without getting wet. The following spaces make that happen with good design decisions. Would you like a rainy day even in sunny Arizona? Let’s see how to make it so.

Take a look at the photo to the left. What design elements come into play on a rainy day? Start with the color. This blue typifies the rain – cool and lively – not too light, not too dark, but both darker and lighter blue tones replace blacks and whites.

Next, notice the reflections – rain makes little mirrors of the sidewalks and anyplace that collects water. Instead of the shadows you expect in sunlight, you get blurred reversed views of the people along the sidewalk.

Finally, look for the small dots created by the water falling. Nothing is simply one solid color – everything has variations in shade and texture.

7521907_SNow, look at the photo of the restaurant to the right. Yes, you have a similar blue – color is one of the quickest ways to capture a mood. But there’s more that links this space to rain than color.

Check out the flooring. The large tiles are reflecting in a way very similar to the sidewalks in the photo above. All of the lights in the ceiling and above the bar also show their counterparts on that flooring. Finally, you get the contrast of light and shadow that echoes the photo above along with color variations in the flooring itself. This room really is a rainy day.

9264456_SWant the same mood at home? Well, you may not desire quite as much reflection, but these tiles shine. The shades of blue and small tile choice mimic the pattern and texture of a rainy day. Even the mirror above the sink reflects the tiles so that it looks almost like a contained wall of water.

Cool blues, texture and color variety, and a shine that reminds you of looking at yourself in a puddle before your foot hits it and splashes the image away. Make it rain.

Design Inspiration: Set a Sunny Mood

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9417150_SDesigners will use many things for inspiration. They may think of a movie, a historic time period, a specific style or color, or they may choose something vaguer – something that sets a mood rather than openly defining their inspiration.

This week let’s consider a “what if.” What if weather provided design inspiration? With Fulton’s metropolitan Phoenix location, the obvious first choice is sunshine.

This room announces a sunny day with floor-to-ceiling windows flooded with light. The dark wood window trim makes a strong contrast to the bright view outside and the light colors inside. Choosing deep orange echoes the sunny mood without being obvious while the bright citrus green chair and coffee table provide the clear colors that appear with sunshine.

Although the sky outside is a cool light blue, the expectation of a strong bright blue sky appears with the contemporary light fixture in an inviting blue/teal. A few live plants bring us that much closer to being outside in the sun.

12760827_SA sunny mood is relatively easy to demonstrate with these windows and all the sunshine as support, but what if you wanted to create a sunny mood without the outdoor advantages? Take a look at this photo to the right.

This kitchen feels sunny and bright in spite of using only artificial light. What did the designer do here to make that happen?

Using white cabinets sets the light mood, and pops of bright colors – particularly yellow – carry the message forward. The countertops are also light and the cutting board is a honey tone that feels mellowed in the sunshine.

Finally, the lighting splashes light down on the cabinet doors and under the cabinets. Add the reflections from the stainless steel range, hood, and kitchen accessories and sunshine seems to have been captured in this space. And while we take sunshine for granted in Arizona, other parts of the world can benefit from creating a sunny space indoors to compensate for grey skies outside.

Getting ready for Halloween – Decorating

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15317524_SHalloween is second only to Christmas for dollars spent on decorations. It’s fun to play with the holiday by decorating your home and yard. Here are a few ideas to bring Halloween into your home.

There are three directions to choose for your Halloween plans: classic, cute or scary. There are so many options for buying or making decorations that choosing one will help narrow down your decisions.

It’s easy to capture the classic look if you already have decorated your home for fall. You can add a few Halloween-themed items to take it that next step. For example, adding a witches hat and rustic broom in the photo above turns a classic fall arrangement into a nod to the end of October.

16024438_SCute is easy too. Grab a handy stuffed creature or two and add a few non-scary Halloween items such as uncarved pumpkins and Halloween candy. Nothing frightening here – this is a good choice when dealing with more timid little folks who may be overwhelmed by the season.

10776894_SScary is a great choice if you have teenagers in the home. The easiest way to handle this is to give them a budget and free rein. Visiting a local haunted house or two can help with inspiration. If you’re in charge, skeletons, spiders, snakes and dim lights can make your Halloween décor startling and spooky.

Warehouse, discount and dollar stores provide plenty of fuel for making your home fit the season, whichever direction you choose. For more ideas, search “Halloween decorations” on Pinterest. You’ll see a bevy of purchased and homemade ideas – all designed to please you, make you smile, or scare you to pieces.

Design Tips: Making Your Laundry Room Stand Out

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HRM0344With your Fulton home, your laundry room is generously-sized and functional, like this one from the Spyglass model at Victoria Estates. It’s nice to start with such a lovely space, and take it to the next level. Your laundry room can be the perfect place to experiment with some of your more daring design ideas. Here are a few suggestions to make it stand out.

Color: Have you always wanted a yellow room? How about robin’s egg blue? Or maybe you’re thinking about wallpaper. The room is small enough to make a project like this manageable, but you can create quite an impact with a little cash when you add color.

Art: Notice the bold and bright flowers decorating this laundry room. Maybe you’d enjoy enlargements of your favorite photos of family or your travels. You can get photos blown up to poster size for a reasonable price at most warehouse stores.

Go with a theme: This might be the space where you indulge in your love of country style, or perhaps you enjoy daisies or chickens or antique china. The laundry room is generally just for family, so have fun with the space.

Improve function: Would some hooks make it easier to hang clothes on hangars when they come out of the dryer? Maybe you could use a little sewing kit to tighten loose buttons. This might also be a good room for posting upcoming family events on a bulletin board. Take the time as you do laundry to think about additions you could make to this room to make cleaning clothes easier.

The laundry room is often the most ignored spot in the home, but you can make yours unique and special. So why not make your laundry room a space that makes you smile every time you walk in it?

Bring Fall Colors into your Home

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14387115_SFor those of us who live in the Phoenix area, September is greeted with relief that the hot weather will soon be gone. But if you’re originally from the Midwest or anywhere further North, you may find yourself missing the magic of leaves that turn golden, red and every shade of fall.

If you fit into that category, you can drive up to Sedona or Flagstaff in a few weeks, or you can pull some of those colors into your home right now.

You might start by shopping your closets. All of those russet tones that seemed too hot to bear in June and July will look more appetizing now. Do you have a throw or two, a pillow or tablecloth in fall tones? Showcase them in your home for the next few months.

Discount and department stores are showing off fall colors. Picking up a few placemats or some serving containers shaped like pumpkins add a feeling of fall. Incorporate just a few fall shapes into your year-round accessories and create a sudden autumn impression in your home.

16396871_SDon’t forget grocery stores. Pumpkins of all sizes, gourds, apples and pears, and mixed nuts in their shells can be used to create a wonderful autumn centerpiece on your dining table or buffet. If you’re a sewist, fabric stores carry a rich selection of fall-toned fabrics which just beg to be made into a runner.

Finally, Pinterest has become a favorite place to grab images of fall. How about printing some spectacular photos of fall scenery and hanging them through the house, temporarily replacing some less seasonal art? Warehouse and office supply stores will make larger prints at a very reasonable cost.

We may not see fall leaves in metropolitan Phoenix, or at least not until December, but you can use these ideas to bring fall into your home even as temperatures still hover around 100 degrees.

Fulton Homes Design Online – Area Rugs

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Qing in roomArea rugs create an island of interest in an open-concept home, bring in color, warmth and softness, absorb sound, and give a finished look to a room’s décor.

How about a visit to Fulton Homes Design Online to take a look at the rich variety of area rugs available for your new Fulton home? Whether you’re looking for an abstract floral sasha alonewith an Asian flair such as this hand-knotted example from Feizy Rug’s Qing collection, or a more traditional classic Oriental style such as the choice shown to the right from the Sasha collection, you will find your favorites displayed through Fulton Homes Design – either online or at the Design Center.

Feizy Rug® was selected by Fulton Homes as the supplier of choice for area rugs thanks to their over 40 years in the rug business, and their focus on quality and value. Feizy is committed to uniting its heritage of distinction with worldwide resources, revealing inspired methods that mirror ancient visions. Feizy Rug owners can be sure they will receive consistently excellent quality and cutting–edge design.contour collection

If you plan on hardwood or tile floors, area rugs add personality and charm while connecting each living area’s furniture into one integrated whole. And the selection of options is varied in color and style. Want a more contemporary look? Consider the Contour collection – a variegated soft stripe that can connect furniture colors.

Channels in roomOr if you’re looking for a more neutral look, the Channels Collection – in aqua, beige or ivory – uses texture to stay interesting while maintaining color consistency.

If you dream of the lush look of hardwood or tile floors combined with just the right area rugs, take a few minutes to visit Fulton Homes Design Online and travel through your choice of styles, colors and sizes offered to you as a new Fulton Home owner.

A special thanks to Feizy’s website for these great photos.