Dramatic loft in Taiwan

In this amazing loft, the main expressive effect is created by the very interesting contrast between the classical and modernist elements against the background of concrete walls.
Empty frame on a wall, empty concrete walls are symbols of the present while the classic and the modernist furnitures and objects (the lamp, a picture, a sofa or a carpet) represents the past and the future.

2010 Color Trends

Color Experts Farrow & Ball Create 4 Key Color Trends for 2010 

I just received the run down on the 2010 color trends from Farrow & Ball. They are all fresh and exciting combinations. I like the earthy shades in the Industrial color trends palette.  The subtle, natural colors in the Aquatic color trends palette would be dreamy in a bedroom. I especially like the dark and dramatic colors in the Urban Decay color trends palette (Pitch Black No.256 is one of my all time favourite accent colors). And how can you top the Glitz & Glamour color trends palette for adding a bit of pizzazz to a room. I would stick with the neutrals for the largest areas (Cat's Paw No.240, Savage Ground No.213,Ringwold Ground No.208) and use the brighter accent colors sparingly, maybe incorporating them in artwork and accessories.

1. Industrial 2010 Color Trends: A strong but fragile fusion of colour.

Inspired by industrial architecture, this look is all about modernity mixed with tradition. Old and new are combined in an urban palette of muted tones that mimic the earthy shades of natural materials such as stone, clay, chalk and brick. Team soft grey based neutrals such as Cornforth White No.228 and Pavilion Gray No.242 with intense and inky darks such as Off-Black No.57 and Down Pipe No.26 to create a contemporary scheme. The deep, dramatic hues are accented and uplifted by splashes of vibrant, zestful colour with citrus shades such as Babouche No.223 or Orangery No.70.

2010 Color Trends
Key colours for the Farrow & Ball Industrial 2010 Color Trends :
Farrow & Ball Down Pipe No.26
Farrow & Ball Off-Black No.57
Farrow & Ball Pavilion Gray No.242
Farrow & Ball Cornforth White No.228
Farrow & Ball Setting Plaster No.231
Farrow & Ball Orangery No.70
Farrow & Ball Babouche No.223
Farrow & Ball Blackened No.2011

2. Aquatic 2010 Color Trends: A soft, watery palette defined by the elements.

This is a gentle, tranquil scheme. Subtle, natural colours are starkly contrasted with strong inky blues and combined with the reflective qualities of light, glass and mirrors for a diluted, watery look featuring freshwater tones. Try Strong White No.2001 or James White No.2010 teamed with the soft Pavilion Blue No.252 or Tunsgate Green No.250, and underpinned by Blue Ground No.210, Drawing Room Blue No.253 or Hague Blue No.30.

 
2010 Color Trends
Key colours for the Farrow & Ball Aquatic 2010 Color Trends:
Farrow & Ball Pavilion Blue No.252
Farrow & Ball Tunsgate Green No.250
Farrow & Ball Blue Ground No.210

Farrow & Ball James White No.2010
Farrow & Ball Hague Blue No.30
Farrow & Ball Strong White No.2001
Farrow & Ball Drawing Room Blue No.253

3. Urban Decay 2010 Color Trends: A vibrant scheme with an unpredictable twist.

Bold and graphic, this look is heavily influenced by the global economic meltdown and features the strong use of vibrant colours, but with an urban edge. Team dark and dramatic colours such as Pelt No.254 and Pitch Black No.256 together in a scheme for a theatrical look and experiment with paint finish as well as colour to make a real statement. Use Eco Full Gloss to create a high shine surface and inject with zingy, bright colours such as Arsenic No.214 and Dayroom Yellow No.233 for added impact and the ultimate visual scheme!

2010 Color Trends
Key colours for the Farrow & Ball Urban Decay 2010 Color Trends :
Farrow & Ball Pelt No.254
Farrow & Ball Pitch Black No.256
Farrow & Ball Oval Room Blue® No.85
Farrow & Ball Parma Gray® No.27
Farrow & Ball Dayroom Yellow No.233
Farrow & Ball Arsenic No.214
Farrow & Ball Great White No.2006

4.  Glitz & Glamour 2010 Color Trends: A decadent look that celebrates excess.

In complete contrast to Urban Decay, this look is all about wealth and indulgence. Use rich and opulent shades like Brinjal No.222, Pitch Blue No.220 and Churlish Green No.251, alongside shimmering gold and metallics for an extravagant feel. This glamorous, glitzy look has a Middle Eastern influence, so colours include exotic shades which combine and collide in a celebration of colour and excess. Try Porphyry Pink No.49, Brinjal No.222 and Churlish Green No.251; a riot of colour with an adventurous twist. Key to this look is the myriad of colours – definitely not for the faint-hearted!

2010 Color Trends
Key colours for the Farrow & Ball Glitz & Glamour 2010 Color Trends :
Farrow & Ball Brinjal No.222
Farrow & Ball Cat's Paw No.240
Farrow & Ball Churlish Green No.251
Farrow & Ball Savage Ground No.213
Farrow & Ball Pitch Blue No.220
Farrow & Ball Porphyry Pink No.49
Farrow & Ball Cinder Rose No.246
Farrow & Ball Ringwold Ground No.208

What is your favourite 2010 Color Trends palette? 
Please let me know by leaving a comment [here].

Patricia Gray is an award winning Interior Designer in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada who blogs about
"WHAT'S HOT" in the world of Interior Design: New and Emerging Trends, Contemporary Design, Modern Architecture and Travel,
as well as how your surroundings can enhance the world around you.
© Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™ 2009

Knitting 101 for Christmas

This year for Christmas presents I am knitting a few scarves for special gift giving. My Grandmother taught me to knit when I was 5 and I have continued to knit on and off over the years. I love going into yarn shops and feasting my eyes on all the colors and textures available. On my last trip to the yarn shop I was captivated by this most exquisite shade of teal blue. It is a blend of wool mohair and silk, and knits up as soft and light as a spider's web. I love working with bamboo needles. This scarf is super easy. Cast on as many stitches as you need to make the scarf the width you want and then just knit every row until it is long enough. For this season extra long and very narrow scarves seem to be all the trend.

Happy Knitting If you have any knitting projects on the go please leave a comment [here].
PS I am going on a plane trip...does any one know if knitting needles are allowed through security??

Helpful Videos:
Knitting 101 Casting on Stitches
Knitting 101 The Knit Stitch
Knitting 101 Casting off Stitches
Knitting 101 Knitting Tips

Patricia Gray is an award winning Interior Designer in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada who blogs about
"WHAT'S HOT" in the world of Interior Design: New and Emerging Trends, Contemporary Design, Modern Architecture and Travel,
as well as how your surroundings can enhance the world around you.
© Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™ 2009

Interior Design 101

Patricia Gray in BC Home Magazine 
Talks about Design 101

BC Home Magazine Design 101

BC Home Magazine Design 101 cont.

BC Home Magazine Design 101  


View article in Adobe Reader
BC Home Magazine Design 101

 

Patricia Gray is an award winning Interior Designer in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada who blogs about
"WHAT'S HOT" in the world of Interior Design: New and Emerging Trends, Contemporary Design, Modern Architecture and Travel,
as well as how your surroundings can enhance the world around you.
© Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™ 2009

Bookshelves in Interior Design

30 of the Best Bookshelves

Books are such a wonderful way of personalizing your space. Who doesn't love to be surrounded with all this wonderful inspiration. I think rooms with bookshelves are some of my most memorable spaces. Everyone feels comfortable in these rooms and they are rooms where you want to linger. I have a girlfriend who has a monumental bookshelf in her dining room. I always love to sit at the table across from the bookshelf so I can peruse the shelves between the dinner conversation.

"Five years from now, you’re the same person except for the people you’ve met and the books you’ve read."
— John Wooden

I have categorized the following pictures of bookshelves into 7 sections:

1. Bookshelves in Living Rooms

Bookshelves in Living Rooms - Dominio

      
Bookshelves in Living Rooms - Poliform

Bookshelves in Living Rooms - Homes and Gardens

Bookshelves in Living Rooms - Domino Magazine 

Bookshelves in Living Rooms -BHG 

2. Bookshelves with Library Ladders

 
Bookshelves with Library Ladders - Interior Design Alberto Pinto

 
Bookshelves with Library Ladders - Interior Design Tom Scheerer

 
Bookshelves with Library Ladders - Diane von Furstenberg source unknown

Bookshelves with Library Ladders - Ikea

 
Pierre Chareau's Bookcase from La Maison de Verre by Dominique Vellay
Bookshelves with Library Ladders - photo via Apartment Therapy

Bookshelves with Library Ladders - Southern Accents

3. Bookshelves in Offices

 
Bookshelves in Offices - Interior Design Briger and Briger

 
Bookshelves in Offices / Bookshelves with  Library Ladders - Interior Design Alberto Pinto

 

 
Bookshelves in Offices - Domino

 
Bookshelves in Offices - Interior Design Mary McGee

4. Bookshelves in Dining Rooms

Bookshelves in Dining Rooms / Bookshelves with Library Ladders - Charles Page

 
Bookshelves in Dining Rooms - Elle Decor, Photography William Waldron, Interior Design Glickman & Teng

 
Bookshelves in Dining Rooms - Interior Design Antonia Hutt

5. Bookshelves in Kitchens

Bookshelves in Kitchens - Vitsoe

 
Bookshelves in Kitchens / Bookshelves with Library Ladders - Interior Design Cecconi Simone

Bookshelves in Kitchens - photo via Purple Area

6. Bookshelves in Bedrooms

 
Bookshelves in Bedrooms - Interior Design Source Unknown

 
Bookshelves in Bedrooms / Bookshelves with Library Ladders - Interior Design Source Unknown

 
Bookshelves in Bedrooms - photo via Girl Meets Glamour

7. Bookshelves in Stairs

 
Bookshelves in Stairs - source unknown

 
Bookshelves in Stairs - Design by Wilson and Associates Architects 

 
Bookshelves in Stairs - Design by Levitate Architects via Home Interiors 
 

These bookshelves line the stairs up the third floor of the Fallingwater house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Bookshelves in Stairs - picture via Flickr

What is your favourite room to display books in?  Please let me know by leaving a comment.

 

Patricia Gray is an award winning Interior Designer in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada who blogs about
"WHAT'S HOT" in the world of Interior Design: New and Emerging Trends, Contemporary Design, Modern Architecture and Travel,
as well as how your surroundings can enhance the world around you.
© Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™ 2009

Stylish transformation

The interior layout of historical buildings in Paris often mismatches today's standards. Small rooms, long dark corridors and other features of old constructions complicate the transformation in modern and comfortable apartments. Young French designer Vincent Parreira took the challenge of reorganizing this beautiful space situated in a XVIII century building.
Low wooden ceilings are restored and painted in white color. The dominance of white makes a perfect neutral background for the colored furniture. The elegant dining room features a table with an oval marble table, classic wood chairs, black and white artwork and smoky glass partitions. To remind the glorious past of the apartment, a magnificent ancient crystal lustre.
In the bathroom, grey color is combined with smooth and shining surfaces. "I wanted to create a sensual intimate atmosphere, but at the same time open to light », —tells the designer.

COCO BEFORE CHANEL - Movie Review

COCO Before Chanel is a new movie by Warner Bros just released in Vancouver. Coco Before Chanel stars Audrey Tautou, the French actress, who I love best in the movie Amelie. It was shot in Paris and Normandy. Many decades ago André Malraux predicted “From this century, in France, three names will remain: de Gaulle, Picasso, and Coco Chanel.” Not even the mythomaniac Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel could have anticipated how her legacy would persist triumphantly into the next millennium. I, for one, am going to be first in line at the box office for Coco Before Chanel. I will take my classic Coco Chanel handbag (which I bought in Paris when I was studying Interior Design) with me to the show.

In character as Coco Chanel, Audrey Tautou reclines in the designer’s private apartment on her famous voluptuous
suede sofa, above her Paris couture salon. Karl Lagerfeld made her classic Chanel suit specially for the film Coco Before Chanel.
Vanity Fair February 2009 Photo by Brigitte Lacombe
Coco Before Chanel - Movie Review


The Chanel logo is an overlapping double 'C' - one facing forward and the other facing backward, and comes
from the name Coco Chanel. "Coco" is the nickname frequently used for Chanel founder, Gabrielle Chanel.
Coco Before Chanel - Movie Review


Audrey Tautou stars as Coco Chanel in "Coco Before Chanel." Warner Bros. Photo
Coco Before Chanel - Movie Review

Classic Coco Chanel Handbag
Coco Before Chanel - Movie Review

Please let me know if you have seen the movie and what you think about it by leaving a comment.

 

Patricia Gray writes about 'WHAT'S HOT 'in the world of Interior Design, new and emerging trends, modern design,
architecture, and travel, as well as how your surroundings can enhance your world.
© Patricia Gray Interior Design Blog, 2009