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New Navy Blue Sofa!

Monday, April 22nd, 2013

Like many of us, my budget for home beautification only allows me to afford one big purchase at a time:

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Ever since I started our living room project, I have been dreaming of a navy blue sofa since I saw this beauty:

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A very beautiful and very expensive sofa. But I want it and the color navy fits right into my color scheme! What to do? The sofa I have now is only about five years old. It is still in great shape and I have always loved its Chesterfield look:

I love the rolled arms and it is so comfortable with the ottoman. I wanted to keep it but the fabric was not working anymore. Since the fabric is the most expensive part of having anything reupholstered, I have kept my eye out for a good price on fabric. I found this navy blue velvet on sale:

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To have a couch reupholstered, a sofa this size takes about 16 yards of fabric. The price was $14.00 a yard, plus 2 extra yards for the ottoman. 18 yards x $14.00 = $252.00 for fabric. That is a pretty good price! A reupholster price for labor on both the sofa and ottoman should cost you around $500.00. Not too bad for a ‘new’ sofa!

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Next step is finding a great, affordable rug to go with my new sofa. I ordered rug samples from Ballards in Natural that I think will work great in the room and is pretty reasonable in price:

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I need to balance the white over to the other side of the room and the rug will do just that:

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But wait!! I just found the perfect rug! Love, love, love:

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Well, perfect except for the price (sad face). I am still going to order a sample ($10.00) to be sure it will work. I noticed Company C does have an online design program where I might be able to get a designer discount. When you find ‘the’ perfect item to work in your design plan, you have to decide if you want to wait and save up for it or find something comparable that will work but not be so costly.

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I am not a very patient person when I get a great idea! I just want to keep moving forward to get the project completed. But, because of the budget, I am going to have to wait a bit to make another large purchase. Does this happen to you too? Isn’t it frustrating?

Well, it is another step toward my design goal. I love my new navy sofa and am very grateful! On to the next step!

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Here is a helpful link to an upholstery guide here that helps you determined how much fabric you will need for your upholstery project.

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Posted in Interior Decorating, Living Rooms, Reduce Recycle Reuse | 10 Responses »
Tags: blue, color, decorating, Decorating ideas, living room, navy blue sofa, sofa and chairs

Don’t Blame The Sofa

Tuesday, January 15th, 2013

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I am working on a design plan for a homeowner that had purchased a new sofa a year and a half ago and she still is not happy with the look of the room. She was kind enough to let me share her pictures and story.

When she brought the sofa home, she was disappointed that the khaki color in the sofa was not more prominent and the darker color just overwhelmed it. She wrote, “AND if that isn’t bad enough, it is casting a gold-ish, greenish hideous hue!” Not good.

Below is a photo of her living room. She had not chosen the wall color which is a light blue:

I told her that I don’t think the furniture is the problem at all, it is the color on the wall. The sofa is really nice! The light blue has a very ‘cool’ undertone color, where the sofa has warm undertones (red) and that is making the ‘dark’ color of the sofa stand out more and look as if they are clashing. And that is what was bothering her most.

She did specify that she wanted a warm color palette in the room. She had just purchased a beautiful rug that works really well with her sofa. I love how the two patterns work together:

There were a few different ways to go with paint color that would work, so I presented her with a few different options:

* To pull the khaki color out more in the sofa, try a sample of a soft light beige, such as BM Muslin 1037 (red undertones):

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* Another color you can use for a wall color is the green taken from the rug. For example, a deeper green such as Sherwood Green HC-118:

* Another option to look at is a deep medium to dark blue (also in the rug). Benjamin Moore’s Water’s Edge 1635 is beautiful:

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* One more option- Benjamin Moore Stone Hearth 984:

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Then whichever color she chooses, she can buy pillows and accessories in the same color family to bring the room all together. “Don’t blame the sofa”, I told her. “The right paint color will totally change the look of your room and work well together with your furnishings.”

I think all four options would work well in her living room. She is picking up samples now to see which color palette she likes best. Which would you choose?

If you need help choosing the best color for your home, contact me today.

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Tags: ben moore, color, living room, neutrals, paint selection, painting, sofa and chairs, update

Online Living Room Design Plan

Saturday, April 21st, 2012

Jonathan Adler

Recently an online client wrote and asked if I could help her with a design plan for her living room working with a color palette she fell in love with. She found this combination at designseeds.com :

Italian Colors

I also love these colors! So pretty. I found a couple pillows at crateandbarrel.com and here and there online that I sent her. I wanted to see which see loved best to get a better sense of her style:

LumimarjaPlwPink20inS11

HaywardPillowStackCoolS12

KaziaPillow18inS12

And the winner for favorite pillow:

She had a white sofa (easy to work with!) and this is the design plan I presented her:

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She was very happy with everything and is going to purchase the items over time. I just wanted to share with you!

Have a great weekend my friends!

If you need help decorating your home, contact me today.

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Tags: Crate&Barrel, decorating, Decorating ideas, design plan, Jonathan Adler, living room, olioboard, online design plan, pillows, sofa and chairs, turquoise, update

Worst Client Ever!

Monday, September 19th, 2011

I tell my clients over and over again: The best and easiest way to select paint colors that will work in your home is to use your existing furnishings!

But this educated, decorating fanatic, paint and fabric lover instead decided to choose paint colors that she loved and wanted to try out for herself. So she chose Manchester Tan:

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Palladian Blue:

bedrooms - Benjamin Moore - Palladian Blue - tufted headboard slipcovered nightstand lamp chair drapes soft and serene blue walls paint color

And Chelsea Gray:

MattCamron Rugs: Leslie Strauss Matt Camron Antique Oushak rug and custom headboard and bedding. decorpad

All beautiful colors. But then the sofa was moved in:

And guess what? The fabric on the sofa is not working in the room with the Manchester Tan!

Wow-it sure does look bad! Do you see how ‘dirty’ the sofa looks next to the ‘clean’ color of the walls? The beige on the sofa is more ‘muted’ than the bright, clean color Manchester Tan.

The sofa has to stay in the room. It is fairly new (five years) and is a good quality, sturdy sofa. So now what? Can’t repaint all the walls again. The best solution I see is to have the sofa slip covered, since I can’t afford to have it reupholstered at this time. Pottery Barn has a decent slip cover that will work for now:

PB Square Cushion Loose-Fit Twill Slipcover, Small Sofa, Twill Walnut

And the problem with the Palladian Blue room? This is the chair that was supposed to be used in the room:

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Never even thought to choose a color to coordinate. Duh! And have you guessed who this not so smart person is? I admit it, it is me! Color superstar and amazing decorator(:)), did not follow my own good advice on selecting paint colors! How did I make these color mistakes? Right before I moved into our new condo, I had one day to choose paint colors and I was told I could pick only three colors for the whole condo unit. I guess I got overexcited and just picked three colors I love and have been wanting to use. I do love the colors, especially the Chelsea Gray! I am going to use my own furnishings and I would like to buy a few new pieces. I will keep you updated!

I wanted to share this story with you to show how we all make mistakes. The moral of this story is to not rush into selecting paint colors. Hope you learn this lesson with me!

I would love to hear your comments and suggestions!

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