Where Does Inspiration Come From?

I've been blogging about my family room's redesign: purple walls and the use of pink as a primary color.  How do you end up with a room like this!?  As it turns out inspiration for a design can come from anywhere: a favorite color, a photo, a memorable vacation, a favorite family heirloom or furniture piece.  Do you remember that Kohler faucet commercial--" design a room around this!"?




Well, that's not far from how a room design can begin! 
Start paying attention to what attacts you, what you collect or to what you tend to gravitate.  

One home office I designed, started with watching Masterpiece Theatre's Sherlock Holmes.  I loved the color of the walls in his study and the mood it gave the room.  Here are some images I found of his study (sorry, they were the best I could find--they don't really do it justice):

zetaminor.com

dailymail.co.uk

Watching (and loving) this show,  I honed in on Pratt & Lambert's "Arizona" #8-22.  

Pratt & Lambert "Arizona" 8-22

A color which, had I seen it on its' own, I would have rejected as too "dark".   Inspired by Sherlock, the color created a warm, inviting study and enhanced the existing oak bookcases.  Using the wall color as our starting point, we added natural woven roman shades and touches of bright color.

Catherine Jordan Design, LLC

Catherine Jordan Design, LLC

So, what was the source of my family room inspiration?    I designed my room around Audubon's "American Flamingo"  painting. 

princetonaudubon.com

Being inspired by something doesn't mean building a "theme" around it.  In other words, my room is not filled with all things flamingo!

                                         

Being inspired for a room design means taking an element---in my case: color; then using that element to develop a design. 

Maybe you love the shiny lacquer of Asian art.   

 You could use that love as inspiration for designing a room with  laquered walls or bookcases to hold your treasures.


 



Look around at the things that you love and think about why you love them---what are the base elements that you love?  Color, texture, subject, memories?  I know you'll find inspiration!

Can You Live in a Pink Room?

In my last post I told you that I had redesigned my family room with pink as a "predominant color".  

Crater Ranch

My husband, looking over my shoulder as I was writing, was incredulous that we had a pink room in our house!  "What pink family room?" he asked.....That comment was very satisfying from a designer's perspective!  Because our family room, probably like yours, is the one room besides the kitchen that is used everyday.   And what man wants to think he is living in a pink room?!

While, I said pink was the "predominant color", I didn't say it "dominated" the room.  Clearly his comment shows that a color, such as pink, which at first seems very limiting, can be used creatively in unexpected spaces without slapping you in the face:

In accent pillows and accessories:

Domino

 On one textile piece in the room (chair, carpeting, ottoman):

via Little Green Notebook

House Beautiful

via PepperDesign

I love how the back of this desk chair was upholstered! Who would have seen that coming?!

House Beautiful

Or an unexpected accent wall---here the bookcase is the accent wall!  Love it!

Alessandra Branca

The Washington Post Local Living section last week had an article which illustrated how a creative balance of strong colors can be achieved.  Writer, Terri Sapienza, featured a sitting room with coral-pink walls.

The Washington Post

 I loved her lead in "If you've grown tired of the grays, off-whites and earth tones that have dominated the design scene in recent years, you're in for a treat."  Amen to that!

Alessandra Branca and I must be design soul-sisters because the article quoted  her as saying "she chose a coral-pink for this Georgetown sitting room because she wanted it to feel fresh and exciting. "I grounded it with chocolate brown so it wouldn't be too feminine or girly," she says".   Exactly!

 The walls in my family room are purple---do you think hubby knows?!