ShareYou chose correctly if you guessed option B. Designer Brian Patrick Flynn painted stripes on a canvas to create an outdoor-friendly rug.
We randomly chose one person from the comments, and Pamela is the winner of an HGTV baseball cap, gardening gloves and this month’s issue of HGTV Magazine. Congrats!
Check back next Wednesday to decorate a new space.
ShareToday marks the first day of LEGENDS, a three-day celebration of design in Southern California. The event brings together tastemakers from the world of interior design, decor, art, fashion and architecture for keynote panel discussions, book signings, exhibitions, special events and more.
This year’s theme is Time Capsule: The Past, Present and Future of Design. Interior designers from across the country have been invited to decorate the windows at the La Cienega Design Quarter, a shopping destination for top quality home design. Designer and HGTV friend Brian Patrick Flynn gives us a sneak peek into the inspiration behind his window design — a mixed look and feel of a 1950′s nuclear family and a present-day nuclear family.
“There’s a mix of traditional and global-infused, as well as an updated color palette. And while the furniture and overall style is a big mix of the past, the family for which it has been conceptualized is all about the present, and more importantly, the future,” Brian says.
When asked what he would add to his own design time capsule, he said “a stack of current presentation boards, which would allow me to look back in 30 years to see how much my style has evolved and/or changed,” but his personal one would include a photo of him “sporting a full head of hair circa 2013, neatly stashed inside my metal Mork & Mindy lunchbox.”
ShareYou guessed correctly if you chose option B. Designer Brian Patrick Flynn brought in over-sized green peacock pillows to enhance the smaller geometric ones and the robin’s egg blue (our color pick for February) accent wall.
We randomly chose one person from the comments, and Dora R. is the winner of this month’s issue of HGTV magazine, an HGTV FrontDoor scarf and HGTV mug. Congrats!
Check back next Wednesday to decorate a new space.
ShareSure, copper is our official color of the month, but vibrant green is the unofficial color of every March thanks to spring and, oh yeah, a little holiday full of green beer and four-leaf clovers. But this year, it’s also having a moment on it’s own, from spring fashion runway pieces (green shoes!) to home accent pieces to bedding to House Beautiful‘s March cover story. In honor of this fabulous hue (and St. Patrick’s Day), here are 5 rooms that celebrate vibrant green with style.
Design by Tobi Fairley; photo by Nancy Nolan
Designer Tobi Fairley blanketed this room with a neutral backdrop to allow the bold kelly green fabrics and lamps to shine.
Design by Emily Henderson
Designer Emily Henderson gave this small sunroom a burst of color and pattern with vintage-inspired carpet and ’50s vinyl chairs.
Design by Brian Patrick Flynn
Red and green? It can work post-December. Really. Designer Brian Patrick Flynn’s secret: Add dark brown. Depending on which color is selected as dominant, this combination can take on either a masculine or feminine vibe.
Design by Brian Patrick Flynn
Bold, saturated greens can lighten up the darkest of spaces, like this no-window walk-in closet. Vintage white accents juxtapose the super-preppy green-and-brown color scheme.
Design by Linda Woodrum
The lush green shade on the walls of this bedroom in HGTV Dream Home 2009 is at once bold and relaxing. Designer Linda Woodrum used the same hue for walls and ceiling to create extra height in this luxurious space. Feeling, ahem, green with envy yet?
What do you think: Is there a bright green room in your future?
ShareWhile, for many, traveling is the most amazing thing in the universe, it makes me want to clock myself over the head with a steel suitcase to avoid what I consider the Dark Side of Travel: canceled flights, cranky airport employees fed up with hearing complaints from travelers all day, people reclining their seats back on airplanes thus giving my 6’5″ self only 2.5 inches of breathing room, and of course, babies who save three weeks worth of crying for their airplane-seated audience.
But after 4 straight weeks producing, art directing and writing editorial for HGTVRemodels, I have learned to appreciate a great hotel like nobody’s business. When it comes to hotels, two words come to mind: Dorothy Draper.
Who is that? Well, she is one of the most influential professional decorators of all time. In fact, hotels were her thing.
Dorothy’s Style: Hollywood Regency. Here’s How to Get the Look
After shooting a gorgeous home in San Francisco this past week, I mentioned the similarity of Draper’s aesthetic to said homeowner’s bathroom. This led me to Google the bananas out of Ms. Draper and look up all of her lobbies, most in New York City. What I noticed about her work is its timeless appeal; pretty much any of her hotel interiors could pass as having been completed in 2011. For those of you unfamiliar with the iconic work of Ms. Draper, take a gander below and become a friend of Dorothy.
The stripes? Large scale and high contrast. Very Hollywood. I bet you can name three of four super decorators off the top of your head who’ve done this themselves. And if not, oh well, I can.
How about the super dark colors? Insanely glamorous and packed with high contrast and some elements of masculinity although kinda-sorta overall a femme room, yes?
Super gigantic scaled- moldings! Yes, yes yes! While this may be something many decorators do these days, back then it was totally “OMG, did she really just blow the scale up that large? So edgy, that Draper!”
Got a thing for Dorothy, like I do? Share, friends!
ShareRight now, I’m in San Francisco, a city which I’ve never been to before but have been dreaming of visiting. After a few hours here, my best friend texted me two images she found of our apartment back in the day. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect; it was she and I who’d planned to save up all of our money from waiting tables to come here and check out all the city has to offer. Well, there is something else I would like to offer: advice to my current self to the me that existed in 1997. My design skills back then S-U-C-K-E-D.
Even when I was in college with absolutely zero design experience, I was the go-to person in my social world for all things interior design and or do-it-yourself. Sure, things are different now, especially with 14 years of trial and error under my belt; however, I truly had one of those, “What the hell was I thinking?” moments when I got these two images.
One thing I like: The color blocking and simple dressing up of found-on-the-side-of-the-road-furnishings. A few things I am horrified by: Everything else. Above all, the one thing I took away from this trip down Bad Design Memory Lane is that being a designer or decorator is kinda like having vocal or acting talent; it’s always there, you just need experience and a little bit of training to fine tune it.
Anyone else have any old pictures of their first attempt at decorating and design that, although hysterical now, was something for which to be proud back then?
ShareSo my production company is in Park City, Utah, shooting the online videos for the 2012 HGTV Dream Home. Um? Oh. My. Gawd. For any of you who’ve yet to experience this magical state, which is easily the most gorgeous place in the world, you are missin’ out, y’all! Everywhere you look, there’s picturesque scenery packed with to-die-for colors.
Inspiring Kitchens from HGTV Dream Homes Past
And although Utah itself is incredible, the 2012 HGTV Dream Home is just as spectacular. Designer Linda Woodrum has done it again. This time, the house is right smack in the center of a rustic piece of property, which looks out over the Provo River and onto gorgeous Utah mountains. The interiors are transitional and neutral, spotlighting the blue tones from the Utah sky, which Linda used in a subtle, sophisticated manner.
Dream Home 2012: Furniture Load-In Day
And although I’m stoked to be here working on it, I can’t help but think to myself, “It really sucks that I’m disqualified from winning it.”
All y’all who are eligible to win better plan to get crackin’ when the sweepstakes starts on Dec. 29, 2011, at 9am ET. (You’ll be able to tour the house starting Dec. 1 — until then, stay up-to-date at Dream Home Central.) A life in Utah would be the closest thing to heaven on earth there is. Stay tuned!
ShareAside from lying, cheating, being unkind, violence, excess noise and the color of egg yolks, there’s nothing I detest more than those bought-on-sale-out-in-front-of-the-supermarket, made-to-look-old-but-really-brand-new, matchy-matchy patio sets. In fact, I’ll tailgate on plastic coolers before I’ll pop a squat on those posers. NOTE: I don’t do sports. Where the hell am I going with this, and why all the ranting? Well, a few weeks ago, my team and I gave a summery makeover to a lackluster patio deckspace in Atlanta. The patio and deck were quite beautiful; the patio furniture was another story. Our mission? To de-matchy-matchy the run-of-the-mill patio set, then set it up for summer entertaining… all in a single afternoon.
In order to make this happen, we stuck with three locations: BJ’s Membership Club, a discount fabric store and a flea market. This unexpected combination works quite well, and let me tell you why: one-stop-shopping and bang-for-your-buck. Membership and wholesale clubs have just about every brand new, buy-it-in-bulk thing you could need under one roof times twenty; flea markets have uber-affordable, that’s-so-cool-where-did-you-find-it type stuff with a one-of-a-kind designer touch. By hitting up discount fabric stores, you’re certain to find excellent outdoor fabric on clearance. Wanna put a new, affordable spin on your own matchy-matchy patio set without an entire weekend of laborious do-it-yourselfing? Then check out my ideas. Perhaps some of them are right up your deck or patio’s alley. Wait, decks and patios can’t have alleys, can they? Oh well, you get the point.
Here’s what the deck looked like after my team whipped it into shape:
ShareCongratulations to HGTV featured blogger Brian Patrick Flynn for his High Gloss Magazine feature in the just released July/August issue! Catch up on his inspiring (and often rambunctious) design tips and ideas every Thursday here on Design Happens.
What’s your favorite Brian post? We’d love to hear!
Let us know in the comment area below.
ShareI cannot tell you how many clients open my initial consultation with this line: “We want the look and feel of the W Hotel in our home.” Since when did hotels become the leading source of inspiration for residential interiors? Whenever it was, I like that time; I like it a lot. I’ve stayed at or visited three W Hotels. While I appreciated the efficiency and locale of the Times Square location, the buffalo-ish stampede of tourists charging the sidewalks just outside the front doors made me wanna pop a Xanax (and I detest pills). As for the West Hollywood location, the perfect weather and genetically blessed guests soaking up the sun by the pool were uber-dreamy; however, it made me feel horrible for being pale and wanting to scarf down a cheeseburger.
And then there’s superdecorator Thom Filicia‘s designs at the W Hotel Atlanta Buckhead, located in the city’s premiere shopping district. Uh-may-zing. The hotel’s milieu for both for service and aesthetics has been referred to as having (a) urban style merged with the city’s deep history and culture and (b) traditions of Southern hospitality. Taking a stroll through one of Thom’s masterful spaces while on your way to enjoying a cocktail in the lounge or checking into the Wonderful Room for a night or two is a perfect way to experience his work up-close-and-personal, plus walk away with some ideas. Here’s a gander at some of Thom’s clean and classic work in the down-and-dirty South.
Prepare to be Thom Filicia’d, Contemporary Southern-Style
How to Cook Your Favorite #Summer Veggies
Beachy Rustic Nightstand Before and After
Decorate This Space: Pick the Right Outdoor Seating
Table Top S’mores
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