Add PUNCH to a NO COLOR palette

A successful “no -color” palette in interior design is not a paltry accomplishment. Our room can be a dramatic scheme of black and white – think of a classic wedding – the white gown and the black tux.  Or it can be a room done in any monochromatic gradiation, but the one thing each of these rooms must have is  punch!

 Crystal balls in a boat.

 

 

 

 

 

Today I am showing  black and white elements (punch) to add to any monochromatic  room. These accessories are added in small increments, or percentages, to punch up the rest of the (lack of) color in the room.

You might know it as the “wow factor”.    

                                     

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bar-stool and art.

 

Mercury Glass Finials with Leaded Glass Vase as reflected in a mirror. BLING!   

*On this table there are only two finials and one vase.*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dynamite graphics in a  Black and white “Op Art” area rug under a dining room table.

These are fabulous finds for the 2009 Hollywood Regency look!

Punch it up. I shot all these photos in the store, so come in to see what else you can do with some black and white drama!

Next week we will go one step further by adding a touch of heat to the black and white palette.

 

Dianne Ross

Interior Designer/Phelan’s Interiors

363-9634

 

Hollywood Glam – Sparkle and Mirrors

Add some drama:  Today,  three photos – one chest!

Here I am at work shooting a mirrored chest . . .

To continue the exploration of, and the implementation of the popular Hollywood Regency Revival style, this week I roamed through the store with my camera.

 Over the next few weeks I will show effective ways to add drama with a few simple, but utterly beautiful, accessories we have on our floor.

 

 The reflective panache of this  chest screams Hollywood!

Use it in a foyer, in a dining room or a bedroom. 

This is the one.

Place this piece wherever you want a flash of serendipity.

 

 Even though it looks rather plain-Jane, I wanted to include the manufacturer’s photo below.  The entire piece can be seen without our added Hollywood embellishments.

 

Next week I’ll reveal some design secrets concerning what can be done without color – i.e. black and white art. This is at the very heart of glamorous interiors.

If you have been struggling with how to accessorize, especially using a “no color palette”  please drop me a note with your dilemma.  

 

Dianne Ross

Interior Designer/Phelan’s Interiors

363-9634

 

 

 

glammmmma – Hollywood Decor 2009

 

Here is the look of a sophisticated bedroom with the flair of

Hollywood Regency. . . Glammmma!

Note the detail of black silk cording which highlights the curvy shape of  the upholstered head board. Smooth. The pillow fabrics have a metallic lustre – not a shine.

 

 

It just looks like shadows in a rococo moonlight!

 The shimmering paisley print, as well as the geometric diamond pattern (in the color of gun metal!) give the room a decidely masculine edge. Most people think the Glam look is exclusively feminine. Not so. Not even close.

Now the bedding reveals itself dressed up in a tidy black and seapearl pin stripe. Nice.

 Even though the setting is elegant, with the look of old Hollywood extravagance, it retains a superb relaxed and snob-free attitude. Achieving this technique is often difficult in interior design. Everything about this bedroom says

 ”Touch me”, rather than saying ”hands off.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hollywood Revival look.

The romantic flavor spills into the sitting area. The space was well planned by choosing the sparkling bling of glass, lustred accent pieces, plush fabrics on the sofa, and repetition of monochromatic colors.

 

 The whole idea of injecting Hollywood Glam into our homes is to have fun and to acknowledge the romantic in each of us.  Even so, keep in mind that neither function nor creature comforts, can ever be thrown to the wind. Planning is key.

 Nilly Willy doesn’t live here.

This is the look of handsome leading men

and confident leading ladies.

 An artistic balance of ideas and precise implementation is always the sign of smart interior design.    

These two rooms are on our show room floor.

glammmmma!

 

Dianne Ross

Interior Designer/Phelan’s Interiors

363-9634

 

Glamorous Hollywood furniture meets Cedar Rapids

Hollywood Regency Design 

 

 

 

We have listened. We have responded.

 Hollywood meets Cedar Rapids!

 

HOLLYWOOD REGENCY DESIGN

Why have I taken the liberty to run the post below again?

 For one simple reason – it has received the most hits of any of my posts! Actually, TWICE the number to the second runner-up! Interestingly, the second place article is  also of  the  Hollywood genre!

The above photos feature the newest look on Phelan’s showroom floor. Come by and tell us what you think. This look is bold, but more to the point, it is functional, sophisticated in a playful way, and, well - just romantic!

 

Told you so.

This is it  – 100 percent over the top – Hollywood Regency design revival in full bloom. Always opulent and ever eclectic, always theatrical and expectedly daring, this style is not for the faint of heart. Captain Milquetoast does not get a ticket to this show. Sometimes this style is brushed with whimsy and fantasy , like in the abundant use of light fixtures as seen in the photo. But you have to admit, it is dazzling.

From the 1930’s and continuing through the 50’s (now referred to as Mid-century) Regency styling epitomized glamor, wealth, and lavish collections that identified the early Hollywood era. Elements of Lucite, lacquer, chinoiserie, bamboo – painted or natural, mercury glass, wild color schemes, flamboyant feathers, and …

Well, name something glamorous and it was in!

Clean architectural lines were paired with the frill of rococo. And, of course MIRRORS MIRRORS everywhere. Global Views is a company favored by Phelan’s for their wonderful selection of mirrors. At High Point market they introduced an elegant montage of 7 octagonal mirrors, finished in black lacquer and edged in silver, AKA: Regency revival. 

Today the revival is just as bold and as fresh as ever, not to mention terribly interesting! Scroll down to the previous post and you’ll see another interpretation from the swank unrestrained era called Hollywood Regency. 

 

There will be more next week – THE GLAM BEDROOM!

 

Dianne Ross

Inrerior Designer / Phelan’s Interiors

363-9634

4th of July, SAY WHAT? Presidential Quotes

On the Fourth of July Americans acknowledge and celebrate the birth of this experimental nation in all sorts of ways.  Oftentimes in Iowa,  it takes the form of  family picnics, colorful parades, and dazzling fireworks. So for added historical fun  here are a few words to consider from our Presidents : some deep, some silly, some stupid, some futuristic, some contemplative, and some plain ole common sense. Reflect and remember!

  [ July 4^th] ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. 

John Adams. 

 

 Ask not what your country can do for you,  but what you can do for your country.   John F. Kennedy

 

They misunderestimated me.  George W. Bush  

             

Don’t expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong.

Calvin Coolidge 

Yes we can!    Barack Obama 

 

 

I am not a crook. Richard Nixon

 

She says I am the one, but the kid is not my son.      Just kidding!!

 

  I tried to walk a line between acting lawfully and testifying falsely. .  . 

                                                                                                   Bill  Clinton

 

The world is full of educated derelicts.  Calvin Coolidge

 

 

 

 . . . .reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles . . . George Washington

 

 

I know only two tunes: One of them is ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’ and the other one  isn’t.   Ulysses S. Grant

  

With Malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds.  Abraham Lincoln

I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend. 
Thomas Jefferson

 

 HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

ENJOY THE HOLIDAY!

 

Dianne Ross

Interior Designer/Phelan’s Interiors

363-9634

 

PS  Guess who was born on the July 4th?

Calvin Coolidge, 1872

 

Guess who died?

 John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe