Last minute Thanksgiving table styling ideas or the rest of us

Let’s face it. Most of us aren’t exactly the “Martha Stewart” type, but, from time to time, we’d still like to put together a festive tablescape, hopefully without too much fuss.

In case you happened to browse pinterest for Thanksgiving table styling ideas, you’ve probably noticed that many of the photos seem dated and overdone.

Why is that?

The current home décor trend is all about “fresh” and fun: pops of bright colors, geometric patterns and white or gray backdrop. The previous trend of earthy muted colors is long gone, so any table decor photos you’ll find online that are too earthy or muted may look dated.

So, now what?

To create a pretty Thanksgiving table follow these guidelines:

1. Browse my pinterest inspiration board for tablescape ideas and pick one or two!
https://www.pinterest.com/veredrosen/thanksgiving-table/

2. Use natural elements for your décor – branches, leaves, goards, apples, oranges, mini pumpkins. Seasonal fruit like oranges and apples can work as well.

3.  Repeat, repeat, repeat – repetition is a powerful design trick, which also makes it simpler to design. Limit your color pallet to neutrals and one or two accent colors. Even the simple setting of similar plates, place mats and glasses can create a “designer look”.

4. Don’t overdo – less is more.

5. Avoid the single centerpiece on a long table look. Instead, spread your décor over the length of your dining table, and keep it low so your guests can see each other while conversing. Check out my pinterest board for ideas
https://www.pinterest.com/veredrosen/thanksgiving-table/

6. Expose your table and use place mats and a runner.

7. Avoid the single-centerpiece-on-a-long-table look. Instead, spread your décorations over the length of the table, and keep it low so your guests can see each other while conversing. 

8. Vary heights – add a few taller elements

9. When in doubt, pick white or off white – If you’re buying candles, dinnerware or a table cloth, white will always work. You can always add color with napkins, placemats, flowers etc.

https://www.pinterest.com/veredrosen/thanksgiving-table/

10. Use what you have but be consistent –  smaller flower arrangements with your collection of glass jars can work just as well as fancy store bought jars.

for more ideas to decorate your Thanksgiving table , check out my pinterest board

https://www.pinterest.com/veredrosen/thanksgiving-table/

Happy Thanksgiving!
Vered

http://www.veredrosendesign.com/

What do you do when you can't fix architectural mistakes

Designing the interiors of a house with great architecture is a true pleasure; all you need to do is emphasize the beautiful "bones" of the house, and it will look great!
But what do you do when you can't fix architectural mistakes like imbalance, asymmetry, or wrong scale?
You use the same trick you used when your 2 year-old had a tempter tantrum - distraction!
Here's an example:
Take a look at the photo below. Can you find an architectural element the designer tried to distract our eyes from?

studio McGee

Have you figured it out?  If it took you a while, that means the designer did a good job! Here's how it might have looked like before the designer fixed the architectural imbalance:

Without the built in shelves, it's easy to notice that the tiny windows on either side of the fireplace are completely off-scale relative to both the fireplace and the room!

So why is this so hard to notice right off the bat? The answer lies in the shelves that sit below the windows. They not only balance the fireplace nicely, but also repeat the gray color of the fireplace interior, so your eye moves from the built-ins to the fireplace and across, glossing over this architectural fault. 

Design is a lot about solving challenges, which is one of the reasons I love it so much!

Thanks for reading!
Vered

A clever design trick to copy

Asymmetry is a design challenge we all face at some point. Below is an extreme example... If you take a peak at the the photo below, you might notice a typical "design challenge" - a visually imbalanced window to the left of the bed, and no window on the right...
How would YOU fix it?

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Opening another window on the right would have been nice, but expensive....not to mention that another window might also not have worked well with the exterior look of the house!
The solution
Below you can see the clever solution the designer came up with: Hanging an assortment of art pieces works like magic to balance that window. I liked how the designer used black-and-white accents, balanced by a tiny bit of gold.

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Using art to balance architectural asymmetry is a tool you can use yourself. Can you share your own personal asymmetry challenge, whether it’s been solved or not? feel free to leave a comment or email me at vered@veredrosendesign.com Vered

BLOG  http://veredrosendesign.blogspot.com/2017/05/read-this-before-you-buy-neutral.html HOUZZ https://www.houzz.com/pro/veredrosendesign/__public www.veredrosendesign.com

Using art to balance architectural asymmetry is a tool you can use yourself. Can you share your own personal asymmetry challenge, whether it’s been solved or not? feel free to leave a comment or email me at vered@veredrosendesign.com Vered

Using art to balance architectural asymmetry is a tool you can use yourself.
Can you share your own personal asymmetry challenge, whether it’s been solved or not? feel free to leave a comment or email me at vered@veredrosendesign.com

Vered

BLOG  http://veredrosendesign.blogspot.com/2017/05/read-this-before-you-buy-neutral.html HOUZZ https://www.houzz.com/pro/veredrosendesign/__public www.veredrosendesign.com

BLOG  http://veredrosendesign.blogspot.com/2017/05/read-this-before-you-buy-neutral.html
HOUZZ https://www.houzz.com/pro/veredrosendesign/__public

www.veredrosendesign.com

Read this before you buy a neutral colored sofa

Yes, a neutral or white sofa is a safe choice, but not necessarily the best for your living room and style!
So how would you know if you should go with a colorful sofa or neutral?
The decision has more to do with how much color you'd like to have in your living room. If it's mostly going to be a neutrals palette (nothing wrong with that!), and just pops of color in art, pillows and perhaps a chair, then stick with a neutral sofa. But, if you'd like to bring in more then just small dosage of color into the room, then you need to pick out one or more of the large items in color (rug, window treatments, sofa, chairs or wall color). 

Here are my tips to selecting a colorful fabric for your sofa without regretting your choice:
1. The sofa color should be a color that you absolutely love, whether it's trendy or not!
2. Your sofa color needs to be in your planned color scheme.
3. A colorful sofa works best if your sofa is in the center of the room or close to the focal point, because your eye will instantly be drawn to it. 
4. Pick a color that works with all your accent colors so you can work with pillows etc.
Here are some inspirational ideas

One of my personal favorite colors for a sofa that's not neutral is blue. Here are some examples..

Vered Rosen Design

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Navy blue is a nice option if youre looking into a dark color and some contrast

An apple green sofa is a great choice!

Yellow? if that's your favorite color then  go for it!

Add caption

The most timeless color combination

Some color combination are trendy and some are timeless. Blues and whites are definitely a timeless combo. I played around with some inspiration boards here, starting with a single pillow as an inspiration!
If you're working with a  blank slate room, a fairly easy place to start is a pillow you love. 
Like this one for example:

If your pillow was that, your color scheme could be this color combo:

Always make sure you have a neutral in your pallet.

Now, add a few more pillows that work nicely together...

Back to you color scheme, you can select the sofa to be a light gray, white or blue. I selected a light gray sofa, dark blue jute rug and a clean lined coffee table and lamp.

With chairs, I was playing with three choices: navy blue, teal blue and a geometric patterned fabric chair. I wonder which ones do you think works best.

And here are my inspiration boards with all three chairs:

Board one- navy blue chair

Vered Rosen Design

Board 2- patterned chair

Vered Rosen Design

Board 3 - teal chair

Vered Rosen Design

Which one is your favorite?

Coastal colors. contemporary feel inspiration board

What if you like the blues and green colors scheme, the breezy feel of coastal style, , but want to skip the slipcovered sofa and the printed sea shells, and create a more contemporary styled living room?

Here's some inspiration boards for you.

I started with these three pillows from society

Below are two inspiration boards alternatives, using the same pillows. I picked out white as my neutrals and repeated the other colors and curvy shapes in the furniture

Designed by Vered Rosen Design

The second board is a variation on the theme

Designed by Vered Rosen Design

Which one is your favorite?

One living room - three inspiration boards

Inspiration gives you direction and clarity.
It gives you a starting point and a place to go back to when you get confused or side tracked, both of which I am guilty of. especially the side track part...
So I decided to try a little excersize. Pick out a pillow , art or fabric that will be my starting point fora living room's color scheme.

I picked out this pillow from west elm

Here's my color scheme:

Next, I started playing with some ideas of actuall items that can work together for the imaginary living room

Blue rug, white sofa:

Neutral jute rug with a white contemporary sofa

 Jute rug with a velvet dark contemporary teal sofa

 Jute rug with a medium teal traditional velvet sofa

Ask Vered

I'm starting a new series called "Ask Vered", where I will post readers design dilemmas and questions along with photos and some suggestions of how to solve the dilemma.

Here's how it works

1. If this is regarding your home, take 3-4 photos of the room you need help with (living, dining, bedroom etc.). Take your photos in day light and from a distance so they include as much from the room as possible. 
2. Specify the dilemma or what you need help with. 
3. Email your question + photos to me at veredr012@gmail.com . I might email for more details. 
4. When your room gets selected, it will be posted on my blog/facebook with suggestions and ideas to solve your design problem. Your name can be changed if you like.

Where to find color inspiration for a design project

It's no secret that behind a beautifully designed room there's a carefully chosen color scheme, even when it's predominantly neutral.
Color preferences are very personal, as are color combinations. Some people love bold colors, while others cannot tolerate more then the occasional "pop" of color. Here are some ideas to consider when selecting a color scheme for a room or a home:

1. Mood - Color affects mood and ambiance, so determining how you'd like the room to make you feel can help narrow down the color scheme. Soft hues and little contrast create a completely different atmosphere then bold, complementary hues and a high contrast.
2. Cool vs. warm - most of us tend to gravitate towards cool colors (blues and greens) or warm hues (red, oranges and yellows), though some like to mix them up. In each scenario, it's always a good idea to mix in a bit of the complementary hue, especially if the room looks too static.
3. Neutral or "real" color - you may choose to use a mix of mainly neutrals, and avoid bold colors all together, in which case mixing cool and warm neutrals hues can help create a more rich, sophisticated look the working with either warm or cool neutrals

Finding color inspiration:
You can find inspiration for your project in many sources. Photos of interiors from magazines or online sources, art, fabric, pillows, accessories. Anything visual can be a source of inspiration, as long as it has a combination of colors you love. 
Here's an example
A cheerful and fresh color combination that looks great with white or gray walls is this one below.

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Here's the color palette:

Now that you have a color palette, you can create room like this one:

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or this one:

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Or this one

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enjoy spring!

Vered

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