I was reading a new favorite blog of mine House*Tweaking and the author, Dana, wrote a series of posts about open floor plans and how to create good "flow" with them (and your entire house in general too). And the number one rule is to have cohesive design throughout the house. And you accomplish this with color. Well, duh. I have been reading about this everywhere, for a very long time, yet I continue to want a bright blue living room and a moody chocolate brown kitchen and an elegant, yet casual grey bedroom.
Bright blue + mood brown + elegant/casual grey does not equal a cohesive home. Well, duh. I was looking around our house last night and thinking about all the ideas I have already done and still want to do and came to the realization that I do not think things through very well when it comes to decorating (or most things in life now that I think about it). I am impulsive and love instant gratification. If I order something online, I am watching the mail that same afternoon for it to arrive. If I see a cute haircut somewhere, I will call that day to make an appointment. I think of a dramatic paint color and I paint a wall. Over the years I have continued to work on myself in this area and have had to force myself to calm down...and think about a decision for a bit before acting on it. Though this makes me frustrated, it seems to work since 90% of the time will cancel my hair appointment when it's made for a later date.
Anyway, back to the house. All the different colors, are just not creating good flow. On our main level (which is open floorplan style) is our kitchen, dining area, and living room. They open into one another....and yet I have 4 different wall colors going on. Here, check it out:
Blue living room, with tan wall leading into the dining area, brown kitchen/dining area, and white hutch. Not flowing well at all. I always jump to bright or dramatic colors for the walls, though when I look at magazines, I am always drawn to the neutral rooms, with pops of bright colors from pillows, art, and accessories. Maybe I like the risk in the dramatic colors, who knows.
Having a cohesive color design plan, will make the entire house flooow better. I like to think that if you go from one room to another, you won't feel as though you are entering an entirely different home because of the drastic color changes. Sooo, my first step in making flooow throughout the house will be to pick a more neutral color palate for the walls.....since I love to paint (as shown here) I don't mind the challenge of painting every room in the house (ughh, though as I wrote that I felt a little tired). As of right now I am thinking various shades of light grey (seriously, I have an addiction to this color idea) since I had already planned on painting a couple rooms a grey color. All of our three couches are different shades of tan, I don't want them to become "lost" in the paint in the walls (if we went with the always classic tan) and I think grey will make our white trim and dark floors look oh so elegant and casual all at once.
Now some of you may be thinking, "Wait a minute, you nut job. You have oak-y looking cabinets in your kitchen, along with dark counter tops and black hole appliances! And you think grey will look good?!"
Well, back off me for a second, will ya?! Please allow me to explain. Matt and I have gone back and forth and back and forth about what to do with our kitchen cabinets. Their color doesn't match anything else in the house, and they are cheap. Probably the cheapest option from where ever our seller bought them from. That being said, we have thrown the idea of painting our kitchen cabinets around since we bought the house. I have always wanted a white kitchen, and though I think white kitchens are a bit of a fad right now, I think white cabinets would be the best color for our us. All of our trim and all the doors are white throughout the house and if the cabinets were white it will help the kitchen feel more like it belongs with the rest of the house. And though the black hole appliances would stick out like crazy with white cabinets, we plan on replacing them for newer, more energy efficient ones anyway (in stainless steel). Some of you may be cringing with the thought of painting cabinets, but we don't have an extra $4,000 laying around to throw into brand new cabinets (Owning a home is expensive! We need that $4,000 in case 50 other things break). And if done patiently and correctly, you won't be able to tell they're painted unless you look really closely.
So, that is the updated and current plan for the house....I am forcing myself to think about it for a couple weeks before doing any painting, just to make sure it is what is best for the house. But here is a clue as to what I will be doing in the bedroom this weekend (that came out wrong...):
Not very vague I guess...But just the first step of many towards the flooow :)
~S~
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