Our boutique-sized team is made up of 12 Wonderfully creative people working in an non-stop-busy interior design environment. We love imaginative people and the crazy worlds they envision. Our inspiration comes from everywhere – other designers, architects, landscaping, marketing gurus, photographers, and most importantly, our clients. We love to work with visionaries who are eager to change the way people use design and interact with it in their day to day lives. Our clients seek us out for our creativity, expertise, style and business acumen.
…We love to hear that.
You know, it’s when you walk into a room or a home and just loved, but can’t quite put your finger on why.
It is more than just chance that a place looks or feels great.
Five Foundations
Troy Beasley, Beasley & Henley’s Design Principal says Good Design breaks down into five basic rules. He calls them the Five Foundations.
1. Color
2. Lighting
3. Architectural Detailing
4. Artwork and Mirrors
5. Contrast and Friction
Color
One important note regarding color… never does it stand alone!
If you want to paint a room a gorgeous high gloss red, remember that red meets another color at some point. When you plan one color you have to plan all colors so they can nicely meet -not garishly clash. Even within a room, think about the final mix of all the color combo’s in the space. More than once has a client worried that the colors on the walls of their new home are too dark or too light, or too bold. Once all the furnishings and artwork and lighting are in though there is an incredible blend of colors that all work together. For example, that ‘”too light” wall has darker piece of furniture in front of it and the contrast is needed. That bold room is meant to be vibrant and the furnishings balance it out.
Often a neutral palette is the backdrop to a room. Then adding warm colors in small doses adds the warmth – this is an element that a lot of people feel is lacking in modern design. For example, you can decide on white walls, white floors and white fabrics and then layer colors into it with contrasting accent fabrics and bright artwork. Another option is a more blended setting; paint the walls warm gray and buy upholstery in variations of blue or beige. Then pick similar color values for artwork and accessories to create a warm environment. You can also do a neutral backdrop adding patterned effects on draperies and accent pieces. Again, high contrast artwork adds a lot of interest and warmth.
Hi Stephanie & Troy!
Congrats on an informative, beautiful Blog platform. I enjoyed reading the articles and have learned much. Thanks specifically for the hot color combos. I look forward to spreading the word and keeping up with the latest trends and you!
Michael
This was beautifully put. I do love how there is a big picture element in design and it isn’t always apparent how it all flows (the “friction”, love that) until all the elements have come together. I’m excited about the black/white direction and can’t get enough of grays. BTW, twittered about this post so I hope it gets even more readers!