Spectacular Spaces tips for eliminating color confusion!

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If you are thinking about making some color changes in your home, like most of my clients, you may be feeling a little overwhelmed by the choices.  Check out these tips from my Home Inspirations column in this weekend's News-Press.

Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press• June 4, 2011

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Color is a homeowner's most powerful tool when it comes to dramatically changing a home. Used correctly, it completely transforms a room or an entire home. It is the biggest change that can be made for the least amount of money.

It has the power to change everything, like magic. Color is the first thing we notice. The wrong color sends us in the other direction and the right color draws us in. It turns a dull space into something exciting. It can soften a room. But picking just the right color can be a challenge. Color confusion!

Much of the process has to do with the emotional aspects of color and deciding what you like and how to achieve a feeling or an emotion in a room or in your entire home. It is what happens before you begin to pick out paint colors.

When I do a color consultation for a client, I find that most are confused about where to begin the exciting task of picking out color. Because it is about the client's home and not mine, what is a decorator to do?

First, we decide how you want the room to feel. For my own home and for my clients, I am constantly taking pictures of vignettes of color: flowers, pots around a pool, a setting in a park, that draw me in and speak to me and inspire me. This helps me to decide what mood I want to create: Playful. Whimsical. Elegant. Exotic. Cozy. Sexy. Exciting. A spring garden. Summer. Nature-inspired.

Here are some tips that are tried and tested. Use them and you can't go wrong.

• When redoing the color in a room, follow the 60-30-10 color rule. Many decorators use this rule and it works every time. The 60 percent should be your wall color. Your furniture and fabric should be 30 percent. The remaining 10 percent should be your accessories, pillows and rugs. When you see a room or photograph in a magazine and it seems to work, chances are that this rule applies.

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• When selecting new colors, follow nature as your guide. Mother Nature has perfected the color palette so imitate her. This is a rule I always follow.

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• Think about each room and how it is used. In southwest Florida many of my clients want a palette that is calm and that may mean the blues and greens. For my own office, I use a coral because reds and oranges are energizing. In bedrooms, think about neutrals such as the Benjamin Moore whites. Pop color in with accessories.

• Stick with two or three (at the most) paint colors for your home. I recently redid a beach house for a client who had previously painted each room a different tropical color. She found it to be tiring. We completely transformed the house into an old Florida beach cottage look with a pale gray and bright white trim in the living areas and bedrooms and a pale blue in the baths. Tropical colors were added with fabric and accessories. The result: Beautiful and restful.

• Avoid trends. Each year we talk about the trends in color. This is fun. Pink is the hot color. Gray is the new beige. What is a homeowner to do? Go with what you love. No matter what the trend of the moment happens to be. And don't forget my rule: Stick close to nature and you cannot go wrong with color.

— Wrenda Goodwyn is a Southwest Florida interior decorator. Visit her website at spectacularspaces.com. Call her at 949-1808 or email wrenda@spectacularspaces.com. For more decorating tips and photos, visit spectacularspaces.com/blog.

Lunch with Alexa Hampton: The Language of Interior Design

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When I had "Lunch with Alexa Hampton" and heard her presentation at the Miromar Design Center in Photo of cover of Alexa Hampton bookEstero this week, I was already a huge fan of her stunning designs. Her ideas about what makes a house not just pretty, but extraordinary, are inspiring.  And they remind me what I love about interior decorating.

Plus, the fact that she once sold her Volkswagon to purchase a damask club chair made by the famous New York upholsterer Guido De Angelis.  Maybe a little extreme but I think we can all relate.

And her secret for removing red wine from furniture (which she jokingly said that she has done a few times): One jigger of Ivory dish wash mixed with one jigger of hydrogen peroxide.  Information you can use.

Photo of Alex Hampton autograph for Wrenda GoodwynWhen I spelled my name for her to sign my book: W-R-E-N-D-A, she said "Sir Christopher Wren!"  I was amazed.  No one ever makes that connection. Wren was my father's middle name and my mother made it up from there. Being from the Williamsburg, Virginia area, it is a big name in historical architecture and I have spent years going to Wren's famous architectural masterpieces in Europe.  Of course she knew Wren.  She laughingly said that she would never forget my name with that connection. 

And I surely could not forget hers.

I already knew that Alexa was the daughter of the late interior design legend Mark Hampton.  And I knew from a previous seminar that she is one of America's most influential designers herself having been listed in Architectural Digest and House Beautiful as one of the country's top designers.  She designs the interiors of landmarks such as the Trowbridge House in Washington, DC, the official guesthouse for former visiting Presidents.  She served as senior design consultant for the 25th anniversary of the PBS series, This Old House.  She decorated a dressing room for Barbara Walters.

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Design Notes: Go outdoors for inspiration

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This past week (the week after the holidays) I was mostly inside catching up on work and by the time today rolled around, I was in need of the great outdoors.

Audubon Corkscrew Swamp SanctuaryWhenever I need inspiration, for decorating, writing or anything else, I always look to nature.  And although I spend most weekends combing the beaches of southwest Florida, today I was in need of some "green."

So I headed to a little gem called Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.  I was not disappointed.  Mother nature always provides the best palate.  And we cannot go wrong using it in our home environment.  It is healthy and inspiring.Colorful leaves

This 11,000-acre ancient forest provides a 2.25-mile raised boardwalk that is a nice walk through four distinct environments: a pine upland, a wet prairie, a cypress forest and a marsh.

Wildlife sightings are plentiful here and vary depending on the time of year and the weather.  Today was gorgeous. We saw lots of birds, a gator, butterflies, mammals, insects, and a variety of native plants including wild orchids.  We did not see the black bear but maybe next time.  We also did not see the gorilla that some jokester wrote on the "today's sightings" board.

blue skyThe boardwalk is never crowded and the sanctuary's visitors are all very quiet and respectful of the surroundings.  There were a handful of serious nature photographers with amazingly long lens.  And my little point and shoot!

Think about getting outside to celebrate the beginning of a new year.  And remember my mantra for decorating:  Stay close to nature.  You can't go wrong!

   

 

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Home Inspirations begins in Fort Myers News-Press

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Photo of houseCheck out my new decorating column, Home Inspirations, that began today in the Fort Myers News-Press with this intro.

The column will focus on  fresh approaches and imaginative solutions for renewing your spaces.  Transforming your bath into a spa-like retreat, clutter-busting secrets, finding flea market treasures and much more!  Follow us and let us know what you would like to know more about in this column and blog. 

News-Press, August 28, 2010 by Wrenda Goodwyn

For as long as I can remember I have been redoing rooms.

As a child, some of best memories are of my mother and me moving all of the furniture around in every room.  This became a seasonal ritual and my father would come home from work in the evening to a different house.  We didn’t have a lot of money for decorating so we used what we had.  When we got bored, we moved everything around and just made it look completely different.  Always better.

Then there was the time that we painted the master bedroom purple.   My father was on a short business trip and we had to work fast.  To this day, I have a soft spot for Benjamin Moore Violet Mist #1437.  We loved it.  My father was not so sure.  I told them that it was the perfect dreamy color for a bedroom.  I was 10 years old.  My mother and I were convinced that we were ahead of our time as decorators! 

So after redoing my own small apartments, condos, homes, beachouses and estate homes, as well as the homes of most of my friends, I decided to put my talents to work. I did not want to be a traditional designer.  I wanted to start with what people already had and work from there.  I had done my own homes on every level budget.  Most important, I knew that I could make any home, regardless of the budget or style, look better.  I knew that I had a passion for decorating and that I had always been able to make a room look better.  What amazed me were the small changes that had a big impact.  

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Travels: This Week I'm in a London state of mind

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I am not sure exactly when I fell in love with London.  But many years ago it became my city.   Again and again I return.  And when I leave, I always wish for more time.

My favorite visit here was with my late father for his 70th birthday.  We covered every inch of London and a lot out of the city during our two-week visit and being able to show it all to him was a memory that I cherish.  Standing on the white cliffs at Dover that he had seen from a naval ship when he was only 18.  Taking trains from tube stations that he had been in during the Blitz.  Seeing Winston Churchill's burial site.  And touring Buckingham Palace and my father saying, “I can’t believe they let us in!”

Photo of Wrenda with phone booths

London  is a city that has my heart.

That is why having this entire week on my own, free to do anything I wish is such a gift.

Soon after arriving today I headed for the Thames Beachcombing Tour. London Walks bills it as 10,000 years of history beneath your feet.  For a history freak like myself, this is pure heaven.  A chance to peak into lives that were here so many years ago!!!  Sign me up.  So, I met up with Fiona, an inter-tidal archaeologist who is also a leading authority on the Thames shoreline.  It was worth braving today’s cold and rain take part in this fascinating tour with 10 other hearty participants.

The brochure says that you are guaranteed to find stuff, and find stuff we did.  Clay pipes, pieces of beautifully decorated bowls, Roman tiles that go back 1800 years, lots of metal remnants from a boatyard.  Just fascinating...

For the remainder of my first day in London, I did a quick run past Buckingham Palace.  The standard is flying, the queen is in. 

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Take Me to the Movies for Design Inspiration!

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I love movies.

If I am having a stressful day, writer's block or decorating block, I sometimes will close up my officePhoto Courtesy of Universal Pictures. (advantage of being your own boss!) pick up my purse and head to a movie.  The total escape always reshapes my attitude.  Even when I worked in the corporate world, I would often give my staff a mental break in the middle of the afternoon and take them all to a movie.  Of course, I was their favorite boss!

A good friend from LA came for a visit a couple of weeks ago.  She was coincidently one of my "staff" who learned early in her career, the benefits of sneaking out to a movie midday.  Now she is all grown up and is a successful NBC Universal vice president and I am very proud of her accomplishments.  One of her responsibilities is dealing with product placement and sponsorship in the theme parks and movies.  It is a great job and being in LA, she is immersed in all things Hollywood.  So, our conversation always turns to movies.

This time to the talented Nancy Meyers, the wonderful writer/director who gave us It's Complicated (see kitchen above), Something's Gotta Give, Father of the Bride and more.  Her movies are an interior decorator's dream.  She creates rooms that we love.  They make us want to walk right in and sit down.  They are as beautiful as a

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