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Spring Fever! Steal These Stylish Home Decor Ideas
We got the scoop on the season's hottest home trends (think gilded poufs and gracious bar carts) from our favorite interior designers and bloggers
Moroccan Poufs
Scroll through any design blog and you’re sure to spot plenty of poufs. As interior designer and blogger Kirsten Krason explains, “Poufs are popular because they fill up floor space beautifully without being too bulky.” You can use them to incorporate an unusual color into a room (they’re available in everything from soft pastels to Bollywood brights), or be more daring with a metallic one. Sarah Swanson, a Canadian interior designer and blogger, likes to use poufs in the living room as footstools, extra seating or purely for decoration -- and they’re even popping up in playrooms and bathrooms. Most poufs don’t come cheap, costing $200 and up. But Sarah has a favorite source, Bohemia, where they run less than $120 and come in a gorgeous range of colors and materials, including kilims and rawhide. Kirsten opts for buying unstuffed poufs on eBay. “My client just stuffed a few of them with old clothes. They look great and the price was really affordable!” she says.
Get it now: Moroccan pouf, $110.70 at bohemiadesign.co.uk; Unstuffed pouf, $89.99 at ebay.com; Nate Berkus Metallic Pouf, $119.95 at hsn.com
Precious Metals
To add glam to a space, nothing beats a well-chosen metallic. Even in small doses, silver, brass and especially gold can make a big impact. Kirsten Krason recommends pairing metallics with white and neutral colors to make them pop even more. For one client, she displayed mostly white accessories on a shelf and added a few metallic elements for dimension and shine.
HGTV Design Star winner and star of Secrets from Stylist Emily Henderson currently has a collection of gold metallic pieces on Open Sky, a shopping site featuring curated products endorsed by industry experts. As Emily explains on Open Sky, “Gold is my new neutral. It adds warmth and glamour in a really modern way, and when combined with masculine tones like blue and gray, gold keeps your palette from looking garish.” The gold-bottom dish from her Gold Rush Collection works beautifully on a nightstand, a bookshelf, or even in the entryway as a luxurious key holder.
Get it now: Gold bottom dish, $40 at opensky.com
Tangerine Tango
Amber Lewis, an LA-based interior designer and blogger, believes spring décor is all about fresh, bright colors. So what does she think of “Tangerine Tango,” Pantone’s color of the year for 2012? “The reddish-orange hue has the most impact when used in moderation, in a throw pillow or decorative textile, for example," Lewis says. Her go-to stores to find pieces like this are Furbish and her own just-opened online store, Shoppe. When shopping for décor-brightening accents, Lewis recommends choosing colors that will blend well with the pieces you already have. “It’s smart to go bold with accessories and stay neutral on the large furniture pieces. Remember that pillows can be switched out if you tire of them,” she says. In her opinion, a good rule of thumb is 80/20: 80% colors you feel comfortable with and 20% colors that might be a bit risky but you want to try in your home. For her own bedroom, Lewis mixed hints of tangerine with violet, reds, pinks and blues for a colorful look that’s unexpected, uplifting and fun.
Get it now: Vintage orange flower suzani pillow, $185 at shoppe.amberinteriordesign.com
Green Walls
Pantone might have named tangerine its color of the year, but Jane Lilly Warren, creative director of Matchbook Magazine, couldn’t be happier that green is having its moment in the sun. To instantly transform a space, she recommends ‘Paradise’ by Sherwin-Williams, a paint color she recently used for an accent wall in her office. “Bright greens provide an enchanting dash of playfulness to any space -- and we all know the workplace can use it!” she explains. Jane thinks boxwoods, butterfly taxidermy and other nature-inspired products look fantastic paired with green walls in a small space, such as a foyer. Even House Beautiful is all about green, calling it “the neutral that goes with everything” in their March 2012 issue and showcasing it in every spread.
Get it now: ‘Paradise’ by Sherwin-Williams at sherwin-williams.com
Flea Market Finds
Learn how to scour flea markets and you’ll be rewarded with inexpensive treasures that make your home unique. San Francisco blogger Caitlin Flemming started sourcing at flea markets as a young girl with her mom. When she moved to San Francisco, she started shopping at the Alameda Fair because it was the only affordable way to furnish her first apartment. “My friends couldn't believe I was going to an antiques market and buying old things,” she explains. “I told them the items I found had way more character -- everything has a story behind it.” Today, well more than half her furniture and home accessories were found at the Alameda market -- everything from vases to imported dining chairs.
Caitlin recommends arriving bright and early to snag the best gems. If you’re intimidated by these often massive markets and don’t know where to begin, start at the front row and checkout each vendor. On your first visit, you’ll quickly figure out what you like and don’t like, so on your second and third visits you’ll be able to focus right away! While she never scores every item on her wish list, Caitlin often finds something she can’t live without. Jane Lilly Warren agrees that flea market finds are by far the most fun and inexpensive way to decorate. From thrift finds to heirlooms, she loves playing with new ways to re-purpose old things. For her wedding, she and her husband collected milk glass vases from flea markets. These days, they’re on display in her kitchen.
Get it Now: Antique Oak Dining Kitchen Chairs, $150 for four at etsy.com
Fun Fabrics
Nothing can freshen up a space like a colorful fabric, whether on an oversized throw pillow or a newly upholstered chair. Design blogger and Etsy shop owner Arianna Vargas reveals that Schumacher’s ‘Adras’ ikat is one of her favorite new fabrics. “It's so colorful and even in small doses, like a pillow, it makes a big impact in a space,” she explains. Since it's a multicolored print, Arianna recommends using it as a starting point for a color palette. Pairing it with pieces that tie in with the yellow, red, blue, and pink (such as a gold mirror, a bright pink lamp and yellow lacquer vases) will instantly turn a boring neutral room into an uplifting and colorful space.
Get it now: ‘Adras’ pillow cover, $95 at etsy.com; mirror, $338 at bellacor.com; Robert Abbey Delta Schiaparelli high table lamp, $150 at lampsplus.com; Ikea throw, $135 at shopfurbish.com; laquer red tray, $225 at jonathanadler.com; lemon laquer vases, $29.95 at zgallerie.com
Parsons Perfect
Parsons desks have been popular for a while now, and with their clean lines and glossy, lacquered look, they’re likely here to stay. As Alaina Kaczmarski, cofounder of The Everygirl, explains, “Though it's a rather contemporary look, the simple shape can be mixed into almost any style of interior, whether it's rustic, traditional or Hollywood glam.” In her own home, she has a white Parsons desk propped against a black wall. Since the art above her desk is busy and colorful, the clean white desktop offers an uncluttered respite. Home Decorators Collection carries a glossy version like Alaina’s in six spring hues including blue, orange and green.
Get it now: Parsons desk, $179 at homedecorators.com
Back to the Bar Cart
Maybe it’s Mad Men’s cocktail culture, or the warmer weather that’s just around the corner, but bar carts are all the rage right now. Put one in your home and don’t be surprised if you start counting the minutes ‘til happy hour! Roxy Owens, founder/owner of Society Social, designed her colorful, cult-favorite bar carts with haute hostesses in mind. Made from faux bamboo, the ‘Sedgewick’ cart is vintage-inspired, but has a modern, metallic finish (your choice of gold or silver.) It also comes with a removable tray top and wine and stemware racks to make entertaining effortless. If you like the look of a bar cart, but highballs aren’t your thing, why not use one for a different purpose? Danielle Moss, editor of The Everygirl found a gold one for $75 at Chicago’s Randolph Street Market. Thanks to its elegant shape, it makes the perfect bedside table.
Get it now: ‘The Sedgewick’ bar cart, $439 at shopsocietysocial.com
Lucite Love
From coffee tables to dining chairs, Lucite furniture is a go-to for many interior designers who love the stylish edge it adds to any room. Nicole Cohen, an NYC artist and blogger explains: “It’s heavy, but doesn’t take up visual space,” making it a great type of furniture to try out in small spaces or when you want to use something other than wood. Nicole chose Lucite dining chairs in her Manhattan apartment and says she loves how the material (a form of acrylic glass) has a retro vibe but doesn’t feel dated. Her favorite sources for Lucite are Plexi-Craft, cb2 and vintage shops. “Depending on how you spin the room, lucite can read as sexy, sophisticated or fun,” she explains. To try the look at home, cb2’s clear nesting tables, which can be kept together or scattered from room to room, are a great place to start.
Get it now: ‘Peekaboo’ nesting tables, $199 for a set of three at cb2.com
Affordable Art
Thanks to the internet, great art is easy to find these days -- in all price ranges. Sarah Swanson thinks Etsy is an incredible resource for art, including prints, paintings, posters and even gorgeous paper that you can frame. “I especially love using prints I find on Etsy for children’s rooms,” she says. “You can get them customized with names, initials or custom color schemes. When you start looking around, be prepared to get lost for hours!” Sarah also likes Art River for prints and posters; Cozamia, a site where you can customize the size, poster, frames and canvas based on your style and budget; and Made by Girl, a great source for large graphic posters that work well with inexpensive Ikea frames. She even has her own Etsy shop, Gallery Wall, where she sells dreamy watercolor paintings for around $10.
Get it now: Watercolor in blue, $10 at etsy.com
