Every Room has the Same 10 Elements

In Alexandra Stoddard's classic book, "Creating a Beautiful Home", she likes to encourage us to consider  the 10 essential elements in every room before we begin to decorate. As you read her list, you will understand why she chose the word "elements" to describe the aspects of each room that require our attention. She asks us to understand each room by its simplest components. Each room has its own special position in the home, its unique natural light during the day, its size and shape. Stoddard also wants us to learn the importance of making each room into a room we want to live in and enjoy, to make it our special haven, as we decide about each essential element.
As we look at the following 10 elements, Stoddard advises us to think of our present life, our needs, our actual space, and our aesthetic preferences.
Alexandra Stoddard's 10 Essential Elements

1. walls
2. ceilings
3. floors
4. windows
5. furniture
6. lighting
7. fabric
8. color
9. accessories
10. maintenance

Do you see how helpful it can be if you write this list so the list  fills a page, and copy one page for each room? Each element will have some space for your notes or pictures. You will begin to understand how your rooms are all connected, and so your decisions can begin to flow from room to room, as you consider each element.  Thank you, Alexandra Stoddard, for helping us get started on a huge project, by breaking it down into its elements! I think this will help us get going!

Think about Color

 

Riverstone Stacking Platters

The terms "base", "tone", and "accent" color may not be familiar to you. I think they are a more British way to talk about the different attributes of color, but when Ann Grafton, in her book, "Interior Transformations" used those terms, they made sense to me. I thought you might enjoy hearing what she had to say.

• Base - the color in your room or home that you use the most. This is usually the wall color, and is often chosen to provide a canvas on which to "paint" (add) the other colors.
• Tone - this is the lightness or darkness of the color. If two different colors exhibit the same tone (lightness or darkness) they can be happy together and work well, even if they are not a traditional color combination.  For example, a soft aqua, a dove gray and a powder pink can be very happy together...but change the pink to "Bubblegum" pink and you have added a contrast (accent) color. If you want your room to feel more harmonious, keep the tones of most colors the same.
• Accent - these are the colors, in contrasting shades that are used in small amounts to give your room a "jolt" of color. Use textiles, ceramics, lamps, objects and flowers to add the accents to your room. You can try out fashionable colors easily and change later without a big headache. This is why I love to use artificial fruits or veggies for accents. They are oh-so-easy to change!

First, choose your large expanses of color - walls, floors, windows. It is easy to live in a basic scheme of calm, blended tones, with only subtle differences in color. Pay attention, too, to the smaller items in your room. Often there is nothing linking the large and small together. You don't want to create chaos or confusion for the eye, but you want to lead the eye around the room, from one accent to another. This is why a large painting often provides the colors for the accents, while it still relates to the walls, windows or floor.
I like this picture of Riverstone Dinnerware from Willow House. It consists of 3 soft neutrals, with the gray a deeper tone. It is accented with the cut figs, flowers and veggies to create a serene but interesting still life. It feels to me like I could design a room using these colors. I can also imagine just changing the accents...possibly to slices of lemons, oranges and limes for a refreshing summer vibe!

Think Texture for Variety

 

Willow Sprig Centerpiece with Flowers

Unexpected Texture makes this centerpiece particularly appealing to me. What do you see when you first glance at it? Are your eyes drawn first to the deep rose color of the fresh flowers in front? Then, do you notice the fresh green leaves?  Did the small rose colored berries next draw your eye upward to the taller arrangement of the same flowers, in back? The flowers look like they are soft and velvety, the green leaves might even be crisp, coming out of the round, smokey glass vase below. The surprise element is the twiggy metal lantern shape around the vases, enclosing them, yet open - creating space which allows us to focus on the flowers. The hard metal, against the smooth tabletop and softly draped light rose fabric of the backdrop all contribute to my enjoyment of the centerpiece. I also love that there are numerous ways to use the metal lantern shape, which has been named, "Willow Sprig" It is 16.5" tall and 8.5" square, with two places inside for vases, candles, or even small pumpkins! You may like to see the way two centerpieces look on a long table, with pillar candles.