Even though each of the 55+ designers is given a diminutive 10 x 12’ space
(some with three walls, some with only two), and the booths exist for mere
moments, the event thrills for the design opportunity it affords, like a fleeting
flash mob of art , accessory, lighting, rugs, furnishings, paint and paper. The
goal is to wow, entertain, and entice shoppers, big time, in a super small
space.
For the past two years (2013
and 2014), I had a GREAT time
flexing my color muscles, so my first instinct was to once again use color to
catch the eye of blogger, bigwig and (most of all) bargain hunter (all the
solicited merchandise is sold off at up to 70% off to benefit Housing Works).
The event’s April date also lends itself to a colorful burst, like spring blooms
returning to Central Park after a black-overcoated, overcast and drawn-out
winter.
But I wanted to remain, well, neutral, (to keep it interesting for me, and to keep people guessing about my design range), and for a few other reasons: One of my all-time most popular blog posts was all about that beige. Even D&D showrooms known for color report their biggest sales coming from creams, grays, taupes, tans, and yes, even beiges. And at the time planning for Design on a Dime, I was in the midst of a gentleman's all-charcoal master bedroom.
But I wanted to remain, well, neutral, (to keep it interesting for me, and to keep people guessing about my design range), and for a few other reasons: One of my all-time most popular blog posts was all about that beige. Even D&D showrooms known for color report their biggest sales coming from creams, grays, taupes, tans, and yes, even beiges. And at the time planning for Design on a Dime, I was in the midst of a gentleman's all-charcoal master bedroom.
Neutrals get a bad rap for being default, safety net, or cop-out, but I wanted to
see if an intentional use of a palette devoid (mostly) of jewel tones,
primaries or pastels could still (even in a competitive environment like Design on a Dime) wow. But how? And, as practice for my own practice,
could the intentional use of neutrals make a small space live larger? Here’s
how I tried to bring sexy back, this year, to new neutrals.
Texture, and a Game
of Opposites
Never is textural play more important than in a
monochromatic room, be it emerald green
or navy blue, but perhaps even moreso in a room of gunmetal gray. Starting with
walls of the oh-so-swank Ralph Lauren Home’s Pearl Ray Shagreen wallcovering in Gun Metal (Ralph Lauren was this
year’s official wall sponsor, donating all of the paint and most of the
wallpapers), texture was pressed heavily into service. Even solid upholstery
colors (like on Bernhardt’s Marcourt banquette and the sexy, SEXY Major Leather Chairs from Mitchell Gold +Bob Williams) were selected because they had an interesting surface
texture. 
But texture stories really come to life when they are used as foils against
their opposites: shiny against matte, earthy against machined, and that and
more happened over and over as items were secured for the room. My textural
favorites were the Painted Feathers pillows by
pillow-masters Dransfield & Ross,
an urban jungle mix, one part Rio, one part rain forest.
Dark and Light
Making a dark room sing is also about light: bringing it in, bouncing it around, and even knowing when to stop it. While many still think dark is the wrong way to go in a small space, I’ve yet to have that experience. Dark colors make a room’s edges fall away into the shadows. But nowhere is lighting more important than in a dark room, and even this space with its little-bitty 10 x 12 footprint had ten light sources, not counting the overhead spots.
Making a dark room sing is also about light: bringing it in, bouncing it around, and even knowing when to stop it. While many still think dark is the wrong way to go in a small space, I’ve yet to have that experience. Dark colors make a room’s edges fall away into the shadows. But nowhere is lighting more important than in a dark room, and even this space with its little-bitty 10 x 12 footprint had ten light sources, not counting the overhead spots.
Lighting plans work best when there are more lamps than you think you need, and
different kinds of them. Among those ten light sources were four with white shades
(on AERIN’s Bleecker and Frankfort lamps, and Barry Dixon’s Snail Shell lamp for Arteriors Home) diffusing the light, two with metal shades (the
statuesque Soria floor lamps from Room & Board) throwing dramatic
shadows, two can uplights and two halogen spots (both from Lamps Plus) adding pinpointed drama.
Tone-on-Tone
It’s my number one trick for making a small space live larger: limit the color
and/or value difference (how dark or light a color is) on just about everything
in the room. When wallcovering morphs into wood blinds (The Shade Store’s uber-sharp Matte Edged wood blinds, in Grey Ash)
and the main upholstery pieces relate to the wall color without stopping the
eye, the room presents a seamless appearance, and even larger-scaled pieces
(that banquette is NOT small) blur their own edges and settle back into the
room. And tone-on-tone rooms always
look like more money than you’ve spent.
But it’s not just the tones of colors you use to stretch
inches and budget: it’s which ones. There are some neutrals that just ooze sex
appeal: smoke, zinc, slate or
charcoal. These rich neutrals (plus taupes and warm grays) ALWAYS look like
more money than you’ve invested. I also think they live richer when pushed to
their value extremes: pale and pearl gray, or deep, dark and stormy. It’s the
middle ground of neutrals that have given them their bad rap.
Aside from its budget-stretching alchemy, the beauty
of a neutral envelope is that you can add just about any other color as an
accent. (Here, smoky blues, gray-ed down greens and that shimmering aquamarine
on the Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Bette
ottomans.)
That pattern also turned the corner from the more pure neutrals in the room, bringing in a camel color (that paved the way for golds) and the blue-heavy graphite, which bridged blues and grays in the room.
Tip the Scale
And don’t underestimate the shine factor of artwork (the
glass on framed work, the high gloss of the main plexi-mount art piece),
accessories (that not-at-all Fool’s gold pyrite candle holder by Kathryn McCoy Design), and even the sparkle brought in
from barware, stemware and acrylic tray... not to mention the mirrored
furniture, and Large Black Square Mirrored tray,
adding a black band like chic eyeliner to the already mirrored coffee table.)
His globally sourced imagery is heavily informed with a fashion photographer’s eye, and this enigmatic image from his "OMO: Expressions of a People" series became the surprisingly urban tone-setter for what soon became dubbed “the Adventurer’s Lair.”
Pattern
Unless working with a pattern-happy client (which I love to do!), left to my own devices, I’d rather revel in texture than pattern. But love, as they say, conquers all, and when I first saw the Dransfield and Ross Tibet pillows, made from an amazing earthy, elegant and exceedingly tactile cut velvet (Tibet Small Scale, in Graphite, from Clarence House), it was love at first sight. I knew that pattern would be joining the room. (We ended up making our own versions of the pillows, from yardage graciously donated by Clarence House, and crafted locally by Anthony Lawrence-Belfair, to “spread the wealth” on donations, and not overtax any one vendor too much.)
I also loved the “conversation” those pillows had
with the stenciled cowhides and Foo Dogs (both from Lamps Plus) and the other globally-sourced pieces from Pagoda Red.
Unless working with a pattern-happy client (which I love to do!), left to my own devices, I’d rather revel in texture than pattern. But love, as they say, conquers all, and when I first saw the Dransfield and Ross Tibet pillows, made from an amazing earthy, elegant and exceedingly tactile cut velvet (Tibet Small Scale, in Graphite, from Clarence House), it was love at first sight. I knew that pattern would be joining the room. (We ended up making our own versions of the pillows, from yardage graciously donated by Clarence House, and crafted locally by Anthony Lawrence-Belfair, to “spread the wealth” on donations, and not overtax any one vendor too much.)
That pattern also turned the corner from the more pure neutrals in the room, bringing in a camel color (that paved the way for golds) and the blue-heavy graphite, which bridged blues and grays in the room.
It’s proof that if you’re stuck for inspiration, one amazing textile (or rug) can
completely jumpstart your process.
Go big when you go home. The biggest mistake I see when
people are tackling small spaces is that they underscale everything they bring
in. It looks meek, weak and underwhelming. Here, I opted for pieces that were
anything but shy. But you have to know some of the tricks to make big pieces
work (I’ve shared my tone-on-tone one already). That coffee table is an
incredibly gutsy scale, but the mirrored finish tames it. The ample Major
Leather chairs don’t have arms to block sight lines and seating access, and their reflective legs all but disappear. The
other trick is...
Pairs and Shapes
Blocky
shapes were repeated (the coffee table, the Room & Board walnut Keane side tables and the sexy Virgo mirrored console from Currey & Company). Circles showed
up in the custom painted Timothy Wilson
tondo, custom framed by Gerald Kurian,
through Steven Amedee, and the stone
“bis” from Pagoda Red.
Repetition is a major player in creating cohesive spaces... and so is symmetry:
think in pairs when you can. Symmetry gives weight (the good kind) to a space,
and creates elegant focal points. You can always break the monotony that
sometimes happens with symmetry with a playful placement of one of the pairs, or
just one rakish accessory (like the great Gazelle figurine from DwellStudio) or asymmetrical piece of
artwork (like Dan Romer's “Essnce”
print).
Gloss and Gold Digging
Shape, and mass, were big tools this year, to keep the look
impactful, visual interruption to a minimum, and cohesion to a maximum. Selected
pieces were big on shape, low on detail (except mirror finish or wood grain).
The dramatic potential of a bit of bling is truly celebrated
in a dark space, and gold was the precious metal of choice, partially for its
warm nature against cooler grays, but also for its Seventies swagger: the gold
in this room is the equivalent of Bradley Cooper’s chest-nest of chains in
American Hustle.
The Art's the Thing
I’m ending this story with where it all actually began: that
show-stopper photo from photographer Drew Doggett. When a bit stumped for inspiration this year, I found
Drew’s work, and the minute I saw this image, I could see that elevation of the
vignette already finished in my head, even before Drew had returned my first
email begging for the donation. His globally sourced imagery is heavily informed with a fashion photographer’s eye, and this enigmatic image from his "OMO: Expressions of a People" series became the surprisingly urban tone-setter for what soon became dubbed “the Adventurer’s Lair.”
It also shared what much of the rest of room was already doing... a dark
tone-on-tone look, an earthy-urbane balance, and the rough textures of the
actual image sealed beneath its mirror-like plexi facing.
There’s NO better way to inject any space, neutral or not, with drama, than
with the impact of contemporary art, especially of a larger scale. Don’t wait to pick the art; Start with it.
And that’s my parting and artful shot on how to bring drama to any space,
neutral or not.
Visit my Adventurer's Lair Pinterest board to see all the items in and sources for this year's vignette.
Visit my Adventurer's Lair Pinterest board to see all the items in and sources for this year's vignette.
All main vignette shots: Jody Kivort.
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