A Contemporary Classic
A Northwest Arkansas designer's home boasts an effortlessly cool aesthetic that's a modern riff on tried-and-true traditions.
Designer Melissa Haynes: It’s a new build in Fayetteville’s Clear Creek neighborhood, but I love that you thought it might have been a renovation. One of the things that was really important to me in designing this house was to draw from the classics—French influence, Mediterranean design, British architecture—and create a house that was timeless and would age gracefully.
I wanted it to be cool, light and airy. Adding height was a good way to accomplish that. The doors are nine-foot-tall French doors, which is something that you’d see in a home that was built a century ago. With the layout, we wanted there to be a flow, but not this newer conception of super-open spaces. Instead, we went for a series of smaller rooms and vignettes that flowed and worked off of each other. In older homes, you get that sort of purposeful appeal.
Rooms flow a lot better when they aren’t broken up by bold colors on the wall. We used off-white, grays and blues throughout the house; in the formal spaces we used a warmer cream, and in the more casual living spaces, an alabaster. In the bedrooms, however, we went with something a little more saturated. I think a bedroom can stand on its own, since you want to be enveloped in a soothing color that will stimulate your mood. In rooms that you’re constantly walking through, you want neutrals that will blend together seamlessly.
It’s a mix of modern and traditional, and is somewhat glamorous. It makes sense in a dining room because it’s not a space you use every day. It has a dressier feel and gives a lot of drama and impact to the space.
Character comes out in layers of pattern, color and texture. Some people might go more neutral if they are a little more reserved, and others might go full-on color. Either way, to make it work, it’s important to keep a mix in mind: modern with antiques, patterns with textures, neutrals with bolder colors.
There’s a magical combination of these elements that can speak to your personality. Similarly, when you walk through a space, you should see your special things: an heirloom, a piece of art, something that reminds you of a moment with your family. Getting a collected look instead of that “back the truck up and deliver the furniture” feel is always what you want to achieve. You should relate to the things that are going into your home, period.
One of the ways to create flow from room to room is to use sisal rugs, and then add in pops of pattern with smaller accent pieces. Sisal rugs have that natural element, and they’re solid in color but provide great texture.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar