Colin and Justin: Blue and white make it right
February 20, 2010
Colin and Justin
A question we're regularly asked by clients, viewers and readers is how we decide upon the best way forward for each of our dazzling schemes.
We rarely bulldoze ambition (unless clients are at a complete loss as to what they need), preferring instead to brainstorm ideas until joyous design vision begin to appear.
We analyze client aspiration, we properly consider available space and we look at light, square footage and existing furniture. And of course we work toward end results befitting of whomever is going to be using the space.
Family rooms, for example, should boast good storage so that clutter and toys can be cleared away when adults need the zone to smarten up for entertaining. Kitchens should provide all that's required for good food preparation and family dining. Dining rooms should be attired so that guests aren't left fighting for elbow space as they manoeuvre tasty morsels towards expectant lips. Bedrooms should be simultaneously relaxing and refreshing so that in the evening, the atmosphere is subdued (to allow restful sleep) but also bright enough by day that as drapery is pulled, they awaken and refresh as life's glorious cycle rolls forward.
Cash, too, is a major factor as we decipher ambition. This bedroom, for example, could have been improved by simply lightening wall colour, repainting the dark bedstead and hanging fresh cream curtains. New linens, too, would have provided elevation but our expectant client, a lovely Mom with a houseful of fabulous kids, hoped for a little more than decorative tweaking; she dreamed of a restful sanctuary from the rigours of busy family life.
As we were also reworking her family room (and had done so by reupholstering existing furniture and shopping smart at HomeSense), we were able to lavish a little more cash upstairs. Yet, we still didn't go overboard. Similar beds to this one are now available for just a few hundred dollars and we've supplied a couple of leads in our resource list to help find one that suits your pocket. And with careful shopping, our bed dressing look can be affordably copied.
It's amazing just how well the high street has responded to style-literate consumers who demand fashionable merchandise at rock bottom prices. Hey, even supermarket chains carry respectable collections that will seriously max up the style quotient chez vous.
Aside from broader generalizations, let's swoop back into the specifics of this particular transformation. We couldn't have been any happier with the results; significantly brighter and altogether fresher than before, we used a predominantly blue and white palette to obliterate every scrap of the brown on brown nightmare. Here's how to achieve a similar look.
WALL PANELLING
There's been much decorating, on both sides of the Atlantic, which has resulted in similarly frumpy results. We prefer to "pop" deep tones such as brown with shots of white – or pings of zesty orange – but this room, it seemed, had missed out on every brightening technique known to humankind. As a result, the room looked more like an explosion in a chocolate fountain than it did a stylish boudoir. We've always been nuts about blue and white and, this combo in mind, set a ravenous course to devour every last scrap of decorating death by chocolate. Simple lay on panels crafted from big box store lumber provided immediate new direction and with a coat or two of crisp white eggshell, they pointed the room in a whole new direction.
WALLPAPER
At this moment in time we're all about florals and leaf scrolled block prints. Applied floor to ceiling, however, they can – especially if proportions are limited – be a little overwhelming. So that's our design logic here; a little less makes for so much more. Positioned above our new panelling, the balance of decorating power is pretty much perfect. Crisp, invigorating and eye-catching, this paper is from Thibaut, one of our favourite companies.
CROWN MOULDING
With one eye on economy and the other on time, we decided it made sense to add to the existing moulding rather than rip it out and start again. Bear in mind that much original cornice work was created in precisely this manner. By layering up individual sections to build depth, you'll simply be doing what the experts did in times past. We added a simple timber strip a few centimetres out from the cove on the ceiling and the same again a few centimetres down the wall.
White latex immediately drew old and new together and, with a little trompe l'oeil trickery, we went massively upscale, saving money into the bargain and reusing that which was already there; the perfect way to help the environment.
CEILING MEDALLION
Go large! It's fun to play around with scale. A standard-sized rosette would have looked perfectly acceptable, whereas opting for a model almost three times bigger added extra design presence.
CEILING
The visual trickery continues. There's no reason you shouldn't paint ceilings to coordinate with the rest of your project, but take a tip: Do as we did and choose lighter colour for this project.
Our beautiful paper has several blue notes but we selected one of its paler shades. As a little extra detail (and to suggest the ceiling is slightly domed) we used an artist's brush to apply a one-centimetre slightly darker blue wash around the ceiling line and rosette.
Feathered out and blurred, it's virtually imperceptible but its inclusion creates a shadow line that adds extra depth.
BED
We love the shiny detail of our traditionally shaped bedstead. Dressed with lovely linens and carefully selected scatter cushions it's a comfy haven. Tip: If you're also buying a mattress, we'd recommend Sleep Country. These guys even stock beds that were originally designed for athletes at the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
WARDROBE
With space sufficient in the basement for off-season clothing, we advised our client to prioritize, and in doing so, minimize bulky bedroom wardrobe requirement. While you might have expected us to select a more traditional oak cabinet we couldn't resist this Chinese armoire and its clean lines.
Don't worry if whatever you find is originally the wrong colour; pieces such as these suit being re- coloured in white or other chalky tones. Just ensure that whatever you plan to update isn't an original Ming Dynasty artifact!
WINDOW TREATMENT
We double layered drapery by inserting scallop-edged Roman blinds into the box bay and we ribbon trimmed simple sheers to dress the outside edge. Popping the existing chaise longue (reinvented by professional upholstery) in this area creates a perfect space in which to enjoy a relaxed night cap as the sun goes down. Or a coffee, for that matter, as the sun rises on another beautiful Canadian day.
Next week: We look at the typical ways in which living rooms are suffocated by furniture overdose and we unravel some easy solutions via before and after study.
Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan host HGTV's Colin & Justin's Home Heist (Saturdays at 2 and 7 p.m.) and the authors of Colin & Justin's Home Heist Style Guide, published by Penguin Group (Canada). Go to hgtv.ca/homeheist and colinandjustin.tv for more on the design team.
Read more Colin and Justin here. Check out their top 10 shopping destinations and watch the video of their makeover of the Star editor's office. Scope out some of their previous transformations:
- Baby blue strikes the right chord
- Taking it up a notch
- Well-planned kitchen really cooks
- Asian-inspired glamour
- Reaching new heights
- Tweaking for a new decade
- Crazy for Canadiana, eh!
- Create a holiday affair to remember
- Please pass the mustard
- Hallelujah! Designer salvation
- Mauving right along
- A beach of a makeover
- It's a jungle in there
- Kitchen less than confidential
- Sweet dreams are made of this
- A sweet transformation
- Just a little bit country
- Calamitous kitchen
- Killer bee design
- Va va va voom!
- Cave dwelling
- A little Hollywood-style glamour
- Purple reign
- The boss's Office Heist
- Now that's making an entrance
- A Colonial charmer
- From ghastly to glorious
- Not so mellow yellow
- Answering nature's call
- Picture perfect loft makeover
- Shades of grey
- Beyond the 'wreck' room
- Check, mate
- Soaking in the lap of luxury
- Basement gloom be gone
- A country kitchen goes classy
- Kitchen full of Swedish glamour
Toronto Star