Wednesday: Designer Tip

We've had a request about paint colors!

Paint colors are overwhelming to me too. We painted our third rental about 10 times. We have sworn that no amount of money is too much to hire a painter for next time! Yeah, right.

Here is my advice:

I am very snooty about paint colors because of experience! I think of myself as having a very sharp eye when it comes to color but paint and how the light affects it and how it goes on the wall and how much darker or lighter it looks when you use it has been a bad experience for me every time I have used ANY color besides Farrow and Ball's. I am sure that there are plenty of very beautiful colors other places but I have always had great luck with them. I also really like Ben Moore's super white, decorators white, cloud white and patriotic white. My favorite F&B colors are: pointing, clunch, skimming stone, stony ground, bone, mouse's back, elephant's breath, london clay, citron, blazer, book room red, hound lemon, cooking green apple, olive, saxon green, minister green, vert de terre, light blue, cook's blue, chinese blue, drawing room blue, hague blue, down pipe, pelt, tanner's brown, green smoke, off-black. Even though I think every single color is absolutely brilliant.

Oh, and one other tip! Go Matte on pale colors, and eggshell or semi gloss on darker colors. You can do anything with white. If it's a small, dark room, add some shine to it.

Monday: Top Ten

Thursday: Project

Learn how to turn an Ikea easel into something more functional for the little ones.
Untitled from Whitney Lundeen on Vimeo.

(image via keepcalmgallery)

I know it's the second post of the day but I had to tell you that we have been mentioned in a few blogs and are excited and surprised and so happy about it!

Yesterday on Ohdeedoh, and last week on Desire to Inspire, Welcome to Heardmont, and Design Mom.

AND, we started our blog re-design yesterday! On november 1st you will all get to see it! We are excited. It is bad right now. Real bad.

We also need a photographer in the bay area to photograph our family. I am wanting some artsy/fashion style for the shoot. Let me know if you have any leads!

Wednesday: Designer Tip

"Movie stars have known this for decades. Looking good isn't just about the body or face you have; it's all about presentation. The setting, the pose, but most importantly, it's all about the lighting."

Lighting is an element of design that is often overlooked and under-purchased. That light that hooks to your ceiling in the middle of your room is NOT your only light source!

Do you recognized how pretty you look in the Anthropologie dressing rooms? Do you feel hideous like I do in a TJ Maxx dressing room? I don't know if I have ever bought something I tried on in that store! It's all because of the lighting. Light coming from the ceiling is not flattering (fluorescents)! In Anthropologie, two eye level sconces are placed next to the full length mirror. They are blushy tones and make you look incredible because there are no shadows on your face. Also, good hair salons have great lighting because it's at eye level.

Renters usually can't put lights on dimmers so here are a few tips:

1. Soften the lamps (design term for light bulbs) by buying pale pink bulbs and mixing them with regular bulbs throughout the house.  They flatter all skin types. I usually buy 75 w bulbs and 25 w for smaller fixtures that I barely want any light coming from. But always think about what the purpose is for each fixture and buy the bulb accordingly. 

2. Choose lighting from a mixture of sources, including table lamps next to the bed, wall sconces, or chandeliers over a seating area.

3. Use candles. They are very romantic and extremely flattering.  Have dinner some nights with just candles!

4. One last thing to consider is where the light is coming from. Level with your face is ideal, so a table or standing lamp will serve your purpose well. You may want to consider using several points of light to even out the shadows and to provide a soft glow throughout the room.

I personally love table and floor lamps and think they should be all over the house! And IF we use ceiling lights (besides chandeliers) they should be on dimmers or very low watts.

Tuesday: Cheap and Chic

We would all love to buy the originals from all the classic designs we see across the internet wouldn't we?! My design philosophy has always been the same as Billy Baldwin's, "Buy the best you can afford." For some of us, $75 per chair is the best we can afford. 

Overstock impresses once again. These chairs are $150 for both of them. They were designed to imitate Ray and Charles Eames molded plastic series. They are both a great design and affordable. 

Monday: TOP TEN

Every home needs a wingback chair. I see it in a corner with a floor lamp, ottoman, cozy blanket, small side table with a mug of cocoa and a good book. Don't you think every house needs a spot like that?

Here are some of our favorites. It's worth saving up for!

Which one would you buy? The bamboo one just needs a small cream back pillow. We are saving for the womb chair and I really love the lines on the wheat triton too. The piper is amazing but out of our price range. Maybe some day!