If you missed it, you can listen to the MP3 recording on our website, go HERE to our “Where’s Kathy” page and click on the word here at the end of the Radio Guest on Brashenomics announcement.

Listen to Kathy, the creator and founder of Authentic Home COLOR Paint™ discuss the mis-conceptions about hiring an interior designer and picking out paint color to create your Authentic Home.

Brashenomics, is a local radio program hosted by Ben Brashen covering Financial Planning, Real Estate, Mortgage, Insurance, The Job Market, and other Business News in Seattle.
Need some help creating your Authentic Home? Contact us at 206.937.3070 or email us for more information on a color consultation or interior design appointment.

Continued from last week’s blog post…It’s Not Just A Can Of Paint!

Meaning of the Color Blue

Blue is the overwhelming “favorite color” and is the coolest color – the color of the sky, ocean, sleep, twilight. A pure blue is the color of inspiration, sincerity and spirituality. Blue is seen as trustworthy, dependable and committed. The color of sky and the ocean, blue is perceived as a constant in our lives.

Blue brings down blood pressure and slows respiration and heart rate. That’s why it’s considered calming, relaxing, and serene, and is often recommended for bedrooms and bathrooms. Be careful, however: A pastel blue that looks pretty on the paint chip can come across as unpleasantly chilly when it’s on the walls and furnishings, especially in a room that receives little natural light. If you opt for a light blue as the primary color in a room, balance it with warm hues in the furnishings
and fabrics.

To encourage relaxation in the rooms where people gather family rooms, living rooms, large kitchens consider warmer blues, such as periwinkle, or bright blues, such as cerulean or turquoise. Blue is known to have a calming effect when used as the main color of a room. When going with blue go for softer shades of blue. Dark blue has the opposite effect. Dark blue evokes feels of sadness. So refrain from using darker blues in your main color scheme. Stay with the lighter shades of blue to give you and your loved ones a calm effect.
How the color blue affects us physically and mentally
* Calming and sedate
* Cooling
* Aids intuition

My goal in creating the Authentic Home COLOR Paint™ line is to bring awareness to your emotional connection with a particular color. 

By arranging the Authentic Home COLOR Paint™ colors into five mood palettes, Elegant, Serene, Playful, Fresh, Regal, you now have a starting paint to begin the selection process so to achieve your desired feeling for your home. I invite you to enjoy exploring the meaning and effects color can have on you and your life.

Contact us this month and get $100 OFF a color consultation or a $100 CREDIT against your 1st design invoice.  Call 206.937.3070 or email us to make an appointment. HURRY! Offer expires Nov 30th 2011.

Room Flow – analyze the room flow from the entry of your home.  Ensure that there are no bottlenecks or areas in which is cluttered with too much furniture or “stuff”.   Rearrange furniture or eliminate some items to create a cohesive flow from room to room.

Area Rugs – if you have hardwood floors, add some new area rugs in the foyer, living room, kitchen or den.  Select a geometric or more modern design and color palette than you are used to.

Focal Point – select a new paint color for a focal point in your room. Update the fireplace wall or art wall with a fresh new paint color.

Lighting – purchase a new lamp with a shade with light is facing down. Make sure that the size and style of the shade complements the style of the rest of your room.  Use a soft white or pink light blub instead of a bright white blub to create instant warmth to any room.

Visit our website to contact Authentic Home and Kathy Banak to help with your decorating dilemma’s, or give us a call for a consultation quote and appointment.  206.937.3070

Accessories:

Glass and metal candleholders are perfect accessories that are a great investment.  Here are some glass and brass metal ones that I’ve seen recently and adore!

With the holiday season approaching, we like vases with metallic finishes, specifically the mercury glass-inspired designs. Why? For starters, they can be dressed up for formal presentations or dressed down to complement the more rustic finishes you’re seeing in medium high-end catalogs and retail stores right now.

Furniture:

While the variations are many, the hues poised to dominate in 2011 are warmer, more casual and more natural than the topcoats you’ve seen in recent years.

Rather than hide the species of wood under layers of paint and finish, a new crop of furnishings is favored because it honors wood grain and naturally occurring markings.

Why the transparency? For starters, consumers are more cautious about how they spend their hard-earned dollars. As a result, there’s been a swell of demand—across many product categories, including home furnishings—for what’s real and genuine.

There is an environment-friendly theme to these products, too, as many are made from reclaimed woods, discarded byproducts of the harvesting process, and renewable plant-based materials such as bamboo.

In fact, according to a 2010 survey of recent home furnishings purchasers (by World Market Center Las Vegas and the Sustainable Furnishings Council) half of respondents said they would be “definitely interested” or “very interested” in buying green home furnishings, if they liked the style of the product and it cost about the same as other options.

The warmer finishes trend is most evident in the contemporary and transitional furniture categories. Gone are dark espresso and wenge finishes that begged for only chrome and polished silver complements. Instead, wood tones are softer, more Mid-Century Modern in color and shape—think “Mad Men” meets today’s modern loft. In both the contemporary and transitional style categories, walnut veneers guide the trend.

Plumbing:

Solid brass electroplated with chromium – more commonly referred to simply as chrome – became the standard for faucets in the 1930s and remains one of the most popular looks today. Sophisticated, tarnish-resistant and durable, chrome replaced nickel-plated brass as the faucet material of choice.

The menu of faucet choices now available includes a smorgasbord of silver-tone finishes, as well as gold, bronze, mixed metals and brushed and hammered options. Read on for a few tips on using the different finish styles:

Polished chrome is a classic finish that coordinates beautifully with a wide variety of fixture styles and types of décor. It works particularly well for evoking a nostalgic look, as in a 1920s- or other vintage-style bath, but also complements contemporary styles.

Shiny like chrome, Vibrant Polished Nickel can be used in most of the same styles of décor, and is a favorite of Portland, OR, designer Sandy Hayes of Hayes Designs. “Polished nickel is a really sophisticated look that goes well with elegant furniture,” she says. It works well with both traditional and contemporary styles, and can add an elegant touch to the bathroom.

Brushed nickel has a warm appearance that appeals to homeowners looking for a bit of softness in the bath. It looks classic against white and coordinates well with granite or slate countertops and backsplashes.

Matte finishes such as brushed nickel don’t show water spots or fingerprints as easily as some of the polished finishes and that’s why it is so popular!

The rich look of Vibrant French Gold can provide a dramatic contrast to brilliant white fixtures. It goes well with period styles and complements decorated sinks with gold accents. Gold fixtures can add a luxurious accent to your bathroom. Yes gold finishes are back!!

Vibrant Polished Brass provides an elegant note to traditional-style baths, and adds a rich feel to modern or transitional faucet models as well.

Chrome, bronze, nickel, gold or a combination of metals – how’s a homeowner to choose? Keep these things in mind when choosing a faucet finish:

Choose a finish that is appropriate for the style of your fixtures, whether they are traditional, contemporary or transitional.

Think about the big picture. Consider not just how the faucet finish will look against the color of your sink or tub, but also how it will look against the backsplash and the colors or patterns on your walls. This is especially important if you’ve chosen a faucet style that installs on the wall instead of to the sink.

Coordinate your faucet finish with lighting and accessories. If you’ve already chosen bronze lighting fixtures, for example, it’s a good idea to choose bronze faucets and towel racks.

Get what you want. Polished chrome is the most popular finish because of its ageless appeal and flexibility in coordinating with many different design styles—and also because it is least expensive. But if chrome isn’t your favorite finish, remember that the faucet is something you’ll be using every day. It’s better to opt for a look you’ll really love.

Here is a before picture of a master bedroom ready for the furniture, linens and interior design touches.  The after picture shows the warmth and personal style the fabric collection brings to the room creating a unique look for this homeowner.

The custom bedding for this trundle bed creates a sophisticated, pulled-together look that most likely could not be achieved with store bought linens.

I also love working with different seasonal fabrics on either side of a duvet so all you need to do is flip over the duvet with the seasons.  Another design idea I like to use is adding an upholstered headboard and/or slipcover. Again working with changes in the seasons and tastes, you can have 2 or more slipcovers made for the headboard and change them out easily with the seasons.

There are unlimited possibilities when it comes to custom bedding. With Authentic Home Interior Design we work with you to select the fabrics and  oversee the creation of your beautiful linens to ensure you get exactly what you want for your rooms.

I knew we had to make a custom table in order to meet these requirements and so I partnered with Paul Jackson, an former boat maker and expert wood craftsman to create the custom table.

We selected 3 unique woods; sapele, wenge and moabi for the table that consists of 3 leaves and 2 side bread boards extensions and measures from 7′ to a full 15′.  The sapele wood was crafted for the body of the table, the wenge was the beautiful inlaid sections and the moabi was used as a edge border of the wenge sections.

This table is truely a work of art and you can see all of the love and passion that was put into this by Paul.  It was the largest table that Paul ever created and the process took a little over 4 months.  And every bit of it was well worth the wait since my clients and their family couldn’t have been happier with the end results.

We celebrated the delivery date with a champagne toast over a lovely lunch.

Even Ginger, the family dog got in the festivities!

I wanted to share Paul’s beautiful piece of art with you. So when you have a specific furniture need, please remember that there are many artists that can create one of kind pieces just for you.  We know there will be many lovely memories shared at this amazing table.

Click here to view more of Paul Jackson’s work.

The challenge for the living room makeover was to appeal to both Jarrod & Katie and to create a space that was a reflection of them and that they both would feel comfortable in. My challenge was to incorporate the feminine “shabby chic” feel with masculine touches while using their current furniture pieces.  The large 10’ x 15’ living room is just to the left of the front entry and has 4 East facing corner windows that let in a lot of light.  Setting a color palette for the room makeover was the first item on the agenda.  I selected Authentic Home COLOR Paint™ in London Fog for the living room walls with Authentic Home COLOR Paint™ in Champagne on Ice color for the ceiling.

The ceiling was the original fir bead board which is very predominant, was the first thing I saw when I entered. The dull colored fir ceiling darkened the room and I knew it needed lightening up in order to achieve our desired look and feel.  It was the only fir ceiling in the house so I encouraged them to have us paint it.  Both Katie & Jarrod were nervous about painting the fir bead board ceiling so we provided samples of a glaze to paint mixture for their review. After reviewing the samples we decided to use a 1 part glaze and 2 part Champagne on Ice paint mixture to give the “white washed” look to the ceiling while allowing the fir grains to still show through.  Billy Brandt Painting provided his expertise to transform the dark ceiling into something unique and exceptional.

The next area that needed updating was the fireplace. The original orange colored brick lined both the hearth and surround and it quickly dated the entire room.  We agreed that a 12” x 12” tile for both the hearth and surround would improve the overall feeling of the room as well as enhance the original mantelpiece. I selected Castillian Gray tile that brought out the blue London Fog wall color.  Tom’s tile team quickly transformed the fireplace which freshens up the entire room instantaneously.

I rearranged the existing furniture to create a conversation zone in front of the fireplace which is the room’s focal point.  I moved the upright piano to the East wall, the first wall you see upon entering the space. Previously the piano was in the left corner of the room and you barely saw it.  Now it is the second focal point and fits perfectly between the 4 corner windows.  The ivory color armoire that houses the TV was positioned to the left of the room’s entry and placed on an angle. An ivory shag rug anchors the conversation zone and decorative accessories in our color palette pull the room together and are the final touches to complete the new look.

“It was so easy working with Kathy Banak, Tom Fine, and their teams on our living room remodel!  Kathy brought fresh ideas to our living room which we’ve struggled with over the years to arrange and decorate.  We love the color palette that she chose and the updates to the fireplace by Tom’s team have given our living room a more modern feel.  The biggest change was to paint our wood paneled ceiling, we were nervous, but Kathy showed us examples from her own home to reassure us that it would look great.  We finally have a living room with the right colors, the right furniture placement, and the right décor.  We are extremely happy with the end result and highly recommend Authentic Home and Fine Construction.” –Jarrod and Katie Hamilton

The light, fresh color choices give the classic lines of the chairs, tables and sofa a clean, contemporary feel to the entire living room.

I love the use of a warm gray taupe on the chaises with the light crystal blue color used on the chairs and pillows.

I so love the robins egg blue cabinets paired with the black traditional stove and modern glass back-splash.  The mixture of both contemporary and traditional styles is so refreshing and lovely to the eye.

The use of the warm apricot and off white combination in her bedroom provides a warm, comfortable feeling and compliments the use of the cooler color tones used in the rest of the home.

May you find these images inspirational for your own Authentic Home creation!

Housed in a vintage renovated building the shelter provides a safe place for women and children fleeing domestic abuse and gives them a space so they can start to rebuild their lives. The one requirement was to include a daybed that could be used as a sofa and sleeping space.

Thank you Mary for considering Authentic Home COLOR Paint for such a wonderful project. And now on to the next project to give back!

Candles bring so much warmth to any room and especially on a holiday mantel. I suggest using off white in a variety of sizes to bring a glow to the entire room.

Try using new color combination’s. Copper, Pinks, White, Silver, Lime Green are just a few ideas to have fun with. I love the use of poinsettias in a lime green and raspberry color on the mantel.

A simple tip is to imprint with adhesive letters a holiday saying and adhere them to balls. Then just string them all through a ribbon.  An easy and festive new idea!

I love the simplicity of this mantel and how easy it is to create!  The key here is to use accessories that are the same color. That way the greens really pop.

Another fun idea is to use a holiday saying above the mantel.  Baby its cold outside is a wonderful holiday song that now has a place above a warm fireplace. Have fun exploring holiday tunes this way!

Visit Authentic Home Paint store for some beautiful paint color ideas to enhance the look of your room this holiday season.