It’s the heat of July and we are trying to find shelter from those high temperatures! It’s also a great time to think about what some cool trends, and hot considerations that will create the perfect home environment for the second half of the year and years to follow!
A couple of noteworthy possibilities for us to address in this article are color and texture! ALL can be covered in one aspect of well-balanced interior or exterior design. Fabrics provide a wonderful opportunity to look at color as well as texture! And, this summer is NO EXCEPTION.
Certainly, we have acknowledged that inspirations for design is an important part of any success and this summer is no exception! Textures, patterns, and colors are all connected to nature! Color from flowers and plants, patterns from many points in nature from leaves to bark to (again) flowers, and texture from all of these!
Looking to create that cool, airy, and comfortable space, note the use this year of softer colors. While these are often contrasted with more extremes by adding pops of bold color, the use of the sherbets, as we like to call them, is an important tool to lower the thermostat visually in the home during the summer months!
Creams, tans, yellows, greens, blues, and even orange are all included!
Texture is another aspect of current design with some really cool ideas! Thanks for William-Sonoma Home, West Elm, and Pottery Barn, for offering swatches demonstrating many great features of texture! The “hand” of fabric is always important as it impacts the comfort, wear, and tailoring of an upholstered piece. Surprisingly to some, harder finishes and tight flat weaves are an abundant source this year!
Not only in the traditional forms but in more pronounced weaves to make the ideas more obvious! These fabrics tend to tailor extremely well and offer great performance as well! Heavy velvets and micro suedes are also offering great performance but again are creating reactions as the weights seem denser than in the past! Excitedly, this will create some of the most comfortable upholstery opportunities we have seen in a while!
Using patterns is always a perfect opportunity to “freshen” any room by changing out accents such as pillows, rugs, and lamps! These, also, are available for Summer 2018 in great shades of soft colors and styles using both traditional and updated inspiration!
As always, when our goal is to make YOUR Home a Great Place to Live, investment pieces and affordable accents will certainly be part of the plan! Stay “cool” and take advantage of the options currently in the marketplace! The hottest ideas will make your home a hit this summer!
