Welcome to Change of Space!: Spring is in the Air!

Spring is here; we can finally enjoy the sunshine and warmer weather that it comes with! I have found that springtime is always my busiest season, with people anxiously waiting to change up their homes that they have been stuck inside of all winter. My clients may not always know what they are looking to change, but I almost always am told that they want a “light and airy” feel to welcome the warmer weather ahead. You may have had a similar problem; leaving the walls white because you’re too scared to make the room any darker than it already is. Every time I hear this, I introduce a darker color palette than what my clients are expecting and I get to see a look of shock across their face, as if maybe I didn't hear that they requested light and airy, not dark overwhelming. Why would I do such a thing?

I like to say that sometimes interior design is like living in ‘opposite land’. We paint rooms darker in order to give you that soothing feel of pure relaxation. Of course, when you go dark, you have to be careful to balance the hue with a color such as white. I cannot express this enough! Whether that means you have white furniture, accents, trim, curtains, etc. you need to bring a large amount of white to the space to balance the dark color on the wall. You may be thinking, but what about yellow? Yellow is such a happy go-lucky color! Think about it, when is the last time that you felt relaxed by the color yellow? Colors on the brighter side of the spectrum (red, orange, yellow) are meant to make you feel lively and energetic. The other colors (green, blue, purple) are more soothing. Not so much into color? Try neutrals; you’ll find that grey is a more soothing color beige. Of course, every hue has a spectrum of warm and cold shades. However, generally speaking, grey mixed with white is more soothing than beige mixed with white because there is more of a contrast between the two hues.

It seems like color would play the most important role in making a room seem light and airy, but surprise! It’s not. I can’t tell you how important the textures you bring into a space are; they are what give your room the feel you are looking for. The quickest way to make a room seem heavy is to load it full of heavy texture; velvet, leather, wool, fur, etc. When trying to make a room feel light, it’s important to include fabrics that would actually sway in the wind if a window was left open. These types of fabrics, (linen, cotton, knit, etc.) not only move with the wind, but can even let sunlight through them depending on the thickness of the fabric.

I know it can be surprising, but even the design element of scale plays a large role in making your room feel light. You may think your space is too small to handle that over sized piece of furniture. In most cases, yes, your room probably is too small if you’re trying to include that large piece of furniture with everything else that you own. It’s time to rethink your room, rethink the function you want it to have and design accordingly. Maybe you want your family room to be able to hold all of the members of your family, so all of these years you’ve been holding onto those two small sofas, two matching chairs and ottoman that are filling your room to the brim. Why not get rid of the five piece set and replace it with a sectional and coffee table? You’ll be amazed by how much this action alone can open up your space. Maybe the minimalists are onto something here? Less is more!