Annie Elliott Design
Greater Washington DC
Q: What are inexpensive or simple ways to update a room you decorated 5 years ago? It’s too soon to do a complete over haul or recover the furniture, but what are some easy ways to avoid boredom or that dreaded passe look? A: It depends on how you define “inexpensive,” but the best bang-for-your-buck …
This is so embarrassing I almost can’t write about it. But, ego be damned, I thought it might be comforting for you to know that even decorators struggle with their own houses. My living room has been painted. Five. Times. We’ve lived in this house for less than three years. And it’s not just a …
According to The New York Times, the Pantone Color Institute‘s color for 2008 is blue iris, or for those in the ultra-know, No. 18-3943. Cathy Horyn quotes Pantone’s Leatrice Eiseman describing the color thus: “Blue Iris brings together the dependable aspects of blue, underscored by a strong, soul-searching purple cast. Emotionally, it is anchoring and …
This was a fun challenge: freshening up a bathroom while keeping the existing wall tile. The tile is charming…it would be more charming if it hadn’t been repaired over the years with similar-but-not-exactly-the-same-tile, but nonetheless… The worst thing you can do is paint the walls white if the tile was white once upon a time. …
I can’t tell you how happy I am that wallpaper is coming back. Check out this Neisha Crosland wallpaper (Caravan in Chocolate) that a client used in her dining room. We could have gone with dark brown on the wainscoting, but the room would have turned into a cave. Not necessarily a bad look, but …
I’m not usually a fan of the “accent wall” – a distasteful, ’80s term to begin with. I think that people who fear color sometimes think an accent wall is a good alternative to painting an entire room. It usually isn’t. Done thoughtfully and with restraint, however, articulating a single wall with a different color …
Black and white rooms go in and out of fashion, and they’re coming back in now (thank you, Kelly Wearstler). But they’re hard to pull off in real life – in rooms you actually want to spend time in – because the effect can be so sterile.Pair black with rich creams and taupes and a …