Curtain Conundrum!
A show of hands: how many of you have been putting a room together, feeling all awesome, when suddenly there’s a piece that looks kind of wonky? Not BAD, per se, but not really what you’re going for and then you get stuck? (Me! It’s usually an inherited wall color! I’ve learned that one just needs to paint.) One of Hubsey’s co-workers, Meg, is currently in a bit of a pickle with her dining room. Let’s take a look at the space first and then I’ll let her tell you about the problem.
Table: West Elm // Chairs: Crate&Barrel // Rug: World Market // Paint: BM’s Gray Owl
Meg said:
“The dining room is towards the back of the house, but one of the first spaces you see when you enter the front door into the family room. I’m a big fan of neutral walls and furniture so you have flexibility to play with color in the accents. I really loved the simplicity / contrast of this space, which inspired the black rug, chairs, and hutch. Also, there’s more reclaimed wood going on in this room than the rest of the house, because my husband would decorate the whole place in pallets and whiskey barrels if I let him, so this is where some of his design preference came in. Once we put it all together, I realized the ikat curtains just don’t work and I can’t seem to decide if it’s because the room is lacking color (the family room has pops of blue and coral), or the print is just too bold.”
First of all, CUTE. Meg did a great job pulling elements from her inspiration room and, from what I can tell, tying the space in with the rest of the house. High-five! But she’s right, it’s the curtains that are keeping the room from being a basket full of tacos slam dunk, so it’s time for them to go. (I forgot to ask, but I hope she’ll use them in another part of the house. They’re adorable.) Anyway, my issue with the ikat is the scale of the pattern. For me, it does compete with the rug a little. It’s also hard to gauge the shade of tan from the pictures, but I think it’s too warm for that wall color. Gray Owl is one of those shades that looks a little different in every room and in here it’s reading very blue.
While we’re on the topic of blue, here are some fabric samples Meg was eyeballing:
My knee-jerk reaction was to go with one of the Greek key patterns, but after emailing with Meg a little more she said that all of the blues were blending in with the walls too much and looking blah. I do really like the tan version of the pattern, but that wouldn’t add much contrast, either.
Hmmmmm. I started poking around for other ideas when I remembered: coral is one of the accent colors in the family room. Why not add a holla-back to it in the dining room?
I’m drooling all over my keyboard. This fabric has a ton of negative space, which will keep it from competing with the rug, but the coral is striking enough to wink at the family room. And also, if you peek back at Meg’s inspiration image, that room was very light and airy. This fabric is definitely in the club.
I’ll let you know how this dreamy piece of material looks if Meg orders a sample. What’s something that’s tripped you up in a design? Are curtains your foe? Do you try to make old paint colors work just so you don’t have to edge around the ceiling? I feel you.
Have a design dilemma of your own? I’d love to help, so hit me up: paige(dot)ronchetti(at)gmail(dot)com.
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