The yes and no trends of spring 2011

Posted by admin on Apr 18, 2011 in Interior Design | 0 comments

Some things are always in season, yet others must be driven out of town for a long time. Sadly, you often never quite know which is which. Luckily, HGTV interior designer and presenter Genevieve Gorder does, and she’s happy to share these tips with you in a run-down for the Chicago Tribune this month.

Beige is a no-no. While she understands that people tend to gravitate towards the hue, it’s not as safe as people think and people who are tonally neutral will suffer for not being a little bit more adventurous with colour on walls, soft furnishings and outer buildings. Meanwhile, wood floors were preferred over the usual tile requirements in the bathroom. Ms Gorder argued that there are too many bad tile jobs in homes, even though wood is an attractive, flexible and easy-to-fit surface.

She said of matching patterns and colours: “People think design is matching things. Again, like the beige on beige on beige. So you have this red pattern, and I get the same pattern, and I put it on my sofa, and I put it on my sink, and I put it on my garbage can… Matching is not design. Design is complementing – combining other colours, in other patterns. It’s a balance of opposites.”

One thing she saw as positive, however, is the sofa. “The couch is this island that we spend 75 per cent of our time on,” she continued, pointing towards a need to kit it out with heavy throws and pillows. It’s easy to get the relaxation you deserve by doing this, she concluded.