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Highlights. Trends. Insights. We’ve got the scoop on everything you need to know about interior design right here in one tidy space!

Trending: We Admire Wire

Forget about overwrought patio furniture or quaint bed frames, the trend toward wire furniture brings modernity to any room or space. The look mixes well with wood, as seen in this dining table and coffee table, and accents like these ottomans and storage baskets add scriptural artistry to otherwise functional pieces. Even lighting gets wired this year, a big trend that takes up little space – a perfect for fans of minimalism.

1. Wire Storage Basket, Horne | 2. Wire Floor Lamp, Land of Nod | 3. Wire Ottoman, Horne | 4. Rose Gold Wire Bar Stool, Target | 5. Wire Coffee Table, CB2 | 6. Hairpin Dining Table, World Market

Project Highlight: Skye, Pool View South, Palm Springs, California

Care for a Martini?

Any fan of Palm Springs knows two things: The desert oasis is a mecca for snowbirds and creatives, and it’s synonymous with midcentury modern style. Chameleon Design built upon these archetypes to help Woodbridge Pacific Group present Skye, a new community located within walking distance of downtown Palm Spring’s vibrant shopping and restaurant district. The spacious, well-designed floor plans with luxury finishes provided the ideal backdrop for our design, which includes all the details required for a Mad Men-style happy hour. Inspired by the desert color palette, we incorporated punches of tangerine, citron and turquois to complement the glossy white modern flat panel cabinets and large format, white porcelain tile we selected. With a space focused on entertaining, the only thing a homeowner will have to decide is whether to serve martinis poolside or in the outdoor den.

 

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Dining

External view

Great room

Great room

Kitchen

Master bath

Master bedroom

Patio

Patio

Bedroom

Bedroom

Great room

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Master bedroom

Pet parlor

Pool

Project Highlight: Celadon at Parasol Park, Plan 4, Irvine, California

Midcentury Modern Meets 21st Century Family Life

The newest of the Great Park neighborhoods in Irvine, Celadon at Parasol Park stands out for its well-conceived designs for modern homebuyers leading busy lifestyles, including one floor plan just right for growing families with four children. The builder, William Lyons Homes, tapped Chameleon Design to envision an eclectic version of midcentury modern interior design for this model that is budget- and kid-friendly. The result is as appropriate for playtime as it is for cocktail hour, thanks to a mix of surprisingly affordable pieces that mimic vintage lines. We selected a fun and energetic color palette based on pops of color as a design solution with all-white walls. We also took the opportunity to play with shapes and finishes, such as the multisided coffee table and brass trunk in the living room or nubby pillows and a nightstand featuring a honeycomb-inspired façade in the master bedroom. From morning school bell to après-dinner entertainment – and the family moments that happen in between – this design is tailor-made for Southern California lifestyles.

Living Room

Dining Room + Kitchen

Kitchen

Bedroom

Living Room

Living Room

Bedroom

Bedroom

Bedroom

Patio

Patio

Details

Bedroom

Bedroom

Stairs

Details

Bedroom

Faux Finishes Mimic Nature

It all began the moment you settled in to read the latest thriller from your favorite author and draped a faux sable blanket across your lap. Since then, your love affair with all things organic and lush has grown in intensity. Now it’s time to invite other faux finishes into your home to drive your interior design choices. From rugs to ceiling aesthetics and everything in between, here’s your guide to using budget-friendly faux finishes to make everything look a bit more luxe.

Mesmerize with Marble

The faux finishing technique of marbleizing replicates the intricate, variegated veins of real marble. This countertop and back splash is made of natural quartz designed to appear like marble.

Chameleon Design

Get the Look of Ancient Stone

Stone stands up to the test of time, but the cost can be prohibitive. That’s where artisan finishes on drywall or wood come in. The look of a faux stone finish is organic – even responsive to fluctuations in lighting.

Nature at Your Feet

If you love the appearance of real wood flooring but loathe to undertake the upkeep or cost, tile that mimics the raw wonder of wood is easy to care. Faux wood tile flooring bears details once found only in nature, such as varying grains, concentric rings and knots, as well as a range of hues.

Chameleon Design

Wood Grain Craze

Enveloping cabinets or even walls in faux wood gain can mimic a range of looks from rustic to refined to exotic. The secret to trying this trend is to varying the direction of the grain to create the illusion of spaciousness in tight spaces.

Trending: Ceramics Are Dynamic

Ceramic accessories are affordable, quirky and oh-so-fun to style. You’ll covet the latest crop of ceramics found in modern collections of vases and love how hanging ceramic pots spotlight greenery. We believe the revival of ceramics coincides with consumers’ desires to personalize living spaces with accessories that spur organic connections to nature – a trend found in ceramics with earthy, artisanal finishes just perfect for spotlighting a posy or two.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pantone’s Color of the Year Soothes the Soul

Does the pace of modern life have you yearning for the natural world? The Pantone Color Institute offers weary souls an antidote with its 2017 Color of the Year, called Greenery. The yellow-green minimalistic hue invites you to stop and breathe, disconnect from technology and reconnect with nature. Greenery is all about unity and community – and we can’t think of a better purpose for design.

Invite the Great Outdoors into Your Home

In announcing its color of the year, Pantone lauded Greenery for its “vitality of nature and new beginnings.” We recommend refreshing tired surroundings or calming busy interiors by bringing the soft, desaturated tone into your environment. Greenery answers the call for simplicity and evokes the grounding of nature, making it the ideal color to redefine a room. Almost every brand of paint incorporates a color like Greenery into its palette this year. Some of our other favorite ways to introduce Greenery into your environment include throws, furniture and appliances.

Sources: A: Alpaca Throw, Johnathan Adler B: KitchenAid Mixer C: Leather Pouf, All Modern D: Parsons Bed, Room & Board E: Rustic Platter, Williams Sonoma

Chameleon Design Featured Project // The Covey, Buena Park, CA

In partnering with William Lyon Homes to welcome homebuyers to The Covey in Buena Park, Chameleon Design captured the warmth and simplicity of the community’s farmhouse aesthetics by infusing calming shades of white, taupe and green – leading with Greenery, Pantone Color Institute 2017 Color of the Year. We reinforced this refreshing color palette by incorporating other design trends we believe you’ll see in architecture, interior décor and fashion this year, such as raw surfaces, organic materials, and unifying features like board and batten. The result is a thoroughly modern yet intrinsically familiar design ready for growing families, with plenty of room for entertaining effortlessly.

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Great Room

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Great Room

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Great Room Detail

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Entryway

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Bedroom

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Bedroom

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Bedroom

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Bathroom

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Kitchen

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Kitchen

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Kitchen

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Laundry Room

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Master Bathroom

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Master Bathroom

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Master Bathroom

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Master Bedroom

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Master Bedroom

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Bedroom

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Bedroom

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Landing Area

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Patio

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Patio

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Patio

Designing a Room from Scratch

Designing a room from a completely blank slate can be quite a daunting task! It can be difficult to know where to start and once you get going you need to be aware of the order you’re doing things to get the best results possible. There are also some basic design rules that are always good to keep in mind to give you that well-designed look that you’re hoping for. Whether it’s one room or your entire home, we’ve compiled some tips to help get you started:

Define Your Personal Style

When designing a room don’t just jump in, take your time to think about your personal style and the overall look you want to go for. Maybe you love mid-century modern or maybe it’s a more traditional look that excites you. Either way, making this determination from the get-go will guide every choice you make going forward and help you to put together a more cohesive look.

Photo: Amber Interiors

Mix It Up

Another way to think of this is to avoid being too matchy-matchy. If you decide you want to go with a modern look and purchase everything from the same store your space is going to be boring and you won’t be in love with the results. Have fun with the process and shop for items from various sources. The large commercial stores like West Elm are great to mix with custom items and even flea market finds.

Photo: C Magazine

Plan Your Space

Measure, measure, measure! Before shopping for your pieces it’s best that you measure and plan out your space on paper. This will ensure that everything you place will fit nicely in the room and not be too crowded or too empty. Another trick is to use painters tape to actually tape out dimensions in a room where you’re thinking of placing a sofa or bed. Do this before you buy so you don’t get stuck with anything that’s not a perfect fit!

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Photo: Chameleon Design

Start with the Rug

If you select a rug you love for each room and build from there, you can’t go wrong. The rug will ground the space and with an endless array of fabrics, colors and patterns it will organically dictate how the rest of the room comes together. If you’re working with a carpeted room or don’t want to include a rug for whatever reason, start with the largest furniture piece and build from there. So for the bedroom it would be the bed and for the den it would be the sofa or entertainment center.

Photo: My Domain