fbpx
 

Blog

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

Create a Beautiful Dining Space

Dining rooms can be a difficult to decorate due to limited furniture pieces and limited styling opportunities. However, if you combine certain elements to create high-impact designs, you can easily achieve a beautiful space that your guests will enjoy. Here are some easy elements to incorporate, then when combined will create a space that impresses every dinner guest:

Install Overhead & Accent Lighting
Cast a flattering glow on your dining companions and create a strong focal point in the room by placing a statement fixture directly above the dining table. If you can go a step further and layer your lighting sources by adding wall sconces and table lamps on a sideboard or console you’ll really be in business! And don’t forget the importance of putting lighting on dimmer switches to control the room’s brightness.

Photo: Pinterest


Hang Engaging Artwork

Since furniture in dining areas is usually placed in the center of the room, these areas offer the perfect place in the home to display oversized, interesting artwork. Go with a gallery wall or salon-style arrangement, or place one incredible piece on the main wall to anchor the room.

Photo: Chameleon Design

Create Seating Variety
Whether you opt to use a bench that coordinates with your side chairs on one side of your table or a different, larger-scale pair of chairs at the heads of a rectangular table, switching up your seating styles is a nice way to add interest to your dining room decor.

Photo: Pinterest

Mix Your Materials
Since furniture pieces in dining rooms tend to be limited, keep your room fresh and intriguing by incorporating a mix of materials and textures into your design. A table with a top that coordinates but contrasts with its base, along with chairs that introduce another texture, will add depth to your design.

Give Yourself a Serving Surface
Keep yourself from having to run back and forth to the kitchen by adding a surface where you can serve food and drinks. A console or buffet will do the trick and prevent disruption during dinner parties. As an added bonus, a piece such as this will add valuable storage space.

Photo: Chameleon Design 

Chameleon Design Featured Project: Cielo, Plan 4 // Brentwood, CA

The 4th and final plan at Brentwood’s Cielo is a 5 bedroom home built for a young family.  There are enough bedrooms for 3 smaller children, as well as a guest room or extra bedroom for Grandma. We went with a mid-century modern theme for this plan, with a cobalt blue, orange, charcoal and cream color palette. Accents are warm and smooth, such as maple wood cabinets, porcelain grey “wood look” plank flooring and smoky grey cut pile carpeting with loop accents.

Kitchen

Living Room

Master Bedroom

Second Bedroom

Patio

Home Design Trends // Marble

We featured marbled patterns as a trend earlier this year and we love a marble kitchen and bath, but we’re also excited about the emerging popularity of marble furniture which is one of today’s hottest materials. What was once thought of as a palatial supply is now the epitome of sleek modern design, thanks to simple forms that allow the veining of the material to take center stage. Rather than being ornate, today’s marble furniture is clean-lined and will add a beautiful touch to any room.

Saarinen Dining Table, DWR

Wall Clock, Dwell

Bathroom Accessories, H&M

Arco Floor Lamp, Room & Board

Fruit Bowl, When Objects Work

Chameleon Design Featured Project: Cielo, Plan 3 // Brentwood, CA

Cielo at Palmilla Plan 3 is a large five bedroom home built with a growing family of five in mind. There’s a master bedroom, bedroom for each child and  a hangout room on the first level for all three kids to use. The home has a contemporary Napa Mission style using golden maize, taupey brown and crisp white colors throughout.  The main flooring has a traditional look with medium tone wood planks and we used a warm cut pile with linear pattern for the carpeting.  Kitchen cabinets are a clean, white wood.

Kitchen

Living Room

Master Bedroom

Loft

Patio

Transition Your Decor From Summer to Fall

Though temperatures have been hot, hot, hot, we can’t forget that Fall is just around the corner! The transition from summer to fall provides the perfect excuse to update your home with fresh accessories and hues inspired by the season. Dress your home for cool autumn weather with these simple interior and exterior decorating ideas below:

Balance Your Textures and Fabrics

Gauzy cottons and light linens feel decidedly summer while soft cashmere, warm wool, and textural burlap have a distinctly autumnal vibe. This time of year, feel free to use all of these luxe textures in your home, but incorporate them in colors that may be more appropriate for the time of year.

Photo: Pinterest

Update Your Throw Pillows
As the weather gets cooler, the family will start spending more and more time indoors. Cozy up your living room sofas and chairs with plush throw pillows in different shapes, sizes and patterns. Comfy accessories add visual interest to your living room, plus they’ll emit a warm, inviting tone perfect for the season.

Photo: Pinterest

Style With the Plants of the Moment
We love the color and vibe a few decorative palm fronds bring to our summer setups, but they will look misplaced come fall. Switch out your summer florals and plants for more transitional items like branches and hydrangeas in deep, purpley hues.

Photo: Pinterest

Cozy Up the Patio
Don’t forget about your favorite outdoor spot when the seasons change. As summer transitions into fall, the weather becomes perfect for comfortable evenings outside. Decks and patios are often neglected as the weather cools down, but the lack of heat and humidity makes your outdoor space even more usable and enjoyable. Now there’s no reason to not enjoy the patio January through December.

Photo: Pinterest

Home Design Trends // Rose Gold Accents

Having taken the fashion world by storm, rose gold accents have made their way into the interior design world. This finish is now available on plumbing fixtures, hardware and flatware. Rose gold is a gold alloy made from a combination of gold and copper. It has a warm, pink hue and lends to an elegant, timeless and warm feeling in the home.

Photo: Tray Table, Phillip Mainzer

Photo: Lamp, Nate Berkus

Photo: Flatware, Anthropologie

Photo: Pinterest

Chameleon Design // Nominated for 4 SoCal Awards!!

If you are in our neighborhood, stop by and give us a high five – because that’s what we’re doing at our office right now!  We’re pleased to share our good news!  Chameleon Design has received the prestigious honor of making it to the finalist round of The SoCal Awards, presented by the Greater Sales & Marketing Council of Southern California.  As with every design we do, we strive for only the best in design, innovation and creativity.  Receiving industry recognition by our peers as well as leaders and influencers about our hard work is cause for us to celebrate!  A BIG THANK YOU to our wonderful clients who trust us with their work daily.  We’ve been nominated in the following categories:

Category: Best Sales or Information Center Pavilion Park
The First Great Park Neighborhood
Five Point Communities
Marketing Director: Jann Rowe
Strada Advertising/Chameleon Design

Great Park Neighborhood

Category: Best Interior Merchandising of a Detached Home priced under $500,000
AVO – Plan 2 ALT
Planet Home Living
Marketing Director: Melanie Ryan
Chameleon Design

AVO Plan 2

Category: Best Interior Merchandising of a Detached Home priced over $1 Million
Azurene at Brightwater – Plan 6
Woodbridge Pacific
Marketing Director: Karen Spargo
Chameleon Design

Azurene

Category: Best Interior Merchandising of an Attached Home priced under $600,000
Cortile – Plan 4
Brookfield Residential
Marketing Director: Mercedes Meserve
Chameleon Design

Cortile

Chameleon Design Featured Project: Cielo, Plan 2 // Brentwood, CA

Plan 2 at Cielo at Palmilla is a three-bedroom home built for a young family with two children. The theme of the design is “contemporary chic” and our beautiful color palette included linen, grey, light beige, glossy white, and bright pops of berry. To complement those colors, we selected espresso kitchen cabinets and ceramic tile flooring in a light beige with linen loop patterned carpet in the bedrooms.

Living Room

Kitchen

Master Bedroom

Loft

 

Home Design Trends // Swing Arm Sconces

We’ve been noticing swing arm wall lighting popping up everywhere these days and we like it!  Swing arms are space-saving wall sconces with flexible “arms” that pivot or extend out over a table, sofa, bed or countertop. They can provide a focal point to a room but won’t compete with art on the walls, which makes them easy for anyone to implement into their decor.

Pottery Barn

Restoration Hardware

Wayfair.com

Jonathan Adler

Home Design Trends // Tassels

Tassels have a long history of being used in decorative arts adorning European palaces, homes and people dating as far back as ancient times. But today’s tassel embellishments being used on furniture and fashion offer tremendous variety.  They’re fresh and sexy, glamorous and artful, and can be bohemian chic or modern; every home appreciates that.  Here are some looks that may work for your home:

Pillow, Furbish.com

Screen Shot 2014-08-20 at 10.39.32 PM

Curtains, Anthropologie

Throw, West Elm

Photo: Pinterest