Zaarly is a marketplace where you can ask for anything, set the price, and keep the community rooted by building local economy and helping each other out.

Follow Matthew on Dribbble and Twitter.

First up, why don’t you tell the community a bit about who you are, what you do, how long you have been doing it. 

I’m the Creative Director at Zaarly, a place that’s bringing business back to neighborhoods again, because life is better when you talk face to face, when you’re not just a number. I’ve been drinking this kool aid for a little less than a year. Before that I owned Squared Eye for about 4 years. Before that I worked at a thrift store.

What past experiences do you think have contributed the most to where you are now? 

Having an alcoholic father. Moving to England on my own when I was 23. Being forgiven by Jesus. Having three amazing kids. Suffering well in life so I can always relate to the people who’s life genuinely suck. It all creates empathy, I’ve never met a great designer who lacks empathy.

What colors do you think we will see a lot of in 2012?

#e85049, #474341, #f7ff7d, #775078

What patterns and design trends do you think will be big in 2012?

I think we’ll see fewer repeating patterns, more large abstractions. Its more and more possible to use the web to create more organic, less rigid forms, and I think we’ll see a giant resurgence of photography in this regard.

Which colors, patterns & trends are you personally most excited about?

I like circles. Circles are human. Squares are man-made, but they aren’t human.

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In terms of design, what is your favorite website or app right now?

Path. Hands down. I am on it many multiple times a day. I respect the shit out of that group of designers, devs, and minds.

What are your go-to fonts? What are your top 3 go-to colors?

Clarendon. Akzidenz-Grotesk Condensed, and I love Cubano because my buddy Chandler loved this font into being.

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What’s the best design-related advice you’ve ever received?

“That’s amazing. Now throw it away and do a hundred more.” From my pottery prof, Richard DeVore, one of the best artist’s I’ve ever known.

What do you do to continue learning and to continue improving in your craft?

Take photos. Talk to humans. Drink amazing craft beer and ask my kids if they understand this interface or that interface. I read books on revolutions. I am trying to find out what is going to bring people back to life, back to center. I think we’re really off center in our culture right now.

When you are feeling stumped, where do you turn for inspiration?

Go to the museum. Take photos with Marco Suarez. Do jumping jacks. Cuss like a sailor. Use a fork and wonder why it works so well, and if it could ever be improved.

What’s one thing you tell designers that are just starting out?

Don’t go to college. If you did go to college, kick yourself. I am still kicking myself. Stop learning style, that’ll come. Start learning to ask better questions and really get at problems under problems. Be obsessive about studying your hero’s work. Copy everything they do, then throw it away, and try to redesign Seth Godin’s blog and send it to him to see if he wants to use it. Can’t hurt.

Red is one of those colors that possesses the strongest Ying and Yang of its theoretical definitions. Between love and hate, rebirth and death, the human relationship in any combination, could literally be summed up in the meaning of the color Red. Pink has what I would describe as a temperamental scale, more based on softness versus loudness than the extreme left or right end of the spectrum.

“Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love.” – paper-leaf.com // COLOR THEORY poster freebie

As we know, colors can generate a wide variety of emotions. Red might be the most diverse and along with pink, a tag-along little sister, many other colors in tow can lend a visual message of love a great big pop!

Falling in Love by Etsy artist,  DJEMBE & CANVAS

“Cranes represent longevity and grace. The flocks ascend our champagne symphony, where love is blessed upon those who simply believe.” – posted by artist at the listing

The artist gave us a wonderfully light feeling with this palette and the birds adding further motion. I also like how the painting balances the realities of “love” with a little bit of darkness in the bottom right corner. What do you think of this palette and representation of falling in love?

Love Trees by Etsy artist, Patrick Law

This slightly abstract ensemble uses blues, lavenders and coral blend to articulate a center of warmth within the heart tree. This makes me feel warm, cozy and safe. What does it do for you?

The detail on this acrylic print is amazing. The tree’s are textured and have an amazing visual feel to them.

 Long Distance Love by Etsy artist, PopHeartPress

This digital art gives off quite a pop with a wild color palette that is sure to get your blood pumping. A wonderful way to make a positive statement about a long distance love situation.

You Ctrl + Z Me (You Undo Me) by Etsy artist rawartletterpress

This red certainly screams for attention and a laugh. Clearly using red against white in a funky, fun way. Comes in both PC and Mac versions.

Language of Love by Etsy artist TheMemoryGallery

Red, black and white always seem to say, “sexy.” A very elegant and formal piece with the word, “Love” in, you guessed it, red.

Soulmates by Etsy Artist, Ben Will

In this abstract expressionism piece, the artist depicts the two soul mates in red while surrounded by an abstract world of cooler colors with a touch of warmth within a vague heart shape in the center between the figures. I feel that it is plainly portraying red as the connection of love. How do you see this piece?

 Modern Love Art Print by Etsy Artist, finedaypress

Mundane colors and ordinary shapes (the circles) surround an off-red, almost burnt orange heart to show love can exist in the midst of everything else in life.

Love Runs Through by Etsy Artist, papercraftsbyk

This fantastically bright mixed media piece tells a story. I like the composition because it literally shows a display of dark muddle in the center and love coming out the other side (running paint). A great visual representation of love. What do you think of the color scheme?

Heart Leaf Love by Etsy Artist, BouleDeNeige

What kind of feeling of love does this palette represent? With cooler hues, does the natural, organic shape soften it up?

I Love You This Much by Etsy Artist, hairbrainedschemes

Here we are, ending with this fabulous lipstick, lovey-dovey, sexy red. I still think nothing says “passionately, deeply in love” like this hue of red.

In reviewing these other palettes and artwork that goes with them, I think of things that a relationship brings such as trust, feeling safe, making me laugh, best friend, that person who is my rock, appreciation, admiration, etc…. but I still come full circle to the richness of what true definitive love feels like in this rich hue of red.

What do you think?

palettes used in this post:

Color by COLOURlovers

What Will 2012 Bring?

What movie are you most excited about for 2012? What design elements do you think will dominate this year?

Source: 1, 2, 3, 4

After looking through tons of color palettes and patterns, I set out to find the perfect gray and decided on a Moroccan pattern similar to the bedroom below. I bought the “Wall Stencil Marrakech Trellis” from CuttingEdgeStencils for about $50.

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I tested several paint colors  in all shades of gray and finally found the perfect shade. I chose, “Timber Wolf” by Benjamin Moore. If you are in the market for the perfect gray paint, I highly recommend trying this. I have tried so many that were too blue, too purple, and too brown and found that this was the perfect gray hue.

After trying out 15 paint colors, I ended up with “Wolf Gray” by Benjamin Moore (seen below) because I switched and confused the word “wolf” and ended up painting an entire wall a color I hadn’t even tested before.

The photos don’t translate the colors quite as well as in person. This shade is really a dark blue as opposed to a slate gray. After painting the wall the color you choose, the real fun begins.

I started stenciling in the bottom left corner as it was the most discrete. My first chunk took 20 minutes to complete. As I continued it started getting a lot easier. Here are some pointers I learned through the process:

• - Pour a half-cup of paint into the tray
• - Work the paint into the roller by rolling it around evenly a few times. You don’t want clumps of paint on the roller or the stencil will come out clumpy in places.
•  - Once the paint is evenly distributed on the roller, roll over the stencil a few times quickly.
• - I liked the look of the gray coming through, so I would only roll it a few times. It gives it a “stamped” sort of look which I preferred against the gray.

To ensure the stencil lines up and it is even throughout the wall, make sure the stencil is lined up with the white paint from the last group you did. Tape all 4 corners and its stays right where it needs to be for you to quickly roll over it.

Doing a full wall is much easier than a wall with a huge fireplace in the middle. Luckily, the stencil I purchased came with smaller stencils to fill in areas and edges that the large stencil wouldn’t fit in. For each edge of the fireplace, I used the smaller stencils and filled in the lines one by one.

After several more hours of the same work over and over again, I completed the entire wall. There were places where paint clumped up, but when I finished the wall, it was hard to find those places that were smudged, so I decided not to worry about it.

Stenciling Photos & Process by: Allison Silber 

Overall it took about 10 hours to paint and stencil this one wall. It is definitely a lot harder than just picking a color, painting and calling it a day, but I love the look that this wall brings to the whole room.

As far as pairing decor with a stencil wall, the one problem is that you can’t have too many other geometric patterns in the room as they all start to clash (hence the 4 pillows I have with all the same pattern). I decided to order a textured rug that was more muted, and some textured solid color pillows to balance out the patterns in the space.

Once you master your design techniques visit Next Day Flyers for fast poster printing at great prices.

Today we are interviewing Jessica Sprague, design guru and owner of JessicaSprague.com. In February, Jessica is heading off a four week Poster Design course. She is also giving away not one, but TWO seats to this really awesome class! I couldn’t be more excited about the class after taking Jessica’s Subway Art class. I’m a busy mom, so I don’t have a whole lot of time to join in a live class, which is why I love Jessica’s classes- they are self-paced and available forever!

Follow Jessica: Twitter & Facebook

Can you tell us about yourself, how long have you been designing? Teaching? Do you have a job outside of JS.com?

In my former life I was a web & user interface designer for a software company, so I’ve been designing in some form or another for about 14 years. I started teaching digital scrapbooking, Photoshop, and graphic design in 2007 when I opened  JessicaSprague.com. Since then it is my full-time job, and I love it!

What three (or less) singular colors do you most identify with, why?

My favorite color is green – I love it in almost all of its shades from lime to olive. It’s the color of growth and regeneration, of calm energy, of prosperity, learning, balance, and harmony.

If you had to describe yourself [currently] as a five color palette, what colors would they be? Could you provide me with HEX codes so I can create a JS palette for you?

I feel like I am a blue, two greens, and a red, coupled with a dark grey. Hex: aed835, d9ea65, 81c9c0, a90c19, a90c19

The greens I’ve already described. The blue is an ocean representing responsibility, stability, trustworthiness. The red represents fire and emotion, and the dark grey brings some gravity, but also represents the dark that balances the lighter, fresher colors.

If you could be a shape, what shape would you be? (i.e. a polygon = triangle, hexagon etc…)

I would be a 5-pointed star.

How do you approach incorporating color combinations in poster design? Where do you start on this process?

As with any design process, I always start with a theme or a concept. What is it that we’re saying? What emotion do we want to evoke in the reader or viewer of this piece? Having a solid design concept, I move in to blocking shapes and choosing colors – usually designed to play on the overall theme.

Source: Jessica Bills

I love fonts. LOVE. I collect them, drool over them, dream about them, find excuses to buy new ones. I have a lot of fonts – probably 1700 – and I use a program called Font Expert to organize my fonts. I need to get even better at organizing, when there’s time! But right now I have them divided into categories. My categories include: 3d, Block, Calligraphic, Circus, Condensed, Cute, Decorative, Destroyed, Dingbats, Display, Distressed, Gothic, Handwritten, Modern, Monospaced, Ornaments, Outline, Quirky, Retro, Sans Serif, Script, Serif, Skinny, Stencil, Symbol, Typewriter, Wide, Worn.

How do you approach using fonts in poster design?

The typeface choices make a critical part of the design process – this typically comes as the style and theme of the poster is being fleshed out. I think the typography – especially in a poster where the message tends to be very brief and very LOUD, is especially important, and one of the hallmarks of a really good design vs. a less-effective one. Fonts say things in addition to the actual words they spell – they have personality and that personality needs to be respected and taken advantage of in a design.

Heavily using fonts seems quite trendy, where do you recommend a base knowledge or quick reference about font types and usage?

Mixing fonts is an art and a skill that takes time to develop – I recommend beginning to steep yourself in really good typography, such as the samples over at veer.com as a really good resource for getting a feel for the subtleties.

Source: Jessica Sprague The Art of Poster Design

How do you feel about using patterns in poster design? Something busy, but in the background? Or something simple like a chevron- those seem to be rather popular right now. What are some basic rules you follow when incorporating patterns into poster design?

I think patterns are great in limited ways in a poster – most posters rely on a one-or-two color press that doesn’t allow for much multi-color pattern; but this is changing as the price for laser printing in large-scale formats continues to come down.

How would you describe your style when creating posters? Do you like to use big fonts? Do you tend to use the same fonts over and over?

The style of a poster is always dictated by the message and the style called for – but in general I like big bold fonts, large graphics, brushwork, and great details.

Source: Janet Carr, a student from Jessica Sprague’s Subway Art class.

What do you think are the most common mistakes people make when designing a poster?

I think the most common mistake is that people are afraid to really fill the space in a poster – I see things centered with plenty of whitespace around the text, no color (even black on white can be a color if used well!), and just general blandness. A poster’s purpose is to deliver a message in 10 seconds or less – boldness is the name of the game.

Where are you most likely to find inspiration when you’re stuck in the mud?

I have Pinterest. I also have a few books, including The New Masters of Poster Design, which is excellent eye candy for all styles of posters.

How long is the filming process for the poster class from start to finish, including editing?

There will be about 12 hours of finished video for this class, which takes about three weeks to record and edit.

Since I’ve taken several of your classes, I know throughout the videos you give direction for both Photoshop and Elements users, do you prefer one program over the other?

Great question! In my own work I use Photoshop CS5, but I prefer teaching Photoshop Elements, because I love and adore the Project Bin! LOL. 

Source: Sunday Grennan of itsmesunday.

The Giveaway: Two Lucky COLOURlovers Will Win!

As mentioned above, Jessica has generously offered two seats in the class, a value of $63.99 per class! The giveaway starts today, January 30th, 2012 and ends next Monday, February 6th, 2012.

To Enter: 

Leave a comment telling us what your favorite font is and what theme you would use the font for when creating a poster or project.

The Art of Poster Design starts February 13th and ends March 11th. Jessica Sprague will be leading the class with step-by-step video instruction. This is considered an intermediate class. You can sign-up or get more detailed information here.

I’ve recently created a digital crafting group on COLOURlovers, feel free to join, and share your works of art, palettes, patterns, and chat with people who have the same interests! 

To tide you all over until we get to do a followup with both Linda and Michelle about the class experience, Leatrice kindly took the time to answer the intriguing questions each winner had asked at the time of receiving the announcement that they had won.

Q & A From LindaHolt

Linda: I would love to know what the process is and what goes into choosing the Color of The Year? 

Leatrice: I literally travel the world looking for clues.  If I see a color that I think is ascending in importance, I make special note of it and then look for evidence in it gaining momentum.  Fashion is always a good indicator, but it is not the only design area that must be examined.  There are so much creative design areas that must be considered including graphics, the world of art, product design, home furnishings and so on .  Another very important part of the choice is tapping into the “zeitgeist ‘ of the world around us and the emotional message that the color imparts.  For example, with the that big gray elephant  (the economy) still looming large and the concern that is being felt internationally, we would not want to choose a color that could be a “downer’.  Instead we listen to people’s aspirations and try to give them a color that, at least symbolically, satisfies and encourages their needs and hopes.

Linda:  I would like to know if you have had a life long love of color and what was your path to becoming the color guru you are today?

Leatrice: Yes, I was destined to do something with color.  Even as a child, I was super-aware of the presence of color and was always fascinated by it.  I learned early on that wearing separates was the way to go because you could contrive so many more color combinations that way.  I also had a mother who let me have full reign in color choices—even in painting my room.  And I came up with some pretty dramatic combinations.  The proviso was that if and when I got tired of it, it as my job to purchase the paint and make the changes myself!  I started to take design classes very early and then realized that color was not just about fashion and home, but the psychology of color was equally important.  So my degrees are in psychology, but I combined that with design and color was a natural part of that. And for a shortened version of what happened next, I taught color, consulted with various industries, wrote the first of eight books in color, was invited to become the Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute, while at the same time teaching color programs through the Eiseman Center for Color Information and Training.

Q & A: Michelle Stroescu (ModernMuse)

Michelle:  How does Pantone take into account the current social/ political environment when deciding on future color palettes – or do they at all?

Leatrice:  Yes, those factors considered, as they are a vital part of color trends.

Michelle: I tend to believe our economical, political, and social situations by country affect color trends… 

Leatrice:  Again, yes they are.  For example, one of the important areas to look at, especially in this age of mass communication so readily available, are the colors  that are indigenous to a certain country in which a large sporting  event such as the Olympics is going to be held, as most of the  world is anticipating and then watching those events.  Another example: When there is war in any country, or some traumatic event, like 9/11,  in the U.S., it is  quite characteristic of a particular country to turn to the colors of their flag as they are symbolic of patriotism.

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Michelle: Did Michelle Obama by chance choose a yellow inauguration suit when that was the same color of the year?

Leatrice:  I truly don’t know for certain why she chose that color–  It could be that she had a stylist who was very savvy about those things and made that suggestion to her or that she inherently understood that the color was symbolic of the hope and optimism that had been do much a part of the Obama campaign.

Michelle: Are there really and truly color meanings related to a person’s personality and characteristics? In color consulting is this taken into account and are they analyzed personally and in business branding solutions…regarding color choices in branding?

Leatrice:  To respond to the first part of the question, yes there are color characteristics that people can relate to their own personalities.  Faber Birren was the first credible resource on this aspect of color and many of his books are still available, although some relating to color in business are somewhat out-dated.  But those relating to the psychology of color are still quite relevant. I have also written about this aspect of color in several of my books, including More Alive With Color and the Color Answer Book.

Michelle:  Of all of the Pantone company’s “Color of The Year,” which color and what year had the most impact on businesses and sales? Is this something that is tracked by business sector? Fashion, home, retailing, advertising, etc?

Leatrice: This question cannot be answered without doing extensive research that would involve tracking each area mentioned. And many companies will not divulge their sales figures, but keep it internal.  Pantone  provides the tools for assigning a color to a product, interior or apparel but does not track how every one of their 2000 plus colors sells in every industry.  That would be a mammoth undertaking. What I have done in the past  (and continue to do) is to track consumers’ responses to specific colors based on color word association studies and I will be discussing those in the class you will be attending…

Michelle:  In my past business “blue” was always the dominant sales color within my customer base. That may be due to the fact that I dealt primarily in young mens and mens businesses…

Leatrice:  And that might have been a very viable reason for using blue—you instincts were correct.  I don’t think I have ever done a line that did not include some shade of blue, as it is still a highly preferred color.

Michelle:  One more question for you that I didn’t give Molly, but it would be really helpful if you could advise in your opinion what would be the most important inclusive, informative text to use in teaching COLOR THEORY to fashion design/marketing students? Currently we use the book COLOR by Zelanski/Fisher.

Leatrice:  That is an excellent resource, but in addition there is a wonderful book by Enid Verity called Colour Observed.  The publisher is MacMillan Press and it was published in 1980 in England. Surprisingly, there aren’t many color photos, but the information is excellent and succinct. You will get a booklist as part of your hand-outs when you attend the class.

Thanks for answering these questions in such detail Leatrice, we can’t wait to hear from Linda and Michelle, post class and full of tons of color knowledge! 

Sparkles, snow, candles and blankets adorn these weddings to create a romantic space during these cold months. Oh and the color palettes, I can’t get enough of these color palettes.

Source: Bridge, Pears

For ceremony spaces, a cozy fireplace is the perfect backdrop to tie the knot. Details such as cotton and candles are perfect details to add to this space. Sparkly accessories are a fun way to add a little festive decor to any spot. And you can’t go wrong with a little bit of sparkle every now and again.

Source: Ceremony Spot, Cotton

Even after the holidays are over, this is still a great guest book idea. Have guests write their favorite piece of advice, story of the two of you, or a nice note on an ornament. You can hang these on your tree the coming year.

Source: Ornaments

Source: Hot Cocoa, Flower, Invite, Snowball

There are a variety of details to add including hanging snowballs, white flower boutonnieres or sweet drinks. Kraft paper and a light blue compliment white details quite well, creating an overall fabulous palette to work from.

Source: Tassle, Hot Cocoa

A hot cocoa bar is definitely the highlight of winter weddings. This is something unique to winter months that make a cozy treat for guests. Adding a small tassel stir stick and a great sign to the drink bar is one detail I think should be incorporated in all these festive winter affairs.

Source: Cupcake Bar

Similarly, your dessert bar options can create such a romantic and warm feeling. Be it the use of sparkles, candles, ornaments as well as your selection of cookies and other treats you add. Guests will definitely remember this adorable dessert station.

Source: Cotton + Wood

Wood and cotton details kind of come with the woodsie category, no matter the month. For events in log cabins or barns, these additions are a great way to tie the whole event together and bring the outside, in. Other natural elements make the perfect addition for bud vases, cake tables and a variety of other spots.

Source: Bride

For the bride, it is important to stay warm, but after spending all that money on a dress, you are going to want to show it off as well. Find the perfect cover-up to compliment your attire and it will be a great addition to your closet, well after your wedding day.

Source: Burlap

There are a variety of winter elements that can make the perfect winter wedding. Creating a romantic and warm place for guests to feel comfortable in will make your wedding one they will never forget. Wood, burlap and other organic details are a great addition to candle lit nights and a variety of white details. But this doesn’t mean you feel like you can’t add any bright colors into the mix. This palette is pretty simple, so anything else you add is just as great of an addition to make the night your very own.

First up, why don’t you tell the community a bit about who you are, what you do, how long you have been doing it, and your background. 

I’m Erin Loechner, a 28-year-old freelance design writer and blogger (DesignForMankind.com). I dabble into styling, consulting and rearranging the furniture of any willing party! I’m also an online personality for HGTV.com.

Peruse these lovely combinations and fancy what your space might become, reinvented with fanatically bold or mellow combinations that might pull your imagination strings. One thing I adore about Martha’s paint line is that her and Kevin Sharkey dig in to their memories and whims when building a collection of color around them. You can literally see these things in the names of the paints themselves.

Inspiration: A Sunny & Sweet Flower Arrangement

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This sunny flower arrangement was procured from the sweet tooth of Kevin Sharkey. A few of his favorite sweets happen to be lemon drops and raspberry rock candy.

“Consider things that never fail to make you happy — a box of pastel crayons, macaroons from Paris, a beloved artist’s paintings — and make note of their colors. Then bring the palette to life by plucking it from nature: Arrange flowers, leaves, branches, fruits, or vegetables in the shades of your passions.” – how kevin creates

We took this arrangement and furthered its use by adding a wonderful palette drawing from the strongest points, which could be a great base for an entire room.

Kevin Sharkey’s Bedroom

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A very strong and masculine space, Kevin’s room is quite impressive, very minimal yet not feeling empty. Obviously the massive graphic painting is a striking visual element that helps keep the furniture grounded in such a large space. Kevin said,”I wanted the bed to look like a bento box.”

These heavy colors definitely work in such a large space using the Sharkey Gray as a base, not to light and not too dark of a hue to wrap it all up nicely.

Skylands Guesthouse: A Bedroom Built Around A Lamp

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Martha had this entire room designed around the Italian alabaster reading lamp pulling from ruffled edges, fluted top and ivory lamp base. A very serene feeling pulls from the room to create a very innocent palette.

Functionality: American Colonial Kitchen

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Clean, white and steel-accented kitchen is brought down to earth with its mahogany countertops. Painted wood paneling and earthy sentiments keep this space from becoming too chilly.

Staying Grounded: Colonial Bedroom

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A very earthy palette describes this Colonial bedroom. The centerpiece being the heavy baroque Swedish desk comfortably pulling the colors together.

Colonial: Synchronizing A Pink Room

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Pink rooms are becoming more and more popular, but to pull it off right, without it screaming “girly” or “princess” – the right palette should share the same space. Here the grays and browns within similar hues really bring the “pinkness” down a few notches to simply create a beautiful, classical space.

Turquoise Trend: Cool & Collected Office Space

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Who doesn’t want some energy thriving in their office? But use too much and your brain won’t be able to function. Balancing out your visual energy colors with grays and other muted contrasts can definitely bring a room like your office in to a focused, enjoyable space.

Balancing Act: Soft & Striking Living Room

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Who doesn’t love some sunshine and rain at once? The trick is getting the right balance to get a beautiful, non-amature space. You wouldn’t want your finished living space to look like a kids room. Toning it down and bringing the colors together with some neutrals can help these two striking contrasts coexist nicely.

Manhattan Loft

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Collaborative wood accents definitely help ground this high-patterned space and light, warm neutrals give the darker hues balance.

Green Living Room

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Green can be a very serene and focus intensive hue. The right green combined with earthy darker hues give off quite a bit of richness. Adding balancing neutrals and you’ve brought it all together in a meditative, relaxing space to spend time in.

Have you put together a space-palette for your own spaces? Are you dreaming of of a palette for your spaces? I know I am! Maybe some of these COLOURlovers curations will jumpstart your ideas.

If you want to locate the paint colors from each project, each curated palette in this post includes the colors made through the Martha Stewart paint line. 

Palettes used in this post:

This article is presented by LBC Lighting offering you the easiest and most convenient way to purchase contemporary lighting including Juno Lighting for your home or business.

There are a myriad concepts being done with lighting, from astonishing buys and extraordinary DIYs, everyone’s got a bug to be the most unique.

Beaded Chandeliers

Beaded chandeliers are becoming quite a popular trend. This style can encompass beads or discs made from many different types of materials such as glass, shell or metal and of course plastic or ceramic.

turquoise beaded | black metal discs | bone-colored beaded |  green DIY beaded

It seems that while manufacturers came out with these gorgeous pieces more prominently in early 2011, the DIY crowd is just starting to pick up on producing them in a variety of fashion. If you’ll notice, the bottom row in the image above are similar lighting fixtures. On the left is the Malibu Chandelier by manufacturer Serena & Lily while on the right, the DIY blog, SimplySalvage.com decided to make their own version of it. I think they pulled it off pretty well.

Industrial & Farmhouse Lighting

The look of rugged, raw metal and thick glass I think sums this trend up nicely. From wire caging to mason jars, it’s hot hot hot right now.

wench hook | 3 tier upside down mason jar

Definitely a category more akin to the DIY crowd because of the non-complexity it entails. Not to say that some of these haven’t had some hard work put toward them. But you’ll definitely find this styele in both formal and informal circles.

hanging glass bottle | mason jar hanging light | green & gold glass hanging lights | multi-color mason jar chandelier | jars in canning wire chandelier | blue mason jar wall light | mason jar desk lamp 

As mentioned, all types of repurposed jars and bottles are currently the bee’s knees. In the DIY crowd, I find that this category is pretty intriguing because you’re bound to come across the men who create, which can lead to finding other treasures in their handmade troves you may have been missing out on.

turquoise ceiling lamp & interior

I really enjoyed this entire white room where touches of turquoise bring the eye full circle with the centerpiece being this rustic ceiling lamp.

wire chandelier |  hanging wooden slat lights (green room) | stir-stick lampshade DIY | wooden box light

 The Lamp

I wish I had more areas in my house for this type of beautiful light feature. If  you are re-doing an old lamp or buying something new, the possibilities are literally endless.

white and burlap rosette lamp DIY | green and bone lamp | aqua and white lamp base makeover | honeycomb table lamp | caged desk lamp DIY | metal circles hanging lamp 

Being a DIYer myself, I am partial to some of these that take a quite out of date, trifted brass lamp and give it a new pop. Both lamp shades and lamp bases, there is so much you can do with each to seriously reinvent the original piece. Ceiling lamps in the drum shape are also a must and an endless list of styles and mediums.

Impressive Design

O-Space Suspension lamp  | deep magenta Supernova XL Suspension lamp |  magenta & white swirl pendant | rocketship mini pendant |  umbrella suspension lights | globe light | pumpkin-globe suspension light | chromatic room & sparkly ceiling lighting

Lighting fixtures are great ways to add a final glowing touch to a room. Keep in mind that the type of lighting you choose can enhance or completely change a spaces color scheme, so don’t wait last minute to decide on the fixture and lighting type when building or re-doing an interior space. As a centerpiece, accent piece or just plain usefulness there are so many brilliant designs and ideas to dress up our spaces.

Do you own or have made any type of unique lighting? Do you have anything you’ve been eyeballing on Pinterest for a someday piece? How about colorful lighting? Let’s see it!

…and if anyone is interested, here is the rest of my lighting roundup on my personal Pinterest.