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Top 5 Design Posts of the Week
It’s every dentist’s favorite time of year, filled with candy, cavities, and cobwebs – Halloween! This year’s Halloween might look a bit different than in previous years, and you should expect to see a lot more costumes involving crafty ways to showcase a mask. Whether it’s the Peanuts holidays special television series being sold exclusively to Apple TV, handing out candy from a longer, socially-distant range, or deciding entirely to skip the door-to-door candy hunt, there’s a lot that’s changed since last year’s Halloween festivities. One thing remains the same, and that’s putting up those Halloween decorations to show some spooky spirit. Our top 5 designs this week feature a selection of tasteful treats in the form of some eerie interior design tips on how to maximize the Halloween feel without going scarily overboard. Check out our top 5 picks and let us know your favorite Halloween tradition in the comments below!
Tour This Top Designer’s Moody Bay Area Home, Architectural Digest
Our first selection this week, provided by Architectural Digest, focuses on a Bay Area home that boasts of a rarely-seen exterior paint job along with a matching interior. All black was always in the mind of interior designer/homeowner Nicole Hollis, although many had objections to the tasteful decision.
“Like the tour-bus passengers when the house comes into view, Hollis’s young daughter still isn’t convinced, asking why it couldn’t have been pink.”
The renovation of the 3,850 square foot house moved a lot slower than her professional projects, and the renovations even took a 2 year pause due to budget issues. In the end, the finished product looks like it belongs in the main scene of a modern Halloween movie, with the all-black exterior, interior shades of black to match, and even a black-slate rooftop garden with a fireplace and seating area. Check out the modern day “blacked-out” Bay Area home in the link above and let us know your favorite part of Nicole’s imaginative, dark-inspired renovation below!
19 dark and atmospheric decorating ideas, Real Homes
With the continuing trend of modernity and simplicity in design, black is being used like never before. Call it a comeback, but in our eyes it never left in the first place, just faded to a background color before making its grand re-opening as a superstar. However, there issuch a thing as too much black, and going overboard into dark seas can lead to a troublesome swim back to shore. Thankfully, Real Homesprovides their style guide on how to tastefully use black in your interior without screaming darkness. Their 19 inspirational ideas for darker interiors are perfect if you’re looking for something on the side of moody, including ideas for utilizing black tile, color-blocking, contrasting colors, and even how to blend in larger pieces of furniture while using darker hues. Check out their ideas, perfect for this Fall and Halloween season, and let us know your favorite below!
This American Gothic Home Clearly Wishes It Were a Shabby Chic Cottage, House Beautiful
“If a cathedral and a cottage had a baby, this American Gothic revival home would be its love child.” With an opening sentence as enticing as this one, we couldn’t wait to check out this Indiana residence, reminiscent of a gorgeous church by its outside appearance. The interior showcases high ceilings, “but the adorable details bring the larger-than-life bones back down to Earth — like floral cushions on the bench, tufted chair backs, and even a shag rug.” Feeling your inner vampire start to emerge? Bedrooms featuring ornate frames, all-white bedding, and the classic tall, curved windows bring together this gothic masterpiece. The devil is in the details however, as House Beautiful notes custom cabinetry grooves, wooded floors, and even open shelving to reveal the classic hanging teacups. Check out the home in it’s entirety and let us know your favorite feature of this fairy-tale home in the comments below!
Dark and Moody Interior Design, Livinator
Going dark doesn’t have to mean washing your palette completely in black tones, and utilizing black to its fullest extent often means keeping it minimal. However, when it’s accented with other dark colors, it can create quite the dramatic effect that brags of exquisite interior design taste as well. Keeping things simple with a dark color palette adds richness of depth and character, among personal preference to taste. There’s a balance to be found also, such as using ideas similar to light flooring and white hallways to crate contrast in connecting rooms. Also mentioned in the article is the use of strategic lighting to keep dark rooms from completely disappearing, and gold is also seen used as an accent as well. Check out the pictures in the article above for some inspiration that’s quite tasteful towards the darker colors, and think about going back to black in your next renovation!
BPN Architects designs Ghost House to have "ethereal presence", Dezeen
Wrapping up our Halloween Week top 5, Dezeen brings us to the United Kingdom for this “sunken house purely made form concrete”, giving it the appearance of a villain’s dream hideout. Partially visible form the road, “Ghost House”, as it’s been appropriately named, was designed to be dramatic and features a super-sunken courtyard, a pair of symmetrical folded-steel staircases, and a reflecting pool seen as you walk in the front entrance. An open-concept interior design scheme create slots of living space, and the furniture accents wonderfully against the concrete walls. There’s honestly nothing we think is missing from this home, except for maybe a helicopter pad! Check out this stunning home, but don’t get too spooked by “Ghost House”!
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