Modern Romantic – Simple Seductive Style

Room in Fontana Park Hotel - Portugal

How would I describe a romantic room? I don’t think of it as a room where the romance necessarily happens, but a space that inspires a romantic feeling. The Fontana Park Design Hotel in Lisbon, Portugal (above) is a perfect example for me. Luxurious, other-wordly, and deceptively simple and elegant. It’s like roaming around on a cloud.

Design by BNOdesign

Romance in design is about lighting, textures, colors and overall ambiance. While sexy spaces are very similar, they’re a little darker, edgier, and secretive. A romantic space is more airy, melancholy, sweet, and ethereal. Think medieval maiden mixed with Flokati rugs and billowing linen window coverings. There is usually an element of fantasy in a romantic room intertwined with soft fabrics. Benjamin Noriega Ortiz does an amazing job of creating beautiful rooms that are modern, eclectic, and interesting.

Courtesy of Apartment Therapy

Although pink, fluffy, ruffly, and floral are usually associated with the word romantic, there are many ways to interpret those design elements and keep it modern and fresh. Featured on Apartment Therapy, Cynthia and Oliver’s San Francisco flat has all of above but it was done in a chic, warm, comforting, stylish way. The lines of the furniture are soft and curved, the materials – leather, ceramic, lacquered wood – are sleek and smooth. It’s all pretty seductive!

Photo courtesy of Elle Decor

Modern Romantic is as much about the physical aspects of a room as it is the way a room makes a person feel. Above, the mix of heavy and curved lines, spare but elegant accessories, and pink tones creates a blend of feminine and masculine that is a little mysterious and a little melancholy. It’s a contemporary but romantic interpretation of a sitting room.

Courtesy of Apartment Therapy

I am madly in love with this bathroom.  The industrial + glamor combination is heady stuff for me. It’s such a small gathering of things but it invites you to imagine an interesting, complex and impossibly chic person living there. Velvet, vintage, glass, warm wood, cool steel…it’s all completely romantic.

Grace and Dennis Hu's Living Room

Grace and Dennis Hu’s living room is a good example of Modern Romantic. The raw silk curtains, deep sofa, velvet pillows, brushed nickel and crystal accessories, tufting…Of course, style is subjective. My definition of romantic design is tied to my own likes and dislikes. I absolutely hate chintz and fringed sofas but many people think it creates a romantic ambiance. I think of it as elderly. For some, candles are romantic, but putting them in a Super 8 motel room won’t transform it into a romantic room (sorry).  In the end, a room is a room and it’s very much about the memories you create in it and the things it inspires you to do.

Melisa

 

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No Room Left Behind!

Guest Room Courtesy of Apartment Therapy

Long ago I read Karen Kingston’s enlightening book, “Creating Sacred Space With Feng Shui,” and much of what I read has become a building block for how I work with my clients to define their current and future space. When it comes to clutter, Kingston’s belief is that we are tied to everything in our home by invisible strings of energy.

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Sexy Spaces

Courtesy of High Fashion Home

There are certain spaces that are so compelling to me that they conjure up fantasies of  wine-filled nights or whispers of things I hardly ever share. In my opinion there are a lot of elements that need to come together to make a room truly “sexy”. I love layers of sensual textures, neutral but warm toned walls, dark woods, shiny chrome, sparkly glass, and softness underfoot. Cozy rooms seem more intimate to me. Rooms that have just enough luxe beauty to make them interesting and a bit forbidden. Think Marie Antoinette if she were to move into the W Hotel and make it her own. Supersexy!

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Cheap vs. Chic

I am mad about New York-based designer James Huniford. This room he designed above and everything in it – yes please! His rooms are places people could actually live in, and that’s important to me. I don’t want to merely possess a space, I want to be a part of it. I am smitten with his individual pieces and his intense attention to detail. Craftsmanship matters, especially when you are deciding which pieces will be an “investment” and which are functional and less costly.

Speaking of less costly, anyone that has worked with me knows that I don’t advocate spending money on expensive furnishings just because they exist. There has to be a reason. There are times I get really upset flipping through my Elle Decor, Veranda, Traditional Home, or Dwell – they show amazing rooms meant to inspire a wide and varied readership but likely only 2% of that readership could actually afford to purchase the items in those same rooms. This morning I was reading Veranda and came to their New and Noteworthy page. I was excited they featured a Huniford chair, at a not-insignificant cost of $3700, but dumbfounded that they also featured a Bottega Veneta trash can, or as BV calls it, Intrecciato Nappa Paper Basket, in woven leather, for $850. A trash can. Made of leather. To put my trash in. (Insert blank stare here) I am confused as to who they believe their demographic is.

There is probably nothing anyone can say to me to make the purchase of this “paper bin” worthwhile. If you are willing to go that route I will happily purchase you an equally stylish trash can and take the remaining $800 and donate it to one of my favorite charities (or suggest you do the same). Of course there is a huge gap in stylishness between a $9.00 bin and a higher-end container, but a stylish bin to hold your trash never needs to cost three figures. In fact, I just found a gorgeous bin made of capiz shell for $45 and that felt weirdly indulgent.

Things that are well-made are almost always more expensive and worthwhile. Like absolutely everything from de Gournay.

However, things that are beautiful, or chic, don’t always need to be expensive. Many people are conditioned to believe that if they get it at Target, it’s cheap or if it comes from Home Goods, it’s tacky. While this can be true, both of these stores offer some amazing finds if you know what you’re looking for. I wouldn’t buy my next sofa at a discount store as I already made that mistake and regret it every time I sit down on it. However, I’m redoing my bedroom on a really tight budget and my investment will be my mattress. I’ll be using a Thomas O’Brien for Target vintage modern bedding set mixed with the Nimbus Duvet cover from Anthropologie and have a gorgeous room I’m proud of.

Neither are totally expensive, but both feel amazing and look great. So while I don’t always agree that you can outfit your complete home on the cheap, I strongly believe that you can make it completely chic within any sized budget.

All my best,

Melisa

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What Exactly is Eclectic?

 

Courtesy of Anne Sage

If I had to define my style as an interior designer, I’d say I’m eclectic. But what does that really mean? In my mind, eclectic design is a colorful mix of periods and styles with the unifying themes being comfort and interest. To me, an all white home cannot be eclectic, but others would disagree. I also don’t think bohemian and eclectic are interchangeable words or styles because a bohemian style feels very ethnic or very period – say, 1960’s or 70’s. However, an eclectic space will have touches of bohemian in it. It will also have industrial, traditional, modern, contemporary, and ethnic in the mix but it will rarely be minimalist, although I’m sure it’s possible to do an eclectic-minimalist home.

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Heavenly Hardware

SA Baxter's delicious custom house candy!

Among the easiest and most cost effective things to do to freshen up a room is to change out the hardware. Light plates, outlet covers, door knobs and drawer pulls are easy to remove and replace and can take a space from outdated to awesome, usually without putting a huge dent in your budget. However, if you too dream of the day you can custom-design everything in your world (down to the toilet tissue), then you will love the land of SA Baxter and their bespoke house hardware.

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