What is your color personality?

Good morning all!

Not sure what the weather is where you are, but here in the St. Paul Area, we woke up to snow on the ground on Monday morning! Wow! Welcome to living in the Midwest!

Today let's talk color! I ran across a great issue of House Beautiful and there were so many sources on color personalities that it prompted this post.

Everyone has a "color personality." Do you know what yours is? Depending on who you ask, or where you do your research, you might have a couple different answers to that question.

I can guess mine, but in all honesty, it depends on the day. If you were to glance around my home at my interior, my color personality will lean toward warm, rich, and deep colors. I use alot of deep eggplant, rustic red, chocolate brown, and caramel to name a few of the colors. I like to accessorize with black but also veer sometimes.

I think a good designer can pull in different items and make one cohesive look. Shall we say, eclectic? The safest thing one can do, is match. Thats why people match. It is safe! They know it looks good! (What was that slight whisper in my ear? - Oh yeah, matching is also, shhhh, whisper, - BORING.)

Go into any of the furniture stores. Look around? What do you see? I know, matching sets of everything. Matching sofa, loveseat, and chair combinations. Matching occasional table sets. Even matching headboard, bedside tables, and case pieces. Get over the matching!

According to color expert Leatrice Eiseman (morealivewithcolor.com), you can categorize your homes color personality into the following four color times: Sunrise, Sunset, Sunlight, and Crossovers. Check out the description and decide which is your best "color time!"

Sunrise: Your decorating palette veers toward the cool colors and is inspired by natural elements such as air and water. Your interior decorating palette will sparkle and shine with tones of amethyst, orchid, emeralds, and royal blues. Cool grays, mauvey-taupes, and rosey-beiges are good neutrals for a "sunrise" palette. The best white for a "sunrise" is pure white - taken from the pure white of snow.

Sunset: A "Sunrise's" decorating palette moves toward the warn color spectrum and is inspired by such natural elements as fire and earth. Your interior palette will include terra-cotta, ginger, burnt coral, apricot, and caramel colors. You can also flash some of the exotic colors such as iris, orchid, and deep periwinkle. Your neutrals are warm taupes and camel tones. The best white for you is a warm white.

Sunlight: As a sunlight, you will pull from both the Sunrise and Sunset color palettes. All of the elements are present. Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. Great colors for a "sunlight's" interior palette would include custards and peaches. You might also choose a delft blue or cornflower. For a visual, "Think of verdant green meadows under a placid blue sky. The best neutrals for a Sunlight are taupes and the best whites have pastel undertones to them.

Crossovers: A crossover palette is most often referred to as the "basic" or "classic" scheme. A crossover has great basic neutrals like sand, khaki, taupe and gray. Crossovers are the most versatile and can be used in any combination of any of the other color time palettes. Crossover, your best colors are in the deep tones. Chocolate browns, eggplant, wine, teal, navy blues and black as an accent color for you. Crossovers, like the deep tones for adding richness. The best white is off'white.

From the looks of my home; I would categorize my color time palette as somewhere between a sunset and a crossover. Probably a 50-50 split. I love the deep colors but I also love the warm reds, and carmels too. There is no right or wrong to the theory of color personalities. Just like there is no right or wrong to choosing a name. It just fits!

Source: House Beautiful - September 2009

Mickelson Residence - Lower Level Family Room

Choosing Paint

Good Morning! Wow - I can't believe its the end of September already.

Earlier in the month, I finished a paint job for a friend. I was using Sherwin Williams brand paint and wow, what a difference. It went on like butter on warm toast! I was absolutely amazed. I have always used other brands in my own home. I do paint a lot though! I mean A LOT!

I have previously used the no VOC paint from Sherwin Williams and it was nice too. The VOC's (volatile organic compounds) are what makes the paint adhere to the surface and make it durable. They are also what make paint smell. For those of you with sensitive noses, the no VOC paints are awesome. My client happened to be very sensitive to scents. It is great for not emitting odors. However, it is very thin, almost watery, compared to its older brother, but it did go on very nicely.

Up until this job, I guess I hadn't paid attention to the difference between paint brands. Now I do. If you are just wanting a quick in-expensive cover up for a re-sale or secondary space like a closet or garage etc, then by all means use what ever is the least expensive. If you are painting something to last the duration, I highly recommend Sherwin Williams paints. They are a little more pricey, but oh so worth it.

Here are pics from the Gonko residence in Cottage Grove, which I finished earlier in the month. The before and after are amazing! The colors are beautiful! Abby did a nice job selecting her palette. The red wall says, "WOW"! Great job Abby. This is a great example of using color and dark colors in a space! LOVE IT! The paints are Sherwin Williams.

If you are planning a darker color like the dark brown or red, plan on three coats of paint. Especially if going over a lighter color. A tinted primer will cut out one of the coats, but you are still painting on a primer. 50 - 50 tradeoff! The lighter beige color covered in two coats. Almost one, but there were patchy areas so two coats were needed. I just think it looks great! Happy Painting!

Cute Girls Room Idea

Good morning! It is nice to have a raing day to get some work done!

I was helping my friend with her daughter's room and decided it would be a nice topic for this week.

She has a wallpaper border which her 9 year old daughter insists on using. Afterall, it is her room! I am not a huge border fan, but it's not my room. We are playing off the colors in the border. As you can see, there are oranges, fuschia, purple, yellow, blue, lime green, etc, in the border. Many colors to pick from.

My friends daughter likes lime green and blue and had mentioned she wanted to possibly use one of those colors on the wall. When my friend brought the border over, I thought of using both the lime green and blue and then adding in a third color and here they are. I added the third color as a background for the border since it is a cutout. I did a quick sketch of the design idea as it is still in the planning phase. I will post photots once the project is finished.

Kids' rooms are a great place to let your creative juices flow. Don't hold back. Use the bright colors and add the fun accents. Even without the border this color scheme is a fun one. Happy Thursday!

Wood - To paint or not to paint?

Good morning all!

I had a conversation with a friend of mine this weekend while she showed me around her new home. She showed me the paint colors she had picked out for the walls, and said she wanted to paint the mantel around the fireplace as well. Her husband is not so inclined on this matter. So, I was prompted for todays topic of painting wood.

Basically, this is a very personal matter. Years back, when I was an intern and then design assistant, the designer I worked for was always painting wood work. I was kind of taken back by it. Ever since I can remember, it is taboo to paint any woodwork, furniture, trim, or otherwise. I am not even sure where that came from to be honest, but that was instilled in my head. Maybe it came from my grandpa who was a carpenter. Now, I have my own home, and guess what, I paint wood work. Shhhhhh! Don't tell!

I have painted floor trim, window trim, door frames, kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, and yes of course, furniture. You can look at it this way, do you want to spend $300 on a new dresser? or $30 on a gallon of semi-gloss paint? If you give it a coat of paint, can you breath new life into it? My answer is yes! What have you got to lose? A whoppin $30 and your time.

Many people are against painting wood work and I am not quite sure why. I am not saying run through your house with a paint brush and paint all the wood. However, if you don't absolutely love the dresser(or any other piece), and it is most likely going to sit in the garage for the next 5 years, then what do you have to lose? Is it doing any good sitting in the corner of the garage? Worst case scenario, you don't like the paint. So what? Then it goes in the corner of the garage anyway and waits for the next garage sale.

Wood trim, look in any magazine, design book, or at any design show, you will see painted trim, and woodwork. Like I said before, it is a personal decision. There is no right or wrong. So don't let anyone tell you differently. Actually, painting woodwork, and furniture is a better option of re-use than throwing it out and getting new! My philosophy, if you already don't like it, then what do you have to lose? Nothing, but you have everything to gain. Try it, you might like it!

This is a dresser I painted for my son about 7 years back, its over 40 years old. It was my brother's way back when and my mom was going to toss it. Well, guess what? I added paint distressed it a bit and new hardware and it will last several more years. It won't last forever, but it looks good and is practical and is serving its purpose.

This desk was free on the side of the road. Of course, I picked it up. The top was rotted and damaged, so I replaced the top with a new piece of plywood, painted it black and switched out the hardware. Voila! I have a desk straight out of one of the trendy home furnishings catalog. It cost me only $50 (that was with the hardware, paint, and plywood). It could have cost me less, if I hadn't switched out the hardware.

So, go ahead, paint the wood, furniture, trim, mantel, doors, if you would rather tear it out, or toss it rather than live with it, try painting it. You never know, you might love it!

Oh, and by the way, Abby, paint the mantel! :) Talk to you soon!

Artwork

Good Morning!

While standing at the top of my friend Pam's stairwell, I realized she had all these wonderful blank white walls. Our conversation prompted this post!

If you have blank walls, white or otherwise, I am going to help you fill them. If you are a saver like me, and you have kids, then you have art in OVER abundance. If you are sans kids, then you might have to do a little more work, but never the less, you still can get GREAT artwork on the cheap.

1- Make a photo gallery. Use family photos and make your own photo gallery. This can be done in a couple of different ways. Find a common denominator. i.e. Use the same color frame, all black and white photos, all the same size, etc. Once you have your common denominator, start grouping your photos. Hallways and stairwell walls are great for these arrangements because there are usually long walls and great for larger sized pieces. I am a more symmetrical kind of girl, (at least today), so I tend to position my gallery photos symmetrically. There is no right or wrong, it is a personal decision, depending on your personal preference.

I like to buy black frames at garage sales, and second hand stores such as Goodwill, I keep them on hand for when I need a frame for a new piece of art. I also keep a list of sizes that I am in need of. Then when I come accross them, I know what size I specifically need. Of course, you can always buy new. However, I try to reduce, re-use, and recycle as much as possible. Sustainable, green design!!!

2- Kids artwork. Frame your kids' artwork and use it as unique artwork. You can also buy inexpensive canvases at your local art supply store, ours is JoAnn's or Michael's (they usually have coupons in the Sunday paper for 40% off too). Give your kids the brushes, paints, and water, and let them create their own masterpiece. A helpful hint, make sure they paint the edges around the canvas. :)

If you don't have little kids, enlist your nieces and nephews or grandkids into creating a masterpiece for your blank wall.

3- Nostalgic pieces. Take that old calendar you have been saving. Take it apart and use the prints on your walls, again in frames of the same color. Remember those old theatre programs, frame those and use them in your guest room. How about that old sheet music you found cleaning your great grandma's house? Use that too! Nostalgic pieces make for great conversation starters too.

Good luck on your artwork search. We'll talk soon. Happy Monday!

On a budget?

Good morning!!

Want a new look? On a budget? Try re-arranging. Re-purpose things you already own. Move a peice of artwork from your bedroom to the living room. Re-purpose a chest of drawers as linen storage in the dining room.

There are many, many ways to change the look of a space without breaking your piggy bank. Remember that old side table in the garage rafters? Take it out, put a coat of black paint on it, and presto change-o, you have a new side table for your guest room! You know that mirror down in the storage under the stairs? Take it out, add a coat or two of black paint, voila!, use it in your entry way. Mirrors placed properly in your entry will re-route negative energy, according to some feng shui experts.

This is an antique side board I had in my garage. I painted it black and now it is in my family room and houses games and puzzles. It is also great for one collection of family photos.

Oh, remember that old book case down in the garage? Add a coat of white or pink or yellow paint. Add some cute baskets and use it in your daughters room for toy storage! Take those bi-fold doors off her closet as well, paint the inside of the closet a fresh coat of paint (I like using a different color than the walls) and redo the shelving, add some storage bins or baskets. You'll be amazed at how much space you gain from removing bi-fold doors.

This is my daughters closet. I removed the bi-fold doors and did my own custom closet design. I painted the inside yellow and added baskets and bins for storage but I gained approx. 4 sq. ft by removing the doors. I also added hooks on the wall for hats, bags, etc

You will be amazed at what you can find shopping around your house, once you actually start looking! Happy Shopping!

Afraid of a little Color?

Good Morning! Hope everyone is well this beautiful morning!

Are you afraid of color? Are all your walls white? Beige? If you like sterile white, or boring beige that is okay. However, as a color girl, I would like to give you a little bit of oomph! Lets try one wall first and we will work in color on a small scale.

Look around the room at your decor. Look at the permanent pieces. Your area rugs, artwork, furnishings, draperies, etc. These are the pieces you want to try to co-ordinate with unless, you don't mind painting. If you don't mind painting, or hiring someone to paint, then we can select colors from accessorie items or an inspiration piece.

Lets, start by picking an inspiration piece, a color in a pillow, or a rug, a piece of artwork, etc. Pick a color out of one of these pieces or just start with a color you absolutely love. Remember, you can always paint over it, if you don't like it. :)

Pick a focus wall for your color wall. This might be a fireplace wall, a wall visible from the street, a wall visible when you walk in the front door, etc. The focus wall differs depending on the space you are painting and how your space is layed out. If you are leary, then paint a small patch first about 6" x 6" and leave it for a few days. Paint your swatch next to your woodwork to see what the color will look like against the wood. This gives you a chance to observe the color in both the light and the dark.

Now paint your wall! You will be amazed at the amount of life you will add to your space by adding color to it. If you want to really live outside your box, paint 2 walls or even the entire room.

Remember, BrynnAlden Interiors also offers interior painting services :)

Happy Painting!

What is the NCIDQ?

Good Morning! How is the de-cluttering and organizing going? I am sure you are all de-cluttered and organized by now! lol

I thought I would share this with you. Some of you may know if you are in the industry, but some of you may not know. The following is taken from the Interior Design Practicum Workbook, by Pamela E.B. Henly.

"The National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) was formed in 1972. The NCIDQ was created to establish minimum competency standards for the interior design profession. The NCIDQ established a certification exam to test these standards and the knowledge and skills interior designers need to posess in order to perform at a minimum professional level."

"Certification indicates to the public that interior design professionals have met an acceptable standard of professional education and experience, and that they can demonstrate a competent level of skill in key areas."

"Licensure also enlightens the public about the scop or the interior design profession and acknowledges the difference between an interior decorator and a Certified Interior Designer."

This is the bare bones of what the NCIDQ certification exam is about. Only 9 short weeks! Wow! Time flies when you are having fun studying! After the NCIDQ exam, my study partner Amanda, wants to take the LEED exam. I will talk about that another time. So long for now - gotta get my day started! Keep on organizing and de-cluttering.

Happy Tuesday! :)

Keep Going!

I hope you are getting organized little by little. How are the organizing assignments going?

Today I am just going to quickly mention using the inside of cabinet doors.

On the inside of cabinet doors there is a hidden use. I mount 2 - 12"x12" pieces of cork board vertically on the inside of cabinet doors in my kitchen. I use them for calendars, recipes, numbers, you name it. I have them in almost all of my kitchen upper cabinets. They are great for getting those litttle tidbits off the counter or table and to a place that you can find them but they are not cluttering your home. You can buy them in packs of 4 and they are under $10 at Menards or Target. I think they are available at JoAnn's also, and you can use your coupon on them as well. I am keeping this short today. I get a bit winded at times. Will talk to you all soon. Keep on cutting the clutter! Happy Monday :)

Let's Get Organized!

Good afternoon! I hope your decluttering task is going well! I thought that since we are decluttering and trying to get more organized, I would share a couple of my tips on getting a little more organized in your daily life.

1- Toy Storage: If you have kids, if it is one or five, you have toy clutter. Legos, Polly Pockets, markers, crayons, and transformers; these are just some of the things you can organize. In my kids' rooms, I use flat, rectangle, plastic sweater storage bins. I label each bin for a specific item.

1-Legos
2-Cars
3-Transformers, etc.

I then have used the abyss under the bed for organized storage. Don't get me wrong, the younger the child, the harder it is to keep it absolutely organized. My 8 year old is really good at keeping each thing in its its bin when he cleans up. My 5 year old, not so much. More of a dump and run scenario.

You can also do the same for art supplies. Crayons, markers, paints, and Play Doh all have a seperate bin. For these items, I use the plastic shoe box containers and label each and then they are stored on shelves in my daughters closet. If you are lucky enough to have a craft room, then they can be stored there.

I challenge you to sort and organize just 3 items. Start with one room and and 3 bins. Anything that does not belong in one of these 3 bins, put into a 4th bin. Then once you have these 3 items organized, start with 3 more items until you have your Legos, Polly Pockets, Matchbox, and markers all in their own place. Good Luck! Talk to you soon.

Let's Start with the Clutter!

Good Morning! I think we should start by getting rid of clutter and getting a little more organized before we start on our design tips. You never know, I might just go back and forth.

First, lets start with de-cluttering. We will start with throwing 5 miscellaneous things away each day. Try to do this for a week straight. It may be a wrapper, a sticker, a pen cap, a bendaroo, a scrap of paper, it doesn't matter what you throw as long as you throw your 5 things each day for a week. Where you find your items to throw also varies. Maybe it is the garage, your kids room, your scrapbook room, your laundry room, or even your junk drawer. It doesn't matter where you find your 5 things, just find them. Just think, after 7 days you will have gotten 35 things out of your house!

If you are a list maker like I am, then put it right on your "to-do" list. #1 - throw 5 things. If you are really brave and depending on your situation, if you are a pack rat, if you have kids, if you are not a tidy person, whatever your situation may be, you could throw more than 5 things. I personnally do 15 things and I try to do it on a daily basis. Between 2 kids with wrappers, stickers, bendaroos, and beads, I usually have no problem finding 15 things. How many items you throw, is totally up to you. If you have problems with throwing things out, I suggest you start with 5. Like I said, if you have a daily "to-do" list write it on top as number one on your daily list.

Once you have thrown 5 things for 7 days straight, try finding 7 things for the next 7 days, if you are always picking up and throwing things away, everyday you will have less clutter than the day before.

Now, lets discuss the paper clutter! We have so much paper in our lives, for trying to go green, there sure is a lot of paper that is thrust upon us on a daily basis. Junk mail, regular mail, newspapers, flyers, school work, school art work, crafts, bills, invitations, you name it.
Because of the amount of paper that people come accross in their daily lives we have to start small or it can get overwhelming.

First, start by sorting your papers, including mail, into 3 smaller piles.

1 - Recycle/shred
2 - complete/paid/to be filed
3 -to be paid/needs attention

Once you have your piles;

Deal with pile #1 first. Either recycle or shred these items. Now they are out of your way. (hint: these could count as your five things in the de-cluttering exercise)

Next, pile #2 - spend just 15 minutes filing pile #2. You may not finish, but spending 15 minutes gives you the satisfaction of reducing your pile, and it is a short enough time period to not be overwhelmed.

Next, pile #3 - spend whatever time you need to, and take care of your bills, doctor appts, etc. What ever it is that is in this pile. Maybe you don't have enough time to complete them all, but just leave them right under your to do list. Then when you get a free minute, you will be reminded of them. You could be making a call while you unload the dishwasher. You could be making the bed while you are on hold with the phone company, etc. etc.

Spend just a few minutes, say 15 minutes, shreding or filing, every 3-4 days and your paper piles will remain at a manageable level. One thing I personally do is I open my mail right away. This makes me recycle the junk mail and I address any issues right away, if it is a #2 pile piece, it goes into my "to be filed" bin, which is in my office, I try to spend 20 - 30 minutes a week on my "to be filed bin" - that way it is always at a manageable level but it isn't in plain site on my kitchen counter. There might be kids stuff to keep, magazine articles to file, bill receipts, gas receipts, you name it. I put anything that needs to be filed away in my bin and I deal with it on a weekly basis. (by the way, I almost always have stuff in my bin, that is just the way it is!)

I would say, you have enough homework to do! Go ahead and get started with your decluttering and let me know how it goes.

We'll talk soon. Have a great Friday and a great rest of the weekend too. My family is celebrating my daughters 5th birthday tomorrow. So we will be busy busy this weekend. Have a good one.

BrynnAlden Interiors is Blogging!!

Thanks for visiting my blog! Today marks the start of my blogging career!

I will start today by giving you a brief history about me! My name is Kelli Mickelson. I have a BS in Interior Design from the University of Minnesota. I am a candidate for taking the NCIDQ national certification test in October. My focus is residential projects but depending on the scope, I will take on commercial projects as well.

My experience is as follows:
I spent 2+ years working for a small residential design firm focusing on luxury homes in the West Metro. Next, I spent 2+ years specializing in Kitchen and Bath design at a family owned home improvement retail center. Since then, I have done free lance design on a part-time basis for the past 7 years. I have owned and operated a small boutique in Cottage Grove, MN and I am now getting with the times and getting on the web! Look out!

I promise my readers, I will work on getting our website up and running as well! Watch for the transformation! It is sure to be a wonderful one! I must sign off for now! See you soon!