apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

i like the first pic of the bedroom lots. the duvet is pretty and the blue on the walls is very happy.
the living however, scares me. its darkness doesn't seem to fit the rest! and the couches are angled. eek.

I love the painted stair case!
Great idea....nice detail.
It gives the illusion of a wall.

While I love the clever use of the mural on the risers of the stairs I think the guest bedroom and the livingroom need a little work. The use of repeated small bursts of primary color in the bedroom are bordering on being reminiscent of clowns. You've done a good job of tying together the patterns/colors in the first pic, but in the second they fall apart.

And the livingroom is full of rich colors, but they're all competing. Maybe bring the colors of the walls down a touch - so they're not on the same value as the deep blue of the sofas.

The stairway mural has got to be inspired by Nama Rococo wallpaper.

http://www.namarococo.com/frenchdot_single_big.html

Ditto Modfan.

I love your duvet - whenever I go to IKEA it always calls my name.

When I got the last pic I was really shocked. The green is lovely, but the room as a whole is really oppressive. Would you consider white slipcovers, or otherwise bringing light colors into the room?

Loved the stairs! The rest was boring, boring, boring!

The stairs deserve an honorable mention.

Not my cup of tea, but I love the Rococo wallpaper in the staircase. I would probably paint those stairs white, though. But that's just me, I'm crazy about white and I don't like the wood against that amazing pattern. But definitely a bold statement.

Love love the stairs!!

Thanks for showing the whole rooms.

Love the color in the bed room.

Really love the first bedroom and stairway. I agree with others that the living room is just jarring and doesn't fit, and I'm not convinced dark green walls, with mis-matched furniture, and a brown patterned rug are the way to go -- it looks far too busy (but all of the elements on their own are fine).

I love the colors. You have a very cozy and inviting home. It would be so nice to wake up to that sunny kitchen.

i like the stairs a whole lot. however, the rest of it doesn't really seem to mesh together. i like it better when there's sort of a common theme throughout the house rather than different climates in each room.

and the (work?)room, second from top, has too many competing patterns and colors for my tastes.

i really adore the corner cabinet in the kitchen though.

The first thing that popped into my mind is, "Let's give it up for Des Moines, Iowa people!"

In the major metros that AT usually embodies, it's a bit easier to find that exact vintage chair covered in your favorite Amy Butler fabric... but in Des Moines Iowa... you're luck if you have a Macy's let alone... anything different that doesn't involve a country inspired theme.

i like the color contrasts in the master b/r and the bold art on the stairs. really good job there.

stairs look a bit too busy for me.

Is that a bong on the shelf in the first pic? Nice.

"The colors that look best on you in clothes are frequently the best colors to design rooms around in your house."

Hmmm. I've found that I consistently choose warm colors for my home, which are utterly hideous next to my skin!

However, I do really like the aqua color with the orange in the bedspread.

Great textiles.

Very interesting dichotomy: the bedrooms and stairs seem as though they are in a different home altogether from the living/sunroom areas! That being said, I love the stairs bedrooms, not so keen on the other ones.

I do tend to agree with much of what you are saying about color, be bold, be daring, but please don't go overboard with it. I like what you were trying to do in the very first picture. All of the colors tend to work well together in that they all tie in together in some fashion and are done in such a way that they don't appear to be ramdomly scattered.

however, I will agree that the second bedroom needs a little work, the wall color is fine, it's the rest of the color scheme that falls apart. The curtains, the bedspread and other items scattered here and there just don't do it for some reason.

I do like the idea of painting the risers on the stairs, that's nice although not my thing, I like the idea though.

One problem I find with the living room, besides the jarring juxtiposition of equal intensity of all the colors involved is that you chose a matte finish for the walls and it's dulling the green, which to me is just the wrong shade period. The whole room has that drabness about it despite the colors going on. Nothing has any life to it and I'll give some credit to the camera's exposure perhaps making more dull than they may actually be.

Again, glad you are not afraid to go bold and someone else suggested this and I've read this from professionals that you should have a primary color scheme, and secondary schemes, that is, your living room can have the primary scheme with a primary color to anchor the room and in another room, say the kitchen, an accent color from the living room can be the primary color in there and the primary then becomes the accent, or another tertiary color can be the accent, that kind of thing, but the idea is to be consisitant in all the rooms, including the hall or you'll end up in a mishmash of styles/colors that have no relation to the others.

Hope this helps.

Love the bedroom and the stair case!

great place! definitely bold and cool.

this is really random but i daydream about using your bedspread pattern for my curtains. i think it's ikea, right? i almost considered making it myself out of the duvet but i think ikea discontinued it. sadness.

Thanks everyone for your feedback! I have only lived in my home for a year, so it is definitely still a work in progress.

2nd DC Christine - Yes, the mural I painted on the staircase is inspired by the Nama Rococo wallpaper pattern "French Dot".

AlishaJune - No, that is not a bong in the first picture. Sorry to disappoint.

Ciddyguy - Thank you for your insight, you make a lot of great points that I hadn't really thought about. In my defense the picture of the my living room is horrible; but even so that room needs some work and some brightening up!

Greengelato - Yes, my duvet is from IKEA; and I don't think that it is discontinued. I saw it at the IKEA in Houston this weekend!

I love the staircase and the yellow walls! Very bold use of coolor indeed.

This is reminiscent of the Diane from New Ulm that was entered for consideration some years ago. Enough said