Why not add a pop of colour to every room?
[attach]7774[/attach]Interior designer Kim Bartley brings elements of a TV show to her clients by offering a reveal moment once a home makeover is complete.
“I recently did a large loft renovation and the woman went away for 10 days to Florida and came home to a brand new space — literally,” said the principal designer of Kim Bartley Design, at Davenport Road and Bathurst Street. “She didn’t know anything that I’d chosen or done.
“She let me decide based on a piece of art and a few chairs of hers that I liked.”
Over the years Bartley, who often figures out ways of incorporating into the mix family heirlooms — such as a vintage chair passed down by a client’s grandpa — has worked on single rooms like nurseries, bedrooms and living rooms to full suites.
“It’s pretty cool to see their faces,” she said of the reactions she has come to expect when clients enter the re-made room for the first time. “It’s so exciting.”
Looking to spring and summer trends and décor ideas, Bartley said her signature style of adding a pop of colour to a room has found its way into the mainstream.
“I’m always changing some vases and bringing in some pillows,” she said. “It just incorporates that look.
“Right now I’m using turquoise a lot.”
[attach]7775[/attach]She suggests pairing the look with lighter tones, such as light pinks, yellows, grays, blues and whites, in everything from paint colours or accessories to couches and even flooring.
A beach-inspired coastal look is also on trend, most apparent in the use of whites.
“We’ve had a really long winter and we just want that feel of the cottage,” she said.
Ways to incorporate this trend is to slipcover a few pieces of furniture or to use organic materials made of interesting textures for pillows and to add accessories such as wooden vases throughout the home.
“The background can be something really white and fresh and clean, but then using some texture in the space is a really beautiful look as well,” she said, adding white can also apply to cedar stone counters as well as cabinets. “Just really clean lines and then a few furniture pieces can really stand out.”
Now that spring has sprung, she said people could also freshen up their homes with flowers.
“Just the drama of cherry blossoms, or some beautiful tulips,” she suggests.
Bring the indoors out
To make the most of available living space, Kim Bartley suggests bringing the same tones featured in interior rooms to the great outdoors.
“If you are using turquoises and oranges in your inside space as an accessory, use it in your outside space,” she said. “It just increases, especially in Toronto, that square footage.”
To create an outdoor living space, Bartley often adds sectional sofas, daybeds and kitchens — provided her clients have enough space. She also suggests adding bright colours against beiges, white, cream, neutral tones and dark with tan tones.
“I love using linens outside, and pops of colour the same as in your indoor space so it feels like it flows beautifully,” she said. “I would say using colours like turquoise, oranges, any sort of blues are really beautiful right now, but lots of whites.”
