The Pilot Guy and I went to the Kaleidoscope of Homes yesterday. This is a builder's showcase, but not just any showcase. These are multi-million dollar homes filled with bells and whistles you didn't even know you wanted. Five of them, fully landscaped and beautifully decorated.
I noticed a couple of home design/decor trends. Dark is in. Dark woodwork, dark wooden doors, dark paneling. I'm not too impressed because I love light and bright. In one home, a bathroom in a secondary bedroom was so dark that even three light fixtures didn't dispell the gloom. I'd look mighty good in that mirror every morning because the light was so soft and dim.
Carpet is out. Great brickwork, distressed hardwoods, and rustic tiles were on the floors. A few bedrooms had carpet, but most had hardwoods and area rugs in muted colors.
The greens in the paint jobs and accessories leaned more to the mint side rather than the sage of the past few years. Quite a bit of blue paired with brown.
You aren't in fashion unless you have a mirrored exercise room. Or a built in fancy coffee machine. Or a wine closet/room/cellar. Or a huge media room. Or a flat screen in the bathroom.
Which puts us way out of fashion.
I loved the outdoor spaces, especially one charming front courtyard with a small fountain and streambed running through it. Many of the European details spoke to my love of all things French or Italian. And some of the furniture was incredible. There was this one ladies writing desk, all curves and tidy drawers. Small, but very beautiful. And could be mine for only $1500. Sigh. But, hey, this is better than last year when I fell in love with a simple green display cabinet that was only $10,000. Funny, I've survived all year without that piece of furniture.
I don't want a home that big. My favorite of the five was small at 9300 square feet. (And could be ours for a mere 2,775,000 dollars. Gulp.) I can't imagine the costs of running such a home. It was fun to see that just because it is big, fancy, and expensive, I don't necessarily want it. One of the largest and most expensive on the tour had a ghastly (to me) kitchen. It was laid out so that the only way to function in there would be to have caters come in often. Really. I don't know how anyone, even a hired chef, could manage.
Touring there did make me want to clean out more of our corners and showcase the prettiness we already have in our abode. Filling a home with memories, beautiful treasures from travels, and comfort are enough of a goal for me. I picked up a few new decorating and landscaping ideas to play with in the coming months.
I love filling my creative soul with new colors, shapes, textures, and ideas. I hope you find a way to do the same this weekend.
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Yippee! That means that the dark paneling in one of my kid's rooms (from the 70s) is back in fashion. Otherwise, we're woefully behind the times. ;)
I'm with you - I like bright cheery rooms. Perhaps it works better in warmer climates, but here in the dark wintered north you'd be have some troubles.
The last thing in the world I ever want to do again is clean and polish paneling. I would not mind getting rid of carpeting in exchange for easy to clean tile - but don't want to have to worry about hard wood flooring.
Your outing sounds like a lot of fun. Mark and I enjoy going to new housing additions and walking through the model homes -- great, cheap, weekend entertainment. Lots of decorating ideas, and it's always nice to dream.
I like bright and cheery also. We do have cherry finished furniture, but keep our wall colors light.
We have wood flooring in our living room, kitchen and dining area. Tile in the bathroom. Carpet in the bedroom and in my studio.
I would never put a TV in my bathroom (or over a fireplace). A fancy coffee maker would be cool, but not in a condo (that would be over designed). We will be finishing our basement into a media room because we are huge sports fans.
Your excursion sounds fun! I wonder if something like that happens around here.
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