What's Hot / What's Not

What are the current color palettes and basic color tones that designers are crazy for right now?

• Lime and Apple Greens. Great to lighten the mood of a room. Lime and Apple Greens on an accent wall are the perfect punch against espresso leather brown sofas and mission furniture.
  
• Grays with brown undertones. Grays are more sophisticated than just watered down black pigment. Grays of today are chic and masculine.
  
• Hot pinks with brown undertones. Again the presence of brown pigment softens the otherwise pre-pubescent glare of this feisty color.
  
• Tone-on-tone whites and off-whites. This combo is cleverly used in many new chic restaurants nationwide. What a great way to create depth on a wall by playing with the ever expanding range of the white palette.
  
• Chinese orange reds. With the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing, designers have re-discovered this centuries old Asian color.
  
• Lavender. The new beige.

What colors have designers phased out?

• Burgundy red
  
• Forrest green
  
• Sage green
  
• Khaki, beige
  
• Yellow

What macro design trends are in?

• Paint the ceiling black. Contrary to making the room look smaller or shorter, it makes the ceiling disappear.
  
• Mirror glam. A Los Angeles based designer has re-introduced this 1930s style by encrusting and encasing furniture with custom cut shards of mirrors.
• Concrete and cement staining. It’s not just for unfinished basement floors. Many are recognizing how practical it is to jewel tone the concrete floor in a main living room or high traffic area, foregoing wood, carpet, and even pergo options. Sleek for shower stalls. Perfect for outdoor back patios and pool decks.

What macro design trends are phased out?

• French/ country shabby chic
  
• Oriental rugs

What are some of Raea’s favorite tricks and discoveries that have worked really well with clients?

• Paint your walls black with a glossy finish. A perfect solution to highlight the dimensions of a hallway, and to create a gorgeous contrast against pine and bleached floors.
  
• Bronze out the baseboards. Sometimes the walls are just fine, so give some decorating attention to your baseboards. Who says they have to be gloss white? It's an unexpected way to endcap your room.
  
• Utility box artwork. A great way to distract the eye from the ugly, gray metal fuse box panels. WTD creates custom artwork in symmetrical size and shape and the gray beast fades into the background.
  
• Faux switchplates. So you’ve painted your room a bold, dashing color, only to have white, plastic electrical switchplates pop out everywhere. WTD paints on the actual switchplate covers, matching the background tile, granite, stone plaster, grout, or flat finish. Watch your switchplates disappear!