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Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009
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HOME DESIGN
Kelly Porter had an office inside her Ellicott City home, but she never used it. Each day she would set up shop with her laptop at the kitchen island.
The home office, which her family of five shared, "never felt right," says the designer and color consultant. "I never felt comfortable. I never felt inspired."
Understandably so. With wall-to-wall hunter green carpeting, beige wallpaper and a combination of dark and medium-toned wood furniture, the 10-by-12-foot space felt much more masculine -- and much less colorful -- than Porter, 42, preferred. While the look satisfied the men in her house (a husband, a 14-year-old son and 11-year-old twin sons), Porter pined for something that was a little more her style.
So, earlier this year she convinced her husband it was time for a change ... (read more)
Kelly Porter had an office inside her Ellicott City home, but she never used it. Each day she would set up shop with her laptop at the kitchen island.
The home office, which her family of five shared, "never felt right," says the designer and color consultant. "I never felt comfortable. I never felt inspired."
Understandably so. With wall-to-wall hunter green carpeting, beige wallpaper and a combination of dark and medium-toned wood furniture, the 10-by-12-foot space felt much more masculine -- and much less colorful -- than Porter, 42, preferred. While the look satisfied the men in her house (a husband, a 14-year-old son and 11-year-old twin sons), Porter pined for something that was a little more her style.
So, earlier this year she convinced her husband it was time for a change ... (read more)
– Terri Sapienza
CHAT ABOUT IT
Every Thursday at 11 a.m. the Home Front takes readers' questions. Here's a highlight from this week's discussion with The Post's Jura Koncius and Terri Sapienza and designer Kelly Porter:
Falls Church, Va.: Hi Kelly (Jura and Terri). I have a question about the color consulting world, as I think I need a couple hours from a color guru. Is it reasonable for me to believe that if I had a color consultant come to my home, that he/she could help choose one wall color in a gold/beige tone for my open concept home where we can tie my existing colors together? We need help finding the one color to draw the existing rooms together, and then deciding a ceiling color for all the rooms. Can this be done in the span of a single visit if he/she brings paint decks to add to mine from Benajmin Moore?
Kelly Porter: Absolutely. A good color consultant will cater to your color preference (and even ask to see paint chips of what you already have in mind). I sometimes like to get clients to think out of the box and consider a variety of hues, but I also understand that I will go home and you will live with the colors. You need to feel comfortable with your choices. It sounds like the job could be done in one visit, but it also depends on how quickly you make your color decisions.
• Read past dicussions and get more helpful design tips for your home.
Every Thursday at 11 a.m. the Home Front takes readers' questions. Here's a highlight from this week's discussion with The Post's Jura Koncius and Terri Sapienza and designer Kelly Porter:
Falls Church, Va.: Hi Kelly (Jura and Terri). I have a question about the color consulting world, as I think I need a couple hours from a color guru. Is it reasonable for me to believe that if I had a color consultant come to my home, that he/she could help choose one wall color in a gold/beige tone for my open concept home where we can tie my existing colors together? We need help finding the one color to draw the existing rooms together, and then deciding a ceiling color for all the rooms. Can this be done in the span of a single visit if he/she brings paint decks to add to mine from Benajmin Moore?
Kelly Porter: Absolutely. A good color consultant will cater to your color preference (and even ask to see paint chips of what you already have in mind). I sometimes like to get clients to think out of the box and consider a variety of hues, but I also understand that I will go home and you will live with the colors. You need to feel comfortable with your choices. It sounds like the job could be done in one visit, but it also depends on how quickly you make your color decisions.
• Read past dicussions and get more helpful design tips for your home.
GROW IT
Tip of the week
Replace end-of-season annual container plantings with a display of winter heath and pansies or violas. Make sure the pot is frost-proof (most clay pots are not) and free-draining. Freshen the soil with a potting mix. Hard freezes in January will flatten unprotected pansies, but they will bounce back for a spring display.
• Tight space invaders
• Adrian Higgins blogs about cool-season veggies
• All about vegetable gardens
Tip of the week
Replace end-of-season annual container plantings with a display of winter heath and pansies or violas. Make sure the pot is frost-proof (most clay pots are not) and free-draining. Freshen the soil with a potting mix. Hard freezes in January will flatten unprotected pansies, but they will bounce back for a spring display.
• Tight space invaders
• Adrian Higgins blogs about cool-season veggies
• All about vegetable gardens
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