SarahKaron
Modern neutral + gray bedroom + faux bois wallpaper, from Met Home
The master bedroom of a Victorian mansion, redesigned by Chicago-based decorator Kara Mann. "I took that romantic, cottagey, tone-on-tone sensibility [the homeowners were] drawn to in Bobby McAlpine's work," she says, "and gave it a more urban edge."
Mann added a lustrous Moroccan rug to the homeowners' original bed, and boosted the glamor quotient with a Varenne Collection Opera armchair and an Ixelles Collection wing chair, both from Casamidy. The faux bois wallpaper is from Nobilis and the ceiling is painted Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore. The bed linens are from Muse, the 'Simple' bench is from BDDW, and the lamps and Ixelles tables are from Casamidy. The side table is Cobra by R & Y Augousti, through Barneys. The drapes are Renaissance from Opuzen.
Mann's design tips:
She often relies on monochromatic color schemes in her work. "They're easy to put together; they can be a simple way to give disparate elements unity; and the results are often elegant and clean," she says. The trick is to keep it lively and interesting. "No matter how much you vary the hue, using one color can be monotonous and one-dimensional."
To make sure the palette isn't boring, she seeks out a color's inner shadow and adds some "murky tones to the mix. The colors are off-kilter and unexpected, so they surprise the eye," she says. In the bedroom above, she enveloped the cream, taupe and brown furnishings with a faux-wood wallpaper with an ashy cast, then painted the ceiling Revere Pewter, a cream with a cloudy tint that tones it down. She added depth and diversity to the entire space with texture, sheen, controlled hits of pattern and surprising shapes.
Photo by Nathan Kirkman, Metropolitan Home, March 2009.
Modern neutral + gray bedroom + faux bois wallpaper, from Met Home
The master bedroom of a Victorian mansion, redesigned by Chicago-based decorator Kara Mann. "I took that romantic, cottagey, tone-on-tone sensibility [the homeowners were] drawn to in Bobby McAlpine's work," she says, "and gave it a more urban edge."
Mann added a lustrous Moroccan rug to the homeowners' original bed, and boosted the glamor quotient with a Varenne Collection Opera armchair and an Ixelles Collection wing chair, both from Casamidy. The faux bois wallpaper is from Nobilis and the ceiling is painted Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore. The bed linens are from Muse, the 'Simple' bench is from BDDW, and the lamps and Ixelles tables are from Casamidy. The side table is Cobra by R & Y Augousti, through Barneys. The drapes are Renaissance from Opuzen.
Mann's design tips:
She often relies on monochromatic color schemes in her work. "They're easy to put together; they can be a simple way to give disparate elements unity; and the results are often elegant and clean," she says. The trick is to keep it lively and interesting. "No matter how much you vary the hue, using one color can be monotonous and one-dimensional."
To make sure the palette isn't boring, she seeks out a color's inner shadow and adds some "murky tones to the mix. The colors are off-kilter and unexpected, so they surprise the eye," she says. In the bedroom above, she enveloped the cream, taupe and brown furnishings with a faux-wood wallpaper with an ashy cast, then painted the ceiling Revere Pewter, a cream with a cloudy tint that tones it down. She added depth and diversity to the entire space with texture, sheen, controlled hits of pattern and surprising shapes.
Photo by Nathan Kirkman, Metropolitan Home, March 2009.