Home Tree Atlas: Home Decor Ideas and Mood Boards

Color Guide: Grey Basement Ideas

The first question you need to ask yourself is “how much grey do you want”? And the second question to ask is “what shade of grey?”. These are the two questions we will be answering when going over the grey basement ideas below.

How Much Grey?

When most people think of a grey basement, they will imagine grey walls (and how about a grey ceiling?). This is one way to design a basement.

But there are more toned down options to consider.

How about painting one of the walls grey, and all of the other walls white – creating a feature wall. This one grey wall will really stand out against all of the other white walls.

There is the option of dividing up your wall. The bottom half or third could be covered in white wainscoting, while the top section is painted grey (The Finishing Touch: Wainscoting Ideas and Designs).

Or you could paint all of your walls white. And decorate the space with grey accent pieces. Imagine a white walled basement, and there is a grey couch, or even just a grey area rug. These main pieces in the basement can set the color scheme for the room, if you have a neutral color (white) for your walls.

In the section below, Grey Basement Pieces, I go over the different pieces in a basement that can help set the overall color scheme.

What Shade of Grey?

The shade of grey you decide to decorate your basement with will have a big impact on the way the space feels. Dark grey shades will create a cozy and secluded ambiance. While light grey shades will create a bright, airy, and spacious feeling space.

If you really want to create a strong grey color palette for your basement, then you will need to take out any colored pieces in the room. You don’t want to have a yellow trashcan, red pillows, and a blue area rug when you are trying to style a basement grey.

This doesn’t mean you can’t add colors. It just needs to be planned out. Stick to adding only 1 – 2 other colors; otherwise you lose the overall grey color scheme. A good way to add color is to use natural materials like wood for warm brown tones, plants to add greenery, metals, or stone.

Grey Basement Pieces

Whether you go for all grey basement walls, or opt for the all white walls option – there are main pieces in a basement that can add shades of grey into the space. Here are some ideas:

Add a grey area rug
Repaint your media console, closet, and cabinet doors grey (DIY Challenge: Give Your Closet Doors a Makeover: Ideas and Design Tips)
If you have any curtains in the space, these could be grey
The seating area is a main focal point in a living room basement. See if there are ways to add shades of grey here. Whether that is by getting grey seats, or just by using grey cushion covers, or a grey blanket.
See if there is a way to add grey to your coffee table area. Either by getting a metal or grey coffee table, or by getting a grey tray to put on top of the table to group together clutter items
A grey lamp shade
Hang up a grey art piece. Or use a large grey frame to hang up a non-grey art piece or photograph

Here are some other basement posts to get more ideas from:

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April 26, 2016 in Basement, Color Palettes

Classic: Black and White Living Room Ideas and Designs

When most people think of a black and white living room, they will imagine white walls and a space decorated with black and white pieces. But there is also the bolder option of going with black walls – just like in the living rooms in pictures (4) (5) and (6).

But to add some style to your living room, you don’t want to just have flat plain walls. Instead try and infuse some design elements.

Making Your Walls Do More in the Room

Here are some ways to avoid flat plain walls:

Use wainscoting. You can either go with white wainscoting and black walls or vice versa. Or have the walls and wainscoting the same color (white or black).
Use trim. Adding trim to your walls gives it some depth and style – just like the black wall in picture (6)
Add textures. Whether you go for white walls or black ones, there are different ways you can add a subtle texture to them. Wallpaper is one idea; find one with a subtle textured pattern. Or use anaglypta wallpaper, which is a 3D wallpaper that can be painted over or left white.
Add crown molding. The crown molding can be a the opposite color of the wall (black vs. white) to create contrast (4) (5), or it can be the same color
If you have shelves on your walls, the backs of them can be painted the opposite color of the walls. Say you have white walls, then paint the back of the shelves black.
If you have a hard time doing any of these remodeling ideas, then a simple alternative is to hang up a gallery wall of black and white photographs just like the living room in picture (1).

Balancing the Black and the White

Some people might want a more white living room, decorated with a few black pieces. Others might want their space to be equally balanced with blacks and whites, and then there are living rooms that are more black heavy.

Below is a list of black and white living room decor items that will help you create the right balance in your space. Use black or white versions of the pieces listed to create the balance you want:

Area rugs
Curtains (black curtains on white walls makes for a good contrast, or white curtains hanging down from a black curtain rod just like in picture (3))
There are different ways you can play with the colors of the seating and furniture (black couch with white pillows, or vice versa. Or have the pillows and couch the same color)
Hang up some black and white photos in black frames (or how about gold or silver frames if you have a black wall)
See how your coffee table could balance out the black and white in the living room. A black coffee table could have a white tray on top of it to group together clutter items, or vice versa.
Have a look at the hanging pendant light in picture (3), and see how the black lamp shade makes a statement in the mostly white room.

Here are some other living room posts to get more ideas from:

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6

April 26, 2016 in Color Palettes, Living Room

Color Style Guide: White Kitchen Ideas and Designs

When it comes to designing a white kitchen, you want to try and avoid creating a sterile look. The white kitchen ideas in this post will show you how to add warmth and texture to your space.

Add Warmth

A completely white kitchen can look a bit sterile. You can always add in some color through the feature and decor pieces. Blue and white, black and white are some good color combinations.

Here are some ways to add a pop of color into a white kitchen: hang up a colorful art piece (seen in picture (1)), use a colorful area rug, or hang up some colorful hand towels.

Another way to spice up a white kitchen design is to infuse it with natural materials, such as wood and stone. Look for bare wood cabinet doors, or countertops. The chairs you use could be wooden, bringing in shades of brown into the kitchen. Or how about using wicker and wooden storage containers (Kitchen Storage Ideas and Organization Tips). The window frames for the kitchen could be unpainted wooden ones, just like the kitchen in picture (4).

You can also add pops of green and other colors by placing potted plants around the kitchen.

Add Texture

See if you can add some subtle texture to your kitchen surfaces and walls. For example marble has a subtle grey texture to it. This can be used for countertops, backsplashes, tiling, or even shelving – check out the marble shelves in the post here.

Even using white subway tiles creates a subtle pattern on a wall.

Quick Design Tips

If you have a small kitchen look to get cabinets and countertops with glossy surfaces. Theses glossy surfaces bounce the light around the kitchen making the space feel larger
For a more modern kitchen look, try and avoid handles on the cabinets. Instead have cabinets that push pop to open, or have a groove handle carved out.

Here are some other kitchen posts to get ideas from:

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6

April 26, 2016 in Color Palettes, Kitchen

How To Create A Magical Evening: Outdoor Movie Night Ideas

When creating an outdoor movie night, there are 4 main things to think about. 1) Where are you going to set it up. 2) What is the best way to create the movie screen. 3) What sort of seating/furniture are you going to use (this can be as easy as using floor cushions). And 4) Why not add some soft relaxing lighting for your movie night.

Choosing a Spot:

By the pool if you have one. Or blow up an inflatable pool to relax in.
Inside a pergoda or a hut, just like in picture (7)
If you have a deck, this could be a place where people can sit to watch the movie – then project the movie onto a nearby wall or hang up a bed sheet.
Or how about building a simple raised platform just for your movie space – like in picture (8)
Choose a spot near a white wall. If you have a fence or a flat white wall on the outside of your house, this could be a place to screen your movie and set up your projector. Or there are the ideas listed below showing easy ways on how to set up an outdoor screen.

How To Create an Outdoor Movie Screen

Here are some ideas on how to create an outdoor movie screen:

There is the idea mentioned above, which was to use a flat white wall
Hang up a white bed sheet in-between trees or poles
If you are hosting a large group of people, then hiring a large inflatable movie screen would be an option
Or create a DIY movie screen stand using PVC or plumbing pipes – which you can use to hang up a bed sheet
There are also portable screen stands, get one in the Amazon window below

Furniture Ideas

Outdoor garden floor pillows are great for an informal and cozy atmosphere. Get yours in the Amazon window above
Check out my pallet post that shows how pallets were turned into outdoor cinema loungers: The Pallet Cinema: A Garden Movie Night
Or this post here has more ideas: Is That a Pallet Swimming Pool? 24 DIY Pallet Outdoor Furniture Creations and Big Builds

Setting the Mood With Lighting

Hang up some string lights. Stake some tiki torches around (use citronella oil as it is a natural insect repellent), or use candles and lanterns. In my outdoor DIY lighting post you can see how normal candles shoved onto stakes make for easy outdoor movie party lights: Getting Crafty: DIY Outdoor Lighting Ideas.

For more ideas for your outdoor movie night, have a look at these posts:

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8