When most of us think about floral prints and patterns, the immediate image is Grandma’s sofa…. and Grandma’s curtains, rug, pillows, and everything else, for that matter.  Florals may get a bad rap for a certain dated look, but these days, floral prints aren’t your grandmother’s kitsch!  During the summertime, they are the perfect pattern choice for a bright and fresh space that’s not short on modern appeal.

Image via Arianna Belle Interiors

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It’s In the Buds

Believe it or not, you can have a floral sofa; it just has to be the right kind of floral.  Pale, faded colors and small, complicated prints will certainly evoke another generation, so look for bright colors in an open, simple design with lots of visible background.  The big, graphic textiles are less feminine and certainly more playful.  Make sure you also opt for floral prints on streamlined furniture: no skirts or carved wood on sofas and chairs.  That way you will avoid an already dated style.

Image via: Eric Piasecki

For a really fashion-forward look, mix different florals correctly in pillows or rugs.  To do this without clashing, start with one oversized-print floral on a pillow or rug, then choose one to two other prints with at least two of the same colors and in a smaller scale (think a few square inches).  You’ll have an eclectic, bohemian vibe in no time!

Image via: Brewster Home Fashions

Image via Stoheim

Contrast Styles

If you bring floral prints into parts of your design, don’t forget to think about how all the pieces will work together.  In order to keep the room from looking overly feminine, mix styles of furniture with the florals for a cool and contemporary look.  Even the most adorable, vintage chair will look edgier when coupled with an ultra-sleek side table and a graphic rug.  Modern lighting or a chunky coffee table can balance the femininity just as much as the type of floral itself.  While out shopping, it’s always a good idea to keep photos, paint samples, and inspiration with you, but it’s even more important when looking for the right flowery print to strike a balance in your room.

Don’t let florals intimidate you any longer; you have the tools you need to make them modern and fun!

For more home decor ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

When those bright spring greens and colorful flowers start appearing after a long, gray winter, we naturally start thinking about freshening up our own gardens. We pore over bulb catalogs, stock up on planters, and head to our local garden centers for seedlings, soil, and supplies.

In the midst of all the garden-planning frenzy, take a moment to think about how the dream garden you’re visualizing relates to the exterior of your home. Two extreme examples from France will give you the idea: the formal gardens of the palace at Versailles, perfectly in keeping with the formal style of the building and its interior, and the riotous tumble of colors at Giverny, the final home of the Impressionist artist Claude Monet, where the interior colors of the house were chosen to harmonize with the gardens already in place.

Image via: Kim Parker Interiors

Just in case you don’t live in chateau, let’s take a look at how you can create and apply an inside-outside design concept to your home and garden. How do you start? An easy way is to focus on a current trend in interior decor, then find ways to translate that trend in your garden.

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Interiors ideas from the garden

Color-blocking is not only a key trend for spring (in fashion as well as interiors), but it’s also one of the easiest ways to give your interior a fresh new look! Martha Stewart has some bright and colorful ideas to get you started, from table settings and shower curtains to painting shelves and tossing pillows.

Image via: PHX Architecture

Outside home – garden inspiration

Next, think about outside your home. Does the view of your plants, lawn, and trees from, say, your living room, harmonize with the colors, shapes, and scale of the interior? It’s useful to think in terms of visually extending you view, from the inside of a room outwards, to include exterior architectural features like a deck, and beyond, to your lawn and garden. But how do you take the idea of color-blocking outside?

Your lawn is a great place to start, especially in early spring, when it’s just starting to turn green. (This is also the perfect time to consider a commercial lawn care service, to encourage healthy growth and color after the winter doldrums.) Once the lawn is in good shape, you can focus on adding blocks of color to that lovely expanse of green, with bright, early-flowering annuals, dark green shrubs, and small trees, like Japanese Maples, with a variety of foliage colors and variegation.

After your garden-renewal projects are well underway, you might want to think about changing exterior elements of the house itself; this can easily add a completely new dimension to the idea of outdoor color-blocking. Take a look at these exterior spruce-up ideas, ranging from a new color for your garage door to enhancing your entry.

So the next time you’re out taking a walk or exploring a public park or garden, take color inspiration from whatever attracts your eye — daffodils, new leaves, wet buildings, the sky — and create your own unique color palette as a jumping-off place for your fresh-for-spring color-blocked home, inside and out!

For more gardening tips on Stagetecture, click here.