DESIGN DILEMMA: My best friend, Trish, is renovated a 1920’s bungalow. There was little in the budget for NEW furniture. She had/has TWO GIANT BEAUTIFUL BURGUNDY sofas, which she needed to work into her main living space.
Often this is your point of departure,( A BURGUNDY SOFA) the INGREDIENT that gives you your limits…your parameters. Sure it would be lovely if we could scrap it all and start from scratch but that is NOT how real-life works…

She asked for my help and so I started where I always start….
1. LOOK FOR INSPIRATION

I can see why Trish is having such a difficult time imagining her sofas looking NEW and FRESH. If you GOOGLE “BURGUNDY SOFA”, you find page after page of sad Burgundy sofa ALL in mundane TAN rooms, NO other colors…not even ART, it is the most depressing thing I have ever seen…WHEN did BURGUNDY get so boring???
I think it has such Life!!!!

WE HAVE ALL BEEN THERE…
Whenever you are doing a renovation, either of your home or your wardrobe, or your LIFE…and there are plenty of things you can just TOSS, but we always end up with some pieces which are too nice or were too expensive, of too important to replace and we need to
MAKE IT WORK.
I often find my inspiration in fashion:


AND ART:

AND NATURE ALWAYS INSPIRES ME:

2. GATHER COLORS TOGETHER
The next thing I do is gather colors together that I think will balance in this case BURGUNDY. These colors will go on the walls, accents, rugs, pillows, accessories etc.
- ALL BENJAMIN MOORE COLORS- CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT : 1. MOUNTAIN PEAK WHITE, 2. SOUTHERN COMFORT, 3. HALE NAVY, 4. JUTE, 5. MAJESTIC BLUE, 6. SOMERVILLE RED, 7. ASHWOOD, 8. GRAY HUSKY, 9. ANCHOR GRAY, 10 PRISTINE, 11. CORAL GABLES, 12 PALLADIAN BLUE
HOUSE AND HOME MILES REDD – I know this over all look is not the direction Trish would Want to go, but I like MANY OF THE ELEMENTS: the Gold frames, and the dragonfly pillow, the creativity…THIS inspires me, DO NOT OVERLOOK INSPIRATION THAT IS NOT EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT, SOMETIMES IT WILL GIVE YOU A FUN SNIPPET!
I suggested that she should keep the walls light…maybe Palladian Blue….

and perhaps paint the backs of the bookcases HALE NAVY:

FOR THE ACCESSORIES AND FABRICS THESE COLORS BUT NOT ON ONE ITEM…MIXED UP ON LAMPS AND PILLOWS, BLANKETS ETC.

OH My gosh this is so fun for me!!!!
I cannot wait to get back up there to do some more decorating!!!
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND. I WILL BE BACK MONDAY!!!
You’re right! If I was decorating around burgendy, I would have tanned it up but when I look at the burgendy in my wardrobe, it is one of my go to neutrals. My Burgandy bag is SO flexible because it dresses up or down beautifully! I thought about the colors I pair with it most often and they are pretty bold.
Blue, sage, black, yellow, pumpkin, all jewel tones.
It does help to look outside the house for color guidance. I think I let myself get guided by “the rules” too often.
Have fun breaking some rules…I mean really, THESE rules are made to be broken!!!
About 30 years ago, I saw a GORGEOUS quilt made from only three colors: the white background with the pattern-pieces in burgundy & coral. I’ve never forgotten it! I had never seen those two colors combined before that time, but it was so strikingly beautiful, it has stayed with me all these years!
Trish loves Coral and I am hoping it gets incorporated into the design…such a surprise, and I love surprises!!!!
Thanks for such an instructive post! You’re really resourceful, next time I’m stuck I’ll try all those tips 🙂
Burguny, wine or whatever color you want to call it, is a big color this fall and winter and so her couches may not be as out of touch as she thinks. Pair it with gray menswear sutiing fabrics or liven it up with mustard and gold or a graphic black and white combo. Brass is back and will be a lovely addition in table lamps, picture frames and even coffee and end table frames. I would try to avoid the traditional navy, forest green and burgundy color combo as that would look very dated. Sounds like a fun and challenging job and I look forward to an update.
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