Question: What’s trending right now in the three major rooms of the house?
THE KITCHEN
Colors: Wood stain cabinets. Darker wood with sleeker door profiles paired with more statement piece countertops.
Flooring: I always tell my clients to go with a nice medium tone wood color. But it also depends on what your cabinets look like. If you have wood stain cabinets, you want to provide some type of contrast with your floors and you don’t want the darker one to be your floors, you’ll see everything! If you have white cabinets or a lighter tone, then doing a white oak flooring still works but my safe bet is a rich caramel tone for flooring.
Fixtures: Stainless steel is always a classic look and it goes with everything. I’m seeing less and less black fixtures (which I’m happy about) and more of the champagne gold, polished nickel and stainless steel.
Lighting: Statement lighting is always on trend. I’ve been seeing a lot of printed fabric pendants and styles leaning way more traditional but with a funky twist that are eye-catching and really add that wow factor to a kitchen.
THE BATHROOM
Colors: Definitely lots of color! Bathrooms are such a fun area to play with color because it’s smaller and it can be super playful. Whether it’s through wallpaper or the paint color or the tile in the shower, I love adding in some bolder color.
Flooring: I always love a large format tile because it helps make the space feel bigger. I’ve been seeing a lot more softer patterns and warmer tones and more natural stone materials like marble and travertine being used.
Fixtures: I love gold all the time but I’ve been seeing a lot more polished nickel and chrome used in bathrooms. It’s such a polished and clean look and goes really well with wood or white cabinets.
Lighting: Wall sconce lighting! I love sconces. They add such a fun and warm layer of light to the space whether it’s the bathroom, dining room or living, it’s so cozy.
THE LIVING ROOM
Colors: Warm earth tones. It’s been on trend for a bit but I don’t see it leaving for awhile. It provides comfort and texture and that homey feeling.
Flooring: Hardwood will never go out of style. But the middle plank size is what I see more of. Not the super large ones and not the super skinny ones. I don’t love using tile flooring in the living room because it’s so cold on your feet but the wood look is definitely in.
Furniture: Comfortable seating! Swivel chairs for functionality. Velvet textures, tailored drapery for an elevated look.
Accessories: Greenery and faux branches are always an easy accessory to add in. It provides that natural feel and sometimes a pop of color if you’re going with a more neutral palette. Marble accents are always a fun way to dress up a coffee table or shelf and lamps lamps lamps! I love lamp lighting. Oversized for the end tables, smaller ones for the shelves, it can be a statement piece or an anchor depending on what the room needs.
Question: When designing a kitchen, what are your top tips to help with kitchen organization?
I used to offer organizing as a service a couple of years ago and when we would start in the kitchen, I always asked how their kitchen was used? What’s the functionality besides just meal prepping. It helped me understand how a family flows in and out.
The second thing we did, take everything out. Not all at once, but as you’re going through the sections of cabinets and drawers, take it out, assess what you have, find things you thought you lost and pare down on items you don’t need or use anymore. Then you think about the best place for it to go back to. It could make sense to switch where your dishes are or where you keep the Ziplock bags.
The last thing I recommend is getting items to help the insides stay organized. Drawer dividers. Acrylic bins for the pantry, lazy susans! I love lazy susans for just about everything!
Question: Many New England homeowners appreciate having a living room fireplace. What materials are popular right now for the surround and for mantels?
I have seen a lot more stucco and plaster for both the surround and the mantel. It’s such a clean sleek look.
Question: How do you design a gallery wall? It seems so overwhelming with multiple pieces of varying sizes. Are there tips you can share for people trying to do it themselves?
Gallery walls can be very overwhelming but always start with an odd number of pieces to work with, unless you’re going for a stacked picture look.
Depending on where it’s going and what’s beneath it (couch, buffet/sideboard, etc.) you want to make sure it’s 2/3rd to 3/4th the size of what’s beneath it. I like to use painters tape and tape out my rectangle the size it needs to be on the floor and then start filling in my pieces and arranging them how I want and then you can take the tape on the wall and start with the biggest piece first so you can scale around that.
Rule of thumb is to hang each piece about 2-3 inches away from each other so make sure you’re getting large enough pieces if you aren’t using a lot of them.
To learn more about Spaces Reimagined and owner Jessica Puleo, visit spacesreimaginedne.com/home.
