Visual Jill's top 5 tips for unique style

We're really excited about the house we just completed. It showcases the top 5 ingredients that we always include in our projects to make them shine.

1. Modern in the mix -- Our designs always include at least a few mid-century modern pieces, mixed in with more transitional styles. In this living room, note the iconic Nelson bench paired with the upholstered green armchairs and white couch.

And in the library, we used our favorite Eames lounge chair with a colorful rug from Joss and Main.

2. Color -- We've said it before, we'll say it again. An amazing accent wall can bring a completely new energy to a room. In the guest room we chose Benjamin Moore's Million Dollar Red, which complemented the rich woodwork in the house.

3. Artwork -- We search high and low for unusual pieces of art for our projects. Some of our best come from flea markets and street fairs. For example, Jill found the fun painting above the child's bed at the Temescal Street Fair. We mix these one-of-a-kind pieces with basics from Ikea and other retailers.

4. Global influence -- Our designs usually include a touch of the exotic -- a painting from Bali, fabric from Tahiti, or a pouf from Morocco, as seen below.

5. Unique accessories -- We look for inspiration pieces that set the tone and/or color scheme for a room. These can be paintings, pillows, vases, or even a funky lamp. In the dining room, for example, the centerpiece vase from Anthropologies filled with succulents is just the right touch for the room.

In the master bedroom, you can see all five of our ingredients working together: modern in the mix (orange ottoman); color (accent wall in Benjamin Moore's Wisteria AF-585); unusual artwork (a painting from Mexican artist Javier Fernandez); global influence (pareu from Tahiti on bed), and unique accessories (Anthropologie pillow).

Five Fave Updates for Fall

We know that Fall doesn't officially arrive until September 22, but it definitely feels like summer is ending. Maybe it's the sound of kids walking to school outside my front window, or maybe it's the fat Fall issue of Vogue that's in the mailbox . . . the seasons are getting ready to change.

You might be in the mood for some changes in your home decor as well. Here are five easy things you can do to introduce a new burst of seasonal energy in your home.

Add some green. Try a brighter, deeper green on an accent wall, or just on one piece in your room.

In this home office, we used Benjamin Moore's Dill Pickle on one wall, as well as bits of green in the accessories (colored pencils and file folders). We also love Split Pea from Benjamin Moore, which we painted on this bedroom accent wall and then picked up in the pillows, below.

Place a pouf. We've written about our love for poufs before. Fall is a great time to incorporate a pouf in a deep jewel tone or a strong neutral.

Here we've teamed a gray Moroccan pouf with the Everett Striped Chair from West Elm . . . which brings us to our next idea . . .

Go gray. OK, maybe not your hair, but how about your walls? Or a sofa? Or a rug? As we said last month, gray is really the freshest neutral for your home.

Pick a printed or patterned pillow. A new trend we're loving is two-sided pillows, each featuring a different color or pattern.

Both of these fun pillows are from Anthropologie, always a great place for unique home items.

It's like getting two pillows for the price of one. Just a single new patterned pillow can really wake up your sofa or bed.

And finally, incorporate a personal artifact into your decorating. Maybe it's a painting you bought on the streets of Spain, or some shells you picked up on your summer beach trip. Below, Lauran hung an old metal winery sign that she got at an Italian flea market (and hand carried back on the plane home!) in her dining room.

To add a little "zen" to her home, Jill showcases a Balinese sculpture and prayer beads that she bought at The Dry Garden Nursery.

Try one or two of these ideas this Labor Day weekend . . . and your home will be ready for the changing seasons.

California Modern

We just bought a new book called Living in a Modern Way: California Design 1930-1965 — the accompaniment to the exhibition at the LA County Museum of Art (which closes June 3). For those of us who can't make it to southern California within the next 2 days, this is the next best thing.

The book presents a comprehensive study of mid-century modern California design -- furniture, architecture, textiles, graphic design, and more. The book states that "the California modern look was one of studied informality, sophisticated simplicity, and carefully considered casualness."

Quincy Jones house, 1955, photo by Julius Shulman

There are many pictures showing the indoor-outdoor living idea that was popular in the 1950s. We love this house -- the red beams, red Eames chairs, and the sliding glass doors. The book also explores product design and graphic design of those times.

Greta Magnusson Grossman for Glenn of California screen, 1952

This screen looks fresh even 60 years after its creation. We'd love to have this in our homes!

These book jackets designed in 1944-1945 by Alvin Lustig showcase his belief that "well-designed objects would function as art in everyday life." We couldn't agree more, and if we could get our hands on these they would be framed and hung on our walls!

Check out Living in a Modern Way for a great dose of mid-century design, in all its fabulous facets.


All photos from Living in a Modern Way: California Design 1930-1965, edited by Wendy Kaplan, published by The MIT press

One Love: Pillows!

It's no secret that every decorator considers a great pillow to be their "secret weapon" -- something you can add to the mix to make a big impact for a small cost. We go crazy for pillows, and our inventory probably numbers over 100 of them.

Pillows play a major role in our new "Room Refresh" service (only $395 to update a room). Here are two projects we recently completed -- just try to imagine them without the pillows, or even with just solid pillows alone. The effect wouldn't be as fresh or colorful.

At many retailers, you can buy just the pillow covers without the insert, so you can easily switch out your pillows for less.

Here are two great new options at Ikea right now -- grab them while you can!

For more pillow inspiration, follow our Pillows pinboard on Pinterest. We're adding new stuff all the time!

Candy Colors to Savor

In reviewing our latest pins on Pinterest, we notice a lot of bold, bright color. Maybe it's because we've had a rainy week here in Berkeley, or maybe it's just because we love color -- anytime, all the time. Here's some eye candy to inspire you:

(pinned via Jessica, via Marvelous Kiddo, via solidfrog, original source unknown)

(pinned via Jessica, via smallshopstudio, via rebecca june)

(pinned via Jessica, via Petite Alma, original painting by Cocoa and Hearts)

(pinned via elisangel, via flickr)

(pinned via Jessica, via interiors-porn.tumbler)

(pinned via Jodi McKee)

Happy weekend, and we hope you always color outside the lines!

Color Trends for 2013

Last week we attended the Color Pulse 2013 presentation at the Benjamin Moore showroom in the San Francisco Design Center. These yearly Color Pulse shows give a fun preview of what colors will be most prominent in the design world for the year ahead.

The theme for 2013 is Intersection, broken down into four categories: Interflow, Intercycle, Interanimate, and Interconnect. The colors are inspired by art, design and architecture from around the world, and have three-dimensional references within each group.

Interflow is all about reintroducing colors and textures of the past in a new and modern way, retaining what is comfortable and familiar. Think colorful chunky knit pillows and quilts made in a fresh way.

Intercycle refers to upcycling “disposable” materials, repurposing elements through unusual pairings of color and material. Some examples are structures made out of old tires, and artwork from discarded license plates.

Interanimate is about play – using bold and dynamic color to escape the everyday life and connect with our inner child. This category is inspired by bright legos, marbles, and comic books.

Finally, Interconnect explores the juxtaposition of what is virtual vs. what is real. Color strikes a path through the virtual, illuminating the familiar and material world. Think digital photography and computer graphics.


So what colors will be "hot" in 2013? According to Benjamin Moore:

• Reds -- those that are sophisticated, with blue undertones
• Pinks -- both soft and feminine and bright pinks
• Oranges -- deep corals and camel tones
• Yellows -- when offset by red and oranges
• Greens -- darker kelly green and very pale green
• Blues -- watery blues, soft blues are starting to trend (influenced by popular website colors)
• Purples -- smokey, almost mauvey, purples
• Neutrals -- animal prints contrasted with bright colors

And what colors won't be popular next year?

• Black and white -- this harsh contrast is going away
• Metallics.

It will be fun to see how these predictions play out!

Bringing Color to the Table

This week we spent some time in Ikea, where the Reidar chair really caught our eye. It comes in 4 colors, including this vibrant blue -- and it's a great deal at $49.99.

It's no secret that we love color, so the idea of bright chairs around the dining or kitchen table really appeals to us. You can even mix an assortment together for a really fun look, as shown here:

image via Pinterest via Summer Allen

If you want to achieve this look in your home, here are some other great options for colorful chairs in stores and online right now.

These are both from CB2: the Echo Orange Chair is $89.95 and the Fleet chartreuse chair is on sale for $129 (regularly $149).

If you're ready to make more of an investment, Design Within Reach offers the 111 Navy Chair for $260; or the Era Round Armchair for $225 (both chairs are available in other fun colors too).

And for a nice shot of Kelly green, try the Ming Green side chair from Crate and Barrel, $199.

Decorating with Books

Despite all the cool e-readers and tablets that have popped up in the last few years, nothing can replace a real, paper-and-cardboard book. If you look around our homes and office it's easy to see how much we love books. This can become a decorating problem -- how do you organize and store your books without bringing clutter into your space?

Sometimes the best thing to do is just embrace the different colors and sizes of your books and let them play a part in an eclectic, haphazard and lively decorating scheme, as in this photo from an anthropologie catalog:

                           You can also play around with the colors of your book spines, grouping them together by color or contrasting the brights against the more neutral. In this fun space from HouseBeautiful, a stack of colorful books really pops against this fabulous black-and-white book wallpaper!

And neutral books look great when combined with other white, tan and silver objects inside this white cupboard.

(image via TineK via decor8)

We always incorporate books in Visual Jill decorating projects -- stacked up as a perch for other objects, or placed strategically to bring just the right color to a certain spot.

Don't overlook the decorating power of a book!

New Colors from Benjamin Moore!

Last night we attended an event at the SF Design Center premiering Benjamin Moore's newest colors -- Color Stories. According to Benjamin Moore, "Color Stories' 240 full-spectrum colors are clearer, richer and more vibrant than conventional colors."

These color formulas are created using between 5 and 7 pigments (traditional methods use just 3 pigments). The result? More depth, overtones, nuance and luminosity, which means the shades actually change according to different light. They are gorgeous.

A First Apartment

Is there anything more exciting than moving into your first apartment? A new start, a fresh perspective . . . but what to do about those bland floors and white walls? Just take the stuff you have, mix in some new accessories, throw in a few vintage pieces -- and you've transformed a sterile, ubiquitous space into a pad that reflects your personal style.

For example, take this living room: it started as a basic box, but styling magic changed it into a comfortable, colorful hang-out spot.

Sources: Ikea lamps and couch, West Elm rug, vintage flea market art, Crate and Barrel Marimekko pillow, handmade leopard pillow.

And in the bedroom, a happy color wall makes the other accessories pop!

Sources: vintage mid-century chair, CB2 bedding and side table, Ikea lamp, wall color: Bali Hai from Glidden.

Since the dining room is also serving as a home office, we chose to paint one wall a warm red to help differentiate the two spaces.

Sources:  Ikea chairs and tables, CB2 clock, wall color: Old Glory from Glidden.

And don't overlook the entryway! This is a great focal point for colorful accessories, as seen here:

Sources: Vintage stool from Mignonne, plexi console from CB2, pop art from Ikea and our personal stash.

Although the results look like weeks of work, we pulled together this apartment in one weekend! Your first apartment can be your first interior style statement -- just try different combinations, mix old with new, and introduce some color to your world.

All styling by Allie and Jill McCoy.

Time for a Change?

Is your space feeling a little stale? Wish you had the time (and budget) to completely redecorate? Well, we have some great news: you can freshen up your rooms with minimal investment -- and have fun doing it. It's all about color.

Check out the difference in this dining room . . . we changed the paint color (and some accessories) and completely transformed the space.

And just switching out the accessories on and around our beloved Karlstad sofa is a great way to signify a change in seasons (or mood). What makes it interesting is the mix -- these pillows are from CB2, Ikea, ABC Carpet, Urban Outfitters and the Alameda flea market -- but all fall within the same color theme.

Try it yourself -- grab some color swatches and your paintbrush. Visit your favorite store. Just a small investment in time and money can make your space feel new again.