Red is the color of love – it hugs the soul and makes your heart happy. Merlot is a shade of red, with a bluish hue, giving the color a richness that is not overwhelming. Throughout my interior design career, I have found that people are actually afraid of color. They don’t trust themselves to incorporate rich hues into their decor and instead stick with whites, off-whites and beiges. Merlot is the perfect shade for the [color] faint-of-heart.

How to Use Merlot in Your Home: Ideas for Everyone

1. Color-Wary: Keep your walls and upholstery neutral. Incorporate merlot into accent pieces, such as throw pillows, vases and art.

2. Color Comfortable: Paint an accent wall merlot, such as a stairwell, and let the color bounce off the neutral surroundings. Paint your ceiling a pale turquoise (yellow or lime green could work here, as well). Incorporate the additional accent color into your accessories.

3. Braveheart: Paint all four walls merlot and use one of the additional accent colors on the ceiling, in a bolder hue. If turquoise is your accent color, try painting your ceiling aqua (Rainwash by Sherwin Williams is a great shade).  Keep your upholstery neutral and toss in a couple pumpkin or yellow colored throw pillows. Keep other accessories neutral.

IMAGES

• Merlot Bed Frame: Luxe Interiors + Design
• Merlot Lamps: Mottega
• Accent Stairwell: House Beautiful
• Kitchen Accent Wall: House Beautiful
• Merlot Dining Room: Jolene Smith Interiors

Last weekend was my cousin Virginia Harper’s wedding to Sean Breen. The two said their vows at First Scotts Presbyterian Church and then had a beautiful reception at the Carolina Yacht Club. I was lucky enough to help with the styling and decor of the reception; my largest project was the 10-foot mantle! While we wait for the professional photos, I figured I would share a few shots I took myself.

48 blocks of oasis, a whole case of sheet moss and an entire forest of smilax, 4 dozen hydrangeas, 150 roses, 30 french tulips, 36 stems of hyperium, berries and several colored orchids.

Last month, Pantone announced Tangerine Tango as the color of the year for 2012. Since 2000, the Pantone Color of the Year has influenced everything from graphic design and packaging to fashion and beauty collections. The reddish orange hue is described as “sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it.”

For the past several years, orange has been making a comeback, in a bigger, brighter way. I have selected some of my favorites…there will certainly be more to come. Happy New Year!

Visit the Pantone website to see all of the past Color of the Year selections.

If you ask my son his favorite childhood memories of Christmas-time, many that he will recall involve the decorations that I used and the traditions we established through our annual holiday decor. I always put up a white christmas tree just for him, decorated differently every year (but always including the ornaments he made himself!)

To me, the best part of decorating for the holidays is creating a new theme or color pattern for my holiday designs, wrapping and decor. Of course, every family has those few traditions that you’ll put up year after year, but have fun with your holidays by getting inspired by the season as well as your own personal style.

Over the years, I’ve created holiday tablescapes, decorated trees and wreaths and mantles, in an effort to show my friends and community the joy and creativity that can be found in holiday decorating. I’ve wrapped orange and pink gift boxes, mixed them with bright flowers and greenery from my own back yard, added pops of turquoise to accent red poinsettias and created strings of ornaments to hang on my tree. I love grouping odd-shaped ornaments together, they help fill up the tree and saves you time hanging ornaments, too!

I perhaps find the most fun in selecting a “look” for my gift wrapping. I’ve done everything from purple with green and golds, to traditional green wrapping paper with the simple message, “Merry Christmas from Jolene.” It doesn’t get any easier than that! Take a look at some of my choices this year and in previous years.

Most importantly, have fun with your holiday decorating. There’s no reason to decorate if it stresses you out or isn’t fun, so make sure that it is by keeping it fresh every year and taking advantage of the things that you already have around. And, after all, if you don’t get the bow on the wreath, who really cares?!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Turquoise has not lost momentum as a favorite among interior design professionals, and the color still reigned supreme at this fall’s Furniture Market in High Point, NC. Here are some of my latest turquoise favorites that keep me convinced the blue hue hasn’t lost its spark.

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