Add Serious Style to Your Bookshelves With These Five Steps

It’s important to leave some negative space on each shelf so that the items have “breathing room.”

Although shelves are rarely the focal point in interior design, it can’t be denied that cluttered, carelessly decorated shelves will distract from an otherwise immaculate space. If you’re redecorating your Dallas home and could use some help making your shelves look both clean and stylish, try following these five steps.

1: Edit Your Collections

We used a grasscloth wallpaper in the back of this bookcase for added depth, texture, and color.

To start with, remove all of the items on your shelves and go through them. Edit out anything that you either don’t love anymore or that clashes with the rest of your decorating scheme. This is also a great time to look at your bare shelves and decide if those could use an update, too. I like to add fabric or wallpaper to the backs of bookshelves to give them more depth and flair.

For a professionally designed look, keep in mind that interior designers usually decorate shelves with fewer items than the average homeowner. Cutting down on clutter gives each object more impact.

If you’re starting with a clean slate and could use some shopping tips, look for trays, small bronzes, boxes, antique tea caddies, vases, picture frames, and small art prints in addition to your books. Leaning a framed art print or photo against the back draws the viewer’s eye deeper into the shelf.

Organic accessories, such as petrified wood, geodes, coral, shells, and rattan baskets help give your shelves a variety of textures. Small potted plants (whether faux or live) add some refreshing greenery to your shelves too.

2: Pick Your Main Colors

Bookshelves should have a unified color scheme whenever possible. I recommend picking two complementary colors, adding in one type of metal, and using any number of neutral colors in-between.

3: Place Your Largest Items First

After you’ve narrowed down your selections, place your largest items on the shelves first. These can include stacks of coffee table books, baskets, vases, sculptures and trays. Some of these pieces may be large enough that you can put them on a shelf standalone.

The shelves in this Preston Hollow library are stained black, creating a dramatic backdrop for the clients’ books and objet d’art.

4: Organize Your Books

Next, gather together all the books you’re using. If you have lots of books, you can group them by color.

Experiment with arranging books vertically, leaning them, or stacking them horizontally. A horizontal stack should have at least three books. If any of your books have unattractive spines or do not match your color scheme, turn them around so that the pages are facing out instead.

The blue-and-white china and the books on these shelves are all color-coordinated with the rest of the room.

Some formulas for combining books and accessories include:

·        Putting books, a bookend, and a decorative bowl or basket together on a shelf

·        Setting a ball-shaped accessory against leaning books and adding a vase

·        Holding a set of books upright with a horizontal book stack that has a decorative object on top

5: Add the Finishing Touches

Once you’ve found a place for your large and medium items, use your small items to fill in any awkward gaps. That said, don’t fill out every shelf completely. A little negative space helps give your collections some “breathing room.”

As you arrange your shelves, make sure to vary the heights, pairing tall and short items together. Don’t be afraid to show your personality: shelves are the perfect place for travel mementos, family photos, and collectibles.

Before you finish decorating, take a step back to see how all the shelves in a room work together. It’s important to have some repeating colors or objects evenly distributed throughout the shelves, but it can be tricky to achieve the right balance. For example, if you have two gold objects on two adjoining shelves, you may want to move one of them to a further away shelf to balance things out.

A mixture of potted plants, porcelain jars, books, and picture frames fill these shelves we designed for a Plano home.

One way to balance a tall shelving unit is to fill the four corner shelves with similar objects. These corners create a visual “frame” that bring everything together in the center shelves. To style a long shelf, create distinct vignettes that gently touch each other around the edges.

None of these design rules are set in stone, so don’t be afraid to experiment until your shelves feel right to you. And most of all, don’t forget to have some fun too. Shelves are a great opportunity to express a story about yourself. The end result shouldn’t look too staged, but rather, tell the world about who you are.

Having trouble editing down your collections? Getting a professional second opinion from an interior designer is invaluable. To contact us, send an email to info@chambersinteriors.com or call our Dallas office at 214-651-7665.

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No Bohemian Room is Complete Without These 6 Elements

The antiqued gold pagoda mirror frame, patterned wallpaper, and warm colors all lend themselves to Bohemian style.

The French word bohémien originally referred to migrants from Bohemia, a region in the Czech Republic. Nowadays, we might call someone who is nonconformist, artistic, and well-traveled a bohemian. Bohemian interior design style is as free-spirited and unconventional as the people who inspired it.

Those who love Bohemian (“Boho” for short) style are drawn to it because it is colorful, approachable, carefree, and cozy. This is not a style for minimalists or people who don’t like color. If you’ve always wanted to try decorating your Dallas home in a Bohemian style, make sure to include the following elements.

1. Bold Patterns and Colors

When you study Bohemian rooms, you’ll notice that they often combine a neutral base color with jewel tones, earth tones, and metallic accents. The brightest colors can be anything from emerald green to mustard yellow and royal purple. Bright colors have been becoming more popular this year, making Bohemian a very current look too.

We filled this downtown Dallas high-rise with bold colors and multicultural art, especially African and Indian art.

For a truly Bohemian look, you’ll want some patterns too, especially patterned rugs. Any patterns you choose should fit into your overall color scheme, but don’t worry about mixing different regional styles. This is your opportunity to combine ikats, suzanis, and shiboris with Moroccan, Mexican and Persian patterns. You can even try hanging a tapestry or rug on the wall instead of art.

2. Low-Seated, Comfortable Furniture

Low seating is ideal for Bohemian rooms because it promotes an air of relaxation. As you furniture shop, look for floor pillows, poufs, ottomans, low-backed sofas, and low coffee tables that invite visitors to settle down and unwind.

This north Dallas bedroom combines many different kinds of patterns in the same basic colors (blue and white).

Bohemian style is all about mismatched items that tell a story. This is definitely not the place for all-matching sets of furniture straight from the showroom! Pieces that are distressed and have history to them are ideal.

Although this guest bedroom is not colorful, the patterns on the bedding and curtains help to give it a Boho feel.

3. Touchable Textures

There is no such thing as “too much texture” in a Boho room. Unsurprisingly, organic materials, like rattan, stone, leather, and wood are especially prevalent here. Try to balance soft fabrics (like velvet) with smooth metals and rough textures (like distressed wood furniture and unglazed pottery).

Of course, not everything in your room has to look worn and casual. A touch of glamor is not unwelcome in a Bohemian space, so look into adding an ornate sunburst mirror or a beautiful chandelier.

4. Plants

Plants are another key fixture of Boho style. They can be live or faux, tall or short. Cacti, monsteras, and tropical plants are always at home in this setting, but really, almost any green plant will add some color and life to the room.

5. Ambient Lighting

Since Bohemian is a “light and bright” style, your room should be well-lit at all hours of the day. Layer a mix of different light sources, such as pendant lights, floor lamps, lanterns, and candles to create an ambient glow that is not too harsh.

6. Multicultural Art and Accessories

Boho is an eclectic, well-traveled look where a variety of items create one storied space. Multicultural art is perhaps the most important feature of this style. Don’t travel often? Visit your local antique store to find interesting pieces from around the world. An interior designer can also be a great resource for helping you find the perfect antiques and art.

If you’re designing your living room in Bohemian style, putting a tall potted plant in the corner is a good idea.

If you like Bohemian but want your own home to look more restrained, it is perfectly fine to just include a few artsy and colorful accents into an otherwise orderly space. Even if you’re going for a very exuberant Boho home, your bedroom should be more pared-down to create a sense of calm.

Here you can see a Bohemian guest bedroom from an Oak Cliff project that was decorated in a distinct African theme.

Although there are no hard and fast rules in Bohemian style, there are certain things that really capture its relaxed, free-spirited atmosphere. By breaking down Bohemian into its basic elements, I hope I’ve helped demystify this style so that you can design with a clear vision in mind.

And of course, if you could use some help sourcing antiques, art, and fabrics for your Bohemian space, working with an interior designer can save you a lot of time and trouble. To schedule a free consultation with us, call our Dallas office at 214-651-7665 or send an email to info@chambersinteriors.com.

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Decorating With Bold Colors: Tips for the Color-Shy

Artwork, like this floral painting over the sofa in SMU’s new Kappa Alpha Theta house in Dallas, is a great opportunity to add a burst of color to your room.

Although bold colors have been trending the last few years, many homeowners wonder, ‘how much is too much?’ In my own design work in Dallas, I’ve been including more color in projects lately. I thought that readers would appreciate some tips on how to work with bold colors in a balanced way.

Starting Small

If you’re new to using bold paint or wallpaper colors, try them in a smaller space like a powder room first. For powder rooms, however, I suggest staying away from bright green. Green casts an unflattering hue on you or your guest in the mirror.

We used a metallic butterfly wallpaper to give this powder room a “jewel box” feel.

Brightly colored accessories such as throw pillows, stools, artwork, ottomans, and blankets can be easily swapped out if you get tired of them. If you’d like to add some boldly colored furniture, consider having the furniture you own repainted rather than buying new furniture. Other easy ways to introduce color into the room include buying fresh flowers, getting new lampshades, or putting books with colorful covers on your shelf.

Picking the Dominant Color

The size of your room determines how much color you can comfortably accommodate. In a large room, it would be overwhelming to use a bold paint color on all four walls. In small and medium rooms, however, you can get away with a bold base color.

Some colors can function as neutrals even if they aren’t traditionally thought of as such. For example, navy blue and moss green are soothing to the eye and often used as base colors. The location and architecture of your home can also affect what colors look best in it. Rust red and navy typically look best in traditional homes. Blue-and-white rooms are often associated with coastal style (although you don’t necessarily have to live on the coast to use these colors).

This bedroom is an example of how you can use different shades of the same bold color—like light blue, cobalt, and navy—to create a balanced color scheme.

Picking Your Secondary Colors

Before you commit to a bold color, pick out your secondary colors to go with it. One good formula is to have sixty percent of your room be in a neutral color, thirty percent in a stronger color, and save the last ten percent for your boldest colored accessories.

Usually the brighter a bold color is, the more challenging it is to work with. Bold colors that are toned down just a notch are a safer bet. For example, consider using burnt orange instead of pumpkin orange, soft yellow instead of highlighter yellow, and brick red instead of fire engine red.

The shades of orange we used in this north Dallas guest bedroom are just bright enough to give the room personality without making it too energizing.

The blue and white tiger wallpaper in this Preston Hollow powder room shows how bright colors can give small rooms more impact.

Blue-and-white is a classic color combination that never goes out of style. You can get away with very vibrant shades of blue by pairing them with white. After all, it’s a color combination that our eyes are used to seeing—think of white clouds in a blue sky. If you want your room to be really energizing, decorating with one bold color and lots of black and white will give you the high contrast look you need. Placing bright artwork and accessories against a mostly white backdrop is another appealing combination.

For balance and depth, use different, less-intense tones of your boldest color throughout the room. When it comes to patterns, choose either a bold color in a subtle pattern or a busy pattern in a muted color. Chaotic patterns in bright colors are the most difficult to work with.

Coordinate the Rest of Your Home

While not every room in your home needs to have the same color scheme, it’s important that the colors flow naturally. So, if you have one room with a bright pink and teal color scheme, don’t decorate the next one with navy and red. One way to ensure the colors in your rooms flow together is to invert your color combination for adjoining rooms. For example, if your sitting room has green walls and white accents, the next room over could be mostly white with bright green accents.

Vivid colors can be beautiful in both contemporary and classical homes. We decorated this traditional cottage in University Park with bright pink colors.

Although every year sees new colors come into fashion, try not to focus exclusively on what’s trending. A room with a well-balanced, aesthetically pleasing color scheme will always look great no matter the year.

By following some of the tips outlined above, you’ll hopefully have the knowledge you need to start incorporating bold colors in your home. However, if you’re still not confident that you can integrate your favorite eye-popping fabrics, wallpapers, and paint colors, consider giving us a call. As you can see from the photos of recent projects featured here, we have a lot of experience working with color. Call our Dallas office at 214-232-9501 or send an email to info@chambersinteriors.com to schedule a free consultation.

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Design a Balcony, Patio, or Porch that You’ll Love to Use

We decorated this front porch on a Dallas home with faux bois benches by Currey & Company.

Balconies, porches, and patios are enviable design features for a home. But designing an outdoor space comes with its own challenges. You'll need to ask yourself: do you want to design around a view? Create privacy? How will you provide shelter from the elements?

Balconies, especially, are often small. Some people just put out lawn chairs and aren’t sure what else to include. If your Dallas home has an outdoor space that’s a little underutilized, here are some ideas on how to get the most out of it.

General Outdoor Space Guidelines:

A good first step to designing an outdoor space is to research outdoor-friendly furniture materials. Wrought iron, teak, and resin wicker are all common in outdoor decorating. You should also look for cushions that dry quickly and can stand up to the sun's rays.

A lantern chandelier helps to illuminate this outdoor area we designed for a University Park chateau.

Lighting is very important for these spaces, especially if you like to enjoy your balcony, patio or porch as the sun is setting or in the evenings. Look into pendants, sconces, string lights, or lanterns, and remember that bulbs with a warm color are preferable here to bright white.

An easy way to add color to outdoor spaces is to decorate with vases, potted plants, and pillows. Don’t forget to dress up the floor too. A patterned area rug adds comfort underfoot, but graphic floor tiles can introduce a lot of flair too. If privacy is a concern, you may need to add a screen lattice with climbing plants, a tall potted plant, or a shrub.

Tips for Balconies:

Space is premium on balconies, so think about how you’ll be using yours and plan accordingly. If you like to eat dinner out on the balcony, then obviously you’ll need a table; if you’re only going to be reading or enjoying an occasional cocktail, you can get away with just a comfortable chair and a small ottoman or drink table.

Take the opportunity to install built-in seating if your balcony is still under construction. This way, you won’t have to worry about furniture being knocked over by the wind.

Tips for Porches and Patios:

The brown-and-white-striped cushions seen here complement the earth tones in the stone exterior of the house.

As with balconies, consider how you’ve used your porch or patio so far. This is especially important for front porches. Is yours a living space? Or is it a transitional space into your foyer? Either way, it’s important that your outdoor furnishings blend with your interiors and also complement the paint colors on the outside of your home.

An outdoor area, such as this one we designed in Kessler Park, should have a variety of seating options that are all equally comfortable.

Most people who have porches feel like they don’t use them enough. Make sure to buy seating that is comfortable for you and your guests, or else you’ll rarely use it. Porch swings with cozy pillows, deep-seated Adirondack chairs, and rocking chairs give you a variety of options that are both relaxing and durable. Your largest piece of furniture should face outwards, while the rest of your seating in a conversation group should face towards it.

The red painted door brightens this shaded porch and makes it feel more inviting.

A small front porch is still an important opportunity to make a good first impression. If your porch is shadowy, brighten things up by painting the door a lighter color than the rest of the home, then add a new door-knocker. The door should ideally be the focal point of the porch or patio, so flank it with symmetrical plants or furniture on either side. If your door is on the right or left rather than in the center, lead a visitor’s eye to your door with a lineup of potted plants.

A ceiling fan will help the residents of this Dallas home enjoy their outdoor seating area even during hot summers.

Swapping accessories out with the seasons adds a lot of charm to your porch or patio. Include throw blankets on the outdoor furniture so you can enjoy the cooler months outside, too. A ceiling fan is also a smart investment for making your porch comfortable in hot summers.

If you have trouble getting your outdoor space to harmonize with the rest of your home, consider hiring a designer. Despite being called ‘interior designers,’ many of us consult with our clients about their outdoor areas too. A professional will know the best way to take advantage of your space and create a porch, patio or balcony you'll enjoy in all seasons. You can reach out to us by calling our Dallas office at 214-232-9501 or sending an email to info@chambersinteriors.com.

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Creating a Coastal Cool Style for Your Weekend Getaway

Accessories made of rope, like this mirror frame in a Cape Cod style bathroom, are a great choice for coastal style.

Coastal interior design style has many admirers for a reason. It’s unfussy, relaxed and casually elegant all at once, and its combination of neutrals and cheerful colors appeals to a wide variety of tastes.

Not everyone who wants the look lives by the coast. Some people have fond memories of vacationing at the beach and want to bring that nostalgia into their current home. Coastal is also a popular theme for individual rooms, such as guest bedrooms, children’s rooms, and powder rooms. You may find the following design pointers useful if you’re designing a themed room, own a beach or lake house, or simply want to bring this carefree look into your Dallas home.

Feel free to mix different shades of blue in your coastal room. This room features navy, indigo and cobalt blue patterns.

Narrowing Down the Coastal Look You Want

Before you start shopping, take a moment to decide on what kind of coastal interiors you want for yourself. Do you like lots of patinas and distressed finishes, or a sleeker contemporary look? You should also be aware that there are different regional styles to draw inspiration from. “California coastal” is more modern with understated colors and subtle tone-on-tone patterns. Floridian beach house style has brighter colors (such as turquoise) and more nautical accessories.

The Best Colors for Coastal Homes

The classic colors for coastal style are white, blue, and sea green. The blues can be in almost any shade, from robin’s egg blue, to turquoise and navy. Your neutral colors can be sandy beiges, creams, and storm grays. Although coastal style is almost always light and bright, navy would also be a perfectly appropriate choice for a moody accent wall.

This Cape Cod bedroom in a Dallas home we designed uses rough textures but soft bedding to keep things comfortable.

That said, you are not strictly limited to blues and greens for color. Some warmer colors that can be incorporated into a beach home are muted oranges, bright reds, and terracotta, which brings the Mediterranean to mind.

Incorporating Natural Materials

The next step to designing a coastal home is choosing natural materials. You’re drawing inspiration from a natural environment—the beach—so your design won’t hit the mark unless you can bring nature into the indoors.

Rough textures are a must, and there are many easy ways to incorporate them. For furniture, go for painted finishes, wicker, or rattan; for rugs, choose sisal or jute; and then add woven baskets and linen bedding. Driftwood is currently very popular because it reinforces the nautical theme without being too cutesy. It can be used in many different ways: for example, as a base for a glass-topped coffee table or as bookshelves and organizational boxes.

To contrast the rougher textures of the wood, rope, or rattan you may be using, include smooth textures: metals, glass (especially sea glass), and ceramics. Gold hardware pairs nicely with white, blue, and gray, which are all great cabinetry colors in a coastal kitchen.

The hardwood floor and soothing neutrals in this dining room give it a coastal feel even without nautical accessories.

There is a reason you don’t see carpet in beach houses. Sand is hard to clean out of it, and carpet will also get musty in humid environments. For these reasons, hardwood or natural stone floors, with rugs to soften footfalls, is the preferred choice for flooring.

Adding a Touch of Nautical Whimsy

The most common pitfall with coastal design is overdoing the theme. In decades past, homeowners loved to go all-out with oars on the wall, sailboats, seashells, and crab print everywhere. This kind of look is now considered kitschy and dated.

Some of the nautical accents in this bedroom include the seashell on the bedside table and the coral drawer pulls.

A contemporary beach house should be subtle with the theme. A few nautical accents is more than enough. One way to make a room feel more nautical without being too overt is to add striped patterns. For your seating areas, mix and match decorative pillows with different patterns to create a relaxed and carefree look.

Anyone with a beach or lake house will want to see as much of the view as possible. Even if you’re not actually living on the water, treat the windows in your coastal style home the same way: by letting in lots of natural light. If you need blinds for privacy, go for wooden ones.

While there are a lot of things to consider when you’re aiming for a coastal look, getting them right is a worthwhile goal. A well-designed beach house can make you feel like you’re on vacation every day. And in today’s world, building your own personal oasis is more important than ever.

If you want to make sure your coastal room or residence is on-theme but still classically elegant, feel free to reach out to our design team. For more information, call our Dallas office at 214-232-9501 or email us at info@chambersinteriors.com

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The Ultimate Guide to Styling Your Home Office

The shelving and cabinetry in this home office we designed in north Dallas add lots of helpful storage space.

This year, many of us have found ourselves working from home for the first time, and wanting to design—or redesign—our home office spaces. The best home offices are not just ergonomic and well-organized, but beautiful, too. Read on for some designer tips for home offices, based on things I’ve learned while designing offices for my clients in Dallas.

Pick the Best Room for Your Home Office

The first step to designing a home office is also the most important: choosing the right location. Managing a healthy work-life balance can be a challenge, so it’s crucial to designate a spot that you only use for work. Of course, not everyone has a spare room available. Some other areas for home offices that you might not have considered include the landing, the kitchen, or under the stairs. To create a strong divide between your work and living area within one room, consider using a decorative screen or sliding door to separate the two.

Large windows, such as the ones in this Oak Cliff home office, fill the room with light and promote alertness.

If you put your home office in a corner, choose the corner closest to the window. When you begin to tire of looking at the computer screen, you’ll be glad to have somewhere else to rest your eyes on for a moment. Speaking of eye strain, make sure to install a bright bulb in your lamp for task lighting.

Plan Your Color Scheme

Paint color psychology plays an important role in home office design. Blues, greens, and purples are cool colors that promote relaxation. Since blue is the sleepiest of them all, I don’t recommend it for offices. On the other hand, green is a nice medium between restful and alert, giving the room a refreshing feeling.

Pastel yellow, pink, burnt orange, or dark red can be gently energizing, but bright orange, neon yellow, or fire engine red paint colors will be too overwhelming for most offices. Neutrals such as whites, beiges and tans are popular choices for both commercial and home offices. That said, since this is your personal space and not a cubicle, feel free to include bold accent colors in your décor for more personality.

We used a lot of colorful artwork in this Dallas high-rise home office. The white walls give the eye places to rest.

Shop for Space-Saving Organizational Aids

You’ll definitely want some organizational aids and storage, but don’t buy anything you won’t use. Identify everything you need to perform your job well at home before you shop for office supplies. For example, if you only use one pen, there’s no need to get a pen cup. To save on desk space, consider installing floating shelves on the wall or using a vertical file folder.

A universal design problem for home offices is managing cords. Thankfully, there are products on the market for this exact issue, including desk grommets, cable clips, and cord covers. Power strips can be mounted to the underside or backside of your desk to keep them out of sight.

If you’re going to splurge on only one piece of furniture, it should be your office chair. Ergonomic desk chairs will have a curved back that is firm, rather than cushy, for the best support.

This home we designed had modern architecture, so we made sure that the home office was modern in style, too.

Coordinate Your Office’s Décor With the Rest of Your Home

Generally, a home office should be in stylistic harmony with the rest of the house. For example, an antique writing desk is a great choice for an office in a traditional house, while the furniture in a midcentury modern office should be simple and streamlined. If you’re a plant lover, bring cheer to your space with some potted plants. Art lovers should adorn the wall behind their desks with a gallery of artwork or a stunning patterned wallpaper.

Depending on your line of work, you may need to invite clients into your home office. Include some comfortable seating for guests if you do. Otherwise, you should avoid putting a cozy sofa or reading chair in your office. The temptation to take a nap may become too difficult to resist!

These additional chairs we added offer visitors a comfortable place to sit when they stop by.

When you love your home office, you’ll be more motivated to spend time in it, and keep the area tidy, too. Hopefully, with these suggestions in mind, you can tackle your home office design project with confidence.

The photos in this article are just a few examples from the Chambers Interiors design portfolio. As you can see, our design team has a lot of experience with home offices. If you’re interested in hiring us to design an office that goes perfectly with your Dallas home’s architecture, email us at info@chambersinteriors.com or give us a call at 214-651-7665.

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Expert Tips for Choosing Paint Color in Your Home (Guest Article from Redfin)

The following article was originally written by Emily Huddleston and published on Redfin. It features paint color tips from a variety of painting and design experts, including Margaret Chambers.

As you probably know, painting a room or even a single wall in your home is a project that can have a major impact on any space. But with the entire rainbow to choose from, picking the perfect paint colors can be an overwhelming task. The good news is, we’re here to help. We asked painting and design experts from San Diego to New York to share their best tips and tricks for choosing paint color for your home. Check out what they had to say.

Never pick your paint color first. Figure out where you want to pull inspiration from whether it be textiles in your home, fashion trends, or your surroundings in nature. Then move on to test your colors in the actual space where you’ll get an accurate feel in terms of the natural and artificial lighting. – Fresh Paint by Garman Homes

Use toned colors. Successful paint color is always “dirtied” with brown or gray. When you fan through a complete paint chip deck with hundreds of color gradations and subtle color shades, select less “pure” colors. Toned colors are much more palatable in a large scale. The best blue and green paint colors will have quite a bit of gray in them, good yellows will have quite a bit of brown. – Lorain Design Associates

Think of paint color like a mood ring. Every house will have its own mood, or variation of color, based on its exposure and lighting. Both natural and artificial light change how we see color. A lovely beige in the morning may be a sickly green at night. Place paint samples on all walls in a room and check them at different times of the day. If there are artificial lights in the room, turn them on and see how the color is affected, this way you can better see the final color results. – iPaint and Contract

Consider lighting. If you intend on upgrading any lighting in the space, double-check your selected paint colors after the new lighting has been installed if possible. Colors look completely different under different types of lighting. Unless you’re using the exact same bulbs in new fixtures, the color is going to change. – SG23 Design

Get ideas from the fabrics in your home. Your patterned fabrics can be a great source of color inspiration, so take a closer look at them. You can quickly decide on a neutral wall color by looking at the secondary color in the largest pattern in your space. For example, if you have an area rug that is mostly gray with some streaks of ivory, then ivory paint can be a good choice for that room.  – Chambers Interiors & Associates

Look outside. There’s no better color inspiration than nature itself. Start by looking through the windows of the space you’d like to paint. Do you want to complement or contrast the colors you see? Also, a nature or garden walk can help you identify colors you find attractive. – Home Works Painting

Select paint by the rule of 3’s.

1. The field color: This is the color, typically a neutral, that is the background for everything. Clean and bright whites, steady and true grays, cool or warm tones – these all influence the vibe you want in the room.

2. The trim color: Is this going to be a neutral or high contrast option? Ask yourself do you want to see it or do you prefer they be quiet?

3. The accent color: This may or may not be paint, it may be wallpaper, drapery, pillows, area rugs, or other accents. However, you should always consider the “pop” of color that you want to incorporate into the scheme before settling on a paint palette.

Don’t forget about the paint finish. The paint finish, or sheen level, impacts the paint’s color, mood, and tone.– K. Smith Interiors

When choosing your colors, get both one shade darker and one shade lighter. Once you have gotten samples of your choice, coat several pieces of standard white paper and place it on different walls throughout the space getting painted. The colors will react differently with sun and shade. This will ensure you are happy no matter the weather. – Go Green Painting

Find your favorite color vase or piece of art and then color match. Since it may be difficult to drag that piece of art into a store for color matching, you can purchase a color match tool on amazon that uses an app on your phone. Digitally scan the color with the tool and the color names will generate, along with the brand of paint to match that color. – Savvy Interiors

Never take an internet recommendation without testing the paint color in your home and on each wall. There are eight thousand Pinterest posts that will tell you Revere Pewter is the best paint color ever. Yes, Revere Pewter IS a fantastic paint color and we have used it many times. However, it changes from home to home and room to room within the same home. It’s always best to test the color in your home to determine if it’s the right color for you and your décor. – Beautiful Habitat Design & Decoration

Play around with painting your front door and shutters. By doing so you can easily change the look of a good neutral color running throughout the rest of your home. These areas also tend to be easy to paint and can add all the front character you need, especially when combined with some details like landscaping, flowers, and porch décor. To help visualize different color schemes, take a quick photo on your phone from squarely in front of your house and use a photo editing app or program (Canva is easy and free if you aren’t a Photoshop user) to overlay transparent colored rectangles on the door or other places you are considering painting. – True Design House

Have some fun and paint the ceiling. Playing with paint really begins with your ceiling (or as we designers call it – the fifth wall). By keeping your wall color neutral, and adding a pop-of-color, a fun wallpaper, or even a patterned stencil to your ceiling, you can creatively add personality to your space. If you want a more rich and elegant look, we recommend painting the walls, as well as the baseboards, crown moldings, and trims with the same rich, saturated color. This gives the room the appearance of additional height and makes the molding stand out in a whole new way. – Grey Hunt Interiors

Do a virtual consultation. In an increasingly digital age, virtual consultations are a huge advantage in any industry. Especially when they’re free. No matter where you are in the country, a virtual mockup is a great first step before this crucial home improvement. Consider a virtual mockup – through Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore – before your next professional paint job. - Mission Painting and Home Improvements

Alternatively, consider hiring a professional service. Regardless of your experience level, it’s always a good idea to consider hiring a professional painting service for several reasons. A good painter can offer expert guidance and save you time as well as the hassle of prepping your space and cleaning up afterward, not to mention the high-quality finish. – Robinson Painting

Step-by-Step Guides for Designing Masculine or Feminine Spaces

Have you ever noticed how some rooms feel more feminine, while others feel masculine? Flipping through an interior design magazine, you can probably point to which rooms fall on either side of the spectrum (along with a few rooms that are a little bit of both). But perhaps you’ve never stopped to think about exactly why those rooms feel “gendered.”

For interior designers, it’s an important skill to know how to convey masculinity or femininity in a room. After all, we design for men, women, and families; we need to know how to make anyone feel at home in the spaces we design. Here are my personal designer tips for decorating the perfect masculine or feminine space.

How to Style Masculine Rooms

When you think of “masculine spaces,” the stereotypical man-cave probably comes to mind: dark walls, sports memorabilia, movie posters, a big TV, and a couch that’s seen better days. But there’s no reason that men should get the short end of the stick in home design.

Maybe you’re a bachelor wanting to give a facelift to your pad. Maybe you’re a wife who’s making sure that your husband feels included in the design process. Or maybe you’re someone who’s always been attracted to moody, gentlemanly spaces and would love to have a whole home that recreates that aesthetic. If any of the above applies to you, this design guide should come in handy.

The wood paneling in this study is stained black. The dark color gives the space masculine sophistication, while the furniture (which is more on the feminine side) brings balance to the space.

Step 1: Choose Your Color Palette and Patterns

Most masculine rooms you see in professionally designed interiors will feature one of the following color schemes: black-and-white, warm neutrals, or dark, rich colors. While deep reds, blues, greens, browns, and grays are great choices, avoid painting the walls black, which puts the ‘cave’ in ‘man-cave!’

Pastels, pinks, purples, and oranges are usually associated with femininity, so these should be avoided as paint colors. Deep purple and rust-orange can sometimes be included as accent colors in a masculine room. For your accent metals, try “cool” metals such as silver, pewter, gunmetal, and chrome.

There are few patterns that you couldn’t work into a masculine space, but in general, geometric patterns will be more at home here. Masculine furniture tends to have strong, clean lines rather than curves and ornate details; the same logic applies to patterns, as well. Animal print is another option if you prefer something more organic.

Step 2: Select Furniture

This den we designed for a home in Kessler Park is subtly masculine with its tonal gray fabrics and angular furniture.

Something I notice when I study masculine rooms is that everything is a little more massive in scale. The patterns are bigger and the furniture is beefier. Although a masculine room can be either traditional or contemporary, either way, you should select furniture with boxy silhouettes and little ornamentation. Some historical styles of furniture that lend themselves easily to this look include Art Deco, neoclassical, Biedermeier, and midcentury modern.

No masculine space is truly complete without at least one leather piece of furniture. Thankfully, leather can be purchased in multiple colors (including brown, black, or white), making it easy to incorporate into any color scheme. The overall layout of your furniture should be orderly, preferably symmetrical.

Step 3: Add Texture

The wooden desk, hammered metal chair backs, and leather seats in this study help to give the room its masculine feel.

Designing a masculine room is a great opportunity to play with contrasting textures. Rough textures such as unfinished wood, brick, concrete, and stone bring masculinity to mind, but so do smooth textures such as metal, leather, and lacquer.

To prevent the room from feeling cold and uncomfortable, add fabrics such as mohair, wool, tweed and cashmere. All of these materials are traditionally associated with menswear.

Step 4: Pick the Right Accessories

A masculine room doesn’t necessarily need to be minimalist. To add character to the room, don’t forget to incorporate accessories such as vintage books, pottery, or small male busts of famous leaders. Another example of an accessory I might include in a masculine room would be a large bowl of alabaster balls.

Add art or photography prints to the walls for a touch of sophistication. Art can also be your method of introducing bright accent colors to a masculine room, if you want them, since your wall colors will probably need to be more subdued.

Before you design a masculine room for the first time, you might feel like your options are limited. But there are many different ways to convey masculinity, just as there are many different ways to be a man. The ideal masculine space conveys strength, sophistication, and warmth—qualities that anyone with great taste can appreciate.

Black-and-white architectural prints, such as these seen here, are traditionally considered masculine rather than feminine.

Four Steps for Creating a Glamorous Feminine Space

In the early 2010s, solemn, masculine spaces were considered to be the cutting-edge of interior design. Rooms with floral patterns and lightweight furniture—feminine rooms—were not taken quite as seriously in the art and design world. After 2015, however, designers such as myself began to notice that feminine design was making a comeback, this time with a modern edge.

Step 1: Pick Your Paint Color and Main Patterns

We painted this formal living room ceiling aqua with a high-gloss paint finish. The rest of the room is filled with softly feminine colors.

While dark walls are a popular choice for masculine rooms, in a feminine room, you’ll usually want to go for “light and bright.” Appropriate neutrals include beige, dove grey, cream and white. Pastels such as pink, peach, soft yellow, mint green, lavender, or aqua are also options for those who prefer color. To give the room some extra shine, consider using a high-gloss paint finish for your walls and ceiling.

If your heart is set on a dark wall color, rose red is probably the most feminine choice. Dusty pinks are an alternative to pastel pink: they can give your room a mature, classy feel that isn’t too juvenile.

As far as patterns go, florals and damasks are classically feminine. To avoid your room ending up with a grandmotherly vibe, pair these patterns with unusual color combinations. Geometric patterns are not off the table here: some geometrics, such as stripes or trellis patterns, can also be right at home in a feminine room.

Step 2: Choose a Style of Furniture

This English cottage style home is in University Park, Dallas. The curved lines and glossy finish of the sideboard seen here, along with the pink wallpaper, are classically feminine.

Western ideas about what constitutes feminine design are heavily influenced by European trends in art. For example, Louis XV and Louis XVI furniture have the curved profiles and carved details that we associate with femininity today.

However, you don’t have to be an antique collector to design the perfect feminine space. Midcentury modern, beach-themed, and eclectic interiors can also evoke feminine delicacy and sophistication. There is no “right” style when it comes to decorating for a feminine room: what’s important is that you find the style that makes you feel the most at ease and comfortable.

While most of the furniture in your feminine room should have curved silhouettes, break things up with at least a couple of pieces with straight lines. Sleek and sinuous objects, like tall, slender lamps can also pair nicely with your other furnishings.

Step 3: Mix in Different Textures

As with any room, your feminine room should have a variety of textures. Soft fabrics, such as velvet, silk, satin, and chenille will give your room a luxurious feel, but make sure to contrast them with other textures. For a feminine room, I recommend smooth textures such as metals, glass, and lacquer.

The formal living room of the English cottage we designed features both soft textures (the velvet sofa) and smooth textures (the mirror and glass top coffee table).

Step 4: Find the Perfect Accessories

In a masculine room, you need to be sparing with the details. Not so with a feminine room: the accessories are really key here. For a glamorous look, add crystal, Lucite, mirrors, porcelain or marble. Fresh flowers and decorative throw pillows will also add an instant touch of femininity to any room.

Our clients in this Preston Hollow home asked us to use six curtain panels that originally belonged to the client’s mother. The unusual color combination (apple green, purple, and black) defined the color scheme for the rest of this guest bedroom. The still life painting has a dark background to match the black in the curtains.

The kinds of art you’ll usually see in a feminine space include still lifes, portraits, and colorful abstract paintings. In most cases, you’ll want your accent metals to be warm rather than cool—yellow gold, rose gold, or brass, for example. Yellow gold is considered feminine because it is such a popular metal for jewelry.

For your chandelier (because you’ll definitely want a chandelier in a feminine space), scrolled or crystal chandeliers would be suitable choices in a traditional setting. For contemporary, look for something simpler, such as a drum-shade chandelier. Pinch pleated drapes or sheer curtains are both good options for window treatments, depending on how much light you want to let into the room.

Ideally, most of the rooms in your home should be a balance of both masculine and feminine design traits. There are certain situations, however, where a strongly feminine room is desirable. A young girl’s bedroom; an adult woman’s dressing room; or an entertaining space for the lady of the house and her friends, for example. Anyone who is drawn to environments that are calm, comforting, and elegant can benefit from studying up on the elements of feminine design.

Interested in bringing in an experienced design team to help you create a gentlemanly study, an ultra-feminine bedroom, or a formal living room with the best of both worlds? Call us at 214-232-9501, or email us at info@chambersinteriors.com to schedule a free consultation!

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Why Your Rug Might Be the Most Important Decorating Choice You Make

A large area rug in a neutral gray helps to ground the space in this living room from a home we designed in Kessler Park, Dallas.

While some people treat rugs as an afterthought, for interior designers, rugs are the foundation of a room. Rugs have a major influence on a room’s color scheme and overall mood, despite being below eye-level. In fact, many designers start their designs by picking the rug first and finding furniture that complements it second.

That said, if your rugs are the only element of your home that needs updating, they’re easy to swap out, too. Following are some things to keep in mind next time you’re rug shopping.

• Choosing the Right Size

When it comes to rugs, the most common pitfall is choosing one that’s too small. A rug should be large enough to extend under, at the very least, the front legs of every piece of furniture in a seating area. On the other hand, a rug that leaves almost no floor showing tends to look like wall-to-wall carpeting. In most cases, you should leave twelve inches to eighteen inches of space between the rug and the wall.

In the dining room, the rug should be low-pile and about twenty-four to thirty inches wider than the dining table. This way, your chairs won’t slide off of the rug and tip whenever someone pulls one out. If you put a rug under your bed, make it large enough so that your feet will land on it when you get out of bed in the morning.

We ordered a custom-designed rug to fit the small dining room. It is hand-tufted wool and silk. Because the rug is a perfect square, the round table fits perfectly on top, and the rug can be rotated in any direction for even wear.

Rugs play an important role in adding personality to hallways, which can otherwise feel like “dead” spaces. Your hallway runner should be wide enough that you can keep both feet on it as you walk through.

• Choosing the Right Material

Another thing to consider is what material you want your rug to be. Wool is the most popular choice because it is both durable and beautiful: it’s perfect for families with children.

Silk can handle more foot traffic than you might think, but the cleaning process is slightly more involved and expensive than with wool. Natural fiber rugs such as sisal and jute are very affordable but cannot be cleaned if you spill something on them (unless you use a fiber protection method as soon as you get them). If you decide to buy delicate rugs, place them in low-traffic rooms where they won’t risk getting wet.

• Choosing the Right Color, Pattern, and Style

Renters who love color, but can’t paint their walls, should bring in a colorful rug instead. Bold rugs are also a smart idea if you’re attracted to vibrant colors and patterns, but don’t want to commit to a bold wallpaper or color scheme. For rooms with dark walls, try finding a light, neutral rug with a distinctive texture. This solves two common problems with dark rooms: the color of the rug will keep the mood from being too heavy, and the added texture will create more interest in an environment where fewer shadows are being formed.

Bold colors and patterns abound in this study we designed for a downtown Dallas high-rise.

Rugs with large-scale patterns draw a lot of attention to themselves. This can be a great thing when your room feels too subdued and needs something to liven it up. If you’d rather visitors notice your furnishings and accessories first, rather than the rug, choose a pattern with a smaller, “quieter” print.

Contemporary rugs, which often have large-scale designs, do best in contemporary spaces. Oriental rugs are versatile enough to fit in both traditional and contemporary homes. Tribal rugs can go with many different styles but work especially well in Southwest style homes. Transitional rugs will contain both modern and traditional design elements, such as an ornate pattern in a modern, neutral color scheme. Rugs with a “weathered” look are ideal in beach-themed, transitional, and Bohemian rooms.

Oriental rugs can add color and refinement to contemporary settings, as you can see from this eclectic master bathroom.

The earthy colors and tribal pattern on this rug made it the perfect choice for this African themed guest room we designed.

Finding the perfect rug can be the solution to many different design problems. A beautiful rug has the power to instantly add interest to a boring room or pull together one with too much going on. If you keep these designer tips for rugs in mind, you’ll be a savvier shopper.

An interior designer can be a great resource for sourcing high-end rugs or ordering custom ones. If you’re updating your rugs and want the best of the best, call us at 214-232-9501, or email us at info@chambersinteriors.com. We’d love to hear more about your project!

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Designing a Luxury Guest Bedroom

Adding ottomans to the end of this bed gives guests another place to set their bags or fasten their shoes.

Do you plan to host your friends or family this year, but feel like your guest bedroom could use an update? With the right look and the right shopping list, you can recreate the feel of a luxury hotel in your own home. To update an existing bedroom, here are some guidelines for achieving the most comfortable experience:

It’s not uncommon for old, tired bedding sets to be relegated to the guest bedroom. Consider investing in new sheets with a high thread-count. If your mattress is uncomfortable or lumpy, you can put on a memory foam topper or mattress pad to make it feel like new. A thick area rug under the bed will give guests something soft to step on when they rise for the day, especially if you have hardwood floors.

Although this guest bathroom has many different patterns, the cool white-and-gray color scheme helps it feel calming rather than busy.

Sooner or later, most homeowners are tempted to use their guest bedroom closets for overflow storage. If you do, don’t forget to make space for your guests’ things before they arrive. When sheets and towels have been left undisturbed for a long time, they may develop a slight musty smell. Change the sheets and pillowcases, and wash and dry the towels in the bathroom too.

Your room should be well-lit so guests can comfortably read. However, you’ll also want it to be as dark as possible at night so guests can get a good night’s sleep. To achieve this, you can either install blackout curtains or leave a sleep mask on the bedside table.

Just because you don’t have a designated guest bedroom doesn’t mean you can’t create a restful guest space. An attic can be a perfectly good guest bedroom: if your ceiling is sloped, make sure to choose furniture that sits low to the floor to make the ceiling seem taller. To repurpose your home office as a guest bedroom, add a daybed, or include a full-sized bed that is partitioned off with a curtain. Even if you do have a guest bedroom, consider adding a work desk anyway. A small desk, lamp, and chair give your room a “hotel” feel.

Pictured is a seating area from a guest bedroom we designed. With the drink table on one side and a pharmacy lamp on the other, it makes an excellent reading corner.

If you’re designing a guest bedroom from scratch, here are some additional points to consider:

Think ahead about who you’d like to invite over. Will you be hosting couples, or family members with children? Make sure you can accommodate their storage needs and sleeping arrangements.

If you anticipate having families with children over, or a pair of single friends, you’ll probably want to fit in twin beds rather than a single queen or king-size bed. Another consideration: will you be allowing guests to bring a pet? If so, keeping food and water dishes and a pet bed on hand is a thoughtful extra touch.

If you can, include at least one comfortable sitting area or reading nook. Guests will appreciate having a place to retreat to and relax besides the bed that isn’t in a communal living space. Padded benches at the end of the bed are another option: they add a place for guests to sit and tie their shoes or set down their bags.

Guest bedrooms should be as self-contained as possible. Include a TV and full-length mirror if you can. For the ultimate in luxury, look into having heated floors installed in the guest bathroom.

Having a landline phone on the bedside table is helpful for guests when their cell phones are low on battery, or when you live in a remote area with spotty cell phone service. Include some books (preferably light reading) or recently published magazines on the bedside table too. Some people have trouble sleeping in unfamiliar beds, and those guests will appreciate having the reading material available. Your bedside table lamp should also be bright enough to read by.

Of course, the best hotel rooms are not only comfortable but tastefully designed. You’ll want yours to be a beautiful room that guests remember, too. A distinctive or unusual headboard is one way to make a statement. Decorative pillows, rugs, and throw blankets are also a good opportunity to add a burst of color.

The fabric on the curtains you see in this Preston Hollow guest bedroom originally belonged to the client’s mother. The purple, apple green, and black in the curtains was a challenging color scheme for us to work with, but ultimately lead us to create a unique result.

Other ways to add personality to your guest bedroom include decorating the wall with a gallery of artwork, choosing a colorful wallpaper, or picking a theme for the room (nautical is a popular theme for guest rooms). For an extra luxurious feel, outfit your window treatments with rope tiebacks or simple valances. When it comes to color schemes for guest bedrooms, you can either go light and bright for a clean and refreshing look, or dark for a cozy, cave-like feel. To design a romantic bedroom, choose deep, rich colors.

The key to being a great host is to anticipate your guest’s needs before they do. Here is a checklist of items to include that help you go the extra mile:

·         Bathrobe, slippers

·         Water bottle and drinking glasses

·         Fresh flowers

·         Luggage rack

·         Pen and paper

·         Books and magazines

·         Note with your Wi-Fi password

·         Small clock (make sure it doesn’t tick loudly)

·         Hair dryer, travel-size toiletries

·         Snacks (such as a bowl of fruit)

·         Charging station for electronic devices

·         Coffee pot

·         Ironing board and iron

When your bedroom is close to complete, stay a night to test it out. Did you sleep as comfortably as you would in your master bed? Were you missing anything?

Inviting guests into your home gives them a glimpse into your own lifestyle. If you keep these design tips in mind, your guests will not only enjoy their stay, but admire your great taste too.

If you could use a professional touch to help your guest bedroom go the extra mile, consider hiring an interior designer. To schedule a free consultation with us, call our Dallas office at 214-651-7665 or send an email to info@chambersinteriors.com.

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How to Use Rhythm and Harmony to Design Great Rooms

The words “rhythm” and “harmony” likely bring music to mind, but these are also terms that interior designers like myself use to describe our work. If you’re a Dallas homeowner and have ever wondered about what it takes to design a room that is both cohesive and interesting, you’ll want to study up on both of these design principles.

Many homes have architectural details that add built-in rhythm to the room. This is the foyer of the SMU Theta sorority house in Dallas, which was designed by Fusch Architects, Inc. and decorated by us. The elegant staircase curves as it rises up, inviting the visitor’s eye to follow along with it. Gold and yellow accessories create another kind of visual rhythm in the sitting area below.

Rhythm:

You can lead a viewer's eye throughout the room by repeating a pattern or color among your furnishings and accessories. This kind of visual flow is called rhythm. The use of rhythm can be subtle: for example, a particular shade of yellow in a painting could be echoed in the pillows on the sofa. By distributing that color or pattern throughout the room, you are creating visual "movement" and balancing your color scheme, too.

The owners of this home we designed in Kessler Park displayed their collection of African artifacts in the kitchen. The pieces are united in color, but have slightly different shapes and sizes.

Any repetition of elements in a room can create rhythm. For example, a group of art prints along the wall, a series of matching lighting fixtures, or a row of candles on a mantle all establish rhythm through repetition. However, not all of your repeating accessories need to be identical.

You can also create interest through progression, in which you line up your accessories from large to small, small to large, or even from light to dark in tone. A series of similar but differently-sized vases in an entrée way is a charming example of progression. Featuring a basic shape throughout the room is another opportunity to create rhythm. For example, an oval-patterned wallpaper can be accentuated by an oval-shaped mirror.

Keeping repetition and rhythm in mind will guide you to make smarter purchases as you furnish your home, because it encourages you to create cohesive groupings. If you’ve tried to incorporate rhythm, but the room still feels “off” somehow, remember to step back and let your eyes naturally follow the lines of the room. This can help you identify where changes should be made.

A pink, toile-patterned wallpaper adds movement and rhythm to the walls of this formal dining room in University Park, Dallas. This dining room is part of a home decorated in a traditional English cottage style.

Harmony:

Another way to achieve balance in your interiors is through harmony, in which all the elements of your space relate to each other in a pleasing way. When there are too many different colors, shapes, or textures in a room, the result is visual chaos. A room has harmony when almost everything in it is part of the same color family: in other words, a monochromatic color scheme.

The living room shown above is from a transitional home we designed in Plano, Texas. The color scheme for this house is made up of calming neutrals, while a variety of textures and patterns add interest to the space.

While a room with contrasting colors and rhythm is exciting, a room with harmony is especially restful. So monochromatic color schemes are a great idea for rooms you want to be able to relax in, such as the bedroom. A symmetrically designed room will also feel more harmonious than an asymmetrical room.

If you are just beginning to furnish your Dallas home and aren’t sure how to proceed, pick one item or visual element you definitely want in your room, and then design around it. Be careful not to get too carried away, and make sure to leave room for ‘negative space.’ Negative space gives interiors a calming quality, and too much clutter can take away from that.

This Dallas dining room is a great example of a room where negative space makes the room feel more open.

You don't have to make everything in your room all of one color to achieve harmony. Distributing similar textures throughout your room will achieve a similar effect: from coarse textures like brick and timber paneling, to smooth textures like polished concrete and glass.

The danger in creating a harmonious room is that without the right amount of contrast, you can end up with a boring design. A smart designer will know how to add just the right amount of variety while still maintaining a balanced look. If your monochromatic color scheme feels too “matchy-matchy,” you’ll want to introduce other colors.

Here is the formal living room from SMU’s Kappa Alpha Theta house that we featured earlier. We used a bright multi-color scheme for this room: golds, greens, and aquas are found throughout the room, and echoed again in the large floral painting over the sofa.

When it comes to multi-color schemes, many interior designers follow the 60-30-10 rule. This rule is designed to guide you in distributing the right amount of color in each room. 60 percent of the room should represent your dominant color, 30 percent should be your secondary color, and the last 10 percent is for accents.

Now that you've read about a few examples of rhythm and harmony, hopefully you can approach your interiors with a fresh eye and see where you can make improvements. If you’re overwhelmed by the size of your project and could use an expert opinion, consider reaching out to our interior design team for a free consultation.

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