2 of the New 2024 Paint Colors of the Year

It’s that time of year again - falling acorns, changing leaves and paint companies releasing their Color of the Year and paint palettes for the upcoming year.  Let’s take a look at two of the many Colors of the Year, Sherwin Williams and Home Depot’s Behr.

Sherwin Williams’ cool coastal color Upward SW-6239

Sherwin Williams Upward is a breezy, peaceful, calm blue hue. According to Sue Wadden, director of color marketing for Sherwin Williams  "Upward SW 6239 represents the gentle forward momentum in all of our lives. It brings to life that carefree, sunny day energy that elicits a notion of contentment and peace. With this color, we invite our consumers to take a pause and infuse a new sense of ease and possibility into their spaces – one that doesn't overwhelm, but rather establishes meditation and tranquility."

Sherwin Williams Color of the Year 2023 Upwards

This nice, mid to lighter denimy blue has just a smidge of gray and the same smidge of violet in it, reminiscing for me  my periwinkle toned pale blue wedding dress I sported for my nuptials many moons ago. For the rest of you, you’ll think of your most washed, comfy jeans, a clouded blue sky, or channeling the Coastal or Nordic style vibe. 

How can you incorporate this color into your home?

Color psychology says that blue  is a color often found in nature, such as the pale blue of a daytime sky or the rich dark blue of a deep pool of water. It is for this reason, perhaps, that people often describe the color blue as calm and serene making it a perfect color for places you want to feel calm and serene in - Bedrooms, living rooms, offices.

Too, this color with its touch of violet will pair nicely with natural and oak woodtones, which is a bonus for older homes.  

A survey spanning 10 countries found that blue is the most popular "favorite color" for people globally, with men preferring the color blue more often than women (40% versus 24%, respectively, among subjects from the United States) making it a good choice color when staging a home.  A pale blue bathroom will add 1.3% to the value of your home according to the Zillow  Paint Colors Analysis. 

Sherwin Williams recommends pairing the hue with blues and greens, deeps and darks and delicate tints like Sherwin Williams Snowbound SW 7004, Drift of Mist SW 9166, Gale Force SW 7605, Tricorn Black SW 6528, Honeydew SW 6428, Palm Leaf SW 7735 and Antiquarian Brown SW 0045.

Sherwin Williams Upwards Collage

Behr’s moody, sophisticated Cracked Pepper PPU 18-1

The Behr 2024 Color of the Year is Cracked Pepper, a soft black that exudes confidence and instantly elevates any indoor and outdoor space. It is a versatile and sophisticated color that can be paired with various styles, finishes, and accents. 

"As we look into 2024, creating a sense of comfort and belonging will continue to drive design decisions—but now, as life returns to its more familiar rhythms, it's time to allow our senses to come alive," says Erika Woelfel, Vice President of Color and Creative Services at Behr Paint Company. "We recognize the growing desire for using darker colors throughout spaces," says Jodi Allen, Global Chief Marketing Officer at Behr Paint Company. "Adding a soft black like Cracked Pepper evokes a sense of confidence and individuality that we want all of our customers to feel after completing a project."

This edgy, deep gray black with blue undertones reminds channels for me the whole Dark Academia vibe we have seen the past few years. I’m itching to paint my living room TV/media wall back wall this color.  For the rest of you, you’ll think pencil graphite, the perfect color winter cashmere sweater, or channeling anything Ralph Lauren home to minimalistic Contemporary style vibe. 

How can you incorporate this color into your home?

According to Behr, more than half of Americans (54%) say black tones in a home create a new energy and vibe, so anywhere.

When selling Buyers are saying goodbye to bland and bidding more on homes with dusky, dramatic walls. A new Zillow® 2023 study finds recent and prospective home buyers would offer more money for a home with interiors painted dark gray. Charcoal walls are associated with higher offer prices than white in every room studied: kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom.

Quiet Luxury, a term borrowed from the fashion world, refers to the understated elegance of classic cuts and quality fabrics over the brashness of logo-mania. Thanks to its dramatic and moody feel, Cracked Pepper is the perfect way to bring this aesthetic to your home. For polished results, Behr recommends pairing it with warm neutrals, such as  Chic Taupe N230-4 , a hue that’s the perfect balance of brown and gray.

Thanks to its earthy, organic undertones, Cracked Pepper is also a great exterior paint. It’s a decidedly modern hue when splashed across the whole house, but paired with red brick, it leans more traditional. For a small project with a big payoff, try painting your front door and shutters.

Behr’s 2024 Cracked Pepper Collage

Want to find out more about who and how these paint colors are picked each year, more details on how to use new color trends whether selling or dwelling?

Tune in tomorrow (Wednesday 10/11/23) for the launch of my new Home Staging Podcast ONLY STAGERS IN THE BUILDING. I’ll be joined with Mary Hoffman paint and color expert from Benjamin Moore.

Building Block Home Decorating Accessories You Need!

Whether you live small or large, this accessory collection can seamless change from decorating to entertaining in an instant. Use my "Good Bone" accessories as your base template for styling your home. Each can be used in multiple ways, be changed out quickly space to space, for a season or the holidays. These accessories too can make you a bit more organized, and when entertaining - some, can be staples and service any of your hosting areas from bar to buffet. Win, win.

(** Heads-up, if you’d like to shop my collections, the links are in the item and the picture - I’m part of the Amazon Influencer program and receive a small commission of sold items.)** Link to entire collection - LINK

JULEA’S LIST OF BUILDING BLOCK HOME ACCESSORIES

TALL CANDLESTICKS: A set of tall candlesticks elevate your styling whether topped with candles or any scale friendly object you want to display. Their height is the key ingredient to great accessorizing - Always perfect for a mantle, but also should be considered on a coffee table, kitchen island, or even in a bookcase. For entertaining, add a plate (use poster tack putty) and your buffet or bar will be elevated to new heights.

DOUGH BOWL - The perfect decorating vessel. Rustic, organic, Farmhouse style, with just the right ‘opposites attract’ interior design element that any room needs. Fill it with whatever you please, from holiday greens for the season to faux succulents as a centerpiece. Line it with cloth napkins and for entertaining - it’s the best baguette holder for your dinner party.

LARGE BLANKET BASKET - A large blanket basket can service besides blankets, entry shoes, seasonal wear, kids/dog toys, a statement in-door plant, towels, laundry. Too, it brings texture to a space, and its lovely form offers a pretty visual for a storage piece.

LONG WICKER TRAY - A nice long wicker tray adds casualness and texture to a surface. Great topped on a granite island, your dining room table or to house personal items on a bathroom counter or nightstand. A tray too offers a template to decorate in. For entertaining, pop in a long platter or bowls with your favorite sides, or use for serve items such as napkins, silverware, plates, or more.

WIRED CLOCHE - Bring the outside in with a wire cloche. Casual, unbreakable, and easy to use and store. Anything under a dome becomes more important and adds an element of surprise to your accessorizing.

CAKE STAND - A cake stand can hold more than cakes - as a decorating element, it can be the needed centerpiece element to an arrangement. Alone, or with an added plate, the stand can make something simple stand out and up. Add to the cake stand with the above cloche and you have real WOW factor decorating accessory!

NATURAL ABOLONE SHELL - I know it sounds a bit weird that a shell would make my ‘must have’ list. But I stand by my shell. This pretty, small, vessel can be a lovely natural addition to a side table or a vignette on your coffee table. Perfect in a Powder Room with a bar of soap, wrapped candies, on your kitchen windowsill to hold your rings, or a spoon rest when entertaining or as a salt cellar. It too can sit alone on a bookcase or in a cubby. I found mine while walking on a beach in Half Moon Bay, CA, so besides being functional, it holds a special memory.

WINE/CHAMPAGNE BUCKET - Iconic shape, better than a bowl, Can house ice to a tabletop Christmas Tree. What’s not to love about an oversize wine bucket? On your dining room table as a centerpiece, in your foyer with floral arrangement, on your coffee table with magazines and books. You know what to do with it for entertaining…

SILVER TRAY - Anything silver adds panache, especially a tray. In baths to entry tables - this fancy tray makes anything on it, special and upscale.

FAUX BOOKS - Faux books are a favorite for any home stylist. An added element horizontally, or vertical, they add dimension to any display.

FOOTED HURRICANE VASE - A workhorse accessory. A footed hurricane vase can be your standard decorating element in one spot. It can change each month with fresh flowers, change seasonally or with a holiday. It can be flipped over and used as a candle stand, or as a lift for a buffet with an added plate, bowl or platter. In a bathroom with bath salts, washcloths or kid’s toys, in the kitchen as a terrarium or water garden, and in the laundry with laundry care products.

RECHARGEABLE ELECTRIC CANDLES - Oh happy day! No more batteries. Candles add that ambiance and the 5 sense element needed in a space. These offer a timer, and a remote for ease of use, and then when spent, you just recharge them. We all know where to use them, and if you need direction, see above list. One added idea, since they come in a trio, consider ribboning them together as 1 cluster.

I hope you were inspired to weed through your current accessories, perhaps shop for some new ones, and use these great building block accessories in creative ways. Please share if you use one of these accessories in an different way, we’d love to know!

Stay tuned for a new collection - HOME STYLING or STAGING TOOL KIT FAVORITES. Staples and tools that I have in my tool bag when I head to interior style and home stage a home. - JULEA.

Spring Things you Can do to Your Home

Well it may be snowing in Chicago today, but spring is definitely here. The Easter holiday is behind us, and if you are wondering how to refresh and restyle your home with more than just bunnies and dyed eggs - this post if for you.

The great thing about living in the Midwest is that we get to reinvent our home’s space four times a year as the seasons change. As my design mantra goes “If you change up your home, it changes up you too”. So what spring things can we do to our home?

TRY A NEW ROOM ARRANGEMENT

Give a space a new look with interior arrangement. The sun changes positions seasonally, and your Sunday reading spot that was perfect in winter now is unbearably sunny without the blinds closed. The fireplace that was your cozy cure for the blustery weather, now sits fireless as spring temperatures rise. Try repositioning that chair to a new spot. That move creates a whole new look for your favorite chair and creates the spark for a new room setting. And rather than cozying up to the fireplace - with a bit of furniture moving, you could instead have a window view of birds nesting and flowers blooming. This will give you a new daily respite to sooth your soul.

FURNITURE SWAP FROM OTHER ROOMS

The design police will not shun you if you find that your dining room hutch that houses Granny’s dusty China works much better as a bookcase or crafts storage hutch in your office. Or the kid’s dresser is the ideal entry piece for that empty wall in your foyer. Be fearless by understanding furniture can be moved and have more than one purpose.

LOOK AT YOUR ACCESSORIES IN A NEW LIGHT

My whole business is based on using what you already have, and I can tell you that after 23 years, you have plenty of accessories. Did you know the average home has 300,000 things in it? Rather than thinking you need to buy new to refresh, think how you can celebrate what is already there.

• A lamp can be up-styled by just changing out its shade. Too, by reducing or increasing the harp size (the thing that you put the shade on) you can try a new shade size.

• Rotate your art. Create a collection with a few pieces on your mantle (hang one, lean the others) or on your hall walls, Use an easel and display small art pieces on a table, in a bookcase, or just lean them as a back drop.

• Art, as well as trays, bowls, vases can be archived, and rotated in or out for the season to bring color, mood, or seasonal spirit to a space. And of course you can reinvent them. Head over to YouTube or Pinterest and be tutored on reimagining old accessories (there are a zillion options).

DO SOMETHING BIG

When I mean big, I don’t mean buy a whole new house big, I mean do something that makes a more permanent change. Paint an accent wall, your pantry door, or a piece of furniture. Wallpaper your foyer, the inside of your China hutch or the front of the drawers of a dresser. Reupholster that Sunday reading chair in your new favorite color (hopefully tangerine). These changes are a bit more permanent, but aren’t too costly, but will bring a big change to the way your home feels.

BRING THE OUTSIDE IN

The best part of spring is that everything seems shiny and new. Snip budding branches and pop them into some of your favorite large floor vases. A container of a spring flowers cheers up any counter or table. Swap out the pinecones in your display bowls for bright green moss covered balls, sport a newly made table terrarium or pop a potted plant under a cloche to celebrate the growing season. Raid your bookcases for all your gardening books for a new display collection on your living room’s coffee table.

With these changes you’ll renew your home’s feeling, create new spaces to celebrate, and enjoy the new season both inside and out.

Need expert and creative advice to shake up your spaces? Want to leave and come home to a whole new space in a day using just what you already have? We do that. Call/Text 708-543-8597 to learn more.

• Julea

Accessorizing Your Home Workshop Elmhurst Public Library 12/6 7pm

Quick and Easy Accessorizing /Decorating Workshop

Put your own personal stamp on your space with help from interior stylist Julea Joseph. Learn the essential elements every room needs, plus get tips and tricks for shopping for great pieces, breathing new life into your existing treasures, and pulling them all together.

Join Julea @ Elmhurst Public Library for this interior design workshop. To register for this program: 125 S. Prospect Avenue, Elmhurst, IL 60126. Phone: (630) 279-8696 Text: (331) 642-0375.

This is a hybrid workshop - both in-person (limited seating) and via Zoom

-Julea

More than a Home Stager... Why I call Myself an Interior Stylist

Fresh back from my speciality design training in Dallas, Texas (home staging training didn’t exist yet),  I landed my 1st client.  Recently moved into her new home, she was so excited to get it pulled together and make it hers. As we chatted about design ideas, she confided she partly hired me because she was hosting a baby shower and really want her home to look special.  Too, could I help her with ideas about the baby shower?  Instantly, part of this project was to advise which China to use, theme ideas and how to style the event.

The AHA Business Model Moment

That was my AHA business model moment. This new home design business I was launching was so much more than making a home pretty, my new job was to help a homeowner fully celebrate and embrace their home.

Not fitting into any box, I called myself 1st a Home Stylist, which was short lived being confused with a Hair Stylist that comes to a client's home!  A simple word swap of INTERIOR from HOME solved the identity problem and my business brand was born.

More than a Home Stager

Beyond a home stager's regular repertoire of just prepping a home for sale, I have for 17 years offered up a signature menu of interior stylist services that progressively celebrates their home. Once that house is SOLD,  there are a menu of design services to turn that NEW house into a home and celebrate the haven within.

•·        Color Consultation-  Already familiar with your things from your old home,  I am right by your side in expertly selecting and creating a new color palette.  From paint,  wallpaper to fabric selections,  gone are the old home owners hues, or those contractor white walls - in with color choices in-tune to your belongings and personal style.

•·        Interior Redesign-  I take what you have and make it all work within your new home.  In just a day or two,  your blank space becomes your space.  Interior Redesign is the art of arranging what you already have.  With specific steps and procedures, spaces become balanced, functional and unified. Best of all, you get instant gratification and validate your existing pieces.  This process then opens the door to new pieces and creative ideas to repurpose or refreshed what you have.  A very 21st century way of decorating a home.

•·     Shopping, Procurement & Traditional Design Services- If you'd like to refresh, add to your furniture & collections, we can help shop for those new pieces  Need more traditional design service such as custom window treatments, reupholstery services or help with choosing a new counter or embark in a remodeling project?  Our talents and resources can add those finishing touches and updates to your home.

•·     Lifestyle & Entertainment Services-  Your home is now ready to greet family and friends - from styling a home for a holiday or season, setting the stage for a party, or making a backyard patio a summer retreat.  - I help  my clients  celebrate the haven within.