Maryann Fisher presents tips from Vern Yip

Design with style: on trend with Vern Yip Maryann Fisher, Decorating Den Interiors

3:10 p.m. EDT June 3, 2016

When gathering a group of people with the same passion ­ like those working out in their favorite fitness center, or joining friends at a knitting center ­ you know you’ll get support, learn and get even more passionate. That is exactly what happened when I attended Decorating Den Interiors 47th Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas, a couple of weeks ago.

With owners throughout the United States and Canada, along with our wonderful corporate staff and great suppliers, I was able to see new product lines, learn new techniques and, with approximately 300 Dream Room entries, examine the clients’ challenges with their "before" pictures and view the beautiful results in the "after" photography, that I’ll be sharing within the column this year.

“Current trends” is always a great topic for interior designers, and our keynote speaker; Vern Yip of HGTV "Trading Spaces"and one of America’s most renowned interior designers, shared his expertise.

(Photo: Fisher, Decorating Den Interiors)

Vern spoke about what is now "on trend" with his presentation, “Personalizing with Today’s Best Trends."

Here are some excerpts from that presentation.

'On Trend' in the home fashion industry Colors: 1. Black 2. Orange ­ not as bright and clear, a bit more "rusty" 3. Silver Color combinations: 1. Black and white 2. Orange and white 3. Orange and navy ­ with blues coming back in after a long absence.

Patterns: ­ Stripes ­ Chinoiserie ­ a European interpretation of Chinese and East Asian artistic traditions ­ Large florals ­ more vibrant and clear than yesterday’s florals. ­ Geometric trellis Mixing these diverse patterns within a focused color palette is showing on trend. Using very dark backgrounds in patterns with lighter tones in the front, also on trend.

Flooring: ­ The large custom sized area rug leaving 12 – 18 inches between wall and rug edge, instead of the small area rug under a coffee table. ­ A custom color rug with a combination of three colors will anchor your room in style.

Lighting: The drop­fixture style lights are updated with: ­ New crystal fixtures, shown with color crystals amid the clear crystals. ­ Oversized drum pendants are being used in formal areas such as over a dining room table. ­ Geometric trellis styled lights Silver metal is the most popular trend in lighting, with larger statement fixtures that act as floating art in a room.

Black lampshades show drama in trend.

Take it outside When asked about how to put a “wow" factor into an outdoor space, Yip recommends adding outdoor­rated throw pillows and/or an outdoor area rug. If you could add just one thing to this outdoor space, he recommends a garden stool. It is not widely used, so it adds a uniqueness to your outdoor space. It can also be easily placed inside in the off­season.

When starting a design project, he suggests that you start with magazines and books and either tear out photos or mark photos that you like. It doesn’t need to be rooms, just mark all photos that you like: a pretty sunset, bowl of spaghetti, anything. By collecting these photos you will be able to figure out what is your personal taste and bring that out. He recommends this rather than looking online and seeing what everyone else is doing.

The white­on­white kitchen isn’t showing character. He recently remodeled the kitchen in his home and it is basically black and white. FYI – a large drum shaped light in a black in white horizontal stripe proves that he practices what he preaches.

Vern Yip’s next book, "Design Wise," is due out soon and is available for pre­sales on Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.

To see the photo in color, read the design blog "Dream It, Design It," at blogs.publicopiniononline.com/dreamit.

Maryann Fisher is owner of Decorating Den Interiors. Contact her at mafisher@decoratingden.com or 717­263­4808.

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