B4 • Friday, September 24, 2021
thegardenisland.com
THE GARDEN ISLAND
‘Your house becomes your story’ Fall décor gets personal
a little “soul,” from the cozy nap of a plush textile to the tool marks of an artisan-made bowl, all the way to the over-the-top gorKim Cook geousness of a sleek lacASSOCIATED PRESS quered cabinet. There’s something for evAs fall nesting season returns, home décor retailers eryone. Pieces that give off a are presenting collections homespun, handmade vibe. that reflect the idea that Polished pieces that get the home is where our hearts heart beating, with exciting and heads are. prints or bold shapes. Our long housebound Freeform, elegant mirrors. stretch may have made us Patterns that span centuries restless for the outside of artistry. Colors that reworld, but it has helped us flect our need for nature’s reappreciate our homes more. storative qualities. And at Even if you didn’t redo a the other end of the specbasement playroom, rehab a trum, colors that rev up our bathroom or create a workimaginations. The most interesting new space in an apartment home décor has the look closet, you probably rediscovered what you like about and feel not of a factory asyour home. sembly line but of a studio. “Our living spaces moved An atelier. A small producfrom sanctuary to command tion house. central,” says Elaine Griffin, A few examples of what’s a designer in Sea Island, in store for fall: Georgia. Color Months of working from home has many people Look for saturated hues transforming their abodes — cobalt, cinnamon, charinto multitasking marvels of coal, ruby, green and muspurpose, practicality and tard among them. It’s the personality. depth of these colors that’s So how do you give your new, and also how they’re rooms that personal stamp used. They’re enveloping enas we snuggle in for fall and tire rooms, from walls to winter? moldings to fireplace manMaine-based designer Erin tels and even the ceiling. Flett has a mantra: “Collect The kitchen too. things you love, that are au“In North America, red is our warm-color best-seller,” thentic to you, and your house becomes your story.” says Valentina Bertazzoni, Rather than a basic chair, head of style and design at high-end Italian kitchen apgeneric carpeting or ordinary wallcovering, designers pliance maker Bertazzoni. are favoring items that have “By incorporating colors
Long-term mortgage rates up slightly; 30-year at 2.88% ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — Average longterm mortgage rates rose slightly this week continuing a months-long trend of little movement. They remained under 3%. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average rate for a 30-year mortgage edged up to 2.88% from 2.86% last week. That’s very close to where the benchmark rate stood at this time last year, 2.90%. It peaked this year at 3.18% in April. The rate for a 15-year loan, a popular option for homeowners refinancing their mortgages, increased to 2.15% from 2.12% last week.
the bold use of color is exciting and much more interesting.” It also allows more of a homeowners’ personality to come through. Regional and global tribal patterns continue to get attention; textiles for living and sleeping spaces feature these eye-catching and often story-driven designs. “The Navajo are among the finest rug makers in the world, featuring loom work and design on par with the best Persian rugs,” says Atlanta-based design writer Leanne Potts, a contributor to HGTV, Gardenista and other outlets. ” Joanna Mahserdjian, founder of Upstate Rug Supply in Hudson, New York, agrees. “Hang one on the wall as art, place one on the floor in a midcentury-modern home, or layer them with Persian rugs, as Ralph Lauren does,” she suggests. There are some fun retro wallpapers too, like Hovia’s Memphis-era abstracts, and Graham & Brown’s largescale, midmod, ’70s and ’80s abstracts. Look for trompe l’oeil designs like origami, crocodile, faux bois, and crystal or mineral patterns.
Dressers, side tables, headboards, lighting, seating and even kitchen/bath cabinet fronts are featuring the tight weaves of these materials. Geometric textures and shapes are also attracting designers looking to create a modernist vibe, but with a geologic look that appeals to nature lovers too. Style
Design and shelter magazines’ Instagram feeds are getting likes galore for posts featuring floating vanities; mixed-color kitchen cupboards; shapely, soft seating; Brutalist objets d’art; and matte-black window frames, cabinet knobs and faucets. In furniture, there are chunky, framed wood pieces, like Pottery Barn’s Westbrook Parson’s-style side table with a cement top, or the Jack table, with a marble top perched on an architectural bleached-wood GRAHAM & BROWN VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS base. But there are equally interesting pieces with senA sample of Carnival wallpaper. suous, rounded corners, like other colors pop. In chilthe Runwell dresser and side like red, the kitchen space table in Shinola’s fall collabcan feel livelier and more in- drens’ rooms, they speak to viting. And more homeown- the gender neutrality that oration with Crate & Barrel. many modern families are Wood and wood-look ers are catching on to the going for. floors add another homey idea that a colorful range dimension to eclectic rooms, can serve as an anchor or and soften the austerity of protagonist for a design con- Pattern “I love that maximalism is Texture minimalist ones. Beyond cept.” You’ve probably noticed it real wood, there are taking over as minimalism Charcoal and black have phases out,” says New York in the aisles of big box and great-looking laminates and gone from being goth teen neighborhood décor stores: hardy, beautiful porcelain designer Courtney shades to go-to colors for Sempliner. “The pattern play Rattan and jute have moved tiles whose realistic looks chic, dramatic rooms. Even from the porch and storage exemplify how far digital that I’m seeing with upholnurseries are getting these closet to just about every printing technology has inky hues, which help make stery, the layering of patroom in the home. come. furnishings, artwork and terns of varying scales and
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Existing US home sales fell in August, price growth slows ASSOCIATED PRESS Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in August and prices that have been soaring eased, the latest sign the housing market is cooling as intense competition leaves many would-be buyers on the sidelines. Existing homes sales fell 2% last month from July to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 5.88 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. Economists were expecting 5.87 million according to FactSet. Sales fell 1.5% from August last year. As of last month, sales were running 16% higher this year than in the same stretch of 2020, before a surge in sales as the market bounced back from a slowdown in the initial months of the pandemic. Sales are also up about 12% from where they were in the first eight months of 2019. “So, clearly home sales are settling down, but above pre-pandemic conditions,” said Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist. Home prices continued to climb last month, though at a less torrid pace. The median home price rose to $356,700, an increase of 14.9% from August 2020. That annual gain was more modest than the 20%-25% year-over-year increases seen earlier this year.
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