An Arizona Hacienda

Gina's input: At first we looked at the space and what was in it and went Southwestern, a more modern and soft take on a Southwestern space.

Color – We both feel that color is the most important element in a space, but we also both agree that the walls shouldn't be the focal point. Rather, the starting point and also what ties the whole design together. So originally I picked wall color in the linen family, I wanted the walls not to scream but instead blend because of all of the dark colors that are already in the space. The floors are a dark clay color and the hallway leading into the room has Saltillo tile as a wainscot halfway up the wall as a detail. That makes for a dark room to begin with. So, my first thought was to lift the room. We both felt the need to use blues in this space, all of the colors used traditionally in Southwestern design are very warm colors like reds, burnt oranges, bright yellows and browns. We were pretty set on bringing in the blues. Here is the original board that Tina put together. I'm not a huge fan of Southwestern, but I really loved the pieces! 

We kind of have a tendency to get excited and can't wait to imagine the space and all of the elements that will fill it. We had to wait to see what she actually wanted to do with the space, and that ended up being more Hacienda than Southwestern.. those really are very different design attitudes.

Hacienda has more of a Spanish/Mediterranean vibe to it.. and in Arizona LOUD colors. Here is the color palette we were given to work with. 

Again, as two individuals who aren't as keen as others on Southwestern or Hacienda design, we really had fun designing this room with a tasteful and warm Hacienda flare.

We had to start all over. The client wanted lots of color and definitely not linen toned walls. We stared long and hard at the palette and decided that yellow was the right answer for the space. It can be loud but also carry a sophisticated elegance with it. We still wanted the walls to be soft compared to the rest of the elements in the room.. this shade really was our starting point. Tina found some throw pillows that further inspired, they have a vibrant quality that began to set the tone for the room. Hacienda is known to be very loud, so we needed elements that worked well together rather than fight, or even worse, elements that might just blend in to each other.

Our next search was draperies, they needed to have lots of personality but also enough balance to bring the room together. We had an idea of what we were looking for and Tina did want she does best.. she narrowed down the search and found the perfect look.

Tina's input: We wanted to give the client a space where many generations of family could gather and use the room. It needed to be bright and cheery with lots of color, but was good on wear and tear. So, I searched for pillows made from old Mexican blanket and leather sofas that were already distressed so they would only get better over time. This needed to be a room where the families new grandson could sit and not worry and doing damage to the furniture.

As Gina said we made the walls a soft yellow color. After all this color in the walls , pillows and such. I really wanted a visual break. So the draperies although colorful, had a white back ground. That bit of white can keep a room from feeling heavy and over worked. Finally the last stage is filling the room with the home owners personal art and items. 

This makes a room fill like it really belongs to them. Their own personal get away.