Chicago Interior Designer, Jordan Guide

Versailles Hall of Mirrors

Living Room Mirrors with Window Mullions

 

Eclectic Hallway Floor Mirror

This eclectic hallway featured in LivingEtc casually displays accents and artwork on the floor and walls.  Because of the polished concrete floors, this home has the perfect museum-like qualities perfect for random collections with unique presentations.  It is very important to note that when leaning floor mirrors in high traffic areas you should always  use safety wall fasteners.

Dining Room Framed Wall Mirror

This oversized dining room mirror looks to have been custom framed or finished in the same material as the dining table and chair legs.  The color scheme is very subdued, but designer Patricia Gray other touches of detail create interest and balance that so beautifully reflect in the mirror.  As you can see, the mirror allows the cove-lit tray ceiling to double in size, as well as reflect the textured details in the metallic drapery and layered crystal light fixture.

Graham and Green Floor Mirror

This unique mirror by Graham and Green is trimmed in an antiqued gold finish.  Placement in the corner by the window scatters the natural light around the room and reflects the light from the floor lamp light in the evenings.

Square-Cut Mirror Panels

These square cut mirror panels offer amazing light reflection, but they also seem to give off their own imperfect texture as well.  Because of the visible seams between each panel we can see a somewhat distorted reflection of the room behind us, without loosing the interesting details within the furniture and accessories.

Oversized Bathroom Floor Mirror

This oversized ornate bathroom mirror marries the streamline ultra-contemporary bathtub and epoxy floors with the baroque wall paneling.  A match made in (glowing white) bathroom heaven.

Dainty Living Room

This petite living room featured in House and Home strategically positions the floor mirror inbetween the radiator and hallway opening.  This placement allows the mirror to reflect the opposite end of the living room to enhance and expand the soft look and feel of the decor.

Jordan Guide Luxury Interior Designer

Dark Painted Ceiling & Partial Wall

I think it is safe to say that most ceilings are ignored when redecorating is in progress. Most people toil over what color to paint the walls, or which wall should be the accent and what color that accent should  be.  In the end, the walls are covered in a fresh coat of paint and the ceiling remains… white.  As an interior designer, I too have left most ceilings white for one reason or another, but every so often I run across the right situation and a courageous client who allows their ceiling to join in the fun. I have recently completed a residential project (above) that included a living room that was the perfect candidate for a dark painted ceiling. Although the client absolutely loves it now, it wasn’t an easy sell. In fact, most people wouldn’t want to deviate away from the white ceiling. It is not because they didn’t have the ceiling heights or imagination to go for it, but rather they are simply accustomed to the norm and never considered the ceiling as “The 5th Wall.”  Let’s explore.

Sitting Area with Dark Painted Ceilings and Warm Walls

This cozy sitting area by Douglas Levine has warm toned linen wallcovering and a dark painted ceiling that almost disappears.  I would estimate the actual ceiling height to be about 10ft, but with the ceiling painted it appears taller.  Blocks of light colors in the rug helps to contrast the dark elements within the room.

Semi-Gloss Mocha Painted Ceiling

This Benjamin Moore inspirational room has a semi-gloss mocha colored paint to reflect light downward.  Although it is difficult to apply a semi-gloss paint on large field without seeing roller trails, this image is an excellent display of how a medium-toned ceiling color can warm up a space without shrinking its appearance.  Even using a darker toned metallic paint instead of a gloss or semi gloss will also have this reflective effect.

Dark Chocolate Paint Covers Walls and Ceiling

It is difficult to imagine this dining room without the dark chocolate ceiling to mimic the walls and flooring.  These dark elements are contrasted by the off-white base/crown molding that ties into the cream colored furniture.  The blue inner chair upholstery and drapery trim adds just a touch of elegance and flair in perfect proportion.  This is one dining room certain to make your mouth water!

Dark Painted Ceiling with Medallion

This dining room has incredible ceiling heights and a hearty abundance of molding on the ceiling and walls.  The off-white color of walls, trim and window treatments are a beautiful contrast to the black floors and ceiling.   The gorgeous details of the ceiling medallion would have been lost if it weren’t for the black contrast ceiling paint.   Also notice the selective area of black paint within the dining room molding square, but not the ceiling square beyond the molding threshold.  This was well thought out and balanced.

Bright Colored Ceilings Punch Up A Room

This mauve-pink color may not be for everyone, but it definitely makes a statement in an otherwise standard setting.  Designer Sara Story used a piece of artwork to inspire this ceiling color.   Afterall, the kitchen is the liveliest area of our home, so maybe you’ll think “outside the paint can” next time around.

Black Plank Ceilings Defines Edges and Scale

This Hampton’s home was revamped by interior designer Steven Gambrel who installed this living rooms expansive black plank ceiling.  “Rather than making a space feel smaller, as you might expect,” Gambrel says, “it helps to define its outer edges, encouraging visual scale.”  Photo by Eric Piasecki for Elle Decor

Gold Ceiling Paint To Accent Gold Wall Trim

This uber eccentric living room can launch more than a discussion about painted ceilings. The black flooring and crown molding relate the upper and lower portions of the room, as the walls wear glossy teal blue panels.   Gold trim strips conceal the seams on the teal panels, and one might assume that the gold ceiling was inspired by the gold trim.  Regardless of how these layers of colors were decided, this designer pulled together a colorful masterpiece.   It may not satisfy everyone’s taste but it can surely trump most 5th Walls to boot.  Thanks for sharing Elle Decor!

Jordan Guide Luxury Interior Designer

Wall Art Collage

The origin of the Art Collage has spanned the last few centuries and  reemerged in the early 20th century as a novelty art form.  The French term collage was coined by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso from the root word “coller” meaning glue.  The  “collage” was used to describe modern art paintings portraying diverse groupings of images within a canvas, or to describe various groupings of  newspaper and magazine clippings that were glued to a variety of mediums.  We now see collages within blogs, fashion magazines, interior design websites and countless other outlets, all of which still attempt to portray and connect a series of relative ideas to tell a story.  Most recently, the interior design trend of using collage of frame pieces of art has solved many design faux pas’.   Over the years, we all collect family photographs, children’s artwork, framed mirrors, fine art, love letters, sketches, wall sculpture,  etc.   Sure, we can try to find an open wall to randomly place individual keepsakes,  but that tends to look scattered and in turn, compromises the scale of a room, the walls and its vocal points.  You can begin to understand the impact of the collage by drawing from these examples and implementing in your own homes or offices.

Colorful Framed Art Collage

Staircase Framed Art Collage in Subtle Tones

By grouping these random artworks in their unique frames, you can simply take a countless number of art pieces to create one cohesive art installation.  It will not only serve your decor, but will also be the new talking piece of your home.

Dining Room Framed Artwork Collage

Max Azria's Home Displays Framed Collages

If your art frames are less than par, you can choose to reframe them, or unify all of your frames with a new coat of paint in one or a few shades to coordinate with the room.   At this stage, you may also want to consider re-matting the photos in consistent shades or on antique papers or patterns.  You may also chose to reprint all of your photos in black and white, or all in sepia to blend together.  This gives the grouping consistency if you prefer a unified look.

Consistent Black and White Framed Collage

Antique Paper as Photo Mat with Sepia Photos

For an eclectic look, leave your frames and art as is or repaint and re-mat in an array of desired colors.

Foyer Console Artwork Collage

Framed Art Collage Wraps Bathroom Walls

Contemporary Bedroom with Eclectic Framed Art Collage

Now that you are hooked on the idea of framed art collage, your first step will be to choose a suitable display wall and measure the wall area where the art collage will be arranged. Use masking tape to create a collage boundary on the wall and also create another masking tape area of the same size on the floor.  Gather your art pieces and begin playing with layout ideas within your floor tape boundaries.  Decide if you will be modifying the photo frames, mat board or reprinting the photographs. Tweak the artwork arrangement (if necessary) after your modifications.  Photograph the arrangement as an installation reference, review once more and begin your installation!

Ritz-Carlton Residences, Chicago blog contributor, Jordan Guide, ASID, NCIDQ No. 021998 of Jordan Guide Design is a high-end luxury interior designer based in Chicago.