Annie, you are a gem! Thank you so much.

>>

I do want a nicely decorated apartment, but this would just never happen, so I have to do it right the first time!

Oh boy ... Sandra Lee. Not so sure about her decorating, but I would like her to mix me some cocktails at my new house. She definitely knows her alcohol! ;-)

I totally know where you're coming from, Annie. Thanks.

Annie...here is a pic of my rug you asked for. The colors are closer to real towards the front of photo. Oddly, this rug came about because I came across the greatest deep seated down couch, just made for naps. In brown, which is not me, but have actually acquired a comfort level with it. Eventually the color will be changed with a tailored slipcover, one at hand in beige.

Because of the brown I had to start looking for a rug. Major addiction to Kilims and have more than I should, this one is layered over two others (a solution to storage). My colors are always include brick//green/beige, and lean towards Rustic. So the style is also not the norm, but love the colors and this one has not been changed out as others have. It reminds me of PA Dutch. I chose this for the brown vein twigs.

Rug is 10 X 14, the squares are 18"X20". It is an anchor point for living area in a 20 X 26 LR which includes a walk through from the front door. Am in an 1100 bungalow. Walls are light beige, a large fireplace which I painted a very deep green (almost black) and plantation shutters on a huge 12' long window. At hand is Brick corduroy to upholster existing chair/ottoman (also deep seated with down).

When taking a pic of the rug I realized my art also has the same colors in varied amounts. They could be design seeds of their own too.

Apology to other posters, this became a long post. After thought that probably should be one of it's own.

Photos of lithos. Called Double Back, find the bear.

I ran the pic of your rug through color palette fx and this is what came out:

Here's a design seed with your colors, with lavender thrown in...

Here's another with your colors without the sage green

Here's another without the light blue and with a little deeper green

Some rooms that would go with the colors in your rug

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[Traditional Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2107) by Dallas Media & Bloggers Sarah Greenman

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[Contemporary Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2103) by Seattle Home Stagers Seattle Staged To Sell

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[Contemporary Family Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-family-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_720~s_2103) by Minneapolis Interior Designers & Decorators RLH Studio

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[Contemporary Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2103) by Los Angeles Home Stagers Madison Modern Home

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[Modern Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2105) by Minneapolis Interior Designers & Decorators Pat Manning-Hanson, ASID

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[Transitional Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2112) by Kelowna Interior Designers & Decorators Begrand Fast Design Inc.

Annie, after my whining you are still hanging in there with me. Oddly, this morning while looking for cell phones, I ran across a room which is off from stated personal tastes above. Other than the wood bed and accents, I could enjoy this room's colors. The darker brown pillow is very like my brown couch fabric/color.

Similar to the last photos you posted, there are options not thought of. Time for a more open mind at my end. Ooops, forgot where this even came from and should have tagged the photo resource.

Pretty combo!

Snakeskin is not my favorite inspiration, but in this instance...

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[Traditional Exterior[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-exterior-home-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_736~s_2107) by South Jordan Home Builders Candlelight Homes

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[Traditional Exterior[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-exterior-home-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_736~s_2107) by Princeton General Contractors Howard Homes, Inc.

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[Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Falls Church Kitchen & Bath Designers Cameo Kitchens, Inc.

Here's a room that is its own design seed in the form of the banded art work highlighting the various colors that appear throughout the room...

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[Traditional Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2107) by Bethesda Interior Designers & Decorators Sroka Design, Inc.

In fact, I really like that idea. It would be so easy to make the art out of fabrics already used in the room simply by sewing them together and then stretching them on a frame....a real budget-wise solution to filling a large space on the wall.

This post was edited by AnnieDeighnaugh on Mon, Oct 28, 13 at 9:14

Today's design seed...

...immediately brings Phoebe Howard to mind

Nice! Great inspiration for a rainy Monday morning!

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[Traditional Spaces[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-home-design-ideas-phbr1-bp~s_2107) by Pound Ridge Interior Designers & Decorators SGH Designs inc.

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[Contemporary Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2103) by Oakland Interior Designers & Decorators Modern Organic Interiors

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[Beach Style Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/beach-style-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2110) by Charlotte Interior Designers & Decorators Jane Ann Maxwell

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[Eclectic Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2104) by Other Metro Architects & Designers Zimina Inna

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[Eclectic Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2104) by Lake Oswego Design-Build Firms Joel Fraley

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[Farmhouse Family Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/farmhouse-family-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_720~s_2114) by Newton Center Media & Bloggers Justine Hand

Great job, jreuter. I ask again, how did you find those pictures - did you google search the colors in the Design Seed?

Go to Houzz...
In the search box up top
put in the main colors you want to connect to.

Here is a link that might be useful: Houzz

Just like forboystoo said.

Then I just scroll through the hits until I find ones I like. I usually keep a separate window open with the DesignSeed so I can refer to it as I am scrolling. It is a fun way to spend some time once in while.

If you have a particular room (bedroom, kitchen...) or style (traditional, modern...) you want to focus on you can also use the options on the left to narrow your search

Hi Annie, waaaaaay back I asked about a design seed using coral, as I thought I could/would change out colors I've used the last five years, Fact:it isn't going to happen! I just returned from an 18 day vacation with a friend, talking continuously about what I would consider a huge undertaking. This is my best-est of friends(50+ years!) who would never give me a 'bumb steer' and directly asked me WHY I would even consider changing what I love? That did it for me!

I thank you for your time and effort putting together the pictorial. It's awesome to visually see colors, that if the time were right, could be created in one's own home. If change in surroundings were easier for me, I would do it in a hot New York minute, but I rest my case. However, picking up and moving to a completely different state or even a country is a piece of cake.

I can only hope that in the notnto distant future I tire of what I currently have, and can open myself to change. For the moment I'm staying put, and hopefully others don't see me as being in a rut. ;o)

Nothing wrong with being in a rut if it's velvet lined and makes you happy! Sometimes the best change is no change at all.

Annie, I don't know why, but feel you really DO understand what I mean! As for a 'velvet lined rut', yeah, it is pretty plush. ;o)

Today's design seed: rust and blue

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[Mediterranean Bedroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/mediterranean-bedroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_715~s_2109) by San Diego Interior Designers & Decorators Style On a Shoestring

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[Contemporary Bedroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bedroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_715~s_2103) by Lake Mary Interior Designers & Decorators Anne Rue Interiors

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[Beach Style Home Office[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/beach-style-home-office-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_732~s_2110) by Portland Interior Designers & Decorators Garrison Hullinger Interior Design Inc.

Today's design seed...blue with gray and mossy green

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[Eclectic Landscape[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-landscaping-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_728~s_2104) by Seattle Landscape Architects & Designers Personal Garden Coach

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[Contemporary Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2103) by Marshfield Interior Designers & Decorators Stacy Curran

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[Contemporary Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Boulder Kitchen & Bath Designers RED PEPPER KITCHEN+BATH

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[Traditional Patio[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-patio-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_725~s_2107) by Melbourne Landscape Architects & Designers froglet moss

Annie, thank you so much for doing this. I like using "Chip It" but have not explored actually applying it to a room. This helps so much-- what a great way to learn and challenge ourselves. You have such a great eye.

ALSO-- one of the pics you posted gave me a good idea. I was just thinking how the bottom of my slipcovers look so blah. Well, you posted a pic of one with TRIM on the bottom. Brilliant. That seems like an easy and fun fix. I am going to do it, once I get the rest of my colors and patterns in place.

THANK you!!!

Another thankful poster. I have absolutely no talent for decorating - I'm always afraid I'll make an expensive mistake and then have to live with it.

Is there a simple way to save your Design Seeds?
I'd love to create a little portfolio that I can use as a reference. This is exactly the type of tutorial I need.

If you'd publish it - I'd buy it!

You're most welcome. I'm so glad you find this useful. I find it fun to do! And I'm delighted when others post their design seeds and room inspirations as well.

The design seeds are available at design-seeds.com and most of the pics, though not all, come from houzz.com. So I suppose if you want to save it, you can pin the photos in pinterest.... You can also create your own design seed using color palette fx. The results aren't ideal, but they can be very helpful in spotting colors and shades that are in the image that you may not see at first and it can help you pinpoint an exact color.

Also, if you do a google search on design seeds and some color names like gold and navy, images will pull up design seeds that others have saved.

Anyone for pink and brown?

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[Traditional Kids[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kids-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_24653~s_2107) by Stamford Interior Designers & Decorators Tiffany Eastman Interiors, LLC

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[Bedroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/bedroom-ideas-phbr0-bp~t_715) by Hockessin Interior Designers & Decorators Barbara Pettinella

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[Contemporary Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2103) by Other Metro Interior Designers & Decorators Praktyczne i Piękne

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[Contemporary Bedroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bedroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_715~s_2103) by Chicago Interior Designers & Decorators i4design, LLC

Decided to take on todays Design Seed as I have some time, I'm between projects.
I think this would be a challenging one to live with, as far as interiors go.

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[Contemporary Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2103) by Western Springs Architects & Designers Studio 1 Architects

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[Modern Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2105) by New York Interior Designers & Decorators moment design + productions, llc

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[Contemporary Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2103)

Great job, mlw! That is a challenging palette.

Annie must be busy, so I'm going to jump in again and post todays design seed. This is really fun!

Kravet wallpaper and drapery fabric

Thought I'd change it up and post Home Dec Fabrics today.

edit, checked later on my iphone, and the Anna French for Thibaut colors looked so different I couldn't see the design seed in them, so swapped it out.

This post was edited by mlweaving_Marji on Sat, Nov 9, 13 at 18:11

Love it, mlw! I so enjoy seeing what others come up with. Great job...you clearly have an eye for color.

Those are great. Am impressed with those of you doing this on your own. I need to jump in. There are so many colors and combinations I never considered would be liked personally. Just saw on the SW page that they have the same program to play with their colors. The color blog guru is going to get some competition.

If Annie shows up, we need Part III. Taking forever to drag to the bottom and I want more.

Just hit "post a follow up" which will bring you to the bottom of the thread and then you can scroll up.

Thanks Annie....apparently my brain is becoming slow.

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[Beach Style Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/beach-style-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2110) by Chatham Architects & Designers Polhemus Savery DaSilva

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[Traditional Bedroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bedroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_715~s_2107) by Grand Rapids Architects & Designers Haisma Design Co.

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[Traditional Entry[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-entryway-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_741~s_2107) by Boca Raton Lighting Capitol Lighting

Annie, not meaning to hijack your concept or thread here. I love seeing what you come up with, would be interesting to see what you come up with for these same seeds.
Todays design seeds appear more Spring summer in concept to me than Fall.

This post was edited by mlweaving_Marji on Sun, Nov 10, 13 at 16:25

Not hijacking at all. Love seeing your choices! Carry on.

Horse tones anyone?

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[Transitional Bedroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/transitional-bedroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_715~s_2112) by Denver Architects & Designers Chalet

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[Contemporary Family Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-family-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_720~s_2103) by San Francisco Interior Designers & Decorators Mark Newman Design

I've been trying to remember my art class days and the percentage of color to area relative to how the rooms work so well. It is 60/30/10. This is a percentage to a given color, not a hue/saturation, but relative to the basic color wheel itself.

I'm not going further with this as to exact formulas. It can become very complicated and probably bore you along with myself. My take is by the eye though, thankfully as the colors themselves are more wonderful to work with than numbers. But these percentages are what make the rooms work so well in wall, furniture, accessory colors.

When you "see" what may seem like 5 or 7 colors, they are still mixtures of the basic color wheel. Red doesn't show up in the photos posted, but it is still there as a mixture within the brown. Remember the 3 basic colors to mix for brown, purple and orange? I think this is what we really see within the seeds and how the computer "thinks" when generating the colors.

I'm on a thinking process today, and an analytical, so if this is off the chart for seeds....just ignore me. Fascinating at this end. And it is time to head outside to touch up the "white" front porch before the temps fall below paint adhesion.

technicolor, I think I understand what you are trying to say in the first part...that there is a pleasing balance to % of colors used in a room....like 60% tan, 30% white, 10% navy. But I'm not sure how that works when, say, one color is extremely intense vs the others so even at 10% that shocking pink may be too much where it might not be at 5%.

I'm not sure where you were going with the second part and how a computer "thinks" about color....but I think what you are saying is how the colors are created (by mixing other colors) helps determine how well they will coordinate. But I'm not sure that's where you were going.

Would be great if you would clarify.

Coral and tan with a hint of soft blue/green anyone?

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[Mediterranean Bedroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/mediterranean-bedroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_715~s_2109) by Santa Barbara Interior Designers & Decorators Lori Smyth Design

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[Bedroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/bedroom-ideas-phbr0-bp~t_715) by West Hollywood Interior Designers & Decorators Elizabeth Dinkel

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[Traditional Bedroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bedroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_715~s_2107) by Little Rock Interior Designers & Decorators Tobi Fairley Interior Design

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[Traditional Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2107) by Toronto Interior Designers & Decorators Judith Taylor Designs

Annie...The formula is based on red, blue, yellow. The colors which show up with design seeds are a mixture of such. Ignore the RBY and consider the hues which are created with Seeds.

If I were painting a piece of art and wanted red to be the 60, it would be in various shades, hues, intensities and with other colors mixed in. Not necessarily a pure red. This is why I said it could become a math equation steering towards complicated. But it is also why the colors we see with design seeds are comfortable to our eye and what intrigued me as to the rooms and their balance in using colors created.

You may not go for the brightest pink shown for 60, although someone might. But could fall into various pinks shown as 60. An example is the last pic posted. Regardless of shades, Brown is most likely a 60, green/blue 30 and coral 10. In the previous pic, green/blue is 60, beige 30 and coral 10. This is a personal take and am obviously not measuring anything.

Rules can always be broken, but my eye is seeing the balance fairly close. I think it is why we can look at accessories and wonder how someone made them work in specific colors of the total room. Plus the talent of decorators may be pure design talent which creates the wonderful rooms.

Now that I've written this, it probably should have been a totally separate post. With words of wisdom from artists for explaining the concept.

Ah I see...very interesting. Posting it here is perfectly fine. There are all sorts of things like golden mean in decorating and color formulas as you mentioned which lend a room an especial attraction which a novice like me can't put a finger on ... instead for me it resides in the "I know I like it when I see it." But I love learning about such things...it helps educate my eye and my brain. Thanks!

A day for herbs and spices

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[Contemporary Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2103) by Laguna Beach Interior Designers & Decorators Michael Fullen Design Group

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[Modern Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2105) by Minneapolis Photographers Don F. Wong

Technicolor, I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the proportions. Thanks for posting all that. It's going to take a few go-rounds for me to work through it.

I honestly can say I wish it were as easy for me to apply all this to my own space as it is to pick out pictures of what Others have put together and matching it to a design seed.
The proportion thing has always been tricky for me.

Even though I can see the concept in photos posted, this doesn't mean it is easy for me to follow in personal decor either. I am loving all the photos and color options...some of which are outside of my normal comfort level. Suspect Annie is far beyond in skill with all. And think it is great so many are jumping in with their own. Great learning experience and appreciate her taking so much time teaching us.

Thank you for the kind words, but hardly skilled...I just like colors...too much sniffing the box of crayolas when I was a kid!
;)

To me, color combos can be as delicious as a hot fudge sundae....feasts for the eyes instead of the gut. Maybe that should be my new diet plan! Every time I crave sweets, look at design seeds instead!

And mlweaving, you are doing a great job with the color and the rooms...thanks!

LOL Annie.
Totally OT, but that brings to mind the story of the woman who supposedly lost a lot of weight, close to 100lbs IIRC, by watching the movie Dirty Dancing. Evidently instead of eating she would just pop in the video again....
hmm, Design Seeds or movies, interesting weight loss strategies.

From the pictures you've posted here of your own home, on various threads it's obvious that you're talented at putting things together. Do you have a design background?

My experience with color comes from working with textiles and creating textiles. It's micro, whereas this home dec stuff is macro and I think it's harder to get it right.

No I don't have a design background at all, other than what I learned from watching Christopher Lowell or Lynette Jennings. But my mother was a sewist and she made all my clothes when I was growing up...I used to design my own wardrobe, pick fabrics, mix and match, and she'd make it for me. I was also allowed to decorate my room as I wished (including having the mattress on the floor in my "hippie" days) and it was great fun. I've always been sensitive to my environment and needed my surroundings to feel comfortable and be well balanced.

It's so funny as the principles for the exterior are the same as the interior, but somehow decorating porches and patios or landscaping are beyond me. Somehow I do so much better when the space is defined by walls.

I had a similar reaction when I was working on this house and had to select tile. I can walk into any fabric store, no matter how large, and feel quite comfortable despite the cacophony of pattern, texture, colors....but when I started selecting tile, I was confused and struggled with where to look and how to put it together. I realized it was because the fabrics are "done" but tiling a room is like designing the fabric...you are selecting the colors, the patterns, the textures to put together to create the "fabric" if you will. Once I realized that, I got a lot more comfortable and did better.

So I think applying your color, pattern, texture skills is the same thing, only in reverse...I had to learn to go small, you need to find a way to go big. Once you realize it's all the same thing, you'll be more comfortable with it.

so my exercise in design today trying to proportion the colors well
Yesterday's Design Seed

find a rug - which will be at bottom of this post as I can't get it to show here
{{gwi:1806107}}

Add a sofa and 2 chairs from Layla Grace
Add Alison Evans signature coffee table bowl

Add a sofa table (Kathy Kuo Home)

60% Blue, 30%"fog" and 10% green. I've had the hardest time with that 10% color. I think I've still got the lamps wrong.

here's one the pro's did

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[Contemporary Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2103) by San Diego Interior Designers & Decorators REGINA KURTZ

This post was edited by mlweaving_Marji on Sun, Nov 17, 13 at 10:48

Nice. When putting the room together, think about using accessories as that 10%...a picture, a pillow, a throw... and sprinkling it about the room so it makes sense. Putting the 10% in one item in one place typically does not. The rug you selected is lovely. But you've really created a terrific story board for your room. Well done!

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[Mediterranean Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/mediterranean-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2109) by Santa Cruz Media & Bloggers Shannon Malone

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[Traditional Family Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-family-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_720~s_2107) by Los Angeles Interior Designers & Decorators Annette English

The green in the bowl is wonderful. I would head there rather than the intense green. As mentioned before, the added color in design seeds throws me off.

I love the muted fabric design in last pic, Annie. And the color of that wall.