by Leona Gaita

Today from New York, Leona Gaita talks fashion and interiors. Leona—Interior Design Expert and Contributor—shares her inspiring ideas and advice, to help us enrich our homes and lives with beauty and elegance.

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Fashion Week, New York just flew through town. One of the strongest impressions left behind, coming from most of the major design houses, was a strong return to luxurious, comforting neutrals.

Neutrals are never out of style, but their prevalence this year was impossible to ignore. Maybe it has to do with the state of the world, or the stubbornly sluggish economy. Neutrals make us feel safe.

On the most basic level, they’re a good investment for wardrobe building. But on another level, they’re like the comfort food of fashion, and the same can be said of their use in interior design.

All fabrics shown are all from Duralee – available through designers and decorators.

This room photographed by David A. Land makes great use of an all neutral palette.

Here, multiple wood tones are mixed, providing a range of colors and textures. Not only MAY you mix wood finishes, with this type of palette, you really SHOULD do so.

 
With fabric color names like chocolate, coffee, toffee, chablis, champagne, and vanilla, who wouldn’t feel comforted?

Here again, there are probably a dozen wood tones and textures in this room by
SPI Design.

 
As with clothing, neutral furnishings are always a safe investment. I highly recommend choosing all neutrals for your big upholstered pieces.

In this timeless room by Betty Burgess (via Veranda) calm neutrals are punctuated with surfaces of gold, black, cognac toned woods and a myriad of periods and styles, creating a sense of both serenity and excitement.

So the key to designing a room with neutrals, is to BLEND WITH ABANDON! Styles, textures, periods, shapes. Sticking within the framework of neutrality will give you the freedom to mix it all up!

Have fun!!

Leona Gaita has an infectious enthusiasm for interior design that she shares with us, with her clients and with the readers of her popular blog, Gaita Interiors.

With a lifelong involvement in the fine arts and design, Leona designs for Gaita Interiors, a staple of the local community for over 40 years, serving Larchmont, Westchester County and the New York metropolitan area.