The Dog Days of Summer

The ancient Greeks and Romans marked the time of the year when the Sirius star, a part of the constellation Canis Major, rises before the sun. The word Sirius translated means “Scorcher” and the word Canis Major translated means “Greater Dog”. The terms have been congealed and modernized through time to become “The Dog Days of Summer”. These are the days that are the hottest from about mid-July to late August, give or take a few days. If you have not noticed we are in “The Dog Days of Summer”! The wonderful thing about these hot days in Florida is cool air conditioning and being inside. Since everyone is staying in, they are looking at the inside of their homes and thinking, why don’t I fix up the house? The extra money in everyone’s pocket from not going on a cruise leaves money for flooring, countertops, crown molding, and finally buying that new couch. Let’s take a peek at an unknown model to see how a few new things offered a visual pick me up somewhere in the heart of The Villages.

• Paint
This model is not made any more. Though I have been in these homes for 17 years, I could not find anything that the floor model resembled from the current model choices. The home still had the original paint from the construction which was at least 17 plus years ago. Needless to say the new owners wanted to paint. They chose Popular Gray 6071 which is a brown based gray that is warm and inviting rather than cold. This gray is neutral and very up to date as a highly requested color and one that I believe will not go out of style.

• New Flooring
The house had four different types of flooring throughout. The long and wide tiled foyer ended at an odd long angle leading into the living room. When walking down the long foyer there were three floor coverings in the site line and since the homeowners were updating, the flooring had to change. However, the homeowners did not want to tear up tile. After thoughtful consideration and guidance the homeowners settled on vinyl planking throughout the home. One flooring throughout the body of the home is always a great look. Vinyl would work so great in this house because it could be installed over all of the existing tile and transition seamlessly to the concrete that was carpet. The vinyl planks where a tannish color with a gray wash and they looked great with the popular gray. Both flooring and paint combined made the house look new again.

• New couch
Not only was the room very challenging on furniture placement but the homeowners purchased a new and very large sectional. The homeowners could not find a better place to set the sofa except right in front of the TV. The sectional is lovely and I love the charcoal grey leather, however be aware that if you purchase a sectional you lose the functionality of side tables and lamps. We were able to place a small side table on each end which the homeowners loved.

• New TV
The homeowners purchase a new 85 inch TV! It is big but the picture is amazing! The TV works in the space because the room is long and the TV is far away from the couch. The new console below the TV is a fireplace in which the flames rise through crushed glass.

• Royal blue chairs
Since the living room was long and narrow with a large sectional, there was very little room for extra chairs. However, the living room TV wall was exceptionally long. Since we could not place extra chairs in the living room we placed them near the living room on the long wall. We created a little seating vignette using two royal blue chairs with a table in the middle and a lamp. To pull the eye up, we hung a gold clock with exposed gears above chairs. All the items combined looked like a reading nook on the long wall just outside the living room. The chairs are light enough to pick up and move into the space when needed.

• Rugs
The living room needed a beautiful statement rug and we found one. The rug is an 8×10 and looks like a large swirl of color that pops off the living room floor. The living room looks into the enclosed lanai where we added a second powerful rug with large palm leaves in hues of blue. I like the combination of different rugs but in the same colors.

• Alan Maltz
Powerful art was needed in the living room and Alan Maltz had the goods. When you enter the home and walk down the long foyer the wall that is staring back at you is a large wall beside a set of sliders. There was no room for furniture so we wanted substantial art that did not take up space. The picture titled, “Between Two Palms” had brightness and all the colors that we needed to impress from the front door.

• Warm gold accents
If you have not noticed gold is back! Not the shiny gold of the eighties but brushed gold and I love it! Brushed gold adds warmth that silver and brushed nickel does not and it looks so rich in a space. The homeowner was able to find lots of little touches from colored glass to warm gold lamps to pull the space together. If you have brushed nickel finishes in your home don’t be afraid to add warm gold here and there. Gold and silver look great together.

P.S. –Attention all club presidents! We give free decorating seminars. It is lots of fun and very informative. Call and schedule your club today. Also, we are on-line check out our web-site at www.ruthdyer.com and you can always e-mail us at ruth@finishingtouchfl.com or Call Ruth your full service decorator at 352-804-2056.

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