Tips's from a Color Specialist

One of my best discoveries was the talented e decorator Venessa De Vargas. I wrote this piece for Glamour.com last year but wanted to remember all of her tips and share them with you.
I came across Venessa's store Turquoise out in LA. I’m beyond obsessed with its creator, the oh-so-fashionable, E-decorator Vanessa De Vargas, who does all of her decorating virtually. Yes, believe it. You send her photos of your home and/or inspirations and she sends you links to cool furniture, paint colors, and a plan on how to pull it all together. Vanessa has even helped the owner of the boutique Pink Mascara (in Irvine, CA) choose furniture for her store. Of course, being a “recessionista” is all about achieving maximum glam without spending gazillions of dollars and Vanessa’s tips definitely do the trick.

Here's Vanessa (looking super-chic in her yellow shift) and below, her rules for re-creating a room:


Paint
Wearing bright colors doesn’t have to stop with your clothes—your home can (and should) wear them too. And, like you’re white T’s, white walls get old fast. Believe it or not, Vanessa gets a lot of her color ideas from the lines of her favorite designers (she loves Marc Jacobs and Trina Turk). Of course, in honor of her store, I had to know Vanessa’s favorite turquoise. Turns out it’s Fairytale Blue from Benjamin Moore.


Other amazing blues from Benjamin Moore that she recommends:
Seafoam
Cool Aqua
Serenity Light Blue

And for the perfect bright green, Vanessa loves Spring Meadow, which is both refreshing and calm.

Lacquer
Lacquer your furniture to give it punch (but don’t do it yourself!) Sort of like makeup for your furniture, right?
Vanessa’s favorite colors to lacquer?
For chair legs and desks: black and white gloss
For the bright effect: a chinese red called Chili Pepper, Kelly Green, or Traffic light green.



Key Pieces
Just like certain accessories can change your entire look (Vanessa loves affordable pieces like these from Banana Republic), key pieces in your home can totally alter the feel of a room. Vanessa’s tip? Find key pieces for each room that make a statement and get noticed.

Her go-to sites, linked to her favorite pieces from each:
Ikea
Vanessa likes this in yellow
Room and Board

Burke Decor

Oly Studio
Rugs
You wouldn’t leave the house without a fabulous pair of shoes to pull your look together, so why leave the floors of your home bare?

Vanessa’s favorite pieces from her one-stop carpet shops?
Overstock .com

West Elm

So, does Vanessa's personal style influence her interior decorating? She says: "Totally! I wear tons of vintage and mix it up with more modern pieces. For instance, I'll take an old vintage puffy shoulder shirt and mix it with a pair of black straight leg pants and a Louis Viutton belt. Or, I'll take a long vintage dress and have it hemmed into a mini, adding a big black belt and great heels."

So, on that note, I have to ask, where do you get your inspiration for decorating?

Photos: Courtesy of VanessaDeVargas, Fairytale Blue: Benjamin Moore
by Suze Yalof Schwartz