Guest Blogger | Jamie Herzlinger

A few weeks ago I was flipping through the pages of Adore Home Magazine and fell in love the beautiful spaces featured on pages 55 – 66. Being a design enthusiast, I saved the photos for my own inspiration files and for potential blog material. Fast forward 2 weeks, I received an email from Jamie inquiring about my little ‘ol blog. Wouldn’t you know, the spaces I was admiring just a few weeks earlier where the works of her design magic - how weird is that? Needless to say, I’m thrilled to have Jamie as my first ever guest blogger, please welcome Jamie Herzlinger, from Jamie Herzlinger Interiors.

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I am so excited today to be guest blogging for Wendy seeing as I am completely obsessed with her blog! My name is Jamie Herzlinger and I am an interior designer with firms in Scottsdale and New York, and I am also a blogger myself. Since it the beginning of the New Year I thought I would share some design trends that I have seen progressing and that I think will really blow up this year.

Styles have really become popular recently. Actually, design styles have been around since the start of time beginning with the Egyptians that originated their own style. What I really mean to say is that people have recently become more cognoscente of style. Style characteristics seem to be more widely recognized and with the current craze of online magazines and even social media, brands are beginning to associate themselves with very specific styles. I am sure you have noticed that Traditional Home doesn’t just feature “traditional” interiors. Some times it can get pretty comical seeing the style names that editors come up with like “cozy rustic chic” or “soft romantic contemporary”… um what!?

Despite the multitude of style names that are out there, I have found there is a relatively small pool of styles that the public is attracted to and you see designers repeating those same styles again and again. After all of my observations of 2010 I think that I have come up with the top three styles that people are loving and will be totally hot for 2011.

Warm Modern: There will always be a love for the clean and simplicity that is associated with modern interiors, but people right now are not loving that cool and edgy feeling that once was popular. The answer is warm modern with combines the straight lines with a warm color palette. In this picture of a bedroom I recently completed, you can see the strong use of warm woods. Modern is not know for a large exploration of color so what I am finding is that designers are substituting direct color in the form of paint for tonal color in the form of material choices. Although not typical to modern, warm modern can feature more natural materials like wood and natural stone. One specific stylistic quality is a white (or almost white) wall. These white walls create a backdrop for furnishings and materials to make the statement. White walls really open up a space and create a bright and clean feeling.

You can see warm modern being used by designers like Vicente Wolf, Kelly Wearstler and Waldo Fernandez.

above… Jamie Herzlinger Interiors

Classical Modern: Classical modern is probably the hottest style around right now. Classical modern is not really a branch of modern at all but rather an interpretation of classical design. Classical design is pretty ambiguous since “classical” has made so many transitions through the years, but for the most part you can expect classical to refer to design from the renaissance to the Greco-roman revival. This large span of history is when people were looking retrospectively to the work of the Romans and Greeks and manifesting those styles to fit contemporary needs. Classical modern takes those stylistics characteristics of classical and modernizes it in the form of design finishes. If you look at this photo here you can see that many of the forms are of classical nature but the materials and finishes are modern. I have found that many people are nostalgic and find comfort is historic aesthetic.

You can see classical modern being used by designers like Victoria Hagan, Steven Gambrel and Katie Ridder.

above… Jamie Herzlinger Interiors

Hip Traditional: Although sometimes confused with classical modern, hip traditional is a prominent design style as well. Hip traditional takes traditional and modern elements and combines them in a fusion of styles. Unlike classical modern which modernizes classic elements, hip traditional lets the unique styles speak individually and collaboratively. This first image is of my own dining room. As you can see I the traditional table and drapery have been combined with modern lucite chairs and chandelier to create a funky unified interior. Hip traditional encourages bold color use and statement accessories.

You can see hip traditional being used by designers like Eric Cohler, Miles Redd and Stephen Sills.

above… Jamie Herzlinger Interiors

Although you’re not an expert on all the styles out there, at least now you have an understanding of some of the most popular. Keep an eye out for these styles online and in your favorite design magazines. Take inspiration from the designs and use some of the style characteristics in your home. Thanks for having me!

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Great inspirational photos and some great insight… thanks Jamie! I encourage you to visit her website and of course, her blog.