We are in a mood. A mood for dark paint! Though we are always game for all things light and bright, we can’t help but want to lean into the dark side. Deep, moody rooms have been making us feel all types of ways lately, and we are here for it! It feels soulful, ages with elegance, and can feel incredibly timeless. Dark paint is a great way to add drama to any space, yet it still pairs seamlessly with neutrals and bright whites. It can add depth and dimension while also providing a rich contrast against other design elements, like furnishings, fixtures, and textiles. We are total suckers for a dark hue paired with anything antiqued brass or reclaimed wood. Better yet, use a plaster or limewash finish, and we are talking about absolute textural heaven!
So if you are obsessing over these moody vibes as much as we are, you are in luck! We went on a deep dive and compiled a list of some of the best dark paints in the game. Take a little peek at some inspiring designers who are really doing the dark paint game right, and shop our favorite colors below.
Looking for a good way to light up your life? Well, you’ve come to the right place. When contemplating ways to enhance the ambiance of a room, lighting is easily one of the key players. In particular, one of the best ways to layer in elements of warmth and create mood is through accent lighting.
If you are looking for a quick and easy way to incorporate a calming and comforting environment at home, a table lamp might just be your answer. Table lamps are, of course, functional, but they also add an artistic decor element to any space. Pairing soothing light with a sculptural design component is a double win in our book.
Lucky for us, the options of lamps of all sorts these days come in quite an incredible range. Whether it be plaster, ceramic, rattan, or stone, the material and design style of your choice is out there, we promise! Go bold with statement shapes and scales, keep things classic with clean and timeless lines, or better yet, mix a few design styles for a beautifully dynamic home. So, whether it be in the entryway, living room, bedroom, or office space, check out our top picks in table lamps to add that extra layer artistic functionality to illuminate your home today.
Hi friends! We are back at it again, and boy oh boy do we have a good post for you today. You’ve probably seen us post our latest Coronado J Project on Instagram, and what a beauty she turned out to be! If you’ve been following us on social for a while now, you may have even seen us post a couple of snippets of this project during the construction phase, too. We have shared the during, the after, but we have yet to share the BEFORE. Yep, the time has come. We are showing you the before and after photos of our Coronado J Project right here, right now. It is mind-boggling, to say the least, so buckle up!
THE EXTERIOR
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This home has Old Spanish roots, so we wanted to stay true to that essence, but give it a major facelift and a breath of fresh life. We said bye-bye to the blue door and windows and modernized the home with black pops of contrast, a new and improved Spanish-style railing, and a new lantern over the door. We can’t talk about all that is new to this home without pointing out the addition to the upstairs. We teamed up with Christian Rice Architects to bring this house to great lengths, literally and figuratively. Not only did the home itself get some improvement, but the landscaping did, too. New plants, pavement, and a cozy fire pit can go a long way!
THE ENTRYWAY
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WOAH. Talk about a transformation! We made a few minor adjustments here. Just took down some walls, raised the ceilings, and some new hardwood flooring throughout – no big deal right? If only things were that easy! We added a powder bath underneath the staircase and added some built-in storage on the sidewall. We also gave the staircase a brand new railing which is probably one of our favorite features of the whole home.
THE GREAT ROOM
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For starters, we ousted the outdated furniture. We wanted to keep elements of the Old Spanish character, so we kept the beams on the ceiling but gave them a brand new paint job in black to create a modern, stark contrast against the white interior. The classic combination of black and white can really hit the spot! We took out the alcove shelving to keep things more clean and simplistic, and we restructured the archways to be less boxy and more curved and timeless. The window frames and fireplace got some upgrades, and we kept that big window in the front to allow all the natural light inside. Lastly, we topped it off with some beautiful furnishings to suit this family’s coastal, laid-back lifestyle.
THE BAR & DINING ROOM
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Drumroll, please… say hello to the new bar and dining room! This home bar has got to be one of our favorite design moments to date. Thanks to Mill Brothers Fine Woodworking Inc., we were able to bring our white oak vertical wall paneling dreams to life. It’s modern and minimal but with a punch of warmth and contrast. This millwork and shelving is a total showstopper in itself, but we aimed to keep materials rich and natural for an elevated and refined feel. A sleek marble bar with a waterfall edge paired with a brass foot rail and modern pendants really knows how to make a girl swoon! Fun fact about this bar space, our architect dream team, Christian Rice Architects, added some square footage to the home to make this space possible. If you look at the before photos, you will notice that this room was expanded to add in an extra archway from the great room into this bar and dining room and the beams on the ceilings were flipped to run parallel to the adjacent great room. Fun, fun!
AFTER
We leaned into a sleek and modern look for the dining area of this space. A light and bright base with some moody warmth and contrast for the win! As for that shared wall leading into the kitchen seen in the before photos, we busted that bad boy down to open things up into one big, functional floor plan.
THE KITCHEN
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Oof! Those before photos are rough on the eyes. The kitchen is one of the biggest transformations in the home and was entirely gutted. We knocked down the shared wall that housed the refrigerator, moved the fridge to the sidewall, and added a corner pantry. We moved the gas range, added a Portola hood for a plaster effect, and kept things clean and tidy with the vertical stacked backsplash in 2×8’s by Fireclay. Take a look at that kitchen island. Isn’t it a beauty? Did someone say black-stained oak? Yes, please!
THE FAMILY ROOM
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If we were to sum up this room into one word, it would be windows! We said goodbye to the dated built-ins and shelving and said hello to LaCantina doors and pretty windows. This family room serves as a sort of landing zone between the outdoor area and the kitchen. Our main goal here was to keep things feeling casual, ethereal, and airy.
THE BACKYARD
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This is what backyard dreams are made of! To entirely harness all that is good about San Diego weather, the whole back of the home was structured to have an indoor/outdoor flow. The unkempt grass and brick are gone, and in their place are a brand spanking new pool, casita, outdoor dining space, and custom sunken sofa and TV zone. Yeah, when we said this is what backyard dreams are made of, we weren’t joking!
A historic Spanish modern home for one beautiful family is now in the books! Did we mention this is only the downstairs? It’s the house that keeps on giving, but we are leaving it at that for today. If you want to see the full project, check out Coronado J on our projects page. See you next time!
It’s that time of the season where the sun is shining and fun times outdoors are to be had! Normally this time of year, we would be grabbing our beach tote and towel and living in the sand on the weekends, but you know how the story goes. San Diego beaches are closed for beach lounging at the moment, but that doesn’t stop us from spending time outside. During quarantine, we’ve all stayed cozied up inside practicing some new recipes and drinking far too much wine. Well, guess what friends, since the weather is heating up, it’s time to get the BBQ going, get the sangria flowing, and socialize with family and friends… using safe distance, of course!
It’s time to get reacquainted with our backyards and unveil all of the patio furniture. With the combination of being pent up indoors mixed with Memorial Day weekend fast approaching, we couldn’t think of a more ideal moment to focus on sprucing up your backyard and making it the perfect hangout spot. We’ve teamed up with AllModern and selected a few of our favorite pieces to create the ultimateoutdoor oasis. Pretty sure we all deserve to splurge on a little upgrade after the roller coaster ride of 2020.
AllModern is one of our go-to spots to source clean-lined, timeless furniture and décor. For our backyard design, we chose pieces that are classic and have a luxurious coastal feel, and of course, we stayed true to our love of soft neutrals. We are big fans of mixing materials, so the use of metal, wood, and woven elements just felt right. That knotted roping side on the coffee table paired with those clean, teak armchairs pretty much makes us feel like we are on vacation. Just add chips, guac, and a refreshing adult beverage, and we have ourselves the perfect summer’s eve!
Check out our backyard design, and shop the look below. Let’s get your outdoor scene ready for those warm nights of socializing at home!
Though we may not be able to wine and dine at a restaurant with friends, and we may not be able to move around outside as freely as we please during these times, we hope that this post dedicated to all things home outdoors gets you pumped up to celebrate the sun.
We have been busy over here at South Harlow with lots of exciting things in the works! One of those being our very own blog. We’re so excited to share design details, tricks of the trade, and our love of all things interiors with you all.
If you’ve been following us on the South Harlow and South Harlow HomeInstagram pages, you may have noticed a very sleek and modern new project of ours that has recently come into completion. We are here today to do an official project reveal of our Point Loma remodel, and we are spilling all the beans! We teamed up again with talented photographer, Samantha Goh, to snap some beautiful images of the kitchen, family room, and powder bath. So kick back, relax, and enjoy the tour.
T H E K I T C H E N
This project was a fun one! We got to flex our modern muscles, experiment with more color contrast, but still stayed true to our core design aesthetic. We really went for timeless, clean lines mixed with bold accent color for this kitchen. We worked with our contractor dream team over at Classical Kitchens for all of the cabinetry. So excited our client was keen for some flat-panel cabinet fronts giving this kitchen a clean and sleek feel.
To keep things neutral and soft, we chose oak flooring because you can never go wrong with light, hardwood flooring, am I right? The counters are quartz, a marble look-a-like, while cabinetry is painted in Benjamin Moore‘s “Cheating Heart” for some stark contrast. We pulled it together by adding warmth through the use of satin brass hardware from Schoolhouseand adding walnut finishes on the hood and open shelf. We stuck with a stainless steel range with brass collared knobs from JennAir.
One of our favorite design features in this kitchen has got to be the quartz kitchen island with a waterfall edge detail. It keeps the kitchen feeling fluid and open. We chose walnut barstools to tie into the walnut detailing spotted in other parts of the home. Matte white and brass pendants from Rejuvenation hang over the kitchen island providing for some fun accent lighting, while windows with custom Roman shades are nearby for daytime natural light.
We chose a stainless steel refrigerator from Sub-Zeroto match the range. To keep things sophisticated and clean, we went with Brizo‘s matte black and luxe gold pull-down faucet with arc spout. The pull-out spray wand in gold plays into our brass pops seen throughout the whole kitchen. We had to hone it all in and give this kitchen some life by styling in a few of our favorite South Harlow Homekitchen accessories.
The home has an open concept so that the kitchen and family room flow together into one communal space. The oak flooring and black cabinetry continue throughout the living space keeping the home cohesive. It was important for us to give this family room a subtle show stopper moment, so we gave the fireplace a little facelift with Moroccan zellige tiles in “Desert White” from Exquisite Surfaces.
Of course, we needed to maintain the color palette into the family room, so we added a custom built-in with quartz counters, media storage down below, and two additional walnut floating shelves. For the cozy family room feels to be in full-affect, we added in some plant life and South Harlow Homedecor pieces.
The powder bath was kept simple yet elegant. For the wall, we used 3″ x 12″ matte black subway tiles with contrasting grout to create a moody statement and bring attention to the herringbone pattern. The herringbone pattern creates movement and gives the feeling of vertically lengthening the wall in an overall small space. The vanity is a custom slab showcasing some caramel earth-toned perfection. A modern globe pendant from Shades of Light hangs overhead.
Delta Faucet for the win in here! We used their Trinsic wall mount faucet paired with the Trinsic towel ring, both in “Champagne Bronze”. Custom-built cabinetry lines the side wall for ample storage, and we spruced them up again with Schoolhouse hardware in natural brass. Lastly, we styled in some coastal-inspired artwork (we are in San Diego after all) coupled with a South Harlow Home vintage woven jug that our client snatched up and purchased immediately on site.
And just like that, our first ever blog post! We are so excited to share more projects, ideas, and designer insight here on the blog with you. We will be back in a few weeks with more excitement and content. Until then, thank you for reading and hope to see you soon!
