I have hit a decorating dead end. I own a tanning salon and I am in the process of adding another room for airbrush tanning. So because of the solution overspray situation I need to stick with a dark color. I have decided to go with a Mexican theme. Dark brown (terra cotta) color or green walls? I've already purchased some Mexican theme wall prints. I'm not sure if I should texture paint the walls. I also need some ideas for more unique decorating ideas to pull the theme together. The room is 9'-10' w/no windows.
I'm not sure about texturing, although I think it fits with the theme. Have you tried the Oriental Trading Company or a local party store? You might be able to find some reasonably priced decorations there.
If you could find one of those big, colorful striped Mexican-style blankets, that would help pull the room together. You might even be able to find some that are washable.
What about a couple of large 'cacti' about 5' tall. Cut some cacti outlines out of thin board with a jigsaw and paint. Attach a stand to the base at the back so they stand up right - and hang a sombrero or two on them. Or attach them to the wall - or just paint them straight onto the wall away from the 'spraying area'.
Regards
Jo
Here's my perspective as a designer: Darker paint color is practical, but go with the terra cotta color, not green. Dark green is oppressive without sunlight, so terra cotta would be a better choice for a windowless room. Avoid the texture paint -- you need to be able to clean the walls occasionally. Plus, you can never get rid of the texture once you put it on. Figure out which wall will be the focal point of the room, (probably the one facing the door), do something high impact on that wall, and do very little on the other walls. It's a pretty small room, so avoid clutter and don't have decorative items on the floor -- just the walls. I would suggest: a large, tonal mexican blanket hung on the focal wall for maximum impact, and mexican prints to take up the "blank space" on one or two other walls. Make sure the prints, blanket, and paint colors work together (lay them all together and look to see if anything clashes).
it would be really cute if you could find some sombreros and a stamp of a chili pepper, putting these together with the cacti and painted walls are a sure fire way to start a fiesta!
If you are going to decorate a spray tan room I wouldn't! I have a spray tan room. IT will need to be painted brown because there will be over spray everywhere. Caltan Suggests you paint it brown almost the same color as the spraytan.
Terra cotta color walls sound great, do not do the serapes, unless you are planning to serve food. Texturing the wall, sort of a Monterrey finish is very nice, what prints do you have? Hopefully, Frieda Kahloe type or something. No Zapata or anything like that. Use silver mirrors or gilded gold and they have beautiful star shape chandeliers that you can hang in different sizes. They can be wired for lights or not. I have white fairy lights in mine. Lots of wooden candle holders with gazing balls on them would also be nice. The sarapes on the floors also would be nice.
go to walldecorshops.com
There you can find palm tree murals for the wall. They look fantastic on the walls, and are really inexpensive.
you might like this idea ,take an old window and fit it to an old dresser drawer.with hinges.create a shadow box add shelves and possibly. a self adhesive light . fill with mexican decorations also cover the background with a mexican flag .find some flamigo dancers statues ,castanets,our lady of gaudalupe figurine.sitting siesta senors. burros.
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I am remodeling my kitchen and want to do the decor in a Mexican theme. I would like some suggestions on what colors to go with on the counter tops, cabinets and wall/trim paint.
Hi, My sister lives in El Paso TX and has quite the "mexican theme" to her kitchen. They have many Mexian friends and additions to the family now. Anyway, depending on your "cost allowance" here's some ideas. For walls, stay an off white more to the brown like ivory or eggshell. It's the easiest to go with and most are like that. You'll see that in Mexican restaurants too. Now for courntertops.. they did a smooth formica kind of thing (no bumpy stuff, too hard to clean all those little grooves for a kitchen daily) corian (sp?) is great but expensive, either way a sand look or very slightly marblised pattern is great.
You're not Margo's friend Joni are you?
I have several Mexican friends and they LOVE bright bold colors. Do your walls in softer colors and use other things to accent in bright bold colors, or if you aren't afraid of a lot of color, pick two or three colors and paint your walls or cabinets, table, etc. You can find plastic chili peppers in bundles at Walmart near the silk flowers and fruit.
I would stay away from anything too "kitchy" or "cute"...after a few months, you amy want to change it up a bit, but you'll be stuck.
Countertops/Floors-terracotta tiles are expensive, but are SO mexican in a timeless. beautiful way...contact local tile retailers and wholesalers and ask the to save broken terracotta tiles for you...they can't sell them anyway, and if you're very sweet about it, they'll be happy to oblige. You can also request any broken hand-painted or imported tile.
Once you have enough to cover the countertop (or floor), sand the formica surface lighly, then slap on a coat of primer (no one will see this, so it doesn't need to be a work of art.Break all the larger pieces with a hammer, apply tile adhesive to the counter top (and perhaps the back of the tile) and arrange your mosaic...random is good, because it's easy...don't overthink it...you WANT rustic imperfection! Let the adhesive set, grout with dark colored grout, and seal the whole thing SEVERAL TIMES with sealer. If your countertops are straight, buy a simple piece of moulding and trim the edge with it. If they're curved, you can use iron-on wood veneer to trim the edges.
Windows-use simple bamboo/woodstick blinds. If you're itching for kitch, you can hang chili pepper string lights as a valance...fun, cheap, and easy to remove when you get sick of it.
Walls-Borrow a mere cup or two of paint from a friend who's wall color you admire (almost anything will work with the terra-cotta tile), make a very watery mix (3 or 4 to one) for a rustic, sheer, pretty finish. Use a large sponge, and just swoosh it on. Again, don't overthink. You want imperfection. I personall prefer just a freah "designer's white", but color choice is so personal!
Thrift shop for dinnerware that says "mexican" to YOU...don't worry about authenticity.
I could go on forever, but I'll stop here. Have fun!!
I have been thinking of altering the exterior look of my home to give it a German Theme appearance.
Where does one begin searching for architectural ideas?
I own a small one floor bungalow.
Eric,
We added this as a Reader's Request:
painted yellow with blue put saying from the heart like comadre saying just make it look from your soul I have my kitcken is yellow and blue I have saying on signs wood that I have made anyway my email is comadechingona @yahoo.com might want to look at becerrastudios.com also
Hi,
A couple of years ago we embarked upon installing the fan hood in our small kitchen with sloped ceiling, the entire upper cabinet had to be removed to install a beam. Not much money to do alot so we recycled and planed down the boards of cabinet. Settled for the used, rustic look. Painted the back walls turquoise blue and installed yellow pine open cabinet shelves in the step step pattern to flow along the sloped ceiling. The blue back drop with the yellow pine worked nicely. Recently got new appliance, black fridge and black and stainless stove. The black fridge stood out quite vivid. I played it down with red striped guatemalan blanket draped across the top and side with a terra cotta pitcher with sunflowers, basket, and gourd. I put a mexican art work on the upper door of fridge. Decorate with bright hues of red blue yellow, orange. Sites will tell you that bubble gum pink and lime is also festive but I am not into that. Splashes of bold colors are what makes it festive. I plan to put christmas light along the ceiling for extra lighting.
I bought colorful plates and hung them inside the open shelves to bring in colors along with my dishes.
I am seeing bright bold colors in dishes and accesories in Pier I and Target.
Good luck
Charolett Nolte pcnolte@sbcglobal.net
I am conservative and don't have clutter. Due to my deaf/blindness, I had to change my lifestyle and get rid of clutter. But I love what I have done.
after we came back from our trip to Akumal, Mex, my husband and I wanted to keep a little bit of the Mayan Rivera with us. Connect the two parts of our hotel was a shopping/nightly gathering place called Hacienda Dona Isabella (sp?). The colors were vibrant: blues, yellows, oranges, greens, reds. We decided to do our kitchen in the orange "stone wall" look. we started with a very very light orange base (like a white paint mixed with 1 part orange for 3 parts whites). After that dried, we used the terra cotta orange thinned with glazed. my husband brushed it one in sections of about two sq ft and i followed using a natural sea spong to "dab" excess of. The effect is amazing. we get hundreds of compliments on the work we've done. when the sun shines in the kitchen in the morning the room looks like it's on fire - reminding us of the warm tempatures in Mexico. We are lucky that our counters didn't need to be changed as they already look like brown and black granite; with the black appliances that we picked out for our home it was a great contrast to the walls. We were even lucky that the lino that we picked out when we bought our house four years ago, looks like 12 inch stone tiles with grey grout lines - they're textured so they look pretty real. the only way to really tell the difference is by walking one them with bare feet - its' not cold like tile. The kitchen is warm and cozy. So we got daring now and have done a polyensian (sp?) look in our living witha indoor water wall fountain and bambo around the entire room w/ palm trees...it's like our little oasis in the north (Calgary, AB, Canada)
Some great designs that I've seen have beautiful cobalt blue tile countertops. Consider bringing in a rich yellow on the walls or cabinets. Then a third color like green or red used more minimally can really pop as an accent (hand towels, curtains, etc.).
I am thinking of decorating my rec room with a Mexican theme. Can you give some tips and how to's on furniture color and accessories that are somewhat inexpensive.
Thanks
Michelle
You don't mention what part of the country you are in, but if you're anywhere near Mexico, cross the border and get a bunch of serapes. They're usually about $10-$12 (haggle, haggle, haggle). These are great to throw over the backs of couches, ottomons and for use as table covers. Check ebay and see if anyone is selling some.
My friend did her whole house in a Mexican flavor and here are some of her ideas: check out a local Mexican restaurant that has "theme" furniture. My friend found two great chairs and a table from their cocktail lounge that had seen some wear (they're leather, so it looks good), but were still in great shape. They were getting ready to change out the furniture and sold them to her for next to nothing. Also, big paper flowers on your iron valences (you can get adjustable ones at Ikea or Target) look great, even if you have mini blinds or some other "non-theme" window covering. I would personally use a plain shade that can be lowered at night for privacy and use an iron rod draped with a bright serape/blanket. Tuck a couple of paper flowers in the ends to give it a little more punch.
My girlfriend had a plain wooden armoire for her TV, so she painted it herself in a flowered motif similar to Mexican pottery. She included her pets in the painting and it looks great! You can do a sunburst, or some other type of Mayan decor. Check out the web under "images" and see what pops up that piques your interest.
She went all out and re-textured her walls herself for a rough, stucco finish. Her husband laid pavers inside. Outside, they had a plain cement patio, so she cleaned it really well, painted it terra cotta and drew on lines in a pale mustard color so that it looks like pavers. It really does look good! You could pull up your carpet and expose the slab for the same kind of look. Or keep your carpet and lay a bunch of the serapes as throw rugs.
Strip your current coffee table down to bare wood or check the thrift stores for one that will work. You can paint a flower motif like your armoire if you like, or leave it bare. Iron standing candleholders and an iron chandelier or sconces would be great.
Start your succulent collection and use them around the room as decor. Cactus is hard to have inside, but succulents need bright indirect sun, so they're good indoors. Bright Mexican pottery (good drainage is necessary so drill holes in the bottom if they're not already there) is a great accent.
If you have a plain couch, you're set. Otherwise, make or buy a plain slipcover that you can accent with blankets and throw pillows. A wooden futon frame is great, as the rustic wood fits in well with the decor.
Have fun!
Pam
