Happy Halloween 2023!

Happy Halloween to all my clients, subscribers, and regular readers! Here's a bit of inspiration for your spooky decorating urges...it's not too late to conjure up some atmosphere!

I hang cut up black trash bags in a fringe, as shown here. I also have a giant spider I hang from the eaves of my front porch. Colored lights go along way to conjuring up a mood of unease...use green tinted lights for a sickly tint. And ghosts cut out from translucent tracing paper taped to windows offer a chill.

You can use old frames from a thrift store painted black and glue on peat moss and twigs; tie branches and ripped cheesecloth to a chandelier; place a realistic looking skull on a pile of old books; drip red wax on white taper candles to make them "bleed."

Happy Halloween!

Sibling Patterns: Herringbone and Chevron

In the world of interiors, there can be so many names for so many different types of materials and patterns which can lead to confusion. A pair of patterns that, much like siblings who look alike, can be mistaken for one another are the herringbone and chevron. But there is one easy way to tell them apart.

Both patterns depend on strong diagonal lines. In the case of tile, shown in the photos below, or wood plank flooring, the planks or rectangular tiles will be placed at a diagonal. But it is how the ends are finished that determines which pattern it will be.

A herringbone pattern leaves the tile or plank as it is and simply lays them next to each other, without any cutting or adjustments. The staggered layout is reminiscent of a zipper's teeth...

Herringbone floor in bathroom by Fiorito Interior Design

By contrast, a chevron pattern is basically the same thing but with the ends cut at an angle so the join becomes a straight line instead of a staggered/overlapping intersection, like a herringbone.

Happy designing!