Today's guest post is by Jaime Derringer, Founder and Executive Editor of the popular design blog, Design Milk.  

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I’ve always struggled with color. As you can tell from my website, Design Milk, I love everything black, white and gray so you’re probably wondering what I’m doing writing about color? Well… surprise! I love color! I know you wouldn’t expect it based on my site’s palette, but I’m a huge fan of just about every shade, hue and pigment out there. I’m especially fond of all things multicolor, bold and vibrant.

When I was initially designing my website, I struggled with whether I should add color. I went through quite a few options and couldn’t make up my mind. I realized that no matter what accent color or color palette I chose, I’d eventually end up changing my mind, so I opted for no color at all to let the photos in the content become the colorful stars of the site.

Nothing makes a color pop more than against a black and white background, so I thought it might be fun to look at some colors that I could have used on my website in addition to black and white. Since Design Milk is a blog all about design, what better way to share color than through design?

BLACK, WHITE + YELLOW

Like a bumblebee? Yes! But, um, no. This gorgeous black, white and yellow kitchen looks nothing like a bee! Image from Colorama.

BLACK, WHITE + RED

Wow – there’s nothing like a giant piece of red glass as your backsplash to make a huge impact. This design is by Neil Lerner Designs.

BLACK, WHITE + GREEN

This image, from the IKEA catalog, shows how dramatic a wall color can be.

BLACK, WHITE + ORANGE

Sometimes simple pops of color aren’t enough and you need to create pattern. Image from Blount Design.

BLACK, WHITE + HOT PINK

This bedroom from Elle Décor, is a beautiful example of how hot pink accents can change a room’s vibe. If the pink accents had been navy or beige, just think about how different this room would look and feel.

There are thousands of different ways you can design a website, the options are rather endless in fact. Color palettes, placement, design and branding all come into effect in the same space, so it is important for there to be a cohesive theme throughout. Sometimes we can get stuck in how to design the perfect site for your purposes. So here are a few lesser seen ideas that are sure to inspire your next design.

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How cool is the design behind "loom". This design is very simple with a simple menu to the left and a majority of the page taken up by just one image. It is definitely a different approach from some sites that choose to fill up the homepage with different messages and directions for the viewer. Of course, it depends on the amount of content the site has to offer, but I love the simplicity of a design like this.

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Design Sponge continues to be one of the best resources out there for home decor. This is a perfect example of a site that has so many different directions that could take their readers to, depending on what the reader is looking for. This is a simplified way to show snippets of what the site can offer to readers depending on their needs.

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Here are a few interesting and different designs that you just don't see every day.

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This wedding website is fabulous from top to bottom. Everything from the color palette to the typography choices fit perfectly with the style and feel of the couple. Sometimes shapes and interesting typography can go a long way.

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This whole site from top to bottom is well thought out and well put together. Everything from the font choices to the branding are simple yet effective for this company. I happen to be an ever growing fan of darker more textured backgrounds with bold white font, and this is a great example of that look being done just right.

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There are so many great design trends right now, which look do you like best?

We first want to send a big Thank You to the over 4,000 people who created a FLOR pattern and entered our FLOR design contest! There are so many awesome designs entries and today we are excited to choose the winner who will be sprucing up their home (or any area they choose) with a little FLOR color.

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Before announcing the big winners, we want to let you know that FLOR is offering all of you COLOURlovers a great offer if you want to make your FLOR design a reality in your home. Use coupon code COLOUR15p at FLOR.com or though the call center (866-281-3567) and receive FREE SHIPPING on your order. This coupon code expires on Friday, March 30, 2012 so hurry and place your order soon. *Free shipping is for domestic US only, excludes Alaska & Hawaii.

Visit FLOR.com or a FLOR Store near you and turn your rug into a reality.

FLOR has always been an innovator and a pioneer. We care about our planet and its future and seriously consider our eco-footprint in everything we do. That includes what happens when FLOR has lived its useful life. FLOR has developed what is revolutionary in the residential carpet industry - a Return & Recycle Program. Once your FLOR rug has lived a long and full life ship your rug back (FLOR foots the shipping bill) and FLOR recycles every piece of your rug so it can be reused to create a brand new FLOR rug.

And now, for the winner of the FLOR Facebook contest. Congratulations to Silvia Carra who will be receiving a 6 tile FLOR rug!

The winner of the FLOR design contest is the person who received the most "love" votes on their rug design. The $500 FLOR gift card goes to "Dream Weave" by Origamimei with 73 votes.

The second place winner is for the design that received the second most "love" votes on their design entry. The $100 FLOR gift card goes to "Sun on the Sea" by Pennington with 69 votes.

Thanks again to everyone who entered and everyone who voted. We hope you had some fun designing with FLOR these past 2 weeks.

Happy  St. Patrick's Day! If you need a few ideas of how to spend this holiday with your family, we have some great ideas for you whether you are looking for a great brunch, dessert ideas or crafts with the family. Get in the green spirit and let's celebrate St. Paddy's Day just right.

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These self-labeled drinks are a fun way to spruce up your St. Paddy's Day party. These little details will definitely be noticed by your friends and family.

Source: Lucky Brew, Bottles

Here are a few craft ideas you can do with the family today. A 4 leaf clover yarn wreath is a fun way to spruce up a door.

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Here are a couple of fun ideas for the kids to get busy on Saturday. A fun way to make clovers with your finger print, will have the kids making art work for hours. Check out this free Printable to spruce up for home for this holiday. And hey, its a great piece to have around for a lot longer than just one day.

Source: Clover Craft, Printable

And now we get to the most fun part of the day, ways to spruce up your meals on St. Patrick's Day. Green pancakes are the best way to get in the spirit of the holiday. And who doesn't love Lucky Charms, this is a great way to get excited with some green milk and a Leprechaun's favorite cereal.

Source: Pancakes, Cereal

These treats are perfect for a dinner party or just for a family meal. Homemade Jello Ice Cream sounds like the greatest idea ever doesn't it? And when you mold them into clovers, they are even better.

Source: Bun Pizza, Jello Ice Cream

Taking it to dessert, we have a few fun ways to spruce up sweet treats for a festive approach to this year's St. Patrick's Day. From layered cake to brownie bites, there are plenty of ways to eat dessert in St. Paddy's Day style.

Source: Cake, Brownies

Check out this spread from a St. Paddy's bash. This dessert bar has a variety of different green treats and some great treat cards to boot.

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What do you have planned for St. Patrick's Day this year? Any festive ideas you have planned this year?

FLOR's vibrant color palette is woven throughout dozens of patterns and textures to provide you with a rich experience when designing your rug. As great as the online FLOR builder tool is, FLOR stores are opening across the country, allowing you to design your rug in person and experience the ultimate toe test. FLOR design consultants are available in store and you can bounce your ideas off of them during a consultation. New York, Chicago, LA, Atlanta, Dallas and Houston are already covered. And if you live in San Francisco, Boston or Georgetown, keep your eyes open because FLOR is coming your way.

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On Tuesday we announced a Facebook contest. We are extending the contest and upping the ante. FLOR is offering a 6 tile rug to the winner (who will be randomly chosen). To enter, simply like FLOR on Facebook and answer this question on their wall, "My favorite FLOR color is "_____".

Entries for the FLOR Design Your Rug contest on COLOURlovers is officially closed. If you didn't get the chance to enter, don't worry, you can still help one fellow COLOURlover win this fabulous prize. If you did create a FLOR design, now is the time to promote it and get as many votes as you can!

Head over to the entries page and vote for your favorites.

To vote, hit the "love this" button on the entry page. Not only will you help one lucky COLOURlover win, you are sure to get inspired with all the different patterns and designs people came up with. The one with the most likes will receive the grand prize from FLOR which is a $500 gift card to purchase their very own rug.

Thanks for those that have participated in the Scavenger Hunt thus far. Here are some of the great palettes COLOURlovers created from FLOR designs. Read up on the guidelines and create your own palette with a FLOR rug as your inspiration.

One lucky winner will be announced soon so make sure you vote for your favorite entries. In the meantime, check to see if there is a FLOR store near you so you can experience FLOR right in your hands.

There are so many ways to treat paper to give it that extra pizazz. One great way to give paper products that extra kick is by embossing the text or the design to make it that much more interesting. Embossing is the art of raising paper for a decorative touch and these embossed designs will give you some great inspiration for anything from design to branding.

This article is presented by the glossy booklet printing company, Next Day Flyers.

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Embossing text is a great way to allow the text to be read while remaining the same color. From wedding invitations to business cards, this is a fabulous treatment that can be added for a different look to any piece of paper.

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Wedding invitation design can be done in plenty of different ways, and embossing is a fabulous way to do something a little different with the invites for your big day.

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Everything from an embossed logo to embossing shapes can add a little something special to your branding. This technique can be done with so many different designs to make your paper products a little extra special.

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Aside from getting paper embossed customly, it is also something any crafter could do very easily to give paper a little something special. Below is a great example of getting a custom stamp made and easily raising the ink to make it a little more special. Not only that, the colors and designs are endless!

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Flowers, Logo

Branding is a very important part of any business, and putting a little extra money into creating something memorable will definitely go far when it comes to the first impressions of that company. Here are some great ways that logos and branding collateral are done just right with the embossed touch.

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No matter how you use the technique of embossing, the added touch will definitely be noticed and your brand, wedding invitations or just about anything else will be fabulous and awesome with embossed typography.

Have you submitted your design in the FLOR design contest? If you haven't done that yet make sure you do, a $500 gift card to FLOR is on the line for the person with the most love votes!

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Today we have a few pretty cool things going on to brighten up your Monday a little bit. A mini FLOR contest with a 2 FLOR tile up for grabs and a Color Hunt Challenge.

FLOR rugs not only give you the chance to design your own pattern but also to have a colorful and creative statement in any room. And get this, it is practical too. FLOR is easy to assemble and maintain. These awesome "FLOR dots"  keep your rug together and sturdy at all times, no matter what you have going on at home. And get this, if you have a spill, simply lift up the tile, rinse it in the kitchen sink, let it dry and place it back into your rug. How incredibly easy is that?

The Challenge: FLOR Color Hunt

And now here is your challenge, that is, if you choose to accept it:

2. Go to Flor.com 
3. Hunt for a 5-color palette entry. You can combine various rugs into a set.
4. Create a color palette for those five items on COLOURlovers.com (Basic | COPASO | FROM A PHOTO).
5. Post the images of the items and the palette in the comment section to this post.

Parallel Reality Rug:

Ready, Set, GO! Find those colors on Flor.com and comment what you came up with below.

The Contest: Connect on Facebook

Today through Thursday FLOR is hosting a mini Facebook contest. The prize up for grabs is a 2 tile rug from FLOR. The winner will be randomly selected on Thursday. Here is how it works:

• Go to the Flor Facebook Page
• Click "like"
• Comment your answer to this question on their Facebook Page: "My favorite FLOR color is ______" (fill in the blank)

Good luck COLOURlovers!

Its isn't very often that you see color like this in neighborhoods, but those that have the opportunity to create something like this are pretty darn lucky. Sure, we can paint our doors fun colors, but often times people don't go far as to paint the exterior bold colors like as pink or red.

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Aside from the fact that this is some inspiring curb appeal, these color palettes are also just as inspiring.

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I love this public staircase, if only more cities did things like this. There are a variety of ways you can paint front doors, but I'm partial to this bold mustard yellow color.

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What great branding this business has with such a great colorful exterior.

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Shutters of every color? Now this is some fabulous curb appeal right here. How totally fabulous, right?

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A little curb appeal is always nice and definitely inspires both indoor and outdoor looks to any home. And when your home inspires, you can do a whole lot more.

Color-blocking has become all the rage in fashion these days. As far as handbags go, designers are following suit by offering their most popular designs in a variety of hit colors of the season. These choices allow you to spruce up any look, and add that pop of color in any of your favorite outfits.

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These bags are not the only ones to fall in line with this new trend, no matter the price point, the designer or the look you want, you will find a variety of colors popping up in your favorite bag. With spring just around the corner, this is a great piece to lighten up your winter wardrobe.

Source: Balenciaga

We are excited to team up with FLOR for such a fun & creative contest. "I've been a fan of FLOR for a long time now, and when I was remodeling my home office I figured it was about time to put some color under my feet. All day when I'm working, my chair sits on this color inspiration... Now I need to cover the rest of the floors in the house. ~COLOURlover"

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If you haven't heard of FLOR yet, it is about time you did. This unconventional carpet company gives you flexibility and creative freedom when it comes to designing the perfect rug for your home. Additionally, FLOR tiles allow you to customize the size of your rug so it fits in the space you need. As you can see through experiencing FLOR online, you will easily get lost in the patterns, colors and textures they provide. The design possibilities are endless for creative people like us.

In their eyes, the world of design is inspiring and ever-changing but must be practical based on your needs. FLOR makes it possible for you to find that perfect solution for room in your home.

The Contest Details

Submissions will close on March 15, but voting will be open until March 20th (11:59pm PST) to get as much love as you can on your design.
On March 20 we will announce the winner with the most love votes on their design.

The winner will receive a $500 gift certificate to spend on any FLOR styles, including your own design. This will give you the chance to pick out your fully customizable rug, then set it up however and wherever you choose.

Design Your FLOR: How to Enter the Contest

So how do you win such an awesome prize like this? Head over to the COLOURlovers FLOR builder for a 4x5 blank template of squares. Using the FLOR tiles, create your best “wow!” rug with FLOR’s color palette.

Once you feel you have fashioned something you love, submit the final creations to our gallery and spread the word about your awesome FLOR design... and remember, the one with the most "love" votes will be the winner of the $500 prize.

Check out the entries page and make sure to "love" your favorites.

As a side note, check back next Monday, March 12, for a FLOR Scavenger Hunt and small prize. You definitely don't want to miss a chance to get your hands on a few FLOR tiles, now do you? Want to know more about FLOR? Check out their About page and watch the video.