BLOG - Color

It's May Day and I think spring has finally decided to put it's game face on . Every time I step outside, the first thing I notice is the vibrant, spring green of new leaves. For days I've been tracking the progress of new foliage popping up in the park. Then on Monday, I read the Habitually Chic blog, Lighten Up. Ever since all I've been thinking about is the lovely soft color palette. Everything turns romantic when the hue shifts to blush. Even the word is romantic.

Lovely tufted sofa and textured walls

BoConcept desk lamp adds a professional edge to this work space.

Of course a wedding is the ultimate place for spotting romance and blush hues. 

Event Design by : Elizabeth Anne Designs

Light pink walls provide a nice contrast to the dark floors and modern side tables.

Vang Chair by : Andreas Engesvik

I love this Canopy wallpaper in buff and blush by : Quercus & Co.

I've really been in to mirrored furniture lately.

The rigid shape of this Blush lounge chair by Sofie Brünner keeps this pink from being too sweet.

The Flower Drop Chandelier and Jackson Buffet and by Oly Studio. Now if only I knew who was responsible for the Deco mirrored sconces.

Finally, this pairing of blush draperies and navy accents is the perfect blend of sweet and sophisticate.

Event design by : Sonia Hopkins

Blanchetti Gallery : 7 lamp

For most of my life, I've been more interested in silver tones than gold tones. I love the cool, sleekness of silvery hues. Recently I've noticed a shift in my preferences. I don't know if the gold blog I did back in August jump started this but I do know that I am really digging the warmer side of metal these days. Brass, gold, copper. I'm loving all of it.

80's bar stool

Damien Hamon

Design House Stockholm : Work Pendant

Engravers Desk Lamp : from Circa Lighting

Jean Marie Massaud : Ad Hoc Chair

Lacoli & McAllister : Cinque

Black porcelain knob

Side table from the 1940s by : Rene Drouet

A favorite in our office these days : Lucite Etagere by : Jonathan Adler

Midcentury brass and rope chairs

I'm not sure who makes these side chairs but I love them!

This table is another alternative to the Antony Todd Pebble table that Georgia showed us here. Brought to us by Zinc Door. 

St. Patrick's Day has come and gone. The Empire State Building was bright green with the rest of the colors if the Irish flag lighting the antenna. As green happens to be one of my favorite colors, this seemed like an easy excuse to show some emerald images.

Designed by : Verner Panton

While not of the most mossy hue, this residence is environmentally green with a LEED Platinum rating.

Neptune Norte Pool : by Adams Design Associates

Interior of LEED Platinum house, RainShine : by Robert M. Cain Architects

8 in 1 Modular House : by D*Haus Company

And of course - Watermark : designed by Carolina George

This morning we had a meeting about incorporating more color ways into our fabric line. The discussion was fun and now I'm hyper sensitive to all of the colors around me. Today is dedicated to all of the beautiful hues in the rainbow!

Designed by Burley Katon Halliday, Australia

Red Interior : by Tony Bevan, acrylic and charcoal on canvas

A real commitment to orange

Y Lighting : Spillray

Sunny entrance

Yellow chair

Green Lacquer Kitchen

Desk Accessories

Cobalt tiled bathroom

Crayola

One of my favorite violet sofas

Pretty bottles and pretty flowers

One of my favorite projects last year was the redesign of a master bedroom in Florida. Below is a sneak peak of a custom sofa we designed. I was inspired by art deco and couldn't find the perfect antique so we came up with this. The rug is also custom and was such a brave choice on the part of the client! I just love it! The coffee table is from Bernd. Goekler

The room is completely upholstered in a light pink linen. I promise to post better pictures. We are photographing the room in the next month so stayed tuned and have a great weekend!

I recently had the pleasure of going back to Virginia to visit my family. While there, I visited my aunt who had brightly painted all of the exterior doors on her house. Purple, yellow, orange... they were all beautiful. She told me she noticed lots of colorful doors on her recent visit to the UK. Today I've put my patriotic hat on and shown only red or blue doors in recognition of the presidential debates last night.

Violet is one of my favorite colors. If things are violet, it's a safe bet I'm going to like them. I think this lovely hue is a bit under represented in interiors. Here's some examples of violet with it's sunny complement.

Goldfinch

Today I want to share the works of Mexican artist, Gabriel Dawe. The first time I saw images of his works, I thought he was manipulating colored lights. After investigating a little further, I realized he was using colored threads to create his large installations. Each installation takes upwards of 5 weeks to create and is comprised of tens of thousands of threads. The results are ethereal and beautiful.

Gabriel Dawe

Plexus no. 2

Plexus no. 3

Plexus no. 3

Plexus no. 4

threads threads threads!

I know Haley did a great post yesterday on Gold in design and it is truly by coincidence that today I have been searching for gold tone lamps for a client. 

1. Tulip Lamp from Hive Modern

2. Fang Gourd Lamp

3.Dixon Lamp By Thomas O'Brien

4. Brompton Swing Arm Table Lamp by Ralph Lauren Home

5. Gold Between a Rock and a Lamp Base by Land of Nod

A couple of months ago I wrote a post about a client's photo serving as the inspiration for a new entryway door as well as the embroidery for the Living Room Window treatments. After a few revisions we are starting to narrow in on a final design.

To view the original post, click here.

Now on to some design options we have been thinking about.

Above is the first strike off that we received from the embroiderer.  At first I thought we wanted to keep the embroidery very simple like the sample on the right. But after thinking about scale and interest, I decided to do a few more revisions that highlight the lines filled-in, as seen on the left.

Last week I visited the embroiderer and they printed out a few variations on this new concept.

The original strike off with the rest of the elements of the room pinned up on the top left.

Playing with the elements of the design, which include color, line size, and fills.

I really love this new dark blue option but I am waiting for the strike-off to come back. We will keep you posted.

And now, I can't resist showing you a sneak peak of the embroidery for another project we are working on. While I was visiting the embroiderer I got to see them putting the finishing touches on window treatments for another client. I can't wait to see these go up!

I am a huge fan of Steven Gambrel. I think his taste is exquisite and his use of color is sublime. For a recent barn transformation in Virginia, Gambrel plays with color in the most unique way. I just love it!!

The challenge was to transform this large cattle barn into an entertaining space. Despite the large scale Gambrel was able to achieve a cozy and fun atmosphere through his use of unexpected color.

Gambrel used these two drawings as inspiration for the color choices he made for various architectural details throughout the barn. I love how this one bold decision really sets this project apart and keeps it from just being a traditional reinterpretation. 

All images from www.southernliving.com

A few weeks ago I did a post on Green and Gray; a color combination that I was loving.  Usually one to change my mind a million times I have actually stuck with it and decided to do this color combo in the baby's room. I decided to bite the bullet and order a few things for the room that have long lead times.  Above is a mood board I put together for the room.

I think I'm going with the emerald green on the walls.  I just ordered this dresser,  the circles will be in the green.  I also ordered the day bed that will be upholstered in our Carolina George "Embroidery" fabric.  Or rather the cushions will be in the CG fabric and the frame will be in a charcoal gray.  I thought it was fun to do a contrast.  The white lacquer Claw Feet will be the legs on the daybed.  Since I don't know what type of baby this is  (boy or a girl :) Ill add some pillows in other colors once its born.  Hmmm its fun to guess though! 

Nothing else has been ordered, but I'm thinking of doing a white flokati carpet and I liked this pale gray crib from Giggle.   West elm makes these great papier mache animal heads that I think are fun for the walls and the Jonathan Adler turtle lamp surprisingly gives off a lot of light.  I thought a pale gray stripe was nice in the windows.  I'll keep you posted on what I go with! 

Georgia's Post on Green and Grey made me think of other daring color combinations with grey. Orange is certainly one of them. Combining orange with too dark of a grey can look like Halloween, but done right it can be very chic.

Jute Interior Design

I love this nursery so fresh and gender neutral!

I love the stripes. I wish I knew who designed this room. So daring!!

Love the contrasting colors here.

Ron Marvin