Color Buzz

Is Purple Only Meant for Disco?

Last week, we were working with a client who desperately wanted a purple dining room.  At first, even we were frightened and wondered how we were going to pull it off without it looking like a chandeliered disco retreat.

We poured over the purples from our paint deck and much to our delight, there were several gorgeous purples to choose from and combine.  After not working with a certain color for a while, one tends to forget its beautiful variations and the potential it has. 

The client had a chair rail, and we put a bold color on the walls above it.  We chose Purple Cloak, a deep gray purple with a touch of brown to warm it up, which wound up being perfect for the space. It gave a warm welcoming glow with just enough sophistication and fun.  It was purple after all… 

We paired the Purple Cloak with London Coach as a trim color.  It’s a warm gray that kept the dining room inviting and elegant.  When going the purple route, keep the trim colors in the pink, purple and warm gray range.  Avoid creamy buttery and peach shades. 

                                                        

      Purple Cloak 1004-5A                                          London Coach 4002-1B

Light Green Walls

When we bought our home, this room was painted a mid-range, flat, middle of the road yellow. It was hard to imagine the room in a color other than yellow, but the current shade didn’t have enough vibrancy to hold the room together. One day in the depths of a cold and frosty Pennsylvania winter morning when the north light is the flattest and grayest, the color came to me - a light warm chartreuse/green. This color was applied as a color wash. We have old plaster walls, and flat paint brings out all their imperfections. The color wash softens the unevenness of old walls, and can also add a lot of depth to already perfect walls.  This color – a combination of Valspar Lime Kiss and Citrus Tickle – has successfully brightened up the chilliest mornings. My lesson here was, faced with northern light, go warm, go bold.    

                                                         

       Lime Kiss 6008-9A                                             Citrus Tickle 6008-9C

Welcome to Color Buzz!

We are Beehive Studios - a group of decorative painters who find immense joy in experimenting with colors and drawing inspiration from nature, history, art and textiles.  Through our projects, we’ve learned that choosing color can be challenging and intimidating, so we’ve started this blog to express our color ideas and to share our painting tips and tricks. We hope they help bring color to your home and we would love to hear from you about your project challenges and successes. Enjoy!