Color Buzz

Design Dilemma - Kate's House - Response

Dear Kate,

Your house is warm and open. I love how you want to bring in a tropical feel. I love the color Boston Legacy. We have an alcove painted in that color here at the studio. I would suggest using it on the wall in the kitchen where the backsplash is, and above the cabinets. It will give that area a lot of depth.

If you want to use Tranquil Bay, try it on the wall that runs along the kitchen and dining room. You can paint the opposite wall the Woodrow Wilson Maize. You also might want to consider Filoli Gold Ecru. It has a touch more green in it and goes nicely with the Tranquil Bay. 

If you want to kick things up, you can also paint the wall in the stairwell that has the painting on it. You could try a deeper, toastier tone like Fairmont Suite Gold or a mid-tone beige like Cliveden Sandstone. Both these colors are pretty neutral, so it should blend well with colors from any adjoining room.

Let us know how it goes!

Best wishes,
Ann    

                                                       
              Filoli Gold Ecru 3008-8C            Fairmont Suite Gold 3003-8A 

                                           
                                   Cliveden Sandstone 3007-10B

How to Make a House a Home

Start with a color palette you love. If you can’t move walls, paint them! I would suggest looking into warm colors. They create a pleasing space. We are currently repainting the studio. It was grey and industrial, and it’s now becoming a warm light stone color. It’s still neutral, but warm neutral. It makes a world of difference…you can actually feel it.

Even if the space is not ideal, you can cast it in a warm and soothing tone to bring a pleasing effect. Warm neutrals are perfect for this situation. Colors like Shoreline Haze, Milestone Mist and Ancient Scroll are wonderful foundations for the rest of your color scheme. They are friendly with most other colors especially with warm and bright tones. Paint your home in varying degrees of these inviting neutrals. To create space, play one tone against another. For example, paint a hallway a mid-deep color like Oregon Coast, and paint the room it leads to a light tone like Clivedon Mist. You will feel like you’re moving into an expanded bright space.

Another way to transform your home is to create destination rooms -- rooms you’re not in all day like the dining room, bedroom or even a bathroom. In these spaces you can amp it up! Introduce a bold or deep color that is exciting and/or stimulating. You won’t be looking at it all the time and when you are, you feel like you’ve gotten away from the rest of the house. Choose a color that works with the rest of the house so it doesn’t look like the room came out of nowhere.

                                           
           Shoreline Haze 6008-1B               La Fonda Sombrero 2008-5B

                                           
      Woodrow Wilson Linen 3005-10C          Precious Stone 4002-5C

Using Big Ticket Items to Make a Statement

I remember back in the late 70s my family got a dishwasher that came with three panels with a color on each side. Although it stayed harvest gold for its entire life, there was always the option and potential for change. 

These days, people, for the most part, are getting more adventurous and confident with color. We are moving into a period of self expression as opposed to conformity, in interior design. When you start using big-ticket items like appliances to make statements, that’s a real commitment, and it can be an exciting one.

Last summer we were working in a gorgeous house upstate for one of New York's leading designers. In the kitchen, he had the trim painted a pale pink, and the walls and tiles were a creamy white. The room was expansive and warm at the same time, and what anchored it was this amazing play of color between an electric blue Aga cooker and a fiercely red refrigerator standing opposite it. It was very fresh and modern, but with a strong retro underscore.

For a more subtle approach, you can add dimension with more complex appliance colors like taupe or graphite. Paint the room in a smoky rich color, then pick up the appliance color in a trim or tile detail. 

Another way to use colored appliances effectively is to help them create a focal point for a room. A fireplace was once the original focal point of a kitchen, and now it can be a vibrant pumpkin cooking range. 

Consumers really do have the world of color at their fingertips.

Cool, but Warm

Cool and calming, Valspar’s Nuance palette offers quiet sophistication.  We worked for many years with Victoria Hagan, one of the world’s foremost designers.  Her palette is elegant and chic. It was always a joy working with the colors she pulled together.  The rooms seemed to expand and at the same time, hold together beautifully.  One of the ways I think she accomplished this was by choosing colors that looked cool, but were actually warm.  A color combination that will provide this is: Valspar Willow Wind, Ancient Scroll and Lyndhurst Mushroom.  If you feel like dressing your home up a bit, give these colors a try.

Using My Natural Surroundings as Inspiration

This blog was written by Beehive Studios designer Michele Coppin
       

My home is soft and inviting. I live near the sea in a gray, soothing climate where the sand, the sea and the sky are variations of the same color, blending during storms, reflections of one another on rare occasions when the sun shines. My home reflects my environment. I love strong colors and always find myself drawn to the lush and extravagant colors of tropical flora, but not to live with. Rather my palette is calm and gentle – sandy beige (Valspar’s French Pastry / Clarified Butter), soft white (Cream Delight), very pale yellow (Coconut Scent), and light blue (Dew Drop) with touches of more vivid colors in my Persian rugs and red pillows. It’s really very beautiful and serene. Has nature inspired your interior design?

Keeping an Eye on Your Neighbors

You should always consider your neighbor’s colors when you choose your own exterior house color. You may even want to check with them so see if they have any plans of changing. You don’t want to be the house on the block that stands out for all the wrong reasons. You don’t have to match the homes on your street – just harmonize with them. If all the other homes are painted in warm natural tones, don’t suddenly introduce loud garish colors. You can be bold without being loud.

Sometimes it’s fun to think of your house as a large package. The color outside is the wrapping and the interior holds the gifts within. Think of what color would be appropriate for your home to be covered in. Is your interior warm and cozy? Then maybe a cooler tone like Cliveden Gray Morning could be a nice contrast on the outside. Maybe a bold inviting color like Rare Sienna on the door to lead you in? If you have a cool and sophisticated home, a light grey tone like Stony Path might be a great container color.

The other objects on your property should be taken into consideration. You can paint your garage or any out buildings a deeper shade of your home or a contrasting color. Sometimes painting these surrounding buildings can frame your house nicely.

                                    
Cliveden Gray Morning 6001-1B    Rare Sienna 2010-7         Stony Path 5007-1B

Design Dilemma - Anne's House - Response

 Hi Anne,

Your house is wonderful!  It has a great layout and the lighting looks cheery and bright.  The fireplace in the Living Room is a terrific focal point.  Without much other information to go on, I am putting together a palette that is warm and neutral at the same time so that you can bring in more accent colors as you grow into the house.

For the Living Room, I would try a color like Dakota Trail in eggshell.  It is very neutral but has a touch of green in it to play against the red of the fireplace and the red of the floor. 

For the Dining Room, I would try something slightly more dramatic to create space.  Try Redstone Dining Room Gold in satin on the bottom with Belle Grove Light Amber 3006-8B in eggshell on top.

Design Dilemma - Penny's House

Hi Beehive designers,

Okay here goes.  My foyer and hallway is painted in Waverly New England Yellow, in a semi-gloss finish I believe.  My kitchen is sage and can be seen from the living room.  What would be a nice complementary color to the Waverly New England Yellow and sage color?  I have brown microfiber sofas and two paintings that I love with various reds/poppies and greens framed with dark frames.  Any specific direction or suggestions with this is greatly appreciated.   

Thanks,

Penny

Design Dilemma - Melissa's House - Update

Hi Melissa,

Thanks for updating us! Your progress looks great, and painting the bar in Café Miel looks like a good choice.  Some of your questions are about the wall areas that connect the different rooms. Below are some suggestions, but the great thing about your color palette is that all of the colors work well together, so there’s really no “wrong” decision!

Design Dilemma - Melissa's House - Update

Hi Ann,

            Dining Room

We are working on the paint slowly but we are getting there. I loved the colors and thanks soooo much for your help. We painted the dining room so far. When the Strawberry Malt went up I was thought, “Ohh my gosh, we have a pink dining room and living room!” But then it dried as a more beige color and it goes well with the tile.

Then when we put up the Cafe Miel color and it looked good. We painted the kitchen backsplash also so far and I love that color (we chose Churchill Hotel Maple) – it really brings out the counter top. Next we are going to paint the top of the kitchen and put up the chair rail in the dining room.

        Kitchen Backsplash

I also want to put a black wood dining table in there and a new chandelier.  We didn't know what color to paint the bar so we painted it in Cafe Miel color and it looks good.

I did have a couple of questions though...