Virtual studio visit

I am all unpacked and hard at work in my studio. Actually, I have only had limited hours since school is not in session but my daughter has participated in two fun kid's camps here at Redux.

If you follow me on Instagram this is nothing new but the blog allows a bit more narrative.

I had to wait for a few items to be shipped to me to really get organized.

The long wall in the video will mainly be hung gallery style with a finished series. 

This short wall, behind my easel, is my main work space.  The opposite wall has shelves from the previous occupant and my desk area, which is not especially visually interesting.

The series if work hung on the gallery wall is inspired by spring and summer flora. I am working on figure studies on linen and a new canvas series. It will be edgier, rougher and less feminine like the two below.

I've got a long way to go with this series though.

Also coming later this week are my neckties, clutches and change purses. It began with my desire to have a tie made from a Spoonflower printed fabric for my husband. I used Small Batch Boutique on Etsy and it turned into a larger project. I will be adding these to my website in the next few days.

Tons going on including another possible move (from our horrible rental, hence the lack of interior pictures) but I will let you know more in the future.

Bold walls

I am helping a neighbor with their master bedroom decor and the walls are this completely saturated turquoise. The color is heading towards navy but has tons of green to it. 

They have hardwood floors and white plantation shutters also.

I am going to suggest a richly colored rug and white curtains with a trim on the leading edge.

 

I have even started a Pinterest board for them to help visualize my suggestions.

How would you work with this wall color?

What is your "safe" color

A "safe" color is the color that you end up with in a the case of indecision. When you love the red chair but worry where to put it and you get the oatmeal fabric instead.

In looking around my own house I realized that my "safe" color is black. I have caught myself thinking, "Well, I can always move it to another room if it's black."

I have painted furniture black, chosen black lampshades and fabrics, and moved that black chair from room to room.

So tell me, what is your "safe" color?

Rethinking lavender

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I have a strong aversion to purple. It's a joke in my family that when there is a choice of colors someone invariably jokingly asks if I would like the purple one.

 No, I would not.

 Lavender gets a suspicious side-eye from me for associating so closely with the purple but I recently found a color that has me rethink the whole lavender thing.

It's called Provence blue but it more closely resembles lavender. Not just any lavender but a divine grayish, pale blue lavender. Nevertheless it is very lavender and in possession of some kind of pixie magic that makes me like it and also hard to photograph.  I tried to find a Ben Moore or Sherwin-Williams color that matched but nothing was close. If I had to choose SW 6815 Awesome Violet is the closest but its still far too muddy and gray. It was not big deal deal to me until I began to notice that it looked great no matter what I put it next to, in fact other colors improved it every time according to my eye at first. The more I used it the more I noticed that the adjacent color not only improved the lavender but the lavender improved all of the other colors. I tried it with a different lavender of my own creation and the effect was not the same.

This got me thinking that this particular shade could find a spot in my house after some deep breathing exercises and plenty of reassurance that it isn't purple. Purple is still right out (I am talking to you, Mom) so don't get any ideas.

4 ways to choose a color scheme

I think many people get stymied on choosing color schemes for their houses.
 The two easiest ways involve using the color wheel and choosing either complementary or analogous colors.When you search either term on Pinterest a vast collection of  "over-produced" rooms appear (thank you LPC for that delightful term).

I am also including the split-complementary method that is a bit more sophisticated and my color plus neutral method.

To avoid the "over-produced", it is advisable to add a healthy dose of neutrals so that the colors do not scream and to tint or tone the pure hue with white or gray.

Complementary colors are opposite on the color wheel but that does not mean that red and green won't look Christmas-y. To use this method you need to tone the colors with added gray or tint with white. Think light blue paired with orange. Notice the amount of white added alongside the color.

Analogous colors are next to one another on the wheel and the same toning or tinting are helpful.

I personally gravitate towards analogous color schemes in very pale or very dark tones. The mid-toned rooms are tempting to me though.

What on earth does a person do if they love both warm and cool shades but nothing in the combination of opposites is appealing?

A split complementary scheme is one that the colors on either side of the complimentary are used.

Here the coral is a tint (white added) of red-orange paired with tints of yellow and green.

I must add that I do none of these most of the time. I think about what I have to use in the room, what direction I want the room to take, and what I can afford to buy to make it all come together. 

This generally involves a dominant color paired with a combination of neutrals and colorful accents.

In my formal living room I used the ivory upholstered pieces that I had and chose a dusty, very pale coral on the walls. The art and accessories are varied colors in jewel tones and a bit of black that stands out.

I used this method in my son's room and chose a navy wall and charcoal, brown and grays with a colorful gallery wall. It is quite a lot but 99% of the items are a variation of blue, gray or brown which keeps the look cohesive but interesting.

Which method do you prefer?

Vacation colors

I am back from a quick trip to the beach that was fun and exhausting and just the right amount of time. You know you have the right job when you are dreaming excitedly of getting back to work while you are still on vacation.

I spent an inordinate amount of time looking at color and thinking about the natural ways it comes together. Luckily, I had the Ben Moore Color Capture app so that I could share these thoughts in way that makes sense.

The sand has a heavy dose of black

I love the variety of cool and warm neutrals. 

I collected tons of shells and enjoyed categorizing those colors too.

Which is your favorite?

Picking paint

Summer has given way to some seriously lazy mornings but I am feeling the itch to tackle projects around here. 2 1/2 years after moving in, I have chosen a paint color for my youngest daughter's room. Its about darn time!

I waffled between pink or pale gray for the last 6 months but a recent decision to paint my older daughter's room gray pushed me in the direction of pink. I know, I know...flow but it will work because it is in view of the living room which is a similar color and I don't want the bulk of my house to be gray.We also have plans to paint the large open spaces gray.

Over the weekend I grabbed two samples from a local Benjamin Moore dealer. I chose BM 1268 Cotton Candy and BM 885 Key pearl. I have been over and over my "one lighter" rule with my husband so many times that he got the right answer at quiz time. My "one lighter" rule is to choose a paint chip that you like and go with one a shade lighter even though it appears too light. This is especially important to me when I want an understated color in a bedroom. For this room I want the walls to be pink but not say pink. Like my very pale pink/coral living room.

Once I had the paint samples up, I asked my 16 year old daughter her opinion and she chose the bottom sample (Key Pearl)

 and then I showed her the paint chips and she was really surprised that Key Pearl was the one she chose since it reads nearly white on such a small sample.

This was my sneaky way of eventually influencing her paint color choice later this summer.

If you don't already buy and try paint samples, I encourage the investment of time and money. I spent less than $9 on two sample cans so that $100+ is the right choice.

Now if I can just get going with the actual painting.

Emerald or navy?

I guess it depends on who you ask, Pantone or Beth.

Pantone has declared, Emerald, the color of the year 2013.

Beth of Chinoiserie Chic, has declared navy to be a better fit for the year of the Snake. 

I'm with Beth.

Pink Pagoda print

My reasoning has little to do with the fact that green is not my favorite color, in fact green is one step ahead of purple, which I can't even look at without making a face. I think navy is a better choice because it works well with the two previous year's picks, Honeysuckle (pink), and Tangerine Tango.

I love pink and orange so much that I combined them in one of my fabrics. 

Look how great they are with navy.

All three would work too.

I have gray sofa in my family room and I have been fretting about what new pillows to add. I think the navy orange, pink combo is the way to go.

 I will use my Escher Pagoda in Tangerine for the face and a navy linen for the back and piping.

I found this very affordable linen on Fabric.com

So do you agree with Beth or Pantone?

My blue heaven

HERE

Bear with me, this IS about design.

Yesterday I had to have a minor procedure at the hospital with sedation. My idea of "sedation" is feeling a little loopy and possibly calling the doctor "Dude". Their idea of "sedation" is out cold, drooling, waking up in a different room. I had the most beautiful dreams and put together a plethora of visually gorgeous and informative blog posts for you....well, they seemed really cool when I woke and tried to tell the bewildered nurse about them. The only thing that came out of my mouth was gibberish. Good thing, what dweeb tells a nurse about her design blog? Uh... apparently me.

Truly, the only thing I remember was dreaming of beautiful blue rooms with saturated azure fabrics.

I am pretty sure I was wearing something like this and not a funny smelly hospital gown.

The blues were all vivid.

It was quite like flipping through a life sized magazine that I could jump into if I wanted. Trippy, really.

It all served to remind me that I really like blue. I have always liked the bolder variety of blue but oddly, have very little in my house.

I am thinking it has to happen in the form of decorative accessories.

What color have you been dreaming of incorporating?