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How to Use Leaf Green for a Fabulous Fresh Interior

Posted Dec 7 2010 by in Color, Color Flow, Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Yellow-green is wildly popular but can you live with it in large quantity? Take a look at this house all done up in a leaf green and white monochromatic scheme, and let me know what you think.

It’s a country house created by textile designer C.J. Dellatore, using some of his own fabrics. Most of the floors are painted a mossy green, and the stairs treads are painted a light yellow-celadon.

“Green is the dominant color, but contained in a neutral envelope.” All greens are used (mostly the yellow variety) but set against white walls and other white elements, the effect is clean and modern. All I can say is….wow!….very well done!



Ribbon stripes from the C.J. Dellatore collection.

Photos courtesy of ?House Beautiful

Masculine in Manhattan

Posted Nov 4 2009 by in Color with 0 Comments

I am blown away by the dark richness of this town house designed by Brown Cranna and Douglas Callaway, partners at New York design firm Studio Luxe. Although the walls are a pale cream, the rugs and upholstery feature deep rich blues, earthy bronzes and delicious caramels. Why do these rooms work so well? And why do they telegraph masculinity? Like many of the favorite rooms I blog about, the color palette is extremely limited and it continues through the house as you will see when you scroll down. The use of just a few colors frees up the visual energy to engage more interesting textures. This is important. The overall effect is restful…not chaotic as it might have been with more colors. The entire color scheme appears in the quietly designed wool rug (Odegard’s Youngtse Ropes) as if it were a springboard to the rest of the room. There is nothing ornate here. Solid slate lamps set upon limestone side tables, walnut herringbone floors, woven wools, coffee brown leathers and velvets. The homeowner wanted a “dark, smoking club feel” and it was successful. Unembellished. Solid. A beautiful room to sit with a brandy and breathe.

The dining space features a substantial octagonal deco dining table with simple lines, more subtle blue fabric and a large contemporary painting in textured honeys and browns. The arrangement of laurel greens is very tailored and masculine. It looks as though it might have been cut from a shrub in the garden (although….maybe not…it’s Manhattan after all).

The bedroom. Hmmm. I could go there. How can something be so minimal and yet so luxurious?
The wall color is slightly deeper than the livingroom but stays within the palette. Fine smoothe fabrics in rich dark royal and taupe make up the bedding. And, the piece de resistance…an antique carved wood panel above the headboard (was it torn from the mantel of an 18th century italian villa?). Because very few ornate items have been used in the space, this carving provides a powerful counterpoint to the otherwise simple elegance.

Morocco Meets Mexico Meets Africa

Posted Oct 14 2009 by in Color, Ethnic with 3 Comments

Fruity luscious colors, yes? It takes some guts to use every bright color in the world in a single house. There’s a way to do it right (and there are many ways to do it wrong). Although we are always drawn to these delicious hues we often wonder “Will I get tired of this? Maybe I should just do beige!” we say. Well, rubbish. If designer?Kathryn Ireland can do it, we can do it too. These rooms are in the designer’s own farmhouse compound in Ojai, California. A little barn. A little bohemian. Scroll down.

All the colors in the house are anchored in this sitting room (witness the charming Moroccan ottomans). You will notice that every room contains every color…and all are set against crisp white walls. The white walls are an important running theme that makes this house into a cohesive whole.

It’s not easy to use such an enormous palette. The trick, when using every color in every room, is to?sometimes emphasize red, sometimes green, sometimes purple, so that each room is different and fresh. “It’s all about layering pattern on pattern” says the designers. “That’s the secret. And don’t go for matchy-matchy-matchy. I say, if it doesn’t go, it goes.”

This rocky archway connects the carriage house to an outside hall where we are greeted by more bounteous color. ?Notice how the designer has used her bright hues in fabrics and accessories only, not walls and floors.

If I was ever depressed I’d come into this room and feast my eyes. (I guess I’ll just have to settle for looking at the picture since I don’t think Kathryn is going to invite me over any time soon). Like many fabrics in this home, much of the bedding is from Ireland’s own collections, with the exception of the large bolster pillow which is made from an antique suzani. Flower photo by Oberto Gili.

I love it when the exterior and the interior reflect eachother. That is truly good design.

Close up of an antique hand made suzani from Uzbekistan. Touches like this add that bohemian look to the farmhouse.

Photos from House Beautiful March 2008.

How to Use Texture as Color

Posted Oct 2 2009 by in Antiques, Architecture, Color, Continuity, Core Idea, Ranch and Farm with 1 Comment

There is plenty of “color” in this neutral dining room, although we are seeing only beiges and browns. Instead of drawing on the traditional color wheel, this designer explored her world for textures. Chunky. Craggy. Splintery. Smoothe. Woven. Wrinkled. Translucent. Rusty. Peely……and etcetera. There is so much to take in that I dare say I might fall over in a faint if she had added actual color. By the way, I’ll bet you think this is a dining room. Actually it’s a free standing structure! A dining house, so to speak. Isn’t that brilliant? The interior was designed by Wendy Owen for her family in Sonoma. California. Fieldstone was collected locally for the walls, and the floor is poured concrete. Those unique paper light fixtures were found at local designer Erin Martin‘s St. Helena shop.

The dinnerware from Astier de Villatte is rustic yet curved and feminine providing a nice contrast to the table made of enormous reclaimed Douglas fir boards and flat backed plank chairs.

The theme is Natural-Materials-With-Muted Palette… in a very big way. Owens was rigorous about sticking to her core idea without getting side tracked by anything that does not fit. “I wanted to keep everything oversize and use texture as color.” The circular piece on the mantel is a salvaged well top.

An antique pine island stands in the middle of the kitchen with chunky antique Brazilian wood bar stools. The breakfast area features unexpectedly two crystal chandeliers hanging over an old baker’s table and two stone benches. This designer really pays attention to continuity. “It makes the space look larger when you use the same materials all the way through.” she says. And I would add to that, it creates visual flow. As I walk through this house I am both inspired by the remarkable selection of furniture and materials and soothed by the repetition of color and materials.?Inspired and soothed.

You’ve never seen this bed before, and I guarantee you will never see it again. Chunky railroad ties make up the frame and antique sugar molds make up the headboard. The splash of color amongst the bed linens is a fun statement and can be changed out so easily.

The master bath has a pair of sinks made out of old horse troughs. The mirrors above each sink have been created out of ceiling tin showing off the texture of peeling paint.

This designer has been very much inspired by the work of legendary designer Michael Taylor (1927-1986) who broke new groundwith his California Look by using overscale furnishings ?and natural elements. He also championed the idea of making the interior and the exterior interchangeable.

The free standing dining house with its other structures and the surrounding fields.

Designer Wendy Owen. As you can see the chartreuse used in the master bedroom is a color she wears very well. This is always a great way to develop a color palette for your home. Select colors that flatter your complexion and hair color. It works!

Photos courtesy of Western Interiors October/November 2007

Random Color and Funky Charm in a French Cottage

Posted Sep 21 2009 by in Architecture, Art, Artist's Studios, Color, Eclectic with 0 Comments

When I saw this photo I definitely looked twice. “Who lives here?” I asked myself as my glance took in about 30 colors in three rooms. “It’s an old place,” I said as I perused the peeling paint”…and the owners have a sense of humor,” I mused. I found out later that it is the bright and randomly colored interior of a 15th century house owned by a pair of artists. I’m not surprised about either. The house is in Chablis, France and the owners are Andy and Claire Squire who create bright earthenware ceramics which they sell from a shop in the garden.

Their work and the interior of their home have a lot in common. Informal and unrefined, each piece reflects a true passion for color, design and age. There seems to be an overriding respect for the process of making something in stages. Notice cabinet panels that are partially painted leaving a patchwork of earlier layers of paint and no paint at all. Is this a work in progress? or do the artists call it complete because it pleases them to do so?

Not to say that we all would be happy living with this level of unfinishedness…if that’s a word. But there is something to be learned here. Something to reflect upon. The haphazard combinations are eye catching indeed. Perhaps I am a bit too uptight with my design approach. I can learn a thing or two from the Squires. I happen to love the black and white checks thrown in to the mix. And here is the other half of the kitchen…

The tiles that surround the stove were designed and made in their studio. The wall features earthenware plates from around the world.


As with their rustic pottery, their home’s design seems to have its “roots in rural cultures all over the world, from Romania to the Islamic world, from Morocco to Alsace.” Notice the colorful fabric panels hanging in the livingroom… and again, attached to the wall under the pictures like a woven wainscotting. The door features a stained glass panel depicting a wild boar, the animal for which this house is named. Maison des Sangliers.

In the bedroom, plywood was pulled off the cupboard doors revealing panels of vintage wallpaper. The look pleased them so much that they varnished the doors to stop the decay just exactly as it was. The wall were stripped too and given a light wash of pink.

A roll of 1980′s Laura Ashley wallpaper decorates a corner of the bedroom. One gets the feeling the owners like it just as it is…not attached in the traditional wallpaper way but rather, hanging as a piece of art with the slight rounded bend in the paper, casting its shadow upon the wall.

Here is the exterior of the 500 year old house. Maison des Sangliers on the Place du Marche’ au Ble’

and here are Andy and Claire Squire in their garden.

Photos courtesy of The World of Interiors October 2009

Using A Tropical Color Palette With Chutzpah

Posted Sep 18 2009 by in Beach Homes, Color, Color Flow, Continuity, Core Idea with 0 Comments


If you are an upbeat, positive person then this is a color palette you might want to play around with. This is a tropical home on the Florida coast. But unlike many Palm Beach homes with their predictable light apricots and washed out aquas, this interior is a symphony of punchy reds, citrusy greens, blacks and tans. These colors can stand up to the bright sun. I’m not talking about fading fabric. I’m talking about how sunlight can seem to zap brightness out of paler colors. Designer Allison Paladino says “You can’t do this much color successfully without serious planning…I think you shouldn’t use too many colors when you’re working with bold shades.” And, indeed, no more than three colors were used in any one room. I have long been a fan of a limited color palette because it is easier to live with. I especially appreciate Paladino’s careful attention and discipline in order to achieve such a beautiful effect.

The dining room features red glazed walls. The paint is applied by hand in layers that allow the white undercoat to glow through. It makes a dramatic dinner setting with candlelight.

The livingroom is softer with a predominance of tan and black for grounding. A sophisticated mixture of Asian cabinets and tables, and a pair of French chairs were included in the room.

This sun room turns out to be everyone’s favorite. The effect of the bright walls is softened in two ways. 1) The extensive use of white. 2) It’s a monochromatic room with green being the only color.

I notice that these colors are not quite true on my computer screen. And ofcourse I don’t have a clue what it looks like on yours but hopefully you can see how delightful this bedroom is. Again, a monochromatic room of green and white that is grounded with the dark bed and nightstands. The walls are painted in Benjamin Moore “Mesquite.” The loveseat and shams are Cowtan & Tout’s “Trailing Leaf.” The framed botanical prints are brighter than many that I have seen and for good reason. They have to stand up against this bold color scheme.

Skillfully used in every room, the white paint is a relief. It is used liberally around the house so that we can enjoy the colors rather than get agitated by them.

The raspberry walls in the daughter’s bedroom appear softer because they are glazed (in a cross hatched pattern) allowing the undercoat to show through. I adore the oversized ‘flumpy’ throw pillows. There is nothing like an oversized down and feather filled pillow that keeps a dent when you punch it (rather than bouncing back at you).

Here is the outdoor loggia with it’s sensational view out to the ocean. This gives us an idea of the quality of light in this home. It is a very brilliant light so close to the equator… and it could ever so easily wash away the palest of colors. But the bright reds, lush greens and strong blacks in this home stand up to the sun and seem to thrive in it.

Images courtesy of House Beautiful

Using Colored Walls to Envigorate a Garden Design

Posted Aug 26 2009 by in Architecture, Art, Color with 0 Comments

This garden really caught my attention! It happens to be in Marrakesh, Morocco. And it happens to be owned by designers Yves St. Laurent and Pierre Berge’ who purchased it in 1961 and brought it lovingly and beautifully out of it’s state of decay. It had been built by French artist and amateur botanist Jacques Majorelle, who designed and constructed the pavilions, installed the “corridor of water,” imported exotic tropical plants and painted it cobalt blue. The cobalt blue idea was what absolutely outraged polite society back in the day.

It wasn’t just a little blue. No no no. Not just an accent. It was a major amount of blue! Splashed liberally on big walls, small walls, pool edges and more. And it’s not just blue. It’s turquoise and yellow as well. The color is big and punchy. It provides a bold contrast to the flora and fauna of Morocco.

The Arab Pavilion leads to the Square Lake surrounded by many species of angular cacti of assorted sizes. “It is perhaps water – a key element of Islamic gardens – that makes this place. Sleeping and black, it tinkles joyfully, flows quietly or suddenly springs forth in clouds of fresh spray.” (Marie France-Boyer)


Pointed palms and triangular bladed agaves and yuccas contrast with rounded lush aeoniums, bushy bouganvilleas and gnarled vines. Elaborate wrought iron grills and grates contrast with simple unembellished plaster walls.

Can we apply these design principles to our own garden? Yes, of course we can. This is nothing more than?taking a color that you love and using it BIG. Do you have the courage that Marjorelle did eighty years ago?

Here is a photo of the brilliant orangey-red poppies that grow in my garden every May. While their foliage is green enough, I am imagining placing a bright green glazed urn right next to them at least during the month that they are in blossom. I am choosing bright green because it is the complementary color to red and is directly opposed to it on the color wheel. But bright yellow would do beautifully too.


And while I am into my color fantasy, the yellow orange lilies that come out in late June / early July could certainly use a purple blue piece of trellis placed behind them as a backdrop.

Here’s a fun example that I came across?which demonstrates just what power a colored backdrop can have in a garden. That color green just leaps off the purple fence. Garden eye candy for the neighbors!

Photos from World of Interiors December 2007

How to Stay Cool Using Hot Color

Posted Aug 12 2009 by in Color, Color Flow, Continuity with 0 Comments

In New Mexico, bright colors are the air you breathe, the water you drink and the clothes you wear. Close to the Mexican border and other Latin American countries, the culture is oozing with bright pinks, brilliant oranges, golds and reds. This Albuquerque home is filled with hot color. Can you take the heat?


Here is the secret to keeping bright colors livable. Remember that a little goes a very very long way. So what do we do when we have a screaming passion for intense saturated melt-in-your-mouth bright colors? And, what’s more, we want to use ALL of them…in EVERY room. The answer is, we play them off against a big big neutral background. The walls in this home are treated with a hand ground mineral plaster finish and feel very adobe-like. It is difficult to say from the photos whether they are warm beige or pale yellow but the effect is earthy. The color enters the rooms in paintings, upholstered chairs and rugs. The same rule applies even if your interior design is traditional, or even contemporary. Use bright colors in small amounts against a much larger background of neutral. Can we break that rule and get away with it??Well….sure we can. Someone with a great eye can use large amounts a intense color and make it work. I say it’s too?crazy living with all bright colors and no neutrals to cool things off. On the other hand, I love the look in restaurants, hotel lobbies and other public spaces that we pass through for a short time.

This covered outdoor dining area features a ceramic tile mosaic in the home’s color palette by Albuquerque artist Paz. The glowing green pendant lights and the distant adobe fireplace create a romantic atmosphere.

The wall color continues throughout the home, tying it together beautifully as it provides that all important canvas against which to splash brilliant reds and purples. The painting is Rio Grande and Sandia Mountain by Jeff Otis. Large ceiling beams (called vigas) are a traditional element of southwest architecture.


Brown glass tiles cover the lower wall of the master bath, and the upper portion is finished with 1″ iridescent copper colored tiles. Purple and pinks are brought into the room through the textiles. Below you see the curved front portal or entrance. Notice the giant strand of purpe beads draped over the cottonwood tree and the glazed magenta planter. The echo of color between interior and exterior is a great way to hold a design together. It can even flow into the garden. Growing flowers to match the interior color palette look beautiful through the window or arranged in vases on the table.

Design was a collaboration of the homeowner and interior designer, Bree Lovelady.

Photos from Phoenix Home & Garden August 2009

Intense Color in an Old Stone Farmhouse

Posted Jul 17 2009 by in Color, Core Idea with 0 Comments

Indigo! Pumpkin! Claret! Corn! There’s a veritable pantry of intense color in this Pennsylvania stone farmhouse designed by Jeffrey Bilhuber.

The wide color palette for this house was inspired by the homeowner’s collection of 19th century American landscape?paintings. The designer has taken pure straightforward colors from those paintings, put them on steroids, and spread them liberally around the house.The entry above was painted a “triumphant” blue from Benjamin Moore (Van Deusen). The pair of golden yellow chairs with rams horn arms pop out like sunflowers against a stormy blue sky. Interior curtains (called portieres) drape stylishly but, in the 18th century Europe, they provided practical warmth in old mansions.

Here is eggplant and kumquat in the livingroom. Always a phenomenal color combination! You will notice the handpainted floor medallions throughout which are hex sign images commonly found in Pennsylvania Dutch country. This bold use of folk art sets us back a couple of centuries and gives this interior more historical significance.

One of the dining chairs covered in Donghia’s Suzani Jacquard sits in front of another heavy fringed portiere. In the family room below the palette takes a turn to grass green which covers the tufted chaise. A veritable “wall of stone” ?houses the fireplace and wood niche.



The other side of the room echoes the green in its wallcoverings, sofa and chair.

It’s always interesting to see the master bedroom. Here’s a gun metal canopy bed from Hollyhock. An English chintz is framed at the head of the bed.

Photos from House Beautiful March 2009

Designing A Stylish Interior with Orange

Posted Jul 8 2009 by in Color, Color Flow, Eclectic with 0 Comments

If clients asked me to design their interior with an orange theme, I would do it like these designers have done. Sparingly. Orange is a beautiful color, but an intense one. When you walk into a room that contains even just a little orange, that’s the color you remember when you leave that room. The lively woman in this French poster above is dressed in oranges and rusts. It packs such a big punch that little more is needed. But a little is indeed needed. ?It is important to tie the orange to something else in the room so it is not all alone. Et voila’ – the designer has repeated the color (or something close enough) in the throw pillow and the coffee table book cover.

In the adjacent study a few bright touches of orange appear. The Pierre Cardin lamp with it’s orange silk shade makes a stylish statement. It nicely complements the other contemporary ?lamp with it’s brown velvet shade. The soft orange wool throw, vase of orange flowers sitting atop an orange book and just enough orange. No more is needed.

This interior is a combination of traditional and contemporary. The architecture is remodeled Spanish style bungalow so popular in Los Angeles, California. Enormous doors imported from France connect many of the rooms, and angular streamlined geometric art adorns the wall of the hall.

Deep rich brown is the the color that grounds all the orange. In the kitchen the cabinets, brown subway tiled back splash and long narrow island table all serve to keep those rust terrazzo tiles from “floating” up off the floor.

The dining room features a graceful Kneedler-Fauchere round table, custom designed drum shaped iron chandelier, and botanical prints with a touch of orange. This house is relatively small…less than 2000 square feet. But the ceilings were raised during the remodel giving it a more gracious and spacious feeling.

An antique Gothic chandelier hangs dramatically in the master bedroom, it’s drum shape echoing the
one above the bath tub. No orange in sight here. Did the owners think it might keep them awake at night?

Here’s a photo of the terrace and gardens at dusk. I love the stone columns made from reclaimed limestone. The plantings are lush. The fountains play their music. Who would have known this was formerly a simple backyard behind a plain little bungalow?

Photos from Western Interiors & Design June/July 2007

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