Archives
Category Archive
for: ‘Color’

Accessorizing with Wow!

Posted Jul 16 2008 by in Collections, Color with 1 Comment

In this post we are being treated to the artful accessorizing of Patrick Wade and Dave DeMattei in San Francisco. These guys have earned their stripes in the world of design. Patrick is senior v.p. of creative for West Elm and ?Williams-Sonoma Home. Dave is group president for Williams-Sonoma. I’m loving how the delicious chocolate walls (Benjamin Moore Classic Brown 2109-10) of this living room play against the bright white trim. And look how the white ceramics continue to echo the white, over and over again. This crisp contrast is softened with cream colored sofas, sisal rug, soft glowing lamp shades and even the arrangement of yellowish tulips.

Yellows and blues weave their way through this inviting and comfortable home. This is a cozy corner of the dining room (fun to put a chair there!) featuring a large table and hand carved Irish dining chairs with informal cotton striped cushions. Impressionistic food paintings by Marion Vinot further add to the french country feel of this wonderful space. The blue and white transferware on the ottoman…

appears throughout the living areas. We told it is a sizeable collection and look how impressive it is when grouped together! Collections of anything are fascinating because of the repetition (in this case, blue and white) and the variation (all shapes and sizes). It makes us just want to look, and look…and look some more. Notice the touch of yellow in the flatware handles which is just enough to keep that yellow and blue theme flowing through.

The marble topped breakfast bar area is full of eye candy. Open shelving holds an ever so casual looking assemblage of dishware and glasses but…don’t be fooled. They’re not just stuffed in there with no thought to arrangement and color. The top two shelves feature a collection of white porcelain ?tea pots. All the dishes are white or white and brown transferware. The only other colors that appear here are yellow, gold and gilt trim. Flowers, fruit, even the spines of the cookbooks fall within this limited palette. It looks so informal but it definitely makes a statement. As a compulsive stylist, I really appreciate this artful design.

Another view of the kitchen shows more yellow and white. Yellow forsythia, lemons, grapefruit and that yummy yellow urn which I could just take a bite of it’s so great.

Here’s a beautiful arrangement of yellows and greens in an upstairs sitting room. Provencal ceramics snuggle with books atop the lovely and valuable Biedermeier dresser. The homeowners have mixed their antiques very tastefully with less pricey yet nicely designed ?items from Williams-Sonoma Home.

Was a designer involved in the creation of this room? I mean that in a good way! ?A little blue print, a little red of similar scale, a pair of traditional chairs, mid century modern tables, contemporary lamps, a rustic basket….so many different things. This is not an intimidating designer room. It’s a totally warm and inviting space. ?A space where a person can really relax….and tell the truth. Honestly? I’d give anything to curl into one of those chairs with a cup of my favorite orange spice tea and my very best friend to share stories with.

Photos from House Beautiful March 2008

The Blush of Boldness

Posted Mar 20 2008 by in Color, What Makes This Room Work with 0 Comments

What do you do when when a client asks you to do up a house in bubblegum pink? Well…you try to talk her into coral, or watermelon…or….or….some other variation on the theme. San Francisco designer Stephen Shubel is well known for his bold ways with color and his palette for this Sausalito, California home is bright and light and airy. The above dining room is a deep salmon which is a yellow based red and easier to live with than blue based bubblegum or shocking pink. Copious amounts of white throughout the house cool down the high energy color and keep the mood joyful.

The coral salmon is lusciously repeated in the living room’s velvet sofa with a paler pink stripes (Pierre Frey fabric) on the chairs. Why is this room so inviting? Because it is not too complicated. The rug (it looks like sisal although it may be a wool) is neutral, as is the Burmese inspired coffee table crowded with oversized accessories, draperies and other elements. Pink is the star of this show and all other elements play supporting roles.

The petal pink walls pick up the color of the living room chairs and continue the theme in a gentle way, cooled down by white accessories and a punch of deep coral on the chair. What we see next is a dramatic change in color. We go from one monochromatic color scheme to another…

Wow!?Granny Smith Green! Do we like such an abrupt change? Does it work? You bet it does, and here’s why. Again, just one color is used….light, cheerful shades of green. This keeps the room uncomplicated. But the main reason it works so very well is that white becomes the common thread that winds through this entire house. It’s a dramatic continuous theme that makes us feel calm like it all makes sense. We humans love the beneficial tonic of a repeated theme.

And here it is once again in a bedroom…..White! and one other light and happy color. ?The crisp bed linens are from Leron with a flokati rug from Stark.

What a joyful home this would be to live in!

Photos courtesy of Veranda Magazine

Gulf Coast Light

Posted Mar 6 2008 by in Beach Homes, Color, Color Flow with 0 Comments

The light and serenity of this Florida home pulled me like a magnet. I want to be there, breathing in the pale blues and greens, kicking my sandy feet up and sipping minted iced tea. All is well with the world! Welcome to a beachfront plantation style home designed by Rod Winterrowd.??Despite his New York address, this designer definitely has a feel for “place” and for what makes an inviting warm weather interior.?”The work I do is steeped in tradition,” explains the designer, “but it is contemporary in feel and comfort.” This incredible entry hall stopped me in my tracks. I didn’t even need to see the rest of the house (but of course…I couldn’t resist). I would have been perfectly comfortable right here. Notice the reclaimed brick floors with it’s antique Persian rug. New construction…genuine old materials. That’s a great way to telegraph that unmistakable sense of history. A pair of large down filled softly printed pillows brings this traditional 19th century styled bench into today’s world. (Back in the day the pillows would have been tiny, decorative and stuffed tight).

The huge oceanic vistas cry out for repetition within the house so the palette was limited to pale blue, slate, celadon and all the darker and lighter variations on that theme. It’s the narrow quiet palette which makes us feel so calm when we’re here. Calm, yes! Bored, no! ?We are entertained by the endless?texture of woven grasses (rattan and sisal), the softly colored yummy fabrics, botanical and photographic artwork and a few carefully chosen antiques.

Grounding shots of black keep this pale celadon dining room with its soft batik fabrics from floating out to sea. A black iron french styled chandelier hangs above a?Pierce Martin dining table whose base is crafted from dark rustic railroad ties. The black fireplace surround and the graphic black and white mirror frame (notice mirror leaning upon mirror) add more punch.

A lovely bedroom vignette features a unique port hole mirror and framed birds nest prints, all bathed in a continuation of the theme…soft blues, greens and crisp white. Easy. Breezy. And absolutely beautiful!

Colors in Conversation

Posted Jan 9 2008 by in Balance, Color with 0 Comments

These rooms are the inspired creation of Boston designer Frank Roop (featured in Elle Decor November 2007). Sophisticated, comfortable and full of unique combinations of furniture and art. Clearly an “artist” lives here…someone who makes bold choices that don’t go too far. Just far enough. The colors speak (but they don’t shout) to each other. They call across the room. they sing from space to space. The neutrals are in the smokey gray family, and the darks are rich chocolate and deep blue. The brights, however, are an amazing and courageous choice for this chilly northeast location…. bright aqua, turquoise, chartreuse and sky blue. (this is not Key Largo, after all!) But the designer has pulled it off beautifully. Shown just below is the other end of the same room which demonstrates more of this energetic color dialog from upholstered sofa to throw pillow, glass vase to book binding as the lively colors echo and repeat.

I adore the feeling of balance I have when I look at this room. Capacious sofas are set next to an elegant spindley etagere and contemporary floor lamp. And the sofa end of the room (first photo) features a big square upholstered mass with a pair of curvey, wirey legged mid-century tables that would float off the floor if they weren’t grounded by the more dense solid pieces! The combination of heavy and light, mass and weightlessness is spot on and just perfect.

This seating area repeats the theme of square upholstered pieces combined with curved mid century (Sergio Rodrigues) chairs and further iterations of aqua and chartreuse as they echo from room to room throughout the townhouse.

High Contrast. High Style.

Posted Dec 6 2007 by in Color, What Makes This Room Work with 0 Comments

On the continuing theme of creating beauty with a limited palette, here is another gorgeous example of what can be done with textures and not a huge amount of color. Created by Los Angeles designers Jennifer Kates and Jude Scarboro to create Drexel Heritage’s Postobello Couture Collection above is a living room seating area in a medley of textures. The deep dark high gloss of the wood tables and chest is echoed in the frames of the bergere style upholstery and art work on the walls. Whites and creams are used with abandon. Luxurious fur (is that fox?) pillows incorporate the tans and honeys that soften the other contrasts. Notice the different finishes as well…from soft matte linens to reflective metal lamps and candle hurricaines.

The dining room continues a theme of rich, dark glossy woods with a high contrast graphic black and white rug. Warm tones on the chairs create a transition from dark to light.

The master bedroom is very different….but under the same design umbrella. The continuity of color is the genius of this house.

The Rainbow Room

Posted Nov 8 2007 by in Color with 0 Comments


I think there is every color in God’s rainbow in this room, all shown in gorgeous dupioni silks, sheers, and the ornately painted freize and coffered ceiling. Could you live in this bedroom? Although I usually prefer a bedroom color palette that is more quiet and restful, I know I could live in this one and love it! (But then, I am a winter with dark hair and blue eyes, and my closet is filled with these jewel tones). This furniture is made by a French company called Grange available to the trade. Their craftsmanship is immaculate and the styles are traditional french, painted french country, and British Colonial with a sprinkle of faux tortoise thrown into the mix. This is their Indochine Bed with a caned headboard and fatly turned legs. More beautiful Grange pieces below.

An exquisite Ateliers Butler’s Sideboard in cherry and caned dining chairs that look comfortable.

Here is a three-drawer faux tortoise desk (so elegant for a woman’s writing desk) as well as a chest of drawers and enclosed tie rack (how clever is that?!)

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Page 3 of 3«123

Categories

Saffronia Recommends