An Eye For Detail

ANOTHER CORNER OF THE LIVING ROOM

I'm beginning slightly backwards...  But eventually you will see it all!

We're working on the living room in this project. Paint the walls; reupholster one chair; what to do with the mantel?; repaint inside a bookcase. That's it for now.

I decided to tackle the back/inside of a bookcase today. Here is what it had been:

                     

                    
 

    1)You've seen my paint chip/color story(below)

    2)You have also seen my finished living room (where this bookcase rests)

                   
 

The bright blue wasn't quite.... right. I have used the Farrow & Ball "Blazer" red on various walls, but thought I would try something with a little more...umph:

                   
                         The color is Benj. Moore "Million Dollar Red"   

                                                    
 I know, maybe no real reason to change it...but then again, why not?

And, why the yellow plate? It's all I had in the house: very simple.

                   
hmmmm: one coat was clearly not going to do it! I was using the Aura gloss, and I'm not sure what the blue had been: might have been oil? It has been a good ten years since it's last painting!

I will tell you: I am a VERY GOOD painter. Yes, I have a very, very steady hand and most certainly my training as a textile designer is a huge plus. And, like my other "hobby" i.e. ironing, I LOVE doing it. Yes, I know: strange about that ironing thing. I guess my Mother "raised me right"!!

Here is the final, many coats of paint later:

                
 

I love built in bookcases (which mine is not...) and especially when there is color on that back wall. MB from "The Other Side of the Pond" blog recently showed a really nice renovation in her home. Not only are the bookcases done well, the color is perfect. And you know what? It's so nice to see BOOKS, LOTS OF BOOKS in the shelves!

  

  {marthastewart.com} 

{apartmenttherapy.com} 

{housebeautiful.com} 

                           
 

YOU'RE INVITED TO TAKE A TOUR

Designer Showhouses are always a treat!

    This Design House opens this Saturday, April 10 in Bethesda, Md. just outside the Wash. D.C. city limits. 

    For a few minutes of fantasy and fun, sit back and watch the preview video:

Love the living room! and that driftwood sphere! What's your favorite? 

Here is a link to the story from the Washington Post where you can vote for your favorite room...and see how others voted.

CAROLINA IRVING

I am linking to Timeless Tuesday!
Perhaps these fabrics will become classics...

 
 

Oh! The fabrics..... Do you know Carolina Irving Textiles? 

Let me introduce you! Carolina was a former design editor at House & Garden and started this fabric company in 2006. She was also featured in the first issue of Lonny Magazine.

"Mimosa":

  

"Palermo":
 
"Pomegranate":

  
 "Tamar":

   

These fabrics are wonderful: they have that aged, time-worn look, and yet oh so contemporary. They will fit with almost any decor: from traditional to shabby-chic to moderne. And, because the colors are muted and almost tea-stained, they can either be the focal point in a color scheme, or blend in with other fabrics and colors.

And, come to think of it, wouldn't these be PERFECT with some of the Farrow & Ball paint colors? How about:

    
 
 

Here is the page from Lonny Magazine. Click here to see this issue.

 Enjoy!
 
 
  
 

 
 

TRENDY MONDAY: THE BLUES

There has been a veritable flurry of news about B L U E ! No, not the Pantone Turquoise Color-of-the-Year kind of blue...but just plain B L U E. I shouldn't call it 'plain'; it is anything but. Elegant, feminine, pretty, rich, exotic, ethereal, practical, trendy, old-fashioned: it is all these and much more!

House Beautiful magazine, just in case you haven't already seen it, has a entire issue devoted to the color  B L U E. Check it out here.

Then, there is the Blue Chair story in New York; more on this at  "Live in Full Color".

          Here's my favorite chair:

 

And from ICI Paints, their Colour of the Year 2010:

"An airy and optimistic blue. Airy light blues are recognized as being refreshing, soothing and liberating. The color speaks of hope and clarity--the clear, new horizon of tomorrow".

 
 

Here is our new B L U E trend board:

Different kinds of blues in lots of different products; these are all new and on the market NOW.
 

 

Using the colors from the images above here is what you get: 

 

And here is a new palette from Designers Guild for their "Chinaz" moire fabric line:

Somehow this palette struck me because the names are so perfect, and evocative. Often you find the names,    especially of solid colors, maybe don't quite...fit the actual color. Not so here:  perfect fit!

  

<Maine Cottage>

 

From Zoffany: "Provence Prints"

 

<VivaTerra>

  

 

From JonRobshaw

    
<Vivienne Westwood> 
 

and my personal favorite..... from Serena & Lily! 

"WHEN DID YOU FIRST FALL IN LOVE WITH FASHION?"

    This was the bold headline in the latest Chico's catalog. It went on:    

     ".....With spring? With the palest colors, the most sophisticated neutrals, and the way they look on     you?"

    So, it made me think: When did you first fall in love with decoration, with details, with color, with the concept of home?

    For me, I have always and always always been in love with interior spaces! First, it was my bedroom growing up "No, don't you DARE sit on the bed, I just made it and it's all smooth; can't you SEE that?" I would say to my sister... This, in the bedroom where I had been allowed to choose the wallpaper and guess what? It had ballerinas all over it! I loved it. A boy had been in that room before me and the wallpaper had submarines and destroyers; quite a change!

    Years later, when I finally (after many long...years of roomates) had my own apartment, in New York: yellow, yes, it had to be yellow. To this day, yellow is one of my favorite colors. But yellow was hard to do in that apartment: the bathroom had pink and black tiles! Well, there was no getting around the fact that yellow towels simply WOULD NOT do. Ah well, let's just go with pink, but then have them monogrammed! 

    I was married and our first apartment was in a charming brownstone. The living room: well, it had yellow and white upholstered sofa and chair, and then a wonderful floral chintz on another chair and pillows. A dusty rose rug and wonderful bamboo blinds completed the very 80's look! 

    So, on it goes... my love with interiors and color. Some of you will remember my post of January 1. 2010 on lighting. One of the lamps I featured was from Pierre Deux. Well, I DID IT! I bought it, in yellow, of course, and here it is in our living room looking oh so perfect on an antique table:

 

              
 

 Of course, I am so very fortunate to actually have to USE color in my work! I design for ceramics, rugs, textiles and paper.

     Pantone color guides are stacked up next to my desk; 

  

      my file "color" is overflowing;

     I know the difference between RGB and CMYK;

     the table in the middle of the studio is tomato red;

     I actually speak the language of color! 

I'm working on a post of all the things i.e. details, I use in my studio. We all take them for granted, of course, as over the years they become part of us. Technology has changed so many things (do I really need those huge flat files any more?) but has also added such fun things as Wacom pads, wireless keyboards, CD's (!), file backups. The list goes on and on. I'll take some pictures this weekend.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

"NESTING NEWBIES MAGAZINE" LAMPSHADE PROJECT

This is one of the newest on-line magazines to hit the screen:

    NESTING NEWBIES

When you click the link above you will go directly to the on-line site: take a look around! I thought this project would be a good introduction to show you. 

But, what do YOU think of on-line magazines? I have trouble with them: you can't skim; you can't flip through the pages (that is, without being at your computer); you can't put stickies on pages to earmark; and some are very awkward to navigate. This one seems easier, but still, I have trouble zooming in and then having to move the page around all the time in order to see it all. And with LONNY, only the latest issue is available for viewing, and that I find a huge problem. We will see what happens with NESTING NEWBIES. Couldn't they have found a better name???

     

     

      

     
 

        

         
  
     One question here: if you don't have a drum shape shade, you have to allow for less fabric at the top,     right?  hmmmm

 

TRENDY MONDAY: SPRING FLOWERS

         THANK GOODNESS: IT'S MARCH !!!!

    What we all need is a good dose of SPRING! Have you been to Target lately? Even in the snow bound Northeast, they are showing row after row of bathing suits...so, of course, if you don't go and try one on right now, while you are pasty and white, then, well, you just might miss out on your first choice! 

    In the spirit of all things SPRING, I give you some new flowers in all kinds of designs and products:

    Here are the pinks, blues, lime greens. Note the splash of coral in the palette at bottom.
 

Here is a slightly stronger palette, including some black and white:

 

    Last week there was a discussion in the blogoshere about trend boards: what they are and how designers do them. They are usually thought of as a tool for interior designers and decorators as a way to show prospective clients, either retail or residential, ideas for a project.

    My background is a variation on this: I am the product and/or print designer and in that capacity I have to present to my client, the manufacturer, my ideas on how a certain print and its coordinates will work for his/her specific product as well as for other related products. If it's presented to a ceramics manufacturer, they may also want to see the collection expanded to, say, paper products, or bath etc. It is surely to my benefit to step out the program to other products.

   Given that background and transitioning into the world of blogs:  How do I do these boards, you ask? 

    We start with a list of "Trendy Monday" topics: right now this list has maybe ten ideas on it. We (I mean Sophia and I) begin to gather ideas and images for some of these Trendy Monday projects. We use a program called "Evernote". I came upon it recently and it works ok most of the time...but we have also had, as in all things computer, real glitches. We each have "notebooks" for each category and add all sorts of images, with the URL source code, to each notebook. 

    This "SPRING FLOWERS" project was a tricky one. Yes, there are lots and lots of flowers out there, but, of course, we had to narrow it down.. both in prints and products selected. Here are several of the early boards, and ultimately, rejects.

 

    I had wanted to do some sort of patterned background: top left. We tried it small scale, then tried this oversize scale. It couldn't compete with the images on the board. I still like it, but then, when I dropped in the black:  BINGO! it worked. Same with the yellow at top right. It is actually a scan of a grasscloth paper. We tried scaling it down and then blowing it up. Nope. 

    In the end, these boards are really a personal choice. The items at the bottom of the last board didn't make the cut: we already had something similar, or they just didn't fit.

    The boards are definitely a work in progress! You will see changes every so often!

    Anything you would like to see us research? We're open to any and all ideas!  

ok, ok, a few more images for an almost Spring day:

<from companyC>

<zoffany>

   <cole & co.>

 

PANTONE FASHION COLORS 2010

Are you ready? Pantone has just come out with their new fashion colors for 2010: this takes a minute to start loading,so be patient.

 

I've added their description of these colors with nice big swatches....

Now, I know, this is fashion; but we all know how closely it is related to Home Furnishings and how short a time the transition takes from one to the other. Will we be seeing these in interiors soon?

Crisp ENDIVE:" a revitalizing yellow-green, adds freshness to the season's top ten"

GOLDEN GLOW: "an earthy, deepened shade of yellow, creates a retro look with Purple Orchid or Woodbine."

  

LIVING CORAL: "a softer, more inviting orange with a hint of pink undertone"

 

LIPSTICK RED: "a deeper, more dramataic sensual red, makes its imprint on fall, particularly in cosmetics"

PURPLE ORCHID: "a purple leaning to fuchsia, an unexpected choice for fall, imbuing a bit of magic and vibrancy"

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE: " evocative of delicious treats, is a rich brown with piquant plum undertones"

 

LAGOON: "guaranteed to add a tropical splash"

WOODBINE: " takes last season's neutral greens to a whole new level, and when mixed with Purple Orchid and Chocolage Truffle, results in a stunning combination"

OYSTER GRAY: "a classic neutral that grounds the palette; a lighter take on the traditional fall gray"

ROSE DUST: "a flattering beige, offers an ethereal, romantic, wispy option to span the seasons"

    
   
   

COLOR IN JANUARY: and lots of it!

       It's January: it's winter, it's dark and there is no color, right?  Wrong! Here is what I found yesterday at my local farm/garden market. Moral of this story: always carry your camera!

These below were my absolute favorites: from Italy. The colors, the graphics and even the SIZE of the package is fabulous. As designers, we are always told to remember the color on the shelf: that is a large part of what sells a product. And here it couldn't be truer. Now, also, take a look at the contemporary graphics: the veggie icons are, quite literally, outside the box. In each case, they extend outside an inner box, and also bleed off an edge or two. Scroll down to see some seed packets from the 1930's: we've come a long way, baby!

     

 

I had bought a huge collection of these at Brimfield 

And they became a set of dessert plates! (combined with crate labels)

   

How about these gourds? I had never seen anything like this! Great idea for some craft projects....

 

Moving right along down the aisles: even the accoutrements of gardening are colorful!

     

 

And finally, for a totally different take on color: some neutral cachepots. 

 

 
 
 
 
  
 

 

PANTONE COLOR OF THE YEAR FOR 2010!

And...... drum roll..... here it is:

Pantone Unveils Color of the Year for 2010:
PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise

Turquoise Transports Us to an Exciting, Tropical Paradise While Offering a Sense of Protection and Healing in Stressful Times

CARLSTADT, N.J., Dec. 8, 2009 –Pantone LLC, an X-Rite company (NASDAQ: XRIT), and the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, today announced PANTONE® 15-5519 Turquoise, an inviting, luminous hue, as the color of the year for 2010. Combining the serene qualities of blue and the invigorating aspects of green, Turquoise evokes thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a languorous, effective escape from the everyday troubles of the world, while at the same time restoring our sense of wellbeing.

“In many cultures, Turquoise occupies a very special position in the world of color,” explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “It is believed to be a protective talisman, a color of deep compassion and healing, and a color of faith and truth, inspired by water and sky. Through years of color word-association studies, we also find that Turquoise represents an escape to many – taking them to a tropical paradise that is pleasant and inviting, even if only a fantasy.”

Whether envisioned as a tranquil ocean surrounding a tropical island or a protective stone warding off evil spirits, Turquoise is a color that most people respond to positively. It is universally flattering, has appeal for men and women, and translates easily to fashion and interiors. With both warm and cool undertones, Turquoise pairs nicely with any other color in the spectrum. Turquoise adds a splash of excitement to neutrals and browns, complements reds and pinks, creates a classic maritime look with deep blues, livens up all other greens, and is especially trend-setting with yellow-greens.

In fashion, Turquoise makes a statement that can look elegant and dressy in fine silk and gemstones, or casual and fun in cotton and athletic apparel. Because of its versatility, Turquoise is a great accent color in jewelry, purses, shoes, hair accessories and even nail polish for women, and ties, shirts and sportswear for men.

 

For brides wanting a flattering choice for attendant apparel and accessories on their big day, Turquoise is now one of the nearly 200 PANTONE WEDDING Colors available from Dessy, a leading manufacturer of bridesmaid, social occasion and flower girl dresses, as well as destination wedding gowns under the labels Dessy Collection, After Six, Alfred Sung, Lela Rose Bridesmaid and Sandals Destination Wedding Dresses. PANTONE WEDDING exclusively from Dessy provides a collection of color tools to make it easy for brides to achieve perfectly color-coordinated weddings – from inspiration to “I do.”

Additionally, Turquoise is one of 3,000 colors available in Pantone’s line of superior-quality, eco-friendly paint. PANTONE Paints combine the accuracy of PANTONE Colors with the beauty of high-performance Dutch paints. Perfect for a powder room or bedroom, Turquoise is an evocative, spa-like hue that adds an undertone of warmth and excitement to any cool space. In the kitchen, Turquoise adds a unique flare to tabletop and appliances.

To read more about Pantone, CLICK HERE.....