Panic Painting
Several times in the last few weeks I have been asked for help picking fabric for window treatments and upholstery to coordinate with the new wall color. In each instance, the paint color was chosen without regard for the design plan of the room, the color of the existing furniture, the floor color, or the window treatment requirements – it was chosen because the homeowner, or the painter, liked it. No plan. Just panic painting. Now there are problems and they need help. If you are doing some renovating, or are having a case of the winter blah’s and want to spruce things up a bit, and you are in a hurry: please, please people. Post this column on your fridge. How to avoid the panic “It is easier to pick a paint color to match a fabric than it is to find a fabric to match the new painted READ MORE
Summer. Where??
Have you noticed that the gray skies are manifested in the gray moods of the residents of this city? I know it’s hard to bear the rain and gray skies, day after day, day after day. We are all getting grumpy and just a tad snippy at times. I see it in your faces and hear it in your voices. So. What to do. I think the easiest thing we can do is take a page from Mother Nature’s handbook and put some color in our lives. As I walk down Okanagan, I admire the hottest pink flowers happily co-existing with a vibrant purple neighbor, both surrounded by several shades of green, with maybe a bit of yellow thrown in for good measure. The assault on my visual sense makes me smile. No, this is not a color scheme I would want in my house all the time, READ MORE
Colors for 2012
For all of you who have been anxiously waiting for the color forecast for 2012, sorry to disappoint but I just couldn’t do it. I did my research. I looked at all the ‘important’ magazines and web sites. But I gave up. I really wanted to summarize what one of the most popular paint companies was saying about color for the year but they wanted $75.00 for the report. That’s like buying a T-shirt with the designers name splashed across the front. They should be paying me. I found a blog that was ‘sharing’ the report and it took a me 45 minutes to figure out that the new way of categorizing color was quite convoluted, but when it all boiled down, it seems they are saying that anything goes. Lots of introspective, metaphysical, socio-economic jargon. Simply put: muted colors; grey is big and reptile prints, as in snakes, are READ MORE
Follow up to color…
When I did my research for the column on the color forecast, none of the sources I looked at mentioned blue. But in January a major shelter magazine published their forecast with blue and green prominently displayed. I stand corrected. To further add to the confusion Pantone later released their color of the year. Pantone is the biggest of the big color poo-bahs. If I wanted to tell my manufacturer in Indonesia exactly what shade of blue I wanted, we would both refer to our Pantone books. Each Pantone color has an identifying number and there are over 2000 named Pantone colors in the current system. So, their color of the year is ‘Honeysuckle’ 18-2120. A friend thought that was blue, I thought it would be soft pink and someone else chimed in ‘No, it’s yellow’. Surprise surprise. Honeysuckle is HOT pink. ’ A Color for All Seasons: Courageous. Confident. READ MORE