Got a call a few weeks ago from my talented friend, Jane. Jane is a real estate agent but also a design maven with an incredible eye and has  done her fair share of residential home staging. She had a new listing but decided to outsource the paint color selection and staging to professionals.

This house, built in 1937, had been lived in and loved. It had exceptional light, views and great bones. But it definitely needed a major interior facelift (and some exterior tweaking) before going on the market.

 After:

Grrr.. forgot to snap the “before” photos. Suffice to say that the palette was dated and involved pastel pink and blue. The pastels had worked with the previous owner’s furnishings and rugs but those wall colors had to go. In the living room, the elaborate moldings had been “picked out” in white– the effect– like icing on a wedding cake. We decided to temper the formalilty of the room by “painting out” the frame moldings and chair rail in the same color as the walls. I wanted the eye to be drawn up to the crown molding, so painted the ceiling a subtle color to highlight that and the height of the room.

The floors, a combination of original pine and oak, were refinished but left in their natural warm gold-orange tones. I used 5 different pale grays and off-whites on walls, ceilings and trim throughout the first floor to knock back the warmth of the floors and take advantage of the beautiful natural light.

Red House Staging did a fabulous job with clean contemporary furnishings and artwork… maintaining a neutral palette with lively pops of orange throughout the first floor.

The result is a subtle shift in light throughout the whole house. The shift creates just a bit of movement from the sight lines throughout  and makes the rooms flow seamlessly.

The stairway leading to the second floor was also layered in whites above and below the chair rail, stair risers were painted white and the handrail black.

The old pine floors give character to the new kitchen, wrapped in a warm white to match the cabinetry.

The walk-out basement got an uplift with a warm camel color–cozy and warm for watching TV in the evenings.

The master bedroom was painted in a pale green… dreamy and atmospheric with leafy views from all windows.

This was indeed, a transformation– with wall color highlighting the strengths of this classic Virginia home.  The result?  In one day….

I often talk about the paint colors I use on projects but have decided not to include them here. Why?  When using nuanced  ”off-whites” it is essential to test– pale colors and whites look very different depending on the light source and flooring.  Attempting to replicate a look by simply using the same paint colors is often fraught with disappointment .  My advice?  The perfect white, especially when making a choice for interior or exterior trims,  can make or break a color scheme. Hire a professional and get it right the first time!

I love clients who really GO FOR  IT.  Just returned from a visit with a client– her renovation has progressed slowly over the last year. The living room, filled with yummy art, antiques, rugs and textiles, was the last room to be painted… and what a difference it made!  We had done the adjacent rooms in saturated hues and the living room was just hanging out there in an anemic pale shade of lemon yellow. This rich butternut squash color,  C2Paint ‘Delicata’  (a champion color btw) did the trick.

The  vibrant colors in this rug hold their own and anchor the room (love the pink).

Now, fabulous sculptures and paintings practically pop off the walls. And the rich brown ‘walnut’ stain on the floors tames the vibrancy of the “orange”.

The tiny hallway above was the perfect place to get a dash of red–   Benjamin Moore’s ‘Caliente’.   This is an exceptional red– I specify it in the Aura line, with the recommended primer and 2 coats.  Only after my client added a light fixture to wash the wall and artwork, did  the color come to life.

The ‘Kasbah’ reference?  Well, that would be the from Benjamin Moore ‘Affinity Collection’.   The small entrance hall got a shot of that burnished purple ‘Kasbah’.  It balanced the yellow- orange tones of the kitchen cabinetry (in sight lines from the entry).

This kitchen, in place when I arrived on the scene, informed the palette for the house.  It is “heavy” in a good way– lots of warm wood which I balanced with a medium toned gray-green on the walls–  ‘Jojoba’, also from the Affinity Collection.   The client has a gorgeous verdant garden, visible from the french doors and windows– the green wall color invites the outdoors in.  Stainless steel appliances and these fabulous ‘industrial’ metal chairs also temper the warmth. Isn’t the assymetrical table a surprise? Custom made by the talented Alexandria craftsman, Ian Lowrie.

Another view (above)  of ‘Jojoba’  on the kitchen walls with warm wood trim and a slice of the hall wall color- ‘Kasbah’ .

The “before”  version of the  paneled dining room (the original) had loads of white window trim, which, aside from being high-contrast, did nothing to enhance the wood. I switched the white trim out with a warmer mid-toned green – Benjamin Moore  ’Aventurine’, also from the Affinity Collection.  It is  actually much warmer — not as minty as shown in the rendering above (still learning Photoshop..sorry), and paired with warm woven-wood blinds, it softens the room considerably.

We rearranged artwork (fab purple tones) which relate to the hall color (visible from the room) and added buffet lamps to add ambient lighting for evenings.

Another lesson in balance– wood tones of cabinetry, furniture and especially floors are integral to a successful color scheme.

Happy colors… happy client…. happy me!

Thanks for stopping by~

Trade Day at the Architectural Digest Home Show 2013!   Took the 6 am train up to NYC yesterday, a bit annoyed with the weather (gray skies, flurries, etc.) but once off the street and inside the doors of the warehouse at Pier 94, my eyes needed a bit of adjustment– kind of like Dorothy landing in OZ when everything turns from black and white to technicolor~

via manhatin.blogspot

There were hits of vibrant color everywhere.  But, making a beeline to the “Marys and Mimosas” event sponsored by Modenus, eager to meet up with old design friends and fellow bloggers,  I passed through “kitchen land” — where I returned for a good part of the day.

The big surprise for me was color everywhere in the kitchen– especially in appliances.  This little orange beauty is from Bertazonni .

Smeg  has been “out there” in color world for years but there are a few new hues in the range.  Their  50s -style refrigerator could be the single playful color touch for a small space.

And there are the ranges from Blue Star —  check out the “color configurator” online.  It states that the ranges are available in 190 colors.  And I now have their color deck in my hands to prove it!  Actually they can match any RAL color out there.

And there is another retro frig– the  ”Big Chill” .  This little beauty can also be ordered in one of over 200 custom colors.  The company  will open a division in France later this year to meet the demand  in Europe for vintage American appliances.

Head swimming with color?  Moving on,  there were even more colorful offerings from American Range.  The colors above are your choices for range KNOBS only!

American Range

And there is nothing that rivals the depth of color found in Pyro Lave, the glazed Volvic lava stone  for countertops.

Finally… you can rest your eyes.  The display of La Cornue ranges was on the stately side… in soft whites and black.

I had to include the tabletop offerings from Wud.  I loved the subtle hint of color on these martini glasses and plates, hand-crafted of black walnut and powder-coated aluminum.

It’s 2 am and time to wrap up this post, but I had to include another shout out to Modenus for hosting a lively and yummy gathering that is “Marys and Mimosas” as part of Blog Tour New York 2013.  I had a nice chat with Warren Bobrow,  who runs the blog “The Cocktail Whisperer”.  And he confided the secret behind his Bloody Marys– no wonder why this Maryland-raised girl loved them so!

A shake of a little elixer called “Chesapeake Bay Bitters” – which distills the taste of Old Bay Seasoning into a bottle!

I must end with this photo … for what is the AD Home Show without a bit of people watching?   From Italy, of course!

Color didn’t stop in the kitchen…  Architectural Digest Home Show 2013 (Part 2)  next time!  The show opens to the public today and runs through Sunday.  Worth the trip… but pack your gloves!

‘Tis the first day of spring but feeling downright freezing here in Virginia.  I’m heading up to the Architectural Digest Home Show tomorrow where the high in NYC will be a balmy 37 degrees!  Will hopefully be the last day I have to pull on my black boots and wool–  so ready for winter  to be OVER.

So I was going through my archives last night and came across these photos from a summer trip across the Bay Bridge to one of my favorite little towns on the Maryland Upper Eastern Shore–  Chestertown.   Just made me miss the color and warmth of the summer season even more.  So thought  I would share!

via New York Times

According to Adam Goodheart, a scholar at Washington College, the small liberal arts school in Chestertown ,  ”Chestertown is one of those places where American history is just palpable everywhere, like Nantucket or Savannah.”  The New York Times did a great little piece about it which you can read here.

The grandest of its colonial houses date from the 18th century and were built by wealthy merchants. Many have been restored to their original grandeur.

The ordered little townhouses always catch my eye– with just a pop of color on shutters and doors.

Little alleyways lead to lush gardens beyond…

There are also  Victorian-era clapboard houses in the mix with fanciful painted trim.

There are plenty of interesting furniture, antiques and art galleries along the main street (you can’t miss it)…

  and sweet little teahouses and cafes.

I usually combine a trip to Chestertown with a visit to the beautiful farm of a family friend.  And a chair awaits me in either Clemson orange or Tarheel Blue.  Can’t wait to get back!

So, aside from the chilly NYC forecast, I’m super excited to catch up with fellow bloggers and design friends tomorrow at AD Home Show 2013.

Always terrific inspiration at Pier 94…  next post!

via manhatin.blogspot

“Color is light made visible”.   ~ Donald Kaufman

Crying the blues for Sydney– blues rendered vivid by the brilliant harbor light.  Sydney is the place where I studied color and design and the light there was so different than the murky veiled light of Washington, DC.  It was there that I came to appreciate how light affects color in different regions of the world.

via Ken Done

The light on the eastern coast of Australia, especially combined with a water view, is where white on walls comes to life.  The strong light calls for clean, bright hues…  like cobalt blue, yellow and hot pink.  Anna Spiro, who lives up the coast in Brisbane,  is a master at working in this light.  Her blog,  Absolutely Beautiful Things is one of my favorite reads– it is brimming with images of  stunning pattern and color.

via absolutely beautiful things

via absolutely beautiful things

The Design Files, another great Aussie blog, is also a favorite.  A wander over to that site always cheers me up– the light in many of the homes featured there is unmistakable.

via the design files

via the design files

This is one of my favorite ways to use color– white as a backdrop for intense pops of color– but it really only works with lots of strong natural light.

Below is a similar look in a light- filled loft in New York City.  It is beautiful, but the light is not the same.

via the new york times

This is why my earth- toned neutrals which were perfect back in Virginia looked so washed out in my living room in Sydney.

Maybe I’m just getting impatient for warm weather– these colors (below) could  certainly work in a sweet little beach house on the Atlantic coast.

via absolutely beautiful things

via ken done

A trip down under should be on everyone’s bucket list.  If you go, just be sure to pack your sunglasses!

“Orange is the happiest color.”  ~ Frank Sinatra

Spending too much time inside my house this winter but took a stroll around yesterday and inventoried just how many little doses of orange have crept into my rooms. I know… “Tangerine Tango” is so 2012, but these pieces are keepers!  And, yes, they do make me happy.

It may have all started here with the shot of orange in this rug we brought back from Afghanistan years ago. It’s relatively small (6×8) so doesn’t dominate the room. It’s the only real color and pattern in my otherwise quiet neutral bedroom.

And I couldn’t resist this linen pillow with a brilliant orange trim (antique Hungarian) from Pandora Balthahazar several years ago at the Brimfield Antiques Show.  All of my linens are neutral, walls are painted in my favorite C2Paint ‘Bristle’ (a warm sand color) with ceilings and trim in the soft C2 Cotton– with just a few small pops of orange.

This  window seat pillow (found on Etsy) combines the burgundies and oranges found in the rug.

My little library with floor to ceiling bookshelves, walls and ceiling all painted out in Benjamin Moore Linen White, gets a color shot on a small accent wall painted in Donald Kaufman’s DKC 17– the perfect backdrop for a little abstract by the artist Marcia Staiger.

Thanks, Mom for this flea market find.

Another Brimfield steal– an antique Aboriginal painting.  Absolutely love the colors in it.   Funny, I never found one that I loved enough to purchase while living in Australia.

Also couldn’t resist this “cheeky”  pillow from local designer Supon Phornirunlit of  Naked Decor.  It wakes up the austere lines of a Thos. Moser  wingchair.

And again, it’s… tulip time!  Tulips are my favorite flower because they really arrange themselves. And that’s about all the orange this room needs.

So that’s my wrap up for orange. Small hits of it are cheery and fun- especially in the winter months. Not seeing “Emerald Green”  creeping into my house anytime soon.  Though lately, I am coveting the pop of warm green in this beautiful house designed by Feldman Architecture.

via Anne Irwin Fine Art

And this painting by the artist  Bernd Hausmann.

artist Colin Page

Perhaps in my next house… ‘Emerald Green’ might be just perfect in a little vacation cottage on a lake in Maine (with orange  confined to the driveway) .

Thanks for stopping by!

“I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure in the landscape – the loneliness of it – the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it – the whole story doesn’t show.”

~  Andrew Wyeth

Andrew Wyeth, Fence Line

White on the brain again!  Maybe it’s the winter view of bark and white sky out my window.  But I was leafing through a beautiful book “Andrew Wyeth– Memory and Magic” yesterday and was drawn to the monochromatic palette of browns, tans and whites of his “Chadd’s Ford” paintings.  I love the interplay between the layers of white and neutrals here and am really drawn to the same palette for interiors.

via Interiorly

Andrew Wyeth, Long Limb

via New York Times

Andrew Wyeth, Trodden Weed

Amelia Handegan

Andrew Wyeth, Open and Closed

Andrew Wyeth’s “Maine” paintings are, of course, another story.

Andrew Wyeth, Wind from the Sea

Summer awaits.

Andrew Wyeth, On the Edge

When I first came across these photos of the recently renovated interior of the historic Evermay  (1802) in Georgetown I was really bowled over.

Gordon Beall

The palette is elegant and restrained– dark wood paneling,  creams, cocoa and a touch of apricot. This is the work of Rill Architects with stunning photography by Gordon Beall.

Gordon Beall

Gordon Beall

Gordon Beall

The floors!  The ceiling!

Gordon Beall

Quiet restraint in the bedroom.

Gordon Beall

Ingenious  placement of beds with books– love this idea.

Evermay

You can read all about the history of Evermay here.

And I’m actually looking forward to another summer season of concerts there.

Stay warm my readers…  cherry blossom season is just around the corner!  Have a lovely weekend~

Happy February!  Busy with projects inside and out.

I’m well into the major disorder of another remodeling project in my own home… this time my master bath. I’ve been wallowing again in the world of toilets, tile, shower drains, and light fixtures (not to mention paint samples).  Got me thinking about a project completed 2 years ago (a total gutting + remodel of my daughter’s bath, finished just in time for her to go off to college). Now it serves as a guest bath. Anyway… it was really a lesson in “pulling back”– as in respecting the period style of our 1937 “cottage” and not going gaga with things like color-changing LED’s in the shower, etc.  We kept things very restrained and simple (kind of hard to do). Would like to share!

Design inspiration really began with this sweet little freestanding chest I spotted in a Ballard Designs catalog. It was the perfect width (43″) and height (35″) for a vanity and easily (sort of) modified to accomodate plumbing below. We had to remove the innards of the top drawers to accomodate the sink. But it had a lovely painted finish– off-white with toffee colored accents and super solid construction (and was a fraction of the price of a custom-built piece).

I  simply added a Caesarstone quartz countertop in ‘Jerusalem Sand’  and VOILA~

Lovely, yes?  And my 6 ft. tall daughter no longer has to crouch to brush her teeth!

So,  my vision for this little space was “all white”.  I chose simple clean white subway tile for the shower (Daltile/Biscuit) and covered the entire room (floor to ceiling) in painted (C2 Paint ‘Milk Mustache’) beadboard. The color is creamy enough to add some warmth and complement the fixtures (Kohler ‘Biscuit’ bathtub and sink), without turning too yellow. Love this inset medicine cabinet w/beveled glass from Rejuvenation (adding 2 more of these beauties to my next project).

For contrast, I went with oil rubbed bronze fittings (Kohler).  But, getting to the point of “pulling back”, I will gush about this bathtub choice!

Bowled straight over?  Maybe not, but you should be!  Seriously, we had an original Kohler Mayflower corner tub (circa 1937) in this place.  The contractor had to smash it to smithereens (did you know that cast iron does this?) to get it out of the house. It was carried down in little buckets from the second floor and out the door. I really had envisioned a clean, glass door shower thing in its place, but after multiple sketches and bids– it wasn’t working. AND we would be losing the only bathtub in the house. I remember when it hit me… way late in the game, that maybe simply replacing the corner tub, which would mean some sort of shower curtain again (gasp!) might be an option. When I googled ‘corner bathtub’, there it was! My original enameled cast iron Kohler Mayflower, updated and available under the same name in 2010!  I found an angled shower rod at Signature Hardware and a pair of (yes two) matelasse shower curtains at Ballard Designs.  It’s a dreamy little corner!

The other odd (but really nice) feature was a window here. It provides nice (though northern) light and with the wooded setting,  privacy is not an issue with trees leafed out in the summer.

But in winter,  this glass Tiffany-inspired panel (lots of of  black-capped chickadees in the trees outside this window) does the trick.

I was just fine with keeping everything tone-on-tone but my daughter wanted a drop of blue in the room and fell in love with these  gorgeous mosaic floor tiles– they look salt-glazed with tones soft blue and sand. Sorry!  Still searching for the source (a small tile place in California).

So…  warm white all around with bronze finishes, dark woods and neutral artwork– these are a series of  sepia photographs (evocative of our sojourn in Sydney) from Robert Billington.

Sweet little basket w/bird  (perfect for little hair bands, etc)  from Wisteria adds a bit of whimsy.

And a cocoa and cream Turkish fouta towel (thanks Cup of Joe for that idea).

The ‘”pulling back thing” resulted in a perfectly functional, affordable and pretty little bath.  I’m keeping that in mind with this new project as I cruise the aisles at Ann Sacks.  I am splurging on a few little things but so far have resisted the linear shower drains and the rainfall showerhead.  Doing beadboard again… painted the perfect “off-white”, of course.

Another post.

RESOURCES:

Paint: C2 Color Milk Mustache

Toilet: Toto

Undermount Sink and Bathtub: Kohler

Shower and sink faucets: Kohler

Countertop:  Caesarstone in ‘Jerusalem Sand’

Sconces: Restoration Hardware

Vanity: Ballard Designs

Medicine Chest: Rejuvenation

Until next time~

Had a late afternoon visit recently with a favorite client. Over a cup of tea, we had a little ‘catch up’ on the progress (almost finis) of her historic bungalow renovation.  I would say that any major design project is rarely a neat process– there are almost always surprises, delays, disappointments, and indecision. Spaces we inhabit are wrapped up with emotion– a messy business, for sure. But I must say that this project actually was (after MANY months) sort of “wrapped up” with a pretty little bow–and just in time for the holidays.

Skiff Waiting

The dust had settled, furniture returned and wreaths hung. And on Christmas Eve my client’s husband presented her with this sweet little watercolor. It shows their beloved dog, Skiff, waiting (for someone to come home) at the window of their newly painted front library. Skiff is certainly the star of this show but C2Paint ‘Savannah’  most definitely plays a supporting role!

The library is the center ‘cocoon’ space in this house with the new addition (open family room, dining room and kitchen)wrapping around it. We felt pretty strongly that this little space (original to the house) needed a strong + warm color to make it inviting and cozy. It was christened ‘The Savannah Room”.

A light neutral, Benjamin Moore’s Misty Air,  was chosen for the entry and staircase walls. The color is repeated on the ceiling of the library (above).

Benjamin Moore’s White Dove was used on all trim and casework throughout.

The real challenge was to choose a wall color for the main open space (kitchen, dining room, family room). Fixed elements were the soft white cabinetry and trim, the red oak+pine floors and exposed brick.  We needed a warm /versatile neutral and found the answer in the C2 Paint range:

I absolutely LOVE this color– a complex khaki whose undertones change with the light throughout the day.  Designer Whitney Stewart is also pretty crazy about it. She gushes, “This is it, a soft camel that has red and green and yellow in it. That’s why it goes with everything… When a color transcends itself to coordinate with so many different colors and still retains warmth, it jumps to that ethereal level. It’s a color you just love to be around. You would feel like a million dollars in a family room, a living room, a kitchen painted this color.”

On opposite sides of the main room are two small spaces (zen den and office). We chose greenish neutrals (Benjamin Moore Nantucket Gray and Dry Sage) to create a subtle shift from the more golden Enoki.

And a sweet little powder room gets a shot of Benjamin Moore “Tropical Dusk”– a beautiful complement to the greens and golds outside the door.

And as for Skiff?

He sat very patiently for this shot.  I’m know he’s happy that pesky hammering has stopped. And, perched high upon his throne in ‘The Savannah Room’,  he enjoys a  great “room with a view”– outside and in.

Woof.

Looking for C2 Paint in the DC metro area ?  You can find this gorgeous collection of hand-crafted color  (and large samples) at Potomac Paint.