Easter Baskets for Baby Boomers

I did a post earlier on coloring Easter eggs with onion skins and it just got me thinking about the commercial side of Easter, the Easter bunny, the beautiful baskets and of course all the wonderful candy back in the day - back in my day that is. If you're a baby boomer, you'll recognize many of these retro candies. 

Chicklets! 

I remember going to visit my Grandparents every Sunday in Great Neck, NY. It was only about a leisurely hour drive from Port Jefferson, Long Island where I lived. At the end of our visit Grandma always used to put a pack of Chicklet gum in my pocket … along with a dollar bill.

French Creams! 

I didn't really like these but I loved the colors.

I was a little Color Specialist even back then.

Licorice!

Look at those crazy colors! 

This is another candy that I didn't like but 

I collected them for the colors.

More Licorice!

They were even grosser to me but the colors were better.

Ok, I'm starting to see a pattern here. I don't like these either but … I like the colors.

Wow - guess what? I didn't like Chuckles either.

Red and yellow were my favorite colors .

The rest I gave to my brother.

Gum is just good in any color.

Ok, well maybe I should have picked candy 

that I actually liked but the memories are priceless.

Happy Easter.

The color of my culture

It's always nice to post something personal about yourself, like your culture, but the reason I'm posting about it today is because of Easter. I'm referring to Czechoslovakia and Lithuania. As a kid, Easter was a VERY colorful time in my house.

eggs

This type of Lithuanian egg is dyed using brown onion skins. There are other natural ways to dye eggs but his is the way we did it every year. We would get a huge pot of water, add a few handful of onion skins that we saved up over the weeks, a touch of vinegar and placed the eggs in boiling water. The water would turn this beautiful spicy orange color and in time, dye the eggs. The longer you cook the eggs, the darker they would get. When the eggs were the color you wanted, we would take a nail and scratch patterns into the eggs exposing the white underneath.

These eggs are more labor intensive using wax and special tools. Although beautiful, I never had the patience to make any of these. 

Many nations believed that the decorated egg had magical powers. Now go and make some magic with your family. The kids will love it!

Pick a color for the Color Specialist

If you have been following any color blogs, if you're reading this then answer should be yes, then you've seen it a 1,000's already  - on how color makes us feel. Just to recap, color can make us happy, sad, energized, relaxed - well, you get the idea.

The reason I'm bringing this up again is to stress that choosing the right color, will make a huge impact on the way we feel. Now you've heard it 1,001 times. Here's what I mean. Tomorrow, I'm getting a professional portrait taken and the dilemma is, what color shirt should I wear? It's ironic because I can envision an entire color scheme for a client within 10 minutes of seeing their home but when it comes to choosing a color that involves me - the brakes are on!

If I don't choose the right color, I'm not going to feel right. If I don't feel right, I won't look  good and if I don't look good, my photograph will be all in vain. Please help!

I guess being a Color Specialist, I'm too critical of my own color choices. I remember when I lived in Pittsburgh it took me 2 weeks to choose a color for my dining room. Granted they were all amazing colors if I do say so but the trouble was just picking “the one”. How do you choose just one color when there are millions of fabulous colors? Anyway, going back to my dilemma, what color blouse should I wear to my photo shoot tomorrow? 

(blouses are color suggestions only)

Whew! Can't I just choose a color scheme for a 4,000 square foot home now? It would be so much easier!!

I've decided on a color but what color do you think would be best for me? There is a picture of me on this blog (soon to be updated) if you want to reference my coloring.

Pick me a winner!!!

Spring. A time for new beginnings

You can't enjoy spring without the amazing color schemes that come with it.

Pastels - soft, delicate - like newborns.

Bring the outside colors inside

Many homeowners who have a deck or screened in porch will try to bring the inside decor to the outside. This way a back porch may have great seating just like in your living room with some great end tables, drapery and some other comforts of home that are usually found inside. 

porch

How about doing the opposite? Bring the outdoors - inside your home. I don't mean grabbing a shovel and pail and start putting grass in your living room but how about the color of grass? Or the blue tone of the night sky? 

Photo

Get the outdoor feeling in your home with an earthy color scheme. You can add to this decor by using outdoor accessories such as pails, branches, textures and some outdoor elements.

branches

Pails can be used for flower pots, magazine holders, to hold rolled up towels in a bathroom and so many more uses - just use your imagination - but first start with a great color scheme!!

Color for Marvin

Marvin Homes

This Marvin home is very typical of the large homes here in South Charlotte. With 4-5 bedrooms and open floor plans choosing a color scheme for this type of home can be intimidating to some homeowners. 

Here you'll see an example of a home that has an open floor plan. It's a good idea to keep this foyer area neutral and build color out from there.

Columns

Many homes also have columns, crown molding, chair rails, wainscoting, wall frames, and window cornices which are great architectural features to apply color. I love to accent what are usually stark white columns and change them into a vision of beauty with the right color.

Plain white column

Column with an accent color

The great thing about having a designer color scheme for your home is that you can put color in areas of your home where it's unexpected such as columns. 

When I put an accent color here I love to hear my clients say “Oh, burgundy on the columns? I would have never thought of that.” Doing so, adds interest to your home and it's almost like color is now taking place of artwork in your home. 

Where some homes that have a neutral color scheme and disappear into the background, it now can become a multidimensional room where color can add depth and interest to any home.

New bedding = 1 great color scheme

You know what the easiest way to pick a color scheme for your bedroom is?

The answer lies in your bedding.

Pick 2 colors from your bedding.

#1 is the main color

#2 is your accent

 Gorgeous bedding = 1 beautiful color scheme!

Bedding by Legacy Homes

Thinking outside the box for color and flooring options

Second runner up to the colors of beach glass, natural egg colors always intrigued me. The soft subtle hues of blue, pink and tan only nature can create. Look at these beautiful muted colors! 

Now try thinking a little outside the box when it comes to flooring. There are so many unique options to choose from. For example, you have this unique color scheme, how about a unique flooring to match? Here's what I had in mind - how fun is this? 

I actually had this tile in when I lived in Pittsburgh. It was a home built in 1926 and the floor was amazing! This was the flooring for my bathroom and the color scheme was a banana cream, black and soft white.

I know thinking outside the box is frightening to some people. Questions like:

Will it look good?

What will my friends and family think?

What if I choose the wrong color or style?

How do I know it will match or look good?

These are very legitimate questions and it you feel uneasy about your color options, email me to discuss the possibilities for your home.

Wall color to match your drapery

You've just purchased gorgeous material and now have custom drapery, upholstery and bedding. 

Dilemma: your wall color doesn't match. 

Solution: Take a swatch of your fabric and have it color matched. You haven't seen beautiful until you've seen a room where the wall color matches perfectly to  your fabric. It really ties in the decor.

Highland Court

Come into my office

Actually, this is near my kitchen area. I use this space sometimes when I'm working on a Color Consultation and I'm selecting the color chips for the portfolio. There is a ton of natural light in this part of the house which is the best for me to choose a color scheme.

With a very large cup of coffee, I choose colors from 9am - 12 noon, when the lighting is the best. Never on a cloudy day or late in the day. It really makes a huge difference on how the color scheme will turn out. I also book my clients during this time as well but the downside of that is I usually can only book 1 client a day. The rest of the day goes to errands and paperwork so it all works out.

I have a ton of magazine piles scattered throughout the house - Southern Living and Martha Stewarts Living are the only two you'll find.I never throw any of these beauties away and constantly re-read them for ideas and color inspirations.

On the mornings I don't have a color consultation, I take one of these magazines and sit out on my front porch with my large cup of coffee and let the ideas flow. The great thing about these magazines is that no matter how old they are, I usually get great ideas from them. I can read the Christmas issue in July and still be inspired with a colorful idea. I like to think and come up with ideas “outside the box” so it's actually good for me NOT to read the Easter issue of Living in April. Why should I read the same issue everyone else is reading? What if we come up with the same ideas? This way, it ensures that whatever colorful idea I get will be unique in some way.

This is my Assistant, Mary. She's really not much more then a lap warmer which really helps until the warmer weather kicks in here in Charlotte. Well I hope you've enjoyed a day in the life of a Color Specialist - at least to sneak a glimpse of my home. You're always welcome!

People make great color schemes too!

A little post fun for a Monday morning.

 Here's a great example how you can find color schemes anywhere. From pastels to bold colors, everyone has a colors scheme.

Martha Stewart

 Lady Ga Ga

Angelina Jolie

Sandra Bollock