At what age does color stop?

Back in the day when I used to work in the paint department at Lowe’s, I noticed there were two types of colors being mixed, colorful and neutrals.  It seems if you were 6 years old to about 15 years old, the typical colors that were chosen where very bright. Pinks, greens, blues and purples were the #1 hit. Colors such as:

Cosmic Berry

Seafarer

Berry Twist

Asparagus

(not actual colors)

Yes the colorful colors are a shock to the eyes but a welcoming one over tired neutrals day after day after day. Don’t get me wrong – there is a time and place for neutrals but come on already, with the gorgeous colors out there does it have to be Antique White, Dove White, Cream In My Coffee or once in a while getting brave with Moose Mousse? It was frustrating for me as a Color Specialist to see people choose these "safe" neutrals when there are some many gorgeous colors out there that are still considered neutrals but with a splash of color. Like:

Dakota Trail

Belle Grove LIght Amber

Hopsack

Lyndhurst Spring Eve

Fairmont  Penthouse Stone

(not actual colors)

You'll find that many of Valspar's Historic Colors fall into this category. They are good standby colors when you're really not sure what colors to choose. They are "historic" colors - they've been around for a long time, for a reason!

I wonder if there could be a happy medium? How about if the new Top Ten list would be something like this:

(not actual colors)

So going back to the question, at what age does color stop? Why do we choose softer colors as we get older? I know for the most part, because the wall color will match the decor of our home. Then why do we choose "safe" decor? Answers anyone?

The color of cow pasture?

Well, as promised to a fellow Facebooker Nancy Hannah - here is your color scheme for “Cow Pasture”. She had posted this photo of these cute cows and I just thought it was so innocent - look at the one on the right! Anyway, looking over the fact that these are cows, I saw a beautiful color scheme. I loved the muted colors in the background and the cows would make a nice neutral. I just chose one shade of neutral but there are quite a few in the cows - from lights to darks and some have a bit more of a yellow undertone.

Anyway, this is another great example of how you can find an unique color scheme just about anywhere. Even if it's utterly ridiculous!

Would you redo your wedding colors?

Long Island Sound, Port Jefferson, New York

August 5, 1990

Now that's a tough question. I often thought about it. With all the colors to choose from, which one would I choose if I had to do it all over again? Why did I go with a black and white wedding anyway? Was it a safe choice? 

I always liked red but would everyone look good in red? Would it clash with my highlights? Red is out.

Green is a favorite color of mine but it just seemed too Christmassy for summertime. Green is out.

Would I dare try a blue? I never feel comfortable in any shade of blue. I like it as a wall color but would never wear it - that's odd. What about one of the new trendy blues? Would the trend be over by the time the wedding comes and then I have an “old trend” dress?

Or how about a fun, exciting girly girl color? Perhaps not,my brides maids would kill me. 

The classic color scheme of black and white, opposites on the color wheel. Clean, simple, formal, elegant black and white. From my white calla lilly boutique, to the black and white balloons suspended at various levels in the air and even the white wedding cake with tiny black silk roses surrounded with black pearls  . . . I wouldn't change a thing!

In the life of a Color Specialist there is time for color and there is time for black and white. August 5th, 1990 was time for black and white and it was beautiful!

Always an Island Girl, Long Island that is!

I’ve mentioned beach glass in various articles and blog posts before but there is just something magical about the color of beach glass, for me at least.

Oil painting of Long Island Sound by Donna Frasca, 1985

I guess growing up on Long Island, NY and being surrounded by the water for most of my youth has made an impact on my color views of the ocean. Walking the waters edge and finding any beach glass was like finding a $10 dollar bill on the ground. 


Beach glass would be found in two colors, blue and green. On the extremely rare occasion, like 1 in a million rare, you would find a cobalt blue beach glass and that would be like finding, well, $1,000,000 on the ground – not quite but it was still a find.

At of all the color fan decks I have, there are just a few colors that come close to the beach glass group I love. I think the best grouping is from is by Benjamin Moore which has a whole strip of Historic Colors from Salisbury Green to Palladian Blue. I colored a cottage style home in these colors and it was so beautiful! Valspar has the Waverly Home Classics collection and it’s called “Seafoam”. 

But for the best choice in Beach Glass colors, I rely on the Sherwin Williams paint deck. They have such a soft, muted collection of the coastal hues that is very popular here in Charlotte.

www.DecoratingbyDonna.com

The Color of Fifi Flowers

Loving this blog - I mean look at this color! This is the colorful artwork found on the blog of Fifi Flowers. After about 15 minutes of scanning her blog, I couldn't help but think of wall color. 

Ostrich Feather and Shiny Silk by Porter Paints, Voice of Color

Cork and Dry Sage by Benjamin Moore

If I chose this painting, what color would look best on the wall to compliment it? If I go strong and bold, perhaps it would drown out the impact of the art. Maybe it would look best with a neutral background.

Lyndhurst Spring Green and Herb Cornucopia by Valspar

If it were my house, I'm not one for a neutral wall color. I think in this case I would choose a neutral matting for the artwork. This way I can have my gorgeous wall color and still have the beauty of the artwork shine through. The other factor is I would of course choose a painting that matches my color scheme or to compliment it at the very least.

Either way, I would love to have ANY of Fifi Flowers paintings in my home - even if have have to paint one wall to make it shine!

The color of Whoopi

Ok, who doesn't like Whoopie? Whoopie Pie that is. I was drooling when composing this particular post. It' 8:00 in the morning, I didn't have breakfast and look at this amazing photography from  Mowie Kay, a very talented photographer from London. You HAVE to look at his blog, but I warn you - eat first before you read!

OK - back to color. This Color Recipe is very classic. Brown is always going to be a 'standby color'. Even thought the brown/green combo is a bit long in the tooth already, this brown is married with a new, refreshing green - very crisp and clean. Of course you have the foundation color which is the neutral in this Color Recipe.

Today I would like to use the colors of PPG - Porter Paint • Voice of Color.

To get this look try:

Chocolate Kiss

Lemon Grass

Morning Glow

(and one very large glass of milk)

What does your coffee table say about you?

Does your coffee table reveal your secrets? Well they may not be secrets but your coffee table will certainly give a hint at what type of person you are. Let's dissect mine.

If you look closely, one would think that I'm a bit hoidy toidy. 

• There is a glass of wine

• A $230.00 bottle of Grand Marnier 

• A beautiful book on the works of Van Gogh all set upon a beautiful glass top table.

• An old Italian vase with vintage silks.

• 100% circular wool area rug 

Now let's take a closer look.

• One glass, half full by the way, of Two Buck Chuck Chardonnay from Trader Joe's

• The glass top table, which I don't even like, was given to me by my mother in law. I had to take it or insult her. Although this is something I would not choose for myself,it actually works in my little parlor.

• An "empty" $230.00 bottle of Grand Marnier. It was given to me by my father in law. He bought it, drank it and gave me the bottle because he knew I would think it's pretty. Besides, it has gold leafing on it and was too fancy to just throw away.

• I took, or asked it I could have, the Van Gogh book from my dad's library because I love Van Gogh. He was glad to give it to me.

• Italian vase? Not even close. Just a cute vase from Micheal's arts and craft store with some silk ivy found in the clearance section.

• The area rug was a bargain from Domestication's which I've been shopping from for about 20 years.

So what does my coffee table say about me? 

• Although I love a good glass of white wine, spending $2.99 on a bottle and loving it's fruity undertones and watching it's legs dance down the side of my glass while saving a buck is ok with me.

• I would gladly accept any gift my in-laws give me because I love them to death and their intentions are honorable to recycle some of their stuff while I'm trying to fill my big home with stuff I can't afford to buy.

• I kept the $230.00 bottle of Grand Marnier because I knew I would never indulge in such an extravagance like that when I have two kids to send off to college in a few years. I also appreciate the craftsmanship of the gold leaf and the beauty of the bottle and the way it was designed.

• The book? I took that for selfish reasons. It was to better educate myself in the art field in which my career depends upon. I fantasize of Va Gogh's beautiful "Sunflowers" and pretend that they are growing in my backyard so would be able to offer the birds a tasty treat. I'm a avid bird watcher.

• The area rug is a good, basic rug from a company I've been supporting for many years. They have great customer service and their prices are very affordable. It's unique in the fact that I don't like to shop in the local stores where my neighbors can have the same accessories as I do. This will ensure that my home will look a bit different from everyone else's.

So you see, I'm not hoidy toidy at all. Just frugel, thrifty and a bit Artsy Fartsy. Other then using silly words like artsy tartsy, I'm really not too far from being just like you - well, maybe just a bit more color minded.

Colors to dye for

Everyone knows what tie dying is. We've seen it on t-shirts in the malls, on friends, television shows and I bet most moms and dads have them.

The dilemma is if we are using tie dye shirts as a color inspiration for a room, what color do we paint our walls? Do we use a neutral and just use the tie dye colors as accents here and there or do we go for it and put these bold and crazy colors on the wall?

There is no right or wrong answer. It depends on who you are. If you are a teenager, chances are those walls will be black with splatter of these vibrants all over the place.

An adult? I can see a neutral wall with one of these colors as an accent. Perhaps on the wall where the headboard is. Another option is to incorporate the cold colors in your bedding, drapery or just in colorful accessories.

The answer? Color blocking. You can add blocks of color to a neutral wall such as the one below. Color can be in the form of squares, stripes, rectangles - any shape at all!

credit

This blocking technique is the extreme but it's still an option if you want the wild colors of tie dye. There are times when I will use a block of color in a kids room. I usually put it in place of the headboard and only just beyond the with of the bed. It's really a great way to make a mom happy with a neutral wall color and the kid gets the splash of a wow color.

The color of life

I saw this beautiful baby on the facebook page of Heather Reid. I just got a warm fuzzy feeling when I saw him, nephew of Heather, Rhyzan Baker. I hope you don't mind Heather - he's beautiful!!

To get this cute and cuddly color scheme try:

Love

Innocence

Perfection

Otherwise you can try these great colors by Olympic:

Aloe Vera

Birthday Cake

Smoke Screen

The Color of a Memory

How cool would that be to come up with a color scheme for your home from a memory you had? For example, here is a short video clip of my kids playing in the ocean, I believe we were in Florida. Besides the very bad audio, look at the great colors! I pulled three colors from this clip which can be mixed and matched throughout a room or a house. Here you don’t have to be afraid if the colors don’t match because you know they already do. They look great in the movie, they will look great on your walls!

** I wasn't able to load the video but you can still see the great colors.

Want a memory on your walls? 

Email a video clip to me and I’ll email you back a colorful memory.

email for pricing

Color Intervention: Help with kitchen color

Donna, 

I'm looking to update the look of my kitchen. I like a modern / contemporary look. I want to keep my cabinets white and I'm not sure if I should keep the trim yellow.  I live right by a Lowe's so I would prefer to use a Valspar color. What do you suggest?

Kathy J, Setauket, NY

Hi Kathy,

What a nice, open kitchen you have! You can easily update this kitchen with the right color. I have just the one for you. I would suggest a warm gray such as Sage Morsel 5005-1C. It's a light color with a green undertone. It will compliment the color of your slate flooring and also pick up the gray that is in your counter top. Of course your black appliances will really stand out and give you the crisp clean look you want. I would definitely keep the trim white. Your red tea pot is a great accent color!

Thanks,

Donna Frasca

Color Specialist

www.DecoratingbyDonna.com

Color Recipe for Banana Cream Pie

Who doesn’t like a creamy dessert? If you like banana’s this is the dessert for you! Not crazy about  this potassium rich dessert? You can still enjoy it but with out all those calories. 

This soft and subtle Color Recipe would really look good in just about any room. From the kitchen to a formal dining room (could’t you just see this with beautiful black accents?) 

How to get this look? There’s no monkeying around with this recipe. Let’s put this delicious Color Recipe in the dining room.

• Main walls 1
• Under the chair rail  2
• Tray ceiling 3

Color Suggestions to get this look

Paint Brand -  Benjamin Moore

1. Lemonade 2024-60
2. Beacon Hill Damask HC-2
3. Spring Dust 2150-40

The Color of IKEA

I gathered the family in the car yesterday and headed toward the IKEA in Concord, NC which is about a 40 minute drive from my house. That's a safe distance for any IKEA to be. When I lived in Pittsburgh, it was minutes away and I was minutes away from bankruptcy - I'm only kidding - but I did have to go to IKEA intervention because I just couldn't stay out of that store! By the way, did you know you can see the IKEA store from the airplane as you land into the Pittsburgh airport? Now THAT's big but it's not at big as the store here in Concord. I wasn't able to find the exact size of I was told it was one of the largest IKEA's in country.

I was actually offered a job as an Interior Designer there but turned it down. Although in the long run it would have been fun to say I was a Designer for the incredible IKEA but my fear of power drills and lack of mechanical talent lead me to bigger and better adventures.

My son, shown here holding the "world in his hands" is bound and determined to have his future home decorated all in "IKEA" - I've created a little genius! After all, it's like Garanimals™ for home decor - you mix and match and it's a win win way of decorating.

The color of this sofa is awesome but can one ever feel rested in it? Will you ever be able to catch some Z's on this energetic color?

Nice color combos here but realistically, can you imagine what that sofa will look like after a month or two of use? Maybe two more pillows and a bit larger? I really love the color of the area rug.

After a while in the store and ten sore piggies later, I had color overload. I put the camera away and actually decided to shop for stuff instead of color. Too much fun here at IKEA. Can't wait to go again.

The Bucket List • Top 10 Colors to use before you die

Only list 10? This is going to be tough. Now if I were listing the top 100, that would be easier. Ok, here we go. If I had to list my top 10 favorite colors of all times here they are in no particular order.

1. Comfort Gray - Sherwin Williams 
2. Quietude - Sherwin Williams
3. Nomadic Desert  - Sherwin Willams
4. Mannered Gold - Sherwin Williams
5. Stratton Blue - Benjamin Moore
6. Cabin Red - Valspar
7. Outback - Behr
8. Guava Jam - Behr
9. Gold Buff - Behr
10. Cape Cod Gray - Olympic solid stain

That was really, really, really hard. There are about 2,000 that, hands down, should be on this list but like I said, if I had to list 10. Here they are.

The Color of Comic Books

From the time we were just kids, color has captured our eyes in the form of comic books. I remember when I bought my first comic book. There were hundreds to choose from! They were all the same size and same format. They had wild colors and cartoonish figures splashed all over the place. How was I to choose? I wasn't a collector or a big fan of comic books but I wanted to see what all the hype was about so off to the store I went.

There I am, a kid in a candy store - literally, and now I have to pick a book. But which one? Ok, here we go. Process of elimination. Superman?  No, too common. Some crazy man with a shield and sword? No, too aggressive. Some odd looking women with large body parts? No, that's just wrong and then there were some scary looking ghouls of some kind. Ok, I'll take it.

So which one did I choose? I don't remember the name of it but I picked the book that had the best color, and that was tough since they ALL had great color! The story line was about some type of ghoul chasing after a criminal. The ghoul eventually caught up with the man and put  him in cement boots. Well, you know how the rest of the story goes.

My color point is again - COLOR SELLS!!! We buy with our eyes, like food, we look to see what looks the most appetizing first. As kids, from comic books to toys to candy - it's all about color and it worked. Did you every have a grey toy?

The same goes for your home. A home with color feels great to be in and it looks good too! But it has to be the RIGHT colors. Don't settle for sterile white or boring beige  because you can't decide. There are so many amazing and beautiful color trends now. Sherwin Williams has a color palette that is out of this world beautiful! Soft blues and coastal greens, warm grays. These can be in your home! 

If you live local to Charlotte, email me to schedule a color consultation. In just a little over an hour, you'll have a new, up to date color scheme for your home. You'll love the colors I choose! Take a look at my main website for more information.

But I LOVE this chair!

I saw this chair on the post Affordable Interior Design of the very lovely Besty Head, Interior Designer who lives in New York City.

Here's a perfect example of how the right color will make the sale.

• Do I need a chair? No. 
• Is this a style chair that I would normally buy? No. 
• Am I even really crazy about this chair? No.
• Do I just love the color of this chair? YES!

I would consider buying this chair, if not for me for someone else, because the color sells it. I know me though, I would be crazy enough to buy it with the intentions of giving it to someone else but wind up keeping it. This chair would be the new inspiration piece for my house and I would totally redecorate while at the same time sign divorce papers. Oh well, I can keep my beautiful chair right here on my blog and look at it whenever I want to.

To get this color in your home, try Sherwin Williams Quietude 6212.