Michelle Obama's Office - it's Salmon!

Photo by: Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton

Salmon walls? I love it! This is the color that I see coming in hot and heavy. Now that Michelle Obama has this on her office walls, this rarely photographed room will be making a splash in the color world.

When I saw the wall color I thought of my blog post about the next color trend. Although blue has been a hit this year, I see it's complimentary side kick orange coming in hot and heavy. I don't see orange as the next trend in color but tweak it to a softer, lighter side and call it Salmon (peach is too 80's and associated with Sea Foam - uugg, a 80's flashback)

Green Tea

Omega 3

These are the colors that I see becoming “the combo”. 

Don't those names sound heathy and delicious?

These are the colors in Michelle's office

The first lady's office has gone casual. Shutters instead of drapery. Overstuffed floral pillows. An overstuffed sofa. Wow, maybe I do see an 80's comeback! Well don't grab the shoulder pads just yet. I still say that these colors will be brightened up a bit so they don't go as far back as the 80's. It gets it's update this way.

Peach: Peach will be tweaked towards Salmon. With everyone becoming health and weight conscience (does Michelle's campaign against childhood obesity play a role in this color choice?) healthy food choices are front and center. Healthy choices such as salmon for the omega 3 properties and salads are not only good food choices but they are great color schemes as well. You can see more of these comparisons with food and color schemes on my main website as Color Recipes.

Green: Green is my favorite hue. In my opinion, it will always be in. Dark, light, muted, soft, dreamy, bright - whatever adjective you use, it will be in our homes for a very long time. It's will be modified to the bluer side and then “blue” will the now color but green will be the core. Similar to salad, green comes in again because of health trends. From salads, green teas to seaweed - all this health awareness is forming our color palettes as we speak. And it's a good thing! These are great color combos and they are not just pulled out of a hat, there're here for a reason.

Photo by: Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy

Michelle Obama looking beautiful in a salmon dress

Color trend - Salmon and Green Tea. From the comfy, casualness of the first lady's office to going back to basics with health and food choices. Look for these colors. They're a healthy choice!

If you love the look 

Michelle Obama has in her office 

and her gorgeous dress, try on these colors for size:

~ Sherwin Williams ~

Sociable 6359

Sumptuous Peach 6345

Soft Apricot 6352

~ Benjamin Moore ~

Creamy Orange 2166-50

Dress Color

Copper Harbo 6634 Sherwin Williams

Charlotte's Sky Scapes

Look what nature painted after a storm here in Charlotte. 

I applaud her.

Getting Figgy With Color

If you have a fig tree, chances are you are knee high with this unusual, fleshy looking fruit right about now. So what does one do with dozens of figs? Well you can eat them right off the tree, dry them, make jam and desserts or, and this is my favorite option - you can use these unique looking fruits as an inspiration for a color scheme!

If you have been reading my blog you already knew where I was going with this right? Ok, without further ado, on with the color! Figs were used as a cover back in "the day" - actually the 1st day as shown in this picture of Adam and Eve and now it can be a beautiful source of color for your entire home. Let's see what we can pull from the fig.

Now here are just 6 gorgeous colors and they all can be seen from the photograph of the fig. You can mix and match these colors in a dozen (at least) different combinations and they will ALL look great together. Why? Because these colors are all coming from the same source (the photo) and I've said it before and I'll say it again …

 - ❝ If it looks good in a photograph it'll look great on your walls! ❞

Having said that, if you're thinking about choosing a color scheme for your home, find a photo that you really, really love and look at the colors in it.  You can choose just one color from the photo or you can color your entire home just like I did here. It's THAT easy.

If you still need help choosing color for your home and you live in the Charlotte, NC area, you can contact me and we can set up an appointment and talk about color inspirations for your home. Now go eat your figs - they are high in calcium and fiber. And you thought figs were just a great color scheme!

Nursery Colors

Tired of the hum-drum, bubble gum pinks and sky blues 

for the nursery? 

Take a look at how creative you can get with color, and it doesn't have to be pink or blue anymore. Look into some different color options for the newest member of your family.

Picture this room with some wainscoting, add an innovative color scheme and suddenly your baby's nursery will take on a very sophisticated look yet still be very youthful for the newborn in your family. Look at these unique color options for the room.

Raindrop

Shagreen

Banana Cream

Resounding Rose

These Sherwin Williams colors would make great accent colors or "make a statement" colors if they stand alone. Depending on the size of your room, you can combine these colors with a neutral off white to divide the room into beautiful breaks of color or fill the room with any of these gorgeous hues that your baby would love for years to come.

Can a Man Cave be Too Dark?

When a client tells me that he wants their bonus room to transform into a “Man Cave” that tells me to choose something dark, cozy and well, manly. The man of the house was very happy about having a dark, “cave like” color, so he thought.

In the case of this room, there were a few issues. To start with, it's a very small space. Even though there are two windows very little natural light comes through. The ceiling is fairly low and there is only one overhead light in the room. OK, picture is painted - no pun intended.

What's going to be in this room? A television, stereo system but not surround, a foosball table, couches and sporting memorabilia on the walls - lots of it.

So knowing Mr. L****** wanted a “cave like” color. I first thought that a color like Quiver Tan by Sherwin Williams would be great. But here's a perfect example of why you need to choose a color while in the room instead of at the box store under all those ridiculous lights.

Quiver Tan by Sherwin Williams

After looking at the color I thought would be perfect - in my mind at least - in the lighting of the man cave, I realized that this color would be way too dark. The lighting and northern expose made for a really dark space.

There are other factors to consider when choosing a color for a man cave. Lighting is the obvious but what's really important is the usage of the room. Knowing that Mr. L***** plans are putting posters, flags and sports memorabilia on the walls, the walls would have to be lighter so the items that he'll be spotlighting can be seen clearly. What if his posters were black or dark blue or mostly red? They would look downright gross with Quiver Tan on the walls. See how it looks?

  

When you are going to hang numerous sports paraphernalia on the wall, consider using a lighter, more neutral color to compliment the items you will be hanging. All man caves don't HAVE to have a dark wall color. Even with a much lighter color choice, the room will still have it's cave like appeal because of the limited lighting and northern expose. Here is the color I chose which compliments his black, blue and red novelties.

  

Relaxed Khaki by Sherwin Williams

The Relaxed Khaki is just a lighter shade of the Quiver Tan so you have the same feel of the color but it will make a better backdrop anything he puts on the wall. See how much nicer the posters look with a lighter background? Although this could be a personal preference, I feel the posters in this case should be the focal point instead of the paint color.

OK - I know this is a ridiculous photo but it's a good example of what I'm trying to say. Here you have some type of man cave, as silly as it is, filled with football helmets of all colors, crazy chairs and some type of towel tapestry with 1,000 colors in it. Look at the color of the wall - fairly neutral isn't it? If this room couldn't get any worse, how do you think this room would look with a dark wall color? The thought is pretty scary. Enough said.

So you see, a man cave doesn't have to be dark - just manly and a neutral color choice can be very manly.

Too Much Hue?

credit

Purple Surf

Olympic

OK, so you really, really, really love purple. You bought the purple bedding, purple paint, pillows, throw blankets, window treatments and even have purple flowers to match. Suddenly all this purple doesn’t seem so appealing. Loving a color is great but like everything else in life, love it in moderation. If a monochromatic color scheme is what you were trying to achieve, than your fine. Choosing the same color for your room because you don’t know what else to choose, not a good thing. Luckily for you, it's an easy fix. Here are a few color choices that will pretty your room up in no time.

Great Green • Sherwin Williams

Pressed Flower • Sherwin Williams

Butter Up • Sherwin Williams

Exciting Orange • Sherwin Williams

credit

Mysterious Mauve • Sherwin Williams

They all look great with purple! So you see, there really is no such thing as a mistake in the design world. A good designer or DIYer always has plan B incase plan A doesn’t turn out the way you wanted it to. It’s not that plan A was wrong, it’s  just that plan B may be better. The main thing is to learn by your mistakes. The more "mistakes" you make, the more you've learned.

Red • White • Blue ~ Which One Are You?

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

of July. It's the time we think about our independence. 

What else come to mind besides 

barbecues, picnics and baseball games?  

Color - red, white and blue.

RED: As we know from my previous post on red there are so many hues to choose from. Red, is a difficult color. From choosing the right hue to applying it on the wall. What do you mean I need 5 coats of paint?? That happens with red. When you get a chance, read my blog about it and see why.

WHITE: AKA - the safe one. The color people lean towards because they don't know what other color to use, they are afraid to choose the wrong color or just because it goes with everything z z z z z z z z z z . White has it's place, but in my world of color, I'll can show you options that you wouldn't think possible!

dolce and gabbana

BLUE: Ah yes, the preferred color by most men. A well liked color but how do you choose which blue is right for you? You can read my snip-it about blue as well. It's a great post about what happens when you choose the wrong blue and a little FYI on how to make it right.

Happy birthday America!
Live long, live well
in ALL your colors!

Dont' forget to visit The Tablescaper for more red, white and blue!