I Don't Want a Band Aid Color!!!!

Also known as “pinky beige” or the dreaded “fleshy color”. I wish I had a dime for every time I've heard a client say this. Band aids serve a purpose. They protect a cut or scrape from getting infected to promote healing. Rarely, if ever does this color belong on a wall. Now I know that there are certain times when the “band aid” color is the perfect fit for your decor but for the most part, it's a loathed color choice.

Many times a creamy neutral is all you need but as Color Specialist, I know there are hundreds if not thousands of “beige” to choose from. How hard is it to pick a beige right? Perhaps you go to the box stores, choose a color you like, go home and paint away. After all, it's just beige, it'll go with everything right? Well yes and no.

There's a time and place for beige. Here are some examples when beige is the perfect color of choice.

When - 

1. you're staging your home to sell
2. when you have a monotone color scheme
3. you're afraid of color
4. your really, really love beige
5. when you have a very colorful decor and you need your walls to “rest”
6. it's the perfect hue that matches your sofa
7. you're renting
8. you've gotten a great deal on paint
9. it's free
10. you don't care what your walls look like
11. you just love the color

So you see, you can and should choose beige for your wall color but it has to be the right beige. This is when we start getting into the undertones of a color. The pink undertones have a tendency to be the band aid colors. Sometimes it's hard to tell which one to choose.

If you live in the Charlotte area and would like the perfect beige for your home, email me and we can schedule a color consultation. Already have the incorrect beige on your wall or would like a splash of color? I can do that too!  

Summer Color Inspirations Transition into Fall

Long Island Daily Photo

I'm not quite sure what made me think of the coziness of fall and the spicy color palette that it brings while still “enjoying” 90˙ weather here in Charlotte. I found this beautiful photograph on the blog of Long Island Daily Photo and just adored the colors. Did you notice the heart shaped rock in the center? When I looked at all the earthy hues in this photo, I realized that these are some of my favorite fall colors and I gravitate towards these select few in my fall wardrobe.

This cozy collection of Eddie Bauer must haves caught my eye. I just love the down to earth color palette and that you can mix and match just about all their accessories and it'll work. Now that's productive shopping. It's like buying on pair of black slacks and 25 shirts of all colors. No matter what shirt you choose, it'll match your pants.

The same happens when I choose a color palette for a client. Even though each room may be different in color, they all coordinate with each other. 

Do you remember Garanimals clothing? They're a line of kids clothing designed to help parents and children coordinate outfits easily. As long as they had the same animal on the clothing, they would match.

So when I provide a color portfolio for my clients, I include swatches of all the colors of each room. It's nice to know that you can mix and match the colors to your liking and still be confident that they'll coordinate with each other *.

* I should clarify that this mainly works with homes that have open floor plans. I've noticed for the most part, people choose similar decor as they transition from room to room so if that is the case, this will work. However, in the perfect world of Color Consulting, it's best to keep the color that I've chosen to the room in which it belongs.

The color portfolio comes in handy when you need to shop for drapery,furniture or any home furnishing. Bring it with you to ensure a perfect color match to your purchases.

So getting back to a new color scheme for your home, maybe you'd be interested in a “transitional” color palette that still has the warmth of summer but you can feel the coziness of fall. 

Let me know and we can schedule a color consultation and choose the season of your choice. Please view the “Contact Me For Color” link on top of this page for information. 

Quick Tips on Exterior Color

Here's a little list you might want read if you are considering painting the outside of your home.

Illustration by Donna Frasca

There are so many factors to consider when choosing an exterior color but here are some basic guidelines that you can follow to start you off.

So do a little research, get the correct prep work done, use a good quality paint or stain and buy the proper materials and you'll be on your way to a gorgeous home!

I've listed a few points to get you pointed in the right direction. But keep in mind, don't cut corners because you don't want to gamble with the exterior of your home. Like anything else, plan well and reap the rewards. If you're not a DYIer, hire the professionals. It's a good investment!

The first step is to take a quick drive through your neighborhood and see what other colors are already on your block. For instance, how many homes are blue, green, beige or white? You may see a color that you like and colors you may want to avoid. Here are some other FYI's you will need to think about when choosing a new color for your home.

So grab your pencil and paper and let's go!

Bring your camera too! Hopefully you're neighbors won't mind you taking a few pictures - just for reference.

Take a quick look at the homes on the surrounding streets. How old are the homes? Are they 5 years old? 10 years old? 30 years old?

It's good to find out the approximate age of the homes. Here's the reason why. Picture your Aunt Lucy walking around with short shorts on, pony tails and pink sneakers. It would look a little odd don't you think?

Now picture Aunt Lucy with a black pair of capri shorts on, a classy inverted bob haircut and a nice pair of leather Clarks to match. Paints a nicer picture doesn't it? It's just more appropriate, a better fit.

The same goes for homes. It would look silly for a home that is 40 years old to have a white composite fencing, a light blue exterior color, stylized shutters and stream line accent lighting - unless the rest of the homes on the block looked similar. Try to keep the color and accents age appropriate. 

The point is, you want your home to blend with your neighborhood, not stick out. Older home? Make sure you don't have any historic restrictions. When I had a home in the beautiful historic Port Jefferson, Long Island, there were specific colors you were allowed to paint your home and they had to be approved by the historic board first. So do your research before you begin your project. Newer home? You may have HOA restrictions as well. Color, outdoor lighting, fencing, roofing - these are all factors that need approval first. It's a lot of work but it would be a nightmare if you painted your entire home only to find out you're "not allowed to have that color" on your house. I've seen it happen and it's costly and a horrible waste of time.

Light or Dark

Black or White

Yes or No

We're talking opposites here. If your home is mostly in the shade, consider a brighter, warmer color. You may want to avoid grays, muted greens and darker colors that will just add to it's dreariness.

No trees? Full sun? Stay away from those creamy beiges, light yellows and whites. You'll be glowing!

Well not really but your home may seem so much brighter if you choose a lighter hue. Now would be a good time to consider earth tones, taupes, muted greens, slate blues - you get it!

If you update the look of your home by painting, you may find that suddenly your shutters and front door will look a bit drab.

Since you're changing the look of your home, think about touching up the shutters and front door as well. If your budget allows for new shutters, get them. With literally hundreds of colors and styles to choose from, think about a new look for them as well.

Small budget? You may be able to keep the ones you have just repaint them. You can tell your neighbors there're new. No body has to know they've been recycled. 

TIP: if you are updating your old shutters remember your prep work. Clean, prime, paint. Do it right the first time so it looks it's best and lasts. The same goes for your home. It' has to be cleaned (power washed with TSP or siding cleaner, primed (fixed any holes, dents etc) and painted or stained (use the best quality at all times for best results).

Front door not so welcoming anymore? You'd be surprised how a coat of paint can transform a door. Did I mention it has to be the right color? If you need help choosing colors for shutters, doors or even your home, contact a Color Specialist ( that would be me) to help you with these crucial decisions. It's really a good investment!

As silly as it sounds, don't forget about the back of your house. Most of the attention is usually in the front but there are considerations for the back as well.

It's not that you are going to choose a different color for the back of your house but make sure the color that you do choose, looks good there as well. The lighting and landscape will be different so a taupe that looks great in the front may look like a band aid color in the back - or visa versa.

Hue Know What I'm Talkin' About?

I've had such an extremely busy two weeks that now 

I'm ready to have a bit of blog fun. 

Some Good-fellas fun!

Have you seen the movie Goodfellas? I'm not saying it's a funny movie by any means but it's almost comical to hear the dialect. Don't get me wrong, some of these scenes are very familiar when one has Italians in the family like I do. For instance, this scene where they're at the dining room table is very familiar. Here you see napkins around necks to catch the "gravy", there's a chunk of bread on the table and a carafe of wine. You can only imagine the conversations! Not sure about the wallpaper though. But I could see a nice rich gold on those walls to complement the beautiful drapery (cough cough).

Filoli Ballroom • Woodlawn Valley Haze • Rosy Sandstone

Valspar

Let's segway from the stereotypical to the beautiful part of the boot. 

I hope to visit Italy for a very near milestone birthday. What a dream it would be for a Color Specialist to have the honor to visit such a colorful country. Beautiful Venice, a  gondola ride through the small canals, I can't wait! I hear Venice has the Venice Redentore Festival the third week in July that just happens to be my birthday week. This festival ends in a night of fireworks that lights up the skies over Venice for an hour or more. Sounds like a colorful night to me!

Brick Dust • Toffee Crunch • Oregon Trail

Olympic Classics

And of course the food!! Food and Italy are synonymous like I am to color. 

My mother in law is an amazing cook. She had her own restaurant in New York way back in the day. She still cooks amazing Italian food and I even have a few of those recipes under my belt, along with a few pounds thanks to the great cooking! But look at the colors of the food. Talk about a color buffet!

You can't have a great Italian dinner with out dessert and what comes to mind? Italian ice and gelato. You'll see these desserts in both vibrant hues and the more subtle tints as seen here. All good I'm sure … really, I'm sure!

From films to food, funny to fabulous - it's all good. 

credit

If you love the color of Tuscan decor, you'll notice that the same colors will be found in most Italian foods. These are the same colors that were taken from the table setting above. Doesn't it look like the were pulled right from this room? Pretty cool and really great colors. I actually have these in my home too.

This burgundy I have on six columns in my foyer and living room. The gold is scattered throughout my home in similar hues and the brown I have on the tray ceiling in the master suite and as an accent wall in the master bath. The colors are warm, cozy and very inviting. 

If you're local to Charlotte you can email me to schedule a color consultation to have these delicious colors in your home.

Hydrating Color

The temperatures here in Charlotte aren't letting up and rainstorms are far and few between. As I was watering my very thirsty garden this morning my mind went like this:

Water - color - blue - color - moisture - color - hydrating - color

… and here you have it - a list of some amazing blue hydrating colors.

Tide Pools

Marina Isle

Mermaid Net

Marsh Creek

Aqua Breeze

Rain Washed

Swan Sea

Ocean Kiss

Bayside

Harbor

Waterscape

Saltwater

Rain Drop

These are all Behr colors by Home Depot. Which one is my favorite? It would have to be Tide Pools which can be seen in Maxwell House of Design project which was executed by Cammie Berger Interiors.

From the sea greens to water blues - it's all about hydration!

So go take a splash in blue and hydrate yourself with color …

before we start to dry off with the colors of the fall.

Granite Countertops and kitchen colors.

I've been getting quite a few inquiries about this post so I've decided to update it a bit. I posted this a few months back but it's always nice to be able to keep a popular post updated. Here it is.

Since granite is a natural stone, you'll have variation from slab to slab but for the most part, the same colors are throughout - they may just be in different places. The colors you choose to compliment your granite will also depend on the color of your cabinets and flooring. For the most part, I've found that if you have a gold/cream based granite, some type of muted green, creams or a muted taupe works best. If you're using Sherwin Williams paint, I suggest:

Whole Wheat

Believable Buff

Harmonic Tan

Basket Beige

Believable Buff

When working with the blackish granites such as the very popular Uba Tuba (that name always makes me giggle), the golds are a must to compliment and contrast with this granite. Gold is a feel good color and it's one I recommend often in the kitchen. Still using Sherwin Williams I suggest:

Restrained Gold

Mannered Gold

Blonde

Shagreen

You can choose just about any paint color if you have black granite but like I said before, the deciding factor will depend on what color your cabinets and flooring are. To tie in your kitchen, you can always pull a color that you see in your granite. In this slab I see greens, grays, and golds. Like green? Try:

Hearts of Palm

Rye Grass

Shagreen

Want to try gray? Each of these "grays" has a different undertone so one may match up to your cabinets and flooring.

Contented 

Wool Skein

Worldly Gray

So, if you're not sure of what color to paint your kitchen, I suggest going to your local Sherwin Williams paint store and getting paint swatches of these colors I've mentioned. I've used all of these in many of my clients homes and they are some of the best colors for kitchens. Please keep in mind that these colors may not be the best choice for your kitchen. So many factors depend on the final choice. But for Charlotte, NC -these are winners!

www.DecoratingbyDonna.com

What does color have to do with eyeglasses?

Credit

Through the wonderful world of social media, I was commenting on a forum at iMatthews. There I had a conversation with a member about color, my speciality and vision which is his. He is Dr. Keshav Bhat of Austin Village Eyecare. He incorporated our chat and wrote this wonderful post about colorblindness. Here it is:

Donna Frasca and I recently had a conversation online about color (her area of interest) and vision (my area of expertise).

From a clinical perspective, we test color vision as some 10 million American men—fully 7 percent of the male population—either cannot distinguish red from green, or see red and green differently from most people. This is the commonest form of color confusion, mistakenly referred to as color 'blindness'. This condition affects only .4 percent of women. The fact that color blindness is so much more prevalent among men implies that, like hemophilia, it is carried on the X chromosome, of which men have only one copy.

[Mothers have an X-X pairing of chromosomes carrying genetic material, and fathers have an X-Y pairing of chromosomes. A mother and father each contribute chromosomes that determine the sex of their baby. When X chromosomes pair with another X, you are female. And when the X pairs with the Y, you are male.

If you have a common form of color blindness caused by an X-linked recessive gene, your mother must be a carrier of the gene or be color deficient herself.

Fathers with this inherited form of red-green color blindness pass the X-linked gene to their daughters but not to their sons, because a son cannot receive X-linked genetic material from his father.

A daughter who inherits the color-deficient gene from her father will be only a carrier unless her mother also has the color-deficient gene. If a daughter inherits the X-linked trait from both her father and her mother, then she will be color blind as well as a carrier.

Any time a mother passes along this X-linked trait to her son, he will inherit the color vision deficiency and have trouble distinguishing reds and greens. Again, a daughter can be a carrier but will have this form of color blindness herself only when both her father and mother pass along the X-linked gene. This is why more men than women are color blind.]

Back to the issue of how color is important from a 'retail' perspective:

Your skin tone is an important consideration when choosing the right frames.

Thank you Dr. Bhat for this very colorful and educational information.I think these graphics that you've provided will also help guide us in choosing the correct color frames for our skin tones. 

If your in the market for new eyeglasses you can make an appointment with Dr. Bhat and if you need color for your home, please contact me to schedule an appointment for a color consultation.

A Tribute to Crayola

While working at my desk this morning compiling my color swatches for a clients portfolio, I was thinking back to how I got where I am today. I have so much to be thankful for. I have a career in color which I worked towards my entire life. Every job I had from hand painting fine china as a Ceramic Decorator for Delano Studios to several Interior Design firms in New York and Pittsburgh. I was like a sponge soaking up all the information I needed to someday be on my own as an Interior Designer.

I think back when I was just a little kid. What made me choose this very colorful career? I would have to say the glorious and very colorful box of 64. Every Sunday our family would drive to Great Neck, NY to visit my Grandparents. It was about an hour ride coming from Port Jefferson, Long Island. My mom would make the first stop to the stationery store (that's what we called it back in the day) and picked up a coloring book and a box of 64 Crayola Crayons. I remember opening the box and smelling the new, fresh crayons and instantly getting a smile on my face. Digging into all that color was the best! Which color did I pick first? I have no idea but all I know is that I would get a new box of crayons and a coloring book every Sunday and my drawings went from this:

to this …

Long Island Sound by Donna Frasca
Oil
1985

Tribute to the Twin Towers by Donna Frasca
Acrylic
 2001

Montana by Donna Frasca
Acrylic
2002

Tulips by Donna Frasca
Acrylic
2003

So yes, I do contribute using Crayola Crayons as a HUGE influence to what I do today. I still continue to learn and grow listening and learning from the great people around me. From my Twitter friends to my Facebook friends, who are mostly designers in some way, I cherish all their opinions whether I agree or not because there is a lesson to be learned. I love reading all their blog posts and websites.  Here are a few of my favorites and they should be yours too!

Lori Sawaya of Color Strategies

Kate Smith of Sensational Color for Your Home

Kiki Titterud also with Sensational Color for Your Home

Beryn Hammil of Beryn Hammil Designs

Costa Rica Ox Carts

Costa Rica hand painted Ox Cart

As if the scenery wasn't beautiful enough, 

the hand painted Ox Carts of Costa Rica are breathtaking.

The brightly painted ox carts were used as means of transportation to haul the coffee crop and other export goods from the Central Vally to the port at Puntarenas. These carts had a huge importance in the economic development of Costa Rica. Can you imagine seeing this cartful of color trekking through the mountains and to the coast of Costa Rica? What a sight!

Paint cans used for painting ox carts.

I wonder what the inspiration behind all these carts were?

The wildlife?

The flora?

The sunsets?

Like anything else and everything else … yes. I'm sure all of these were and continue to be the inspiration for many things. From choosing color for our walls at home or even for ox carts, finding inspiration for color is all around us.