Thinking Pink For Your Home?

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Pink NEVER used to be a color to consider for me but now, I really like it. As far as room color, I love the warmer, softer pinks, similar to the one I've highlighted on my “Hue 2 Have” by Pratt & Lambert. When it comes to fashion, I like the brighter pinks very much like Pantone's Honeysuckle. 

Project Nursery

The only problem I have with pink is that every time I see pink, I think of a nursery or a young girl's room. 

QUESTION: How do we break the persona that pink is strictly just a girls color and how can we incorporate it into hour homes?

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Beautiful “Bridesmaid Pink” but it's still a feminine color and still,  associated with women. 

Schumacher Wallcovering

Here you see it with greens and lighter tints of pink but still very delicate and feminine.

… just a little too much.

ANSWER: Pink can look beautiful in our homes as long as we pair it with other colors that will either tone it down or distract our eyes from noticing it. It might be easier to show you what I mean with specific paint samples. 

Blending but not focusing.

Teal is the dominant color here, not focusing on the pink.

Masculate? (I think I'm inventing a word) a pink theme.

Love this one and it actually can be used in a mans room but use the pink VERY sparingly, maybe as a trim color.  

Distracting away from pink.

Now here is a color scheme that is just so unusual that either you'll love it or hate it. I think the pink will be the last color you notice.

What colors would I choose if I HAD to have pink in my house?

Well here they are:

I don't actually have an official pink but I have what's known as a “pinky beige”. It's the top left color and it's called Pebbled Courtyard by Behr. To explain these colors a bit, the colors on the left are in the front part of my house. The colors on the right are in the back end of my house and the burgundy is an accent color on 6 columns that connect the two sections of my home. 

Odd layout, but pretty! Would I choose these colors for a clients home? NEVER - for too many reasons to mention but, as a Color Specialist in Charlotte, it's my job to choose colors based on the needs of a client. In the case of these colors, it's been nailed and exactly what the client wanted :-)

The Best Greens of Sherwin Williams

If you had a chance to look at my main website called “Decorating by Donna” you'll notice a link called “Color Recipes©”. What are Color Recipes? They are basically color schemes that I've designed based on food - from desserts to dinners.

When using food as color inspiration, it seems green shows up in most of the photos. From salads to veggies - it's greens. So having said that, I wanted to list some of the more popular greens that I've used for my clients here in the South Charlotte area.

Sherwin Williams is the paint brand that my clients ask for and it's the brand that seems the most “palatable ” for the exposures here in Charlotte. Below I have a few of the more popular greens that I've used in many of my color portfolios.

Schumacher Fabrics

Sherwin Williams

And look at this beautiful Schumacher remnant that Simplified Bee purchased for $2. You really need to go to her blog to read the full story on how she transformed this fabric into this beautiful foot stool. If you look close you'll see the darker green that I've highlighted. Great green - I've used it to accent columns in one of my clients home.

Simplified Bee

I found this multi purpose pillow designed by Christine at Throw Pillow Decor. This pillow caught my eye because of the greens of course but look at the cute pockets it has too! Look at the book titled “In Home Decorating”. I wonder if there is a section in there about green? Anyway, great pillow and extremely popular light green.

Throw Pillow Decor

There are so  many other greens that I can list but this blog would go on and on. If you would like to see how the greens of Sherwin Williams would look in your home, contact me to schedule a color consultation. 

What are your favorite Sherwin Williams greens? I bet I've used them already :-)

Oh Those Darn Chameleon Colors!

Today (1/23/12) my client was flipping a bit because her color was changing! “It's like a Chameleon! One minute it looks pink, then it looks gray!”  

I had to laugh - but to myself of course. Yes, those chameleon colors continue to raise their colorful head. Here's another one to add to my list.

Soft Sand by Benjamin Moore - 

you're a tricky one but beautiful! 

Here the rest of my post originally posted February of last year - enjoy!

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We've all seen them, those colors that change right before our eyes. One minute they look beige, then they turn to green. Or is it a pink that used to be a beige? No, it's a green that is now a warm gray.

I've seen it happen first hand and I know the “trouble” colors just about by name in each fan deck. I even learned the hard way with “Prestige” by Behr.  I used this color in my front parlor an LOVED it. It went well with the red accents in the room BUT boy oh boy did this color ever change!!!!

Every now and then I get a “scratch my head” moment and try to figure out what just happened. These episodes are far and few between but what a lesson learned on this color!

Now this Chameleon color went from this gray muted pink to light beige back to gray and then to a pale pink. I almost thought my husband was playing “Let's fool with the Color Specialist” and was repainting my room when I left the house (it was a small room and I wouldn't put it past him to do something like that). I guess if my furniture was't red it wouldn't bother me so much but depending on the light conditions, it looked HORRIBLE! 

So what other Chameleon colors are there? Here's a few to be warned of. You know, actually that's a great idea - there should be a warning label that should read:

Now I know this Dakota Trail by Valspar looks like a beige (monitor representation) but believe me when I tell you  -this color changes to light green. 

I've used Contended 1,000 times and I never know how it's going to look until the home is painted and the furnishings are in. I hear clients say:

 “I love this color because I paid for one

but actually have a few. It changes so much”.

So there you have it - a few of those every changing colors. Here is another perfect example of why it's important to hire a Professional Color Consultant when choosing color for your home. Some of these beauties are really tricky! Contact me if you would like to schedule color for your home so these colors won't “change” your mind about your color choices.

Granite and Color For Your Kitchen

Liberty Stone, Charlotte

You've just installed beautiful granite countertops in your kitchen. Now that you have new granite, the rest of your kitchen seems a bit drab. What to do? Paint. But what color?

As a Color Specialist in the South Charlotte area, I've chosen several of these color combinations and they are beautiful! There are so many color possibilities, I've selected some to get you started in the right direction.

Here are a few of the more popular granite color choices with a few Sherwin Williams colors that will look classic and beautiful.

Who's Shopping for Furniture on Presidents Day?

As I was cleaning the house yesterday preparing for some out of town guests arriving this weekend, I decided I don't like my sofa anymore, or my area rugs, or my lamps. 

Did someone say President's Day furniture sales?

As I moved the sofas off the area rug to vacuum, I took a good look at my only 4 year old sofas and just realized that I really, really would like something new or just something different.

Knowing that President's Day is coming up and there are incredible furniture sales going on now, I wonder if I would be able to go to the stores “just to look” without buying anything? And if I did happen to buy something because on top of the amazing sales and the Designer discounts, what would I choose?

Maybe some trendy color?

No. I would be locked into a color scheme I may not like next year.

Definitely not, too Darth Vader.

Color is nice but isn't leather cold in the winter, slippery in the summer and makes “odd” noises sometimes when you move just right on the cushions? “Really, that sound did come from the sofa”. One benefit of leather I heard it is easy to keep clean. Something to think about.

As much as I love green, do I love it that much to be seeing quite this much of it every day?

This actually would be a possibility although how hard will this be to keep clean?  It would look great with the wall color I would choose if I had to paint again.

Hmmm, and maybe throw in an area rug?

And a few lamps?

Well since I'm dreaming, throw in a new husband because mine would KILL me if I went shopping this weekend.

What? A girl can dream can't she?

All joking aside, if you are in the market to go furniture shopping this Presidents Day weekend, there are some amazing sales that you can take advantage of - just do your homework and decide what colors and styles will look best in your home.

If you need help with your color choices of course you can contact me for that. In the market for a new husband? George is ALL MINE!

The Colors of Yesterday

I was surfing along on Facebook and I found a post from Sew Craftful that caught my eye. I found these vintage patterns and got me thinking about “vintage colors”.

Of course I was noticing the colors of all the clothing styles from the 60's. Spicy orange, gold, purple and turquoise. Doesn't sound to vintage to me - except for the style of those very wide pants!

Are these colors that we would use in our homes?  Sure! 

It made me wonder, is vintage really vintage or is it color and styles we just put on the back burner until we're ready to use them again?

In your opinion, what is a vintage color?

How to Use Warm Grays

Gray or grey, it can be warm or it can be cool. Deciding on the gray you like depends on what feel you want in your home. Today, I'll talk about warm grays and save cool grays - for a rainy day.

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This photo by Simplified Bee shows a beautiful bedroom with a gray and white stenciling on the wall. Stenciling is a great alternative to wallpapering if you are looking for a nice arts and crafts project to do. But for today, we're talking paint.

Look at the gray, it's warm (hello yellow undertones) soft, and very cosy as a bedroom should be. She didn't have any pink in the photo but I thought I would add a little splash of color in place of the cream.

Lamps

When using gray in your home, think of the other accessories that you'll be using there, from artwork to lamps. Pictured here is a brushed nickel lamp that would be the perfect match to just about any gray. Avoid using gold or brass metallics with this scheme. I'm not saying you can use gold accessories with gray but silvers look so much better.

Area rugs

Capel Rugs, Matthews NC

Here are a few samples of what a warm gray may look like. Now they can be light or dark but they all will contain a decent amount of yellow which will give them the “warm undertone” I keep mentioning. 

Maria Killam, a color expert that I refer to often, has a great blog post on gray called simply, “What Everyone Should Know About Gray”. Here she goes into detail about the different undertones that gray can have. Here's one she uses that I just love - look how the gray drapery can seem a bit green yet the gray wall looks a bit lavender. 

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Lighting also plays a HUGE factor when choosing gray, or any color for that matter, for your home.  So always look at the gray you like in the room it will be going in.

Some samples of warm grays

Colors you can use with warm grays

My choice for a warm gray?

It's Coastal Fog, a Benjamin Moore color 

and also my Hue 2 Have for this Valentine's Day week.