TOO WARM

CRAVING COOL....

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Looking through Traditional Home and House Beautiful magazines this weekend, I was struck by the 'cool' palette nearly all the rooms were sporting on their walls.  From the barest hint of cool beige to light grays and deeper hues of blue gray, all were in the cooler palette.  That is not to say that the rooms were cold, or even

BEST GRAY FOR A SMALL DARK ROOM

 GIVE ME A GRAY.....

Gray.  It's a popular color in design, and not going away anytime soon.  In rooms filled with light, high ceilings, lots of white wood trim - it's beautiful and fresh.  But what about a small room, with low ceilings?  Can gray work here?

KEEP THE HOME FIRES BURNING

COLOR FOR NATURAL STONE FIREPLACE

House and Home

IN EVERY HOME there are elements we can't change - at least not right away.  There are things we need to live with - maybe its a previous owners stone or tile selections, or wood cabinet or floor colors,

LIGHTEN UP!

WELCOME SPRING

The Foo Dog Ate My Homework

Blue and White has always been a favorite combination.
Add a little greenery, and it feels like Spring
A seagrass rug brings it down a notch from being too formal
Livable, fresh, crisp, clean, light
A classic.

LOOKING FOR A WARM GRAY


STILL LOVING GRAY....

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WARM Gray?  It sounds like an oximoron.  There is the stereotype gray - that color we made by adding white to black in grade school.  Some people feel its a little boring... or depressing.... or dull...  I think it depends on how you use it, but for those of you who think gray is all the negative adjectives - meet WARM gray.  What?, you say.  Yes, add a little brown, or a little violet, or warm green as an undertone and you have an amazing gray that makes all those nasty old adjectives hide their heads in shame.... WARM.  GRAY.  Its a good thing.

EXPLORING COLOR: NEUTRALS RULE....

EXPLORING PAINT COLOR:  BLUES AND NEUTRALS

Nature is amazing.  It is a color magician, putting colors together with expert eye.  I love the collection of eggs above for that very reason.  Speckled gray, cream, beige, brown and that perfect color - robins egg blue.   Now, if I could only find paint in that color .... Oh, wait... I can!

REBIRTH

Keep Calm and Carry On .... turned out to be good advice.  Our first day in London I injured my knee.  The question became: stay there injured or go home...?  We applied ice packs, Advil, and anti-inflammatory medication - and prayer - and decided to stay.  We rented a wheelchair and changed a few plans.  My DH was amazing - pushing me all around London, which is not that wheelchair friendly and was definitely an adventure.  It could have been a disaster - but the group we were with was amazing, DH was amazing, and how can London NOT be amazing?  Even in the snow.  In a wheelchair.  

ORANGE CRUSH.....

NOT AFRAID OF COLOR???

Bring Mae Flowers

I have the perfect remedy to a gray day - it's raining here in So. Calif. - and to be honest, I'm not entirely sure this next question is real.... two came in from the same person but were signed with different names, but it is so entertaining - I just had to answer!  

CREATING MAGIC WITH TAN

BUCKSKIN... WARM TAN

I like it when I get questions about a specific color.  No second guessing - they already know the color they want to use, just need a little help with the rest of the palette.  I received just such a question from this reader: