RED NOSE DAY

RED WALL DAY

On the bandwagon for Red Nose Day, and a reminder to buy your red nose at Walgreens today - the prodeeds benefit hungry children!

BBC

And we are seeing red in a good way today.  If you love color - embrace it - and nothing is more vibrant than RED!

Alidad

A Nice Finish

Fengshuidana

Decor Pour George

Decorating Files

Flat Ideas

HGTV

Homedit

Home Redesign HK

House and Home

This Old House

Rain on a Tin Roof

QUESTION FROM A READER:

Hi Claudine:

I stumbled on your blog while searching google images for warm gold paint colors. Currently the walls are Capri Coast by Benjamin Moore. I actually don't mind it other than blah blah blah...not getting that warm welcoming feeling. I am not opposed to painting just the bottom & leaving top as is, vice versa or painting 2 diff shades of warm gold on top/bottom.

Attached is the picture I just snapped -its 5:30 in upstate NY. Please excuse & forgive the mess, I got so excited when I found your blog I just snapped away :)

Room Facts: 25ft x 15ft, dark wood floors, dark wood wall unit on one end and window wall w/desk on wall opposite the wall unit. 12 pane glass door to back yard (hill & all woods) and double window same wall as door. We do not get much natural light.

I don't want the room to look like we need to be sitting on beach towels i.e. pale yellows or with cool greys. I think warm golds could work well but also don't want them to look beige or flesh color. Any suggestion you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards-MaryJane

Hi MaryJane.
Warm golds/yellows are tricky.  The wrong tone and its orange, or worse, flesh colored.  I think you may like Whole Wheat by Sherwin Williams.  It will be beautiful with the deep wood tones in your pictures.

I might keep the bottom half of the wall in the white, as it also looks so good with white wood trim.

It looks nothing like a beach, and doesn't have the sickly yellow-green undertones or the fleshy orange ones.

Hope that helps you!
Claudine

SPRUCING UP OUTSIDE LIVING SPACES

This time of year turns our focus from the inside of our homes to our outside spaces. Whether you have a well manicured garden, a patio, pool or a simple lawn - we will all be spending more time outside.

It seems like Memorial Day weekend is the trigger for our family to crank up the barbecue, trim the shrubs and power wash the patio because guests will be coming and the weather is perfect for a little outdoor entertaining.

I've been focused on what that entails and what creates a great living space in the great outdoors and what will extend my indoor space to my outdoor space - so that I get the most out of my property.  In California - space is money - so we should use it wisely and make every inch count.

According to the scientists - the California drought is far from over... so we need to think along the lines of drought tolerant and California native plants.  Succulents are very popular right now and I recently visited this property belonging to a true lover of all things cacti and succulent in Laguna Beach, California...

I don't know about cacti..... but I can definitely get behind the succulents!  My friend Kelly Jackson has a whole new business based on her love of succulents.  Check out more of her creations here.

QUESTION FROM A READER:

Greetings! I bumped into your help serendipitously.  

My kitchen, dining room and living room are painted in  Sherwin Williams’  Sea Salt, Quietude and Rainwashed.

kitchen leading into dining room ( to right of DR is LR) Kitchen is Quietude, DR is Rainwashed.

 My family room top half including all woodwork, baseboards and chair rail is painted in Clamshell  ( to complement the fieldstone fireplace) and the bottom paneled section is painted in Valspar Desert Travels.

family room  (above chair rail is Clamshell, Below is Desert Travels)

 Exiting off the family room through oak French doors is a sunroom painted in Valspar Lunar Tide.

sunroom (Lunar Tide walls)

I am looking to paint my foyer which leads to the family room on one side and living room on the other a color that would flow and coordinate.  I was considering Desert Travels, leaving all woodwork and doors in white as is all the trim in the rest of the house excluding the family room.  My stairs are carpeted in a silvery green.  Are any of my choices fatal?

foyer ( with glimpse of living room which is totally inaccurate as pictured because it has been redecorated.)

Living Room is soon to be Sea Salt (border and wallpaper to be removed soon)

Your best shot at helping me is appreciated!!

Bonnie


Bonnie,
You have done a lovely job in updating your home.  The paint colors are great - I think the only room I would have done differently is the family room:  

(1) - I would not have broken the wall up with two colors unless I were applying wainscoting to the bottom portion - in which case I would have painted the bottom wainscot in the trim color of the room.  If I were to paint it two toned, I think a color with more contrast - darker and heavier, would be my choice for the bottom color.

updated approach to chair rail walls - all one color + trim color
via interiorsbycolor

(2) -I would chose a color with a little more gray in it for that room - instead of trying to match the stone in the fireplace (which you have done exceedingly well) I would have contrasted it a little with a cooler color - a soft gray or beige gray - which would allow the stone to stand out more and cool the room down a little.  (See example below)

Warm stone tones are enhanced with cool walls
 via the-hall-way

Revere Pewter (Benjamin Mooe)
 via Veronikasblushing

That being said, I am pleased you are using a color already in your palette for the foyer - I would caution using too strong a color in that area - 25% - 50% lighter, if you use Desert Travels, might be the ticket.  If the living room is to be in Sea Salt, you might consider painting the foyer Benjamin Moore REVERE PEWTER  (and I would also use that in the family room - if you are so inclined to repaint that area).  

Revere Pewter (Benjamin Moore)

Revere Pewter (Benjamin Moore)

Sea Salt looks beautiful with Revere Pewter and will pull in the tones of the rug from there and create a nice flow.

Good Luck!

color coordinat

DECORATE WITH COLOR

IF YOU LOVE COLOR....

live in it...

HGTV

HGTV

HGTV

HGTV

HGTV

HGTV

eat in it

HGTV

Boston Interiors

DigsDigs

DigsDigs

Homedit

HGTV

HGTV

HGTV

cook in it

HGTV

HGTV

Brit Co

Handmade and Craft

HGTV

This Old House

HGTV

HGTV

sleep in it

HGTV

HGTV

HGTV

HGTV

HGTV

HGTV

Better Home and Gardens

Foter

Pinterest

Pinterest

HGTV

immerse yourself in it

HGTV

Shoebox

Pinterest

Dutch Boy Paint

If you love color - use it where you will see it everyday -

whether its bold

HGTV

House Beautiful

 or more subtle

HGTV

HGTV

 If color makes you happy....

USE IT!

HGTV

****************************************************

QUESTION FROM A READER

Hi 
I was wondering if you would suggest 2 colors: 1 for the lower half of our hallway and one for our living room. I used gray owl in my kitchen which opens to my family room, painted sea haze. 

Gray Owl BM

November Rain BM

Sea Haze BM

The sea haze family room is connected to an open hallway in which I have painted november rain above a chair rail (looking to paint another color on the bead board below but don’t know what to do there - it does not always receive natural light). This hall way/entryway (november rain and ???) connects to the living room. From the kitchen (gray owl), you are able to view the living room (color???). The living room is located on the north side of the house; however the windows in this room face east and west. What paints should I use for a pretty smooth transition in these areas? All of my woodwork is painted benjamin moore dove white. I have wood floors that are a medium shade. For accent colors, I love blues, greens and reds.

Thank you so much for your help. I am struggling with this and would appreciate your input.
Very best wishes,
Missy

Gray Owl BM

November Rain BM

Sea Haze BM

Missy, you have chosen some lovely colors, but maybe too many.  I think sometimes we tend to think each separate space requires a separate color, but actually reusing some of these colors will pull your design together and help it flow.  You could certainly use Sea Haze on the bottom portion of the wall.

In the living room, since you like blues, greens and reds, you could reuse one of the colors above, or pull in one with a blue undertone.  Here are a few to try.  These soft colors should all work nicely together. 

BM Eternity

Eternity BM

BM Van Courtland Blue

BM Smoke

BM Nimbus Gray

BM Solitude

BM Pikes Peak Gray

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