EVERYBODY'S CRAZY ABOUT A SHARP DRESSED MAN

AMEN, SISTER

Cary Grant

"what lingerie is to men, suits are to women"

admit it, girls...

there is class to dark gray flannel with slip of white cuff showing

there is power in a navy blue pinstripe with a deep red tie

there is elegance in an impeccably tailored suit

there is nothing more masculine than herringbone, houndstooth and harris tweed

why not add a little sex appeal to your home decor?

THE MAGIC OF PAINT...

AND A LITTLE BIT OF O' THE GREEN...

Its not completely finished, but I couldn't wait to share

the before and after photos of one of my long-distance decorating clients.

Here's the before... a 'u' shaped kitchen with oak cabinets and white tile countertops

I felt it was important to keep this area light

if we went dark with the cabinets, this could really become a cave..

but with the white counter tops and backsplash, 

I was afraid a totally white kitchen

might look a little sterile

So we opted for White Dove (BM) upper cabinets and dark charcoal lower cabinets

The results are pretty dramatic, right?

Suddenly the room is filled with light, the stainless steel gleams, and the backsplash pops...

That's the magic of paint...

There are more dramatic changes in the living room and bathroom, 

but I will save that for a later post.  

Today, I'm helping a reader from Ireland...

and she's adorable

Hi Claudine, 
A question all the way from Ireland!! But this geographical position might impact if you can help me with this 

question or not as the paint ranges I am able to work with this side of the Atlantic are "Farrow and Ball" or      

"Little Greene" (a company similar to F&B) 

So I have 3 questions- The first, I understand, you may answer for free. The other two, I would appreciate if 

you could quote me a price for your advice. So firstly, what gray/grey colour/color (lol!!) should I paint my 

kitchen cabinets in our kitchen-diner that gets a lot of sun in the morning. I am aiming for an industrial, 

organic, natural look. 

I need something to coordinate with my terra cotta tiles (which really are not as orange as they seem in the 

attached photo) as I really cannot deal with taking them up. I have tried a tester of F&B Dove Tale matt 

emulsion on a primed door and was very happy with it. It came through as grey with subtle putty tones- a 

warm grey. I then tested it on a wall and it was a lot darker and browner than I would like. 

It seemed to be a lot more subtle on the primed press. So I am assuming that if it I order the Dove Tale in 

eggshell it will be similar to the tester on the wall than on the press (I really hope I am making sense!!!) 

Please help..... I have gone through a dozen testers of grey, finding them all a bit too cold, clinical and dull. 

There are some elements of the Dove Tale I love- it has depth and subtlety but its just too.....brown. I went tomy local F&B stockist and she was like 'no way to grey' suggesting a cream, but I can't do cream as every 

kitchen is cream at the moment in Ireland!!!! and it really isn't practical for our family. I have a patio door to 

the left of the picture where the dining part of the room is.

Thank you so much for your help!!!

Hello Ireland!

Since I am familiar with Farrow and Ball's line of paint, I will answer for that palette.  Dove Tale is quite

brown - it has a little grey/gray in it, but its going to read brown no matter where you put it or what time of day it is.    Depending on the light, it can look VERY brown...

Here are a few inspiration photos with gray cabinets, which I think you might like a little better.

Happily, Farrow and Ball has a few hues that are definitely gray and that we can work with.   

Although gray is a cool color, with your terra-cotta floor and some fresh white trim, it shouldn't look cold...

lighter grays will be colder in tone (unless they have a beige undertone)

but a cooler background always shows off the accent colors well.  A monochromatic look (like the one below) will come across as a bit cool - so make sure your accent colors are warm or bright.

The warmth of the terra cotta floor will look best with a cool cabinet color, (see the orange-isn wood tones
with the gray below...)

and those very cool door pulls will stand out more if the gray is not terribly dark.

Here are a few Farrow and Ball colors to consider..

 FB LAMP ROOM GRAY

FB LAMP ROOM GRAY

FB LAMP ROOM GRAY

Hard to believe these are ALL Lamp Room Gray - the first picture is flooded with light - and light affects the intensity of the color.

FB DOWN PIPE

FB MOLES BREATH

Pavilion has a warm undertone.  Looks great with white trim.

FB PAVILION

FB PAVILION

FB PAVILION GRAY

FB MANOR HOUSE GRAY

FB MANOR HOUSE GRAY

FB PLUMMET

FB PLUMMET

FB PURBECK STONE

FB PURBECK STONE

 You can see how the colors varies from photo to photo - the reason is that light affects paint color - and I'm quite sure that Irish light is going to be different than California light... so please try a few samples first.  I hope you find a color here that will work for your kitchen!

WHERE HAVE ALL THE GOOD SHOPS GONE? AND A COLOR QUESTION

Out and about - the good and the bad...

via

I thought these lantern light fixtures were clever at Avila's El Ranchito in Corona Del Mar, CA

HOW TO PICK THE PERFECT WALL COLOR.... FEATURING REVERE PEWTER

via

I'm especially excited to talk about choosing wall color today, 

because I just repainted my living, dining and entry - with the PERFECT wall color.

A LITTLE FACELIFT

Can you believe that February is almost gone?
I blinked… and it was nearly March!
but its still a new year and a chance for a new foot forward.

 Chances are your home could do with a little bit of a lift, too. 

A GOOD WARM NEUTRAL GRAY

HELP WITH A NON GROSS COLOR

When you buy a previously owned home, you buy that owner's taste in color and surface materials.

Sometimes you are lucky, and its a neutral you can live with for a while

but sometimes, you can't wait to make changes...

CELEBRITY HOMES....

LOOK-E-LOOS

Former home of Michael Jackson, Los Angeles, California

Yes, I'm as guilty as any of you...

I love to look at other people's homes, especially celebrity homes.

One of my favorite blogs is Hooked On Houses where you get to peek into beautiful celebrity 

and non-celebrity and even fabulous movie set homes on a regular basis.

So, I thought I'd take you on my own little tour and share my guilty pleasure, 

because I'm always amazed at how 'ordinary' celebrities turn out to be.  

Like this house - home to Harrison Ford.

NEW WALL COLOR...

 NOTHING DATES A HOME FASTER THAN COLOR......

If I were to say forest green and mauve

you'd think early 80's

dusty blue and pink?

90's

gold, tan, green and red....

early 2000? 

so what color trend will our current decade be remembered for?

THE COLOR YOU CRAVE: GRAY

The world has been having a love affair...

with Gray/Grey

I get more questions, more search queries and more blog views on the subject of Gray / Grey

than any other subject.

ever.

CALL IT GREIGE

beige-y gray?   or gray-ish brown?  

source

whatever you prefer to call it, the effect is the same

calm

soothing

warm

and the perfect background for the beautiful trappings of a room

SPEAKING OF COLOR

and a fireplace

source

Contrasts are important in design.

New and old.

Hard and soft.

Dull and shiny.

Dark and light.

It is what makes a room unforgettable.

TRUE GRAY

NO UNDERTONES IN MY GRAY, PLEASE

Gray.
Bleak.
 Gray Day. Stormy Gray. Misty Gray. 
Cement Gray. Concrete Gray. 
Gray Hairs. Cold Gray. Plain Gray.
 You're looking a little Gray.  
Old and Gray.  
Gray Matter.  Gray Area. Gray Cloud.
Gray seldom has positive connotations.

Gray alone can be cold, hard, unemotional, sterile.

Kind of like concrete.

Or Rocks.
And yet, it is currently the most loved color in home decorating

BENJAMIN IN THE BEDROOM

GOING NUTS....

Wall color can drive you nuts.
The perfect tan can turn pink or orange.  That lovely pastel green suddenly looks minty.  The beige you picked is fleshy.  The yellow you loved takes on a sickly green tinge.  What looks perfect in the paint store often looks quite different in the light of your own home.   Samples are the answer, and you should never put paint on your walls without trying it out first.  I use poster board or foam core board, 2 coats with a good 2-3 inch border of white around the outside (so the color on your wall now won't influence the color you want it to be).   I use poster board so I can move it around the room and see it in different light.  No more minty, fleshy, orange-y, sickly colors.  No more nuts.

TOO WARM

CRAVING COOL....

via

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

LOOKING FOR A WARM GRAY


STILL LOVING GRAY....

via

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.

UNDERSTANDING UNDERTONES

WHAT COLOR IS THAT... REALLY...?

Welcome to the world of gray.

And I do mean world.

For it seems there are endless grays

and gray no longer means the color of cement

GOOD GREIGE CHOICES

SUMMER.... WHERE HAVE YOU GONE?

This Summer season has flown by so quickly

and I've barely mentioned gardens at all

(probably because I have been trying to ignore the awful state my own garden is in)

But I do have the pictures I took of the garden at Ward and Child, a rather wonderful home decor and
garden shop I try to stop by when I visit

Salt Lake City, where my mother lives.

and I really loved this unique and musical water feature there

MANLY COLOR ADVICE

A MASCULINE PAINT THEME...

Juneau, Alaska.  Look at all those lovely shades of blue and gray. 
Just returned from the cruise, and the colors were heavenly.  And very - manly.

WHAT ARE MASCULINE COLORS?

COLOR CHALLENGED

PERSONAL COLOR PALETTES



Source

Are you a green person or a blue person? 
 Do you like neutrals or whites? 
Do reds make you happy? 
Do you love pink?

Color is personal -  It is individual
A look in your closet will reveal colors
 you know you look your best in
and colors that make you feel good.

Why should decorating your home be any different?

CHARCOAL GRAY MASTER SUITE

LISA'S BEAUTIFUL BEDROOM SUITE

I am way behind on posting on the projects I currently have in the works, but here are some photos to catch you up on Lisa's Master Suite....

I posted about it first here:

http://yournestdesign.blogspot.com/2011/12/in-process-current-projects.html

We chose a palette of charcoal gray, white, pale gray and beige with deep dark woods - a very soothing, serene color scheme.