A New Way of Looking at My Blog

Hi everyone.  I am sorry that I have been a bit tardy in writing.  I was busy with some last minute client projects - some window treatments to install...a faux finishing project and a home staging project.  Then - over the weekend, I took a wonderful Blogging Class (Road Trip, Blogging Your Way NYC) with the delightful Holly Becker, the wunder-blogger (did I just coin a new word?) behind the successful decor8 and Leslie Shewring of A Creative Mint.  There was so much to learn but I know that I came away with a lot of very important ideas.  I also learned how to operate my Nikon 3100D Digital SLR camera much better - and I learned some new tricks on PhotoShop Elements. Here are some of the pictures I took at the workshop.

One of the other delightful things about taking the class was finally meeting one of the first people who ever commented on my blog - Shawn Byles of the blog Jamaica Byles.  Shawn is an awesome textile designer and I encourage you to check out her blog. She will be revamping her blog as well though, after attending this wonderful workshop.

The Big Aha Moment: I think that the one critical thing that I learned was that I needed to share my creative process on my blog.  What inspires me to create such and such a faux finish or to concoct a particular color scheme in a room. My inspirations come from many, varied places - it could be a photo of an old house in Provence, the colors in a painting, an advertisement in a magazine.  Inspiration is everywhere.  But, as a creative person - I usually just show the final product. 

So, not many people really understand the process that brought that particular look together.  I now know that I need to "tell the story" behind a room, a color scheme...a finish.  I know that I have done that at times (especially when I am giving some of steps in the recipe) but I am not "showing" the whole story.  Not only the reason behind the look, but the process: Show the tools, the bottles of tints that comprise the color, the bucket of plaster and me applying it.  Or when it comes to using fabrics in a room - perhaps I should show the fabric showroom and how I come to choose several fabrics amid a sea of possibilities. 

To compose those shots, it takes another skill that I am only beginning to develop - styling.   It's one thing to pull some colors, finishes and accessories together in a room...but to pull it together for a photo shoot is another thing. I have to exercise this muscle and better my eye for this. I know that I will be taking a ton of photographs until I am happy with the result.  For the above photos I must have taken hundreds of less of than beautiful shots before I loved the result.  Learning to work the camera (changing the fstop and the shutter speed...the ISO) plus styling the photos is new to me so it will take a while to really get the hang of it.  But, I know that it will make my blog more useful as well as beautiful to my readers.

Holly Becker from decor8 blog...and me

Thank you Holly and Leslie for a great class.  Looking forward to implementing everything I learned!
And...thank you for reading!

Using Art as a Starting Point for Choosing a Color Palette for Your Rooms

I love to use artwork to inform a color scheme in rooms that I am working on. Artists use and combine colors in such unique and beautiful ways...so it's virtually foolproof letting a great piece of art be your guide to a beautiful color plan. 

Artist, Kathe Frage Via

This beautiful piece, available on canvas or paper, is very modestly priced and it can be the inspiration for a sweet room.  You could frame it in a faded gold - or a cream frame. I then might do a wainscoting and trim in Benjamin Moore's White Opulence (Classic Colors, 879) because it's a warm white that has a little touch of pink in it. Then for the wall color above it, I would think about Benjamin Moore's Love and Happiness (1191).  For a little extra texture, I might do a vertical stried finish on the wall with a creamy pink glaze. For the ceiling - I'd mix the two colors together to get a barely there pale pink - just for a blush color overhead.

Benjamin Moore's Love and Happiness (1191)

For a little girl's bedroom, I'd add a colorful floral, like Quadrille's Henriot Floral as an upholstered headboard. I'm partial to the name "Henriot" because it's the name most closely associated with Quimper pottery (which is such a favorite of mine).  

Quadrille's Henriot Floral in Pinks on Ecru

I'd add a cream or ecru duvet cover (that would match the background of the headboard).  I add a red and cream polka dot for the dust ruffle and for a pillow or two. Duralee offers this fabric - but I'm sure that this would be fairly easy to source less expensively.

Red and cream polka dots for the dust ruffle and a pillow or two.

Some extra pillows for the bed could be...

Robert Allen's Flower Prints in Poppy



A pink velevet - Kravet's Versailles



Robert Allen's Zinging Along in Poppy

I might do the Versailles pink velvet, edged with the Quadrille Henriot fabric as a throw at the bottom of the bed.

Window treatments: I could also see the red polka dot fabric as a Roman shade - with the Quadrille Henriot fabric as the draperies.

Carpet:  I would love to see something that's easy care - maybe a slight shag in a pink or slightly darker to help ground it.

Additional art could be something like these decals from Surface Inspired on Etsy. You can order them in just about any color.

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Just Another Idea for a Little Girl's Room:  I would do a vertical stripe with the Love and Happiness color and White Opulence by Benjamin Moore.  We did a pink and cream stripe in a little girl's room that came out so beautiful. My client and I (and her mom) went to the Kips Bay Showhouse in New York City several years ago - and my client went nuts over this room designed by Bograd Kids.  She wanted something similar for her little girl in their new home that they were renovating.



Inspiration Room



She so loved the Showhouse space that as soon as the room was ready, we were in there painting...stripes! A lot of them - it was a very big room!

We also revamped all of the furniture in the room (that was in the family for over 60 years) by painting it a soft cream and antiquing it. 

If you would love to have a Showhouse-inspired room in your home, give me a call at 631 793-1315

How to Really Pick the Right Paint Colors for Your Home: Tip #1

WHAT COLOR DO I PICK?? I get this question over and over again, so I thought I would hopefully give all of my readers a quick guide to choosing the right colors in your home. This will be an ongoing column in the blog, so I hope that you stay tuned to learn more.

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It's a fairly easy process if you break it down in simple components - but I think that most people agonize over choosing a paint color.  Why?  Because there are so many colors to choose from and most people are afraid to make mistakes in their home.  You have to remember - it's only paint and it can be re-done.  So - no more worrying!  I'm here to help.

Here's Tip Number 1.

Eliminate Certain Colors Right Off the Bat:  One of the most simple, but mostly disregarded tips, is to eliminate a whole host of colors from the start.  I could write a book just on this one topic alone, but I will spare you from a lengthy post by whittling down to the basics.

• Choosing Warm Vs. Cool: If you have warm oak floors or warm toned tiled floors or carpets, avoid cool colors (like mint green, ice blue).  Stay in the warmer tones, like a Tuscan yellow, yellow green, terra cotta, cinnamon for example. You will be much safer with this combination because warm tones blend easily with other warm tones. 

• In the kitchen, you can eliminate certain wall colors as well. If your kitchen gets a lot of light, you can choose darker wall colors, especially if you have white or cream cabinetry - as in my kitchen.

In my kitchen, which gets tons of lights, I chose a rich brown wall color.  Because the cabinetry and other items in the room are light cream, the dark color adds a punch.
Design by Christina Murphy Interiors
• Above, the warm tone of the wood floors started the color scheme.  The beautiful carpet then dictated the other colors in room - corals, pumpkins, ochres, brown and cream. The use of black grounds this room and prevents it from being too light. I love the traditional style of the room - and the punctuation mark of the modern painting on the mantle.

• If you have very little light, opt for a lighter color on your walls.  Look at your granite or other countertop material - what is the main color in it? That will help you narrow down your choices. 

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• Above, this all white kitchen is stunning because of the pattern and texture in this room. The Carrara marble counters, modern backsplash and art...the graphic trellis wallpaper and the gleam of the faucets and appliances save this white kitchen from being predictable. The gray trellis pattern was probably chosen because of the colors of the backsplash and the marble.  

• Look at your granite or other countertop material - what is the main color in it? That will help you narrow down your choices. If you have warm, golden sienna or cinnamon tones in your granite, eliminate colors that will clash with it - like blues or greens.  If your granite has some blue specks in it, you can choose a color like In Your Eyes by Benjamin Moore - and add white cabinetry for a beautiful blue and white color scheme. Then look at your cabinetry - is it cream or white? Don't wimp out and choose a light cream or white. Make the cabinets stand out by using a darker or a mid tone color - or do a beautiful damask, stripe or trellis pattern, as above.

• Do you have dark cherry wood cabinetry?  Let that stand out by choosing a beautiful pale sage hue.  The red tone in the cherry will actually be more vibrant because of the green on the walls.  Using an opposite color on the color wheel bolsters each color.

• If you have cooler colors - like silver, pearl, gray or blue - eliminating many warmer colors and plain white will help narrow down your color choices.

• Above, in this living room we did in Melville NY, the furniture and carpet started the entire cool color scheme. The silver tone of the mirror, the gray/silver window treatments and the platinum and pearl strie on the walls bolster the sophistication of the color scheme. A white wall would have ruined the beauty of this space

A beautiful blue and white color scheme by Meg Braff Interiors.

This cool color palette of blues and whites works well in an elegant beach home.

• Your environment can help you choose a color scheme.  Think of the sea breezes and the sand of a beach home in the Hamptons.  Above, designer Meg Braff used color to emphasize the beach and the relaxed environment of East Hampton.  Everything is there - the sand, the sea, the sky and the greenery. I can't imagine this room with darker hues and fabrics.  By contrast, the owners of this Hamptons home probably have gray-toned walls in their NYC apartment that reflect the exterior. 

• What is your decorating style?  Your style can dictate a wall color and color scheme. If you tend to be more traditional, cream, beige, sage, linen and other neutrals will blend in beautifully with furnishings and fabrics that you already have. If vintage is your style, pastels, light blues and pinks, pale lavenders and yellows and other earth-toned neutrals will go well on your walls.  If you are more bold and contemporary, a deep rich cobalt blue, charcoal gray or fuschia pink could enliven your walls.

• What mood do you want in a room?  If you want a happy start of the day in your kitchen, then choose sunny colors.  If you want a more serious tone in a library - choose deep forest greens or maroon walls with dark mahogany furniture. Mood plays a big role in deciding your wall color.

• The function of the room also plays into what color you choose for your walls. If you want to have your children relaxed for bedtime, don't paint their rooms yellow.  Soothing colors like pale blues and greens will produce a calmer child - ready for bed.

So, through a process of eliminating certain colors, you can begin to whittle down your choices more successfully. This process really works - try it and let me know if it helps you.