Color Trends - Part 2

We left off on "Color Trends - Part 1" with how to incorporate color - especially "trendy" colors - into your space.


Rather than just write about it, I scanned some photos from some of my already mentioned fave magazines to give you an idea of how Honeysuckle - or any of your favorite colors - can be used.


This is a room in a Capitol Hill (DC) row house completed by designer Barry Dixon.

House Beautiful, Sept 2011, p85

He kept the major elements in the room neutral - creams, tans, browns. The wall color is a soft cream and he has applied it to all of the painted surfaces. The floors are deep brown wood. The alcoves are upholstered in a brown, button-tufted Bergamo fabric. Lovely, right?


However, what makes this room extra-special is the use of the color pink. He has used varying degrees of light to deep shades of pink so the room appears elegant and mature. He has sprinkled it around the room so your eye can move from one element to the next with plenty of space in between for a relaxed and un-fussy effect.


I must admit, if someone had said they were working on a room with pink accents I would assume it was a nursery. But there is nothing nursery about this room. After seeing it used to finesse the room in such a way, I'm hoping one of my clients will want to try it out. (Hint, hint.)

Veranda, Oct 2011, p117

Which brings me to the next room I wanted to show you. This was a room featured in Veranda October 2011 issue and is part of a renovation done to a 1920s Nashville estate, and by coincidence, it was also designed by Barry Dixon. Perhaps my new idol... This is what I would call minimal with punch. The entire room is done on a variation of creams, golds and tans to beautiful effect. So the impact of the one element of pure color - the salmon colored daybed - is fantastic. It doesn't take away from the incredible moldings and architecture of the space, but it does make you want to get cozy right in front of the fireplace. Love it! 

What seems so simple in this room, adding one element of real color - is actually very difficult to do. It speaks to the amount of restraint the designer used; not adding pops of the color in other areas of the room. It's perfection!

Traditional Home, Oct 2011, p 118

Finally, while it has just a touch of pink, I wanted to show you this room done by another DC-based designer, Skip Sroka, from Traditional Home, October 2011 issue. It is a beautiful, soft cozy bedroom. The neutrals in this room are the creams and whisper blues that are being used throughout. The upholstered bed is so gorgeous - it makes me want to curl up and take a nap on it.


Once again, our featured color is the pink, used very sparingly in the broad stripe of the chair. Because it is used so sparingly it takes nothing away from the star of the room which is of course the bed. Again the temptation is there to want to throw a pillow or blanket on the bed that has a bit of the pink in it. But that would take away from the overall softness of the room.


So what can you take away from this Blog posting today? Basically, using color (any color) as an accent and using it sparingly adds more beauty, elegance and impact into a room. Keeping your background and main furnishings neutral helps to create the perfect backdrop for the color to shine in the room. 


If you need me to source any of the items that are featured in the magazine, let me know and I will do my best. And as always, don't be afraid of color and trying something new. You can do it!


If you have any pics or comments, don't be afraid to post them!

Color Trends – Part 1

It might have to do with my minor-ish magazine addiction (my family would say it’s major and my recycler would probably agree!), but it seems every home and fashion magazine I read is talking about the “hottest” new colors.

While I was cleaning out my magazine drawers (yes drawers!), and organizing them by month with the most recent month on top, I noticed something. All of my magazines from Traditional Home, Veranda, House Beautiful, Elle Décor, and Better Homes and Gardens to InStyle, Lucky, Allure, Ladies Home Journal and Health (this is just a sampling because like I said – slight addiction) had one thing in common: they all had some varying degree of reds, corals, pinks and purples on their title lines. Coincidence? Of course not.

So…Who are these color people that decide this stuff anyhow? They are part designers, part sociologists and part forecasters. They glean information from fashion runways, car manufacturers and the home goods industry. They visit showrooms, attend trade shows and scour magazines for trends. They consider what is happening culturally and how this impacts our collective mood as a nation. Then they take all of this information and translate it into the colors that you will be buying in the coming year. Fun right? So while you’re trying to decide where you are going to take your family on vacation next summer, they are deciding what will be the color of your bathing suits, towels and deck cushions.

Before we get too deep into our color discussion, let me say that I tend not to fall for too much of the whole color trend mumbo jumbo. For the most part I can tell you that like most of you; I like what I like and don’t like what I don’t like regardless of what some color forecaster says. However, there is no denying that if you like let’s say blue, the shades of blue that are available are different from year to year. And what colors you combine your blues with will vary also.

Can you guess what the “It” color is for 2011? You guessed it if you said some variation on pink. That’s right, you heard me. Pink. Well not just pink – Honeysuckle. It’s not just for your daughters’ nursery anymore. In fact, the attributes they give to this color are, according to Pantone, “Courageous. Confident. Vital. A brave new color, for a brave new world. Let the bold spirit of Honeysuckle infuse you, lift you and carry you through the year. It’s a color for every day – with nothing ‘everyday’ about it.” Sweet, but with punch. Just like my daughters.

Don’t be upset if your favorite color didn’t get chosen this year. Turquoise (2010s “It” color and also the “it” color of the late 90s), lighter blues, bright yellows, lime greens and oranges are still very much on trend. And if you don’t have any of those colors in your home, well we can discuss how to incorporate some of them in Part 2…
And don’t forget to leave me feedback, comments, pictures, etc.
Thanks for visiting my Head Space.