This is a post from a long time ago, but updated as of March 2012 (yahoo!), just in case you’ve ever wondered about the colors on our walls . . .

______________________

I’ve received several emails lately inquiring about paint colors in my home.  Shelley recently wrote,

“Dear Kate,

I’m curious if you would mind sharing the paint colors on your walls in your dining room, stairs, and entry?  I so want to take my dated golden oak stair rail and replicate what you did with yours with the gel stain and glaze!  Thanks for the inspiration…now only if I can get a dose of courage as well.  I love your home!  Simply beautiful !  ~ Shelley”

Sure Shelley!  Some of the colors in my home are straight out of the paint can.  Others I’ve tweaked by blending my own color.

In our living room is Benjamin Moore’s Affinity ’Tranquilty’ but I had the guys at the BM store tweak it by pulling two drops of blue out of the formula to make it a hint grayer, so we dubbed it ‘Tranquility Tweaked’.

Here’s the formula for the Ben brand (which I love because it covers in one coat!)

S1  0x  3.0000; Y2  1x  1.5000; B1  0x  20.0000; O1  0x  19.0000

Here are three closest color matches to my custom formula: ‘Portico’ by Valspar, ‘Sea Salt’ by Sherwin Williams, and ‘Chicken Wire’ by True Value. .

.the the

The dining room, kitchen, and family room are all connected as open spaces so it made sense to paint them all the same color which is Benjamin Moore’s ‘Camouflage’ a pale gray green.  It looks different in morning and evening light, a brighter green in direct sunlight and more gray in evening or indirect sunlight.

.

In the foyer is a neutral tan color we painted many years ago and I’m sorry to say, the name is not on the can because it was a custom color, but here are some close color matches: ‘Wheeling Neutral’ by Benjamin Moore, ‘Churchill Hotel Wheat’ by Valspar, ‘Whole Wheat’ by Sherwin Williams, and ‘Classic Taupe’ by Behr.

 .

The kids’ study was recently given a makeover and the color is Glidden’s ‘Oyster Bay’

The master bedroom is another custom blend – it’s a mix of 1/2 Camouflage and 1/2 Misted Green, both by Benjamin Moore.  The closest color match is ‘Comfort Gray’ by Sherwin Williams.

.

In the master bathroom is (shoot me now, I know) another custom color I mixed up with leftover paints …. but I’ve color matched it too so here’s a few close ones:  Valspar’s ‘Clothesline Fresh’, Glidden’s ‘Grey Leaf’, and Sherwin Williams ‘Silver Mist’.

 .

In my daughter’s room I painted the walls a pale gray green: ‘Thistle’ by Ralph Lauren.  Even though RL paints are not sold anymore at Home Depot (except for their metallics), HD still should have all the formulas, so don’t hesitate to ask!

.

In my oldest daughter’s room, the wall color is ‘Blue Green Gem’ by Kelly Moore – a watery pale shade of Tiffany blue.

.

In the home office, I hung the grasscloth wall covering, but I painted the non-papered opposite window wall in a very close match by Valspar called ‘Seafoam Storm’ which is a really gorgeous medium gray blue.  The back of the bookshelves are also painted with ‘Seafoam Storm’.

.

In my boy’s room, we painted his walls an intense teal  called ‘La Fonda Villa Fountain’ by Valspar – it works well with the board and batten installation painted in Benjamin Moore’s ‘Dove White’.

.

On the walls in my powder bathroom is Valspar’s “Seine” – a deep mushroom gray color with a little chocolate brown in it too.  I also installed beadboard wallpaper for a nice contrast.

.

‘Silver Sage’ is one of those colors that you just can’t go wrong with ~ so it made sense to use it in our laundry room, but I cut it in half with some white to stretch it.

So there you have it, for anyone who’s ever had any questions about the paint colors in the CG household.  You can tell I’m a fan of blues and greens, as long as they are muddied up with gray.  In my opinion, adding gray softens hues,  reduces a color’s saturation, and creates a more soothing color, therefore increasing the chances you’ll be delighted with your color choice over time.

That said, regardless of what you choose, paint is simply the easiest way to transform the feel of a room.  Yours truly is guilty of picking up the brush on many occasions and changing the walls in my home simply because the mood strikes!

Are you as guilty as I am of repainting all the time?

.

Congratulations to the following winners:

In the Pine Cone Hill Giveaway, #327: Jessica B. who wrote:

“Lenox, Links, Scramble…oh my, they are all lovely. Thanks !”

The winner of the Wine Country Pantry Giveaway is #79: Rachel F. 

In addition to winning all the goodies, Rachel also posed this question with her entry:  

“As we continue through grad school we are still renting housing and it is becoming a bore, and quite frankly getting me down on my decorating abilities.  White stark walls, cement walls, old dingy cabinets, etc.   What in the world can I do to make this temporary home my own ?”

Great question Rachel!  You have the same dilemma many renters face:  turning white walls into a stylish and comfortable home that you want to return to at day’s end.   There’s not much you can do to dingy cabinets in a rental without permission to paint, beyond giving them a good scrub.  As for white walls ?  There’s a lot that can be done to bring warmth, color, pattern, and style to your abode. 

My Best Tips for Decorating with White Walls: 

Splurge on a Colorful Patterned Rug.   Pick a bold color or interesting design you love, then go for it !  These two examples by Pottery Barn and West Elm are staged on wood floors, but you’ll have a harder time noticing your less than desirable rental flooring with area rugs like these.   Plus, you’ll anchor your seating area and brighten your space.

Read the rest of this entry »

We all know how the perfect chandelier can add just the right finishing touch to a space.   Great light fixtures do more than simply illuminate – they make a design statement too.   Recently a reader asked this question: 

“I was wondering about your fantastic office redo.   Are you ceilings regular height?  8 feet I think is standard.  I would love to hang a chandelier in my office, but am afraid that the ceiling is too low.  Do you have that problem?  Any help would be appreciated!  ~ Emily N.”

Great question Emily!  When it comes to hanging a light fixture in a main traffic area in a room (and not over a dining table) lighting designers and interior decorators typically follow two rules of thumb. 

1)  Measure the height of the room and allow 2.5 to 3 inches for each foot of height.  According to this formula, if your room has an 8 foot tall ceiling, you would multiply 8 x 2.5 inches and 8 x 3 inches, to arrive at a light fixture that is between 20 to 24 inches in height (but see comments below).

2)  A chandelier also needs to be proportionate to the room size.   Add the width and length of the room together in feet and convert that figure to inches to come up with the correct width of the chandelier.  For example, in my office, the room measures 10 feet by 13 feet.  You add 10 + 13 together to get 23 inches in diameter.   

In my office, my ceiling is nine feet high, so according to the formula, my chandelier can drop up to 27 inches.

This Ballard Designs Montserrat chandy measures 23” wide by 26” in height.   You can’t see in this picture, but with the chain, it actually hangs down 28 inches. 

I fudged and went an inch outside the guidelines – but I love the added drama, plus it’s still 6 feet, 8 inches off the floor which is clearance for all the tall people I know and also the height of a standard door frame.     

Taking these rules of thumb into consideration, you also want to consider the path of traffic through a space, and whether tall individuals may bump their head on your fixture.  

You can always hang or swag a statement chandelier a bit lower over a bed, desk, table, sitting area, workspace, fireplace, or focal point outside the path of travel.  Take a peek at this bedroom inspiration picture and note how low the chandelier is hanging, far below the height of the door frame. 

Over a bed, where no one will walk, you can get away with dropping a chandelier a little lower like this for added drama. 

(Note: rules are different when it comes to fixtures over bathtubs, so check with your local ordinances.)

When you’re hanging a fixture over a dining table, the rule of thumb is to choose a chandelier with a diameter equal to 1/2 the width of the table, and suspend the chandelier 30 to 34 inches above the tabletop. 

But back to high traffic areas in open living spaces.  Personally, I would not hang a fixture any lower than 6’8” from the from the floor (the same height as a standard door) to prevent taller people from bumping their head.   If I had an eight foot ceiling like yours Emily, and I was hanging a fixture above where people will walk, I would opt for something closer to a flush or semi-flush ceiling fixture, and measuring no more than 16 inches in height.  

However, if you have your heart set on a larger fixture (closer to the 20 to 24 inch rule of thumb), I would swag it over your desk to illuminate your workspace, and to prevent visitors from bumping their head on your fixture.   But you can certainly capture the uber glamorous feel of a drop chandelier with a semi-flush mount fixture with choices like these:

1.  Vintage jewel ceiling light;  2. Lumens flush mount chandelier; 3. Downtown three light semi flush;  4.  Three ceiling light with chocolate shade;  5.  Crystal three light ceiling mount;  6.  Anastasia ceiling mount   7.  Kingston crystal ceiling mount; 8.  Antique white semi flush fixture

Don’t forget, when you have lower ceilings, you can always make a decorative statement with lighting with dramatic sconces on your walls, and with beautiful floor or table lamps. 

I hope this helps you Emily with your design inquiry ! 

.

I get a lot of emails from readers asking for tips and advice on sprucing up their interior spaces or fixing up their thrift store finds, and I’m happy to correspond.  One reader posed this question addressing the exterior of her home, so I thought I’d answer it right here !

“Dear Ms. Kate,  We just got married and purchased our first home a few months ago.   We’re very excited about our new place, but the outside of our house is a tan box and doesn’t look much different than the rest of the cookie cutter houses in our neighborhood.  We’re looking for ways to pretty up our front porch and front yard.  Could you possibly share some ideas on how we can turn our plain Jane into something special, maybe some weekend DIY projects we could tackle ?  Thanks so much for any help.  Jenn R. ”

Congratulations to you and your husband Jenn on buying your first home – what an exciting moment !  Welcome to the world of home ownership where you’ll now spend more weekends than you imagined at the local home improvement store !!!

Since my husband and partner-in-DIY happens to be a real estate appraiser with over 20 years experience in valuing homes, I shared Jenn’s inquiry with him.  Mr. CG has inspected and appraised thousands of homes, so together we came up with these ideas for eight weekend DIY projects that will instantly add curb appeal to any home. 

1.  Paint or replace your front door. 

It’s amazing how much a pop of color on a front door or a fresh coat of semi-gloss can make your ‘plain Jane’ stand out from the crowd.  As long as there are no homeowner’s association restrictions, go right ahead add jazz up your door with a fresh coat of paint.  It’s a good idea to prime it first for durability.  Be the inspiration for all your neighbors – no doubt, they’ll be painting their front door in no time too !

 The Little Greene; BH&G; Blissfully Domestic; Hooked on Houses; Apartment Therapy; Yellow Front Door

Read the rest of this entry »