Today is Color Day on the ol’ blog and this morning I posted about my favorite hue which is blue.  This afternoon, contributing writer and interior designer Courtney from Courtney Out Loud is back to share his thoughts on color, specifically the darker shades in the spectrum. 

Having taken the plunge and introduced a dark paint color into our own home (the powder room) earlier this year, I have a new found affection for dark painted walls, especially ones with whites and creams layered in for contrast, burnished metallic sheens, and richly patterned or rustic wood accents.  The combination makes me want to curl up with a good book and a cup of tea in these enveloping spaces. 

Please welcome back Courtney and his interview with a noted color expert on how to embrace the dark side… of paint!

“Nina Simone sang that black is the color of her true love’s hair and for me it is the color that I love most.  Something about this inky hue draws me in, settles my mind, and puts me at ease.  Clients typically come to me craving color which I am happy to deliver in all its rainbow glory but when left to my own devices, a smoky grey, nocturnal purple or saturated brown will always catch my eye.

Historically, these darker hues have been linked to nefarious activities and sinister deeds, but color research shows that the dark hues like their lighter cousins can elicit a range of reactions from relaxation to revitalization. Curious to know more about my infatuation with dark colors and how to best use them in my designs, I turned to Jean Molesworth Kee, noted architectural color consultant based in Washington, D.C. and the author of the highly regarded blog, The Painted Room.

Nate Berkus in Elle Decor

Being a designer, I was bit hesitant to ask for help in understanding how to best use dark colors in spaces – let’s be honest, people pay me to help them with their overall design of which color plays a large part.  Fortunately, Jean shared that many designers as well as lay people use her services which begged me to ask…what is that that she exactly does.

“I do have a highly specialized niche, which is a luxury (not having to deal with building codes)!  Most of my work is residential– working with homeowners who want to make a change but are just spinning in the “color vortex”.

Rugo Raff Architects

That “color vortex” is something I know all too often from my own work with clients. That moment when clients need to make a paint decision many times feel like the longest part of the process.  Creating the proper background from which to anchor the design is essential and how I see paint selection. 

However, I know how difficult it is to deal with coaching design clients through the process, so I asked how it is to work with a second party (aka designers like me) and surprisingly, Jean enjoys that collaborative process.  “My ideal project involves collaboration with architects and designers on the ground floor but I’m usually working with a lot of design elements already in place.”

Cochrane Design

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As a member of the My Colortopia team this week, we’re all taking turns featuring our favorite color as part of My Colorful Life Project and naturally I picked blue.  A lot of things inspire me when it comes to decorating my home and choosing meaningful accessories for it.  Travel inspires me, pattern inspires me, nature inspires me, exotic architecture inspires me, and color inspires me greatly.  The first that always comes to mind when I decorate is blue.   

I’ve always been drawn to blue, and cannot resist its soothing powers.  It’s the color we witness when we go outside on a sunny day or when we visit the coast or take a dip in a pool.   

As an ode to blue, I pulled together some favorite images to illustrate. 

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Well I’m excited to announce I finally finished up the study space makeover we started way back in May.  I had every intention of finishing up this space before school started for the kids in August but life and other more important spaces kept me occupied.

Anyhoo.  Last weekend, I finally was able to tackle the final projects that remained – stitching up a cushion cover for the window seat and installing a window treatment above.  I decided to have a lot of fun with color in this space especially since it’s for the kids.  I stuck with a blue and green palette (predictable much Kate?) and mixed in a lot of pattern to keep it fun.

With a width of 9 ½ feet, the room is not gigantic, but but it’s just big enough for its intended purpose, as a creative zone for art and games, for reading or watching movies, and a place for the youngsters to hang out with each other and their buddies. 

Yeah that window seat we built from IKEA refrigerator cabinets over the summer sure looks great topped with a cushion and some fun pillows!  I’ve always wanted a true window seat similar to the built in nook I had when I was a kid. 

I sewed a cushion cover with a foam insert for the window seat, but let me tell you, it was the ultra lazy ‘sew the bare minimum’ method. I had lofty ambitions of a piped cushion cover with a perfect zipper enclosure but instead settled on a knife edge cushion, stitched up with some green canvas outdoor fabric I found on sale at Joann’s Fabrics.

Hello beautiful modern oversized drum fixture!  I searched high and low for the right pendant, and even considered a DIY version, but when I saw the Finley fixture at Crate + Barrel, I decided it was the one.  Large in scale, clean lined and modern, and perfect for the space. 

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It’s that question we all face at some point when decorating our homes, how do we incorporate the big black box into our everyday decor?  In my home, we’ve done it two different ways (see #4 and #6 below), but everyone’s situation is different.

Some people have both a living room and a family room, which allows one to be more formal and the other for casual TV watching, however many need to squeeze that television into just one main living space. Everyone has to deal with their television, where to put it, and how to design around it, so I rounded up nine different options for television placement in a main living room.

1.  Curate Around It.  Position the flat screen above a console and gather a group of artwork to surround the television with prints, photographs, or other favorite framed works of art.  Adding multiple rectangles (in either symmetrical or asymmetrical format) takes the spotlight away from the big black screen and also allows you to showcase meaningful images.

Sarah Richardson

Better Homes & Gardens

2.  Flank It.  Bookcases both skinny and wide enclose a television and visually frame it with their vertical placement.  Flanking a television with free standing or built in bookcases and surrounding it with decorative objects balances the weight of the big screen and reduces the television’s dominance in a living space.

Pottery Barn

Lonny

Camber Construction via Houzz

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