Knockout Neutrals

Who ever said neutral color schemes can be boring just never saw it done RIGHT. Neutrals and whites can truly make a room feel clean and airy and calm. The trick to keeping things interesting is to decorate using sharp contrasting accents. For example, if you have a beautiful off-white wall, like Benjamin Moore's Aura in White Dove with Super White trim, a white ultra-suede sofa and rattan club-style chairs, try using accent fabrics with clean lines in bold colors (like reds , blues or browns) and things like glass vases with coordinating color filled flowers like red roses. These accents will pop and be small focal points through out, yet seem simple, classic and calm.

Sometimes just using a monochromatic white or neutral color scheme can be elegant in of itself. All white walls and semi-gloss trim paired with different textures like a white cotton sofa with white-on-off-white toile fabric pillows, white woven wood blinds, a soft, shag white area rug and tufted white ottoman/coffee table can be a beautiful look and feel. Most important, if simple elegance or

I've Got The Summertime Blues...

Well, not really. I'm actually pretty psyched its time for those lazy, hazy days of summer. As the design enthusiast that I am, I feel the impact seasons have on color and mood. For now, I wanted to talk about the biggest color trend going on (well, in MY showroom) which is those delicious chocolate browns paired up with serene blues and soft, french pinks. In the dead of winter I was seeing the browns going deeper and the blues and pinks a little darker. For example- Benjamin Moore's Clinton Brown HC-67 with Charlotte Slate AC-24 or Middlebury Brown HC-68 with Rosewood 2082-40 were colors people were surrounding themselves in. Like a blanket for your walls, they felt warm and cozy and you wanted to just surround yourself in that color.



But as time would have it, the season changed and so have the moods of my clients. It seems the approaching summer has prompted their blanket to be replaced with walls that make them feel like they are on the sand or splashing in the ocean. They are looking for Benjamin Moore's Bershire Beige AC-2 with Smoke 2122-40... Or if a casual stroll past the Eiffel tower is what they want to daydream about this summer they may ask for that romantic pink, Pink Innocence 2082-60 with Pismo Dunes AC-32.



If you are like me, and a jaunt to Europe or a holiday in Fiji isn't in your future, then lets all just create summertime vacations with our walls. After all, there's no place like home.