Beautiful Beams

We are remodeling our house, taking down walls in the living room to make it into a great room that flows out to the kitchen. Here is a pic of the vaulted ceiling in the kitchen with exposed cross beams. I would like to make the beams stand out by leaving them white. Any suggestions on the color of the ceiling and triangular far wall? Any help is soooo appreciated.
diane
toronto, canada

Hi Diane,

Let me say that I cannot begin to select a paint color for you. I can't see enough of your home. I could say- "orange" or "gray"- I could say just about anything. It looks to me like you have hardwood floors, and I see a little stainless and white... yeah- that's not enough to go on. What color are your kitchen cabinets, what colors are in adjacent rooms, what colors are you drawn to? Check out this post, and this post- which discuss selecting a color pallet- if you have yet to do so.

If having the beams stand out is the only goal- let's do something to the beams. Your beams look a little small- you could wrap them in wood- adding to their bulk as well as adding color.

Keep your white walls and update the beams with a great wood finish. Check out the beautiful rooms in this post with their wood beams. Wood beams are not just for the traditional interior- I can see that you lean more modern- which many of the photos in this post do as well.

The wood finish helps the beams to not only be highlighted, but also add a richness and texture to the room.

They also help to bring nature in. In large quantities they are sometimes too strong- a lodgy feel.- But most of the time, they look great in wood.

What do you think? Can you picture it?

Beautiful wood beams can be the perfect update for your home. Or- you can send me the info I asked for above- and I will help to select a paint color. Read this post before you ask for a paint color. :)

Photos are all from Vernada magazine.

Color for Barbara

Hello Christine,
I found you after I googled "color pallet north facing condo." What a nice surprise to find your breezy and notable blog. For the last nine years, we have lived in an 1150 s.f. red brick condo in San Diego. It has an open floor footprint which includes kitchen, dining area, and living area with a fire place; a den and guest bath open up from the left of this open space; and the master b.r. master bath open up from the right. Ceiling to floor windows in the l.r./master b.r. and den; doors in the den and living room open up to a small balcony. We have done just basic decorating: classic buttermilk white walls, golden brown hard wood floors with 7 inch floor moldings, black/grey/white granite counters in kitchen and bathrooms. We are ready to do some remodeling but are frozen in place because we can't figure out a color palette for our north facing home. Can you help us? We are traditional contemporary types and we are not afraid of color. In fact we would love the surprise of using some bright punchy colors in accessories. How should we start?

Thanks,
Barbara

Dear Barbara,

It sounds from your description of your place that you are concerned about it being "north facing." I assume this is a concern that you do not want the condo to be too dark. To me, this is a totally separate issue than a color pallet. How you implement your color pallet will have an effect on how dark the rooms appear, but if you love dark colors, I wouldn't avoid them just because you are north facing. Just keep your walls light. Your walls have the largest impact in making your atmosphere light or dark. Use your dark colors in other places.

I want to discuss with you how to develop a color pallet. First of all, I think it is great that you are choosing it, and not letting current marketing choose it for you. You will be happier much longer as you make this a deliberate decision. Secondly, I really shouldn't choose it for you either. Ideally, you will be inspired in some way to select the colors in your home. So, what is it that will inspire you? Let's take a look at the photos in today's post for some ideas. The top photo has a fabulous burnt red shade on the lighting fixture. As you shop and travel, you might come across an item, like this shade, that you love. That alone, can be what dictates your color pallet.

The color in the second photo is only found in the photographs. A great piece of art, or photograph, can start you entire house in a color direction.

I don't know, of course, what inspired this color pallet - but it could have been the chair fabric. The chair fabric is what I would call the "unifier" of this room. Go shopping; find a fabric or two that you love. That can be your inspiration.

In my bedroom, the sheets are really what started the whole room. But, you know, I love those sheets. I did, however design the room in such a way that when the sheets wear out - I can be flexible. The more expensive items I love to keep neutral.

Sometimes you can simply choose your favorite color. Do you love lavender? Crazy about yellow? It sounds like what you have to start with is pretty neutral- giving you a lot of freedom. Once you find that inspiration piece, whether it be a painting, area rug, wallaper, or fabric, write me back and I will help you pull it together. But to start with - go shopping. Go get inspired.

Check out also the advice that I gave Mrs. Holland.

I had some more advice in this post that would pertain to you.

This post has some similar ideas as today's post with some additional things to consider.

Photos in this post came from Elle Decor September 2009 and Elle Decor November 2009.

A Little More Than She Asked For...

Hi Christine-

I found your blog today & would love your help with picking a color for my bedroom. My whole house (walls & ceiling) are painted a light beige and I'd like to start adding more color so each room doesn't look the same. I've attached a picture of the bedroom. It has vaulted ceilings and several windows along one side. There is also dark trim and my bedding is a light/ sage green. I want the bedroom to feel calm & relaxing. As you can see in the picture I painted a sample square of BM Davenport Tan. But, I think it's going to be too dark if the whole room was that color. What color do you think I should paint that would go with the dark trim?

Thanks for your help!

Sarah

Dear Sarah,
Where to start? I know you only asked for wall color- and if we knew each other- and were friends- that is all I would give you. But the beauty of this blog- is that I don’t know you- and so I am hoping that I won’t offend you in telling you that you need a lot more than a new color on the wall.

The arrangement of the room stinks. Your bed is crammed in between a window and a door, and then you have a not too large piece of furniture on a big wall. I don’t know what’s happening on the other walls- so we’ll just deal with these two. Switch your furniture around. Generally speaking, I would have the headboard on the wall with the high pitch. The focal point of a bedroom is always the headboard wall- and that architecture is pointing to that being the best wall- but because of the window and door- it is not. If the opposite wall is empty- void of doors and closets- put the bed on that wall- but otherwise- put it on the wall that currently has your dresser- and the dresser where you have your bed. Go do that right now.

OK- now take everything off you dresser. Purchase a larger piece of art. Better yet- get a mirror- the one below that I selected for you is tiled on the frame with antique mirrors that have a sage color to them. Your scale is off- we need to go much larger- it should start just a few inches from the top of the dresser. Your lamp is too small for anywhere! They should not even sell lamps that size. The one above is from Uttermost- it is 36 inches high. Ditch the flowers. OK- if they were from your wedding you can keep them- but you can’t have them out- put them in a nice box for safe keeping. The nice box can stay.

The window treatments are not working. They are not blocking the sun. They are not providing privacy. They do not look good from a decorative standpoint. Thus- they are not working. You have a French door- which is almost automatic for Roman Shade. Put Roman Shades on both windows- the one I selected below is a natural woven wood from Smith and Noble. The Large window gets straight hanging panels in addition to the Roman shades- stacked to the right and left. Start them about 12 inches above the window. Go for a different texture from your bedding on your panels- no cotton- perhaps a velvet- the one in the photograph above is from Restoration Hardware. You mentioned that you wanted to keep the room calm and relaxing- so keep your colors soft- low on contrast. I would go with a cream on the drapes- the woven woods have cream, sage, and a little dark brown. That is our pallet.

OK- on to the bed. We will start above the bed- we need a nice piece of art here- the cherry blossom print below is from Uttermost.

OR you can put that on a different wall and do a soft canopy over the bed with a sheer fabric. The photo- to show you the concept- is from Southern Accents- the fabric is from Fabric.com

. BTW- with your bed on this wall you will need two end tables and again LARGER LAMPS - check out this table from Overstock.com. Check out the Southern Accents photo not just for the canopy- but it also has the woven woods with panels- a similar window treatment to the one I suggested.

Your bedding as is is too monochromatic. We need more color- we need more texture. It's like you started purchsing bedding- but didn't finish. For color- let’s use cream- same color as our drapes. Fold the duvet at the end of the bed and add a cream blanket, quilt, or matelese. I would like to something fuzzy and soft- so I head toward blanket- as fuzzy as you can find. :)
Finish it off with a decorative pillow. I chose a needlepoint pillow to give more textual variety- this one is from Homeandgardenart.com.
Now for the paint. Now that your bedding is showing more cream than green- we can go green on the walls. It is hard to give you exact colors without having your bedding with me- but remember that you are not matching your bedding- that will be way too bright on the walls. Look at Sherwin Williams 6170, 6163, and 6171. Keep is soft, subtle, and neutral.

That was more than you asked for huh? And I stayed up too late- gotta go-

XOXO

Christine

Mrs. Holland Part III

Taupe and White

Taupe and White with Red and Blue

Catch up with Mrs. Holland here and here.

Dear Christine,

I love the taupe colored walls with white trim and am thinking of leaving this color as is. The kitchen appliances are black and all cabinet knobs, ceiling fans, etc. are silver. A large part of my dilemma is color. I have no idea where to go with furniture and accent color. I am open to suggestion and would be more than appreciative if you could lead me in "any" direction.

Best regards,
Mrs. Holland

Dear Mrs. Holland,

Let me address the window treatments in this room- as I have a good view of them. I love using Roman Shades on French doors. They are pretty when up- and pretty when down. I would do Roman shades- just a flat fold Roman- on each door and the windows above. The window will not be finished without panels- add some floor to ceiling panels to each side.

Liking the paint color gives us a start on your color scheme. Taupe is not a hard one to coordinate with. At the top of the post I included some pics from Windsor Smith that show a taupe and white combination- as well as a taupe, white, red and blue combo. I wanted to show you a third direction- taupe, yellow and green. I like it combined with golds and yellow- they brighten it up- and make it warmer at the same time. This sofa is from Restoration Hardware. With the walls and floors in taupe- DO NOT go taupe on a large item like your sofa- go for the contrast. Find some patterns that combine your gold and taupe. This Roman Shade is from Smith and Noble. This stripe has taupe and gold as well as greens and blues. A rug can also be a starting point on defining your color scheme. These rugs are form the Asian Trade Rug Company. Find a rug that you love that has your wall color. You could do a rug like the one above with the gold Restoration Hardware sofa, and add green and taupe pillows.
When you have more than one rug in an area where you will see them both- don't match them- but rather go with different rugs that look nice together- like the one above and the one below. Combine your patterns also- with a stripe on the window- use the circles- not the stripes nearby. For example- say the area meets up to an office- in your area where you use this striped rug- combine that with a pattern on the windows- like the one below from Smith and Noble.

Whereas you do not want to add a lot of taupe- since there is already so much- an accent chair is a good place to go taupe- this will tie your feel together- the chair below is from Designer's Guild.

Your home is beautiful! Can't wait for you to invite me to New Orleans for some gumbo and a house tour! (do they eat gumbo there? what is gumbo?)

Help her out- which way should she go?

1. Taupe and white with some chocolate brown.
2. Taupe and white with red and blue.
3. Taupe and yellow with green and blue.

Cool Off

It is hot. Today will be the fourth day in a row that we were in the triple digits. UGGHHH. I wanted to cool things off with some cool shades of blue. Today's blue is going to be found in the gray section instead of with the "blues" in your paint deck. Combine it with mirrored surfaces to Glam it up. Use it with a gold or yellow to make it have a French flair. Bring it out with greens and browns for a trendy or retro feel. Use it with a crisp white trim, dark wood furniture and soft taupes for a comfortable opulence. Cool gray blue- the color of the day.

Mistique Blue by Martin Senour

Soft Chinchilla by Benjamin Moore

Photo from Southern Accents July/ August 2007