Back story on the drapes from Wednesday's "You asked..."

Gentle Readers: a story like this comes along but once a year. It would be cruel not to share it with you. Here it is, the back story on the drapes featured in Wednesday's post.

"Then came the curtains. I'm from no-where Illinois and my favorite aunt has made it big and bought an amazing $5 million house in North Atlanta that looks like a country french wonderland:


"When she moved in, her designer girlfriend immediately took down the custom window treatments in the kitchen and dining rooms. She left them on the floor in the three car garage next to the matching jaguars.

"Then my Beverly Hillbilly family came to visit the big house. Grandma Betty saw those fancy curtains on the floor and couldn't believe the girls were going to just throw them away. She threw them in the back of the 1983 Crown Vic they had driven down to Atlanta in and took those bad boys home.

"She thought she'd be able to use them at her place that my Grandpa built himself over 60 years ago. Unfortunately, the 12 foot high panels didn't really work in her little ranch house with 10 foot ceilings. She can't sew and they ended up in a cabinet above the closet in the extra bedroom that was originally the garage but converted when they had kids # 4,5, and six (the triplets).

"The curtains stayed in the unheated Illinois closet for the last 13 years-except for two panels that escaped when Grandma put them in a garage sale.

"In early January 2009, I went to visit Grandma Betty when she got out of the hospital just before she passed away. She had me rooting around in the closet looking for some old photo albums and I came across the curtains. I immediately knew they had come from my rich aunt's house and asked Grandma how they came to be stuffed up in the closet. She told me about the visit and the garage and the trunk.

"Next thing you know, those curtains were rolled up, put in an old dehumidifier box I found in the basement, checked on Delta and flying back to Atlanta with me."
- Jenna

Now THAT, as they say in the art history world, is a heck of a provenance. Thanks so much for telling us about it, Jenna!

You asked...about a rug that works with dining room drapes

Any Gentle Reader who sends me an e-mail saying, "I've had a glass of wine and am getting ready for Monday night football..." has a special place in my heart.


Here's some background information from her original e-mail, to which, tragically, I couldn't respond right away:

I just discovered your blog and LOVE IT. I'm hoping to write something witty or interesting enough to get your attention and advice. Tonight, I'm going to ask about the dining room.

Background: I live in a beautiful two story Victorian home built in the late 1880s in a historic neighborhood (Grant Park) near downtown Atlanta. There are only a few real two stories in the neighborhood (mostly bungalows) and I have one of the oldest houses in the neighborhood, so I feel like I need to respect the house and its history.

The house was renovated in the 80's ...The next owners did all kinds of unsexy but important work on the house like reinforcing the floor joists and replacing bad exterior boards and repainting...

And here's the next e-mail:

Hey Annie!
I've had a glass of wine and am getting ready for Monday night football, so I thought I'd try to narrow down the request for help in my previous email...

I'm working backwards, as I already have curtains and paint colors I love in my dining room.


The question: what to do for the rug and accessories? The pictures don't make the paint look great because it's so dark and I'm a bad photographer. Paint on walls is Restoration Hardware "Slate." Paint on ceiling is Duron Millenium Plantation Beige.

Floors 100+ year old 5" pine plank.


I've got a great old table with original chairs and my husband's mom's china and hutch:



Only other thing to consider is the green tiles in the fireplace:


I hate the fireplace surround, but that's a conversation for another day (I think). I'm all ears on ideas for rug color and accessories. Also, I could also use help in deciding which metalic collor to use (silver, gold, platinum, bronze, etc.) wherever possible.

Best, Jenna


Dear Jenna,

And this is why we always start with the rug :) No, no: I'm not here to chastise. My job is to help. Happily, we have options.

Your house is beautiful, and I absolutely love these wacky drapes! The back story is so great that I'm going to do a separate post about it, if it's ok with you.

I also like the wall color, and good for you for painting the ceiling a warm beige. (You know white ceilings aren't my fave, and they would have made this room feel very cold.)

That's our primary challenge here: warming up the room. The beige ceiling, gorgeous reddish floors, and wood furniture help a lot, but a rug will help, too. Think warm: camel, gold, orange, dark pink...red is going to be awfully traditional, which leads me to...

Our second challenge, which is adding a dash of modern. You could use a traditional deep red Oriental or Persian rug in here, and it would look lovely. But we don't want your house to feel like a museum. (Or maybe you do, but you shouldn't. You're too young and cool.)

CLASSIC UNSTODGY SOLUTION

A seagrass or sisal rug is a perfectly acceptable, no-risk solution. It's not thrilling, but it's fresh, contemporary without unwanted edginess, and visually if not physically warm.

Choose a herringbone pattern to offset the casual feel, and please do NOT add a contrasting binding (border, edging, etc.) - too beachy. Omit a binding altogether if you can, actually.

From a practical standpoint, it's easy to move dining room chairs over flatweave rugs. It's extremely important that you use a rug pad, though; over time, sisal and seagrass act like sandpaper on wooden floors.

A BIT MORE COLORFUL BUT STILL SAFE SOLUTION

A custom-cut carpet in an allover pattern is another option. It's no edgier than seagrass, but it's uncontroversial and effective. Robertex is terrific; I use them all the time for wall-to-wall wool carpeting and stair runners. Look at a pattern such as Maggie in the color Tuxedo Park:


A distinct advantage to this approach is that you can get exactly the size you need. Very important in a dining room: the chairs have to be able to slide away from the table without slipping off the rug.

BOSSY SOLUTION

Naturally, I'd love to see you go all out with a contrasting color to jazz things up. Madeleine Weinrib Atelier is the place to go for beautiful, colorful cotton flatweaves. (Dash & Albert is great for cotton stripes, but that's too beachy for you.)

Here is Madeliene Weinrib's Rose Mandala:


Coral Otto:


Orange Brooke, which would blend into the floor in a good way:


The Indigo Chi Chi Kari is subtle and elegant:

A bit more whimsical is the Stilton Jellybaby - the background color will NOT match the walls exactly, and that's ok:


And for the bossiest of all, the Celery Olivia. I actually love this color with grey, and remember, it will be underfoot, not right in your face:


Colorful art - watercolors, oils, pastels - will be critical in pulling the room together. I'm picturing contemporary but representational pieces in gilded frames. No mirror unless it's in a big fat gold frame...even then, though, mirrors can be cold.

Good luck, Jenna! Please let us know what you decide.

You asked...about a paint color for two-story living room

Hi Annie-
I am thrilled to be writing to you because I LOVE your blog, and I finally have a BIG problem I would love your help on! We built our home two years ago, and painted our fairly large, two-story living room Ralph Lauren Reisling, and my husband and I both detest the color.


We are finally going to have the room re-painted, and would love your opinion on a color.


It looks into both our dining room...


...and kitchen, which are green, and nutmeg colored, respectfully.


I am thinking some sort of brown, and as you can tell from the pictures, my swatches are not helping me.

Can you suggest a great color that will help me tie in the dining room and living room together? We will be putting a leather sofa in the living room, and it gets bright morning light.

I would greatly appreciate your expert opinion!! Thank you so much!
- Stefanie Bradshaw, Louisville, KY


Dear Stephanie:
Ahhh, Louisville. A city that is near and dear to my heart...when my husband and I were engaged, I visited him in Louisville, where he was working on a campaign. We stayed at the utterly charming Seelbach Hotel,


and a big wedding was happening there...the lieutenant governor and Miss Kentucky? Something like that. Royalty. Anyway, it was one of my favorite weekends of all time. It was there that I also met my future right hand at the Smithsonian, who sealed his fate by saying, upon meeting me, "I love your shoes!" Awesome town.

But back to your living room. BROWN IS WRONG. I understand the impulse to go darker after that anemic yellow (Ralph, don't go screwing up my favorite color, ok?), but darker is simply not consistent with the architectural intent of this soaring space.

Light, airy, open...these are the effects you want to preserve. Especially because the side rooms (the dining room and kitchen) are rich in color, let's keep the living room light and neutral. I know it sounds like a cop-out, but it's the space, not the color, that needs to do the talking here.

Try to match the kitchen cabinets, but keep yellow out of it. This might mean you're looking at the very lightest taupes your paint manufacturer has to offer. In Benjamin Moore, take a look at Benjamin Moore's OC-35 Spanish White, shown on the innermost picture frame moulding below, or good old OC-17 White Dove, which is outside the picture frame moulding.

Either of them should look soft but NOT yellow; if it does, reject it. (Its feelings won't be hurt, I promise.)



In any other paint line, pick up swatches that look like your kitchen cabinets and see what works.

If it were me, and I had a free weekend (or a free few hundred bucks to pay someone else to do it), I'd also paint my banister and newel posts high-gloss black to emphasize the contrast between them and the walls. (Aren't the balusters black wrought iron?) But that's me.

I'd probably also change the ceiling fan to something white or silver so it doesn't draw attention to itself. But spend your time - and your money - on the walls first, and then see how you feel.

Thanks for the great question, Stephanie. This may not sound like an inspiring solution, but I guarantee you'll love the space when you banish the yellow. Keep us posted!

"Whites" photo from decorati.com, courtesy of xJavierx's photostream on Flickr.

Color camp debrief

First of all, the term "color camp" was totally misleading. Sorry about that. "Color BOOT Camp," possibly, or "Color College," "Hue University..."

In an ongoing effort to bring gravitas and respect to the field of color science, the IACCNA (International Association of Color Consultants North America) offers an intensive series of seminars to professionals in the field. If you complete them - over the course of a few years, since they're not offered all the time - complete the home assignments, take a test, and write a thesis (I doubt bossy blog will exempt me from that), you may then become an accredited member of this elite group.

The lecturer is Frank Mahnke, who has written several authoritative books about color, including Color, Environment, and Human Response. I'm looking forward to reading them, actually.

I didn't really know what to expect of the seminar, to be honest. Rachel of Hue had sung its praises, and Maria of Colour Me Happy is an IACC member. Kelly of Arte Styling is deep into the program, too.

In retrospect, I probably wanted the "argumentation" (as Frank would say) to back up the color decisions I make already, in the course of my work. I know I'm instinctively good with color, but I wanted more information about why color X looks good with color Y, etc.

I didn't quite get that. But I will. Seminar 1 was an overview of the psychological effects of color: the neuro-psychological aspects, emotional effects, and visual ergonomics...

You can maybe see how a non-professional might be disappointed.

Of the approximately 20 of us, one woman was understandably miffed that she wasn't getting the kind of information she wanted...let's just say that the "miffing" took place publicly, and loudly, and involved the slamming of a door. It was bizarre, actually. (Good thesis in there for someone interested in group dynamics.)

Anyway, despite the use of an overhead projector - remember those? - and a slide projector - remember THOSE? - there's no question that I learned quite a bit about the effects that color and light have on us.



And, almost more important, I connected with some amazing women - yep, we were all women this go-round - with whom I look forward to staying in touch. Most attendees are involved in interior design in one way or another, but there was also an expert in personal styling, an author, an automotive industry color designer, a faux painter, a floral designer, a fellow member of the national museum-recovery program...a really cool group of people.

Which was important, considering that the after-hours activity centered on dodging the ladies of the night who hang out in the Mission Valley Resort parking lot. Thankfully, not a single one of us was mistaken for one of them. I think it might have been the name tags.

They're calling my flight (THANK YOU, San Diego airport, for wireless internet), but more later -

Covering the spectrum with "Color Confidential" Guest blog post from Hue

I recently wrote a guest blog post for Hue, one of my favorite color blogs. Color consultant, muralist, and blogger Rachel Perls was kind enough to return the favor while I'm at the IACC Seminar...Rachel is associated with IACC and speaks very highly of the organization; she confirmed my decision to fly all the way across the country to attend. In any event, thank you for the post, Rachel, and Gentle Readers, I hope you enjoy it!

Covering the spectrum with "Color Confidential"
by Rachel Perls, Hue

On a recent trip abroad, I was enthralled by the personal television screen installed in the seat back in front of me.

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Forget my new juicy novel, I was now held captive by a plethora of movies and tv shows at my fingertips for the next 6 hours. One show I had never seen was Color Confidential, filmed up in Canada. This syndicated program is called “Get Color” on HGTV in the US. Claiming to utilizes color theory to educate homeowners and viewers about how color interact, Color Confidential has been dubbed the “thinking person’s décor show”. Intrigued, I wanted to see how much of an educated, multi-disciplinary approach to color would be involved in a show completely dedicated to the topic.

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Jane Lockhart, the show’s host and designer, is a charismatic, friendly, fast-talking woman. Her show “hook” is a large circular color wheel with little wooden boxes to fill with goodies for each hue.

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Unique to this show is the fact that existing furniture pieces are not thrown out with the bathwater. Instead, they are painted, slip-covered, or reupholstered to change the character of the make-over space. Although, many before and after shots I’ve viewed were almost all entirely new pieces, which is great for tv impact, but not so practical for the rest of us living in reality.

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She does slip in some great suggestions, like sharing my distaste for white ceilings.
"Nothing says 'builder' like a painted, white, stippled ceiling," Jane declares, as though all developers were in cahoots to irritate her. "Ceilings add a lot of dimension."

So how does the show work? Jane waltzes into a house, gathers some info on the homeowners’ interests (ie their color “story”), and returns with an elaborate display of colorful, themed items set up around the wheel.

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Her wheels are always themed, like this one created for budding photographer Brad who was afraid of color. In an attempt to ease this homeowner into more colorful options, filters, matte board, film canisters, and camera accessories are selected for their sense of familiarity.

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This display takes the place of paint chips, fan decks, and fabric swatches. Instead of a small brown paint chip, homeowners might select a box of coffee beans or chocolate chips. From that, she asks homeowners which colors appeal to them, then explains how that color will relate to the floor color and the space as a whole. Jane backs up her approach by rationalizing that “if you pick things that you love, you’re more likely to create a space that you’re much happier with, because your personal associations are positive.”

A bit over-simplified, given how many other issues there are to consider when selecting colors for a space. But for a ½ hour television series, I can understand why it must be boiled down into sound bytes. Won’t someone provide a comprehensive show that goes deeper than inspiration pieces?

Color camp, here I come!

I could have sworn BWI Airport had wireless internet access.

Which is why I scrambled this morning to tie up all my client projects, bid my family a fond farewell, and get myself to the airport way early: for several hours of uninterrupted airport time to catch up on blogs and blogging.

Tragically, I was mistaken. I thought I could get a little message up via my iPhone, but YOU try posting something from an iPhone and let me know how it goes.

So yet another day went by without a word from bossy color. I do apologize.

I hope to make up for it in the next few days, though: I'm at color camp!

Well, it's a conference of the International Association of Color Consultants North America. In San Diego. But I like calling it color camp. I hope to emerge inspired and re-energized...and I aim to post an entry or two while I'm here. I mean, come on. If color camp doesn't yield some good subject matter, well, that would be lame. On my part, not theirs.

So wish me luck.

I'm not optimistic about a campfire sing-along, but it would be awesome if they serve bug juice.

Guest blog post on Hue: In praise of yellow

Fellow color blogger Rachel Perls of Hue went on vacation recently (lucky duck!) and had the incredible foresight to line up guest bloggers in her absence.


Here's bossy color's contribution, about yellow.

Enjoy!