For those of you kind enough to follow my blog, my apologies for being absent for so long. My design work has kept me very busy lately and sadly I have neglected my blog.
As I was working this evening I was thinking what is one piece of design advice I give most often. And , it came to me, paint last! I say this a LOT!
When embarking on a design project, choose your inspiration piece first. This can be a piece of art. Perhaps a piece of original art like this oil by Barbara Flowers.
Or perhaps be a patterned area rug, or a collection of porcelains, etc. But something needs to be your inspiration for your color scheme and it is NOT the paint color.
Next choose fabrics that work well with you inspiration piece.
My approach is to quite a few possible fabric samples and later decide where to place them in the design.
In this case, tomato red is the dominant color in the painting, so perhaps a touch of this should go somewhere in the room, even it is a throw pillow or banding on a drapery.
Including the least dominant color is also an interesting way to go. Love this green version of Celerie Kemble's hothouse flowers.
Maybe toss in a silk geometric?
I would probably go for neutral on the largest piece of upholstery, if this were a living room. This almond textural fabric is made from Egyptian cotton and alpaca making it extremely soft yet durable. The advantage of neutrals is that they never go out of style.
Although, I would most likely have a dozen or more options when working from this painting, once I have accumulated my favorites and established where each fabric will go, i.e., sofa, chair, draperies, etc. then and only then to I begin looking for a paint color. It is so much easier to find a paint to coordinate with a fabric than the other way around. The paint store can mix a paint exactly the color, if you need, that you want to duplicate from a piece of fabric or wallcovering.
So in this example, I would choose a much darker shade of the almond fabric as a paint option.
For example Benjamin Moore Blanched Almond might be a good choice.
See how this is has similar "undertone" to your neutral.
If you want to learn more about selecting colors in your home I would refer you to color expert, Maria Kiliam from Vancouver. Here is a link to her advice on seeing undertones.
How to be 100%? Buy samples and paint them on foam core or poster board and plaster them all over your room. And, yes I do this every time I choose a paint color, outside and inside.
It is well worth a few dollars in samples than to have to repaint an entire room. If it isn't right, try another option or better yet spend your money hiring a professional help you choose the right paint color. Some people just don't see undertones in paint colors and some do.
In closing, remember Paint is the last decision!
Thanks for reading. Your comments are always appreciated.
Patti
Wednesday, July 30, 2014 at 9:03PM 
