Todays bits - Exposure - location

Things are coming up blue, yellow, pink or what ever color you love.  Hopefully by now you will have decided.  I know that in todays society, many watch all the design shows on TV.  Great! One thing I learned is what "Goes around comes around."  those of us in the design field since the 60's have seen more and  lived more than the younger generation.  I just read in a magazine or in the newspaper, about phones and how you answer them.  If you answer them on your right side, you are more analytical and less artistic.  If you answer the phone on your left side, you are artistic and many are analytical also.  So that is a little bit.

David Hicks quotes" Good Taste is by no means dependent on money."

Color also depends on exposure.  Which direction does your room face?  What direction are your windows so you can figure out your natural light. South facing rooms are considered hot rooms.  They usually have a lot of light.  North rooms are considered cool as they usually don't have the light exposure. West rooms can also be hot, while east rooms can be cooler. 

Color also depends on regions.  I live in Florida so I kind of consider all rooms light, bright and sunny.  I came from the Midwest where winters were so very dreary.  There, I loved yellows, blues, limes, bright colors. My living room had pale yellow carpet. I called them garden colors.  I also liked monochromatic schemes as I could always punch them up with different colors.  At one time, you would have thought I owned a throw pillow store.  My children always said they were never buying throw pillows as I had them every where.  Today any one who visits my house and stays, has to put all the throw pillows on the floor.  LOVE PILLOWS!

Rule of Thumb:  Red, orange and yellow represent the warm side of the color wheel and are more suited for rooms with a northern exposure.  Love to add pink and fushia to that mix.  Blue and Green represent the cool side of the color wheel, and therefore,  are used in rooms with a southern exposure.  Love to add turquoise to that combination with a hint of yellow.  In southern states cooler colors and pastels along with whites and beiges are used predominately.  In the north, warm colors or whites and beiges with warm colors are used. 

Til tomorrow:
"All the world is a Stage"

Nancy's bits: Just another way with color

A achromatic Scheme is black and white, white reflects while black absorbs.  Gray is a mix of the two.  This scheme is very difficult to live with for a long period of time.  Therefore: we make modifications. 
1.  Make one dominant and the other an accent color.
2.  Add a real color: For vibrant color add red or yellow, and for a more subdued look, add deep   blue or deep green.

Color is one of the most valuable tools a designer possesses.  As an artist manipulates paint on a canvas to express and evoke feeling, the designer uses color to calm, excite, manipulate space and add emphasis.

A vast number of people cannot see fabrics or colors together in their minds.  People buy what they see and like.  This is why you see total displays in stores.  This gives you an idea of what you like.  Many times I suggest people browse stores to get ideas, ( that is if I am not doing the work for them).  The same thing is true when you see a picture in a magazine.  I am a great person for ripping out ideas in a magazines.  I love many ideas I see.  It may just be a tieback, or a color chart of say pinks, such as I showed you earlier in the blog. the great thing today is that I can store all this on my computer and not have piles of stuff around.

Remember, a magazine picture doesn't show you the size of the room or the height of the wall, or the size of the windows.  So what looks great there, may never work for you.

The most successful scheme is the monochromatic scheme.  Complimentary schemes appear in nature.  Violets are a good example, some are purple with a yellow center.  It is amazing if you just look at nature for your color scheme.  This creates excitement and contrast.  Taking into consideration your primary color, use your complements in a less degree.  Analogous schemes create a feeling of harmony and restfulness.  Limit yourself to 2 or 3 adjacent hues.  Achromatic is historically a favorite.

At this point, you should have a primary or anchor color chosen and a scheme of one of the above in mind.

Color is the most difficult of design jobs

Let's talk about color schemes.

Monochromatic:  Various shades of a particular color.
Analogous: Connected colors, next to each other on the color wheel, related, harmonious
Complimentary: Across from each other on the color wheel
Split complimentary: The choice of three (3) colors next to each other on the color wheel.
Triad: Three colors equidistance from each other on the color wheel, forms a triangle.

To explain each:
Monochromatic is a quiet, serene or restful scheme.  People can lose interest in the room easily.  There is nothing for the eye to pick up.  This is where a great painting can set off the room.

Analogous is very comfortable.  It is easy to be around for a long time.  It can be easily updated with changes in accessories in a selected color range.

Complimentary creates visual excitement by it's contrast.  There is a lot of visual energy.  It is never static or dull.

Split Complimentary still retains your visual color excitement but I feel it is your best bet.  Success is achieved when the three colors are balanced, such as orange/red, blue/violet, blue /green.

Triad is not for the faint of heart.  Example is in the primaries: red/ blue/ yellow.  Red stimulates the brain, blue is for overactive people and yellow gives off energy.  Using any triad in pastel colors is so much better.

Many times a painting, an object in a room, a fabric you love, can start your scheme.  Look around your room and see if there is something that you dearly love.  Why?  Color, shape, texture?

Many rooms start with a painting that one loves.

My dining room started with a table that I loved and a painting.

 

This is one of  my paintings.  I sold the original and now have a perfect giclee.  Will let you know about that later.

 

Now try and pick out your scheme.

Nancys bits and pieces of color

I still will talk about color today, as I have said "It is the single most important Part of design".  Your rooms should flow from one to another.  Don't jump from color scheme to another, without some thought.  Plan and carry your colors from one room to another, adding another color to change your look.  If adding another color pleases you, and is within our framework of combining colors, go ahead and trust yourself.  I have never really seen a garden color scheme that wasn't beautiful. 

The most beautiful gardens are planned with color, and a great place to view that is in gardening magazines.  I always get inspired by "Better Homes and Gardens", with ideas on gardening and bringing those colors inside.

The following information, all of you have learned at one time or another, or at least heard about.

Primary colors:  Red, Yellow, Blue- colors in their strongest form.  Decorating with primaries produces lively ad energetic rooms.  Children's rooms are often done in primaries, think how energetic that is.  Of course, blue with anything is wonderful and red is very warm.  Many people think red is masculine, on the contrary, it is a great accent.

Secondary or Binary Colors: Orange, Violet, Green - equal parts of the primary colors, such as red and yellow - make orange, blue and red make purple, and yellow and blue make green. Therefore: yellow, blue and green make a pleasing combination.  So you can use these as starting points if you care to.

Intermediate or tertiary colors: Lie in between the primary and the secondary - such as blue-green, yellow-orange, etc.

Neutrals: Black, white, gray and beige- are used in many decorating schemes, they are easy on the eyes.

Now look at your room, what is your scheme?  Think how you can add another color to change your scheme.  This is like a test for you.  Now start a journal on everything that you need to do.  All about all we talked about.

Designers are hired to help you do this.  With the tools I will be giving you (mental tools), as my blog progresses, you will be able to do anything you want and have it look "DROP DEAD GORGEOUS".

   Have a little faith in yourself.  Feel free to e-mail me with a question if you want.
 Nancy Sadowski25@gmail.com.

Another day of color - love pink

Can't believe I am creating this blog yet.  It is day 4, hope I can remember each day, no matter how tired I am, I am now committed.

Forgot to tell you, for information on the cornice on Day 1, go to www.decoratorsworldinc.com, that should show you how to get it.  I made the DVD also.

I wanted to call my blog "What goes around comes around" but that was taken, so here are the "Bits and Pieces" of information I have acquired about "Interior Design" in my 40 years in the business and still acquiring.

About color, I guess that once you are using the right side and left side of the brain all you life, you are definitely artistic. Since I am now so into watercolor painting, Color is of utmost importance.
You must create a color scheme that is pleasing to you, since you and you family must live with it.

The object of our color talk today, is to use what you have at home, adding a little different color to change the whole look of your room.

Color is a very personal item and depends on your individual taste.  Your success with color will depend on how you combine each color, and to the extent of it's use.  In all the magazines having to do with homes, or home furnishings, I love the pages that show color combinations such as:

 

This is from: House Beautiful, March 2011 edition.

It just makes me feel so beautiful.  I would just love to be in a place with all these colors.

 

These color pages from many magazines show you basically a monochromatic color scheme. Every once in a while they add the compliments. I love to go and get color chips and put them together to create a new look in each of my rooms.

Color - favortes - warm and cool

The most important aspect of changing your rooms, again, is color.  Today, I suggest you look in every room of your house and see if you see a pattern.  For instance: many items are the same color., design, and texture.  Pottery, porcelain or glass, all have a like composition.  If you display a lot of brass, silver, pewter or any metals, again a likeness.  Usually a person has a reason they have this particular collection, (1) they bought it because they liked it, (2) it was a gift that must be on display, (3) a friend or family member made it for them, and (4) it was handed down in the family.  There really are no other reasons to have an item.  Now, lets's look at the predominant colors.  If you have metals such as bronze or brass, these are considered warm colors.  Silver or chrome are considered cool colors.  We must look at the previous article on the color wheel, and look at our warm and cool colors, do they match your scheme?  Dark wood is warm, while light wood and white are considered cool.  Darks and lights are considered neutrals.

Now you should have a conception of your favorite home colors and what you like.  Warm vs. cool and your predominant color.  We can warm up cool, and cool down warm.  Here is a painting, that shows cool, silver with warm colors.

Original watercolor by: Nancy Sadowski

www.riverviewartstudios.com

 

Here yellow and orange in the pears was added for warmth to the silver.  You can choose any warm color to a cool color and make it warmer.

 

 

Color day 2 in our Bits and Pieces

Well here it is day 2, how exciting.  Color is always such an important element in design.  Lately, I have been seeing a lot of pink.  Pink has always been notorious for girls.  Now with all the shades of pink, it can be used anywhere.  Does it suit you?  If not, look elsewhere in the spectrum of color.
Let's look first at neutral.  We all think beige, grey, or white, or earth colors.  What is wrong with blue? Green? Or all the colors in a garden?  I have always said that blue and green should be considered neutrals.  The sky is blue and the grass is green.  I have never seen anything that doesn't go with blue or green.  When deciding on color,  think of a beautiful garden.  What doesn't match?
Personally, I love blue and all the monochromatic colors I can use with it, or the complimentary colors that go with it.  Colors on the opposite each other side on the color wheel.

For instance Blue and Orange

Yellow and Violet

 

Now they can be different shades of those colors.  This is a complimentary scheme.

 

We are now ready to start thinking in color.  The great thing about today is that they have small jars of color for you to try out.  If you have access to any kind of paint, watercolor, acrylics, oils,

colored pencils, or even crayons, you can make your color scheme.  Just get a plain piece of paper and experiment.

 

The best way to see what colors you are in love with is to look in your closet.  What so you see?  If it is a lot of color, you are safe with anything.  You will probably see though that you tend one way.  That makes you happy.   Use that color in your schemes, then your rooms will make you feel happy.

 



Number one in a Series of Color

Tired of  they way your house looks, but really don't want to spend a lot of money making it look great!!

 

This is for people who would really like an update in their homes for a  small amount of money.

The cheapest way change your room is with a splash of color.  Pillows or throws.  The best place to find the greatest fabrics, even though they may only be pillow size, is a resale shop.  Shop clothing that has great fabric.  It can be cut to whatever size you need to cover an existing pillow.  There items in fabric stores that you can iron on and cover you existing pillows.  Look at the latest looks in stores like Pier 1, World Bazaar, or any home type magazine.

 

My Favorite Way

This cornice can be made for next to nothing and can be changed within an hour to any color, and things added to it or taken off.  Fabric can be bought off a sale table, resale clothing, old sheets, bedspreads, or whatever fabric you have at home.

 

Look around your home and see if you have a place for a cornice.

 

A GREAT WAY TO ADD COLOR FOR A SMALL AMOUNT OF MONEY!