Jumping around a bit

In 1973, I studied at New York School of Interior Design.  It was a life changing event.  I knew I had the flair and the artistic ability long before that. When I say the old cliché " What Goes Around Comes Around", I really mean it, as it has happened to me personally.

In 1961, I painted my daughter's bedroom with yellow and white stripes.  No painters tape, just a plain old yard stick.  It turned out beautiful.  Today, I am going to paint one of my hallways, blue and white stripe. I now have painters tape and special brushes to use.  Stripes are so informal to formal, they are one of my favorite decorating nuances..  Depends on how you want to use them.  I could wallpaper, but if I decide to redo it, I must remove the wallpaper and prepare my walls for whatever.
I used new paper to rag roll kitchen cabinets in the 60's.  Turned out gorgeous. I have lately rag rolled over my striping with a light glaze.  Great!
 My mother tells of painting linoleum during WWII, as there wasn't the money to buy new flooring.  She did squares and it looked great.  A very lot of this faux painting comes from the 1940 era.

As a child, I remember gray walls, maroon tile, red kitchen sets, the neighbors had yellow with formica table tops.  Venetian blinds were on the windows and had to be washed.  Imagine, they were 2" wide, not the mini, micro or plastic blinds of today,  In the 50's, a kind of retro era, I remember chartreuse, turquoise, brown, or black upholstery with I believe gold sparkle in it.  The fabric was nylon friseze.  The fabric pilled, but never wore out.  The frames went long before the fabric showed the wear.

Today, I was reading a newer issue of Better Homes and Gardens, and saw tis wonderful color chart.  It was pearly whites.  The whites were gorgeous: A Swiss coffee, a modern white with a tiny touch of taupe, Pegasus that is a gray white, Muslin White is like a classic white shirt, Birchwood white that is the color of a morning sky tinged with sunlight, and Light Navajo white the color of cappuccino froth.

Twenty years ago, who would have known what cappuccino froth looked like.  New words, same colors.  Many designers feel that white is boring.  I do not, because of how it reflects other colors.

A lot of artist live in a neutral palette in order to be creative.  They don't need someone else's color, they need a neutral place to create color of their own.