At
the Hotel Sausalito, Linda painted the hallway library cabinet a
soothing green. The complementary red and terra cotta accessories
create a still life of harmonious color, texture and light.
This
kitchen niche above a stove is surrounded by apricot walls
and filled with gold antique French pavers. The vibrant greens in
the pitchers, plates, plants and picture frames make this kitchen come
alive with color.
An
old, peely-paint green door from a salvage yard was installed as a
pocket door between a kitchen and laundry room in this formerly
ordinary tract home. The complementary apricot walls and terra
cotta pot add contrast to the door, while the stool, paperwhites and
pears repeat the color green in different tones. Good design repeats
itself.
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March
into
GREEN
This month, we continue our conversation about color with glorious green. Not
just because of St. Patrick’s Day, but because March is the time of
year for growth and renewal, and green is the color of nature. It’s the
color of the crocus buds that peek through the snow and tell us that
spring is around the corner. Green has traditionally been the
symbol of tranquility, fertility, and good luck, and now
green also represents an entire global movement toward environmental
protection and preservation. More than any other color, green
symbolizes the earth.
How Green Affects Us
Green
feels good. It comforts and relaxes us. It helps alleviate
depression and anxiety, which is why it is often used in waiting
rooms (you've heard of green rooms). Green gives us a
sense of self-control. It is soothing and easy on the eye, in part
because we are so used to seeing it in nature.
The Same Principles Apply
As
with any color, designing with green follows the same principles
we learned last month. Consulting our color wheel, we know that
green is a secondary color, i.e., a combination of two primary colors,
so its analogous colors will be found in between those two primary
colors - blue and yellow. Use these colors together to create harmony
in your palette.
Opposite
green on the color wheel is red, and alongside red are its analogous
colors, violet through orange. Accent your greens with these
complementary colors and you’ll see your palette come alive. Then
ground the color scheme with a neutral to give the eye someplace to
rest, and the result is pleasing, balanced and harmonious.
Although
green is on the cool side of the color wheel, you can see
how Linda has used its soothing effects, and still created warm,
glowing rooms that pop with vibrant color.
"Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises."
- Pedro Calderon de la Barca
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This
study in analagous colors is all about greens, blues, and golds.
The different shades of blue and gold ceramics, the violet tray and the
swimming pool blue inset in the table flow together and harmonize with
the soft green wall behind.
Linda's clients
longed for a touch of French country in their contemporary San
Francisco loft, so she found a pair of hand-blown ducks in bold
complementary red and green to sit on the coffee
table. Hues of pink, salmon and lime green surround the
quacky critters in this whimsical room, while the neutral silver-gray
tones in the round table and ottoman ground the colorful palette.
If
you are decorating a rental or staging to sell and don't want to make
permanent changes, bring the color in à la carte! Here, a pair of green
antique doors are simply leaned up against a red brick wall for
contrast, and an orange stool sings against the neutral chair, rug
and walls.
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