01 Friday Oct 2010
Posted in My home
Tags
A quick and easy change to a focal wall…
Subject to change…
Might start an entry color of the month feature…
Can you tell I’m trying to use up my old paint?
This is Benjamin Moore Stomp that I thinned
and stained my garden fence with…
Whatever I settle on…my wall forecast is chalky, gray, and flat
and slightly variable…
Love this image…a 18th century Spanish Colonial oil that
I scanned and attached to a canvas….
Would have loved the original…but it will do…
Happy Weekend…Happy October…!
02 Tuesday Mar 2010
Posted in Grisaille
We all know gray is an important color now….
but the question is which one. I added tumbled light gray squares
to my limestone kitchen floor years ago to add a little accent
and roughness to their buff colored satin smoothness.
I love gray. I wear gray. I want gray.
Almost three years ago we covered over the dark wood paneling in our
living room with a thin layer of sheetrock and plaster. This was to mollify
my husband’s concerns, and protect the wood if we wanted to go back to it.
It was thick, wide planked, un-knotted. So I couldn’t rip it out, didn’t want to
paint, bleach or sand it. We’re both thrilled with the consummate light that
fills the room now. Photo above from earlier Timeless in Provence here
I’ve eyed the almost 10 foot tall, built-in book cases on either side of one wall
for several years now. They are paint grade wood that has been stained
a “wood brown”. And I’m in the process of painting them gray…
So many grays…
Just picked up Coté Ouest and Coté Paris Dec/Jan ’10 issues
and they are flooded with grays…
With that now requisite touch of lavender or mauve…
I bought flat paint…for it’s chalkiness…
love the tremulous glow of Astier de Villate
emoting from the dark…and that gorgeous stone
curb that the glasses drain in…
What I’m conscious of now is the balance in the room
between an open beam wood ceiling that rises up to meet
the second floor, stone fireplace, several wood antiques that
I can’t just replace with painted French or Swedish …
Six photos above all from Coté Ouest
Grays mixing it up with sister neutrals…
from my Architectural Remnants post here
From left to right: Benjamin Moore “Storm”, C2 Paints “Pavement”, “Stomp”, “Carbon Dust”
I intend to paint the inside of the cabinets a darker gray…
I’m veering away from grays that are too plummy, or blue…
“Pavement” is a favorite so far….
Asli Tunca…a treasure trove of gray tones…
from earlier post Atelier in Istanbul
Aiden Gray photo
Masterful mix of neutral…
and strong pop of aged black graphics…
“An 18th century sculpted wooden Italian lantern is suspended
within an industrial mold made of wooden marquetry…”
The New Eighteenth Century Style
From my Strong and Silent post here
The photo on first flip through that caused me to buy the issue…
Liquid metal on French…
Coté Paris
Got a “go to” gray?
Please name it and describe it fondly to me…
always looking for a few good grays
*
Oh…and yes…loving all the lanterns, too
29 Friday Jan 2010
Posted in Interiors
Tags
Classic French courtyard…the colors of stone, metal…
a range of gray and black and ivory…
I’m always drawn to this color palate…
Inside the same French home …architectural elements
and tones that are timeless…
with a single chair and a touch of new color…
Art and Decoration January ’10
Timeless faucets, marble, mosaic, gleaming chrome…
Walls a lime washed study in gray…
Restoration Hardware ’07
Simple, unadorned gray walls, angular shapes
Maison Cote Sud Dec. ’09
Some favorite gray tones…
A worn “Grande Dame” of a ballroom in Paris…
It’s moody atmospherics often the backdrop for photoshoots..
Vogue Living Australia May June ’09
Several months ago I wanted to paint my kitchen cabinet gray…but was so tired
of always running to the paint store to get “the perfect gray” that I mixed some leftover
ivory and black paints and came up with a blueish gray.
Yesterday I added a bit of taupe glaze today to tone down the blue. I’m determined
to whittle down my hoard of paint. My husband just hung this floral garland panel for me…
there is more light and wall space in the kitchen for both panels, and my lanterns will take
their place in the dining room. As a side note: he threatened to divorce me if I changed
my mind again. The cumulative effect of gray cabinet, side panels, and lime washed
fireplace is overall more gray to offset my very creamy colored kitchen. This wall
is just screaming “paint me gray”.
The panel is new, but the floral plaster swag is antique…
and somewhat fragile
And I’ll have to find a place for my lavender “harvest”
baskets…
Love the simplicity of these cabinets, the honed black and ivory, the
metal pendant and “roast beast” silver cover…
and of course the linen shade with embroidered initials…
Just to throw a little wrench in the classics game….
I find a keep coming back to the same classical elements…
Except for a plumber who will come for a few hours to set up toilet,
and fixtures…it’s only (blissfully) me and my paint cans.
