Monday Color: Red & Gray

Multi-tasking: (noun) "the carrying out of two or more tasks at the same time by one person."

Well, I've been kicking myself for weeks to get back to blogging more regularly and need to scare up inspiration for a client's living room, featuring a color scheme that is a little scary itself, so this blog post will satisfy multiple tasks in this same late(ish) hour on a beautiful Monday night. Nice!

As I've posted in the past, I'm not the biggest fan of red. But my client hired me several months after an odd selection of paint colors were rolled across every wall so foundational color scheme choices were not mine to make. And, hey, I do like a challenge. She toured me through a living room emblazoned in red accent walls, opposite vast views of the Hudson River through curtain wall glass windows. It hardly works, but the damage was already done. And she loooves the red wall, so I zipped my mouth shut. She was able to admit, however, that the black leather sectional along the wall had to go. Thank God. 1982 was a long time ago.

With these givens in place, we hatched a red and gray color scheme, much warmer and current. The red wall is Benjamin Moore's aptly named "Red" and the only other element I'm forced to work with is the funky red leather chair in the photo below. To warm it all up, we picked a gray with loads of brown undertones, building from the Roche Bobois Script Sectional, also pictured below, to layers of accessories that tie it all together.

Images above:

1. Bold doses of red against a gray backdrop (found on www.homesinterior.net) which is the exact opposite of what I'm working with but helpful nonetheless.

2. Better proportions of red and gray, with an unexpected dash of yellow in the window casings (found on www.shinyinteriors.com), although my client would sternly prefer I not introduce any other colors. Tough one, but OK.

3. Now we're talking....the downtown LA loft of Harrison Ford's son William with pops of red, consistent gray, and natural wood and wicker tones (from The Telegraph).

4. Lipstick red furniture seems to harmonize most naturally with bold pop art and lots of white.

5. My client's living room as I found it (I'll post "after" images in another month or so, because boy is it going to be different!!)

6. The warm gray leather Roche Bobois Script sectional that is replacing the black bachelor pad special above.

7. Hide & Batik carpet tiles from FLOR come in a warm gray and white color way, perfect for adding a touch of pattern but practical enough for a family and a dog.

8. This affordably large giclee from Z Gallerie called In Bloom features the bold red, but introduces lots of white and other warm complimentary colors.

9. Red and gray hand-sewn and screen-printed pillows, crafted from eco-friendly hemp and nontoxic dyes (from Cloth & Ink on Etsy).

10. West Elm's Martini Side Table (we'll be using white or silver beside the corner chair because the red version is too orangey for this room).

11. A pop of red in a functional piece: cb2's Three Prong Red Coat Rack.

I'm baaack.

I love my blog but I've sure been neglecting it badly. It doesn't matter if the only one who knows that is me (and maybe my sister Margi, my loyal reader). But like renewed vows at a silver anniversary, sometimes a recommitment is in order. So I hearby do solemnly swear to write every day, to channel my findings from the eco-friendly design world back out into the universe, for better or for worse, in busy times and in down times.

And now a sneak peak at one of the things that's kept me so busy: a playroom I'm designing for a TriBeCa condominium building, filled with reclaimed wood paneling and eco-friendly polyesters from KnollTextiles with cradle-to-cradle gold certification for low environmental impact. Add graffiti-inspired signage, vintage arcade games, and cozy reading alcoves, and I'm hoping it will be an urban escape high on style and fun, low on carbon footprint.

Table Matters (one of the zillion things I've been up to)

So sad, but no time to blog these days. However, I had to jump on and boast a bit about a reclaimed wood table I just designed and had commissioned for a design client in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The creative and talented Spiro Hamezopoulos made magic out of the dingy wood planks and vintage table bases I dropped off at the doorstep of his shop. A few days later and this beautiful table and set of benches emerged.



The fluffy-approved end product.


My client's are still renovating their Brooklyn home, but this table makes it feel so much more like home.


Reclaim wood, lightly sanded, and gently finished = stunning!!


A glimpse at the wood before Spiro got his hands on it.


An in-progress shot.

All work, all play.....

Oh my poor dear neglected blog, I miss you so!! But I'm spending all my time mothering and designing and playing and Etsy-ing, so my chances to sit down and post are few and far between. But my son's been extra good tonight and has just sat down to an hour of the Fox Soccer channel, so I thought I'd throw up some of my fun research for a new commercial project I just landed. I'm designing the playroom at a TriBeCa development called Warren Lofts, following the inspiration of the imaginative suburban backyard playhouse for the design of the space. I'm finding a plethora of exterior shots that have me waxing nostalgic about the playful escape I never had, but only a few interior shots, so I guess I have to ride on my own imagination for that. I'm thinking wood-clad walls, lots of nooks and crannies, and stickers. The developer mentioned a vintage arcade game and I'm dreaming about the retro fabrics I'll source for the custom upholstered pieces. Here's what I've found so far (with the very last image going on the "Don't" list!!)

Wide Angle

Anyone who knows me, knows I've been dreaming of owning a very old home with original extra wide plank floors. There are a multitude of other specs on my dream house list, but these floors are a MUST. And after a stroll through a 1863 Center Hall Colonial upstate yesterday with the original floors in tact under carpet and some other modern overlays, imagining the afternoons I'd spend sanding and refinishing them to their intended glory, the dream has re-morphed into obsession. Take a moment to obsess with me, eh?

Monday Color: Cheerful & Bird's Egg

Straight from the Benjamin Moore paint books, I bring you the combination of Cheerful and Bird's Egg for this week's Monday Color post, for no other reason than these are the two colors I'm combining in a nursery I'm currently busy designing. Pure multi-tasking. Enough said.

The nursery is for a little boy and his sister, who will be arriving any day now. Because he's a toddler and already opinionated, we let him choose the dominant blue color. And because the client didn't want traditional gender colors, we brought in pops of bright Cheerful for "her "color. Read on to see some of the elements we'll be using as well as some adaptations for adult spaces.


An eclectic living room designed by actress Julianne Moore.


A cute bedroom found on Fabulessly Yours.


Same color palette, but all grown up.


Mixing in pale green makes this living room the epitome of a fresh Spring day.


I adore this sophisticated mix of aqua and yellow found on The Lennoxx.


One of the 'inspiration' nurseries I used to coax my client into this bright color combo.


The medallions on this pale blue and yellow rug for my client's nursery bring in a touch of tradition (we're going for the 6' round version from Walmart.com).


The organic cotton from Birch Fabrics that we're making into custom crib bedding and a duvet for the twin bed.


Two of my favorite Feistaware colors.


I wish there was a way to work this Ikat Duver Cover from Urban Outfitters in, delivering toned down versions of the blue and yellow in a fresh wordily print.


Aqua seas under warm honey skies are transportive in this photo from The Gingham Owl, on Etsy.


A generously sized aqua and yellow ceramic vase from Lamps Plus.