color

...now browsing by category

Bedroom Redesign Inspired by Art

Saturday, May 4th, 2013

Isn’t this artwork beautiful? A perfect way to start a color scheme in a room. Here is the other piece of the set:

frameimage

I am helping an online client with her bedroom and I thought these prints would be a gorgeous inspiration. We talked about paint colors also and since I have been obsessing over this bedroom photo:

bedroom love!

source

I suggested she leave her white walls as is and just paint the ceiling in this Ben Moore Porcelain Glaze CSP-550:

porcelain

Paint Color- Benjamin Moore Porcelain Glaze CSP-550

That would look beautiful don’t you think? I recommended all white bedding with these blue shams and a duvet folded on the end of bed (in water):

duvet

source

And here is our design board:

bedroom redesign

Just lovely! What do you think of painting the ceiling of the bedroom instead of the walls in the blue?

My client does not mind that I share these pictures with you, but asked that I not give out all of our resources. Thanks for understanding!

If you would like a custom online design plan recommended for your home, contact me today!

Share on Facebook

Posted in Bedrooms, ben moore, color, Dear Kelly, Design Boards, Interior Decorating | 3 Responses »
Tags: artwork, bedroom, bedroom redesign, ben moore, Benjamin Moore Porcelain Glaze CSP-550, blue, color, contemporary, mirrors, paint selection, painting, update, using art as inspiration

Fresh New Drawers

Monday, April 15th, 2013

drawer2

Over the years, we have accumulated a few old dressers along the way:

drawer8

drawer4

I have thought about painting, but I really like their history and character. Do you see the keyholes in the drawers? Pretty cool and unique:

drawer9

Remember the post I wrote here wondering if I should paint or not paint this piece? I decided not to paint over. Once it is done, there is no going back and it really is unique and beautiful:

drawer5

But one thing I do not like about the old chests is the old, musty smell in the drawers. I might care about the history of the outside of the dressers, but I do not want to know the history of what was in those drawers before:

drawer3

I tried drawer sachets and pretty lined paper:

drawer6

But that does not work. And since I have been going through paint withdrawals(no painting projects lately!), I decided one way to get rid of that musty smell would be to paint the inside of the drawers. Yay paint project!

smiley_face

Using a pretty paint color leftover from another painting project, I choose the color Ben Moore Riviera Azure for a beautiful surprise every time I opened up the drawer:

paint1

I had this blue left over from painting the guest room a few years ago:

paint2

I did not sand or prime, just wiped out the drawer clean before painting:

drawer7

Now I have pretty, fresh smelling drawers!

drawer10

That was my fun and easy project for this past weekend. Did you work on any projects?

Share on Facebook

Posted in Bedrooms, Before & After Pictures, ben moore, color, Decorating Hints & Tips, DIY Projects, Interior Decorating, Painted Furniture | 4 Responses »
Tags: bedroom, ben moore, blue, color, decorating, Decorating ideas, painting, painting furniture, painting inside drawers, Riviera Azure, update

A Well Dressed Bed

Saturday, April 6th, 2013

source

Today I worked on a design plan for a client that recently purchased a new upholstered headboard. The color she chose was Flax Boucle:

colors

source

The challenge was trying to work the flax color in with all of the white in the room. She did not want to change anything else in the room (paint color, window treatments, etc.). She just needed help selecting bedding:

diane2

Here is the headboard with the existing blue bed linens:

diane1

I feel the existing blue linens are too light/clean to work with the beige of the headboard. I suggested trying white bed linens as our base:

whitebed

Which I think is a good starting point to tie everything in the room together. See the artwork above the bed?:

dianepicture

It works perfect because it has the white, the flax color and different blues. (I did suggest to change to a darker frame closer to the flax color.) The existing wall color is Ben Moore Steel Blue 823. I did not want to try to match exactly, but find a stronger blue color to bring in pillows and a throw. Next, I gave her a few accent pillows to choose from:

pillow1

source

pillow2

source

pillow3

source

Which one she chooses will give us a color direction for the pillows and throw. Against the flax headboard, I suggested a layer of three white euro shams, then two king shams ( in a darker blue) and then accent pillows. Normally for a king bed, I suggest a layer of two standard shams over the king shams, but she did not want so many pillows. A boudoir pillow would be nice, but that would have to be custom made.

bed2

source

Here is the design board so far until she chooses which accent pillow to use:

dianebed

Which pillow is your favorite? I would have a hard time choosing! All three would work beautifully in her room and will tie the new headboard in with the rest of the room. I will share the completed design board when we are finished!

If you need help decorating your home, contact me today.

Share on Facebook

Posted in ben moore, color, Dear Kelly, Design Boards, Interior Decorating | 1 Response »
Tags: bedroom, ben moore, blue, BM Steel Blue, decorating, Decorating ideas, euro shams, king shams, making a king bed, update

How Important is LRV When Choosing A Paint Color?

Thursday, March 21st, 2013

source

Recently a reader wrote and asked if I would explain what the LRV number was on the paint strip samples and wondered how to use that number when selecting a paint color.

The definition of Light Reflectance Value (LRV) is the total quantity of visible and useable light reflected by a surface in all directions and at all wavelengths when illuminated by a light source.(source) What does that mean?? Simply, it means the LRV number is to be used as a guideline for predicting how light or dark a color will look and feel once up on the walls.

source

LRV is a measurement that tells you how much light a color reflects, and also how much it absorbs. LRV runs on a scale from 0% to 100%. Zero assumed to be an absolute black and 100% being an assumed perfectly reflective white.

source

LRV is frequently included either on the back of the paint chips or is included in the color index in the back of the fan deck as Benjamin Moore does:

Keeping in mind that LRV runs on a scale of 0% to 100%, 50% would be a mid-value paint color. Fifty percent LRV is a commonly used guideline for residential interior wall colors. Below the mid-point of 50%, and you know the color will tend to be darker absorbing more light than it will reflect back into the room:

source

Colors with LRV higher than 50% will be lighter and will reflect more light back into the room than is absorbed.

source

Looking at the fan deck, you would think that the colors on the top have a higher LRV than the darkest color on the strip. That is correct:

The LRV numbers for this Benjamin Moore strip, from top to bottom, is 80.2, 67.6, 51.2, 32.3, 16.6, 12.0 9.6. The top color Candy Stripe, has a high number, closer to 100, so it will be lighter on the walls and will be more reflective. The bottom color on the strip is Candy Cane Red with a LRV number of 9.6. Meaning, it will be a dark color on the wall, with minimum light reflection. Here is a great example:

source

The colors from top to bottom are Benjamin Moore 2087-70 Elephant Pink, 2079-60 Pink Cherub, 2079-40 Springtime Bloom, 2079-30 Peony and 2079-10 Candy Cane Red. Beautifully demonstrated high to low LRV.

(Springtime Bloom) source

LRV is also used by lighting designers to calculate the number and type of light fixtures needed to give a certain amount of light for interior spaces. They use this LRV number as data to help figure out how many lights and types of lighting that will be needed in the room. The lower the LRV paint number, the more lights that will be needed in the space.

Well I hope I have helped explain what LRV stands for and how it can be useful when choosing a paint color. Another good tip to remember is to be sure that the LRV values are close in number when painting adjacent rooms so there will be good color flow.