I thought about what I was going to say, put together some great boards and worked with Cathy the fabric guru at Ainsworth and Noah to find fabrics that would capture the audience’s imagination but what unexpectedly inspired the design mavens that attended my talk was the color of the sweater set I was wearing.

Sure, its is a great color for me and I love blue-greens but who would have thought it would have evoked so many comments?  One of my friends from House Beautiful even asked me if I knew what paint color would be that blue since during my presentation he decided it was the perfect color for his bedroom.

Funny but I have been lusting after a room in deep blue too ever since I saw Windsor Smith’s kitchen on the cover of the September House Beautiful (okay, I confess I’ve been carrying the awesome special color issue that included my ‘What the Color Says’ around with me ever since it arrived) and I have thought about painting a room this color every time I put on the sweater set but I hadn’t gone as far as to see if the color existed in any of my favorite paint brands.

Since I’m not the only one loving this color I decided once I got home I would find out.  Now I was on a mission to see if it was a readily available color or one that was going to have to be custom blended.  I was speaking at Calico Corners in the evening so on the way I stopped at Vienna Paint, sweater in hand, to see if Benjamin Moore had a color that matched.

I pulled many color swatches but none of them matched the quality of the color exactly.    The closest was 2059-10 Marine Blue but it was a tad dark and lacked the hint of green the sweater has.  While all of the other paint color swatches were close they seemed either too dull, too green, too blue…you get the idea.

Actually the closest match I found in for Benjamin Moore was the color they used on their brochure of historical colors and although it looks close to the paint swatch in the picture it really wasn’t that close.  The brochure was a much better match but unfortunately, they couldn’t ‘read’ the brochure with the equipment they use to match colors.  They couldn’t ‘read’ the sweater either since it doesn’t work with fabric either but offered to mix it by eye.

The next day I was running into Lowes to pick something up and even though I didn’t have the sweater with me I decided to swing by the paint department and see if any of their colors looked like a match.  I immediately honed in on color 4011-5 Newport Gray (not a color I think anyone would describe as gray but that’s the name) and thought it looked like it might be right.  I grabbed a swatch and as soon as I saw it against the sweater (ding, ding, ding) I had a winner!  It was a great match.  Not too green, not too dull and not too dark.  Perfect!

It is so good that I could see the Valspar ad with my sweater color being ‘poured’ into the can of paint.

And as the ad says “Now the colors of life can last a lifetime” and this is one shade of blue that I think is worth keeping around that long.  What do you think?

]]> http://www.sensationalcolor.com/colorforyourhome/the-perfect-blue-at-house-beautiful-color-institute/feed/ 7 http://www.sensationalcolor.com/colorforyourhome/join-me-at-house-beautiful-color-institute/ http://www.sensationalcolor.com/colorforyourhome/join-me-at-house-beautiful-color-institute/#comments Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:02:28 +0000 Kate Smith http://www.sensationalcolor.com/colorforyourhome/?p=1005 I had such fun speaking at the House Beautiful events around the country last year and a happy to let you know that I’ll be joining them again this year.

The first event is in Florida! House Beautiful will bring the topic of color to life. The Color Institute will feature presentations, informative seminars and exclusive showroom events hosted by House Beautiful experts and top designers.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009.
Design Center of the Americas
1855 Griffin Rd., Dania Beach, FL.
Time: 9:00am — 1:00pm
Complimentary admission. RSVP required. HouseBeautifulRSVP@Hearst.com

Presenting sponsor:
Benjamin Moore® Paints.

Sponsors: Duralee®, Pierre Deux® and Design Center of the Americas

I’d love to see you at this event or future Color Institute events in Atlanta and Houston.

Stephen Drucker, editor in chief of House Beautiful magazine, was joined by top design professionals and I was honored to have been included in such a wonderful event.

With his unending wit and charm Drucker opened the event. “Paint is like sex,” he said, speaking to an overflow crowd. “There is an endless fascination with the subject.”

And fascination there was as readers had an opportunity to mix and mingle and talk color. It was a day of ideas and inspiration for all who were there.

Next stop Chicago. Please join me at the House Beautiful Color Institute on May 7th.

I hope to see you there! More information is availble at The Merchandise Mart Design Center.

Each event takes place in one of the many incredible designer showrooms. I will be in the J. Lambeth showroom and will be using their beautiful fabrics and accessories to illustrate my talk.

House Beautiful has an incredible line up and I’m thrilled to be part of this event. I hope to see you there! More information is availble at HouseBeautiful.com