I love the first two opening pages (shown below) and the ideas expressed.  Off to a good start.

I pulled up my birthdate first.  Although I’ve never really been attracted to the color ‘Blush’ the write up about personality traits seemed to fit.  Here’s a couple of highlights:

YOU love to learn and explore new things especially if there is an artistic or organic slant to the subject. [Yep, that's true]

Although you get along well with others you have a strong independent streak.  You want a partner with whom you can share your life, but one who doesn’t require all of your energy. [True again & I don't think I could have said it any better]

Now I know my sister Julie pretty well so I decided to see if it seemed to fit her personality traits.

There is something about your physical presence that is commanding yet likable. [Commanding wouldn't be a word I would have used but Julie does have a presence and is easily likable so I'd say this rings true.]

You have an artistic ability and a great sense of style. [No question here.  Julie is very artistic, creative and has an innate sense of style.]

So far so good but but I wanted to look up at least one more so I looked at Kiki’s birthdate.

Many people born on this day have a propensity for writing. [True, and I'm so happy about it since we regularly co-write articles, classes, and now books]

Your mind is very active so it is important for you to communicate both creatively and physically.  Sports, dance or the arts are all activities that can bring joy and help you relax. [I'd say this is very true.  After all Kiki is very creative and did dance with the Minnesota Ballet/Stage Door Performing Arts for 15 years!]

Okay, three for three.  I’m not sure if it is just a lucky coincidence or that there really is something more to Michele Bernhardt’s Colorstrology but it sure was fun.

Why not find your Colorstrology color and then leave a comment and let me know if what your birthdate say about you is on target.

There is also a second preview that includes lots of fun information including the full chart for the color numerology from Ellen Kennon that I mentioned yesterday.  See both previews at HouseBeautiful.com

Continuing with the color preview I want to mention some fun color finds that the September issue of House Beautiful highlights.

Chromotherapy Put on your rose colored sunglasses…or yellow…or blue to rev you up or calm you down.  At $14 a pair you can afford to alter your mood.  See a rainbow of choices on page

Mood Rings Slip on a mood ring.  Yep, they are back and circle your with their special powers.  Can these rings really detect your mood?  Slip one on and then turn to page 94 to see what the color reveals.

iPhone Apps I love my iPhone and it seems like there are more and more color apps being added all of the time.  House Beautiful mentions four of the best including ColorSnap from Sherwin-Williams on page 95.

Websites Worth a Visit Included in the list is our own Sensational Color (yes, we are thrilled!) along with four other color sites on page 96

To see more color tools, tips, and ideas, pick up the September issue of House Beautiful, on newsstands now!

Visit HouseBeautiful.com

Follow @house_beautiful on Twitter

Color Snap from Sherwin-Williams

Sunglasses from momentum98

]]> http://www.sensationalcolor.com/liveinfullcolor/hooray-for-house-beautiful/feed/ 6 http://www.sensationalcolor.com/liveinfullcolor/the-best-in-color-august-week-1-the-im-in-house-beautiful-edition/ http://www.sensationalcolor.com/liveinfullcolor/the-best-in-color-august-week-1-the-im-in-house-beautiful-edition/#comments Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:03:45 +0000 Kate Smith http://www.sensationalcolor.com/liveinfullcolor/?p=5066 This week we are giving a Sensational shout out to our favorite shelter magazine House Beautiful and their spectacular September 2009 Color Issue!

This is the very best color issue ever and you can only imagine how ecstatic I am to have been included.  Now don’t go telling Stephen Drucker but if he had been in the vicinity when I saw this issue I probably would have kissed him.  That is,  right after I stopped jumping up and down and took that big silly grin off my face.  It’s probably a good thing for both of us that he was in New York.

I admit I’m excited about being included in this issue.  Wouldn’t you be?

And yep I’ll own the fact that I can’t wait for you to read my “What Color Says” blurbs.  Look for them as you read the articles about five homes put together by super talented designers-Windsor Smith, Eric Cohler, Sarah Scaglione, Allison Paladrino and Rob Southern- and the five color personalities their designs embody: Balanced, Rooted, Relaxed, Positive and Dramatic.

The colors people choose to surround themselves with in their home speak to me and tell me things about their personality that they may never reveal to me themselves.  In fact some of these rooms said so much about their occupants that my biggest challenge was in trying to sum it up in just two sentences.  Luckily Julie and I put our heads together and in the end came up with a couple of sentences that captured the color personality of each room.

Look for the white boxes labeled “What the Color Says” on pages 75, 79, 81, 87, 89, 98, 107, 111, 117, 119, and 121.

Special Pullout Color Chart On one side Michelle Bernhardt (author of Colorstrology) tells how to balance a home with color to create order, prosperity, calm, happiness and eight others.  Turn it over and see Glidden’s Top 10 Share the Harvest Colors. Be sure not to miss this. It is inside the front cover.  Isn’t that neat?

Ask a Numerologist I always enjoy talking with Ellen Kennon because we share both a love of color and an interest in its spiritual connections.  In this issue Ellen reveals how your name has a color energy that is linked to your color personality.  Go to page 94 for a chart that shows what numbers are associated with the letters in your name.  Once you have your number and color read Ellen’s insights into what they say about your color personality.

Also don’t miss Ellen’s quote in the Ask a Color Consultant section on page 97.  Three of the Best (Ellen along with Donald Kauffman and Scott Flax) tell you how to arrive at inspired color choices.

Find your Colortime For two decades my friend and favorite color guru Leatrice Eiseman has shown us how to use the Colortime system to find our perfect wardrobe colors and now she is expanding that thinking into finding colors for our homes.  Why not?  Many color consultants look into a person’s closet for clues as to what colors they might enjoy in their homes.  To find out whether you’re a Sunrise, Sunset or somewhere in between take the quiz on page 96.

Feng Shu The art of Feng Shui centers on balancing energy and since color is light and energy color is an important aspect of this ancient practice.  On page 97 there is a diagram that shows the recommended placement of colors within a home or a room to encourage health, wealth, happiness and more according to Feng Shui.

The Last Word We all love color quizzes and expert advice and this issues is overflowing with insights and fun ways to discover ‘your colors’.  Just before you reach the back cover (on page 152) you’ll find  20 color questions to get you thinking about which colors speak to you.   I love that this is how the issue comes to a colorful close, because after all when it comes to your Color Personality- you always have the last word!

This is one issue not to miss and there is so more to talk about but that’s enough for now.  Stay tuned all week as Julie and I share more Best in House Beautiful Color!

Visit House Beautiful online at HouseBeautiful.com

Discover more about the designers and companies mentioned above:

Windsor Smith

Eric Cohler

Ellen Kennon

Leatrice Eiseman

Michelle Bernhardt

Glidden Paint

Like the Barefoot Contessa I’m a rather relaxed hostess and love to focus on my guest rather than the details. I also like to make it look easy but I confess that I can obsess over every detail of the food, tabletop and space beforehand so that I don’t have to think too much about each element once my friends arrive.

I would bet Ina thought about every detail and maybe even obsessed a bit but boy does she make it look easy! This is definitely a kitchen I could linger in for hours. Here are a few of my favorite details from Ina’s kitchen.

All images were captured by the sensational color maven April Clark who joined me at the event as the our official photographer. Thanks April!

Ina was there and was absolutely gracious as she chatted with the many guest and yes she is just as delightful in person as she is on television. 

Of course no party is complete without fabulous guest and here are some of the many people that joined me at the House Beautiful debut of the Kitchen of the Year. I bet you’ll recognize many of these familiar faces.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Disney’s World of Color Debuts.  Over the year Disney has done some remarkable things with color but they are touting their World of Color, scheduled to open in 2010 as a display of color like no other.  The 18-minute arrangement of music, dancing fountains, lighting effects and movie projections according the LATimes, “…blends the nighttime spectacle of Disneyland’s Fantasmic and the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas…”  

The new concept art was unveiled at the Blue Sky Cellar preview center for the World of Color and will be the first major addition of a $1.1-billion makeover planned for Disney’s California Adventure through 2012.  

Rainbow Bright Pets.  China is currently “pet-crazed”  and owners are lavishing their furry friends in everything from jeweled collars to manicured nails.  There also seems to be a surge in creative grooming and I just had to share a pic of this poodle that had been turned into a technicolor character.

Hydrangeas.  This is the time of year when my favorite flowering shrub steals the show in the garden. I simply love the big pompom blossoms and the variety of the hues on the same plant.   First introduced to England in 1736, the hydrangea is a beautiful plant that is so easy to care for and produces spectacular clusters of flowers in a variety of blue, pink, violet and white.

Thanks to a tweet from @tinydecor I learned that there is some very cool software that allows you to search the fabrics on etsy.com by color.

Check out morecloth.com for more details.  I’ve already had fun playing around with this neat tool.  I hope you enjoy it!

Against the gray green painted brick this palette of pinks, yellows, peaches and oranges just glowed in the early morning light.

These colors are a naturally harmonious, analogous palette.

The colors ranged from a pale flesh that was as soft as a newborns bottom to a vibrant coral that could easily be paired with a bold blue and lots of yellows, oranges and pinks in between.

Ten of the many hues that I found in these roses all growing on the same bush.

Even though it was barely 7am when I was snapping these pictures the owner happened to walk out the front door.  I complimented him on the spectacular colors and ask him if he could tell me what type of roses they were exactly.

He smiled and simply said, “I agree they are lovely but have no idea what they are.  My wife is the one that knows about plants and deserves all of the credit for these roses that are almost as beautiful as she is.”

Enough said.  I didn’t need to know any more.

There are so many great color schemes used in the rooms of Colonial Williamsburg but this bed chamber in the Governor’s Palace is among my favorites. It was a real treat to have Edward Chappell, Director of Architectural and Archaeological Research share that the once green walls had been changed to a soft neutral.

The bed is trimmed with an olive green and the bamboo chairs are painted a very deep grassy green with gold accents.  Changing the color changed the look of the room and mood of the room.  It also put the focus on the bed draped so beautifully in the eggplant toile.

You can see a picture of the room painted green in the book Williamsburg Decorating with Style.

The U-shaped medallion bed carpet incorporates the eggplant and green along with three brighter colors that add punch to the palette.

The eggplant, olive and gold combination has always been one of my go to schemes but I appreciate the addition of the “China Closet Red” and “Tucker Cupboard Orange”*

The wooden header on the canopy had the same toile applied (glued?) to it so that it showed off the profile of the woodwork and felt solid yet married perfectly to the soft scalloped valance.  I think there is a DIY project in that idea somewhere although on a much smaller scale…like a picture frame or little box…but just loved the idea.

The color palette in this room may not be one that comes to mind immediately when you think of a traditional scheme or Williamsburg colors but as you can see these colors are perfectly at home in this historic bed chamber.

Coincidentally for the House Beautiful Color Institute presentation I did recently I chose a purple and green scheme as a color palettes that would give traditional furnishings an up-to-date look.  Purple and green both are on trend right now but this combination has its roots in history so is perfect for a traditional home.

This is my working photo of Duralee and Highland Court fabrics I had pulled for the House Beautiful Color Institute presentation.

One of the reasons that we love the historic colors of Williamsburg is that they have a feeling of stability and permanence because they connect us to history.  These colors have withstood the test of time.  They give us the sense that they have been appreciated for a long time, will continue to be loved for years to come and can give any home the feeling of timeless style.

Resources:

Learn more about Colonial Williamsburg

See the Williamsburg paint color palette from Pratt & Lambert

Visit Williamsburg Marketplace online

See these and other Duralee and Highland Court fabrics

Learn more about the House Beautiful Color Institute

I was speaking to Donna Shroeder at the Color Marketing Group conference in Seattle last month and she invited me to attend an event called “Historic colors pack a modern punch” that Pratt & Lambert was holding in Williamsburg and since I had planned on being in the area that day while my son was in Richmond at the state convention I jumped at the chance to attend.

Upon arrival I was greeted with true southern hospitality by Gail Burger and her associates from The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and I knew almost immediately that I was going to be glad I had been invited.

Colorful Gerber daisies, paint cans, brushes and fan guides decorated each table.

Gail Burger opened the program and with more than 25 years experience in the development and management of the Williamsburg lines of home furnishings Gail was a wealth of knowledge on historic color and style.

Next Cheryl Grieggs, Interior Designer responsible for the Colonial Williamsburg Hotel Properties talked to us about the art of creating interiors for five distinctly different guest environments so that each has historical appeal, is resilient enough for the hospitality environment and is aesthetically pleasing.

Cheryl Grieggs during the insider’s tour of the historic properties

Cheryl said that she most often uses the pieces right out of the product line that Gail oversees.  It seems Colonial Williamsburg might have been ahead of their time when it came to using a hotel room to showcase products that guest could purchase for their own homes.

We each received a copy of Williamsburg Decorating with Style and the book included examples of what both Gail and Cheryl had shown us. I have already enjoyed reading parts of this book and if you want your own copy you can find it here.  Go directly to page 28 to find a few color tidbits that might surprise you.

Next up was Peggy Van Allen, Color Marketing and Design Lead for Pratt & Lambert Paint.  Peggy did a nice job of connecting the historic paint colors to today’s home interiors.  Peggy gave us the evolution of these colors at-a-glance….

• 1699-1790 Williamsburg was the political, cultural, and educational center of what was then the largest, most populous, and most influential of the American colonies.
• 1730 Ready made paint becomes available.
• 1928 Philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr began a modest project to preserve a few of the more important buildings. Eventually, the work progressed and expanded to include a major portion of the colonial town, encompassing approximately 85 percent of the 18th-century capital’s original area.
• 1934 Colonial Williamsburg establishes their own architecture department.
• 1950-60 First paint analysis made possible by new technology in solvents is undertaken.
• 1965 Martin Senour begins manufacturing Williamsburg paint colors
• 1987 Advances in technology make modern scientific paint analysis possible.
• 2004 Pratt & Lambert adds the Williamsburg colors to their line and expands the color offering to 184 hues.
• Today:  Advance in technology have moved paint analysis to a new level and paint historians continue to discover color information…some of which has changed what we originally thought was true about the colors of the day.

My takeaways from Peggy’s presentation:

1.) The colors in the Pratt & Lambert Williamsburg palette have been formulated based on the technical analysis of actual paint scrapings and historic documentation.

2.) These tried and true colors work beautifully today in any style home from traditional to contemporary.

We were able to look at the colors in the fanguides, which I greatly appreciated since it is so difficult to show color accurately on screen.

During lunch we were treated to a presentation by Krissa Rossbund, Senior Design and Style Editor of Traditional Home magazine.

Krissa Rossbund, Senior Design and Style Editor, Traditional Home magazine

Krissa showed how trend meets tradition and gave us a sneak peak at some of the homes we’ll be seeing in the next few months featured in the magazine.

We then took an “insider’s tour” led by Edward Chappell, Director of Architectural and Archaeological Research.

Ed Chappell shares how new insights into the past have changed what have traditionally been though of as the colors and styles in Williamsburg.

Ed shared so many great details about the process of discovering the history of colors that it will take a couple of blog post to share it all.

Two things however that Ed said that I’m sure you’ll hear me repeating–

1. The phrase “colors with a technical pedigree”

A technical pedigree as Ed described are historic color that have been confirmed through scientific processes using the most advanced technology available to them today.

Advances in technology have made it possible for Ed and others in Williamsburg to discover that some of the buildings colors were different than originally thought.  Some of these have been repainted to reflect what is now know.  Of course making changes, especially to these highly visible and much loved buildings, sometimes rouses public comment (aka hate mail).

2. Praise for schlocky renovation

Schlocky renovation got a thumbs up from Ed.  Not for the Colonial Williamsburg initiated renovation projects mind you but for all of the renovations that were done by a building’s previous owners.  Those of us that demand careful and thorough renovation are the bane of Ed’s profession because we seem to want to remove all the clues that give insight into a building’s past.  In fact he said he is sure that there is a special level in Hell just for those of us that removed every last shred of wallpaper and stripped off all of the old layers of paint.  Oops!

I thought I was doing a good thing but I hear you, Ed and I promise in the future to leave all seventeen layers of paint and wallpaper intact somewhere if only behind the refrigerator or under the molding.

Go to Historic colors pack a modern punch: Part 2

Resources:

Learn more about Colonial Williamsburg

See the Williamsburg paint color palette from Pratt & Lambert

Visit Williamsburg Marketplace online