I Prayed For Gray: Part 2

Catch up with I Prayed For Gray: Part 1 -Here

So it’s Wednesday night and I have just discovered the most beauti-mus kitchen within the Grange Showroom (NYDC 200 Lex. Suite 201).  Traditional Home magazine is hosting the event, a bevy of talented designers have created vignettes throughout the showroom depicting ‘Chic Chateau Family Style’ and the little voice inside my head is starting to speak with a slight French accent.

I have just had a quick catch up with Sabine who let me in on the fact that Eddie Ross was not only ‘in the house’ but ‘in the kitchen’.  Having met Eddie months back I couldn’t wait to say ‘Hi!’ and find out if and when he would be hosting another flea marketing day in NYC (since my pal Mary and I are still obsessed with shopping alongside him). Plus I know wherever Eddie is, yummy treats and great style is sure to follow.

Eddie’s kitchen vignette did not disappoint. Packed to the rim with pots, pans, herbs, oils and everything you could ever desire in the warmth and welcoming kitchen of your own private chateau.

I am so loving the gray walls and gray back splash together.  Don’t you think it’s so unexpected, but works so beautifully together!  The accents of Black and White with the Coppers, the wood tones, the dark appliances and the Creaminess of the cabinetry and stove really help to warm up the Gray. Think how different all stainless steel appliances or pure White cabinets would have looked.

Sherwin Williams

In this case the color Gray feels serene, unfussy and contemplative. And while yes this room would make a lovely backdrop for a family and friends gathering, I selfishly have to admit my favorite time to be in my own kitchen is when I’m all alone.  Sometimes the only time I get to think straight during the day is over the breakfast dishes or prepping for dinner. This is a palette I can see myself happily surround in as I fiddled about with a warm cup of coffee or even better-a big, full glass of wine.

Okay, fast forward back to Sunday afternoon and now for the explanation behind the gratuitous picture of Jude Law at the beginning of Part 1.

As a special surprise fellow LIFC maven April treated me and Kimberlin with tickets to see the Broadway production of Hamlet (inspiration-30% to fulfill our cultural desires/ 70% to be able to say we were all in the same room as Jude Law).  None the less, my lazy rainy Sunday morning had left me well rested and ready to experience an afternoon with Shakespeare and my favorite girls!

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Unknowingly the color Gray would show up yet again to color my mood.  This time around in the form of a vast, cumbersome set and a little updated styling.

Designer Christopher Oram, who originally created the sets and costumes for the company’s London run, understands a thing or two about the psychology of color.  With only a jolt of bright red carpet in the Great Hall, a brilliant sheer white curtain ( to give the illusion that we are spying in on the scene where Hamlet confronts his mother) and spots of pure, bright white lighting and fluffy white snow that cast a blue glow- the entire staging was pretty much a monochromatic homage to Gray.

Even our poor troubled hero and his fellow cast of doomed character’s are clothed only in Grays, with bits of black, purple and white thrown in for dramatic measure. The drabness of the stage and costumes helping to set a chilling mood as we watch our sweet prince embark into madness and pain.

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Now I am by no means a theater critic or a Shakespearean expert, but I truly enjoyed Jude’s performance. His compelling rendering of the Prince of Danes was both physical ( who knew he was so gestural?) and emotionally impressive.

By the Second Act the starkness of the Gray set and the sadness of the characters was beginning to get to me.. I wrapped my coat around me a bit tighter as I was even beginning to feel slightly chilled.

The color Gray was most certainly used to ‘unsettle’ in this case. I suppose too much of a good thing- can truly be too much!

After the curtain fell, we spilled out into the streets of Manhattan abuzz with fellow theater goers and began our search  for the closest cold beer and pizza.  Moments later high above the Gray city setting, heavy dark clouds moved in and the sky opened down upon us once more.  It was at that moment that I realized how much the color Gray had been coloring my own life throughout the last 7 days.

Too much of a good thing…and as I made my way through through a soggy Time’s Square in my favorite high heels- I suddenly began to pray for a new color- Yellow ( in the form of an empty cab, that is!)

Check out what other bloggers are hooked on today over at Hooked On House’s and The Inspired Room’s Friday blog carnivals