Palettes of the pros

Written by Julie Hoylen on February 5, 2009 · 7 Comments

A few days ago over on her fabulous blog ColourMeHappy , designer, teacher, consultant and all around color enthusiast Maria Killam wrote a great post titled “What everyone should know about Beige”.

At the end of her ‘reading undertones lesson’ she pointed to a room designed by NYC’s own wonder designer Jamie Drake, funny enough as an example of how a beige couch with pink undertones does not look so pretty in a room painted clear, bright yellow. Maria included a link out to his homepage. Now I have seen plenty of rooms designed by Jamie Drake both in person and in print, but I realized I had never visited his website… so of course I clicked over for a quick gander….

Well it did not disappoint…the palette and the punchy design looks very similar to a ‘Jamie Drake’ decor…obviously he had a hand in picking the colors on the site…and knowing from personal experience how much work and thought goes into that ( just ask Kate how many color combos we looked at for Sensational Color! ) …it got me thinking…

What palettes do other designers use to represent themselves via online… do they properly represent their unique styles and if you had the choice of picking to work with just one… would the colors on their websites affect your choice…?

Take a look …. some famous- some simply my favorites:

Okay now here’s a little quiz… can you match this palette to a designer that has been in the news lately for overseeing the redesign of a very famous house? Very pretty- no wonder he got the job!!!!

Okay, no one tried to guess so I will reveal…it’s non other than Michael S. Smith, hand picked by the Obama’s to oversee their living quarters in the White House… ( hum, perhaps the palette on his website won them over?)

Do you have a favorite here or is their a designer I missed that you think has a beautiful color scheme on their site… let me know and I’ll build a palette for it and share with all of my readers!

Julie Hoylen

Thanks for stopping by Marc...( checked out your site and mag- fabulous!) I agree with the idea of updating a classic piece with a modern touch to make it all your own..it's the little touches like these that make your home distinctly your own- and of course I'm a big fan of using color to do so.

I can't pick a favorite palette, either... there are little bits and touches that I find throughout inspiring. I love the balance of the photos sizes, images and colors on Nate Berkus's site, I adore the touch of purple in the lettering on Nina Campbell's, I admire Amy Lau's choice of Orange as her logo color, the little 'touch' of red from Michael Mckinnon's pocket square... and oh just too many other things to mention....

I love looking at how people use color to convey who they are....and I'm glad so many of you left comments- I really appreciate it!

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Marc Atiyolil

Great colour palettes!! I was going to submit a favourite palette but I seem to think they are all great and could all be integrated in one room or another. Some colours lend better to certain styles and designs, although I am a big fan of mix matching styles and creating new original ones. For example, taking a traditional piece of furniture and modifying the look by adding a modern touch to create a one of a kind piece.

Marc Atiyolil
Style & Design Editor
Canadian Home Trends Magazine
www.canadianhometrends.ca

Thanks everyone for stopping by... I love creating palettes and I'm glad you all enjoy looking at them!

moggit girls

Oh my!
What a fab post to pour over - love the color combos!

J&J

Things That Inspire

I am so happy that I found 'the color blogs' - I think this stuff is endlessly fascinating! Great post.

I guessed wrong on the sofa in Maria's post - I thought it was yellow beige. I am just an amateur when it comes to this stuff! I honestly had no idea what a complex world of color we all live in, despite the fact that I have dabbled quite a bit in art and have a full understanding of how incredibly difficult it is to mix beautiful, natural looking colors. To me, the most obvious sign of an amateur painter is the garish look of the colors they mix (that, and not understanding how important it is to use many different values in a painting).

Cheers to that Maria... it's fun when we inspire each other!!

Maria Killam

Thank you so much for the mention! I'm so thrilled and I love how you've picked up the colour palettes for each designers site!! I would love to know how you did that! I love my colour blogging community - it's so small, we need to stick together :)
Thanks again!

Palettes of the pros

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