Color obsessions are an occupational hazard when you’re in the business of color. I’d hoped the annual ritual of bedazzling the house with yards and yards of meticulously twisted red velvet bows would assuage my longing for red; Color Stories Flamenco CSP-1195, to be exact. And while I took some measure of the gifts I hadn’t wrapped and the tree, which lacked a single holiday bauble, in the end, all I could whisper in response to my husbands’ astonishment at my impromptu Flamenco holiday painting extravaganza was; “The color wouldn’t leave me alone.”
This diminutive media room, one of two rooms I’ve left unpainted during my enduring renovation, is a small, dark, and sort of kooky transitional space. Once a chicken coop, the room now links the main house, a mudroom, the barn, a loft space, the laundry room, and my home office. Best described as little more than a big hall, it’s my leftover room, home to a gigantic television, unassigned odds and ends and leftover furniture. Hopelessly overpowered by the television that seems (only to me) better suited for viewing from the front seat of a car, it’s fair to say I myself don’t spend too much time in there. Do you have a similar dark, out of the way, not entirely well-thought-out room in your house?
photographs by Mark Samu
top: before, bottom: during
I think this room demonstrates how small, out of the way and poorly lit transitional spaces, can be brought to life when painted an evocative color. Tucked into the northern shadow of the main house, the single window in this room is of little benefit during the daytime. Brightening up a dark place with red? Well, I’ve made the room feel brighter than it will ever be, because the red, reflects the necessary ambient lighting better than any other color choice ever could, day or night. For more room brightening effect, we need contrast. In the company of red, the simplest white accessories or wishy-washy worn neutrals like my old chairs, appear crisp and clean and add another layer of . . . bright!
The chameleon quality of full spectrum color, unique to the Color Stories formulations, causes Flamenco to have its shimmery depth of color. Paint colors created from a varied combination of premium quality tints, makes for a result which looks in the end, more like a painted and glazed wall surface; luminous, dimensional, and moody. We’ll need to chat some more about the distinct characteristics of full spectrum color, and we will, in the months ahead. Time for you to get your 2012 color party started! Here’s a link to the entire Color Stories collection, and I’m anxious to hear about your favorites!
Stay colorful,
lu
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Love the red color! Not sure I’d have the guts to try it out, especially on such a large wall. You did a beautiful job with it! I also adore the picture of the red barn, and the chairs.
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