I’ve been frying my brain all weekend working on grant applications for my favorite non-profit organization, so I can barely string two words together right now. But it hasn’t escaped my notice that Spring has been springing energetically outside my window, with pairs of birds and squirrels and blossoms everywhere. Seems as good an excuse as any to share some colorful kitchens – orange is a color you don’t often see done nicely in a kitchen, but I have hunted high and low for a few examples today . First, just look at the blue and orange accents in this lovely Massachusetts kitchen photographed by James Salomon – aren’t they perfect against the soft neutrals and creamy whites?
Blue and orange complement each other - photo James Salomon
A vibrant orange accent wall defines this kitchen on a small island off Mauritius in the Indian Ocean – very tropical:
Bold color for a tropical kitchen
This looks like a very red red-orange to me, in a busy Scandinavian kitchen photographed by Pia Ulin. Close enough! I think those are post-it notes decorating that light fixture, obviously carefully chosen to match the pink flowers on the table – or the other way around?
Scandinavian style with bright accents - photo Pia Ulin
This kitchen by Richard Farrell, via the NKBA design competiton, has a yummy rich burnt caramel tone on the walls – I think I can call that a shade of orange, don’t you?
Burnt caramel counts as orange for me today
And of course, there’s the lovely soft orange paneling this illustration of Carl Larsson’s simple Arts and Crafts kitchen – just toasty:
Orange paneling provides the backdrop - Carl Larsson
Orange can’t help being a happy color – this is just what I needed to get me into the right mood to face the week. I hope it works for you, too. Happy Monday!
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Monday of the last full week in January has been calculated (albeit dubiously and by suspect sources) to be the most depressing day of the year. While Mondays have a lot to answer for, it seems really unfair to blue to associate it so firmly with depression. Today, I’m helping blue fight black. I challenge you to find anything depressing about these traditional blue kitchens from around the world (click photos for links):
Villa kitchen in Apulia, Italy
English Arts and Crafts in Norfolk via Fresh Locations
A wall of blue and white in France
More of the same, on a smaller scale
Shades of blue
Blue Kitchen in Denmark by Det Mondaene Skur
A closer look
Danish Kitchen by Det Mondaene Skur
I really don’t know why we refer to depression as the blues – the browns or the maroons would be much more appropriate, don’t you think?
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Or at least I’m thinking about it. This is the room I’m working on
Deep Purple
I painted these walls several (too many) years ago, and believe it or not I was inspired by recurring dreams of rich purple and gold (which I suspect were a deep subconscious reaction to too many years of rental house off-whites). Not only did I choose a deep dark paint color, I also went for a velvety matte finish, just to make sure it would suck all the light from the room! The only time of year I actually like the result is now, in the middle of Winter. Partly because the sun is far enough south to sneak in under our overhanging eaves and light up the room, but mostly because there is an apple tree right up against the window, almost totally blocking the light all summer long.
I was amused to see House Beautiful recently touting Pratt & Lambert’s Grape Hyacinth as a hot color for 2010. And here, via Color for Your Home, CMG’s recommendation is Mardi Grape – I’m certainly not going in that direction again:
Tempting though it is to claim that I was just way ahead of the curve when I last painted, totally anticipating the trends for 2010, what this really proves to me is that these “hot color” predictions are pretty meaningless, unless you are going to repaint every year. I certainly would hesitate to do anything as permanent as kitchen cabinets in a hot, trendy color. For me, the one thing that reports like those from the Color Marketing Group do help predict is the colors that will be showing up in accessories and fabrics, perfect for injecting a little fashionable flavor without breaking the bank.
I can’t decide yet what the new colors will be – except maybe I’m going to look to that apple tree (Golden Delicious, no less) for inspiration. I haven’t had any dreams about the colors this time round – perhaps I just need to sleep on it?
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Are yours decked, ready to go? Perhaps not quite to this extent:
photo Chris Everard
I still have quite a bit of decking to do – I like to keep to the tradition of starting Christmas on December 24th, and not taking the decorations down until Twelfth Night. Yup, my Christmas lights are still twinkling on January 5th, even if they are surrounded by all those sad looking trees tossed out for recycling on New Year’s Day.
So while I rush around getting ready to do the decking, here are some inspiring images for you to relax and enjoy. Today, a rather grown-up and restrained Christmas – no tinsel, no gaudy red and green here. I guess there are no children insisting that Oscar the Grinch has to go on the tree, just because he always has! (all photos via)
photo Jo Tyler
photo Jo Tyler
photo Jo Tyler
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Did you get the news? Pantone have selected Turquoise as the top color for 2010. (via). It is supposed to transport us all, figuratively at least, to the tropical resort destinations we couldn’t afford to visit in 2009.
Pantone Fashion Color Report Spring 2010
Naturally, those of you on the cutting edge of taste will be redoing your kitchens in turquoise right away (leaving more space in those resorts for the rest of us). Here is a little collection of kitchens in turquoise to get you in the mood:
via ellmania.blogspot.com
Chapelhousebandb.com
via crapwelike.wordpress.com
via courtyardantiques.net
Betsey Johnson in her kitchen
Donna Griffith via Desire to Inspire
Well, what are you waiting for? Time to run out, sign up with your friendly neighborhood kitchen designer, and get started!
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Definitely not for minimalists, the use of color in this kitchen is absolutely fearless. You’d just have to be happy in this space, wouldn’t you?
Persiljas Hus
Since there’s enough color here for about 15 of the sophisticated, white, Scandinavian kitchens we so often see, I’m going to let this one stand on its own. (link)
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Painting the ceiling in a vibrant color is one way to transform the mood of a white kitchen, especially if you have a high ceiling and good lighting:
Red Ceiling in White Kitchen
The matching accents and chairs really make this work. (via) The same ceiling color in a soft neutral kitchen has a completely different effect (via):
via casanaute
What do you think – good idea or bad?
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Some amazing kitchen backsplashes
Light and mirrors in Brooklyn
Cook's chairs