DAN'S PAPERS, March 13, 2009 Page 44 www.danshamptons.com
Color Me Happy ...
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selection error homeowners make. Sisal and straw yellows are safe choices for interior walls. People who love orange are warm, flamboyant and fun loving people. Juicy, vivid, primary orange stimulates appetite and activity, making it a popular color choice in fast food restaurants. Orange is uplifting and has an antidepressant effect. Brown based oranges, such as terracotta and deep pumpkin are very soothing. Red stimulates your metabolism and respiration due to its primitive association with blood. It is a passionate color and people who love red tend to be impulsive. Red grabs your attention, which is why it is used for stop signs and fire engines. Restaurants use red as it stimulates your appetite and can cause
you to spend more money. Red is a powerful color and when used judiciously is very effective. Purple, considered a royal color, is frequently associated with mysticism and spirituality. It is calming to the nerves, bolsters creativity and is purported to quell hunger. Brown is a rich and stable color and according to The Color Association is generally popular with wealthy individuals; think mink, cognac, chocolate and caviar. It is also associated with the earth and is a good reliable and orderly color. White is technically not a color and is composed of all colors in the visible spectrum of light. It projects purity, cleanliness, and neutrality. It is a color of rebirth and fresh starts. It is a favored color for walls
in our area were it works well as a blank canvas for art collections. According to Color Trend (the folks who predict the latest trends in color) white is the new “power color” for 2009. Peach and pink are tender colors that can induce feelings of fantasy and whimsy. Their sweet association with cotton candy and bubble gum make them popular choices for young girls’ rooms. As we mature, the lenses of our eyes begin to take on a yellow cast, making deep peach and coral more agreeable colors. Lively peach is very flattering to more mature skin tones. Grey is timeless, practical, solid and conservative (think of a classic grey suit). It can be both flat and boring or a soothing neutral depending on what colors you pair it and contrast it with. Grey is trending hot as a neutral for 2009. Black, which is technically the absence of color, is authoritative and powerful; it is associated with night and death. Because black can evoke strong emotions, too much can be overwhelming. Most colors become stronger when paired with black, so use it as a wonderful accent color. Color surrounds us and feeds and nourishes our senses. We are profoundly affected by it; mind, body and spirit. Color may be the most powerful and cost effective design tool available. Have fun experimenting with color; there are no right or wrong choices if it makes you happy. Allegra Dioguardi is the owner of Styled and Sold, LLC, and the author of “Designing to Sell and Designing to Dwell.” Questions? Contact her at styledandsold@optimum.net.
Earthly
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making this a self contained system with no run off. Not only is it attractive but also the surrounding exterior area benefits from the temperature lowering effect of the greenery. There is less glass and concrete coverage to reflect backlight and heat and so there is both a psychological and physical cooling effect. Although this system can certainly be used inside in atriums, stairwells or the conservatory, interior walls cannot always tolerate the increased weight load and surrounding increase in humidity, even with a contained system. Other ways to decorate a window, wall, French door or even store display windows were shown at the Philadelphia flower show this year. Test tubes with attached magnets can be used to decorate both sides of a window. If placed opposite each other on either side of a sheet of glass they will stay in place and can be organized in any number of arrangements to create an interior/exterior display. Decorative foliage and flowers can be placed in the test tubes. Watering would be a daily affair but the effect is dramatic. Test tubes can be wrapped in string and hung from a curtain rod. Using colored water that complements or contrasts with the wallpaper, flowers or furniture can create a stained glass like look during the day. Or the tubes could be pinned to existing curtains. If a wooden lattice covers a wall the test tubes or even larger hanging glass vases can be held in place with ribbons and wire. These are all temporary displays, but they allow a new venue for imagination to recreate a hanging garden inside and the use of flowers and foliage become liberated from the traditional vase arrangement. April Gonzalez, garden designer, has worked on the East End for more than 20 years. ahginc@optonline.net