Wednesday, September 7, 2011

color palette

For a while, I've been thinking of painting the barn is just pale shades of white and then adding color with textiles, furniture, lighting and art work;  there are so many windows and the views are so lovely, that I thought something very simple and calming would be best.


But then!  Oh, then I saw the home of Harriet Maxwell Macdonald and Andrew Corrie in the latest living etc, and fell in love with the palette they use -- soft grays, creams, some brown and black, a bit of white.  There's something to these colors that plays to the northern light we have up here, that echoes the light of the Dutch masters.  I love that.  And I think with all of our windows and the color I can add within the space -- greens and turquoises, reds and pinks -- that this might be the way to go.

Have a look and tell me what you think:

Photo by DITTE ISAGER

Was planning on a glossy white IKEA kitchen, but this is calling to me!  A lighter gray, perhaps, but still...
(Photo by DITTE ISAGER)


Photo by DITTE ISAGER


Photo by DITTE ISAGER
Photo by DITTE ISAGER

When I went online searching for electronic copies of the pics above, I found out that Macdonald and Corrie are the owners of the living room that appears on the cover of my new favorite decor book, Undecorate, by Christiane Lemieux.  In fact, this is the image that made me want to buy the book in the first place!

Photograph by MELANIE ACEVEDO

Any thoughts, design-y friends?

ps.  Photos are turning out a little more gray on here than in the magazine, so imagine a bit warmer, with more brown adding some depth...

7 comments:

  1. Love it! Those colors are fantastic. They'd look gorgeous and soothing in winter too. I especially love the kitchen image and that amazing lavender sofa.

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  2. I love the grey too, I think it gives a really good grounding for other colours and holds its own really well. Even a dark slate grey can be really beautiful in a room with good light. I think that with so much natural wood, it'll be beautifully tempered with greys and cream plus anything that you put in that's white, will be well set off.

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  3. There won't be any natural wood on the walls or ceiling (I have an aversion to knotty pine!), but the floors will all be wood -- I'm going to have to make a real effort to put more wood in the space in the form of furniture, because as it is now our dining table and chairs are stained almost black (Ikea!). In my dreams I buy a wishbone chair knockoff (I know, knockoffs are bad!) http://tinyurl.com/3nuwjr5 to start...

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  4. I dont the knock offs are bad, more 'homage' they're not pretending to be the real thing, and c'mon it's not like we can afford to have 10 matching $700 chairs... unless they're $70 each!
    Is the wood going to stay on the walls and ceiling and be painted or are you plastering over it? I think it'd be a shame to lose it all and just have wood flooring, the odd wood panel wall would be great and also hark back to the buildings history. Its such a beautiful space and I'm hugely jealous.... and of course we'll all be over in a shot!

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  5. It is kind of a shame to lose it all -- I'd love to keep something that is the way we found it, but the wood on the walls and ceiling was only added about three years ago, so isn't anything original to the barn. Am trying to figure out if there's a way I can stain one wall -- like the entry way -- a darker color, perhaps, or maybe a pale wash -- anything but that orange knotty pine!

    Keep coming with the suggestions, please!

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  6. I love those soft colors! Like a bird's nest lined with feathers. Gorgeous!

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  7. I love their apartment too. It's the only magazine I buy :)

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