The zen of design

A great place to start

While very few, if any, rooms in this world could feel this peaceful, it's not a bad image to keep in mind when choosing colors, fabrics and furnishings.  Soft, quiet, tonal, restful.  A good place to start.  Even in rooms that need to be stimulating, efficient and productive (kitchens, offices and playrooms for example).  There should always be a place to rest the eye, to soothe the overstimulated mind, even if it's just an unadorned piece of wall or a wooden bench painted in a cloudy blue or piney green.  The working brain needs a moment here and there to pause before becoming creative again.

Recently I did a guest room where we painted the walls a very vibrant shade of chartreusy green--Sherwin's Impetuous, #6916.  The room was fairly dark, so it could handle the bright color, which was set off nicely by white moldings and a white bed.  I cannot for the life of me get a decent shot of this room, but the above picture shows the fabrics we used and hopefully illustrates some of what I said in the preceeding paragraph about starting with a soft, peaceful vibe.  There's a lot of color, but the white cuts it down and rests the eye.  It's hard to go wrong with blue and green as a combo since it's the color of the sky and the trees (or at the beach--the water and the seaweed)!

Ciao,

Anne