Living Well Newsletter
Winter 2012
I am finally just now writing my Winter newsletter and it's almost Spring. In fact, the Spring Color issue of House Beautiful Magazine is already out on newstands and I'm thrilled to report that they were incredibly generous to include me as one of the major players in design in their "Favorite Greens" article featuring our color Lichen! I am certainly not a major player in design (most certainly not in the same league as Michael Smith who recently redecorated the White House, and the other incredibly talented designers in the article), but I am once again enjoying some decorating projects now that I have some help with Full Spectrum Paints. I hope to share photos of my latest project in my next newsletter. What I loved most about it was that from start to finish, it was completed in just a couple of months.
House Beautiful even included this photo I took of lichen growing on a live oak in Grace Church Cemetery here in St. Francisville. (Our "Lichen" color was inspired by the lichen that grows on everything in Louisiana from live oaks to tombstones.) |
Marc Charbonnet recently finished a project where he got really creative with our paints. His clients wanted something "fun and unique" for their Manhattan apartment since it's not their permanent residence. It's more of a vacation getaway.
Marc Charbonnet Project - Photos by Laura Dante of Laura Dante Photography
"Classic Cream" was the main color used throughout the apartment. The "Slate" blue wall on the right in the above photo helps carry your eye towards the view. I love the floor lamp created from Hermes boxes! Marc had us create a paint color for the chair legs using one of his worn Hermes leather gloves. We're calling it "Hermes Orange". |
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Now here's where Marc really got creative. He painted stripes and rectangles on the living room walls (photo below) with our Peridot, Dusk, Citrine & Pumpkin Spice colors to not only accent the artwork, but if you look closely at the striped wall, he camouflaged an air conditioning vent with framed screens.
Monument Valley Paintings are by Sabranski. Hunt Slonem's new book "The Worlds of Hunt Slonem" is on the coffee table. If you've admired his work, you will LOVE his book which is "hands down the most comprehensive book on Hunt Slonem to appear before the general public" and available on Amazon. |
When I commented to Marc that this was quite a deviation from his usual traditional look, he replied "I design interiors to fit the desires and needs of my clients, desires first, since they are the stuff that makes living worthwhile; needs are second, we cannot live without them." (Hitchcock Portrait by Hunt Slonem, US Map Mixed Media by Peter Buchman) When I asked about the astro turf rug, he said "I love the turf runner. My client thought it too unfinished and asked that I border it. The green ultra-suede finished it off and it is so much fun. If you can’t bring the outdoors in; hey, bring in the stadium!" |
Marc's signature "Classic Marc" on the walls in the Master Bedroom above creates a tranquil oasis. Robert Sudlow's Prairie Sky hangs over the bed. Our "Ruby" was used in the Powder Room below. Paintings of Abe Lincoln are by artist Hunt Slonem. Sculptures on door by Mary Mattingly.
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Several months ago, Hunt Slonem called me raving about a fuschia color he saw in House Beautiful Magazine. You can still see it on their website in their article “Fabulous Designer Foyers”. I fell in love with it too, and created our full spectrum version called “Hot Pink!”. When I visited him yesterday at Lakeside Plantation, he had just finished painting one of his parlors, so I snapped an iPhone photo:
Our full spectrum version of "Hot Pink!" works surprisingly well with the antique red velvet upholstery. One of his guests, an architect, actually called it a neutral, pointing out that there is no other color that doesn't work with it.
While I was there, the sunlight finally made it possible to get a more color accurate photo of our "Mykonos Blue" |
I tried capturing "Peacock Blue" Hunt used in one of the bedrooms from Barbara Jacob's Eco Hues Palette featured in our 2011 Winter Newsletter, but there just wasn't enough light to do it justice. However, Barbara sent me a couple of photos of a finished project where she used several of her new Eco Hues colors:
Barbara Jacobs' Eco Hues Full Spectrum Paints: "Blue Grotto" in photo above and "Red Clay" and "Atlantis" in photo below. (Photos courtesy of Barbara Jacobs)
To see her beautiful palette of colors and order samples of Eco Hues Full Spectrum Paints, please contact Barbara Jacobs directly at EcoHues.com
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Barbara and I are both looking forward to working with Color Cares, a new non-profit organization whose goal is to uplift and heal the suffering through the power of a “Color Cares Color Makeover”. A Color Cares Makeover can be a room in the home of an injured returning war veteran, a terminal illness patient, a community room in a wellness center, a domestic violence shelter or simply a single room of someone in need of a new beginning.
Started by Dan Whittenkeller of RoomVues.com, the first online photo gallery featuring home interior photos listing the paint colors and brands used in each space; Color Cares is in the beginning stages, so they are looking for volunteers and sponsors, as well as nominees for a makeover. Visit their website to find out more: ColorCares.org.
On another note, St. Francisville is gearing up for its Annual Audubon Pilgrimage March 16-18. This one (the 41st) promises to be the best ever, featuring "Graveyard Tales" in lichen-covered Grace Cemetery and some interesting historic home tours, as well a traveling Smithsonian exhibit, Journey Stories. The West Feliciana Historical Museum produced a short video that chronicles the journeys in West Feliciana Parish from the time of the Tunica Indians and the French traders to the beginning of the 20th Century. David Norwood and Janie Simmons (www.1-800-jane-eyre.com) wrote the script, and the video was produced by Sarah Powell. CDs are available for those wishing to take a driving tour of the areas mentioned in Journey Stories. I was asked to select and write about one of the plantation homes on tour, so I chose to write about David and Cammie Norwood's Woodland Plantation which has a fascinating history of serendipity. Thanks to Country Roads' editor James Fox-Smith and famed author John Berendt, who helped with the story, it's getting great reviews: "Tales Tall but True of Woodland Plantation".
Here's to a great and early Spring!
P.S. Have you seen our new online shopping page? You can now not only order samples online, but also paint! We have also updated the slideshows on our Design Projects and Color Consultation pages, all thanks to Paul Plaisance, who I use often for a variety of computer tech issues--especially website-related. I've never laid eyes on him since he works your computer remotely! Email: vrl4less@yahoo.com
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Library of Past Newsletters
Autumn 2011 (2012 Color of the Year & Color Trend Report)
SPRING 2011 (Sprucing up for Spring)
WINTER 2011 (800 Sq.Ft. Farmhouse, Eco Hues & Upholstery)
AUTUMN 2010 (2011 Color of the Year & Fabulous Whites)
SUMMER 2010 (Tools for Staying in the Flow)
SPRING 2010 (Woodland Retreats)
WINTER 2010 (Before & After Projects)
SPRING 2009 (Color & Feng Shui)
WINTER 2009 (2009 Color Trends)
AUTUMN 2008 (Transforming Spaces)
SPRING 2008 ( Recap of Previous Newsletters)
WINTER 2008 ( 2008 Color Trends)
SUMMER 2007 (Livin' in "Easy World")
SPRING 2007 (Vibrational Awareness)
WINTER 2007 (2007 Color Trends)
AUTUMN 2006 LIVING WELL (Creating Healing Energy with Color & Light)
SUMMER 2006 LIVING WELL (Healing Energy of Color)
SPRING 2006 LIVING WELL (Company News)
WINTER 2006 LIVING WELL (Creating Sacred Spaces)
AUTUMN 2005 LIVING WELL (Resources for Finding Peace Within)
SUMMER 2005 LIVING WELL (Tips on Exterior House Painting)
SPRING 2005 LIVING WELL (Company News)
WINTER 2005 LIVING WELL (Company News)
SUMMER 2004 LIVING WELL (Company News)
SPRING 2004 LIVING WELL (Consciousness of Water & Our Emotions)
WINTER 2004 LIVING WELL (Create Harmony & Inner Peace by Clearing Clutter)
AUTUMN 2003 LIVING WELL (Color Philosophy)
SUMMER 2003 LIVING WELL (Tools for Living in the Moment)
SPRING 2003 LIVING WELL (Creating a Cocoon)
WINTER 2003 LIVING WELL (Creating a Synchronistic Lifestyle)
AUTUMN 2002 LIVING WELL (Using Healing Energies)
SUMMER 2002 LIVING WELL (Creating a Sanctuary)
SPRING 2002 LIVING WELL (Working with Color & Light)
WINTER 2001 LIVING WELL (More Color Therapy, What Color are You?)
AUTUMN 2001 LIVING WELL (Color Therapy)
SUMMER 2001 LIVING WELL (Creating a Sanctuary with Nature's Colors)
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