I Spy Something Blue

"Oh, darkly, deeply, beautifully blue/As someone somewhere sings about the sky." -Lord Byron

Pink may be my signature color, but the cool, beachy serenity of aqua is what soothes me most.  The colors of the sea and sky fill my own home.  Whether with a slight patina like the ceiling of an old Southern manor or crisp and saturated like a fresh, new tile floor, shades of aqua can't help but put a little spring in your step.

A Summery Weekend Wish

May your weekend be filled with all kinds of wonderful: Images borrowed from WeHeartIt.

At the Movies: Pink Films

Over the past weeks, I've looked at the way color is used strategically as a cinematic device. Green was woven throughout Great Expectations. Red appears as the color of passion in Moulin Rouge. Black and White becomes the color story for Coco before Chanel.

As you might imagine, any film with pops of pink captures my visual attention. Pink is first and foremost the color of femininity. Whether it's Shelby's insistence that there is a distinct difference between blush and bashful in Steel Magnolias or Elle's head-to-toe rosy ensembles throughout Legally Blonde, shades of pink soften onscreen performances or add a fun girly touch.

And, now....for movies with an plethora of pink: Marie Antoinette, Legally Blonde, Gentleman Prefer Blondes, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Steel Magnolias.

Black and White

These days I am la-la-loving good ole' black and white rooms: so effortlessly classy, so impossibly chic, so French.

A design caveat: be careful with your prints and textures when working in a black and white palette or your room could end up looking like the Happy Days set or conversely a bordello. Images borrowed from JillVanTosh,CandiceOlsen,SimonKelly,AngusFergusonViaBrightBazaar & StephenShubalViaHouseBeautiful.

La vie en rose

I always need more pink in my life.

May you start to see life through rose colored glasses:Images borrowed from here, here, Flickr, Tiresome, AudreyHepburnComplex, WeHeartIt, & LaLaLaurie.

At the Movies: Seeing Red

The first movie to be made using color film was called A Visit to the Seaside and was released in 1908. Since that monumental day in cinematic history, color has become one of the defining attributes of modern film making. Last week, I looked at films where the color green was of utmost visual importance. Today, we shall consider films where the color red takes a starring role:

At the Movies: Seeing Green

Some movies appear so meticulously directed that viewers might associate a specific color with them to the same degree as even character, plot, or setting.

Green seems to be a favorite in the film industry. Entire movies' art direction has been built around this versatile and emotive shade. It is the color of envy, of money, of nature, of fertility and of lust. Almost subliminally, the psychology of green enhances many complex plot points. Green especially seems to predominate in the following fabulous movies:

Robin's Egg & Periwinkle & Azure

Blue is such a lovely hue!

Wassily Kandinsky, the Russian abstract painter, in Concerning the Spiritual in Art contemplates blue and ultimately argues that it is the most intensely spiritual of all colors. Blue is of the sky and sea--in all its shades, it can calm you like few others in the rainbow. So, whether indigo or Tiffany or cerulean, punctuate your rooms with this glorious color and feel your pulse slowing and your mind wandering.

First image by Holly Dyment Design
Last two images from Elle Decor
Other images from House Beautiful

My Life in France

"I feel I was born French." -Julia Child

Me too, Julia, me too.

The place where I feel most French is the gloriously sun-drenched Southern part of the country, particularly the region between Nice and Marseilles. The colors appear more vibrant there. The grapes taste of the earth in which they were grown (terroir, as the French call it). The hillsides look like patchwork quilts in varying shades of green.

One of my favorite activities in any country, but especially in the South of France, is aimless wandering through local markets. The artfully arranged stacks of freshly picked produce, bundles of local flowers, artisanal cheeses or soaps that smell of lavender---these markets engage and overwhelm every one of the five senses in the most wonderful of ways.

All images taken on my last trip to the Saturday market in Nice, 2007:

Celadon, Chartreuse, Olive, Lime & Kelly

No, these are not the latest celebrity baby names, but rather shades of green. St. Patty's Day is not my thing. But, I can definitely endorse the color green:

The New Black

Today, in a moment of introspection, I determined that gray is the new brown. Brown was the new black. So, that makes gray the new black. Yes, these are the things that fill my brain on a daily basis.

Love this look from Katy Elliot design:



Oooo...and love this sweater from J Crew: