Benjamin Moore Loves Metropolitan for Color in 2019

As part a 2019 color trend series, Benjamin Moore is touring the design industry sharing their schemes for creative ways to use their 2019 Color of the Year pick, Metropolitan, and how to pair it with other soothing colors and creative uses of finishes.  For all the gray lovers out there, this is for you.

This week as part of a Lunch and Learn series for American Society of Interior Designers, New England, Marion Beaulieu, Architect and Designer Rep for Benjamin Moore, presented some most interesting color picks for 2019.  Metropolitan a cool gray was their choice, a far fetch from Pantone’s recent announcement of Living Coral being their Color of the Year for 2019.

Marion presented on how the color of the year was selected.  There is a team at Benjamin Moore that travels the world a whole year before they meet to choose the color of the year.  Traveling to other countries, trade shows, fashion shows, car shows taking note of colors being seen the most and how they are being used.  Metropolitan was chosen as the vibe being noticed as a calming and soothing one.  Unlike 2018’s Color of the Year, Caliente, a deep rich red, representing a world in turmoil, Metropolitan represents a more relaxed 2019 to come.  People want to relax and rest, they want a quieter space.  Quietude, glamour and beauty are the words Benjamin Moore uses to describe the mood to come for 2019.  This was seen in new and old throughout the year of travel.  Some of the visuals in Marion’s presentation were gray’s, such as architectural details on buildings, corbels and fashion and lots of stone. I can totally relate to why Metropolitan was chosen. Recently this past August a trip to Europe touring through Rome and Greece many stone details not only on ancient buildings, the streets and sidewalks are paved with stone and marble.

Stone paved street on the island of Hydra, Greece

With Metropolitan being the chosen color, Benjamin Moore also developed a Color Trends 2018 Palette of colors to be used in conjunction with Metropolitan.  A palette of 15 hues hand-picked and curated by their color and design team.  A pallet created for livable spaces.  Included in the color palette were a few popular colors.  Hale Navy HC-154 was used multiple times and paired well with Decorator’s White.  Eric Haydel, Boston designer and host of the presentation’s lunch, has used Hale Navy on the walls in his showroom in a high gloss finish for a dose of drama.

Not only is it interesting that a cool gray was chosen for 2019, gray is still holding it’s own with the use of gray being a very popular color for the past 5 years at least. We also used a cool gray paint color on the walls in this Cape Cod home with white furnishings and navy blue accent pillows last summer.

Seminar Room at the Boston Design Center using gray carpet tiles, gray painted walls, a version of Hale Navy and Decorators White on the platform skirt.

Not only did Marian review new color combinations in her presentation she reviewed and answered questions regarding paint finishes, always a conundrum to homeowners.  Here is a helpful listing of paint finishes to use for specific applications. 

Paint Finish Applications

·         Flat finishes are more forgiving

·         High Sheen and Satin are being used in architectural woodwork

·         Aura is Benjamin Moore’s premium paint and washable in high traffic areas

·         Cabinetry, recommends the Advance product

·         Stix is a bonding product recommended for prepping cabinets

·         Floors use latex floor and patio paint, the epoxy resin provides more durability on floors

·         PREP IS ALWAYS KEY to any paint application

Color Trend 2019 Palette of 15 colors from Benjamin Moore

·         Balboa Mist OC-27

·         Head Over Heels AF-250

·         Cloud White OC-130

·         Decorator’s White OC-149

·         Smoke 2122-40

·         Pashmina AF-100

·         Putnam Ivory HC-39

·         Soft Fern 2144-40

·         Metropolitan AF-690

·         Black Pepper 2130-40

·         Kendall Charcoal HC-166

·         Kona AF-165

·         Hunter Green 2041-10

·         Beau Green 2054-20

·         Hale Navy HC-154

2019 Interior Design Trends to Watch

It’s always interesting to see what design treads may come into the new year.  What is in and what is out in the design world.  Although, the beauty is always in the eye of the beholder, here are some design trends to watch for in 2019.

Think the day of the floral is over, well think again.  Floral wallpapers and fabrics will be making a comeback this year.  As recently witnessed in the newly opened Flour Bakery & Cafe this week at the Innovation and Design Building in Boston’s Seaport.  One cannot help but notice the large bold floral pattern of wallpaper on the top of the walls incorporated with bold navy blue tile on the bottom.  Very striking and worthy of a large space for sure.  More bold and dramatic color walls will also be seen this year on interior walls.  The day of the painted accent color wall is over for now. The accented painted wall will be replaced with an interesting wallpaper.  This is not to say a shade of color won’t be seen on an architectural shaped wall with dramatic lines.  Grasscloth papers and natural textures will be installed more and can also be used on a stairway accent wall not and not only in whole room applications.

With the innovation of Crypton fabrics, more room designs with white furniture will be created.  Crypton performance fabrics offer durability and sustainability allowing for shades of white to come into the homes of family with busy lives. Bold and bright accents will be used to enhance the white room.  Century Furniture’s showroom in Boston has done a magnificent job showcasing room displays with white sofas and a bedroom featuring pops of bright accents with fuchsia lamps, pillows and footstools.  Also seen in Century Furniture is the use of trimming tape on a sofa’s skirt.  These little accents go a long way in adding interest and charm to a room.

Remembering when jewel tone colors were a trend, also making a come back with rich color of navy, green, gold and red.  Watch for more of variations of these rich colors in home décor fabrics and accessories.  Tile backsplashes will be a way of making a statement in a kitchen with the center stage of dramatic and handmade tiles.  This is a creative way to add a little bling I the kitchen by use of glass, metallics, metals and stones.  As the mixing of metals is more prominent than ever, a combination of mental a on furniture, lighting and various fixtures of hardware will make for an interesting interior look.

People will be enticed to spend more money on furniture for comfort this year instead of going for “the look”.  Handmade items from furniture to accessories will see a bigger than ever increase in the home décor industry.  Choosing to make the interiors of a home their own with personality through color and accessories will be something to watch for. 

With design trends predicted and bringing back some trends from the past, the ever changing world of interior design will be something to watch in 2019.

8 Design Trends to watch in 2019

·        Florals on fabrics and wallcovering

·        Jewel tone colors

·        Tile backsplashes that make a statement

·        Everything handmade

·        Tassels and trims on furniture, pillows and drapery

·        White rooms with bold color accents

·        Mixing of metal finishes holds strong

·        Bold color walls

Get Ready for Pantone Living Coral in 2019

Once again, all design industry professionals wait for the announcement of Pantone’s pick for color of the year.  This week Pantone revealed their color choice for 2019.  The award goes to Living Coral.  One may think that coral is just for showcasing in the summer months, but oh think again!

Living Coral is described as emitting animation and life with a hue of golden undertones.  This color is also defined as welcoming carefree, cheery and relaxed activity.  Pantone also describes Living Coral as sociable and spirited. Thoughts and feelings, we all need to get us through these cold New England winter months for sure. 

Joy and optimism can be added to everyday life using the color coral.  After Pantone’s announcement came, I took to the showrooms of the Boston Design Center to see how they started to use Living Coral in their displays.  Here are some ideas to promote the use of 2019’s Color of the Year in your home creating contrast by adding a pop of color with coral.

JD Staron, designer and makers of fine rugs displayed many choices using coral.  Beautifully handmade wool and silk content rugs stood out among other display samples with the bright coral color. 

If you’ve never visited the showroom of Liz Roche, it’s worth the trip into Boston.  Her displays of colorful creations are bright and beautiful with the enhancement of light that pours into her space, Liz displayed some of her larger creations of different shapes using the color coral, black, gray and white for a more modern style.  Visiting Blanche Field, Boston’s premiere lamp shade provider for fine custom lampshades and hand-made ceiling pendant fixtures since 1905, was truly a treat. 

What caught my eye was their focal wall, painted in a coral color from Farrow and Ball.   Once inside the showroom, a little gem display of light fixture finials in all colors and shapes was fascinating.  Looking for that pop, coral was again used in this decorative accent. 

If making a statement in paint color of coral is not your style, adding coral in smaller doses may just do the trick.   Such as a lamp shade on a table lamp.  On display was an intriguing pleated lamp shade with the color coral tucked into the pleats of the shade and finished off with top and bottom trimming in a mingled colorway incorporating coral.  One could not pass by Robert Allen’s window display.  Living Coral was a showstopper at this showroom.  Enhancing the imagination perfectly and how to incorporate coral into a living space was showcased well in their window display.  A coral upholstered accent chair, throw pillows enhancing an off-white sofa and a beautiful display of fabric was just striking.  This vignette was the perfect visual and would appeal to all wanting to use coral in their décor but afraid to make the plunge.

Heading back to my studio at the end of the day, I also noticed how the color coral was being used in magazine advertisements, a painting in the studio by artist Dorothy Primm and fabric sample books.  One element noticed in these pieces was the use of blue mixed with coral and how the two colors combined worked so well together to create warmth.

Looking forward to seeing all the ways Living Coral will be used in design, fashion and accessories for 2019.

5 Interior Design Trends to Add Bling and Sparkle to Any Home

If you’ve been thinking about adding a bit of sparkle to your home décor you’re not alone.  That thought of possibly diving into the glitz of some of Architectural Digest’s pages, could be reachable in your own home.

Consider a few possibilities such as adding some shine and sparkle to a powder room bath.  Meeting with clients recently, they wanted to do just that.  They purchased a mirror with chunky mirrored pieces to replace the builder’s grade sheet mirror over the pedestal sink in the powder room.  The sheet mirror had no frame and came with the house they recently purchased.  Since the tile floor in black was staying.  The suggestion of adding some spark to bump up the powder room’s look was offered by way of a metallic wallpaper.  There are many different paper’s available today and the trend of mixing metal finishes is a popular way to go.  Sourcing some options that would work with the black tile and newly purchased mirror was easy.  The style was more contemporary.  A simple gold metallic dot on a gray neutral textured background was purposed along with a metallic geometric 3D square in square pattern.  One favored was the charcoal background paper with a metallic dot in a Moroccan style pattern.  For the traditional style, try a metallic background natural grasscloth.  All these choices would work perfectly with the chunky panel mirror as well as add that bling the homeowners were looking for.

Another way to dress up a space and add some sparkle to a foyer entry or dining room would be to step the look in your lighting over the table.  Step out of the box and make the chandelier crystal.  Go as ornate as your heart desires or as simple and conservative but add the crystals.  This is a statement piece that will enhance the whole space.  Even if you’re not that formal fancy kind, try it you won’t regret I promise.  I’m a huge fan of the crystal chandelier, crystals can be found in every metal finish to go with every style of your room.  Even industrial with a bronze metal base finish and just a hint of crystal will do.

For another large change, mosaic tiles with metal embellishments in the design is a big trend today and seems to be around for the long run.  Try installing a focal wall in a bathroom with a mosaic design that is white and neutral but with just a hint of a metal accent.  Adding some chrome sconces with crystals to the sides of the vanity mirror as well as a mirrored vanity cabinet will give a Hollywood appeal to that boring bathroom that’s been calling for a makeover. 

Mixing metals in hardware in another way to add some bling to a kitchen.  Cabinet pulls, hinges, metal details on the range hood and even the hardware on the cooking range is a current trend that really gives an updated look to a kitchen.  As much as we like to shun the brass as of late, news flash, brass is trending in many finishes, from polished to brushed, shiny and distressed.  Embrace the brass as long as it is mixed with other metal finishes in a space. For more examples of mixing metals in a kitchen space, luxury kitchen designer Matthew Quinn’s book Quintessential Kitchens is a fantastic resource for new kitchen remodel ideas and trends.

Ways to add some bling to your home’s interior

·        Wallpaper with a metallic accent design

·        Crystal chandeliers in all finishes for all styles

·        Mosaic tiles with metal accents

·        Mirrored cabinets for bathroom vanities

·        Mixing metal on hardware

5 Tips for Organizing the Garage for Fall

Fall is a good time to become more organized in your home.  As we spend more time inside with the colder weather, noticing items left in corners of rooms and items that really don’t have a place to live can become a look of clutter.  This can also happen more often in the garage.

The garage can be a catch all if not careful and mindful of being organized when entering and returning home for the day.  Instead of bringing items into the house and properly putting them where they belong, it’s easier to leave them in the garage for organizing later, like tomorrow.  For some of us, tomorrow never comes.  Although the intention is a good one, time somehow seems to never be on your side.  A recent move of our design studio has proven the garage to become just that, a catch all.  Never the intention but somehow it has happened.  The busy work schedule doesn’t allow enough time to organize.  Putting a time schedule on the project is a good way to rectify the problem to becoming more organized in your space.   Not only has it become a problem in the garage, but also flowing into the bathroom/mud room renovation project.  Decorating props such as pillows and artwork that doesn’t have a permanent home is temporarily hung by the laundry area on stripped walls waiting for a place to live. 

Here are a few ways to become more organized and focus on the task at hand.  Categorize items and where they should go.  Creating a plan for each item will make the organizing project go smooth.  Consider renting a storage unit for furnishings to be used later.  Doing this will free up space in the garage.  This will also allow your car to fit into the garage with that dreaded New England Nor’easter decides to land on your doorstep.  The next solution is to have a yard sale for the items that have no use to you anymore.  Doing this while the weather is cooperative is more desirable.  However, the use of the garage to conduct the yard sale can be called “garage sale”.  This will also eliminate the moving of items out of the garage, inviting buyers to enter creating less work for you.  Donating unwanted items to the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore, Salvage Army, Goodwill and even your local boys and girls club is another way to eliminate items not needed.   Lastly, let it go.  Something we all have a hard time doing.  The “I will use this one day” thought is imbedded in our minds.  Who are we kidding, out of sight out of mind as they say, it’s time to throw it out.

Finding the time to commit to a large organizing project is usually the reason why the task never gets done.  By putting your organizing project on the calendar, you will be committed to becoming organized.

Tips to categorize items to become more organized

·        Schedule your organizing project

·        Storage Unit – Pod – Storage Shed

·        Yard Sale – Garage Sale

·        Donate – ReStore, Goodwill, Salvation Army, boys and girls club

·        Trash – throw it out