Our blog offers a fresh voice on the design scene, with ideas, inspiration and paint color advice focused on color for the built world. Updated regularly, discover current paint color trends and tried and true proven approaches to color design for your home, your business or your brand. It's all about the human response to color. Learn how to choose and apply color in a way that supports well-being and adds beauty and function to any environment. Whether interior or exterior, residential or commercial, smart color design makes the difference between a space that's hardly noticeable and one that makes you feel alive!

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A Shutter Story. House Shutter Colors.

Homes with green shutters
One of the most appealing details on a home, shutters work with so many architectural styles . They were first used in ancient Greece to provide light control, ventilation and protection in that scorching environment. Eventually, the concept of shutters spread throughout the Mediterranean, and the form began to change. Soon movable louver types were born to allow varying amounts of light and air into a room and provide privacy when needed. With the louvers pointed in the downward direction, the shutters also shed rainwater. Solid varieties provided more insulation and were able to prevent insects from entering the home. As the Spanish started colonizing in the Americas, they brought shutters to the New World.… Continue reading...

A Caribbean palette

tropical fronds
I escaped. One week away from the brutal cold temperatures and the winter wonderland I profess to love. (But I do!!) And the best part of it was immersing myself in the warm sea and the Caribbean color palette. The colors of the tropics are emblematic of the blue green seas of the Caribbean we all love. If you’re going for a Caribbean color palette in your interior it will look out of place if you don’t live in a tropical climate. Bold saturated colors indoors in the Northeast or Mid-West just don’t make sense if you want your interiors to fit into their environment well.… Continue reading...

Wood paneling: Beyond Wood Trim

Horizontal Wood paneling
Wood paneling Stained or unpainted wood trim has been a go-to decorating idea for homes and spaces for generations. Recently the use of horizontal wood paneling has been gaining traction speedily. Sometimes shiplap or nickel gapped, the wood is often reclaimed in keeping with that growing trend. Sometimes it’s pickled or has a translucent stain applied to allow grain to show. The result is occasionally sleek ( think cherry or walnut or fir) but more often very rustic and  organic looking and works for properties as divergent as beach homes, lofts and country homes. The color of the wood dictates what paint colors look best with it.… Continue reading...

Colorful Barn Exteriors

Red BransIconic Red Barns
Living in the country it’s impossible to ignore the variety of colorful barn exteriors around. But I’m often zipping by at speeds way too fast to stop and take a photo. Who doesn’t love the iconic red barn with its endless variations of that red hue. The origin story for that comes from many angles. It’s hard to know which is the true cause. In the Great Plains and Mid West Scandinavian immigrants with a history of painting “Falun Red” buildings back in Sweden brought this tradition with them. In the earlier days of US history it was discovered that iron oxide mixed with Linseed oil created a sealant for the barn exterior that helped preserved it.… Continue reading...