Chocolate Lovers' Series: Peanut Butter Cups

As this series continues, I'll show you how you can combine beautiful color with brown. Many people don't like brown but if it's combined with the right color and used in an innovative way, brown can be a very likable hue.

Now who doesn't like peanut butter cups? I must confess, I did go through a few of these “props” until I got the perfect shot. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! Not only are these peanut butter cups incredibly delicious but look how beautiful these two colors are! 

How would you use this brown in your home? Wall color? Flooring? Accessories? Well yes to all that but today, I'd like to use it to represent furniture and I'll show you how to get the look in your dining room.

I'm not so concerned with the style of this china cabinet because everyone will like something different but rather to pinpoint the exact wood stain to achieve the look. 

This is a deep, orangey brown wood with both high and lowlights in it. If you look at the post on Mint Chocolate Chip, you'll notice that brown is so dark it's almost black.  This piece has more life with the gold undertones and you can do so much with it. 

To bring in the very rich “peanut butter gold”, I would suggest using cork to incorporate this color in your flooring. Here is an example of a cork (this is the one I have in my house) that captures the right amount of gold without overtaking your room with a strong hue.

Like these Sherwin Williams colors? Try

Cajun Red and Gold Coast

Chocolate Lovers' Series: Mint Chocolate Chip

Mint Chocolate Chip is one of my favorite flavors of ice cream and I do believe that its color plays a large roll in the love.

Over the years I'm sure you've seen tons of brown and green combinations right? Well I'm going to tweak that look a bit and show you a more “minty” version of that.

The chocolate brown in this Color Recipe is very dark, almost black. It's a very rich, very strong color so be careful how you incorporate this dark hue into your home. Here's how I'd use it:

A dark brown background will look great in any color scheme. This BR111 solid wood flooring would be the perfect flooring to contrast the minty green. 

If you're hesitant to put a mint green on your wall, try it in a fabric first. This tropical Kravet fabric would look beautiful in drapery, seating or even in some accent pillows. You call always go back and add an accent wall to coordinate the look.

Like these Sherwin Williams colors? Try

Well Bred Brown & Kiwi

Miss a post? Catch up here. It's going to be a long series!

Introduction to Chocolate Lovers Series

Chocolate Lovers' Series: Introduction

Who doesn't love chocolate and color? I'm about to show you a very seductive way to get color into your home and chocolate is going to be the main ingredient.

We are about to embark on a delicious journey into color. This is the start of my Chocolate Lovers Series which will include postings on color of course but also how a very specific color can be the “bitter sweet” ingredient to beautify your home. What color am I talking about? It's brown of course!

When we think of chocolate, the color that first comes to mind is brown. Brown is the perfect foundation to start any color scheme for your home and it's not necessarily a paint color I'm referring to. You can start with a brown carpet, dark, rich wood flooring, a deep brown field tile or even accessories in your home. But, it's how you use OTHER colors in conjunction with brown that will make this “feel good” color surprise you.

So get those serotonin levels pumping because if your not excited about brown now, you certainly will be by the time this series is complete.

Chocolate Chip Mint Color
Peanut Butter Cup Color
Peppermint Patty Color


* this series will be featuring the colors of Sherwin Williams. All the colors that will be mentioned here will have a name and number so you can easily get the look for your home. Any questions, just let me know here on this blog and I'll love to help you out.

Are you Afraid of Orange?

Photo by Taylor Mathis (not including color chips)

Orange is so bright. I wouldn't know how to use it.

What room will orange look good in?

What is the best orange to use?

Is orange a popular color?

Should I use orange on all walls or just as an accent color?

What rhymes with orange?

Minus the last question, these are all legitimate questions and concerns when it comes to orange. It's a tough color to use and a lot of people are not sure how.

I always say, 

“If you're hesitant about a color, start off by using it just as an accessory in your home then work up to an accent wall and it you are crazy about it, use it as your main wall color. Baby steps are key when it comes to exploring a new color in your home.”

Where can you use orange in your home?

Wherever you want to of course! As with any color though, there are a few things you need to think about before you choose any color for your  home. For instance:

Exposure … Orange is a bright, warm hue. Be careful when putting orange in a room that already has a lot of sunlight. It will glow. A low lit or Northern exposure room may be just right for it.

Energy … and orange has lots of it! Perhaps it would be a good choice in a child's room, playroom or even a kids bathroom. 

Kitchen … It may be a bit too much first thing in the morning if you have it in the kitchen. Be especially careful if you have the dreaded “orange kitchen cabinets.” There will certainly be orange overload in this case.

I would NOT use orange if you have these cabinets.

Credit
Orange will look great with contrasting cabinetry. 

Here's how to use orange in the rest of your home.

Using the juicy Clementines as inspiration for your home, I would use the lightest tint of orange for your main foyer area. This way, you can put a pop of color in your dining room and you would have a great contrast.

I would certainly keep the bright color on the bottom of the chair rail and bring in more accents as seen in this Schumacher fabric for the drapery and seat coverings. That would be a very striking room!

Orange you glad you know about orange now?

Can You Have Too Much Blue in Your Room?

Photo of cake by Martha Stewart.com

If you really, really love blue, the question is, “Can you have too much blue in your home?” Probably. Even though there are millions of blue hue's out there, do you really need to have all of them in your home? You can if you wan to, it's your home after all but here's a few suggestions on how to break it up - just a bit.

Pinterest

Blue has been a very popular color since 2009. It really started out in 2007 here in Charlotte as purple but evolved into the softer spa like blues of the coast. 

Pinterest

Let me detail how you can incorporate blue 

into the main part of your home - the living room.

Using that delicious cake as a delectable inspiration, the main focus will be blue but I'll certainly change it up by adding light blue (B) as the main wall color, gray blue (A) as an accent for the recessed area's and navy (C) and the secondary accent color on the columns to give the rooms some division.

I would most certainly use a neutral color for the foyer entrance, lower hallways and upstairs halls. Can you picture how striking this will look as a backdrop to that navy? You do have the option to add this neutral to the mantle to soften the look a bit.

Schumacher

I'd love to see a stronger color in the center of the room with just a hint of gold in the fabric. You can also see green in the fabric. That will tie in the green that should be in the area rug.

So when you're using blue in your home, make sure you use a variation of the color you love. Just like you see in the cakes from light blue to navy and even incorporate the other colors in the photo. It all adds up to one delicious color palette.

Contact me, Donna Frasca, a Color Consultant in South Charlotte, to schedule an appointment with you if you'd like to see these blue hue's in your home.