Winter Edible Whites

 Photo of cake by Mowie Kay

Benjamin Moore whites

Warm white …

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Cool white …

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Soft White …

Super white … 

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Gray white …

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The list goes on and on about white. 

From whites that are so white they look blue to the super soft, creamy whites. 

Which white are you?

Who Doesn't Love Mac & Cheese?

Now you can love it on your walls at Target.

Lettuce Embrace Color!

From healthy food choices to choosing the 

RIGHT colors for your home, you can find it all here!

You've found a unique color combination that you absolutely love, but how are you going to get these colors in your home?

There's somewhat of a recipe or formula that I follow and for the most part, it works but like design, everything is customized to your home and it may not work. For the most part, this is what I do.

Foyers:

The homes in South Charlotte are large and usually have two story, open floor plan foyers. You have to be really careful choosing color here because the color will be seen in BOTH the top and bottom part of your home which means, the colors in the rest of your home should coordinate with the foyer. Having said that, a neutral is always a good choice here - but - it doesn't have to be!

I've blogged oodles of times about foyers but it doesn't hurt to be redundant as long as you know that you should try to choose a neutral here and keep the exciting colors for the rest of the home.

Once you choose your foyer color, the rest of the home is based off that hue. Remember to keep your undertones in the same family.

Here's a sample of a color palette where the foyer starts off light, soft and very neutral. The rest of the home follows.

Here the foyer color has a little more pigment therefor the rest of the surrounding rooms can be stronger as well.

What if you want you foyer to have a little more color to it? Instead of being neutral, have a color lead the palette for the rest of your home.

So embrace your color - but make sure it's the RIGHT color! 

Tangerine Tango and What?

Yes this is an unusual color combination but that's ok - when everyone else will be choosing the typical blues or greens with Tangerine Tango - you won't!

Tangerine Tango is a great color but I'm finding that people are reluctant to bring it into their home - after all - it's a very bright color!

So what exactly can you do with this very popular hue? Here are some suggestions from the Color Story paint deck of Benjamin Moore.

Go for the gold!

Colors of Crate & Barrel

Keep furniture in mind when you're trying to bring color into your home. Here's great leather sofa that has the deep red color of Bewitched - a strong spellbinding color.

Color of Thomasville Furniture

So you see, even though Tangerine Tango may be a bit 'out there' as far as color for our home, we certain can make it doable and bring other colors in with it.

I'm so happy to now see these stronger, saturated colors coming in. Coastal colors have been popular for so long now here in South Charlotte and it's just nice to see people taking a stance in color. Don't be afraid of color … embrace it!

Donna Frasca

Benjamin Moore Color Expert

(loving the new Color Story collection)

From Tangerine Tango to Kiwi Fruit

By now you should see the Color Trend for 2012, Tangerine Tango popping up in posts, stores and all over cyber space. What if you don't like Tangerine Tango or any orange hue for that matter? How can you keep your home trendy without it looking like circus colors or too childlike?

Here is a perfect example of how you can get the colors you love in your home, lets say the green and brown and still have a splash of trendy fun with orange.

Crate & Barrel

Use green and purple in throw pillows.

If you really love Tangerine Tango be daring and use in it in your sofa color. 

Be careful though, the sofa will outlast the color trend!

Brown will always be a core color to have in your home. When choosing a color for your bedding, I'd stick to a mainstream color such as a brown, gray, beige - some type of neutral - and then add a pop of trend with your pillows.

Still too afraid of bright bold color? 

Candles!!!!!

Interesting … Crate & Barrel had all these amazing colors before Tangerine Tango was announced by Pantone. If you read the blog post I wrote on Crate & Barrel (see link below) you'll see gorgeous color that can be used in our home and quite frankly, I wouldn't mind wearing those colors either. Hint, Hint, Pantone - keep a close eye on Crate & Barrel.

All these accessories can be found in Crate & Barrel.

Color Specialist in Charlotte, 

I can help you get this colors in your home.