WHITE by Design…

With all the New Year buzz about the new color forecasts…I started taking notice of the seeming non-color, white. It is often considered the absence of color when in fact it is a very complex color of many shades and values. Just try to select a white and you will know what I mean.

When you look at white paint samples, you will notice the nuances. There are pink whites and blue white, grey whites and yellow whites. Each white is off-set and contrasting to another. You see the differences by comparison and by context. You think you have just the right white until you place it against another sample and see that it is grey or cream and then second guess yourself again…and again…How do you know which white is right?

Dunn Edwards groups their whites and pastels in a separate section of their fan deck as do other paint companies. What is interesting here is that the background is a sheet of white copy paper. Notice how is reads against the colors in the samples…it seems to be a purple blue color. This shot was taken under a full-spectrum LED lamp. The colors should be true. The range of “white” is amazing.

To intentionally design with white is bold. To have the confidence, to decide that white IS the color and that white IS the scheme, is challenging. To effectively design with white, you not only have to select the right white(s), but you have to know just how much of anything else might be effective yet not detract.

Le Leche in Puerto Vallarta is a fabulous example of designing exclusively with white. Only with minimal punctuation with black lettering on the wall of containers and also by allowing shadows is the white interrupted. But the blacks’ minor interruptions gives depth and fine detail.

White design can be cold or warm. Depending upon the desired effect, mood or function of the space, the whites need to be carefully selected. This is true with lighting as well. Warm whites or cool whites…what gives you the desired result?

Popular white string lights add festivity and a warm glow to an evening scene.
See how many lighting colors you can identify in this scene…Starting on the left, a cool pocket glows through the underbrush. The walkway has a warm pink-ish light. The very cool blues of the pool area give a dramatic read. A bold yellow accent peeks from the far left and also over on the right. The palm trees are wrapped in a warm white tube lights while the far right side illuminates the entry to the dining palapa with a cool white light source. The foam of the surf on the beach is captured with a cool white spotlight that maintains its naturally expected white color.

Knowing when to add color to a white scene to achieve an intentional POP is an art. The color itself, the amount and placement is all part of the success of a good design result. From the fine black detailing in the previous shot of La Leche to this still-life composition of a tropical cocktail that I propped the other day, the minimal punctuation of color is key.

White mosaic shards of tile in the background of this composition featuring a peeled coconut and the POP of a pretty pink party umbrella result in a white-on white scene. Yes, this shot says PARTY with a perky smile!

The bench which served as the backdrop for the coconut cocktail is a dramatic serpentine sculpture of site furniture that plays with the white-on-white of the tile and grout.

Contrasting against the organic wood decking, this white monolithic bench snakes around the periphery of this outdoor lounge area. The sunset is casting a soft pink wash over the all white glazed tile.

Beach settings using white materials compliment the white sand and greenery of the tropical plants. From wood frame platform cabanas to the sprinkling of umbrellas, white is a wonderful, fresh color for a crisp clean scene.

Whites on whites…creamy sand colors to crisp white terrycloth, the white-on-white scheme is soft, inviting and clean.
Greenery compliments the white umbrellas and sunning beds on the lawn by the beach.
Palm trunks and other fruit trees are often painted white to protect against insects and what insects insist on climbing the surface are easily spotted by birds who appreciate the help to capture a snack! In this case, they contribute to the white design theme.

The soft creamy off-white folds of fabric offer a soft, inviting scene.

Shadows in the creases and depths of the folds add the dimension to the luxurious feel of the cotton damask fabric.
White stucco is dappled by shadows and greenery while given a warm, strong base by the brick pavers. White as an architectural finish is only successful if the context compliments it. This is true in all design.

Architectural color and texture of surfaces is a moving target. A recent discussion about a white building with black detailing would not have proved right for this particular use of white. The hard, commercial read would have been too severe for the intended effect. Yet that same project, with a warm white and an ochre accent, will be just the right combination to achieve the desired result. Watch for this project to be featured in a few months.

Architectural surfaces incorporating tones and textures of white provide interesting opportunities

Block and crumbled edge accent bands on the facade of an exterior wall.

White in design is an exciting selection. Knowing how, when and why to use it is a test of your creativity. Picking the right white is the challenge.

The limitless colors of white found in a pile of gravel…..

So the next time you think white, think a lot about it. Study the context and what you are trying to accomplish. Feel freed by the fact that white is a color to express and enjoy.

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Posted On January 28, 2019 By pattisays In architecture, artistic expression, artistic talent, bars and restaurants, brick, cabanas, coastal, cocktails, color and temperature re: interior design, color forecasting, Color schemes, color trends, colors, commercial interior design, Concealed lighting, context of interior design, Contrasting colors, contrasts for balance in design, creative process, creativity, custom lighting, design, design challenges, design details, design process, design scenes, design solutions, design tips, design trends, designer fabrics, designing with a purpose, doorways and entrances, drama of color, Dunn-Edwards Paints, element of surprise in design, exterior - outdoor design, fabrics, Garden, good design, good taste, handcraft, handmade, hiring an interior designer, home, home improvements, houses, how to select colors, illusions of space, indirect lighting, inspiration, inspiration from nature, interior atmosphere, interior design, interior design preferences, interior design trends, landscape design, lifestyle, lighting, Mexico, mosaic, mosaic tile, natural designs, natural stone, organic design, paint colors, patio, patio design, personal expression, personal taste, pink, planning a remodel, Refresh, Regional design, remodeling, restaurant design, selecting colors, site furniture, site sculpture, smart surfaces, stone, Subscribers, summer, timeless colors, travel and design, trends, tropical, umbrellas, walkways, wall texture, wall treatments, white color schemes, white interiors /  

Finishing Touches FINISH the Job!

Finishing touches are always the beast to tame at the end of the hunt. Yes, you’ve hunted, you’ve searched, you’ve gathered, you’ve assembled and stood back and observed your work. What’s needed? What’s missing? When is it finished?

Just the word finish sets up a mental block for many. It’s like decisions period. Once you make a decision, you’ve lost your choices. Losing choices can be a dilemma in itself!   So, from Pinterest to HGTV and the internet at your fingertips the choices and options are endless, but what do YOU want to do, to call it “done? It’s all in the details…

Schumacher  offers details right down to the trim on the draperies! This bold key design makes all the difference!

And inasmuch as you can’t seem to GET it done, you WANT it done – just can’t seem to get there from here. How do you decide what you need to add for those incomplete finishing touches – to be FINISHED?  Know though, that to have the feeling that it is finished is a good thing. Yet, that doesn’t mean you can’t change it – sooner or later!

We interior designers have jobs because our clients need to do things, change things, finish things. It seems that with all the options presented on TV and the internet, people are jumping in with inspired ideas, making decisions, buying things and doing things – then coming to a screeching halt! “HELP!” is the cry when everything seems to be too much – or not enough – or too uncertain and overwhelming – or not just right.

As if your own self-imposed frustrations and pressures are not enough, your partner rants…”Just finish it – will you? Be DONE with it!!!” Not everyone loves a DIY project. Most people don’t even like the disruption of a professional team coming in and tackling the job. Alas, “you have to break an egg to make an omelet,” some wise person once said.

Whether you’re changing paint colors for the third time in a month or tossing throw pillows around the room, to no satisfactory avail,  there’s something missing…something is not quite right…it’s not there yet.

Have you removed everything from the walls and lined them up waiting for inspiration as to how and where they should be placed and grouped – maybe re-framed?

What about a mirror to add depth? Is it an installed mirror – the illusion of space without calling attention to the mirror itself or should I hang a framed mirror that makes the statement in its entirety? Do I lean it against the wall or is that a trendy affectation?

Uttermost is one of our favorite sources!

Studied nonchalance is an art form.  How to achieve that intentionally unpretentiously naturally relaxed look is a challenge.  Just writing about it here is an effort in describing that which is supposed to be effortless!!!!

Perhaps it is a monotony of height. Do you need a tall piece among other lower elements in the room? Maybe a tree in the corner is the answer or a statue of some vertical art statement, to add interest and height. Perhaps you might consider hanging something, from the ceiling – a mobile or origami bird or even a light fixture, to draw the eye up from the otherwise low furniture pieces.

Robert Allen presents perfect fabrics for colorful pillow accents…and there’s that tall plant for height!

Speaking of light fixtures…how does your almost finished, but not quite there yet, room look at night? Are there dark pockets and corners that would benefit from some concealed up-lights – indirect lighting can be quite effective and enhance a spooky, dismal space.

LOVE this before & after! Check out John Cullen Lighting for some great ideas and inspiration!! https://www.johncullenlighting.com/

Spooky is the season and, with the holidays approaching, the need to get things finished before guests arrive or you leave to visit… or just the hectic nature of the baking,  gift-buying and wrapping, shipping and other communications aspects of the season are upon you – pressure you to want to get things finished!

Brunschwig and Fils by Kravet offers an amazing collection of prints – mix and match!!!

Have you consulted with a friend? Do they rise to the invitation of critiquing your present state of affairs and offer design ideas that further serve to confuse you? Better yet, ask two friends and get two different options for finishing your space and then what? Pick one and the other’s feelings are hurt that you didn’t take their advice – even if they are not aware that your decisions moving forward were offered by another friend.

From the rug (thank you Company C for your “Colorful Living!” to the table accessories and all the things, pieces, fabrics, details in-between – finishing touches FINISH the job!!!

A designer is a problem solver, a tie-breaker, a marriage counselor, a creative who extracts your needs and – evaluating all options – offers the best solutions to get your job finished!

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Posted On October 23, 2018 By pattisays In before and after, Color schemes, color trends, colors, Company C, Concealed lighting, context of interior design, creative process, cursive, custom design interior design, custom furniture, custom lighting, decorative accessories, decorative arts, decorative mirrors, design, design details, design process, design solutions, design tips, design trends, designer fabrics, DIY design, drama of color, fabrics, good design, hiring an interior designer, home, home improvements, indirect lighting, inspiration, interior atmosphere, interior design, interior design preferences, interior design trends, interior enhancements, LED, lifestyle, lighting, mirrored walls, mirrors, paint colors, patterns, personal expression, personal taste, Refresh, remodeling, room arrangement, Subscribers, update design, upholstery, value of good design, wall treatments, window dressings /  

A Most Illuminating Lighting Course Proves – It Exists!

As is often the case, after attending an engaging and informative continuing education class, I am compelled to share at least a fraction of the energy that I experienced today. When a class is good, it is energizing. This was a most illuminating lighting course!

We know that as interior designers that light plays a significant role in creating a scene. Whether task lighting, ambient lighting, spot lighting or washes of color – light plays an important role. What’s so exciting and compelling is the technology that is so rapidly changing the possibilities!

The profound change is a result of the perfected application of Light Emitting Diodes – LED lighting. Lynne Wilkinson takes the complexity of physics and speaks in plain language with a humorous and entertaining delivery distilling that which is incredibly complex into digestible information.

Here’s a link to Philips for more information:

https://www.usa.philips.com/c-m-li/led-light-bulbs

So today I want to impart a tiny bit of the exciting content of this day. If a child asked you – “what is light?” How might you answer that?  Um…well…it’s uh…Electromagnetic radiation. Duh! After clearing that hurdle, we settled into distinguishing the technology between incandescent and fluorescent and a number of other lighting sources.  We discussed temperature Kelvin, luminescence, illumination and the atomic composition of protons, neutrons and electrons that are involved. So how is this interesting to YOU?

Well…inasmuch as we in the field have kept step with much  of this terminology throughout our careers, and the sci-fi interpretations of the possibilities – the future is HERE! If you just look at I-Phones being only 10 years old, yes, 2007 – we’ve come a long way baby!! Nearly anything you can imagine already exists! And if it doesn’t yet, the brains in the incubators are racing to discover and invent the next iteration of these amazing possibilities!! Look at these cool dots and dashes dramatically streaking across a living room ceiling!

 

You probably know that LEDs are energy efficient. Have you noticed how dramatically their price has come down in the last, say, three years? They used to be $50 and now they are under $10..  They burn for 50,000 hours…but as they diminish, the quality of their light changes – they will burn long after the accuracy of their illumination has changed. Do you care?

So many health issues are still being discovered with regard to the effectiveness of lighting. Circadian rhythms – how your body is biologically on a timer. How it needs rest and waking hours. What interferes with the natural melatonin in your system that can affect your health. Dark is for sleep. Blue light versus red light can interfere with your good sleep? Here’s a hint – don’t leave computer screens or cell phones on in your bedroom – get rid  of the clocks and other light-emitting devices when you are trying to sleep. AVOID the cool colors – blue especially.

To take this to a higher level of interaction, artificial lighting can be “tuned.” We know it can be dimmed and change color – but tuning is the technology of changing the temperature and related color to compliment the activity in the space. Your living room can be tuned to track the time of day to compliment warm early morning, bright cool mid day, dimming down to the warmth of an evening glow. Do you care? Maybe not today – but to better organize and track a busy day, this can be soothing to compliment your morning coffee…energize you into a more productive mode as the day progresses and calm you as the day closes. It might be handy if you lived in Scandinavia where the days are shorter and the desire to create a sense of daylight’s progression is real.

In an operating room – do you want your surgeon to see well into your body parts? By tuning the room in zones, you can place certain colors of light over the surgery to better illuminate and contrast the focal point or dim the light to read monitors better (as in many endoscopic procedures where they go in with a camera and don’t even see the action except on the monitors which are better read with a darkened surrounding quality of light or lack thereof), or brighten other areas where medical implements, keyboards, etc need brighter light to do the job. The understanding and ability to control these various light levels, colors and luminescence is becoming very apparent. Might ultimately be invaluable.

Back to interior design applications and concerns – the idea is to create effective, appropriate light and not see the source. I have always said this especially in the realm of landscape lighting – yes outside. I never use the “runway lights,” rather I chose to conceal the light source and have it spill, wash, spot and filter without giving away the source of the light.  It is more subtle, effective, natural, soft, and pleasing. So in a kitchen, don’t let the under-counter lights be spotty, reflected on any adjacent dark or shiny surface, use smaller aperture ceiling fixtures (cans), hockey pucks in cabinets create shadows…with all the new LED tapes, fixtures and diffusers these faux pas are very avoidable.

Lightology has an exciting site full of great images, ideas and information

http://www.lightology.com/index.php?module=how_to&sub=new-recessed-lighting

As recently as 18 months ago we were remodeling a bar and wanted to use LED tape the full-length beneath the long countertop  – but the cost was significant. Today, that cost is a fraction of what it was. So I might be re-visiting that bar detail!!!

So many lights can be field modified cut and shaped. With the perfection of Organic LEDs, seemingly limitless possibilities exist. Imagine your laptop being so pliable that you can roll it into a tight tube and pack it effortlessly without fear of cracking or breaking. Light-weight and completely flexible. They exist.

Imagine an entire wall in your home that is a touch screen that can be installed as easily as wallpaper. Yes, pliable and paper thin, glued onto the wall and operate as a computer – all your news and information at your fingertips at a scale that commands the room. Smart surfaces – they exist.

Learn more from Planar

http://www.planar.com/products/led-video-walls/led-calculator/#!/welcome

Learn more from Corning:

https://www.corning.com/au/en/about-us/news-events/features/willow-samples.html

Back to now – smart homes can do so much from an app on your phone and lighting is a huge part of that control. You already know that you can turn you lights on and off from your phone on a beach in Tahiti. But did you know that your phone can be as small as a lipstick tube or small flashlight and have a retractable screen of flexible OLED – easy to hold, pack, carry and with a simple tug, click or push of a button reveal a thin full screen? It exists.

Learn more about OLED:

https://www.oled-info.com/introduction

Architecture and interior design benefit greatly from this technology, but are probably the last to be jumping on the bandwagon. This technology is introduced in so many other aspects of our world before it gets to mere offices and residences. Fabric panel walls that have lights IN the fabric and can be controlled for color and movement, resin furniture glowing from inside that can be used outside in all-weather, stair treads that sparkle with glass embedded into them and coffee tables that have pressure sensitivity that when you touch them they respond. So many of these creative applications are already very cost-effective and remarkably accessible.

Here is more about glowing furniture from Marceladick:

Led Furniture

A German company, Cerion, making exciting glass pieces embedded with LEDs

http://glassprocessing.eu/dg-glass-furniture-glass-processing-3d-laser.htm

Glowing ceiling layers that once were inconvenient to replace lamps (bulbs) often were left dark rather than scale the heights to maintain. Now the long lasting light sources produce their glow for many years.

Fashion is also enhanced with the advent of these light sources in the actual fabrics. Models sporting luminous layers, glowing translucence, sparkling luminescence adding elements to clothing imagined. Think about draperies!

Here is a fashion-forward blog to share:

About the Materials

These exciting applications will be sure to get you thinking about the many possibilities. Love light? Use light!!

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Posted On September 24, 2017 By pattisays In ceiling lighting, color and temperature re: interior design, color of light, Concealed lighting, custom lighting, design tips, design trends, element of surprise in design, fashion and design, furniture finds, hiring an interior designer, interior design, interior design trends, Kelvin, kitchen lighting, LED, lifestyle, lighted fabrics, lighting, Luminous furniture, medical offices, multi-media design, murals, OLED, smart surfaces, temperature of light, theatrical design, video walls /  1