The Great White Way

  …or the terrifyingly uncertain white way. If you haven’t been around the world of decorating for long, you may think, “hey, we’ll just paint it white!” assuming this will make your color choices easier. Nay, nay, dear reader: therein lies the path to confusion and tears. Sherwin Williams alone, for example, has 59 choices of whites. Just look at this photo to see several whites at once, working with the colors just outside the doorway.

(photo: Sarah Van Arsdale )

There are many factors to consider when choosing any paint color, including white: the other interior elements and their colors (including wood floors), the light in the room (including the way mirrors reflect light, and the way a lot of greenery outside can made a room look greener), and of course the mood that you want to create. You can choose a cooler white with a tint of blue to it, or a warmer one with a little gold or rose.

One of the most common mistakes in choosing wall color is not realizing the color will be darker and deeper once it’s on the wall. What looks on the paint swatch like a pale whisper of slightly rosy-white will scream “PINK” once you have a whole wall of it. You have to be especially careful of this when choosing a white that has a tint to it, and it’s best if you can paint a large sample of a wall before doing the whole room.

We found some helpful photos and comments at Sapid Spaces and at Northwest Renovation.

 Do you have this problem with whites? Have you found a solution?

Beadboard...in Colors?!?

You would think your faithful Stylehound would know the answer to this, but really, I’m stumped: what colors can you paint wooden beadboard? Is it a crime to use anything but bright white?  Here is one of the rooms in question, with new beadboard just installed on the walls.

We've done both the kitchen and bath with beadboard, and now we're faced with the challenge of having to stain or paint them; the raw wood looks so pretty, but bright white would be nice in the kitchen, and we don't want the bathroom to look like a sauna by staining the walls rather than painting them.

So, should the kitchen be done with a light stain, maintaining the wood look, and then the bath with a bright white? Or the kitchen in a bright white and the bath in a color? That's what we're leaning toward, but if that’s a good idea, then what color can possibly work with beadboard?

I am crying out to you, Dear Reader, for serious help. Time is of the essence, as the beadboard will warp unless it’s painted or stained. Please post any ideas, answers, suggestions, or directions to the Asylum for the Beadboard Insane below.

From Sea To Table

We’re all familiar now with the idea of re-use, re-duce, and re-cyle in everything from the way we shop for food to the way we decorate our homes. Now, Shipwreck Furniture is taking the idea of creating great design to another level---sea level, you might say.

(Photo: Shipwreck Furniture )

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The Upside to Upside Down Plants

File under wacky ideas we love: the Boskke Sky Planter, designed by Patrick Morris, which comes to us from green land of New Zealand. If you live in an apartment where space is at a premium, or if you have pesky cats who think of potted plants as salad, or if you just want a refreshing way to add some green life to your home, look no further.

Photo: Boskke Sky Planter

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Super Nova: Sheffield's Jewelry Instructor

We can’t help it: we’ve got to brag about the talents of Nova Colette Bronstein, our firecracker of an instructor in what’s proving to be the best online Course in Jewelry Design ---the one offered here at the Sheffield School, of course! Nova’s work is thoroughly contemporary, wending along the border between the soft and the rough, the sharp-edged and the gently curved.

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