“Paint to Sell” Best neutral colors to help sell your home

From Star Tribune, September 20,2009

1. Ground Ginger from Behr: “A pale olive that is not too overwhelming,” says house stager Monica Murphy of Preferred Staging in Loudoun County, VA.

2. Kilim Beige from Sherwin-Williams: “This khaki color makes the house more useful-looking, covers up flaws and has a very crisp look,” according to Lynn Chevalier with Staged Right in Falls Church, VA.

3. Marshmallow from Sherwin-Williams: Recommended by Lynn Chevalier of Staged Right in Falls Church, VA “for near-white paint trim.”

4. Pale Smoke from Benjamin Moore: “This is a soothing pale blue-gray that reflects well in photos and is good for bedrooms” says Leigh Newport of Staged by Design in Leesburg, VA.

5. Rain from Sherwin-Williams: Lyric Turner from Lyric Turner Red House Staging in Washington, DC recommends this smokey blue for bathrooms because “most homes have white bathroom fixtures.”


6. Rice Paddy from Duron: Deb Gorham, a real estate agent in Clifton, VA likes to use it on accent walls, especially “in kitchens above the sink area.” She says “celery green goes well with uba tuba granite counters.”


7. Wickham Gray from Benjamin Moore: “Use to cover up bright colors, especially red dining rooms which need to be neutralized,” says Buckalew of Omni Home Staging


8. Woodmont Cream from Benjamin Moore: “This pale, neutral color helps make rooms look brighter and airy, even in small spaces. It also goes well with oak cabinets,” says Cindy Fortin of Cynthia Anne Interiors in Loudoun County, VA.

Other tips:
*It’s OK to not re-paint children’s rooms, as this can be too upsetting to them
*Bathrooms can done in more whimsical colors, like pumpkin, deeper green or silver gray (according to Monica Murphey)

New Mexico News! Plus a recap for the New Mexico readers

I will be attending the Annual Landowners Meeting and will have a table Saturday afternoon, August 15th at the Mountainair Activity Complex with builders, contractors and fellow designers. I am also donating two books, stained glass artwork and 1 hour of free design consultation to the auction. I’d love to meet my new neighbors and further discuss my Kitchen and Bath Design services.


“Fear No Color” tips from article in Su Casa Magazine, Author Linda Applewhite

• Take cues from nature
• Select colors that resonate with who you are: colors of your own skin tone, eyes and hair
• Choose warm colors, especially if your climate is not warm in the winter
• Notice the colors of your clothing, dishes, artwork, and fabrics
• Select colors with the same feeling: toned colors, pastel colors, jewel-toned colors or primary colors
• Select colors that are next to each other on the color wheel such as red, orange and gold. To add POP, accent these colors with complimentary shades (in this case, blue and green)
• Add some white and black or brown to a room to accentuate the presence of all colors
• Repeat your color palette throughout your property and don’t forget the garden!

Tangletown Art and Garden Snapshots July 25th, 2009

What a fun and inspiring event! I relayed the Tangletown Garden and Art tour last March as “Christine’s Pick of the Month.” Sorry I forgot to remind you closer to the event! I had fun taking photos at the event and would like to share them with you and relate them as inspirations for more uses of color in your homes.

“The Color and Texture Forecast”

Candy Red: Chantal Granier, Artistic Advisor at Baccarat says that “Red is a timeless color and emblematic of our company. It is the color of energy and movement, and of the message of hope and vitality that Baccarat wishes to transmit for the year to come.”





Persimmon: According to Dee Dee Gundberg, Senior Designer at Ann Sacks, “In the past years, cream, white, gray and beige have been popular colors in the tile worlds. For a hospitality setting today, you need to be different.”






Cool Grey: Judy Robbins, Sales and Marketing Director at Silverstate Textiles says “Gray is the neutral platform onto which we pin our hopes and desires. It is the reset button. All the colors that we put next to grey look brighter, especially magenta and chartreuse green.”





Rich Purple: Laura Guido-Clark, Principal at LG-C Design commented “The new red-purple is rich, jewel-like, eye-catching and fetching. And unlike red, it is subtle and sophisticated.”







Neutral Black: Nicole Wittwer, Product Manager for Color at Kohler says that “There has been an increased use of color in the kitchen, and now people are thinking more about how they pair the sink with the countertop material. The neutral black Kohler Fireclay Sink has a honed finish.”

Mimosa: Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director at the Pantone Color Institute reported “Mimosa, a warm, engaging yellow, is the 2009 Pantone color of the year. In a time of economic uncertainty, optimism is paramount - and no other color expresses hope and reassurance more than yellow.”

Looking for a fun artful event? Try the upcoming Art-A-Whirl!

*NE Minneapolis, May 15-17th, 2009!*

Art-A-Whirl is an open-studio and gallery tour of Northeast Minneapolis. It is an enticing event that calls and welcomes local and regional visitors who want to see the art being produced in the NE.

Christine will have a display at:

Susan Fryer Voigt Studio/Gallery

Northrup King Building
Dock 5
1500 Jackson St. NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
svoigt@visi.com
651-353-5045


“My artistic goal is to explore the strengths and limitations of art materials while showing my personal view of the world. Art materials can be mixed and co-mingled to create dazzling effects, a landscape's subtle colors can be transformed into vibrant hues, and simple still life forms pushed into new shapes and colors. The dull can blossom into beauty through artistic vision, innovation and creativity". Susan Fryer Voigt

Click here for a map of NE Minneapolis

GIVE GREEN A GO!

From Decorating with Green, Real Simple, April 2009

COLOR IS STILL THE BEST WAY TO SET A MOOD AND ADD SOME CHARACTER TO A ROOM!

HOW TO ADD GREEN TO A ROOM:
1. Mix shades. Temper strong greens with wild ones. Lime green looks beautiful with forest or olive green.
2. Consider scales and motifs when adding patterns. Create a layered look by combining large-scale prints with small and florals with geometrics.
3. Vary textures. Heavy textures such as velvet or a pile rug help to tone down busy patterns.
4. Add a natural touch with plants, moss and greenish flowers.
5. Choose a green rug for a big burst of color!
6. Add a splash of green with accessories, such as table runners, dishes and artwork!

Como Park: Japanese Garden Path (left), Watercolor Mono Print enhanced with metallic acrylics and ink. Peacocks (middle), Dandelions (right), Experimental Ink and Acrylic painting.All three above by Susan Fryer Voigt.

FOUR FOOLPROOF GREEN COMBINATIONS:

Natural look: Moss green & soft blue; stick with colors of nature!

Soothing look: Sea foam green & chocolate brown; often used by spas!

Fresh look: Kelly green & bright white; the contrast makes it POP!

Playful look: Lime green & soft pink; ideal for a playroom, nursery or bathroom!

Welcome to Spring and design inspiration!

Spring is in the air and that means sunshine, blue skies, flowers and COLOR!!!! It also means Home and Garden shows!

I just finished exhibiting March 1st at the Home Remodeling Fair in Hopkins, MN and attendance was high. In spite of the current economic climate, people are giving thought to improving their spaces so they will be ready to sell when the tide changes!

My next event is on March 28, 2009 at the South Minneapolis Housing and Home Improvement Fair at Minneapolis South High School. I will be a featured speaker at the event, presenting “Current Trends in Kitchen Design” at 1pm in Room 126. I’d love to see you there!

Here are some recent color tips I would love to share with you!

First of all, look at the Minneapolis Star Tribune issue from March 4th in the Homestyle section for The Color Marketing Group’s annual outlook for color trends in 6 categories! They are called “Colors that make us happy.” Here are the 2009 color mood-makers!

• Yellow: cheerfulness, hope, energy, creativity, caution
• Purple: calm, uniqueness, meditation, bravery, royalty, spirituality
• Red: warmth, love, valor, glamour, celebration, danger
• White: cold, purity, cleanliness, goodness, austerity
• Black: opulence, sophistication, drama, gloom, dread
• Green: nature, nurturing, fertility, restfulness, luck, jealousy
• Blue: tranquility, mystery, freshness, uniqueness
• Orange: warmth, exoticism, excitement, sociability, change
• My favorites above are… yellow, purple, green, blue and orange!


“Fear No Color” tips from article in Su Casa Magazine, Author Linda Applewhite

• Take cues from nature
• Select colors that resonate with who you are: colors of your own skin tone, eyes and hair
• Choose warm colors, especially if your climate is not warm in the winter
• Notice the colors of your clothing, dishes, artwork, and fabrics
• Select colors with the same feeling: toned colors, pastel colors, jewel-toned colors or primary colors
• Select colors that are next to each other on the color wheel such as red, orange and gold. To add POP, accent these colors with complimentary shades (in this case, blue and green)
• Add some white and black or brown to a room to accentuate the presence of all colors
• Repeat your color palette throughout your property and don’t forget the garden!

More Global Color Influences: San Miguel De Allende Jan 6-16

I was recently able to escape the cold and snow for a week by visiting my favorite colonial town in Mexico, San Miguel de Allende. Everywhere you look in this very artistic, quaint mountain town you see beauty in the surroundings of the local Mexicans. My friend was able to show me around several renovated homes in the area, which gave me a lot of inspiration for my future kitchen and bath designs. The first home was in the process of being renovated by a woman originally from Edina, Minnesota. She added a new floor and completely gutted and changed the floor plan. She did the basic structure all in shades of white and light gray and assured me that she would use splashes of red in dishes, rugs and artwork. Notice the lack of wall cabinets in the kitchen and the concrete counters, sink and concrete rope molding on the open shelves. The local stone is called Cantera and it is used everywhere. She was able to locate the “rare” white version nearby in another mountain town for her floors and steps. Additional beams were reproduced to match with the concrete. I can’t wait to see the finished home and I will try and post photos later with her permission.

The second home was also very interesting to me because it was the home/studio/gallery of an American artist. She is known for her bronze sculptures, but is currently showing handmade paper art pieces, which are very sculptural in their own right. Her space is amazing! She completely gutted the space and with the help of a like-minded architect made a very open, contemporary space which truly reflected her personality and her unique, creative art! The main floor functioned as her living space/gallery and the kitchen was a rounded bar right in the middle. Again, no wall cabinets here. The staircase wall behind became room to display her beautiful art! The stove, sink and dishwasher were hidden behind the bar and the refrigerator, tall cabinets and bar sink were located on the wall to the left of the kitchen bar. Everything was very planned, esthetically beautiful and all in tune with showcasing her art. The colors were all neutrals, grays, white and black, but she used texture to make it all very interesting (which in turn tied in with the texture of the paper pieces). There is also a photo of the bathroom which used a lot of natural elements.

The third home was completely gutted and located on a hillside so that you entered the house by going down to the main level in an enclosed, expansive stone staircase with teal and fuchsia walls. The inside was sectioned into three separate “apartments” for a women from New York and her mother. The colors used were more typically Mexican with lime green, bright yellow and orange in the main floor living space and other contemporary color combinations in both women’s apartments. The mother had previously been an artist and her art was perfect in the colorful environment! The kitchens had teal-stained concrete and typical yellow Mexican tile, open shelves with bright Mexican dinnerware and glasses and an interesting glass cover on top of the range. I very much related to this home because the colors were my “soul’s desire” and I could see myself living in this cheerful space. She also had an interesting study, outdoor lower patio and a GORGEOUS rooftop with all my favorite colors, including lime green and aqua. She designed a typical Mexican Palupa, but took it up an extra notch with her own version of “Global Color.” The first photo of this entry is me on their great rooftop - I feel like I am in lime green/aqua heaven!

I hope these photos also give you some inspiration and take you away from this gloomy weather we seem to be stuck in. If you want to learn more about San Miguel de Allende, try this interesting memoir: “On Mexican Time: A New Life in San Miguel” by Tony Cohan.

The home I stayed in is available to rent from my friend here in Minneapolis.
Please contact me for more information on this contemporary 3-bedroom home with 2 baths and 4 patios within walking distance to center of town and surrounding art schools.