REMODELING KICK-OFF: The Perfect Shade of Blue (Part 3)

As a reminder, here is the Benjamin Moore paint color, Rhine River 689 At night, the wall color I have just added in my foyer is much richer and deeper and looks like a very grayed duck egg. It is so pretty and different all during the day. A color such as this – that changes dramatically with the light – is right up my alley! Using blues can sometimes be a bit tricky, since as my fellow designer and friend, Susan, said it best, “Blues can feel very sleepy, or simply… well, just TOO BLUE!”. Often the grey undertone can make the a blue seem drab and dreary, but that is not the case with this particular shade of “blue”, since it is brightened and changed with a lovely splash of green. Not only is my foyer paint color (“Rhine River” by Benjamin Moore) a beautiful “new neutral” , but it also has many different shade elements which will allow it to be easily incorporated throughout all the other rooms in my home. For example, in my living room, I will have rich, creamy walls but will use my foyer color on the ceiling. My hallways right off the foyer will be a horizontal stripe of Rhine River and a rich shade of cream. The back of a shelf in the dining room will also have the color and I bought some wonderful crewel pillows whose backgrounds are the color. In addition, I will have pillows made from several different fabrics that blend beautifully with this FAB paint color! As I have mentioned in several other blog posts, it is soooo important to have a specific wall color “direction” that carries throughout your entire home. If you follow this rule of thumb, it will add an element of continuity that connects all of the spaces into one collaborative entity. This is one of the fabrics that I plan to blend with my new blue/green shade in the foyer. It is called Tea Blossom, in Festival, and is made by Kravet. Kravet fabric sample, by Thom Filicia. Its name is City Square, in Wild Rose. This fabric will probably find its way on to a pillow or two. Love the coral shade! On a side note, I had a bit of paint crisis today! When the painters were just about to start adding the 2nd layer of color to the foyer walls, I suddenly realized that the paint did not appear to be the exact shade as the original sample paint!? Sure enough, when the two paints were compared, they were indeed slightly different! When it was all said-and-done, the paint had to be re-mixed…. and reapplied! For this reason, it is always wise to double-check your paint color prior to adding your 2nd coat, just to be certain a mix-up such as this has not occurred. Stay tuned for future photos and progress reports on my latest project! NOW, GO HAVE AN “It’s So Fabulous!” DAY! July 15th, 2010 | Tags: Benjamin Moore, Blue, Charleston interior designer, City Square, coral, cream, Florence interior designer, Kimberly Grigg, Kravat, Kravet, Myrtle Beach Interior Designer, paint, Pawleys Island Interior Designer, remodel, Rhine River, Tea Blossom, Tom Filicia, walls, Wilmington interior designer | Category: Ask Kimberly, Before and After Makeovers, Blue, Bright Green, Color Trends, Design Trends, Foyers, Gray, Paint colors, Renovations * Lori Miller July 22nd, 2011 at 4:39 pm · Reply Hi Kimberly!
I recently came across your site and love it! I wanted to ask since you’ve seen it in person, the Thom Filicia fabric above, City Square in Wild Rose, would you say that its definitely a coral color rather than rose? My bathroom is blues/greens and I want to do some roman shades in coral and love this fabric but want to be sure its coral and not another shade. Thanks for your time!
Lori * Susan July 13th, 2012 at 11:07 am · Reply I had drapes made for my breakfast room from the City Square fabric (Wild Rose color). Now I want to have some upholstered dining chairs made for the round table (cherry) in this room. What fabric would you suggest? Also up for painting the walls – what color would tie everything together? Thanks!! * Kimberly Grigg August 5th, 2012 at 7:21 am · Reply IT is hard to know without photos and more of the exact colors. Would you like to set up a consultation? email me at kimberly@knottinghillinteriors.com