Style & Decor Blog

I loved how my colleague Margot Austin responded to the always-difficult “what’s your fave paint colour” question in a recent interview (which you can read here). Instead of choosing a specific hue, the divine Miss M said her current obsession isn’t a colour, but rather a finish. “I’m planning to paint my house in a deep dark high gloss finish,” she says. “Very Billy Baldwin.” Now, Margot’s new dilemma is narrowing down her current glossy options – chocolate, navy or charcoal grey. I’d love to see her go navy, if only because I fell in love with this Miles Redd-designed interior that originally ran in the July 2009 issue of House Beautiful, which took Farrow & Ball’s Hague Blue No. 30 down the lacquered route. The high-gloss finish adds such a rich depth of colour. So decadent and glamorous! (The drop-dead herringbone floor and superconfident hits of orange don’t hurt, either.)

Source: House Beautiful, photography by Thomas Loof

Source: House Beautiful, photography by Thomas Loof

Source: House Beautiful, photography by Thomas Loof

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There’s always a slew of pretty n’ pink items that come out in October in honour of Breast Cancer Awareness, and Sico’s developed one of the coolest in this year’s range…

For each gallon of disappearing-pink Flat for Ceilings Paint that’s sold, Sico will make a contribution of $1.25 to the Canadian Cancer Society. Sico’s goal? Selling 40,000 cans, resulting in $50,000 towards vital breast cancer studies.

Flat for Ceilings latex paint rolls on pink and dries to white, ensuring you don’t miss a spot. Pick some up today to get the job done right in your home, and to make a difference in someone’s life.

Price: $27 per gallon

Available at: Sico, 800-463-7426

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Benjamin Moore’s Black Satin 2131-10 

Does your home have what it takes to be Canada’s Next Top Makeover?

(Alright, that’s not the real name of the competition. I’ve just been seeing waaaay too much of Tyra lately.)

Benjamin Moore wants you to flex your decorating muscle and flaunt your most inspiring makeover project for a chance to win big in its new Share Your Style competition.

“We’re searching for homeowners whose unsung decorating achievements are inspiration for others and worthy of recognition,” says Helen Mullet, Benjamin Moore Brand Marketing Manager. “The Share Your Style competition is a decorating beauty pageant of a different colour. It’s being conducted online where contestants will post their before and after room photos and voters can cast their ballots for their favourites, decided the top 10 finalists. Then, a distinguished panel of designers will determine the nation’s best and the top winner from among those 10 contenders.”

What are judges looking for? Criteria will include colour choices, materials and textures, scale, composition and overal drab-to-fab impact.

The big payoff — the “handsome reward” (for all of you who are old enough to remember MTV’s Road Rules from the ’90s!) — is a tour of the winning room on CityLine (YAY!) with Benjamin Moore colour expert Sharon Grech; PLUS a $5,000 gift certificate for Benjamin Moore Painting and Decorating Services, PLUS an LG TrueSteam washer and dryer! That’s absolutely HUGE! So exciting.

What’s more, everyone who votes for the top 10 is entered in a sweepstakes drawing, and one lucky entry will be randomly drawn to win a $2,500 Benjamin Moore makeover prize.

For more information, including details on how to enter, visit Benjamin Moore’s Share Your Style competition website here! Good luck!

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How much am I loving orange lately? I find myself drawn to citrus-hued accents more and more, and although I love the sprightly spring hits of lime, orange and yellow grapefruit, it’s the orange that really speaks to me. I’m putting it down to an absurdly harsh — and drawn-out — winter, and dreams of vacationing in Florida. I really miss that curiously Floridian musk of dampness cut with the acidic tang of orange groves… Even if the effect is all in your mind, it honestly does rejuvenate.

The orange swatches above are from Benjamin Moore’s Virtual Fan Deck, which, if you want to do some research before heading into the home dec centre to pick up samples, can save you a bit of time. Nothing substitutes for the real swatches, of course, but at least you can start your hunt for hues from the comfort of home with this handy little feature!

The oft-achromatic Interior Design Show certainly benefitted from the vibrant burst of colour provided by Boston-based Chroma Lab, making their debut at the Studio North space. I was instantly drawn to their brilliant wall clocks (at top right of the image above): birch plywood faces, adorned with super-cool patterns painted in lively low-VOC Benjamin Moore Aura Collection hues. Chroma Lab founders, Alicia Cornwell and Tony Bevilacqua have an eye for graphic punch — not to mention an eye for fab vintage furnishings. The desk and telephone table were thrifty finds that the duo repaired, redesigned and repainted for a fresh lease on life. Great green design!

6.5 to 9.5″ Chroma Lab wall clocks

Price: about $75 US each 

Available at: Chroma Lab at Supermarket

If you snapped up the January 2009 issue of STYLE AT HOME, you might remember the paint colour forecast for 2009 that I produced for the “Home & Style” section. Debbie Travis has weighed in on her predictions for the new year’s palette, and came up with a stunning combo of four of her paint colours — a combination she’s referring to as “Passage” — that she says fits her “Dramatic” bill for Fall 2009:

“The borderlines between vintage and current, past and present, blur with a wide acceptance of global culture and quest for originality. These earthy, timeless neutrals provide a backdrop for treasures and accents of leather and rich woods. Warm, intense shades in this mood evoke feelings of solidity, quality, durability and authenticity.”

From left:

D3A - Cloud Dance (A wonderful lavender grey - one of my favourite colours right now.)

D2A - Sultry Satin (SO sexy… I’ve always wanted to do a dining room in this colour!)

CM22N - Silent Mist

D5A - Truffle

Price: From $45 per gallon

Available at: Canadian Tire, 866-746-7287

Palette #3: ” Unexpected Synergy”

Hadley Red HC-65 (chimney breast)

Dried Mustard 2158-10 (adjacent walls)

Gray 2120-10 (base)

“For the daring and adventuresome seeking a design statement that surprises, delights and jolts all at the same time, ‘Unexpected Synergy’ uses the power of colour to achieve unique patterns,” says Benjamin Moore Canada’s colour and design manager, Sharon Grech. “The ‘Unexpected Synergy’ palette unites intense, warm colours with cooler, organic neutrals. It’s a palette that could serve well when a room refresh is called for, rather than a complete recreation.”

Available at: Benjamin Moore, 800-361-5898

So… Which of these three palettes strike your fancy?

Palette #2: “Nature’s Essence”

Timid White OC-39 (right wall)

Sea Haze 2137-50 (left wall)

Pale Avocado 2146-40 (ceiling)

Sharon Grech, colour and design manager for Benjamin Moore in Canada, says the “Nature’s Essence” palette is all about bringing the outdoors in. “Palest tints are inspired by sand, shells and hazy skies. Deeper organics are borrowed from peat, rust and exotic fruits. Raw materials help tell the interior story of Nature’s Essence.”

Available at: Benjamin Moore, 800-361-5898

The January issue of STYLE AT HOME is hitting stands now, and that means it’s paint predictions time again! I’ve opened our Home & Style section this time around with a gallery of hues that the various paint companies are forecasting as faves for 2009. Each of Canada’s major paint manufacturers have design teams who keep and eye on colour trends — largely influenced by couture — and it’s always cool to see how creations for the catwalk translate into colours for the home. 

Benjamin Moore has summed up the look of 2009 in three different colour-trend stories as part of their “Colours For Your Home 2009″ colour card that will be available at retailers in the new year. Which one is your fave? I want your verdict on each!

Palette #1: “Personal Imprint”

Black Satin 2131-10 (fireplace)

Gossamer Blue 2123-40 (lounge area)

Brookside Moss 2145-30 (home office nook)

Does the code “CC-40″ mean anything to you? Chances are, you’ve painted your ceiling and/or trim in this colour — better known as Benjamin Moore’s Cloud White — at some point over the past 20 years. The iconic warm-white was, for a very long time, the *only* white in the Canadian design community, and a staple of any design show’s “Ask An Expert” solution to your decorating dilemmas. But why this particular white, amongst the hundreds of options out there? Maria Killam, a Vancouver-based colour designer, addresses this very question in her lovely blog, “Colour Me Happy”. Check out Maria’s tips on how to get white right, and exactly when in the design process that white should be chosen.

What’s your fave white? I’d love to hear from you!