susan has been involved design since 1980. She enjoys all aspects of owning a business as well as working with clients with their home and business redecorating projects. Susan started writing articles for Times Publishing Co. in Erie, Pa in 2006 and then for the Daily Press in St. Marys, Pa in 2010 to share her expertise and experiences.

2012 colors

Each year arrives with a new color palette.  I have talked about this in previous years.  There is a panel of people from around the world that create, select and gather color mixes for all the industries to use for everything from fashion, home goods, appliances and cars.  Also the paint industry keeps up with all of this and introduces a mix of paint colors for the year.  Some of these paint colors are newly developed ones, and some are existing ones that fit well into the years palette;

Sherwin Williams put together 40 colors.  There are four categories with each having 10 colors in them.  The categories are;

• Blues – to quote them ‘Take a fearless plunge into cosmic mystery, wade into deeper water, peer through a telescope delivering the wild blue yonder.  Oceanic, tidal, celestial, there’s that pea coat we will have forever, there our memory of Paul Newman’s eyes. From low-down Delta blues, to a simple summer sky, we have a million reasons why we sometimes feel like you.  What is more royal that blue?
• Greens – Mother Earth, kelp lashed against the shore, chlorophyll pulsing through the leaf deck, Japanese tea.  The color of nourishment.  This glorious, endless menu of you; lettuce, forest and foliage, canopy, cash and camouflage.  A golf course spills
• over the desert, a lizard suns himself against a rock.  Green originally meant ‘to grow’- no wonder that when we’re you we’re new!
• Neutrals – If you’ve taught us anything, it is how we can all get along, how we can take charge of a situation with just a whisper.  Like the sounds of sunlight falling across grass drying in fields, natural linen flapping on a line,  or porcelain in the moment it cools beside the kiln.  Wheat, pear, khaki, cream – when we say neutral we mean trust, the shades of truth that protect us from extremes, the tranquil ground where we all aspire to stand.
• Reds You were the first pigments we brushed on the cave wall, ground from the earth, and ancient handprint, a hunter’s arrow still chasing its target.  You precede the works we are left with to describe you; aboriginal, Neolithic, blood and fire, danger and victory.  You are our past made suddenly present and the warm heat of the transformation; the V on a Masai warrior’s chest, the kiss left by a Hollywood starlet.  We’ll never solve your eternal mystery.

Here is the listing of colors, some are my favorites that I have been using the past few years mixed in with totally new ones to create a fresh new look.  It is interesting to see how these colors play off each other.  They will make great combinations with walls, fabric, wallpaper and carpeting or throw rugs.

Neutrals

SW6390 Bosc Pear

SW 6120 Believable Buff

SW6150 Universal khaki

SW6074 spalding gray

SW7012 creamy

SW6115 totally tan

SW6108 Latte

SW6132 relic bronze

SW6689 overjoy

Sw7641 collonade gray

Greens 

SW6194 basil

SW6747 argyle

SW6467 kendal  green

SW6751 refresh

SW6489 really teal

SW6223 still water

SW6477 tidewater

SW6173 cocoon

SW6939 turquish

 Blues 

SW6957 undercool

SW6958 Dynamic blue

SW6809 Lobelia

SW6810 lupine

SW6239 upward

SW6523 denim

SW6543 soulful blue

SW6242 bracing blue

SW6244 Naval

SW6811 honorable blue

Reds

SW6300 burgundy

SW6293 fabulous grape

SW6020 marooned

SW6839 kimono violet

SW6321 red bay

SW6341 red cent

SW6331 smoky salmon

SW6882 Daredevil

This client had this wall in her living room that is not part of the conversation area.  It is opposite the window adjacent to the fireplace.  You walk past this space as you enter the room from the foyer, so it is important that it is inviting yet she always kept it empty for a path into the room.  We added an architectural element by installing a beautiful wall panel and  chose these small chairs and this wonderful mirror. This little idea can work for you.

Use these rods for stationary treatments or they can traverse for a functional drapery as well!  They are available in a huge assortment of finishes and colors.