Online ordering just got easier!

I have been busy updating my online store where you can purchase paint samples and paint. I do a lot of this work myself, so I’m afraid it’s not as professional as I’d like, but I love not having to depend on anyone else to do it. I have streamlined the products so that every color we have ever created is listed in the drop down menu for each of our individual samples and each paint product has the finish options, along with the colors available in that particular product. Every week we’ll be adding more colors available in the Pure Performance VOC-free product. Since we have very few of our colors reformulated in the Manor Hall product, there is now a box where you can type in the color. Just know to plan ahead because we most likely will have to create a formula for whatever color you order. I recently used the Manor Hall for a Master Bedroom Suite addition I just finished and featured it in my last newsletter. The color we used is called “Redwood Rose” and is our full spectrum formula of an old A. Hayes Town color used in the conference room in the Steele Burden Memorial Orangerie in Baton Rouge.

   “Redwood Rose” on walls & ceiling with “Edgewood Green” trim.

The Manor Hall is an excellent product, just a little more expensive than our other products. My new pup Winston likes the label as much as I do!

Winston loves the Manor Hall product. Just remember to order at least a week in advance so we have time to create a formula!

So check out the new online store! Order Full Spectrum Samples & Paint  Look for my next Living Well newsletter featuring more on the above project and a new event venue in Baton Rouge, “The Guru” next week!

“Perfect Place in Nature” Palettes, the First of Many

When I was living in New York, I found the energy of the city so stimulating that in order to fall asleep at night, I would listen to calming, self-hypnosis tapes as I would drift off. The tapes always began by having me visualize my “perfect place in nature”, so I’d visualize myself lying in a hammock looking up at tall trees, high above a babbling creek. One day, a friend invited me to a lecture given by “Sun Bear”, an Indian chief and author of several books. His talk was about the importance of nature and how we were meant to live in harmony with nature.

Several days later, some of the city’s underground steam heat pipes burst up through the sidewalks spewing boiling water and asbestos up into the air just blocks from my apartment. I took this as “a sign” and left the city soon after, returning to my native state of Louisiana.

Fond memories of Louisiana’s beautiful West Feliciana Parish and its charming town of St. Francisville beckoned. I called the first realtor listed in its yellow pages and described the type of property I was looking for: Several acres with so many trees that I would have very little yard to mow, so private that I could see company coming before they could see me, and if it were at all possible, a babbling creek.

Later that day, the realtor showed me property with all of those features. It was perfect. Several weeks later, as my home was being built, I was lying in a hammock looking up at the 100′ tall trees supporting it, about 25 feet above Alexander Creek, and it hit me! Creative visualization really does work, even unintentionally! If such things as serenity are important to you, think of the way you feel in your “perfect place in nature”.

Your home should be emotionally comforting. If it doesn’t lift your spirits at the end of a hectic day, it’s not living up to its obligations as a place of refuge and retreat. According to the ancient Chinese art of Feng Shui (which means wind and water), the design of your interior spaces should echo nature, balancing the five elements of earth, water, fire, metal and wood, with earth being the central element. These elements contain all matter and together create “chi”, the vital energy that connects man to earth and beyond. When all of these elements combine in a space, as they do in nature, they create a greater whole that becomes the space’s aura. Their interaction promotes a direct connection between your own breath of life and the spaces you occupy.

Based on this theory, I  created my line of Full Spectrum Paints and will be posting “Perfect Place in Nature” palettes to help inspire you to create your own sanctuary. Today, I’ll start with my own palette (Buttercream, Ashen Green, Magnolia, Azure, Alexandra Blue & Light Terracotta).

The main living area wall color “Buttercream” was chosen because this soft, creamy yellow creates an atmosphere that promotes hopefulness and communication, stimulates creativity and the intellect. It has been featured in more than one issue of House Beautiful Magazine and two of their books. In the House Beautiful iPad App, Buttercream is one of only two colors that is touted as both “calming & happy”!

“Buttercream” walls & ceilings with “Ashen Green” trim. Photo by the late Sandy Johnson.

I used “Ashen Green” trim on all millwork since my small cabin is in the woods surrounded by lots of lush greenery. Although this is a gray-green with blue undertones, it also works well with the browner, mossy greens, which are in both of my sofas. The Master Bedroom is painted “Magnolia” and because it is small and there are so many windows and doors, I painted the trim in this room the same color. Although Magnolia is a dark color, it embraces the coziness of the small room and connects you to the outdoors–like being on a porch! Also, the color green is THE most healing color and like all cool colors, it is very soothing and restful.

“Magnolia” used on walls, ceiling, trim and even the fan blades! Photo by Kerri McCaffety.

The Guest Room is painted “Azure”, a sunny pale sky blue that studies have shown to induce sleep and reduce inflammation–known as the “Florence Nightingale” color.

Walls & ceilings are “Azure” with “Ashen Green” used on trim and chest. Dutch beds on each side are upholstered in blue cotton fabric. Photo by the late Sandy Johnson.

You’ll note from the photos that all walls and ceilings are painted the same color which softens the space and cloaks it in color. I especially do this for cathedral ceilings and low-ceiling rooms with no crown molding because it visually raises the ceiling height. My daughter Alexandra’s room is painted “Alexandra Blue”, the color of the sky at twilight. This color is so relaxing, I often hang out in her room when she’s away at school. The periwinkle undertone makes the color so misty, you want to put your hand out to touch the walls as they seem cloud like.

“Alexandra Blue” walls & ceiling, “Ashen Green” trim. Hallway is also “Ashen Green” with “Buttercream” in great room beyond.

The Master Bathroom was originally painted “Light Terracotta” which is both cheerful and flattering to skin tones. The Euro Guest Bath walls are handmade tiles in the same color with a “Mykonos Blue” ceiling. I had artist Sally Conklin paint over the Master Bath walls and ceiling telling her “I want to feel like I am outdoors in a Monet painting”, so she came through in a big way incorporating the original color.

Eurobath has custom-made tiles to match our “Light Terracotta” color. Ceiling is “Mykonos Blue”. Tiles by artist Mary Kay Davis & photo by Kerri McCaffety.

Master Bath walls painted over “Light Terracotta” by artist Sally Conklin, owner of Circa 1857 in Baton Rouge. Photo by Kerri McCaffety.

Left to Right: Ashen Green, Buttercream, Azure, Magnolia, Alexandra Blue & Light Terracotta Full Spectrum Paints

If you’d like samples of these colors, we have many different types, including free hand-painted samples that can be ordered at our online store on our website, ellenkennon.com.

Our Full Spectrum Version of “Silver Sage”

One of the most popular paint colors on the market is Restoration Hardware’s “Silver Sage”. We created a full spectrum version for color consultant Kate Smith of the wildly popular SensationalColor.com as her signature color for our Designer Palette. Here’s what Kate had to say about her experiences with having both the original Restoration Hardware color and our full spectrum version that she renamed “H2 Ahh!”:

“I just repainted my office using H2 Ahh!, my signature color from Ellen’s Designer’s Palette. I had originally painted my bedroom this color with “not full spectrum” blended paint from another company.  When Ellen invited me to be one of the designers in her line I knew I wanted my signature blue/green/gray and she formulated it as a full spectrum blend.

With just a quick glance you might think that the two rooms are painted the same color but I can tell you that after spending lots of time in both rooms that I am amazed at how much more life a paint blended from full spectrum pigments has.  The walls seem to come alive and the biggest difference is that the full spectrum paint stays beautiful even in dimmer lighting conditions.

Living with the same color–one full spectrum, one not–in two rooms in my own home has sold me on the value of full spectrum paints.”

Although I haven’t been able to get a photo of Kate’s office in “H2 Ahh!”, friend and client Keith Koppens sent me this photo of it in the bathroom of a home he just put on the market in Baton Rouge’s Garden District:

"H2 Ahh!" walls is our full spectrum version of "Silver Sage"

Another popular color that is a warm green version of this chameleon-like color is our “Sage”. Here’s a photo of one of the bedrooms in Keith’s house:

"Sage" is on of our most chameleon-like colors

Both “H2 Ahh!” and “Sage” were used in other rooms in the home along with “Wheat” that was used in the Living and Kitchen areas:

"Wheat" subtly brightens this Kitchen

What’s great about this color palette is that it includes both warm and cool colors, yet they are earthy colors from nature so they feel really good.  Because they are full spectrum they will coordinate much more easily with whatever furnishings a new owner might have.  We used the cooler colors in the bedrooms because they are mental colors bringing you into yourself, whereas the warm colors like “Wheat” promote physical activities like communication and kitchen tasks.  Interested in Keith’s Baton Rouge, Louisiana Garden District home that’s for sale? Here’s the link to the realtor’s website: MSL Listing

If you’d like hand-painted samples of these colors, email me at ellen@ellenkennon.com and I’ll get them right out to you!

Violet Update: The inspiring qualities of Violet

In my last newsletter (Living Well Summer 2009), I mentioned Owen Kemp’s “Violet” attic boudoir-bedroom but did not include a photo.  Since then, another paint client emailed me a photo of her master bedroom that she painted Violet in her old house.  However, she has since moved into a new house where the woodwork is stained a dark brown and her husband (like many!) would not let her paint over it.  She was asking whether or not the Violet would look good with the dark brown trim.  Well, although Violet looks great with crisp white, it also is naturally compatible with earthy browns as you can see in the photos I snapped with my handy iPhone (hence the reason they are not great) of both Owen’s attic bedroom/boudoir and Kim’s previous master bedroom:

View into Owen’s Bedroom

Owen’s “Boudoir” (i.e. dressing room) complete with Jacuzzi!

Kim’s Master Bedroom in Previous House

As you can see, Violet can have more than one look (& feeling)!  As a color, Violet is a very spiritual color (it’s the color of the crown chakra) that promotes inspiration and humility and stimulates dream activity. A true violet is 50% blue and 50% red, therefore it is the balance of the physical and spiritual and is a reminder that we need both aspects within our life for balanced health. It is calming and healing and great for meditation. Leonardo DaVinci believed that the power of meditation could be magnified ten-fold under the violet light falling through the stained glass window of a quiet church. And if all that weren’t enough, it is also known to control excess hunger!

How Experts Arrive at Inspired Color Choices

If September’s Fall Issue of  House Beautiful hasn’t arrived yet, here’s a link to the quotes from designers & color consultants sharing how they help clients find just the right colors!

On another note, some friends of mine (Marcie & Dennis Hargroder) recently had an article written in a local magazine showcasing their wonderful “camp” on the river between Baton Rouge and New Orleans that I thought I’d share with you. Partners in the popular Baton Rouge store “Circa 1857 Art & Architecture”, located on the corner of Park Blvd. @ 1857 Government St., their home reflects their love of nature, old building materials and antiquities. So if you’re liking what you see from these photos, be sure to visit Circa, an emporium filled to the brim with great finds!