Although “Moss Green” and “Kennon Ivy” have mostly been used on exterior projects, both colors have been used as interior wall and trim colors. “Moss Green” is my favorite color to transform ugly brick, increase a home’s curb appeal, and both “Moss Green” and “Kennon Ivy” blend into most natural surroundings better than any other color.
One of the first projects where we used “Moss Green” was to cover up the ugly brick and boring stucco that you can see in this work in progress. “Forest Black” is on the shutters. This home was painted “Moss Green” because not only was the orange brick ugly, but the architectural design of the home was awkward. One of my favorite sayings is “paint it out” and that’s exactly what we did with this exterior! Another work in progress using “Moss Green” to cover up unattractive brick. The first two homes are in Louisiana (i.e. St. Francisville and Baton Rouge, respectively), however, this one is in Pittsburgh and shows how the color works in most any setting.“Moss Green” works equally well on wood siding like on this Houston home. Trim is “Kennon Ivy” and the door is “Tiffany Turquoise”.“Moss Green” with “Edgewood Green” trim helps this home nestle into the landscaping. The “Pressed Violet” door is a custom color that is very close to “Lady Gaga’s Dress” that I recently created after being inspired by the dress she wore when she won the Oscar for “A Star is Born”.Want something to disappear? “Moss Green” to the rescue! We used “Moss Green” to hide this home and brick wallon my parents’ home in Lake Charles.“Moss Green” used as interior trim with “Classic Marc” in this newly constructed Bywater, New Orleans residence.“Kennon Ivy” shutters help this home nestle into its landscaping. As you can see, “Kennon Ivy” is darker and more brown than the gray-green “Moss Green”. The two work well together because of the interesting, yet subtle contrast.What I especially like about “Kennon Ivy” is that it works well with both warm and cool greens like the “Clay” siding on this home in New Roads.“Kennon Ivy” walls add drama to this office conference room.“Kennon Ivy” was initially created for my own home where I used it as an opaque stain on most exterior doors, windows, porch and deck and as a semi-transparent stain on the cypress board and batten siding.A closer look at “Kennon Ivy” semi-transparent stain and opaque stain surrounding the French Doors leading to the deck. I painted the French doors “Tiffany Turquoise” and the chair “Cornflower Blue” to cool things off during the hot Summer months.I sat outside for days trying to create a green that blends into the greenery surrounding my little cabin in the woods that I call “Mon Soleil”. This outdoor shower has been featured in numerous Houzz.com articles. It’s also featured in the Houzz article “Cottage Comforts in the Louisiana Woods“where you’ll see more “Kennon Ivy” in photos of the porch.
If you’d like to see free hand-painted samples of these or any of my Full Spectrum Paint colors, visit my Online Store where you’ll find a variety of samples to choose from.
It’s fitting that my blog post on the color “Peridot” falls during the month of August because it’s my birthstone along with all of the others born during the month of August. Happy Birthday to Us!
When creating my full spectrum paint version of Peridot, I was inspired by the many shades of green in the birthstone’s namesake.
As you’ll see from the photos below, my full spectrum paint color “Peridot” is much like the gemstone in that it’s a very warm, golden green that has many facets to its coloring.
One of my favorite uses of “Peridot” is Natasha Nyberg’s Sunroom that was featured in Apartment Therapy‘s article “Natasha and the Plant-filled Sunroom” (photos above and below)“Peridot” walls and “Dusk” on the ceiling make you feel like you’re outdoors on a sunny day.Just like the birthstone, “Peridot” has many facets ranging from golden to deep olive. For more on Natasha’s home which is painted in more of my Full Spectrum Paint colors: “Natasha and the Plant-Filled Sunroom“Here we used “Peridot” inside cabinets painted “Tiffany Taupe’ and walls and ceiling painted “Chartreuse” (see more “Chartreuse” in my previous blog post “Chartreuse and Circa Green““Peridot” cabinets and trim with “Moutarde” walls and “Alexandra Blue” ceiling turn this Sun Porch at Shadetree Inn into a magical little jewelbox.
If you’d like to see a free hand-painted sample of “Peridot” or any of my other colors, visit my Online Store where you can order all manner of samples and paint!
Both “Chartreuse” and “Circa Green” are very warm yellow-greens. Although “Chartreuse” sounds like it would be a bright color, in reality, it’s actually quite traditional. It looks wonderful with a complete range of wood tones and really sings when you combine it with cool blue greens like “Oasis”, “Gustavian Grey”, and “Tiffany Turquoise” and reds like spice blogger Courtenay Dunk used in her office (photographed below). For more on Chartreuse, see my previous blog post “Chartreuse, Spice and All Things Nice“.
“Chartreuse” walls and bookcase in blogger Courtenay Dunk’s office.Reds and oranges are great complements to these “Chartreuse” walls in this girl’s bedroom.
“Circa Green” was created for the exterior of The Market at Circa 1857. Circa is an old stucco building built in the 20’s that formerly housed a pharmacy. Owner Garrett Kemp wanted to repaint it so that it stood out but also didn’t want it to stick out like a sore thumb in this Garden District neighborhood. Since it’s surrounded by nothing but concrete, I felt it needed green to help it connect more with nature as opposed to the concrete that surrounds it.
Here’s Circa 1857 before we repainted it. As you can see, it really needed a facelift! “Circa Green” was used as the main part of the stucco but the horizontal moldings cried out for some accent color and the base needed to work well with the concrete sidewalk so we chose “Sunset Orange” for the narrow moldings and “Moss Green” for the base and wide molding.On Circa’s front doors we used “Lakeside Napoleon” in PPG’s new Break-Through product and “Spanish Moss” on the columns. All other paint is Manor Hall Exterior Paint & Primer in One.
If you’re in the Baton Rouge area, be sure to stop in at The Market at Circa 1857 where you’ll find over 50 vendors showcasing home décor, antiques, lighting, salvage and art. It’s located on the corner of Park Boulevard and Government Street (1857 Government Street, hence the name). This complex also houses a café that serves lunch, the Mosaic Garden gift shop and The Guru event venue which is another one of my fondest projects!
If you’d like to see free hand-painted samples of “Chartreuse” and “Circa Green”, visit my Online Store where you can order individual cuttings or larger hand-painted samples and sample jars in addition to gallons of paint. Never has painting been so easy, just order online and pick up at your local PPG Paints store. And don’t forget! Color consultations with me personally are included in the price of the paint!
Although I’ve sold quite a few gallons of “Celery”, the only photo of “Celery” I have, I took just last month of the interior of a client’s pool cabana. “Celery” is a crisp, rejuvenating green that is both fresh and timeless. It comprises the optimism of yellow with the healing qualities of green.
As you can see from the photo,“Celery” walls work especially well with crisp white trim, wood tones, and neutral as well as bright colors like you see in the artwork.
If anyone reads this who has used Celery, I’d love to add some more photos to this post!
I was inspired to create the color “Lettuce Leaf” after seeing photos of rooms designed by Charlotte Moss and Mario Buatta. I was able to get an actual sample of the Pantone color called “Young Wheat” that Charlotte used. However, the actual color looks nothing like wheat and Charlotte said it looks like lettuce, so I named my full spectrum version “Lettuce Leaf”. However, it’s a new color and no one has ordered it yet, so I’m offering three gallons of the color in any finish free if you’ll send me photos of your finished room! Just email me directly when you’re ready to order. In the meantime, below are some of the photos that inspired “Lettuce Leaf”.
This is Charlotte Moss’ dining room painted in Pantone’s “Young Wheat” which she says “To me it looks like lettuce. A dining room should be fresh and appetizing”. I couldn’t agree more!Although the late designer Mario Buatta didn’t use Pantone’s Young Wheat for this living room he designed for Southern Charm’s Grande Dame Patricia Altschul, it’s very close. While photos can give you an idea of what a color would look like, you can see by the photo below of Pantone’s Young Wheat sample, that it can look different in different settings.According to Patricia, Mario Buatta mixed her color on site. If you’re unfamiliar with Mario Buatta, he was known as the “Prince of Chintz” and his timeless English country style interiors. In the design world, he’s considered a “legend”. I found this photo of Bravo shooting Patricia for Southern Charm.
I also found this great article “Southern Charm by Mario Buatta” by Holly Phillips with more photos of Patricia’s Charleston home, the Isaac Jenkins Mikell house. I especially like the toilet concealed in a chinoiserie cabinet in her Master Bathroom!
If you’d like to see a free hand-painted sample of “Celery” and/or “Lettuce Leaf”, visit my Online Store where we have a variety of samples to choose from. If you’d like to take advantage of my offer to give you three free gallons of “Lettuce Leaf” in exchange for photos of your project, email me!
“Sage” was created for clients who had “Edgewood Green” as the main color in their Baton Rouge home. When they moved to New Orleans, they wanted the same color but because of the lighting, we lightened it by cutting the formula in half. The new color was so complex and interesting, I added it to my curated palette and named it “Sage”. It’s since become one of my ten best selling colors!
This bathroom is a great example of both colors. “Sage” is on the wallsand ceiling with “Edgewood Green” on the doors and trim. These greens are warmer than the previous cool greens I’ve posted about previously and lean more towards brown instead of blue and gray. “Sage” and “Edgewood Green” both enhance the luster of wood tones.“Sage” on walls in this Atlanta home is the perfect neutral in this space even though the color isn’t anywhere else in the room. One of the main reasons I like to use a neutral shade of green on trim is because it helps draw your eye outdoors toward the view. “Edgewood Green” was used on everything but the “Alexandra Blue” ceiling in this sun porch overlooking Audubon Park in New Orleans. The blue ceiling further connects you to the outdoors and subconsciously makes you feel like you’re outdoors on a sunny day.When I was asked to help with the colors at the Pitot House Museum, I was surprised to find that my “Edgewood Green” was a dead ringer for the original trim color used back in the late 1700’s! It’s so neutral, it works well with every color like these “Wedgewood” walls.These New Orleans clients recently purchased a home that was copied after the exterior of the Pitot House and loved the colors there so much, we used them here as well with “Edgewood Green” on all the trim like at the Pitot House. “Buttercream” is on the walls and “Alexandra Blue” on the ceilings. “Pitot Mango” is on the walls in the room beyond.Click here to see a closeup of “Pitot Mango” and “Edgewood Green”.One of my favorite photos of “Edgewood Green” used on walls and ceiling in this mountain retreat in North Carolina.
“Edgewood Green” is so neutral, it works well as the core color in this home that has several colors branching off of it.
“Edgewood Green” works equally well outdoors and helps this “Buttercream” home nestle into the landscaping.
You can clearly see how color reflective these Full Spectrum Paint colors are by how different they look in each of the photos. I’m happy to send you free hand-painted samples, if you’ll visit my Online Store. It’s the first item. As you’ll see, there are larger hand-painted samples and sample jars as well. Besides selling paint, I welcome helping my clients put together color palettes and selecting paint colors. Color Consultations are free when you purchase my Full Spectrum Paints!
Ellen Kennon Design, Furnishings & Full Spectrum Paints
As an Interior Designer with over three decades of experience, I’ve learned that color and light have a tremendous impact on our well being.
Color is the quickest, most affordable way to define the overall character and feel of a space so the selection of paint colors and the spectrum of pigments which produce colors are critical.
Our paints are blended from the 7 colors of natural sunlight, so they reflect a broader range of light and coordinate more easily with the colors and furnishings around them. They are chameleon-like in their ability to pick up colors from adjacent materials and don’t turn muddy or lose their character in low light conditions like standard paints.
Although we have never advertised, we have been featured in numerous national publications including Architectural Digest, House Beautiful and the Wall Street Journal.
Featured in House Beautiful as “Three of the Best” Color Consultants
Ellen's Blog 