Lichen and the Color Green

“Lichen” was initially created for the Sullivan Dental Center here in St. Francisville. However, some folks say they not only have cutting-edge dentistry, but their place should also be called a spa and I can’t help but think the color “Lichen” has a lot to do with that. My clients asked me to create a color that was very soothing and clean, yet earthy and organic. So I immediately thought of the plant we call lichen and later, when I was asked by House Beautiful Magazine to be one of “Twelve Major Players in Design” to share our favorite color green in their March 2012 issue “All About Green”, I picked “Lichen”. House Beautiful even included this photo I snapped of lichen growing on a live oak in the article!

I was flattered when House Beautiful asked me if I could get approval from the photographer to use it. They laughed when I told them I took it with my iPhone, but hey, iPhone cameras are amazing!

Lichen starts my blog posts on the color green, known as the color of nature. I use green in almost every room because it is the most healing color. Healing colors influence mood, calm the nervous system and create peaceful environments. Since green is often used to represent health, many pharmaceutical and nutritional companies use green in their logos and marketing materials. It falls in the middle of the color spectrum, so it is balancing and acts as a neutral. My full spectrum “Lichen” paint color is what I call a complex neutral in that it is very chameleon-like as you’ll see in the photos below.

“Lichen” walls in the Sullivan Dental Center with “Putty” trim and painted brick. I can’t tell you how often I get calls from their patients about this color. Candice and Frank Sullivan tell me it constantly changes with the light. You’ll see this in the photos of it below.

“Lichen” walls create an oasis of calm in this Guest Bedroom.

You can see Lichen’s neutral qualities in this photo where it’s used in the two-story foyer shown above and below.

If you’d like to see a free hand-painted sample of “Lichen” visit my Online Store where we also have a variety of other samples to choose from.

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ellen@ellenkennon.com
877-877-7628

Oasis

One hot Summer day in New Orleans, I walked into designer Jon Vaccari’s Magazine Street showroom and immediately felt cool and refreshed. I knew it had everything to do with the wall color. Within a week, I recreated a full spectrum version of the color, calling it “Oasis”. Like both “Gustavian Grey” and “H2 Ahh!” in my two previous posts, it’s a blue-green, a color that has both the properties of being soothing (from the blue) and refreshing (from the green). What makes it different from “Gustavian Grey” and “H2 Ahh!” is that it’s a clearer color, not as organic and subtle. It’s still very chameleon-like in that with the light, it shifts back and forth from blue to green. Many have described it as a “robin’s egg blue”. It’s not only great on walls, it also makes a wonderful ceiling color both inside and out as you’ll see in the photos below.

A close-up of “Oasis” above from the walls of the bedroom it graces below.

We used “Oasis” on the ceiling of this California home with “Tiffany Turquoise” on the door.

Talented Interior Designer Regina Kraft used “Oasis” on the ceiling of this colorful newly constructed Bedford, NY home.

If you’d like to see a free hand-painted sample, visit my Online Store where you can not only order free samples (called cuttings), but also larger hand-painted samples and sample jars.

ellenkennon.com
ellen@ellenkennon.com
877-877-7628

H2 Ahh!

Internationally renowned color expert Kate Smith of Sensational Color named this color that I created especially for her. I included it in a special Designer Palette many years ago and it has become one of my most popular colors. I describe it as a complex neutral in that like Gustavian Grey in my previous post, it shifts from blue to green and although darker than Gustavian Grey, the color is so subtle, it’s very organic and quite neutral.

“H2 Ahh!” walls with “Gustavian Grey” ceiling in this California home. What I especially like about this color is that it’s very organic and works well with views of nature.

A current project where we painted “H2 Ahh!” on the walls with “Barry’s White” ceiling and trim. It works beautifully with the cabinet doors and tile, no?

“H2 Ahh!” walls and ceiling envelop this bath in color that is both soothing and refreshing.

To read what Kate Smith had to say about her newly painted office in her signature “H2 Ahh!”, visit this link: Sensational Color. If you’d like to see a free hand-painted sample, visit my Online Store.

ellenkennon.com
ellen@ellenkennon.com
877-877-7628

Christine’s Cloud

If you haven’t been following my Blog Posts lately, I started writing a post on each one of my Full Spectrum Paint colors since clients often ask me to describe colors and how I recommend they be used. Although my old website had a Virtual Room painter, I find photographs of the colors showing different uses to be more helpful in giving an accurate visual. Of course, there’s nothing like seeing the real color hand-painted on a sample. All of my samples are either hand-painted paper samples or sample jars of the actual paint I sell. These blog posts are in the order of my new Color Chart and at the beginning of each color range, I give the color therapy information related to each color range because the first question I always ask during a Color Consultation is “How do you want to feel in the space?”

Color Chart of 70 Full Spectrum Paint colors is available for purchase from my Online Store

If you want to create a calming, soothing atmosphere “Christine’s Cloud” is a soft, enveloping blue that is a true blue without being the feared “baby blue” that so often happens to folks who aren’t used to selecting paint colors. Although the photos below show “Christine’s Cloud” as ceiling colors for interiors and exterior porches, it makes a great color for bedrooms since it evokes feelings of sea and sky.

We used “Christine’s Cloud” on this ceiling with “Classic Marc” walls in the living room of a decorating project I did a few years ago because we wanted the space to feel like you’re outdoors on a sunny day. This living room has three sets of French Doors that open onto the glassed in porch in the photo below.

The porch overlooks Audubon Park in New Orleans so we painted the walls “Edgewood Green” and the ceiling “Christine’s Cloud” so that it feels connected to the outdoors as the green helps pull your eye out towards the view as opposed to using a white which would have the opposite effect and close you in.

The same clients like “Christine’s Cloud” so much, we used it on the porch ceiling of their country home here in Saint Francisville. The siding is “JV Cloud White” and the shutters are in my new color “Creole Shutter Green”. Note the softness of the “JV Cloud White” next to the existing white rockers. The home was on tour shortly after it was painted and got rave reviews!

You can order free hand-painted samples of any of my Full Spectrum Paint colors from my Online Store. There are also larger hand-painted samples and sample jars. Color Consultations with me are free when you order my paints!

ellenkennon.com
ellen@ellenkennon.com
877-877-7628

Alexandra Blue

“Alexandra Blue”, named after my daughter, is the first pale sky blue that I created for my line of Full Spectrum Paints. I added just enough magenta to make it look like the sky at twilight. The tiny increment of magenta pigment added is just enough to make “Alexandra Blue” look almost misty. It’s an ethereal sky blue that creates an enveloping, calming atmosphere. (See my previous Blog Post for color therapy info on the color blue). Although perfect for ceilings and bedrooms, it’s a great color for any space where you want to be uplifted and soothed.

One of my favorite photos of this “Alexandra Blue” ceiling with “Adobe” walls in this California home. “Snow” is used on the French Doors and trim and crown molding.

I was able to snap this photo yesterday when visiting this project site where my clients painted “Alexandra Blue” on both walls and ceiling of their upstairs Master Bedroom overlooking Audubon Park in New Orleans. They tell me “it’s like being up in the clouds!”

I especially love this photo of a client’s little girl’s room because it shows the periwinkle quality that “Alexandra Blue” has.

This is my daughter Alexandra‘s room that I designed and had added on to my little cabin in the woods. Since I was going to the trouble of adding on a bedroom, I made it as large as I could without cutting down any trees. Now that she’s grown and living on her own, I’m enjoying it as my Master Bedroom! Of course, this is the first place I used “Alexandra Blue” on walls and ceilings. “Ashen Green” is on all trim.

If you’d like a free hand-painted sample of “Alexandra Blue” or any of my Full Spectrum Paint colors, visit my Online Store where you can get larger hand-painted samples and sample jars.

ellenkennon.com
ellen@ellenkennon.com
877-877-7628