Category Archives: Designer Inspiration/Trends

Blogfest 2012: Benjamin Moore Color Trends for 2013

Continuing from John Turner’s presentation at Blogfest2012Benjamin Moore’s Color Trends for 2013. Here is what we should expect to see in 2013 for color – we illustrated John’s key points with some of our own work, so enjoy!

 

RED – is coming in FULL force. Anywhere from deep reds and their shadows, plus more coral tones from fashion rose pink – it is feminine, all the way!

GREEN AND BLUE -are the new neutrals. More Kelly greens or darker not always apple green.  The blues are becoming watery like logo brands of  Facebook and twitter. Above are three different color schemes we are currently working with on client projects.

ORANGE is everywhere and will continue to be a strong trend this year. Color blocking can be found in orange and black. Above three fun spaces we designed last year that had fun pops of orange.

PURPLE – is showing up in dusty shades particularly on fabric and paint colors. Jewel tones are less popular indoors, but fresh pops of purple are being seen more outdoors. Above a bedroom shot of a current project.

(Above: NC State Chancellor House VIP Guest Room)

Neutrals are being combined with other materials, pops of jewel tones, and wood tones. Bright colors are setting off the neutrals soft gray and raw metal. Above and below several current projects illustrating the neutrals trends with combinations of raw materials.  

What we can expect to fade this season:

Metallic

The black and white color schemes

photography credits: 

Group 1- Dustin Peck Photography & DLL

Group 2-  Design Lines

Group 3- Jeff Weatherspoon & Design Lines

Group 4-Jeff Weatherspoon

Group 5: Dustin Peck Photography

Group 6: (Left Clockwise) DLL, Jeff Weatherspoon,

Jonathan Fredin for Cary Magazine, Everest Agency

Group 7: Everest Agency

Text: John Turner – Benjamin Moore

Blogfest 2012: Benjamin Moore’s Color Concepts for 2013

 I LOVE when design inspires us and reaches the highest level of creativity.

While at Blogfest 2012 I heard from John Turner, the Director of Architecture and Design at Benjamin Moore & Co. He had a lot of insight and talked about 5 very specific application “concepts” that we could see with color, which is based off of Benjamin Moore’s Color Pulse 2013 report. Here are my notes from his wonderful presentation!

Concept 1. The intersection of color in many creative ways

 Concept 2. The influence by color from the past and how it is “made new” again through various  materials or a term called “up cycling” materials

 

The designer of this T-shirt chair is Maria Westerberg. Don’t know what to do with your overwelming collection of college t-shirts? Maria created this cool piece of furniture out of old shirts. Maria, thank you for what you do!! You are changing the world.  It is a must – check out her other work.

Concept 3. The use of repurposing materials and rethinking how the material is used.

This house is made out of tires! A company called Earthship is all about creating sustainable design with recycled materials. Now that is AWESOME!  

Or how Paul Cocksedge transforms old records into loud speakers for all of our iphones. They can be purchased for a very reasonable price. 

Concept 4.  The perspective of looking at the world through a child’s eyes

The concept of comic bubbles is growing in popularity, just check out this  China Animation Museum. Designed by a Dutch firm, MVRDV  bubbles are conveyed in a new light. I totally want to visit this place.  Check out more pics of the space.

Concept 5. How we connect with digital technology and our perspective of time

 

Now husbands can play video games all the time and still help out with household chores at the same time. A video game washer machine by Lee Wei Chen, a Taiwanese graduate student at Kingston University, London. How clever?!! In order to get the clothes clean though you must have pretty good video skills or there goes more coins to continue to load.

Tomorrow we will highlight the specific color trends from John’s presentation. Thank you Kravet and John at Benjamin Moore, I definitely walked away from the talk inspired! Follow John on Twitter – @Colordoc

images: t- shirt chair;  Tire House ; Record;  Laundry Machine ; China Animation Museum

Concept: John Turner – Benjamin Moore

Design Inspiration: glassybaby

 

glassybaby is simple, yet it represents so much more. glassybaby = love. hope. dreams. remembrance. grace. beauty. joy. silence. wonder.

 

For founder, Lee Rhodes, glassybaby represents hope. As a lung cancer survivor Lee founded the company in 1998, after her husband brought home a vase from an art class and Lee accidently dropped a tea candle into the vase. The result = a magical and life changing moment.

Lee was named 2011 Entrepreneur byEntrepreneur.com Lee is not only a great woman inside and out; but her company represents corporate citizenship at its best. 10% of all revenue is donated to charities that focus on improving, healing and promoting life to folks who are affected by cancer.

glassybaby is a “metaphor for life” and it is intended to give exponentially to others.

Inspired by how mood effects moods and emotions, there are over 459 different colors to choose from. Below are just a few of the many color choices available.

If you are feeling inspired and want to use glassybaby for one of your interior spaces, give glassbaby as a gift, or use one for an event, head over to their site. I know I will be there shopping soon.

Thanks Blogfest2012 for sharing Lee’s inspiring story and her business. A story, that hits home and one we all in some way or another can relate, as many are affected by cancer.

More to come from Blogfest…I didn’t realize how many pictures I had and just trying to sift through them all. 🙂

images: glassybaby Facebook & Pinterest Accounts

Design Inspiration: Boston, Massachusetts

Every time I travel, I always take note of the architecture within a city. I recently traveled to Boston for the weekend and was fascinated with the historic architecture and the little details I discovered along the way.  These pictures do not even begin to scrape the surface of the rich culture and history of Boston. I guess that opens the door for another trip in the near future. Enjoy the inspiration though!

Until my next trip to Boston….

Also, if you have design discoveries or nuances about the city for my next trip, please do share!

Hilaire

images: DLL

A Closer Look: Historic Inspiration from the Met

One of my favorite places to look for inspiration is the collection of the Metropolitan Museum in New York.  They have much of their collection online, including everything from modern photographs to historic drawings.  I like to browse the historic drawings to inspire my own projects.  Take a look:

Design for Painted Ceiling Decoration

Design for a Room in the Etruscan or Pompeian style (Elevation)

Architectural Drawing for a Chapel

Framed Design for an Architectural Interior: Coffered Ceiling with Central Hexagonal Cartouche and Walls with Floral Ornament and Drapery.

Design for a Ceiling in Pompeian Style

 

Get some inspiration of your own at the Met Website.

– Robert

 

 

Coolest 2012 Market Find: Lucy Smith Handcrafted Metal Furnishings

At market, Judy and I discovered Lucy Smith Designs! We immediately hit it off with Lucy and fell in love with her hand-crafted custom metal furnishings.  Having a 122 year old family-run steel fabrication business and over 10 years of experience as a design professional, this girl knows her metals and the desire for one-of-a-kind pieces. All the product is hand made in the United States in Anniston, Alabama and can come in many different finishes and banding options. Plus you can customize heights on pretty much any product to fit your project needs.

 

What Judy and I like are the clean lines and Lucy has just the right touch of modern elements within each piece.

  

 

(Above) Shots from their space in Interhall. LOVE the quatrefoil console with a Paloma top.

 

 

(Above) A picture of Lucy in her metal studio.

 

(Above) Judy and Lucy working on our first of hopefully many orders. We had to get some of Lucy’s product for the DLL studio. So stay tuned… we will let you know when the pieces arrive. They are a must see!

images: 1-5, 9 : Lucy Smith Designs Website 6-8, 10-12: DLL