Two years ago I wrote about the Riviera as I first began this column. I recently returned to the south of France for some R & R—and had another one of my color explosions. This will be the first of three new articles on the colors of the French Riviera…
Buildings all along the waterfront in small cities from Nice to Menton are painted the colors of sorbet and mustard. This palette is old world and whimsical, fun but never garish. It contains an Italian influence and is also a natural part of the earth and sea. I carried a batch of Ralph Lauren swatches with me, and the colors matched perfectly.
To capture the earthy undertones seen in these pictures, you might also consider the Benjamin Moore Classic or Aura color decks, but not the brighter Color Preview. Try painting your shutters in Farrow & Ball Arsenic 214, another perfect match.
I’ll close with a few of my watercolor sketches of the area…
Ralph Lauren Color suggestions: Cinnamon VM35, Windsor Burgundy VM67, Capri Pink VM71, Caramel Pink VM70
- Mark Chamberlain, interior and decorative painter
Must-See Small Cool Homes: Week Two
Beth's Romantic & Retro Residence
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Shaw's Original Fir...
How to Make Easy 3-Ingredient Energy Bars at Home
How To Cook Tender, Chewy Wheat Berries on the Stovetop
love your watercolours
Simply gorgeous. Glad you're covering this topic. Just beautiful!
Hey - what a great idea to take the color swatches with you. I just got back last night from 6 weeks in France and it was lovely to see these first thing today. And to have the colors named- excellent!
I was on the other end of the Med, but the colors are the same. The moment we crossed into Spain, all the villages were white, which is nice in a different way.
I was told in Collioure that the reason for the brightly colored mixes on the houses was that fishermen used to paint their boats for visibility from afar. They used the left-over paint for their houses. So the houses ended up being a patchwork of colors.
Don't know if it's true, but that's what I was told.
Reminds me of a trip to this little town in Mexico that was submerged by a dam, then resurfaced during a drought. The popular colors were that kind of pink, a minty green and a soft blue. One house had polka dots in the doorway, as though there were huge dominoes lining it.
Oh, finally an AT post from home! (I live in Nice.) The colors are indeed one of my favorite things about living here. I live in a stone building done in art deco style, with eggshell window frames that have pastel-yet-lime-green shutters (it's a beautiful shade, bright and calm at the same time). Then I go to work in pink offices and admire the view of the blue, blue Mediterranean on my way back home!