Name: John C.
Location: Houston, Texas
Type: Loft
Why I use color: I am a graphic designer by trade, and know the importance and power of color. The photos I am submitting is of the loft I share with my partner. He is an accountant by trade, and realizes the importance and difference between things in the red and things in the black. I love to use color, especially in unexpected ways; brights with dulls, vegetable hues with citrus etc.
2 Good color tips:
1. I don't think a person can make a bad choice with wall color if the room is accessorized well and strikes a balance with neutrals. I have taken that philosophy into these photo's. The living room is painted a deep ochre, and the kitchen is contrasted with a vibrant celadon/ chartreuse green. In our home, the kitchen is the heart of the house; so, I wanted to have the color reflect that energy. In contrast, the living room, for us, is for relaxing and visiting with friends; so, I chose a more subdued color. We have a floating wall which I have painted all of the colors in the house in stripes to show that there can be harmony with different hues and tones.
As for the bedroom, I wanted it to have a feeling of a luxury hotel. I chose a dark chocolate for the walls and paired that with a steely blue for the bed coverings; again contrasting the the deep chocolate with the shine of the blue.
2 Good color resources:
1. My favorite source for inspiration is a color index book by Jim Krause (I am in know way affiliated with this person so this plug is purely professional). He has taken colors and mixed them together and provided the CMYK blends which I use frequently in my graphic design work.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Love the stripes. Great color choices overall, too. The painting in the dining area doesn't really compliment the rest of the style, however I admire your choice(s) in furniture. Great job & insta-finalist, for sure.
I chose In Contention. I love the stripes, but I don't like the colors. It's just a personal preference I guess. The kitchen's beautiful, it's very formal looking, but the yellow and stripes add some fun. The rug in the dining room is great and it kind of ties in the stripes from room to room.
I really like the painting and think everything about this entry is very pulled together and perfect.
Where's your loft? We're in Hermann...
Very professional! Head and shoulders above just about everything else in the competition. Does this guy hire out his talents?
Alyce, We are in the Montrose.
I bet this looks incredible in person.
Thanks,
Brilliant color scheme!
The perfect blend of semi-formal furnishing with
fun, casual, playful walls. I love it.
3D Color Design skills...Dig it!
We have a winner!
wow-just wow.
This place is simply amazing. The stripes are gorgeous and the color choices are amazing together. The whole place looks awesome!!
Oh my goodness, I have always found Rachael Ray to be somewhat irritating, but in this case I have to say YUMM-O! This IS brilliant use of color - and I'm not saying that because the color is bright or bold. What does it for me is different colors of stripes being used as solids in adjacent rooms so that it feels very pulled together. The chartreuse color in the kitchen is lively and great for cooking while the paprika color is perfection in that dining room.
Are those kitchen cabinets Siematic?
This whole place - gorgeous! I'm totally inviting myself to Houston :)
AWESOME!
The best example I have seen among the entries which coordinates color use in paint and in room furnishings/decor. The entire home ties together through color - beautifully executed!
looks like something i might have done myself which, of course, would be the winner!!
something's really fishy...
FINALLY! An entry that uses bright colors - but NOT lime/apple/acid green! The bold stripes are great, and prove that a little inspiration in one area can carry a large space!
Thank you all for the nice comments and feedback. I really do appreciate it! John.
Undeniably fabulous! This person is a confident, bold visionary.
Fabulous! JC, can you come do my house? I'm in Houston.....
A very WOW entry. A very sophisticated and unusual palette.
Very nice! I'd live there!
Seems unlikely that the words chartreuse and serene could be used to describe the same space, but your imaginative use of color achieves just that. Beautiful!
Officially my favorite in this contest! The colors are gorgeous and all perfectly placed.
Where are your kitchen cabinets from?
I like the stripe concept, have used it before, but I would have used different colors. Color 1: a warm tone for walls (and stripes) in the room with least light; Color 2: a cool tone (a blue/teal/sage) for the walls (and stripes) in the brightest daylit room. Color 2: Add a third color that compliments the first two and use these three on the stripes. Creates a nice flow between the spaces. Color three can also be an accent color in all the spaces. If 1 and 2 are saturated then use a more neutral hue in color 3 conversely if 1 and 2 are subtle tones use a real shocker for color 3 with more dabs of 3 sprinkled around the whole space.
Ridge, cabinets were built by the builder. Thanks for the nice words! John
Where did you get the table? I love it, and the paint job.
My house never looked like that? Beutiful!
Hmmmm. I find myself wanting to like it, but it feels kind of dated, like something out of Architectural Digest which always feels dated after about a month. It's not a bad design though.
This is sooo nice. And you get extra kudo's from me for getting your stripes on straight!! "Insta-Finalist!" Great photos, too.
I grew up in Montrose, back when it was full of charming bungalows and friendly tranny hookers all along the Curve. These days it seems there isn't a block left in Montrose that has been untouched by the demolition of craftsman bungalows to make way for cookie cutter "mediterranean stlye" condos, "NY style" lofts, and SUVs. Yea, your place looks nice, but come on, a "loft" in Montrose? Makes me remember why I left Houston. No goddamn respect for history.
Great Colors! I absolutely love the use of rectangular shapes that repeats throughout the space. It seem as if you balanced the lines on the floating wall to the lines of the ceiling, cabinet, and countertop in the kitchen. Perhaps just an anal observation from a fellow graphic designer. ;) Good Luck in this contest!
What a cool looking loft! This guys should come to NYC and set up his business. (Or at least come for a visit...)
Kerry Ann Harris Moss White Bulgari TBD
This guy has earned his stripes! What form, function and profound use of extraordinary color. This is the one folks!
All I can say is WOW!!!! Hands down the best in this competition!I even like it more than the shots CB2 posted for the contest! If his place looks this great, I wonder what his office looks like????? Remember the little people! :)
John,
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS...The colors work so well together and it's something different...this is the first entry that I have seen so far that is just soo pleasing to the eye...bravo to you
-Joe from Long Island
John, Im impressed. I love colors and the choices had to talk some talent to put together. Rayg only thought that he may have done it.
I love everything you have done. I too want to move in. Could you share info about the artist of the painting and the origin of the wonderful rectangular lamp over table?
Woohoo! Finally, somebody gets creative.
That striped wall is genius!
this guys good!
Claudia... Thanks for the nice words! The painting is by an unknown artist from Kansas City, MO. It was a visual prop in a now deunct department store. The light fixture is by MOOOi; the have a fab website at www.moooi.com. John.
It's very well put together, not too busy. I love!
i will always vote for chartreuse, and it makes me feel good to see how the palette of the stripes is carried out in a whole panoply of lighter tones in the kitchen and cinnamony/merlot ones in the DR.
you are Teh Man. thank you.
Fantastic! Best entry of all of them!! You deserve special recognition! Great job.
Fabulous design and use of color.
Very well put together. Loves it.
I love the natural colors and simple lines of your kitchen. You have created a very harmonious and relaxing environment and managed to preserve lots of space. Fantastic job!
Modern but defintely not cold-it's such a warm, inviting palette. So many residential spaces are stark and just blah. Awesome job. You should moonlight as an Interior Designer!!
John, great space, nice use of color, but what you really nailed (and what may help you win this contest) is the LIGHTING! Hardly anyone gets lighting right. You did. Congrats!
awesome, great imagination and simply wonderful combinations. betty b.
This is totally awesome!!! Can you fix my house??
Great colors, great lights!!!!
John- Wow. I've been clicking on all the photos to see what people came up with and yours was the only picture that really wowed me. I instantly thought, "oooh, I want to go to a cocktail party at their house!"
Nicely done. None of us will be surprised when you win first place.
Best,
d
can you tell what colors you used?
what is the title of the krause book?
thanks
Doesn't work for me at all. Looks rather cheap and tacky!
Sofia- The Krause book title is calle "Color Index". You can find them on Amazon. I used Chinese Laquer in the didning room. The Brown is Branch Brown. I'll have to check on the chartreuse and the ochre color for you. All of those are Benjamin Moore colors and are flat finish (which i would not recommend).
JC
wow. stylish and modern, but still warm and approachable. your furniture is simple and classic and isn't fighting the dramatic stripes. i'd spend the night. ;)
Not my favorite. I like the palatte of colors but i do not like the furniture. He could have used way less furniture to get a better outcome and better use of colors.
I guess I haven't been following this contest very well, because this is the first I'm seeing this. This is just unbelievably beautiful. I really can't get enough of it.