apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I have before and after pictures so you can see where we were coming from. The scene is a ca. 1960 rambler near Woodstock, and the décor so far runs antiques through Mid-Century. This dining room was working itself up to a palette of high-contrast monochrome black and white.

I thought a rich, Payne’s Grey behind the table would be seductive, and here’s what we finally alighted upon: Lancaster Blue. It makes vivid the white chairs and antlers, it both highlights and de-emphasizes the drapes, and brings a full mid-tone color to set of high-contrast values.

We had thought black or charcoal here for a second, or something more sapphire; but I’m glad we stopped down the darkness, and a little added chroma mitigates the potential severity of going all black or white.

And now I ask you, reader, for future reference which would you prefer? A slightly evocative blurry photo, or the colder harder camera phone pic above the jump?

- Mark Chamberlain, interior and decorative painter