ColorTherapy: Stripes in the Suburbs!

PAINTS Benjamin Moore Cream Soda 1082; Ralph Lauren Morning Walk VM58, Dewdrop Pink RM03 & Faded Peony RM01

After flipping through my portfolio last winter, my saintly mother declared that she was done with the roses wallpaper in her bedroom, as it was closing in on her. “What can you give me in a stripe?” she said. Her first request was maroon over tan. My eyes narrowed into slits and I said, “Let me see what I can come up with…”

I’ve never loved maroon and tan as a color combo, it always looks like one thing to me, only earthy. In determining a pattern for said bedroom, I first added melon-like Morning Walk as the thin stripe to give our colorway a topnote, then filled it out with Dewdrop and Peony (center stripes) — two flower/berry tones in Regent Metallic finishes to make the whole thing more sensual. I came to Minneapolis with a few options in mind, which we tested on site, and then narrowed the stripe to fit the scale of the room. This isn’t a New York loft, after all — space here is more generous, but scale is smaller.

My sense here is that we’ve used slightly feminine colors in a slightly masculine pattern, how’s that for balance? Next time we’ll redo the powder room, perhaps something “Italian,” though I don’t know what that is yet. Reader suggestions greatly appreciated.

- Mark Chamberlain, interior and decorative painter

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Comments (14)

Power to ya for being able to not only do the work to get the result, but for actually enjoying and being able to live with the result. I personally find large masses of stripes in contrasting colors to be headache-inducing. But then again, I'm prone to headaches.

Laura
http://www.grafxnerd.net

posted by grafxnerd on July 7th 2009 at 11:05am
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Finally a post that actually gives the paint names and brands!!! Love it!

posted by Star Princess on July 7th 2009 at 11:10am
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I love your posts, Mark. I'll think about "Italian" powder rooms...

posted by tara1979 on July 7th 2009 at 11:12am
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Really nice, the story as well as the result. Modern and traditional for Mom. Love the white bedding as well. So clean.

posted by stt64 on July 7th 2009 at 11:17am
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The color choices are impressive - really makes Mom's furniture relate to the walls so much better than plain beige.

posted by bepsf on July 7th 2009 at 11:25am
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I really enjoy these Color posts, wish they came more often.

posted by JoanneM on July 7th 2009 at 11:36am
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Great post, very well written to boot.

posted by kellylc on July 7th 2009 at 11:48am
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Very pretty.

posted by insanity_pepper on July 7th 2009 at 11:51am
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Perfect. Your mom must love it.

posted by brittanykate on July 7th 2009 at 12:05pm
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I love it - brings back memories of the amazing striped wallpaper my grandmother had. (Ha ha, and her not-so-amazing purple shag carpet)

posted by Cashew on July 7th 2009 at 12:27pm
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You know what's going to happen, right? In 20 years, vintage cabbage roses will all the rage, and our kids will be appalled that we were such vulgarians as to not appreciate them.

posted by Lisa (Montreal) on July 7th 2009 at 12:48pm
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Nice result and really good post - I especially liked "Her first request was maroon over tan. My eyes narrowed into slits" LOL

posted by idontdobeige on July 7th 2009 at 1:39pm
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What a lucky mom; and you must have the patience of a saint ~ that must have taken forever.

posted by muirwoods08 on July 7th 2009 at 5:52pm
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What a lucky mom. You must have the patience of a saint; that must have taken forever.

posted by muirwoods08 on July 7th 2009 at 5:56pm
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