apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Man, what is with all the trippy color schemes folks are submitting. Hot pink, magenta AND lavender? I realize the extremely saturated color is all the rage right now, but I can't help but feel like being constantly surrounded by color set to volume ten on the dial would give me a headache after awhile.

Of the two rooms, I like the purple one better. The pink/magenta room is a little hard on the eyes.

Pink is it!

I'm glad I noticed you are in Portugal--a colour this saturated jars my old, cold North American eyes.

And how on earth is orange ever "cold?" That strikes me as an odd thing to say.

Still, I admire your panache.

What is the lamp made of, the one with the flowered shade?

Best one so far! Skillfully Courageous!!!

: )

I knew I had seen this somewhere....it's posted on the Living Etc. website. (link in my name)

Fun! I think this is all the same wall colour. I love it and painted a bedroom that colour - it's more livable than one might think. In the room above the pink serves as a backdrop for many disparate items, tying them together.

By the way, I painted half my front hall orange and it doesn't look cold at all, quite the opposite actually.

I once painted my entire body orange and was extremely warm afterwards.

gorgeous. more pics!!?

i really like the purple room -- esp the lampshade (those look like shells to me, wende) and faux (dried?) flowers. the red/pink room is a little less pretty -- the mcm table/chair and the art somehow don't have the same pretty whimsy as everything else.

actually, having seen all the pictures on the other site, i really love this place -- it has the mix of rich color, interesting displays, and areas of calm that is my own goal. it is like the hot pink and more antic cousin of shawna's la pad.

you have serious balls. I LOVE IT

That's what I'm talking about. I love the peek of lime green coming through the banister. The layering and the depth is wild and crazy and really works.

I couldn't live there, but the color combos are entertaining. However, providing food for a family of four in that size kitchen, with that much stuff...that, gives me a headache. It makes me appreciate my "small" NYC apartment

Oh, and I wish that I had the balls to paint my floors with enamel white paint, until I can afford to replace them.

Bravo on your daring and unconventional color scheme and decorative elements.

I'm puzzled by why this is being hailed as the epitome of color sophistication. On my monitor, it shows as considerably more cluttered and clashing than Beth's funhouse -- even more so in the LivingEtc. photos. Many of the objects are more in line with high-end tastes...

It's certainly colorful, though, and many of the objects are compelling in themselves.

Okay, I've been confused by people's references to the "sophisticated use of color" or some version there of.

So I read the criteria again for the contest, which was:

"Readers and judges will evaluate each submission to find the boldest, coolest, most colorful room along with all the tips and resources we need to get color ourselves."

Did I miss something somewhere? Sophistication can sometimes be 'banal' as some folks have used or boring as hell.

This one definitely has BOLD going for it.

I'm so glad she entered! I found Graca on another message board. The images are fabulously inspiring.

For more of Graca's home: http://flickr.com/photos/xtmoveis/80486264/

Shari, I think "sophistication" is some people's shorthand for what uses strike them as "coolest." (And they don't all mean the same thing by it.)

One has to have some yardstick for distinguishing among entries, especially since each year seems to have major color trends that show up again and again.

i think what i like better about Irena's place is that it uses very saturated warm colors (and some pretty intense combinations), but yet the overall impression is clean and calm and uncluttered.

that said, the specific shade of violet used here is brilliant. reminds me of eating raspberry gelato in the gardens near the Villa Borghese in Rome... in other words, lovely.

Wende: for my part, I use the word "sophisticated" as "a term of art". I work in a profession where i get paid to understand how colors (among other things) work together and this has become a common lingo, "sophisticated color sense" or "sophisticated palette". It is not a judgment nor is it about what is cool or high end, it is something that a trained eye can gage (no eye rolls please s), it doesn't mean that something is better or worse, but it does show a talent with color that not everyone has. This couple uses depth and layering and tones in a different, more advanced way than today's other New york entry, it is easy to see that when you compare and contrast the two.

This looks so garish! I don't understand what people see in it. Certainly, it is courageous, I suppose, and bold, but I assumed we were supposed to look for bold uses of color that also work and look good.

Oh well.

great entry, the dining area looks delicious before the meal is served. the other room is just as tasty!

"raspberry gelato in the gardens near the Villa Borghese in Rome"?
Looks like someone was watching The Bachelor last night. Barf

*eye roll*

I work in a profession where I'm paid to teach people how to make complex ideas comprehensible, so I don't buy the "I have special training and can't possibly explain it in a way you'd understand" line of reasoning. (And I *can* explain the wacko, complex parts of my field, though once we get into using Lacan's mirror self to interpret images in corporate annual reports, you'd probably rather I didn't.)

You like some combinations better, which is fine. You work in a profession where it's normative to prefer those combinations, which is fine (gawd knows I shudder at the color combinations at, say, K-Mart -- color has huge class, region, and cultural connotations). But if you can't explain it, it's not an objective standard. That's not a judgment on your appropriateness in using it, just how logic works.

For somoene that takes bad pictures in a house that is even worse, I think you are being too conceited in your comments! Take a really good look to the photos above and you'll find someone that has got a perfect notion of color and how to mix it together! Your personal taste can influence your opinion in a slight way, but not in the way that leds you being almost agressive! The house is perfect to the contest in the way that they are looking to a colourfull space above all with harmony in its conception!

I don't even know what to say to you Wende, I can explain it, that;s not what you were saying, you were saying that those of us who use this term use it to judge. I will explain it, but I venture to guess you will still see it as just my opinion, which it is, but there is a higher good when it come to these things: Yellow and Orange together reflect cheapness, that's why macdonalds and burger king used these colors exclusively for so long, purple and brown are rich and connote luxury that is why Bergdorf goodman uses them, red is cheap in one tone, H&M rich in another, Cartier. Blue is always classic and rich, tiffany, Ralph Lauren. Kmart uses colors like clear Red and blue together because they look cheap there is no depth of tone, no threat to cheapness. Ditto Walmart. There is an entire science to color, Color Theory, it is about mixing and matching colors as tehy relate to the color wheel, it is not an opinion, it is a practiced theory. saturations, hues, lightness, all of these things relate to how we use color as a bridge. Everyone understands the primary colors, these are not complex, it is when we start to introduce secondary, tertiary, complimentary and analogous colors that the real work begins. Colors that look cheap are usually active colors on passive tones, colors that look rich are usually passive on passive. have you ever looked at Goethe's triangle? that would give you an idea of colors that work well together and that are shit, my daughter is crying, I have to run, I would be glad to continue this primer when I am not so busy and you are all in a bettter mood around here.

ps this is a contest, people are expecting to be judged, right?

Colleen -- What you just explained is absolutely *not* just your opinion; it's fairly well-documented in color psychology, though it's also culturally determined (that is, "wealthy" colors in, say, East India are not the same as "wealthy" colors in the Eastern U.S.). I'm still curious why such bright and seemingly clashing colors are reading as sophisticated, but if we're using the same vocabulary, that's a pretty specific question that you can probably answer in three sentences. I'm not asking to attack the entry -- I genuinely am curious.

(Your answer, by the way, is completely different from Alana's in the Irena thread, so y'all really are using "sophisticated" to mean different things. Doesn't mean any of you are wrong...)

Wende: My husband has taken my daughter but I need to get off here tonight, this is getting to be too much. I think you are understanding me, yes? It's hard to tell in writing sometimes. Let me restate, i use the term sophisticated as a term of art in business, i am not sure where Alana culled her information, though it is a good argument, and I think she is trying to be more specific about why that room works, which I think it does and i didn;t say it didn't, but it is not the same as this room in the level of saturation and use of layering in tertiary colors. Quickly, Irena's room uses complimentary colors but she doesn't go for the depth of opposites the way this couple does. The colors are hot and cheap if used the wrong way but here they have an understanding of how to use opposites and work with anologous colors without it looking matchy. I should say, I could never live in either of these homes with these colors, personally, I use color as a comma, as an exclaimation point as a resting point for the eye not as teh backdrop, but I totally admire Graca and Francisco's style and their talent with color (i think the #2 entry was excellent also, very rich). OK, seriously I'm done here now.

Colleen -- Shhhhh! I'm not attacking you. I'm asking a question. You set up criteria that are highly defensible in well-known theory. I'm asking you to point to how the entry meets those criteria, as "color as comma" seems to be going the opposite direction. I'm not asking because I think you're wrong -- I'm asking because I want to understand your point of view. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but rest assured that it's purely curiosity because I usually find your opinions interesting.

Oops! And I also skimmed right past the sentence where you answered my question directly. I'm sorry!

Thank you for the answer -- that clarifies why you reached the conclusion you reached, which is what I wanted to know.

Hello, I read all this comments, and I'm ...! I happen to live in that house, I live with those colors everyday, every minute! Believe me, color is the best way for people to be in harmony, because it provides a strong state of mind, feelings and a different perception of your day! Common people do not dare to use vibrant colors in their homes, because they don't know how to face it later! You have to be brave, to be passionated to do something like this! Each wall was painted in the right color , after a study of light, shapes, ... They would never paint it just to be colourfull! That is ridiculous... This contest has a trully connection with Graça's and Francisco house, because it is colourfull, but not saturated! It is well thought and it says color in each peace of that image!
S, here is a advice, dare to be different, let your passions become real! Don't paint it in a color, because everybody does, paint it because it reflects your state of mind!

I couldn't resist looking again, I hate this addictive stupid site, anyway, Wende, I think you;re reading into my tone, i didn't think you were attacking me (and i wasn't yelling, was I?). While I don't think this entry needs to meet my personal criteria for decorating (that's what I was referring to) and I think there is a higher general level that many people can agree upon as looking good whether they'd live in it or not, the use of bits of robin's egg blue in the hot orange shelving is a comma to my eye and since the only real hint of white is the floor, I find the walls to recede a bit and in this case these brights almost act as neutrals. The use of bright saturated hues here creates a continuity that wraps around the entire space and the placement of artwork and tchockies breaks it up so your eye rests on the negative instead of hte positive (i'd personally do teh opposite). In Irena's home there is a lot of negative space and your eyes go everywhere, except in the kitchen where there is a lot of continuity, maybe if her entry had focused on this part I'd see it differently. This is obviously beyond my initial reaction to her use of color, I didn't realize it before but there is a mint green reflected in teh mirror, i think these two apartments have very similair color schemes but in totally different intensities, the result is very different; I wonder if Graca & Francisco would ever consider using pastels?

I have sudden urge to paint my kitchen and bathroom yellow and orange....

Yeah, I was going to call it quits for the night, too. :-) Too addictive.

That's a wonderfully thorough explanation, the kind it's a privilege to receive.

" Common people do not dare to use vibrant colors in their homes, because they don't know how to face it later! You have to be brave, to be passionated to do something like this! "?????

What.Ev.Er. That's the biggest bunch of self-indulgent egotism and trendoid snobbery.

As for grudge match, I think what we have here is a failure to communicate. Or more precisely, a failure to write clearly and orderly.

Colleen, a small suggestion - on the Interwebs, its important to make liberal use of the Return key to break your thoughts up into discrete paragraphs, even if only sentence long ones, like Wende did. Otherwise, what you think sounds clear just comes off as a stream-of-consciousness ramble.

This is actually one of the better discussions on the use of color that I have seen. I am still learning. Thanks for taking the time Colleen and Wende.

I don't know if you want to say - but I am curious about what your job is, Wende. I was very intrigued by the "though once we get into using Lacan's mirror self to interpret images in corporate annual reports" comment.

I feel like I have a similar "explain the complex in one page or under" kind of job - but I sense yours is different. Seems publications media-related, but theoretical, not empirical?

(Not looking to criticize or compare notes. Just plain curious.)

Dave--

You
beat
me
to
it.

And, um, Colleen, it's all still very subjective, because regardless of long-winded theory, I still find red and pink "hot and cheap" whether in Target, on Valentine's Day, or in color-brave Portugal.

Newme -- Part-time professor up until the very recent move, degree is in speech-communication with concentration in rhetorical criticism and teaching/research specialty in management communication. (Good grief, that sounded pretentious.) Sometimes I work in corporate marketing, but typically with engineering-type firms where the goal is logical proposals and systematic processes; if I had to do "creative," the results would be laughable.

Oh, I know and love this house. I found them on Flickr earlier this year. I love their use of color and the furniture they make. However, my favorite picture is no longer in their Flickr set. Click my name to see it.

Patrick,
are
you
jerking
my
chain?

;)


Lisa - now that orange/magenta/yellow room isn't so bad. Although, it does remind me a little of a pack of Starburst fruit chews.

I think the latest entries are COLOR blind, not color pros. Bold? Maybe. Bad taste? Certainly.

if i was a streetwalking whore, I could make a FORTUNE using this place as my pad.

Dave--
Absolutely not!!! The comma splices and run-on monolith paragraphs were driving me crazy!!!!

No seriously, that lamp with the shell base is just wacky and great. I want to know how to make it!

Um Patrick, I know it is still highly subjective, Wende asked about why I use the term "sophisticated", I was explaining my personal use to her and how color theory plays into why this is a more complex color story than irena's. Really, I should have just e-mailed her, as this was not really the time or place for this discussion.

And, um, I apoligize to all of you for insulting your sensitive grammar hearts. Jeez, this is a webboard, not an highschool english class, if it's hard for you to read, just move on.

I am well aware that use and used run-on sentences and poor grammar and a lack of returns. When I have time, I write more clearly; it is what it is.

My dear Graca and Xito I really in love for your house...she really amazing and colourful...maybe is because off that your family appear always happy and smelling...i love your house...

congratulations

I'm so glad you entered! I am a huge fan of yours on Flickr! I love all the saturated color.

And you still haven't sold me that this is any more "sophisticated" in its use of color than Irena's place...

Actually Colleen, orange and yellow have been documented to stimulate appetite, which is why fast food uses it. Those of use who hate FF, or have seen SSM, know it only spells trouble.

;)

J

Colleen--
I was interested in what you were saying (didn't agree, but interested) and your posts were just really hard to read... and it undermined the authority with which you seemed to be coming to the table so confidently. Relax.

I love this place! I could never live there, but I sure would like to visit.

Thanks for posting the flickr stream, Lady J. The kitchen is my favorite! I love what they did to the cabinets.

what a great use of color. i love and appreciate art and to me, this is art.

I confess that my reaction to this place in Portugal is totally emotional. While I wouldn't personally want to live in pink and purple rooms, the artist in me is in love, completely, with this place. So I won't state an opinion on use of color, balance and use of space, etc.

I will say this: Happy, happy and filled with things to look at and play with. I would be wonderfully lost in here. And the light in Portugal, oh my, what a glorious place to be and to live.

I think this place just looks tacky, but I'm all for any entry that causes commenters to use the phrase "hot and cheap"

Light of Portugal is indeed gorgeous, and Oporto is one of my favorite cities.
I wouldn't call color use in this house "sophisticated", however (Coleen, before you dismiss me - I'm a professional designer and color is a special passion of mine).

White floors, especially as seen on the picture Lisa from VA provided, seem to be painted old parquet tiles - which is a crime in itself) don't bring any levity to the scheme or hight to the room, rather make the space unanchored. It looks like half-done construction, with white paint-drip fabric all over the place and the walls ready. If the hues were toned down with grey, walls would indeed recede more, and the spaces will look bigger, even with the number of memorabilia on display.

I agree the abundance of vertical punch vs. white floors make the wall color neutral, but it's a neutral of hyper-stimulated kids in a kindergarten. The place screams! Everything is exclamation point!The sheer amount of small pieces of various color utterly disperce your attention; it's a mad quilt of a backdrop. You can't concentrate.

Yes, the owners have freedom and confidence with colors. Purple vs Orange is traditional secondary color scheme, and in subtler and more disciplined hands will look cheerful and balanced. It's their refusal to edit that makes the place a shouting match.

I'm a little frightened by the academicized hostility threatening to take over this board.

Maybe the perpetrators should split a bottle of vinho verde with Graca and Francisco and learn to experience more, analyze less...

Yes, Patrick you're very right, I do need to relax. I take that comment in good spirit.

I have no more argument left in me today so I will somehow have to live with the thought that you remain unconvinced by what I say.

Yes, Jess, of course this is *also* correct, I wasn't trying to write the whole book about color usage, just making one point to one person, really.

anyway..................

Oh Tat, I;m not going to dismiss you, I am also a professional designer and color is one of my specialities. I'd love to talk sometime in a different setting about your reactions; it is always fun to "argue theory" with a kindred spirit. Where do you work? Where did you go to school? Please e-mail me. My address is in my name.

Gretchen I agree with you and I am sorry to have hijacked this thread so. I had no plan to do this, I plan to keep my thoughts to myself from here on out. Sorry

This is funky. In a good way. Actually, I gave this an "in contention" vote before I saw the link with all the pictures. Having seen the rest of the apartment via the link, I think the color and decor is done very well on the whole. It's nice to see a happy medium between boringly tasteful and outlandishly hideous. I guess maybe that makes this apartment outlandishly tasteful, in the best possible way. Thanks for sharing with us!

Coleen, why do you have to apologise? There is nothing to be sorry about. This is a public design forum, all opinions are valid, but those of professionals should be valid more, if only because of training and practical experience we have on this exact topic, vs. people who just "experience" it.
As you have noted above - correctly - this is a contest, and the entries are expected to be critiqued.

Omitted from my earlier comment:
having said what I said, i'd agree that this entry is in a higher category from all we'd seen before. Graca and Francisco have more than average understanding of color and don't hesitate to experiment.

Coleen, I'll email you tonight, thank you for your interest.

I'm disappointed with how many people in a few different colors contest comment boards have basically said "There is too much color in this space; it isn't very sleek or minimal; therefore it can't be sophisticated".

I didn't care for Beth's because her theory seemed to be getting as much color as possible into the space without any other considerations, which for me - did not serve her well. This space is very sophisticated to me because it's evident that they chose colors with careful consideration on every level, and it happened to come out looking divine.

Yikes. I love color and these are some of my favorites, but this effect is very claustrophic. This is just my opinion, but I believe that when you use such powerful colors that your accessories should be white. White vases would really pop against those colors. And the clutter really does an injustice to those colors. Bold colors stand on their own and should not have to compete with so much clutter.

I'm surprised by al the negative comments. I really like this place. And knowing that it is in Portugal makes me like it even more, I bet these colors are fantastic with the sun and the energy there.

I love, love, love the hot pink and red.

And as another Designers Guild fan, I am MAD about your kitchen cupboards!

I love this. It's got guts and punch and personality! I only wish I had the balls to pull this off.

What is good or bad taste? Tastes differ... or not?
Graca+Francisco´s house is vibrant, cheerful and different. Viewing the complete set on Flickr I can see a house completely different from the others and thanks Heaven! Today houses are painted and decorated almost in the same way and it's so bore. On the contrary, this house has character and I like that!

Sorry, I think I may need to clarify my comments about "sophistication".

First, let me say I really love this entry. I think it's brilliant. So Coxi, I don't know if I was the "S" in your post or not, but just in case...

My previous comment really was in response to the comments I'd been reading various entries. It seemed people felt that a sophisticated use of color was a criteria for an entry, when in fact, it's not.

Also, I was chiming in, very inarticulately, that skillful use of color can be uninspired or stale, particularly when there's nothing unexpected about it. (btw, folks, that is a VERY subjective take on my part)

Though I have to admit that the conversations about what it means is fascinating. And informative. I love looking at how folks think/see/use color.

And the truth is color is very emotional, hence why I think people have strong feelings about some entries.

And come on...admit it folks, every now and again when color is used in a really raw, rough-hewn way it just reaches right in and grabs your gut in a way you didn't expect?

note: this is Lizz, my 8 yr. daughter Savannah wanted to commment on this one!) here goes...

i LLLLLOOOOOOVVVVEEEEE this room, (bottom room) because it so cool and has all different flavors, meaning like it is kind of girly flavor and it is a bit like a tomboy flavor.

Com um ambiente colorido, tudo é mais alegre e feliz à nossa volta, e a XT móveis sabe disso!

I KNOW THIS COUPLE FOR MANY YEARS, AND BELIVE ME TYHEY KNOW ABOUT COLOURS AND THE WAY IT WORKS IN A SPACE. I THINK IT´S IMPORTANT TO SAY THAT THEY ARE GOING TO LIVE HERE ONLY FOR ONE YEAR (THEY ARE BUILTING A HOUSE ) BUT , THAT DIDN´T STOP THEM THE MAKE A GREAT HOUSE!! THIS HOUSE HAVE A LIGTH THAT INFOURTUNATLY YOU CAN´T SEE, AND WHEN WE ARE ON THE LIVING ROOM WE CAN ONLY SEE THE SEA. THIS MATTERS IN THE CHOSE OF EVERYTHING ELSE.ALSO THIS IS A PASSAGE HOUSE BETWIN THE ONE THEY HAVE AND THE ONE THEY ARE BUILTING , THIS EXPAINS THE CLUTTER!! I THINK ALSO YOU NEED TO SEE THE REST OF THE HOUSE TO UNDERTAND THE SPACE IN HALL IS DIMENSION , SO, DON´T LIVE WITHOUT GOING TO FLICKR TO SEE IT!! THE FLOOR COULD NEVER BE NOTHING BUT WHITE , SINCE THE HOUSE IS SMALL AND COLOURFULL , AND IT HAVE SO MUTCH LIGTH THAT THE FLOOR EXPANDES THAT LIGTH EVEN MORRE AND UNIFY THE SPACE SINCE THE HOUSE HAS THE SAME FLOOR COLOUR IN EVERY ROOMS. IT COULD NEVER HAVE ONLY WHITE CLUTTER !!! BECAUSE THIS IS A HOUSE OF "NORMAL" PEOPLE , AND WHEN I SAY NORMAL I MEAN WITH KIDS , TOYS, SHOES , CLOTHES , THINGS THAT FIELD A HOUSE EVEN IF WE DON´T WHANT TOO. I SAW PEOPLE COMPARING THE HOUSE OF IRENE TO THIS HOUSE, I HAVE TO SAY THAT THEY COUNDN´T BE COMPERED . IRENE USES COULOR IN A "PRIMARY" WAY AND ALSO THE DECORATION IS FROM A YOUNG PERSON AND IS FIRST APARTMENT. THIS HOUSE HAS A MUTCH MOORE STUDY USE OF COLOUR AND THE RELATION BETWIN THE COLOUR AND THE FURNITURE. I ALSO HAVE TO SAY TO FINISH THAT THIS IS A COLOUR CONTEST , AND YOU CAN´T , SIMPLY JUST CAN´T, VOTE, IF YOU ARE USING ONLY YOUR PERSONAL TASTE( MOST PEOPLE DON´T HAVE COURAGE TO USE COLOUR , BECAUSE THEY THINK THEY BE TYERD AND BORED MUTCH QUIKLY , SO , THEY GO BY THE EASY WAY, SOME TIMES THEY DON´T EVEN TRY AT HALL)!! THIS COUPLE COULD NEVER LIVE IN A EARTH TONES HOUSE , I THINK THE COLOUR GIVES THEM A COMPLETLY NEW DIMENSION AND WHERE HAVER THEY GO , THEY CARRIED COLOUR WITH THEM!!
NEW ENTRIES ALSO VERY GOOD BUT WHAT I SEE IS THAT THIS HOUSE CREATES LIKE ANY ONE ELSE A DISCUSSIONS ABOUT COLOUR THAT MAKES THIS CONTEST EVEN SPECIAL. I SAW PEOPLE BEEING UNPLESANT IN THE WAY THEY CRITISEZE AND I THINK THAT´S NOT A GOOD WAY OF LOOKING AT THINKS, ONES CAN MAKE A CRITIC WITHOUT BEING POLITE.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!!

I love it! The colors are so exuberant and I am so impressed by how they exploited the light quality in their home.

Yep it is Hot & Cheap in a Massage parlor way.. But
it gives me nostalgia.. and it also make me want Thai food.. I give it a B for Balls. better than
one of those do it by number apartments..

I think it's nutty and beautiful.
And budget-friendly with all that IKEA . . .

Nostalgia for Thai food in a massage parlor?

And I though *I* had a weird childhood!!! ;)

Um, guido, what Ikea are you seeing?

I love it. It's fun and looks like a great beach home.

As Shari said, I too find this discussion informative. Colleen, Wende, Tat--thank you for your comments, specifically.

I adore the style of this house. It´s different, no mainstream. Everytime I look at the pictures, I feel that it´s a place full of vibrant energy and it´s so authentic and vivid.

so happy place, full of energy and life, so creative...

I really like this place a lot, but I saw the photos on flickr quite a while ago, so I feel like I've seen too much of the place (or more than the contest allows), and that my vote would be affected by that. I think it's a great place.

Can a person from outside of the U.S./N. America be eligible to actually win any of the prizes from CB2?

Marm,

This year's rules state that "This year's contest is open to all readers around the world."

Ah, ok, thanks lisa from va. I was just wondering if people overseas would be able to easily redeem a CB2 shop card, but it sounds like it's all been figured out.

Every time I visit Graça and Francisco's Home I cannot help looking around and let colour enter my eyes and my soul. It is, in fact, the only ambience that I know where I feel happy and where every object takes a certain projection among everything around,indeed. All, inside such peculiar home decoration deserves an attentive observation because of the care employed in every corner of the space

she is definitely not playing it safe. there is a lot of life in this room. i love the colors and i love them together but if there was just a little more white it would feel more airy and not so intense. great entry. i would love to see a muted vintagey jade to counteract all the reds and pinks. very romantic.

Very colorful. The gradation of purple is really nice, but the red and the pink clash too much for my tastes.

Kids would love it though.

Yay for pink...and lots of it!!! Bravo.

OK when can I come over for drinks? This space looks like such a fun place for good conversation with friends. I think I'd love hanging out here, and possibly living here. There's something very "alive" about this.

I love, love, love this. I'm so glad that people are breaking out of the neutral zone and getting involved with color. Being an interior designer gives me great inspiration that people like you are still alive- artists of out time. I'd like to see photos of your completed house. Good Luck!

The colors are vibrant and the decor gives it a very cultural feel. Certainly no fear of color, my hat's off to you!