Name: Alison S.
Location: Boston, MA
Why I use color:
"Color is the easiest way to change a space and make it your own. It is a great tool to enhance the experience of a room and create a mood.
For my new baby Milo's room, I wanted to create a soothing environment that was still stimulating and playful. I selected natural colors (blues and browns) to create a tranquil tone and used white accents -- for the trim and furniture -- to keep it simple and graphic. While keeping the color palette simple, I added patterns and textures in neutral browns for visual and tactile interest. Vivid and bright colors were added with toys and accessories."
Color Tips:
"* Use a good color wheel to pick your palette.
* Experiment with mixing pigments to get a better understanding of how colors interact and influence one another.
* Use harmonious color palettes for the most soothing environments."
Color Resources:
"* 2 oz. sample paint jars - they allow you to get an actual sense of how a color will appear in your space -- so important!
* Color in Three-Dimensional Design, Jeanne Kopacz, McGraw Hill"
...and extra points for spelling "palette" correctly!
I really love the patterns of vertical stripes. They add some interest without being too overpowering.
Milo is one lucky baby, this room is beautiful! I love the painting above the crib, where did you get it?
yes... where did you get that print????
I'm thinking we need east, west, and infant divisions for this contest . . .
what i love about this is that it is alison's style with some very sweet, specific things for milo. i think this is very well done. it's just not that easy to do a kid's room in a small place. these rooms often need to be multipurpose, and you want them to maintain a continuity with the rest of your place. any of the pieces in this room (rug, shelving, light fixtures) would work just as well in a non-nursery. nice job!
I love it! There are quite a few baby rooms up here and quite a few brown, white, and blue rooms. This isn't so cliche retro, its much fresher (and the periwinkle blue adds so much). I love the stripes and, what looks like, marimekko fabric (that i love too!!!) above the crib. That pendant lamp is awesome! great job!
What color blue is that?
alison & milo, great job! what a fantastic use of color, i really like this space.
alison, could you please tell us about the print of the branches? it looks familiar but i can't quite place it. any information would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for your comments!
The tree print above the crib is a Marimekko pattern called "Tuuli" in brown and white. It comes in a 38" x 54" piece and I stretched it over a canvas. I wanted something graphic for Milo to look at, but not anything as stark as black and white. The print also comes in blue, black and green (all with white). It works horizontally, but it is meant to be used vertically. If you look closely you can see the birds perched on the tree are sideways!
The blue paint color is B. Moore's Windmill Wings.
Alison
hi alison,
thank you so much for posting the information about the marimekko print...it looks fantastic!
if you have a minute, can you tell me where you found the print on canvas? i remember seeing one on ebay some time ago but just looked and there were no sellers this time. i am moving into a new apartment in about six weeks and the "bedroom" area does not have a window-i was thinking this might be a nice way to bring the outdoors in and i have a mirror that would look beautiful on the same wall. any information you can provide would be greatly appreciated!
thanks so much! and good luck with the contest.
Christina,
I actually bought the fabric from Marimekko (http://store.txtlart.com/index.html) and stretched it over the canvas myself. The site sells kits for select fabrics with everything you need to do this (stretchers, wire...), but at the time they didn't sell them with the Tuuli in brown. Also, when I first stretched it w/o a canvas, you could see the blue wall through the white fabric, so I bought a plain white stretched canvas at an art store and stapled the fabric on top of it. Let me know if you need more info. Good luck with your move!
Alison
thanks alison! that sounds fantastic and you have inspired me to work with my new windowless bedroom. i think this will be perfect! thank you for your help.
Very soft, elegant, attractive and still adorable.