Name: Elise (and Jim!)
Location: Beautiful Lansing, MI
Why I use color:
"This is the first place we've owned instead of rented (or worse, slept in the basement). I was compelled to go a little wild after years of enforced white & beige (and especially after two years of a hideous apartment with swamp-brown industrial carpet and dark knotty-wood wall paneling).
Green has always been my favorite "looking at" (as opposed to wearing) color thanks to the "Oz" books. My living room makes me happy when I am sitting in it, and we finally have a home to which we can invite people! It's the first thing people notice: "your apartment is so colorful!"
I'm looking forward to the summer feel of this green during the long, drab Michigan winter. But...I don't think the Until Dawn curtain is going to provide much insulation!"
Color Tips:
"Pick a color - just decide! Chances are you won't regret it. Don't let the naysayers have their way, even if your significant other is just not sure about a chartreuse bedroom.
Keep an eye out for your carefully chosen color everywhere you go - Target, church bazaars, curbside, Craigslist. Once you start looking for tiffany blue or goldenrod, it'll magically pop up everywhere.
If you're shy but want to dip your toe in the color pool, start with a low-dollar or low-committment project. My first venture was an ancient pressboard coffee table, a quart of lime green paint, $10 worth of Loteria cards, and clear polyurethane; over one long weekend it was transformed into a fabuloso folk-art accent and I was hooked. Plus I wouldn't have felt bad about curbing it, had it not turned out!"
Color Resources:
"From the Dept of the Obvious: the internet, especially eBay. Who can pooh-pooh a service that lets you type your desired color and product into a box and provides you with hundreds, even thousands of reasonably priced products you never even knew existed - shipped to your front door? Where else could I find lime green leather remnants, a $40 calfskin rug, and MAC cosmetics in the middle of Michigan?
Is there any info you can give me that would put me in the direction of that leopard/panther print? I have a fixation with small black cat things (I have a 5 yr old black cat) but I now have an orange cat as well.. That print would be perfect. :)
Finally green! Like a breath of fresh air. But then I'm biased, as you'll see when my entry pops up:)
That curtain is so cool. Where is it from?
I like the color, but the clutter is a little much. I've noticed a number of entrants don't tidy up before they snap the picture.
Aaahhh! I was wondering when lime with black would show up. Thank you!
It's not as "designy," but I like it when contestants admit that the shoes always end up by the door or the mail goes on the table.
GOOD MORNING, that's some green! Makes Marlon look timid! :)
I'd love to see the white wall get color-matched to the background color (or darker) of the (way cool, as cat-man Doug noted) leopard poster. It would also have the effect of the wood floor almost running up the wall and probably expand the space. Would also give a cozy nighttime counterpoint to the daytime lime.
And while I think you have more exposed storage than some, I think it looks pretty tidy.
ps; I f you haven't already, get to NYC and see Wicked! for even more Oz-green inspiration! :)
Doug,
That poster is by Ludwig Hohlwein for a the Munich Zoological Garden, I think - here's a link to a similar one (different copy, same cats):
http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Munich-Zoological-Garden-1912-Posters_i311183_c9759_.htm
If you're into vintage cat posters, you should search for posters by Steinlen - he did that Chat Noir poster everyone has, but also a lot of other really tender paintings of cats. Here's one you might like:
http://www.allposters.com/gallery.asp?txtSearch=steinlen&image1.x=0&image1.y=0
It's not a CLEANING contest . . . and anyway I think this place looks fine. Lived in, pleasant. Sometimes I look at the pictures and wonder how big the shopping bag with flotsam of life is in the next room! But then, I just looked at today's LA entry of a kitchen with zero items visible...
Nice place!
If people do tidy up, they are accused of overstyling and of having it be too "fake." Can't really win.
Melanie -- thanks for the links. I don't want to overdo the cat thing (I have like 3 or 4 small cat pieces right now)... I'm already a crazy cat guy (one guy, living by himself in 650 sq ft with two cats :) )... but I have a vintage poster thing going on as well and it would be a nice tie-in.
Not sure how you all live, but if shoes on the door mat and mail on an entry way table are cluttered and not cleaned-up, then... wow. I really do live in a hovel.
I also really want to see a set up of the Until Dawn curtain, that black and white "scribble" chair and the cow hide rug all in one shot. Would be awesome!
I think there is a whole room's worth of lesson in just that one poster... one predominant color, the anchor of black, a texture that integrates them both (and adds lighter values of the predominant color), shapes that share both similarity and difference, and a small jolt of "something completely different" (those electric green eyes).
I love it, and I think that the homeowners are great too!! The Mexican Bingo cards are great Elise!!
I think that you guys are just doing a tgreat job..Cute for a starter and open and clean...a ten all the way!!
I think its bold and should definitely satisfy those seeking color in this contest. I like the furnishings, and I think a few more accents in the same green or a complimentary wild color would really pull it together. Those colorful touches that pull your eye around the room, then back to the wall!
Regarding Wende: "It's not as "designy," but I like it when contestants admit that the shoes always end up by the door or the mail goes on the table."
Wende, I don't know how to take it your comment...literally. Here in Hawaii, not only do shoes often go by the door, they are often outside the door. There is a strong tradition of not wearing shoes in the home. Hey, if we were all the same, I guess our walls would all be white, or beige. ;-) ;-)
Struggling with my own color scheme.....
Cooking Cajun
Here's hoping new friendships are made amid the Lansing contingent--great to see such style from an unexpected locale.
I like the coffee table and the green lace curtain. (Personally I couldn't live with a dead animal on the floor though!)
Shoes have to go somewhere, so why hide them for the photo?? Ditto for the mail. It looks homey, natural and lived-in.
What a happy room! So ssshnazzy!
OK...about the "clutter"...isn't there a certain level of "homeyness" in a picture where you can see the shoes of the home owner scattered about? ...And if you are at all into style...then you would see that the shoes as part of the decor.
Needless to say, the green is outstanding. Mix it with the black and a touch of silver...very nice.
....AND, it shows what you can do by being creative and not spending a fortune.
I never really thougt bright green would be a good color for a wall but by looking at your pictures I say that it works nicely. Really makes the room bright and vibrant.
Wow, I am very impressed by teh poster. Good thing I bought it for you oh those many years ago. Oh wait, I bought it for myself! At least you've put it to good use.
I love your apartment. I can't to see it in person, even though it means traveling to Michigan.
OMG i love Wicked!!
very very cool room too
oooh love the brighr green ha yeah it is sooo like WICKED! gotta love that show and this room!!
I love the color scheme--tres chic! Is that a "cow-skin" rug on the floor? The perfect Midwestern compliment!
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