apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

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Name: Hiroshi J.
Location: Harlem, New York

Why I use color:

"Living in central Harlem, change has come (soaring real estate, for example) but things at "street level" don't shift as quickly as people may think (crime is still higher than elsewhere in the city); yet I find the beauty of the sky up above the layers of Harlem rooftops. At dawn, our little cat named Sheba sits on a windowsill and looks up the sky. The colors of the Harlem sky changing like a moving panorama of ombray-- midnight indigo gradually turning to azure to slate to crimson to petal pink.

I use ombray (shading of colors) colored objects around the apartment. Gradual changes of colors are very relaxing to the eyes; they always take me back to the nature, beauty of the earth.

The other colored objects I use are Berbers or native home furnishings like our Moroccan rug and Tibetan chest. They are like big oil paintings, but without attitude.

Why do I use colors? Because colors affect me emotionally in many ways. I would like the colors of my apartment to comfort me when I come home after long hard day."

Color Tips:

"1. Think smooth flow of colors, room-to-room, area-to-area, object to object. For example, from floor to carpet to sofa to wall to ceiling.

2. Pick the colors with the lighting condition of the rooms in mind. Color changes day to night as well.

3. Last, being bold is good but it is also important to take one step back, look, and make the big palette work."

Color Resources:

"Any fine art, photography, or craft books, world travel books, or just take an actual trip to different countries or research different times in history."