Transforming With Orange

Now I'm not talking about a wall transforming into a robot, more like paint transforming a room. I recently did a color consult for a client who was moving into a cute little bungalow rental. The kitchen was painted with a color from the "white" family. It has maple cabinets, nothing fancy, but in good shape. The counter is a dark green Corian and the appliances are white. Very basic but not homey, until I pulled the "Toffee Orange" from the Benjamin Moore deck. Suddenly the room came alive! The cabinets were much warmer, the counters stopped being dark thanks to the specks of orange that were no longer hidden by the forest of green. I have yet to see it myself, but my client received a big thumbs up from the painter.

Orange happens to be one of my favorite colors, it was Frank Sinatra's as well. I say one because I also love citrusy greens, but this is about orange today. The Color Section in the October 2009 issue of "House Beautiful" is all about orange. It seems my thoughts on orange are not alone. Orange has such an amazing range and can be complimented by many colors. Mom actually had a purple and orange bathroom once. Yes, it was back in the 70's, but it worked, it was pretty cool.

Orange and pink is still very hot, not to mention orange and red, orange and green, orange and blue (no, not Bronco blue), but a soft blue. Orange really does work with just about any color. One of my favorite color stories with orange includes a dark chocolate brown and white. On my first trip to New York, my friend and I stumbled upon this oh so cool spot called "Canteen". It was designed so amazingly well, simple, clean lines using only orange, brown and white, it was truly stunning. So stunning that it was mentioned the following month in "Metropolitan Home".

I love color, and if I may say so myself, I have an amazing eye for it. I chose a wheat yellow when my parents remodeled years ago. Their kitchen and great room are always warm, even when it is 20 degrees outside and the ground is covered by a plush blanket of snow. They are building next year and you can bet that the wheat yellow will be making another appearance, not to mention orange, and probably, well, you'll just have to wait!