Relaxed living
When designer Sherrill Canet was invited to create a living room, she custom-blended a malachite green paint with a mahogany glaze finish. The result was deep, rich and elegant.
"I wanted a punchy contrast to my black and white Ellipse rug for Stark," she says, explaining her bold choice of wall colour. The ceiling is covered in a golden-hued metal leaf, which makes the glaze on the walls look even richer, and lends the room a sophisticated, urbane look."This room is the perfect place for relaxing and entertaining," Canet says. "It is ideal for cocktails, after dinner brandies, conversations or catching up on some quiet reading."
Just about any green can look sophisticated. It is all about how these colours are presented, and in what doses they are applied. Even the most predictable and favourite combinations can be made to look fresh and new when applied correctly and with confidence."
Sitting pretty
Although dark green is often used to make a space look male and clubby, the colour can also be fabulously feminine. I love green," says designer Angus, "so for this room, I had this wallpaper custom designed and hand-painted. I asked for peony bushes and chose the flower colours, as well as the background green."
The wall-to-wall wool carpet is also a deep, soft green. An Italian chair and Portugeuese Rococo table add additional curves and a rich sense of history - beautifully highlighted by the contrast of the bright, modern graphic of Andy Warhol's "Flowers" silkscreen, created in 1970.
While Angus adores green in almost any setting, she cautions against using it in a master bathroom. "You would put on way too much rosy makeup to compensate for the green cast of the walls, and could end up looking like a fool in the daylight!" she says.
Going green for guests
To keep the pink-and-green scheme in this guestroom looking sophisticated, the designer chose streamlined furniture and graphic fabrics with large-scale prints.
"The table is a piece you don't expect to see in pink," he says, "and while I used pink as an accent throughout the room, I stayed away from a more even pink-and-green balance that might have looked immature. I also avoided straight stripes, plaids and ginghams, and instead used a painterly, squiggled stripe on the headboard and large, modern leaf patterns throughout the room."
The patterns lend this space a youthful but not childish feeling, as does the restraint with the green paint. "I used this grass green only on the wall behind the bed," he says, "The other three walls are white. That way, you have the grassy green colour but it doesn't overwhelm the room."
Going green
The ways to make green work in a home are almost limitless. "Think 'environment' and 'nature' in the soft shades of green arriving as forecasted," says Paulette Diamond, vice president of the International Association of Color Consultants. "Use soft greens against neutral earth colours of sand, rock and soil, and use along with accents of deep, rich terra cotta," she suggests, similar to the palette she's put together in the elegant dining room room. "A neutral green (between the poles of yellow and blue) creates a mindset of peace and tranquility. The more blue-based a light shade of green, the more refreshing it becomes."
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