Dear Friends,

Down South, especially here in St. Francisville, Autumn is everyone's favorite season because there's nothing more welcome than sunshine and dry, cool air after a hot and humid Summer.  October is the most spectacular month of the year and definitely the best time to visit because you can always count on perfect weather which is when St. Francisville hosts its annual Southern Garden Symposium and Yellow Leaf Arts Festival, among many other festivities. If you live nearby, you should make a road trip--even if just for the day.  New Orleans, for instance, is only a 2 hour drive. 

St. Francisville's connection to New Orleans dates back many years as area plantation owners also had townhomes there, and would travel the Mississippi back and forth. When I need a big city fix, New Orleans is definitely where I go and I especially love it when I get to go for business. 

Jon Vaccari's New Orleans Showroom Now Open

In my Winter 2010 Living Well, I wrote about the special palette we created for New Orleans interior designer Jon Vaccari and the "JV Cloud White" used on everything in his fabulous new showroom at 1912 St. Charles Avenue. 

After getting numerous calls from folks raving about the JV White, I had to go see.  Of course, Jon has the most exquisite taste and his furnishings are spectacular, so it's not like the white walls "made the place". But I have to say, it's the prettiest white I have ever seen.  If you are in the area be sure to stop in. Jon's showroom is a perfect example of the type of townhouse a plantation owner might have kept.

(Yes, that's Jon's signature "JV Cloud White" used on all walls, ceilings & millwork but because it's full spectrum, it's constantly changing with the light.)

His residence upstairs with store below, however, has far exceeded what you might have found back in 19th Century New Orleans. Although Jon and his family live in the private quarters upstairs; his ground floor showroom offers a view into a beautiful world of elegance, Hollywood glamour and mid-century modern furnishings, all mingled together to create Jon's unique style. 

(Jon also used his signature "JV Cloud White" on all walls, ceilings and millwork in most rooms in his residence as seen in the photo of his living room above.)

For more photos of Jon's showroom and the sanctuary he's created upstairs, visit his website, jonvacarridesign.com, and click on "showroom" and "design" respectively. Like St. Francisville, New Orleans has optimum weather and many exciting events this time of year, so be sure plan a visit sometime soon! In the meantime, if you would like to receive Jon's newsletter with his latest finds, email info@jonvaccaridesign.com.

Designer Marc Charbonnet's Color Palette & New Venture

New Orleans born, Manhattan-based designer Marc Charbonnet (mecaproductions.com) is also well-known for his use of primarily creamy-white palettes. I can't tell you how often I get calls asking which whites and off-whites are used in the photos we've featured of Marc's work on our website. Although over the years I have seen quite a variety of styles in Marc's work, it's his refined classical style that you see in magazines like Architectural Digest where he was named as one of the "Top 100 Designers" and "Interior Design Legends" more than once.  He told me that unlike designers that dictate their aestetic, Marc believes in creating the dream home that each of his clients finds comfortable. "Pearl necklaces perfect" as he is often known to say.

("Classic Marc" walls with "Pearl" ceiling and "Snow" millwork)

In addition to the whites and creams he uses, Marc uses his renowned "Classic Marc" in several tonal values ranging from 25-150% to round out the palettes he creates for many of his stellar clients, including Michael J. Fox and Tracy Pollan.

("Classic Cream" walls, left & "150% Classic Marc" walls, right. Millwork in both rooms is "White Opal", ceilings are "Snow")

Marc has also been in collaboration with artist Hunt Slonem to create a collection of rugs using designs from some of Hunt's most popular paintings.  And coming soon, a line of fun and fresh swimwear, beach towels, t-shirts and other items based on the motifs in Hunt's paintings, including the revival of an old New Orleans' favorite, the Sixties' era Gus Mayer basket purse. So stay tuned!

(One of the rugs from Hunt Slonem's popular paintings of butterflies)

2011 Color of the Year Announced by Akzo Nobel

It makes sense that the color white is associated with purity, perfection and the ambiance of heaven, because white light is created when you combine all the color rays of the spectrum.  I predict we'll be seeing more full-spectrum whites in the future and although white has never been named "color of the year"; based on the trends reported in the 2011 Colour Futures book recently released by Akzo Nobel's international color team; it just might!

The key word they used to describe the dominant trend for 2011 is “APPRECIATION”.  Appreciation leads to gratitude and focusing on these two feelings is the powerful technique used to radiate love and attract more of the good things we are thankful for; so when more and more people practice radiating love, we create our own heaven on earth!

Here’s what Akzo's Colour Futures team sees as the colour future for 2011:

“This year we see a continuing move towards colours that are cleaner in character and much more optimistic and hopeful in the feeling they create. Shades for 2011 bring joy and charm to our lives and create an overriding mood of clarity and freshness in all palettes.”

 Although you can't get any cleaner than white, the color they named  as the 2011 Colour of the Year  is "Lime Twist" described as a light airy citrus yellow. The color trend team describes its slight green edge as giving it newness and freshness, reflecting our appreciation of nature and man made materials. Both organic and technological, “Lime Twist” is surprisingly flexible and works beautifully with the rest of the 2011 colour palette they created.  I especially like it paired with what they consider to be the “2011 Cool Neutral” known as Akzo’s paint color “Crystal Glimmer" (similar to our "Lavender Mist"). 

(2011 Color of the Year "Lime Twist" shown with "Crystal Glimmer")

The Colour Futures book also contains trend colors from eight colour families that they have chosen as “2011 Key Colours”, along with coordinating colors for each palette. The other trend “2011 Key Colours” are:  Red Red Rose (a juicy pink red), Apricot Ice (a stimulating crisp coral), Honey Frost (a zesty lemon), Fairy Tale Green (an electric blue green), Peacock’s Plume (a rich peacock blue), Midnight Cruise (a deep blackberry) and Hiking Trail (a warm neutral brown).

The 2011 Colour Futures book can be downloaded as a PDF by visiting their new website, ColourFutures.com!

Although color trends are very exciting, what’s trendy is not always timeless when it comes to coloring our interior spaces. You may want to add a bit of 2011 into your spaces with new pillows or paint a piece of furniture in one of these fresh colors. I pulled several of our tried and true full spectrum colors that are similar: Celery, Limone, Cornsilk, Watermelon Red, Coral, Albania Teal, Sable and Lavender Mist. Many of them can be seen on the Photos & Reviews page of my website, which by the way, is the most popular page of the entire site as I am constantly updating it with photos and comments from our wonderful paint customers. If you haven’t been there lately, check it out and if you've been meaning to send me photos of your newly painted spaces, please do!

Until next time, I wish you a wonderful Autumn season filled with many blessings!