As I write this, I am sitting outdoors enjoying breezy 67 degree weather, surrounded by birdsong and the most rejuvenating shades of Spring green I’ve ever seen. Spring is the season of new beginnings, renewal and hope.

 

Like most businesses, our sales aren’t quite what they used to be, but I’m so grateful to have such wonderful clients and friends who continue to use our products and services. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You are the reason I enjoy what I do. Proof positive that appreciation and gratitude most definitely lead to joy! Happy Spring!

According to most realtors, Spring is also the best time to put your property on the market if you’re trying to sell it, and that’s exactly what my friend Bob McDonald is doing here in St. Francisville. Ever since he started coming here to visit, he has expressed a desire to have a little retreat in the woods like mine. So when he called from New York to say that his lease was up and asked me to look for a few acres in the Feliciana woods (“sweet woods” Audubon called it), I knew it was a sign when the first property I looked at was six acres, complete with a creek and a pond, no less!

 

A few days later, Bob came down, purchased the property and started designing his house with the help of Baton Rouge architect Mark Matthews, an architect I have used successfully on the designs of several other country retreats for clients who wanted something similar to my house (see "Little Cabin in the Woods" article ).

 

During the initial design stages, Bob selected colors he wanted to use for the interior, however, when it came time to finalize the paint decisions by putting samples up on the newly sheet rocked walls, the "Mustard Seed" he had chosen for the great room seemed garish amidst the beautiful views of nature. We must have tried every color before we finally realized that "Mushroom" was the only color subtle enough to work. "Gustavian Grey" walls & ceilings in the master suite work beautifully off of the "Mushroom" and both colors are so atmospheric, it feels like being in a cloud amongst the treetops.

 

The windows were trimmed in a vinyl material that is much like the color of our "Sage", so we used that for all millwork and also for the walls in the guest bedroom.  We treated the other Euro Shower & Powder Room like jewel boxes, painting them "Aqua" & "Pueblo", respectively. The exterior siding is a custom mossy green to coordinate with the window trim and nestle the home into the landscaping.

 

When she kept ordering numerous gallons of "Tuscan Sun" and "Citrine" for her exterior, once again I was skeptical because I hadn’t really thought about using such bright hues as exterior colors. As you can see, on a typical blue sky California day, they are perfect!

Katina Kefalos is almost finished with the renovation of two family homes that she has lovingly turned into luxury apartments in Pittsburgh‘s Shadyside area (www.shadysiderentals.net). I say “lovingly” because she is preserving the murals and decorative painting her mother created for the properties many years ago. To make the entry and hallways more elegant and luxurious, we used "Buttercream" on the walls with a combination of "Sage" and "Edgewood Green" on the millwork.

On the upstairs landing, we used "Magnolia" on the walls to blend more closely with the faux marble woodwork at the other end of the room and a custom “Kefalos Blue” on the ceilings.  The apartments themselves have our tried and true "Mushroom" walls with "Gustavian Grey" ceilings, bedrooms and baths.

(Before & After "Magnolia" walls with "Kefalos Blue" ceiling)

I especially like what her talented painters created as a tribute to Katina’s mother with our "Giverny Blue".  So you see, you can have a blue sky day even indoors!

Louisiana plantation owner/artist Hunt Slonem’s studio, painted in several of our most vibrant colors, continues to appear in numerous articles. The two most recent being the May 2010 Vogue article “Lady Day” with photos by famed photographer Steven Meisel and New York Magazine’s article “Living with a Thousand Best Friends” (see the slide show).  

("Coral" left & "Albania Teal" right at Slonem's NYC Studio from the May issue of Vogue)

We’ve been slowly repainting Hunt’s Lakeside Plantation room by room and plan to share photos of the newly painted rooms in our next Living Well.

Until then, I wish you all the best for a wonderful Spring!