April 16, 2009

Grey Mansions





When I was in High School my parents let me decorate my small room. This was the early sixties and I selected the color scheme of grey, pink and white. My walls were painted grey, a soft grey. I had a pink chenille bedspread on my twin bed and a prize possession a pink and white striped enamel wastebasket, also white sheer curtains at my double hung window. Fast forward to five years ago when I began to dream how to make my minuscule kitchen seem larger, more efficient and fit comfortably into my 1939 Tudor home. I remembered the small kitchens I had seen in France and began to analyse why the pictures I had clipped from "Cote Sud", "Maison Francaise" and my memory, felt so comfortable. The main ingredient was the use of grey , a soft grey not a charcoal grey, sometimes a worn grey but always to my eye a comforting grey. For a host of reasons I decided to use warm grey cabinets in my new kitchen space.

I was delighted to read a wonderful analysis of the use of grey and influnece of Parisian greys in www/sensationalcolor.com/liveinfullcolor/i-like-parisian-palettes-in-the-springtime-how-about-you/#more-2717. This is an article written April 9 by Julie Hoylen. You can use the Sensational Color link I have under COLOR and at the bottom of the Sensational Color first page you can see it lists blogs, notice Live in Color,then look up the April 9 posting. She shows several color schemes based on Parisian grey. I am also including a reproduction of a painting by the 19th c. French artist, Gustave Caillebotte. He understood Parisian grey and has influenced me in my kitchen scheme. Abiento!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is Parisian Grey the new black? Sounds good to me....anyway, love seeing this genre of painting and how the invention of photography influenced the composition...people moving in and out of the frame.

Carole Buschmann said...

I love your astute observation.

Eugenie Torgerson said...

What a wonderful way to approach choosing a kitchen color --- from a life in art instead of HGTV! It is beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!

Carole Buschmann said...

Thank you Cher anon- it is people like yourself whose observations are invaluable.

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