Favorite Room Ever and an Update

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My dining room/ office switheroo is proceeding, but slowly.  Primarily because the new office area is in a corner of the stairwell and involves repainting that whole area.  And did I mention that I, in a fit of insanity, originally painted that area orange?  Dark orange?  The kind of orange that it takes layer and layer of paint to cover? 

Actually, it's not that bad; we (I've roped Thomas into helping) are using good quality paint (from Sherwin Williams) in flat (the plaster walls aren't in great shape), so it's covering pretty well.  It's just that work commitments have ramped up, and we haven't had that much time to devote to the project--I'm hoping to change that this weekend.

And I've also delayed the project because I have managed to do everything I would never do for a client project:  move furniture without preparing a floor plan, start painting without testing color, begin project without determining installation timeline, and trying to make finishing detail decisions without completing the beginning phases of the project---in fact, I've been impulisive, unorganized, and indecisive----exactly the kind of client that I find a pain in the ass.

Any way,  since I'm painting the walls in one of my favorite colors, Sherwin Williams's Rainwashed, I was reminded of my favorite room ever published in Elle Decor, way back in 2001.  I lost the magazine in post-Katrina flooding, so I don't remember the designer, except that he was an ex-model named Ren who had just moved to L.A..  Luckily, I had removed the cover and it happened to be with some paperwork I took with me one the evacutaion.  You can tell by all the folds and wrinkles in the scan how often I've studied it.

The room just encapsulated everything I personally love in a space:  the blue/gray/green walls, the plain offwhite slipcovers, the touch of asian, the accents of dark brown/black, cream and camel.  It's a palette and look I've loved as long as I remember.  Periodically, I get the urge to try something new and incorporate bolder colour (i'm looking at you orange), more pattern, and different materials into my decor.  But eventually, I always end up back with elements similar to the one in the Elle cover.  After the painting is finished, my living/dining room and office/stairwell will have this same creamy white, pale robin's egg blue palette, with carmel and dark accents---I can hardly wait.

Until then, here are a couple of rooms via Erin at  House of Turquoise featuring Rainwashed (www.houseofturquoise.com :  keyword: rainwashed) :

Abbe at Studio ten 25

Jo Rabuat

FYI.  In my opinion, Sherwin Williams has the best selection of this kind of undefinable green/grey/blue, located on strips 27, 28 and 30-32.  My personal favorites that I have used again and again for clients are Austere Gray, Contented, Oyster Bay--my personal favorite, but unfortunately not quite right for me (boo hoo), Sea Salt,, Rainwashed, Quietude, Tradewind, and Rain.  They are all similiar, but have varying degrees of blue, green, gray, light, and dark, so I always test them.