Lauren Battistini
A new colorful direction for me: travel ...

Architectural color consultant Lauren Battistini of LFB COLOR takes a new colorful path as a travel illustrator and travel conversationalist. Why conversationalist and not influencer? Read Lauren’s take on that particular wording!

A new colorful direction for me: travel illustrator + travel conversationalist

Color Education

Bright & fun color pairings

Hey, color understudies and enthusiasts alike! It’s your color girl Lauren writing from my color studio in The Woodlands, Texas, U.S.A. Where are you? Please let me know in the comments.

Today we are playing “show and tell” with three interesting color combinations that harmonize well but that seem unlikely to the novice eye. I will show you the Sherwin-Williams paint colors first as a pairing, then we will explore real life examples of comparable color pairings. Vamonos!

DISCLAIMER: No, the good folks at Sherwin-Williams are not compensating me for this blog post. The color opinions expressed are solely mine and not for the purpose of promoting Sherwin-Williams products.

Below left: Exuberant Pink SW 6840 Below right: Eros Pink SW 6860

This Liz Roache art print below best depicts the way that Exuberant Pink and Eros Pink interact. The digital paint swatches at the beginning don’t accurately depict the color tones in my opinion.

In the art piece below, the top square is a very purple-pink similar to Exuberant Pink. The middle square has more red added and is thus a warmed red-pink. Both of these hues in real life appear to be pink, yet next to each other they appear red and purple. This is the power of seeing colors in conjunction with one another!

Below left: Obstinate Orange SW 6884 Below right: Fabulous Grape SW

Both colors above read a bit cooler on the screen than they appear in real life. Obstinate Orange really is a vivid warm color, and Fabulous Grape has more red in it, making it almost seem like a vibrant eggplant tone.

Below left: Habanero Chile SW 7589 Below right: Major Blue

The Habanero Chile color as you can see is quite spicy and warm, while our Major Blue is a spunky, vibrant mid tone blue. Let’s see some visuals for inspiration.

Have you noticed a common theme among all of these colors? What is it? How would you describe the colors individually and as a whole? The answer is HIGH CHROMA.

High chroma colors are very pigmented, pure, strong, clean as some in the industry would say, and vibrant. The darkest color in the palette is Fabulous Grape, yet it still holds its own as a high chroma color.

Which of these color duos appeal to you the most and how could you see yourself incorporating them into your current living or work space? Tell me more in the comments or email me any questions. Your question may become my next blog post!

Until next time and colorfully yours,

Lauren

Mix & match literally ANY color in the rainbow with my simple 3-step process

Hey, hey, hey, my colorful friends and colleagues the world over!

I hope that this finds you well and that you are enjoying the latest LFB Color content. Let’s tap into our inner child minds today and explore mixing and matching any color on the color wheel using our eyes and instincts.

Don’t you just want to run wild sometimes and not feel obligated to comply with some strict set of rules? Today’s your day, color lovers!

“Color, as expansive of an art and science as it is, SHOULD BE FUN AND FREE FLOWING. ”
— Your color strategist Lauren Battistini

DISCLAIMER: I utilize images typically from Pinterest to illustrate all of my colorful talking points. Photo sources are included in bold print under or near each image, AND I am including the link to my Pinterest board called Mix & Match Literally Any Color!

I’m simplifying color combinations with 3 foolproof ways to mix and match colors for home interiors or frankly any space. In the future, the little color nerd in me will revisit color theory on the blog and find a CREATIVE way to explain the monochromatic, analogous, complementary, split-complementary, triadic, square and rectangle (tetradic) color schemes. We’re just getting warmed up today with the language of color theory. Let’s get started, folks!

  1. All colors on the color wheel—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet—can be mixed and matched in any combination.

Recognize that each main color (hue) on the color wheel can shift appearance, though, by warming/cooling, lightening/darkening or intensifying/softening. Let’s explore how the color green shifts.

On the left below are WARM GREENS. They are warm because more yellow is present in them than blue. On the right below are COOLER GREENS, more blue in undertone. Both palettes are still green!

You can modify greens by LIGHTENING or DARKENING them as seen below!

Greens can be vibrant (HIGH CHROMA) or muted (LOW CHROMA).

As we explore the color wheel, an important point to note is that reds, oranges and yellows reside on the “warm side” of the color wheel, while greens, blues and purples reside on the “cool side.” Within each color, though, there are degrees of coolness and warmth depending on how much blue or yellow is added.

Mix temperatures to achieve balance or homeostasis. Yes, I’m giving your permission to mix warm and cool colors! Try it. Use paint swatches or a box of Crayola crayons to play with color. Take pictures out in nature, which provides us with the most compelling blends of cool and warm color.

2. What is your favorite color on the color wheel? I’ve got 3 ways below for you to create a color palette around it.

  • Take 2-3 neutrals and add in your favorite color in large furnishings, throw pillows, artwork and other substantial decor items.

  • Another design idea is to pick three versions of your favorite color to pair with one neutral. Take yellow as an example. A light, mid tone and deep yellow can be used as your color scheme with neutral floors and accents.

Shades of Yellow Palette With Grey As Neutral

  • Take your favorite color and incorporate one color adjacent to it on the color wheel. If your favorite color is green, then incorporate blue, too. Super easy!

A touch of blue and green together make a style statement!

3. Go wild with your color choices but keep the color vibrancy or subtlety consistent.

REMEMBER THIS POINT ABOVE ALL OTHERS WHEN MIXING AND MATCHING!

This is the only mistake you’re likely to make when mixing and matching colors; that is, not remaining consistent in chroma, or saturation, or vibrancy. A color in its purest form, whether light or dark, is high chroma. It is in its brightest, cleanest, most pigmented form. A low saturation color has been muddied, grayed and made more subtle. Low chroma colors are toned down. They will appear dirty or washed out when placed next to colors that are higher in chroma.

PRO TIP: Bold colors work best with other bold colors. If you place a bold color next to several muted, low chroma colors, that bold color will overpower the palette and thus look mismatched. Here’s a gorgeous example of a high chroma, bold color palette done right!

The opposite is also true. Low chroma colors pair best with other low chroma, or muted colors. Low chroma color palettes are always soothing to me and also make their own stylish statement.

A color then—when combined with others of equal saturation or vibrancy—can be mixed and matched with any others on the color wheel. Mix warms and cools, stick to just warms, or just cools, don’t forget neutrals when selecting your colors, and play with light, mid tone and dark versions of the same color on the color wheel.

Have you ever noticed how children just instinctively know which colors to pull out of their Crayon boxes to use? Color is something that humans perceive and understand, yet we somehow become intimidated by it as adults.

Today I encourage you to experiment and create some of your own color combinations. You can use crayons, upholstery fabrics, wallpaper samples, or paint swatches. Please email me images of your palettes, and I’d be glad to provide complimentary feedback.

As always, thank you for your readership, color crew!

Coloring my way across the globe, Lauren

Amish crafted furniture for your modern design scheme: Can it be done? Why yes it can!

PHOTO CREDIT: Hal McFarland | The Amish Craftsman showroom

Color and design lovers worldwide,

Where are you and—more importantly—how are you? I’m back in the Houston studios and ready to tackle new projects. We at LFB Color are gearing up for a color education event that I can’t wait to announce. In the meantime, we would like to introduce you to a very special industry colleague of ours, The Amish Craftsman.

DISCLAIMER: This is not a sponsored post and LFB Color has neither received compensation nor incentives to write about The Amish Craftsman’s products and services. My angle is merely to introduce you to a brand I greatly respect and have begun to learn about since doing business myself with them.

Having never designed with Amish style furniture before, I was uninformed and limited in thinking of its placement only in rustic home decor schemes. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that each component of the furniture, from wood stains to design lines to hardware, can be customized to one’s desired aesthetic. Take a look at the inspiration catalog above. The table shown is anything but rustic! At The Amish Craftsman, it’s not uncommon to add touches of black, mix and match chair styles, incorporate modern style lines, and use varying wood stains on different pieces to create unique furniture sets.

This is where I want to focus today: namely, the customization and modernization of what we typically think of as an antique, cozy, rustic furniture style. According to store owners Steve and Kimberley,

“At The Amish Craftsman, we believe every family deserves the furniture that fits your style and needs. Your style is unique, and your furniture should be too. That’s why we produce custom furniture that perfectly matches your style, tastes, and needs.”

Note in the above image that black cushions were added to modernize the table set. Additionally, the 2023 design trend of incorporating raw, unfinished elements of nature such as wood is displayed in this exquisite table top. The rough live edges are evocative of nature and freshly sourced wood. Talk about modern trends, ladies and gentlemen!

Above are images from the study of a home where I specified interior paint color recently. The homeowners have beautifully incorporated their own decor to make the furniture set uniquely theirs. The Amish Craftsman customizes and personalizes everything for clients, from the design process in their showroom to the white glove delivery service offered. This all-encompassing service model I appreciate very much, as LFB strives to do the same for you, our clientele!

Ways to personalize your Amish furniture pieces and sets are through the selection of wood stains, architectural design, hardware, upholstery fabrics, rugs, wall art, lamps and pottery pieces, all of which you will find at The Amish Craftsman. As I said, this is key to modernizing and personalizing your living space.

The furniture above will stand the test of time and can undoubtedly transition one day to a college student’s room for example. I specified the wall color in Benjamin Moore’s Gray Owl OC-52, a light, cool blue-gray. This is an example also of how we are mixing warm and cool tones in 2023. The cool blue-gray balances all of the warm wood tones quite beautifully in this space!

Again, it’s all about customization. Note the balance of warm wood and cooler blues and maroons in the rug sourced from The Amish Craftsman. I specified a warm cream with a hint of orange, Navajo White OC-95, for the walls to complement the warm wood tones.

What have we learned today? Amish furniture is made to look fresh and modern through some use of stain, architectural design, hardware, mixing and matching of stains or wood species, and the use of decor in upholstery fabric, lamps and rugs.

On that note. . . . . . . . . . .

Please save the date—Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 11:00 a.m.— for a very special in-showroom presentation that LFB Color is doing at The Amish Craftsman on 5555 Washington Avenue, Houston TX 77007.

We will be continuing the discussion on customization and modernization of Amish furniture, upholstery and hardware. Mimosas and snacks will also be served, and our team lead, Lauren Battistini (myself), will be on hand to answer your questions afterwards.

I will post the official invitation link in the next few days here, on Linkedin, and on LFB’s Instagram account. Stay tuned, friends!

Colorfully yours,

Lauren B.

3 questions to ask when creating a color palette for your home interior

Friends and color aficionados the world over,

You don’t need a course on color theory to create a beautiful palette for your home interior. Did you know that? Anyone can create a color scheme by asking three basic questions.

Let’s get started. Remember: I’m not the color police or your boss. Your home is YOUR home and your color palette needs to reflect your preferences more than anyone else’s. Today I’m merely your color guide. Let’s go!

What is your tolerance for color?

By tolerance I mean your embrace of color and how much of it you like to use in the home. Some people like small touches of color added in accents. Others like very bold choices and lots of them. Determine first your tolerance and preference for color. For example, you would never create a home full of high gloss primary colors if your “eye” truly prefers an earthy, soft, gentle palette. Here’s when going down that rabbit hole of Pinterest for inspiration can actually help you. PRO TIP: Create a Pinterest collection of home interiors that speaks to you somehow, and then look for commonalities among them.

When experimenting with color, look at its three key properties as defined by Albert Munsell, a long deceased but remarkable American painter and art teacher. He developed the Munsell color system, which codifies color three-dimensionally. Truly geeky and fascinating stuff! It’s how I teach color myself.

PHOTO CREDIT: Munsell Color Munsell Color Map

Let’s consider the dimension of HUE. Hue simply refers to the color category on the color wheel. Remember Roy G. Biv? Do you love RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE, INDIGO, or VIOLET | PURPLE? Which are your top TWO to THREE HUES or colors? You build your palette from there!

Basic Color Wheel PHOTO SOURCE: Better Homes and Gardens Better Homes and Gardens

Let’s also look at the dimension of VALUE, or how light or dark you like your colors. Here again, there’s no rule that you must follow.

Blue Color Scale | PHOTO CREDIT: Crayola

A balance of light, medium and dark color is pretty, but so are all light colors or a mixture of light and mid-tone colors. Rarely do I see a space that is all dark, though predominant darkness with touches of light can look refined if enough natural light shines into a space. Check out this design below by Clairz Interior Design as the perfect example of a dark value color scheme. The Garage Blacirum

As you consider your tolerance for color, consider also our last and most important dimension of CHROMA. I talk about chroma all of the time as the saturation, purity or boldness of a color. High chroma colors are at their purest and brightest form, whereas low chroma colors have been muted and toned or “grayed” down. Do you love bold and bright or do you prefer toned down colors? BONUS TIP: Bold colors pair best with other bold colors, while muted colors pair best with other muted colors.

Notice the two orange hues below. The image on the left is a high chroma, extremely vivid orange, while the image on the right is a low chroma, toned down orange. Which of the two appeals more to you?

What colors are already represented in your home in places such as art, furnishings, wall coverings, surfaces and fixed elements?

Unless you are starting from zero with a custom home build and replacement of all furniture and decor, then you are probably keeping much of the art and substantial furniture pieces you’ve curated through the years. The colors and undertones in these pieces will thus become at least part of your overall color scheme.

Tabitha Credenza PHOTO CREDIT: Urban Outfitters

Consider the unchanging or fixed elements in your home. Look at flooring, back splash, counter spaces, lighting and plumbing fixtures. Any new color brought in must coordinate with those tones and undertones. Look at large decor pieces such as art, area rugs and wall coverings. Note large furniture pieces and their upholstery fabric colors and/or wood tones. We have to consider all of this before bringing new color(s) into a space.

PHOTO CREDIT: Studio Mas Creative

ANOTHER BONUS PRO TIP: Take pictures in natural light if possible of these various surfaces and elements. Look at them as a grouping and see what commonalities they have. Save the images in a file on your phone to have when out shopping for more color! YET ANOTHER TIP: Have a white sheet of printer paper on hand to sit next to any surface colors. This helps you to define and interpret the color as it is compared to white. For example, a counter top might appear white perpendicular to a deep brown wood cabinetry, but if you put it next to a pure white sheet of paper it may in fact be cream or off white!

Do you prefer warm or cool neutrals or some combination of both?

I mix warm and cool neutrals all of the time, but that doesn’t mean you have to. See my last blog post here Mixing Cool + Warm Elements for more on that! Let’s discuss what we mean by warm and cool. All color has temperature. Even reds, which are considered warm colors on the color wheel, can be cool when blue is added to them. Below on the left we see a cool red, heading in the direction of purple because some blue was added. On the right we see a warm red, heading toward orange because yellow was added.

Warm neutrals are cream, beige, khaki and golden-brown. Cool neutrals are white, silver, gray and taupe. We can warm or cool any of these neutrals, but overall brown is known as being warm and black is known as being cool, just as examples. Let’s look at three neutral (mostly) palettes below. On the left we see a cool palette, in the middle we see a mixture of cool and warm tones, and on the right we see a predominantly warm neutral palette. PHOTO SOURCE + CREDIT FOR BELOW IMAGES: 3 Questions To Ask: Interior Color Palettes

Okay, friends, let’s recap. Take a breath. You’ve answered three questions to determine what type of colors you like, what you already have to work with and how you feel about cool versus warm neutrals. This combined with a paint color fan deck should help you to experiment with combinations and create a palette for your home interior.

Because I know that color choices can be challenging, I’m very keen to read your comments and questions following this post. Please post them for me. I will be sure to answer each and every comment or question to the best of my ability.

Try to answer the questions I posed above, but then do comment if and when you’re stuck on something. I’m here to teach you how to make color work for you!

Your color gal Lauren