Here we go again!

Well now, this was awesome. 

As I was writing my post today, Pepco lost power again. Big Surprise, not.Turns out there was a brush fire near a substation. Big Surprise, not! 

Though the fire didn't reach the proportions of 2011, it certainly caused concern. The power blip took down the internet, meaning much of the necessary research for today's post had to be delayed. I really miss my linksys modem which stayed up when these things happened!

Smoke from Pepco fire in 2011

Not to mention the fear of needing to bug out in case the situation warranted. 

**Le Sigh**

No damage, no panicked bug out, not even smokey skies, just two ladder trucks and a helicopter patrolling the park. 
No smoke in the skies, but Thundercloud Gray is coming!

Tomorrow is another day! 

Benjamin Moore Thundercloud Gray 2124-40

Back to Black

Lisa Mendes Design
High Point, North Carolina, 2015 Designer Showhouse
Traditional Home

I go through at least five or six design obsessions weekly. I am currently obsessing on cabinet color. In my creative area are yellow oak cabinets which need painting!

I have gone from black cabinets with white counters, to white cabinets with black counters...

Wm F. Holland, Architect
 website

To all white cabinets and counters ...

Traditional Kitchen by Minneapolis Interior Designers & Decorators; Interiors By Holly

Nagwa Seif Interior Design

Elizabeth Metcalfe Design Studio
website

Lisa Mendes Design
High Point, North Carolina, 2015 Designer Showhouse
Traditional Home

Now I am back to black again.

**Le Sigh**

Danke Schoen

It has been a Long, Long, Long, Stressful couple of weeks.
Thanks House and Home for this fabulous feature.

BRB...

Guggenheim

via Homebunch

I was searching the web for photos of cabinets painted with the no longer a secret combination of 50% linen white and 50% decorators white. The above picture is not it, it is linen white only. I know that once in Traditional Home, this charmingly awesome 50-50 was used and actually named as such. So often when a mix is listed in the Resources, it is just listed as Custom, grrrr!

Admittedly I have made some spectacular beige / off white paint colors by mixing all the left over paints together. Yup even some intense colors, mixed together with a bit of white will make beige. And, no, I couldn't come up with a better name than "custom" either. How do you say, about a quart of a gallon of some perfectly awful green that just never quite worked, about 1/2 gallon of brown that the previous owners left behind, 2 quarts of some sort of red, trial colors for the accent walls, a gallon of atrium white which was over the top stark, and a half a gallon of soapstone which a pinkish off white for the ceiling in the room with the Schumacher wallpaper.

Edgecomb Gray Decorpad 

While wandering I found an article on the New York Times site dating from 1989, with a discussion about whites, including the newly introduced Atrium White! Benjamin Moore's Off-White, with the number #76, which was really a gray, was only being kept in the line because of the name, off-white. I wonder how close that gray was to Edgecomb? I'm sure it was close to the stunning ET-69 or was it ET-71, which we used in our first house. I remember those colors being very close to Revere Pewter and Edgecomb Gray. I am pretty sure that #76 was in fact an ET, which stood for earth tone, color. 

Atrium White Cabinets via Decorpad

Atrium was one of the most stark whites I'd used to date. 

Pottery Barn, Benjamin Moore Spring in Aspen #954 on the walls OC-117 Simply White Trim

Benjamin Moore Spring in Aspen #954 with White Dove OC-17

Benjamin Moore Spring in Aspen #954 with Brandon Beige # 977
via Pinterest

From the article, it seems that the Guggenheim was painted OW-8, which was renamed #954, or, by its name, Spring in Aspen. To me, the Spring in Aspen works better with a brighter white for trim, such as the OC-117 in the top picture or the Brandon Beige in the bottom picture. White Dove, which I love is too near the same tone. If a monochromatic look is desired, just use the same paint in a different gloss, say satin, for the wood work.

Pottery Barn,
Benjamin Moore Berber White, 955

Benjamin Moore's Berber White, its neighbor on the fandeck, was very popular when it was part of the Pottery Barn color selections.

I'll keep looking for that elusive 50%-50% Linen / Decorators white photo, in the meantime, I have some plans up my sleeve for that boring builder bathroom!

Ready Mixed Whites: Linen White

10 Relaxing Bedrooms, Huffington Post, Designer: Laura Burkhardt 

Another classic color on the ready mix fan deck strip is Linen White.

Miles Redd, Veranda
Photography by Melanie Acevedo

While Decorators white tends to green, Linen white is a pale tint of yellow, yet not as dark as Navajo White or Ceylon Ivory by Pratt and Lambert.

Traditional Entry by Cabin John Design-Build Firms Anthony Wilder Design/Build, Inc.

It is light yet still warm. Not only is it on the Ready Mix paint strip, it is also 912 on the Classic Colors fandeck.

The best thing about Linen White may be when it is mixed with Decorators White!

Ready Mixed Whites: Decorators White

Deocorator's White via Homebunch

Confused about white? Try some of the ready mixed Benjamin Moore whites. 

Benjamin Moore has quite a few shades of Ready Mixed Whites, Decorators White being a very popular part of this collection.

Decorators White via Decorpad

Because they sell a lot of them.

Cardea Building Co via Pinterest

Because we want them.

Darryl Carter, Huntington White
via  One King's Lane: Finding the Perfect White

Jeff Andrews Dash

Designers spec them.

Custom Classic Kitchen Cabinets, Toronto

On cabinets.

Marie Burgos Design, via Decorpad
Photography by Francis Augustine

On walls.

Benjamin Moore Decorators white is cooler than Linen White and slightly bluer /cooler than White Dove. 

It is more subdued than Atrium White, which can be very, very stark (and a little pinkish).

Design Classics: Porcelain Garden Seats

I love love love Porcelain Garden Seats!

Via TartanScot Scott Meacham Wood

Mary McDonald  guest house, photographed by Miguel Flores-Vianna for Domino, via Apartment Therapy

There are so many different styles, there's one for nearly every style of room.

Joni Webb, Cote de Texas

 J. Randall Powers via  Cote de Texas

Suitable for indoors as well as out in the actual garden!

Julio Muao Beaux Mondes Designs

The blue and white plays well in combination with the striped awning and the taupe stucco. Love those awnings!

Garden stools are a stunning and practical addition to every space!