On February 16, Rejuvenation, known for reproducing period-authentic lighting and hardware, and YOLO Colorhouse are holding a special event meant  to educate and inspire homeowners and DIY enthusiasts at the Portland Rejuvenation store at 100 SE Grand Ave. at 6:00 p.m.  For both companies, color is the anchor when putting together new palettes and collections.

In this blogpost, Rejuvenation Industrial Designer, Tim, writes about the how they arrived at the color palette for their Mid-Century Modern lighting collection:

With everything we do, historical authenticity is the reference point.  No different for creating the color and finish palette for our Mid-Century Modern Collection. The thing about selecting period correct colors for an era that spans a decade or so, is that  you can find an example of pretty much any color imaginable.  In looking at mid-century vintage lighting catalogs, I found palettes that ranged from cheery pastels, to lively highly saturated colors, to somber deep tones.  How to choose? I studied other catalogs too – bath fixture catalogs, house paint swatch books, catalogs for kitchen and dinette furniture with Formica tops and vinyl upholstery. Lots of interesting color data points, lots of colors evocative of the era, but not really any clear or obvious and compelling palette directions.  And our lighting product manager reminded me that it wasn’t only about historical accuracy – the colors had to relate to what our customers might like to actually use and live with in their homes today. So much for my personal favorite 1950’s color combo – coral and gray.

The breakthrough came when I had a flashback from my a car-obsessed childhood: the striking colors used on the 1956 Thunderbird.  I have a distinct memory as a youngster seeing those early T-Birds with the subtle tailfins, porthole windows, fender skirts and continental kits – and the colors -  richly saturated yellow, green, turquoise, vermillion, and others. If there was ever an inspired color palette, that was it.   You can pretty much see the very colors that we ultimately selected on the Thunderbird color swatch page.

The four colors that we ended up with were quite similar to what has recently been very trendy in contemporary décor, although we arrived there through a process based on historical use of color. One plausible explanation for the widespread popularity of these colors is that the mid-century esthetic is such a strong influence on today’s contemporary style.

In our Mid-Century Collection, we have a number of fixtures (Astron, Astron tri, Corona, Corona Tri in particular) where there is the option to mix finishes . The goal with the palette was to offer compatible colors that customers could mix and match in a more or less fool-proof way.  Personally, I think mixes of a neutral and one color can quite be quite sharp.  Some of our customers have been considerably more adventuresome.

Happy 2012! Around this time of year – after the hubbub of the holidays has passed, my mind starts to wander to warmer, sunnier places. When you live in the Northwest it is key to have a get-away planned that involves sun!

The grey days can be lifted by the anticipation of seeing the sun or even by distant memories from past get-aways. Both help.

Verana, the handmade hotel, in Yalapa Mexico is one I cling to on the darkest of grey days. I keep dreaming of waking up to the sun in one of their open-air casitas.

The hotel is designed by Heinz Legler, a former film production designer, and his French wife Veronique Lievre and is situated in the jungle above the town of Yelapa, Mexico. Legler and Lievre had a vision for this property and have created a dream-like set for a vacation. A visitor arrives by a small boat to the town of Yelapa (just outside Puerto Vallarta, Mexico) from the beach, you hike up the hill to Verana and your luggage is brought up by donkeys.

The bungalows ( all 9 of them) are unique to the landscape where they sit and the character of the furniture and accessories they house. They call this the handmade hotel and it really does have that kind of soul! The individual houses are a feast for the eyes!
Just looking at the photos takes me to a sunnier place.

Above, Anyieth D’wol, founder of The ROOTS Project of South Sudan before the ROOTS center is built.

“Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.” -Jonas Salk

It is always inspiring to hear stories of people who have a vision and actually make it a reality.

The ROOTS Project of South Sudan is one of those stories.  Anyieth D’wol is the founder of the ROOTS Project and I had the honor of meeting her when she was getting started a couple years ago.  She talked about interviewing women in her native country for her job with the United Nations and her frustrations not being able to implement simple ideas that could help them become more independent.

Today The ROOTS Project Center is located in Juba, the new capital of The Republic of South Sudan

Anyieth, who is a member of the Dinka tribe and a lawyer in Juba founded The ROOTS Project, a non-profit, in September of 2010.  The Project is focused on making traditional crafts and bringing literacy to the women of South Sudan. The crafts are sold, enabling many of the young women to take their first steps towards economic independence.

This past weekend we hosted a party for the ROOTS Project, where our friends could see and purchase the jewelry made by the women from the center.  It was so inspiring to touch and feel what just a couple years ago had been a dream.  And it was an honor to be able to have our friends help support the project with their donations and purchases.

Below is a traditional beaded corset displayed on our lamp for the party.

It was a holiday party everyone could feel good about – people could shop for gifts and at the same time give to an organization where 100% of the proceeds go to the women who come to the center.

Seeing the ROOTS project come to life and being able to participate in our own community was both hopeful and something to celebrate!

Below are some of the women from the project with Anyieth D’wol

When I was in high school, living in Minneapolis, I spent a lot of time wandering through the galleries of the Walker Art Museum.  I was totally committed to white. I imagined my future house to be completely white, with the only color coming from the artwork that would adorn the walls.

HA!

Today the thought of white walls really scares me – I can’t picture myself living in a home surrounded by white – especially during our wet, cold winters in Portland. But when I see white in a space, I admire the openness and clean-lined designs it creates. When it is paired with natural wood and objects, I really think it is beautiful to look at- I just don’t know if I could live and thrive in a white space.

Here are a few white spaces that I find really inspiring. They are the kind of spaces that make me want to try white… I love the way it looks, but could I live with it?

I love this IMAGINE .03 bedroom with the collection of black and white photos.  The crisp white walls let the focus be all about  the collection – no distractions.

Another white bedroom – so peaceful, waking up here seems like your mind could be nothing but clear.  The texture of the wood walls and painted white floors  gives this IMAGINE .01 bedroom an interest and  warmth.

This kitchen seems to be all about utility and function.  A color other than white might seem too fussy. (although I do think a hot color on the ceiling could give it a lot of energy! – maybe CREATE .05)

I LOVE this AIR .05 bathroom!!!  This blue-white is an amazing backdrop for this beach collection – I wish this was my bathroom.

This AIR .02 kitchen is beautiful. The warm wood floors and the few natural objects, along with the warm white looks like a place I could cook.

OK – maybe I could live with white.  How do you feel about white?   I would love to hear if you live with white and how you think it works.