Design Time

A Room with a Hue
Away from the radio station, Moreton Neal is a interior design consultant specializing in color. Her mission is to help people create beauty and balance in their surroundings. During her ten years' experience consulting, she has observed that many people have strong preferences, but lack experience or knowlege of color theory when choosing paint for their rooms. Often they end up with costly mistakes.
Through "room therapy"-a consultation and, if necessary, custom color mixing- Moreton will guide you to the palette and color relationships that quickly cure what ails a room, whether it be "manic" (screaming colors that overpower the room) or "depressed" (timid colors that barely whisper).
Call her at 967-9111 for a quick fix or a complete room makeover. In most cases a short consultation with Moreton, and the services of a good painter, can make a significant improvement in your home or office environment.

Sew Fine II
offers three decorators and the whole nine yards in decorating services. Paula Fullerton and her staff occupy an office and small shop at 2710 Chapel Hill road in Durham where you will find hundreds of wallpaper and fabric samples as well as decorative accessories. Sew Fine also provides upholstering, slipcovers, and an enormous selection of window treatments, their specialty. These nice folks take the nervous breakdown out of a remodeling project by supervising the whole process. Call them at 490-0265.

Domicile
If you love visiting Italy or the South of France, you will love Domicile with two locations: Eastgate Shopping Center in Chapel Hill and Hillsborough St. in Raleigh. These stunning stores display their wares-Mitchell Gold sofas and chairs, Mediterranean-style light fixtures, finely crafted fruit wood furniture, unusual tableware and unique gifts- with such pizzazz you'll want to move right in. But you don't have to: Domicile also offers design services. Call 932-7172.

In the Kitchen

Countertop Considerations

Changing those old unattractive laminate countertops can make a big difference in the function and appearance of your kitchen. I recently renovated my own kitchen and am ecstatic with the results. Now when I enter the room, my response is "ahh" instead of "ugh!" My choice, handmade tiles, are highly functional as well as beautiful-they are completely heat-resistant and I can cut vegetables with no damage to the counters. Before making the decision, I made the rounds of countertop stores in this area and researched all the possibilities. Here is the result of my homework. MN

Laminates: Hundreds of colors and faux textures to choose from and definitely the most economical choice. Easy to install. Drawbacks: Wears out in about ten years (whatever ingredient previously made it last for decades has been eliminated in the formula-banned as an ecological hazard), and is easily scarred by cutting on it. Cost: $20-$30 per linear foot.

Solid Surface: originally created to appear and function like granite or marble, Corian and Wilsonart
Surfaces come in a variety of rock-like colors as well as solids. Long lasting, easy to clean, these surfaces stand up well to rough use including cutting and high heat. Cost: $100-$200 per linear foot, installed.

Ceramic Tile: Durable and decorative, tiles can give a kitchen an earthy, rustic look reminiscent of Mexico or the Mediterranean. Tiles are available in countless colors and patterns. Reportedly the grout can be hard to clean, but after several months of use, I've had no problem. Tiles make beautiful backdrops in combination with a solid surface or stone countertop. Cost: from $9-$90 per square foot, uninstalled.

Stone: Granite, slate, limestone, marble. When you see the stuff Mother Earth makes, plastic solid surface, the plastics dim in comparison. Slate, marble and limestone are all luscious to look at, but present staining problems. Granite, however, beats anything else for durability. Virtually indestructible, this gorgeous material is available in more colors than you would imagine, and to my surprise, the cost is comparable to Corian. $120-$180 per square foot, installed.

Concrete: New kid on the kitchen product block, concrete can be custom colored and patterned. Something different for a contemporary look. When sealed it resists any kind of punishment-lasts forever. Cost: from $55 per square foot, installed.

Butcher block: Functional as a cutting board, wood gives a warm, natural look to a kitchen and contrary to a common concern, wood is highly bacteria-resistant. Drawbacks: can warp, crack and stain, which may give your kitchen a more rustic appearance than you want. Cost: from $20 per square foot, installed.

Metals: If you want your kitchen to look and function like a restaurant's, stainless steel is the ticket. Drawback: it scratches and is hard on knives-you do need to use a board for cutting. For nonconformists, try the soft, reflective glow of a copper surface. Soft and also scratchable, copper may not be the serious cook's choice for countertop, but it can be a striking backsplash. Cost: from $50 per square foot, installed.

Sources:
Custom Stone and Marble, Durham
Hard Rock Tile and Marble, Hillsborough
Byrd Tile Distributors, Raleigh
Fitch Lumber Co., Chapel Hill
The Kitchen Specialist, Durham
Lowe's
Home Depot

Color Harmony

A beautiful room should appeal to the eye in the same way good music appeals to the ear, or delicious food pleases the palate. Most people can easily tell the difference between music and noise, although they may not know the first thing about writing a song. It's not hard to enjoy a superb meal, though you may not have the skills to cook it. Similarly, you may recognize an eye-pleasing room, without knowing how to put together the ingredients that make the space feel so right.

When it comes to decorating our own homes, even the most visually gifted of us have trouble "seeing the forest for the trees." We are blinded by emotional attachments to objects, prejudices about color, and fantasies about rooms we've seen in other houses or magazines, not to mention all the conflicting ideas of other family members. One of the roles of a decorative consultant is to help you see the "forest," to give you perspective and suggest ways to create a whole picture out of disparate elements.

I believe the simplest and most basic way to create visual harmony, or a "pulled together" living environment, is through color. The way color is used in a room can make the room sing -- or make it just noisy!

In my ten years as a room color consultant, I've encountered several misconceptions about color.

Here are a few common color myths:

"Pure white looks good with everything."

A white wall with white trim can look like a blank page, which is exactly why rooms in new housing developments are painted white. White walls provide an empty screen, called in the trade a "vanilla shell," to make it easy for the buyer to envision his/her furnishings and ideas in the space. Keeping that shell vanilla can make a room look bland and uninviting or incomplete. If using white as part of your color plan, keep in mind that there are dozens of shades of white. Choosing the right white for trim or wall is as important as any other color choice.

"Dark walls make a room appear smaller."

Surprisingly, dark, cool (nonreflective) colors-greens, blues, grays, browns- can make the walls appear to recede, giving the illusion of limitless space. Dark colors also can be a luscious background for artwork, light wood, or brightly colored fabric. For a wonderful example, visit the newly painted galleries at the N.C. Museum of Art to see how beautifully deep-colored walls enhance paintings.

"The color on the wall will look exactly like the color on the paint chip."

Just like anything else, color is relative; its appeal has everything to do with what's next to it. That tiny square of color that looks so great on the paint chip may look lighter, darker, brighter, or just plain wrong on four walls depending on lighting and other colors used in the room. Always test a large sample of the color you think you like on your wall before committing to a room color.

"It's important to match colors."

Impressionism is based on the concept that the eye combines colors from a distance. When entering a room, you won't notice that tiny purple flower in the throw pillow! The way your eye "reads" color is the crucial element in creating an appealing color scheme. Pleasing color relationships depend on blending, not literally matching colors. A room in which everything matches can look dull and predictable.

If you need help planning or editing your color scheme, often a single consultation is all you need to bring visual harmony into your home. Call Moreton Neal at 967-9111. Let's make beautiful color together!