Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Decorating with Emerald: In the Spirit of St. Patrick's Day

This month many of us will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with Irish friends or Irish family-- or just enjoying our Wearing of the Green Parade!  To kick off the celebration this year we decided to show you how to use a color that goes perfect with this months festivities, emerald green. You might be afraid of incorporating this beautiful color into your home, there is no need to be afraid. If you want to go bold and change the wall colors or you just want to add a few accent pieces or an accent wall in emerald green.

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Even though Pantone proclaimed emerald green as 2013’s Color of the Year, and some find that the color trend to has come and gone, we find that Emerald will always be a great color choice for accessorizing in the home.

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This rich jewel tone has always been a showstopper in traditional decorating, the color emerald is synonymous with wealth, prosperity and luxury, so it works naturally with other colors that evoke the same air of richness and elegance.  Many other jewel tones mix well with emerald green, but in particular we love this color with deep blues, shimmery golds, and vivid reds.

"Red and green occupy opposite sides of the color wheel (Complimentary Colors), and thus are especially dynamic together. This combo is exciting but not exhausting because the green, while still powerful, is a bit desaturated, and the red occurs as an accent. Notice how the chair really seems to jump off the page."

Emerald is such a strong color that if we were to use it as a room wall color, we would be inclined to furnish the room in neutrals.  But, in a large room with tall ceilings, emerald could be dazzling.  Even our own designer, Stevi Gibson is going gaga over emerald-colored malachite accessories!
Such a great price on this little guy!

Where to Use it:

Anywhere!  Whether your style is classic or modern, this color seems to transition beautifully.  And while we don’t usually recommend cool colors like blues and greens for south-facing (darker) rooms, Emerald provides an exception to this rule as it’s yellow undertones means it exudes warmth and depth.

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How to Use it:


Personally I love Emerald as the focal color with an understated back drop of classic crisp white and deep charcoals and blacks.  However if you would like this color to harmonize with other colors in your room, just ensure it’s in the same tonal range (yellow or blue based colors).

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If you don’t want to go all the way with Emerald and small measures are more your thing, consider something as simple as plant life, a vase, lamp, or pillow to introduce the vitality of this colour in to your interior.

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As we know, all designer's have their very own style--and sometimes this is not obvious when we deal with clients because it is our job to interpret your design visions and make them come to life, but for this blog post we decided to ask our designers which spaces they liked with the use of emerald green.  Here are their picks:

Logan's pick is a bold emerald ceiling complimented by neutral white walls and a warm wood floor.  The light fixture is mid-century modern style.  Logan was so inspired by this image she decided to use an emerald green in her guest bathroom that she is currently renovating.


Vickie's Pick is a yellow french-country inspired powder room.  Vickie loves to use furniture pieces that have been retrofitted to house plumbing fixtures.  The rustic emerald dresser helps to keep the room casual and from seeming too traditional.  Notice the hand towel--its really working overtime in this space because it acts as the go between for the wall and the dresser.  Even though red and green remind most people of holiday decorating--if done properly the complimentary color scheme can work very well.

Stevi's pick is an edgy and moody living space with multiple influences that knods to Kelly Wearstler, one of Stevi's favorite designers.  The dramatic abstract painting compliments the drapery and sofa and plays the go-between to the sofa and tufted leather side chairs.   A mix of feminine and masculine fixtures and finishes makes this space dynamic and intriguing.


Here are a few other interiors that utilize emerald green that we love!

Emily Henderson's Fig House Design
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