We are thrilled to be featured in East Coast Living Magazine’s Spring 2017 issue! Our North End Halifax Transformation made the cover page this month, and is also featured on the East Coast Living Blog.
Check out the full blog post below:
Say it with colour
Creative ways of choosing the best colours for your space.
By Janice Hudson | March 24, 2017
The cover story of our new spring magazine showcases a home in Halifax that was revamped recently by interior consultant Sappho Griffin of Henhouse.
I love that Griffin forgoes strict methods of picking a colour scheme. Her colour choices in this house change from room to room—carrying through some colours and picking up new ones along the way, all while avoiding the tendency to match everything perfectly.
In the family room, a pea-soup yellow paint colour was the starting point. Griffin tied in a blue accent colour to bring in a softer, more feminine look. “I wanted an accent colour that steered away from the yellow walls and tied in the other softer colours from the TV room and kitchen,” she says.
GIVE A SHOT OF DISTRACTION
Artwork can invigorate your colour scheme. Pick pieces that have your main colour(s), but that add in one “out-there” colour. “This gives a shot of distraction,” Griffin says. “You need something to break your eye.”
Abstract paintings in TV room from Teichert Gallery (clockwise from right) by Boutiliers Point artist Paulette Melanson, Ottawa artist Lorena Ziraldo, and Wolfville artist Jeanne Aisthorpe-Smith)
In the TV room, the artwork echoes the blue accent colour of the family room (and pink and grey from the kitchen), but adds in orange for something different.
LAYER IT ON
In the kitchen, Griffin started with the floral, painterly window treatments, which tie in the pea-soup yellow of the living room and add in pinky hues. The fun retro fabric of the reupholstered vintage chairs introduces a fresh green to the palette.
SAMPLE FROM UNEXPECTED PLACES
She plucked even more new colours—hits of red and blue—from vintage china dishes, which are now displayed on the kitchen wall. “It doesn’t match, but it goes and is off beat,” she says.
Griffin plucked hits of red and blue from vintage china (left), which is displayed on the kitchen wall. Reupholstered vintage chairs (right) introduce a fresh green to the palette. Chair fabric by Bellissimo. Photos by Bruce Murray, VisionFire.
PUT IT ALL TOGETHER
On the other side of the kitchen, Griffin created a dramatic feature wall that showcases several colours used in the house. It ties in the yellow from the family room, blue from the vintage plates, grey from the countertops, and green from the window fabric. “I did a scaled drawing of it on paper, taped it out, and then had it painted on the wall,” she says.
The family room (left, photo by Bruce Murray, VisionFire), and Sappho Griffin (right) with the feature wall she created in the kitchen. It showcases colours from across the home.
Ultimately for Griffin, colour not only helps link the main rooms of the house, but it’s also a way to express individuality. “I love how nothing exactly matches but it works well together and reflects the [homeowners’] personalities,” she says.
Thank you East Coast Living!