Color in the House

The first time I saw this cottage I fell in love with the stone and tile work, especially the backsplash above the range. According to Maggie, Rick arranged these imported German tiles so the tiles never touch the same color, except one time. Neither Maggie nor I seem to think it’s important to find that one time, but feel free to study the tiles if you want.

Truth be known, our counter usually looks like the above as I do not like clutter. As many of you already know I have volunteered on the Symphony Showhouses for many years and become friends with so many wonderful designers and landscapers. Alan Brainerd is one designer that stands out. He helped set up the photo shot above for an article that will appear in Ladue News on the 20th of March. He loves color! My first employment was that of a ‘display artist’ in the gift wholesale business so I love displays.

I’m constantly changing out our accessories so its always fun to have Alan stop by. He refers to me as a ‘frustrated’ designer. Guess that’s why I head outside to garden!



Now that we live here I found the kitchen needed even more color to balance the tiles. You can see I painted the inside of the windowsill orange. White accessories make the color pop. I love these white pitchers. You can write on them with chalk. I found these at Pottery Barn a couple years back, but I recently saw some clear wine and beer glasses at World Market that also have the small chalkboard on them. They are called “chalk talk” and I think that they would be a fun alternative to the ‘wine charms’. You can also find colorful kitchen accessories (like the colanders in the photo shoot) at The Viking Store in Brentwood.

One out of town designer who also loves color is Linda Applewhite. She has a wonderful design philosophy of tying the inside to the outside. http://www.lindaapplewhite.com/