Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Summer Color Trends 2012 Go To Tuscany

Pantone Color Trend Predictions and Benjamin Moore Preservation Pallets share strong similarities, and offer choices and inspiration at negligible cost.

Benjamin Moore’s Color Pulse Preservation pallets are clearly inspired by Pantone’s 2012 Spring / Summer Color Predictions as discussed before – but when I looked at the images today, I realized what 2 of the Preservation pallets, Pantone’s Resilience, Reflections and The comics where really saying – These are the colors of Tuscany!

Look at the contrasts between not only the color groups, but the colors of the Tuscan landscape…

Contrast between Heritage Colors and Tuscany

The Tuscan landscape itself shimmers in two distinctive pallets that embrace the white washed stones cliffs rise sentinel above the The turquoise, lapis and malachite greens of the convergence of 3 seas, to the dawn and dusk fogs blanketing fields of sunflowers and poppies along country roads to Isola d’Abazzia.

Cortona in Tuscany; image from Hooked on Houses

Tuscan is amongst the styles imitated so often that the true flavor is displaced by pallid imitations that include chickens, faux stone, and large areas of sponge painting.

Stereotypes homogenize – they never ever create.

While ceilings with exposed wood beams, aged stone work and patina surfaces characterize Tuscan design,

Ceramic tiles, rich fabrics, terra-cotta floors and beamed exposed wood ceilings are hall,marks of Tuscan Design.

In contrast to an American Design ethic, Tuscan design kitchens are all about what they lack. European Aesthetics are never about conspicuous consumption. Tuscan Kitchens are not about over-analyzing every possible function or zone, nor creating enough storage to lose several small children – (storage we frequently don’t really use and in some cases can’t reach). Yet for what is missing in contrast to American kitchens, nothing seems to be nothing missing.

La Selva Villa from chianti-farm.com

Tuscan kitchens invite both people and sunshine, exuding warmth with Venetian plaster walls, a combination furniture and cabinetry often featuring open shelves, from which dishes and spices are easily plucked and used. These pragmatic floor plans frquently feature practical wooden cutting surfaces as prominent and well-worn feature, and windows and doorways transformed by focal emphasis such as arches, transom windows, or an aged wooden beam. Entrances are very important in Italian architecture in general. But while the flavor of the past infuses the architecture of nearly every building, Tuscan style also embraces the design classics of today, creating a richness that comes from the best of all worlds. Tuscan design represents an ecclectic mix with some palettes favoring the neutral stone and terracotta hues found in the landscapes and floors,

villa in Tuscany - image from 1 best home news

and a pallet favoring the rich fabrics and tones that made us all fall in love with the movie, “Under The Tuscan Sun” based loosley on Frances Mayes novel.

The best way to get the flavor of any regional style is to visit the source, either virtually or in person! Get a well-deserved infusion of Tuscan design, by splitting a rental with friends. Take some pictures, bring home the look and combine the best of both worlds for a look that defines and invokes extraordinary memories every time you set foot through the door!

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