Colour Trends in the first half of the year.

According to what Tamsin Kingswell says in Mix Trends Newsletter, which  I'm subscribed to, the Summer is a good time to make an overview of colour trends as seen in the first half of the year.In Tamsin's words, "So far we’ve noticed metallics broadening out to include all things shiny (much on show at DMY), a romance with clear materials or those with just a hint of a tint and our love affair with green going ever deeper into the forest with a lovely, almost Loden-like shade. And we still don’t seem to have shaken off the collective passion for pastels and neons although at Mix our enthusiasm is waning fast. Instead we are waiting for a move towards darker, more sober colours that counterbalance all that candyfloss knocking about at the moment. "

From what I've seen in the streets here in the small Barcelona's area village where I live, I can confirm the love of pastels and neons among people, together with emerald green and floral colors such as pink, red and sunny yellow.

Cal Gavi, Moià (Barcelona).

Photo credits and colour  palette by

(c)-Isabel de Yzaguirre Maura, 2013.

www.lacolorista.com

Vividly Colored Chairs: guest post by Mari from Arcadian Home

About a year ago, I published a guest post on "Decorating with Floral Art",by Arcadian Home. Today I'm very pleased to host AH again with a post on Vividly Colored Chairs, which suits perfectly my love of Color!

Isabel de Yzaguirre,

La Colorista.

Hello, lovely readers! 

I'm from Arcadian Home blog which is a wonderful place for home decor inspirations. There you will find lots of great creative ideas for everything from decorative trays to big wall art and much more. Today, we're going to talk about one of my favorite pieces of furniture. I love all things related to home interiors, but chairs are at the top of my list of furniture obsessions. I am especially fond of colorful chairs, so that's what this little visual tour is all about. Please enjoy! Thanks for letting me stop by to share. ~ Mari 

A project come true: The Four Seasons Mural for a School's yard.

Whoever has followed me since three years ago maybe remembers a  post on a Mural Project for Josep Orriols i Roca School's yard. The School is located in Moià (Barcelona, SPAIN).

I published the project for the first time when I had been working on it for about nine month, and I had serious doubts about its being  painted because of economical crisis in Spain. But luckily parents were very willing to see it done, and to let their sons and daughters have a more colourful School, no matter what it might cost. They organized events to collect money and provided all the colours that I had specified, whith the sponsoring of our local Paints Store. 

Today I can say the mural has come to life and am offering a view of the whole process until its completion.

The initial goal was to have some of the concrete walls of the yard decorated, and we chose the one in the sight: 

La Colorista, 2010.

My project aimed at representing the colours in the natural landscapes around our village all along the Four Seasons of the Year, in the same order that we experience them since the School Term begins: from Fall to Summer. Colours were picked from photographs shot in Moià's surroundings, and the proposed design was this one:

The Four Seasons' Mural, Isabel de Yzaguirre Maura

(La Colorista),2011.

The meaning of Colour in Marketing. And in Interior Design.

A few days ago I found this interesting Infographic on the meaning of colours applied to marketing. I'ts a good brief that can be perfectly applied to Interior Design. And since color increases readership, recognition and comprehension, I hope it will be helpful for you. Enjoy!

The Meaning Of Colour In Marketing infographic by AttwoodDigital.

Isabel de Yzaguirre, 

La Colorista.

Good networking practices in LinkedIn.

Dear readers of mine:

today I want to comment something that happend to me recently in LinkedIn. I write blog posts when I can and try always the content to be of interest. Then I share it in my groups trying to develop a good conversation. Lately I wrote two posts publishing interesting Houzz tours with my comment, and posted in my groups. I've always had a positive groupal behaviour, I think: I've been respectful and have tried to make my contribution to others...

Isabel de Yzaguirre, IdY.
La Colorista.

It happens that I publish my content from Bloggers directly to LinkedIn, and I've stated that slide presentations don't show when linked. Instead of that, my photo and Bloggers profile was shown, though I linked to the post. I usually had been posting my content in Color related groups, but since I belong to many Interior Design groups, I thought my posts on Color could be of  interest. And I must state that I had a great and very welcoming response, and a great contribution of fellow Interior Designers on developing conversations on Color. If you scroll down in my blog, you will see that I wrote two of this posts with Houzz content lately. I had a great feedback in general, but had a bad surprise as well. Having had a comment in a group, and wanting to thank it, I came to discover that I had been blocked there! I was shocked, I admit!!!

Then I discovered that my latest posts showed my photo and Bloggers' profile instead of the post content. Could this be the cause why someone flagged my contribution? Could be, of course. But it happened only two times before I realized my mistake, and nobody warned me through any kind of comment or private message, which is the procedure I think should have been followed. Simply put, someone flagged me once and I was blocked! I wrote to the group owner to explain myself and ask him his reconsidering my  being blocked in this Interiors group, but I haven't had any response. I understand group owners are busy, and I understand that spamming is annoying. But I didn't mean to spam the group at all. In fact there were many people interested in what I posted and that engaged in a very interesting conversation, where everybody shared his/her thoughts on the subject. And I wasn't given a single chance when flagged by someone. 

So here go my thoughts: I revised what could have happened and detected the possible cause of the blocking. And the lesson I've learnt: if you post a link from your blog, be careful to do it with an interesting introducing question on the subject, that can begin an interesting conversation. Be careful not to be too showy of yourself or not to seem to be too showy. Even if you think you are behaving correctly, make sure nobody can think on the contrary, for we never know enough about others' level of sensibility.

For me it has been a very unpleasant experience, since I've always tried to be kind to everybody and never post negative criticism on  other people works, posts and blogs. But this happened to me and I've tried to learn from this experience. I'd love to know your thoughts on this question and I hope that this can help others as well. Let me finish with  my best wishes for a wonderful Year 2013 to everybody, which I didn't before for personal reasons.

See you soon with more posts on Color and Interior Design!

Isabel de Yzaguirre,

La  Colorista.

25 most bookmarked Colourful Homes in Houzz 2012!

I've found this collection of 25 most bookmarked Colourful Homes 2012 in Houzz and really enjoyed the collection. Of course I love some more than others, but all of them are a good example of how color can help to make you feel better in your home. Which ones do you prefer?

As for 2013, I guess blues and greens are going to be on spot...

25 Most Bookmarked Colorful Homes of 2012

Houzz- Kitchen Remodel, Bathroom Remodel and More »

Happy and colorful New Year 2013 to everybody!

Isabel de Yzaguirre,

La  Colorista.

Dutch decorating for the Holidays.

Being in Houzz is great, since I can surf looking for wonderful articles like the one I post today, about how they decorate doors in Christmas Season in the Netherlands.

With some natural elements like pine branches and cones, and dried orange's slices, they make wonderful wreaths like the shown in the slideshow. Silver decoration and white elements embellish brick façades and make them look happy, soft and elegant, without being over-decorated. Merry Christmas Season to everybody!

Isabel de  Yzaguirre,
La Colorista.

Dutch Homes Deck Out for the Holidays

Houzz- Kitchen Remodel, Bathroom Remodel and More »

A thank you from the heart, and my best wishes...

...to my 20.000 readers in English!!!

By the end of 2011 I reached 10.000 visits. And I have come to 20.000 pretty before the New Year and this means the visits to my blog have increased. I do appreciate the nice comments that some of my pro friends have left. And I have a deep feeling of gratitude for all of you, for your warm welcome. So let me say a big thank you and wish you all the best with this image of Christmas Decoration Colours that I shot some days ago.

La Colorista in Tumblr.

Let the light, the deep blue, turquoise, white and gold soothe and warm your hearts at the same time.

And may your Christmas Season be full of love, peace, prosperity and all kind of blessings!

Merry Chirstmas and Happy 2013!

Isabel de Yzaguirre,

La Colorista,

Tiffany's Christmas Window Displays in Barcelona

Yesterday I went to Barcelona and had a walk along Passeig the Gràcia, where you can find some well known Luxury Brands like Chanel, Loewe and many more. 

Since I signed up for Instagram and Tumblr, I have become used to chase images of things I love with my mobile device. It's light, it's easy and it helps networking.I love  chasing colors, and I love chasing Window Displays, since you can learn a lot from them. I confess I didn't know we have a Tiffany&Co in Barcelona, and I was amazed at their Christmas Window Display. 

Tiffany Barcelona, 

by IdY (Isabel de Yzaguirre), La Colorista.

They are like a window into a home, where someone has prepared a wonderful present wrapped in, what else could it be? A wonderful Tiffany Blue wrapping paper.

Tiffany Barcelona, 

by IdY (Isabel de Yzaguirre), La Colorista.

I learnt from haft2, that Richard Moore is the Visual Merchandiser who has designed this beautiful displays. According to him, each window ”reveals a glimpse into the precious moments families celebrate during the holiday season, with love and romance.”As long as I could see yesterday, they have diplayed the same concept in Barcelona, and I love it!

Tiffany Barcelona, 

by IdY (Isabel de Yzaguirre), La Colorista.

This precious displays remember me of the Catalan tradition of building diorama in Christmas. And what is a diorama? According to  www.dictionary.com "it is 1.a scene, often in miniature, reproduced in three dimensions by placing objects, figures, etc., in front of a painted background. 2.a life-size display representing a scene from nature, a historical event, or the like, using stuffed wildlife, wax figures, real objects, etc., in front of a painted or photographed background. 3.a spectacular picture, partly translucent, for exhibition through an aperture, made more realistic by various illuminating devices. 4.a building or room, often circular, for exhibiting such a scene or picture, esp. as a continuous unit along or against the walls."

Tiffany Barcelona, 

by IdY (Isabel de Yzaguirre), La Colorista.

We use to reproduce scenes from the Bible and the birth of Jesus in the Christmas Season. Every artisan makes his or her own dioram and we celebrate Exhibits and Contests. And we love to go to watch the wonderful small sceneries made with all kind of details. I wonder if the Tiffany team did know about that?

Tiffany Barcelona, 

by IdY (Isabel de Yzaguirre), La Colorista.

My son is the best jewel!

I never thought a blue could be so warm as Tiffany's. I find it a precious hue for Christmas, and I confess I crave for Tiffany Blue. Not for diamonds, but yes for something bearing this jewelled color.

Merry Christmas Season to everybody!

With Love from

Isabel de Yzaguirre,

La Colorista.

Emerald, 17-5641, Pantone's color of the Year 2013!!!

And in the end, the new baby is born!!!

We welcome PANTONE 17-5641 Emerald as the New color of the Year 2013. Remember what I said in a previous post, in October the 14 th.? Go to the end of it.I made my bet for Emerald or Grayed Jade. And I nailed it!!!

Pantone

Before relating  to the official release, my own thoughts:

this election makes a lot of sense to me. This color is very close to that in the Tangerine and Orange tree leaves, and it marries well with previous Tangerine Tango, being it's complement. We go from the Red-Orange Family to the Blue-Green one. So, ladies having bought some Tangerine Tango clothings, don't worry at all! You can complement them with a beautiful Emerald item...

Source

What does the Pantone's team say about this colour? An image is worth a thousand words:

Source

Associated to the gemstone that bears this name, it's a sophisticated and luxurious color. Since antiquity, it has been the color of beauty of new life in many cultures and religions.

Source

As the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute® Leatrice Eiseman says:

“Green is the most abundant hue in nature – the human eye sees more green than any other color in the spectrum.” 

"Symbolically, Emerald brings a sense of clarity, renewal and rejuvenation, which is so important in today’s complex world. This powerful and universally appealing tone translates easily to both fashion and home interiors.”

Since this is my main interest, how can we introduce this hue in Home Interiors?

Add some accents, accessories and paint in Emerald and you will rejuvenate your Home. This jewel-like hue will add a luxurious sense to any room in your home, and it will shine as an accent wall in your living-room.

Source: Thom Filicia, Via Houzz, Via Isabel in Pinterest

Source: Rikki Snyder © 2012 Houzz,  Via Isabel in Pinterest

Font

Bedding, pillows, bath towels and accessories in Emerald will  help you in creating a relaxed, soothing and energizing atpmosphere at the same time.

Source

Via Isabel in Pinterest, from Houzz

Eclectic Home Office design by San Francisco Interior Designer Story & Space - Interior Design and Color Guidance
Source

As they say in Pantone:

"Lively. Radiant. Lush… A color of elegance and beauty                      
                        that enhances our sense of well-being, balance and harmony."

Source

Welcome be this jewelled, luxurious and healthy hue!

Long Life to Emerald Green!!!

Isabel de Yzaguirre,

La Colorista.