The 2013 San Francisco Designer Showcase opens to the public this Saturday April 27th. Pratt and Lambert Paints has co-sponsored this event with G&R Paint. We at G&R have sponsored many individual designers throughout the past 15 years of showcases, but this marks the first year that we were able to sponsor the paint for the entire house. It has been fun working with all of the designers and I can’t wait to see the results soon. Visit http://decoratorshowcase.org/ for more information.

Click on this link to see a video produced by Shearer Painting in Seattle. They have been using C2 Cabinet & Trim for several months now and have some interesting comments on the unique qualities of this great new product form C2.

http://www.shearerpainting.com/blog/paint/c2-cabinet-paint/

I am happy to announce the arrival of the newest product in the C2 Paint portfolio, C2 Cabinet & Trim. This revolutionary water-based acrylic enamel has the look and feel of a traditional oil-based enamel with none of the negative side effects. It dries hard, smooth, and fast. It’s even durable enough to put on a floor. Earlier in the year I painted the hardwood floor in  our retail location with a prototype of this product. After more than eight months it is still looking great.

C2 Cabinet & Trim was brought to life through a unique collaboration with C2 Paint www.C2paint.com  and Vermont Natural Coatings, www.vermontnaturalcoatings.com. The breakthrough PolyWhey technology that was developed by Vermont Natural Coatings, gives their floor coatings an unbelievable finish unparalleled in the world of waterborne finishes.  This same PolyWhey technology is the “secret sauce” that gives C2 Cabinet & Trim its amazing capabilities.

Aside from being an environmentally sensitive product, this paint delivers in the durability department, making it perfect for demanding areas like trim, window frames, cabinets, and yes even floors!

I like cheese as much as the next guy and everytime I sell a can of this paint I am reminded of the trip I took to bucolic Vermont last winter. Visiting a large cheese aging cave, and  the dairy farm where the process began, gave an up close and personal perspective to this process. It is amazing that the labs at Vermont Natural Coatings and C2 Paint were able to blend these two different products into one can.

I was able to participate in much of the testing that was done in the development of this product, so I can speak first hand to its uncompromising quality and durability. Come in and see our floor for yourself , I know you will be impressed.

I recently had the pleasure of a visit from my niece Kaitlin, and it reminded me of the story surrounding the color Kaitlin’s Blue. It was the first time that Kaitlin has ever been to the current location of G&R Paint. The picture above has us posing happily with a large Ultimate Paint Chip of PPC-BL1 Kaitlin’s Blue.

As the story goes I was approached by a very pregnant mother who was looking for what she termed a “gender neutral blue” since she was not certain if it was to be a boy or a girl. I asked her what names she had in mind and she replied that if a boy it would be Henry and if a girl it would be Kaitlin. I implored her to contact me after the birth so that I could give the color its proper name.

After months of waiting without a response from her, I defaulted to Kaitlin’s Blue primarily due to my niece. And so it has been since that day back in 1998 when it was first born, PPC-BL1 Kaitlin’s Blue. I have to report that this color and others like it have been very popular of late. I’ve even seen an uptick in PPC-W3 Purity, a very faint blue tinged white. For whatever reason pale blues are a popular choice right now, I always try to stay on the warmer side of blue. PPC-BL1 Kaitlin’s Blue leans a bit yellow so it never comes of cold.

Thanks Kaitlin, it was great having you visit.

Anyone who has followed my blog posts over the years has some idea what I think of color trends. These largely manufactured marketing efforts tell us consumers what colors are “hot’ or in fashion as it were. I guess my aversion to them stems from some sort of stubbornness on my part of not wanting to be told what to do as a child. I’m just playing here, but you get what I mean. Do we really need to be told what colors to like at any particular period of time?

Evidently the answer is yes! Whether we like it or not, these types of trends continue to come and go through the years. We have been solidly locked in a gray/grey (whichever you like) period for years now. These have not been the sterile blue grays of the 1980′s but rather highly complex grays with red or green undertones.

Lately something else has been going on quietly around me. I noticed it first when one of my most respected designers requested large paint samples of three different yellows. Colors like my PPC-Y4 Honey Butter, PPC-Y8 Laura’s Gold, and PPC-Y1 Straw Hat (featured above  in this month’s House Beautiful magazine) have been perennial favorites, but have fallen off a bit in recent years.

The deeper need for a sunnier outlook is certainly understandable given the doom and gloom of our collective recent past. I tend to think of it as more cyclical and maybe even more predictable than that. After all there are only so many color families to choose from (although there are infinite variations within those families); therefore we are going to shift from grays to greens to yellows to blues to whatever, every few years or so out of a need to shake things up.

One of the significant ways these old colors become new or fresh again is in the way we pair them with other colors. I like Melanie Coddington’s www.coddingtondesign.com comments in the House Beautiful feature. Whether it is sparking it up with a raspberry throw pillow, or toning it down with beautifully upholstered gray furniture, yellow can be seen in a completely different light by virtue of the way we mix it up.

I’m not sure what happened here, whether it was an explosion at a rubber ducky factory, or a turned over big rig that lost it’s load of eggs, but yellow has met gray and it is all around us now for sometime to come.

One last note, remember that texture is the key to any egg dish, so use lots of it and this combination really feels current and delicious. It must be time for breakfast!

This corner of G&R Paint which features the displays of Fine Paints of Europe has never looked more dynamic.  C2-150 Curry, PPC-GRN16 Mariposa Spring, and the ever sturdy PPC-V8 Cabernet, make this corner illuminate as the late afternoon sun shines through our front windows. I find myself hypnotized by its intensity and calmed by the balance that my newest color PPC-G19 Smoke On The Water gives to the composition.  This is an exciting process. Stay  tuned…

I grew up one of many children in a house much smaller than our numbers would suggest. One of the ways my mother kept herself from going crazy was to constantly rearrange the furniture in our living room. I guess it gave her the feeling that she was living in a different house. I’m sure we have all had a similar experience from time to time, and so it is that upon the ninth anniversary of our move to 1238 Sutter Street, I decided it was time for a significant make-over.

It is time to say goodbye to Pecan, Orchard Green, Pumpkin Pie, and Ryan’s Red. In their place we now have an entirely new Philip’s Perfect Color, PPC-G19 Smoke On The Water, PPC-GRN16 Mariposa Spring, PPC-V6 Stormy Weather, C2-150 Curry, PPC-R6 Manzanita, and an Olivetti Organic Finishes rendition of PPC-18 Greyhound.

The top picture shows the before scenario, and the bottom picture is the new look. The newest addition to the PPC family, PPC-G19 Smoke On The Water is everything I have ever dreamed of in a gray.  It is at once warm and cool with overtones of red and orange and undertones of blue. The massive 20 foot high walls of the store feel stone-like and give the architecture the seriousness that it’s 1930′s origins deserve.

The main wall behind the sales counter is being transformed from an ordinary and not so well constructed sheet-rock mess, to an unbelievable organic monolith. The use of Olivetti Organic Lime Paint on this massive wall will set the stage for the remaining colors to fall into place as counterpoints. I will update more pictures as it all comes together.

I am always happy when I open the latest edition of House Beautiful Magazine and see one of our C2 colors featured. In the February 2012 edition Ken Fulk, one of our most ardent supporters, called out C2-164 Primavera as a traditional color with a twist. I love the look of this room all done up in green from head-to-toe. I leave it to Ken to describe the beautiful effect of this color, no body can do it better. Visit www.kenfulk.com for more inspiration from this always clever designer.

Check out this link to a great interview with our very own Nan Kornfeld. Nan has had an interesting career path, and I am grateful that it lead her to us here at G&R Paint.

http://www.yourdecoratingresource.com/color-trends-and-tips/150-a-consultants-colorful-journey

The folks at Fine Paints of Europe never cease to amaze me in their ability to partner with the most unique and prestigious architectural landmarks. Their latest co-venture with the  Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan is a remarkable achievement. The two unique collections to emerge from this collaboration represent different but interconnected themes from The Guggenheim.

 http://www.guggenheimcolorbyfpe.com/store/pc/home.asp 

The Gallery Collection consists of 50 colors that have been used throughout the gallery walls of the Guggenheim during various exhibitions. The Guggenheim realizes that the perfect background wall color makes all the difference in how we perceive the art that is displayed on it. There are no details too small when it comes to executing great design, so each color has to be thoroughly researched and chosen for optimal synergy with the art it will support. The depth and subtleties of these colors will bring the same focus to any space you chose to use them in.

The Classical Collection is comprised of 150 colors that have been taken from actual paintings that have been displayed in the Guggenheim. This broader range of hues draws from some of the world’s most renown paintings. Now you can have a little Matisse, Van Gogh or Kandinsky for a fraction of the price!

The remarkable quality and unique pigment system employed by Fine Paints of Europe allows for the creation of two such exquisite collections. I knew the moment I saw these palettes that they represented some of the most beautiful colors I had seen in years. It is no accident that the Guggenheim chose Fine Paints of Europe to create these colors for them. A reputation as unique as theirs could only be guarded by a paint as good as Fine Paints of Europe. No other manufacturer can match the depth of colors or quality of finish offered by Fine Paints of Europe. Others may try to copy these colors, but none will succeed. Accept no substitutes when it comes to these amazing colors.

If you are local come by G&R Paint to see these collections first hand. If not, visit your nearest Fine Paints of Europe retailer or simply visit http://www.guggenheimcolorbyfpe.com/store/pc/home.asp for more details.

For more information on the Guggenheim Museum click on the link. http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york