A Dog’s Vision, Minnesota Winters and Home Decor
Photography by Brita DeRemee Taracks, Isle of Capri 2019
As a child, someone told me dogs were color blind and so I imagined my dog’s vision must look something like watching cartoons on a black and white TV. Imagine if we had dog vision, if we lived lives in black and white. Probably make things a lot easier, wouldn’t it? ...especially home decorating! Is that the dog’s happy secret to life?
Being human, of course, means life happens in the full spectrum of living color with all its complexity. But quite frankly, that’s a good thing! Ask a Minnesotan, especially in January when our palette of colors is mostly limited to snowy whites, cool greys and trees outlined in black.
Current design trends like Modern Farmhouse and Industrial show a Minnesota-like, winter color palette of white-wash and black in full swing. Scandinavian style is represented as an abundance of shaggy white with grey blue. White and black reign, accompanied by all the shades of grey in between.
My take on many of these trends is how easy they are to represent on-line. Black and white rate highly for accuracy as a digital experience. Their very lack of color makes it easier for the consumer to coordinate things. Designers clipping product images for presentations don’t have to mess with images photographed in the wrong color. Blacks, greys and whites make for a rather convenient color palette, creating a streamlined path from a “click” to the consumer’s home.
The black and white trends might very well make your heart sing, but don’t let the trend limit you. For something as deeply personal as a home environment, taking a deep dive into color is essential to good design. Color has too much to offer. It’s powerful, complex, nuanced and infinitely expressive! As a designer, I wouldn’t ever want to be without a full spectrum in my toolbox. Obviously, the industry creates color trends to drive business; but, reducing colors to easily identifiable, marketable codes of uniformity - i.e.,trends - just leaves me empty. It’s not only that though. Rather ironically, trends can reduce choice and the diversity of products available to the general public, leaving the off-trend consumer with an empty shopping cart and a significant degree of frustration.
Coming to the rescue of off-trend consumers who want to infuse their homes with color and style is the heart of my business, Artistry Interior Design. My clients are people who don’t want to be defined by market trends or look like a designer statement. They lead rich and colorful lives, and want their homes to reflect their life experiences - not look like anyone else’s.
May I help you discover the right colors and style for your home? There’s no need to be left out in the cold - please give me a call!