Bridget Beari Color Rule #56

              
                

                   Bridget Beari Color Rule

How to use a bold green

As Pantone announced the color of the year as Emerald green, Bridget Beari was already busy introducing our Exotic paint color line - 49 bright and brilliant colors.  I find that using a bright color is very much a technique because you need to know how much is too much or garish. Green is a great color to do as a bold. 

Here are our new bold greens - named after dogs of course! I mixed these so they would give just the right amount of punch without being too electric. Green is a cool color and as most cool colors do, it has a calming effect. You might say these bright colors are not calming but I feel it is all in the way they are used. 

The adjectives that characterize green include money, growth, fertility, freshness, and natural. Other adjectives include envy, jealousy and quilt. 

I love looking at things around me for inspiration in my color choices. 

My everyday Green drink! 

My love of succulents! Did you see my Echeveria at the Showhouse? I love the softness of these greens. 

The best way to use these bright greens is to balance it with a contrasting color. Here they used a navy to set it off and cool it down.

Quadrille Fabrics

In Tory  Burch's home they kept it clean with the high gloss white trim. Such a pretty shade. Similar to my Waikiki E27

           
                                                                     Tory Burch


The Bridget Beari showhouse octagon bookcase in high gloss also shows this crisp contrast with white. This is Pickle No. 37 from the Classic Collection. 

Bridget Beari Designs Richmond Showhouse

Such a beautiful and dramatic contrast here as carpet in a black and white room. This is similar is Dizzie E25. Almost like that 70's Papagallo green! 

So remember to venture into the exotic and order your Bridget Beari Paint deck at Bridget Beari Colors. 

Tip:  I thought this was a great idea for some smells in the powder room without a candle. Put a few drops of essential oil on the cardboard roll. The scent will fill the room. 

Happy Painting ........

Half Way to D Day!

We are about 1/2 way to the opening of Pinifer Park the home of the 2012 Richmond Symphony Designer House. I showed you the before shots and the sketches of my room in an earlier post but here is our progress to date! 

H. J. Holtz and Son are doing a great job and finally we have Snowball No. 2 Brilliant finish on the walls and Baron Boy M35 on the newell posts. Snowball is a soft white in a high gloss finish - walls, ceiling and trim are all done in Snowball. It took tons of prep and thanks to River City Renovation these old plaster walls are as smooth as silk! Those Dixie Donuts I brought to the job site every Friday seem to help!

You can see a glimpse of our glass railing. Thanks to 4D Discoveries for delivering the glass in one piece and it fit like a glove! The handrail is not on yet but the glass really does the trick in opening up the space! 

They are sanding the floors for the painted pattern now that the walls are done. Can you see my dark color trim on the inside of the windows? The effect is: once the draperies go up your eye will not focus on the trim but the outside space. 

Here is the famous door of "Door-gate 2012" - ask me about this when all is finished! 

Remember my whole reason for doing this space is to promote Bridget Beari Colors and the 2 new color lines that have just been release! Order your fan decks today! 

Here are my Bridget Beari Colors in this room. We have already had tons of traffic to the store just after the Bare Bones tour!  Check us out in Richmond at The Rue on the corner of Grove and Maple. 

Joe's been working like crazy on the railing and the stairs along with Rob from Cabinetry and Construction. Here is the Bridget Beari Van outside Pinifer Park. I see we are missing a hubcap - I'd better get Jayne to order that before Traditional Home comes a calling. 

The decorative artist Jeff Ragland from Holtz made his first appearance on Friday to start the agate walls! It is so cool the way he makes it happen. I can't wait!!

First coat on the floors too! 

All the artwork and accessories are here at the shop ready to go! The bookcases are made and being painted in Pickle No. 37. Wait until these go in - FABULOUS! 

So much more to come too - draperies, upholstered door, runner, chandelier, handrail, botanicals, sketches .......

Don't forget to mark your calendar for either the Gala Opening on Sept. 7th or everyday the month of Sept. Stop by and see me. I'll be there every weekend and every Thirsty Thursday evening.  Come on by! 

Hello Bridget Beari Papers!

                                       




                            Hello, Bridget Beari Papers! 

I spent most of last week approving colors and strike offs for our new line of wallpapers. I am so excited to show you the first pattern and a glimpse into the process of making wallpapers. These wallpapers will be all hand screen printed which will allow them to have a crafted look. 


Our first pattern is called "Caviar"which is named after a pitbull from our city pound. It is a faux bois pattern within a geometric grid pattern. It is a very clever design because the pattern is designed to turn in different directions on the wall - SO COOL! 


                                       Here are the screens drying in the sun!

Matching colors to my Bridget Beari Color line from Fine Paints of Europe was a task. I was a very particular about getting the colors just right so use can use the paints right up next to the wallpapers. 

Here are the colors as they look on the screens - Puddytat, Bellagio Blue, Truffle, Verdi and Jinxy. We even added some metallic to the Truffle color. It is spectacular! 

Notice these super long tables for printing the papers. Here we are with our 3 color ways and the strike offs. Strike-offs are a sample of the exact pattern and color for approval before the rolls are made. We only had a few tweaks to make at this stage. 

The wood grain lines are not as crisp as they will be on the final rolls but the colors are dead on. 

This color way is so cool! Vibrant and fun. 

This color way has the metallic. 

This pattern makes a grid but the grid can be changed repeat to repeat or side by side. It has so many possibilities. I can't wait to use it. Too bad it wasn't ready in time for the RSDH - Designer House. I would have used that in a minute! 

It will take only 2 weeks to have our first run of "Caviar" but we are already gearing up for our next pattern "Fat Cat" All the papers will be for sale on the Bridget Beari site as well as in Richmond at the Rue. We are working on showing at the DC Design Center and looking  for a rep. We are designing designer packets now if you would like one let us know and we will send it out! 

Happy Papering and Painting.......

Bridget Beari Q&A - How to create a high gloss door?

We received our first emailed question for our new series: 

Bridget Beari Q&A's

Our first question comes from Connie in Ohio. 

Question:

I've read your blog and love your BBD Colors. I really want to know how to achieve that shiny finish on my front door. What is the secret? 

Thanks for the question Connie. It just so happens we painted my front door recently for a photo shoot. We wanted that shiny finish and this is how we achieved it. 

Step 1: Fine Paints of Europe has a product called Swedish Putty. This is key! Apply this product over the whole door. Let it dry and sand lightly. It provides the smooth undercoat so the finish can shine like glass. 

Here is the swedish putty applied to the door. 

Step 2: prime with Fine Paints of Europe primer. 

Step 3: Use the Fine Paints of Europe product called Hollandac Brillant. This is the paint that gives you that shine without out multiple coat process of other paints. It is an oil product. 

Step 4: It took 2 coats of the Hollandac. Really only 1 with a touch up coat. 

Step 5: Choose a BBD Color

We choose No. 43 Beebop

Here is the door in process.....

Here is the final product. An almost mirror finish to the door. NICE!!!

Taking photos was even hard due to the reflection. It really is the only paint that will give you this finish!!  Try it out. 

Thanks so much Connie for your question. If you have a question, don't hesitate to ask. Send your email to: Bridget Beari email

Cheers!

Bridget Beari Colors Launch Party!

Guess the BBD Color?

Can you guess what Bridget Beari Color this is? 

No. 29 Squash!

Bridget Beari Colors Launch Party!

The Bridget Beari Colors Launch Party was Friday night at the Rue. It was a great night. Fabulous food from Jeffery at Hazel Ruth, beautiful flowers from Jonathan Janis, monogram BBD cookies from Westhampton Bakery, David Whaley's beautiful poster,  graphics and more! 

The walls of the Rue are painted in 5 BBD Colors - Joe's Java, Pig Pie, Velvet Paw, Pia,  Maddy Tingy, and Echo on the ceilings! They were the stars of the evening. 

Clients, design friends, friends, contractors, architects, garden designers, artists were all in attendance. 

Jeffrey the caterer with Anne Wilkinson, lighting designer from Shades of Light

Beautiful orchids and food display from Jonathan - yummy pate!

There's Stephanie, the owner of the Rue! Blond in the black dress and Rick Holtz from Holtz & Son painting contractors. 

Me with Sarah Rowland, my fabulous graphic designer and collaborator on many things and Steve Humble, a client. 

The crowd!  

Food table! John from Fine Paints of Europe in the background. He gave a wonderful toast to me and the BBD brand! 

Our custom cookies with the BBD logo! Yummy too! 

Our custom candles! Thank you to Sherma and Joe for the video and photographs!

Cookies! Many complements on the champagne too - Perrier Jouet, grand brut.  My fav! We drank every last bottle! 

Me with the girls from the Rue! The Rue looked great - thank you girls for all your hard work! 

The star of the night - BBD Colors! The fan decks were flying out of there! 

Thank you to everyone you came and those from all over the country who sent well wishes when they could not attend. It was everything I hope it would be to launch this wonderful new chapter for BBD! I am very grateful and humbled by all the wonderful and kind comments from everyone. The toast were lovely and heart felt especially Joyce's, a client from 15 years ago, cute story of how I came over to pick colors at her house - Classic!  

If you missed a chance to purchase a deck, we can visit the BBD color website in order to purchase one!