STIR 3.1 2006

s t i rSH ERW IN -W I L L I AMS® W h e r e C o l o r a n d C r e a t i v i t y C o n v e r g e Vo l u m e 3 • I s s u e 1 • 2 0 0 6

Wild Kingdom n Eco Showcase n Vibrant Vinyl

™

IS NATURE THE TRUE COLOR EXPERT?

have always been struck by the brilliant hues of exotic birds,

whose iridescent plumage stands out against the forest’s

more subtle foliage. I take my cues from them when feathering

my own nest, splashing scarlet on an accent wall to create

a dramatic backdrop, or adding a

brilliant gold pillow to call attention to a

particularly cozy seating arrangement.

On the other hand, color in the wild also

serves the opposite purpose: helping

insects, birds, fish and mammals blend in

with their environments to avoid being

noticed. Designers borrow this trick of

nature when they use a monochromatic

palette to downplay less-than-desirable

architectural features.

In human society, we see both

manifestations in the dress codes

of the workplace, where red suits or ties convey singular power,

while the sea of blue denim on “casual” Fridays helps workers

collectively blend in.

Whether your spaces are designed to defy or mimic their

surroundings, color is critical for successful adaptation, in both

the wild kingdom and in the tamer environment of your next

project. We hope you will find inspiration in this issue to realize

your own creative vision.

Sincerely,

Sheri Thompson

Director, Color Marketing and Design The Sherwin-Williams Company

P.S. Be sure to stop by our exhibits at the national ASID, IDEC, CSI, K/BIS, Hospitality Design, Highpoint April Furniture Market, AIA and NeoCon shows to pick up a fan deck of the 2006 Color Forecast from Sherwin-Williams.Contact your Sherwin-Williams Architectural AccountExecutive or call our Architect and Designer Answerline at (800) 321-8194 for more information.

STIR Advisory BoardEmily Blitzer Paul Segal AssociatesNew York, NY

Kathleen Neama The S/L/A/M Collaborative Glastonbury, CT

Ann Newton Spooner, IDS national presidentAnn Newton Spooner Interior Design Charlotte, NC

Karin Schluer, Allied ASID, LEED certified WESK Interiors, Inc. Millington, NJ

Leslie Shankman-Cohn, ASIDEclectic InteriorsMemphis, TN

Zara Stender, CID, IDS, Allied ASID,CMG vice-chair ZaraDesignsReno, NV

Kristine Stoller, NCIDQ certifiedKSID, LLCSharon, MA

Abby Suckle, AIA Abby Suckle ArchitectsNew York, NY

Denise Walton, ASID, NCIDQ certified Denise J Walton Design Scottsdale, AZ

I

Editorial Advisor:Tresa Makowski

Executive Editor:Bryan Iwamoto

Editor:Kim Palmer

Managing Editor:Laura Pigott

Executive Art Director:Sandy Rumreich

Senior Designer:Cate Hubbard

Senior Editors:Jim Thorp, Mara Hess

Production Director: Kimber Olson

Project Manager: Linda Usgaard

Client Services: Steff Gumingo

STIR™ magazine is publishedby Hanley Wood, LLC, onbehalf of The Sherwin-Williams Company, forinterior designers andarchitects. We welcomeyour questions andcomments. Please directcorrespondence to: Sherwin-Williams STIR MagazineHanley Wood 430 1st Ave. N., Suite 550Minneapolis, MN 55401 Phone: (612) 338-8300Fax: (612) 338-7044E-mail: [email protected] site: sherwin-williams.com

For Sherwin-Williams color and productinformation, contactyour Sherwin-WilliamsArchitectural AccountExecutive or call theArchitect and DesignerAnswerline at(800) 321-8194.

Printed in the United States, © 2006 Sherwin-Williams, Vol. 3. Issue 1, 2006

The trademarks and copyrightsof Sherwin-Williams appearingin STIR are protected.

s t i rSH ERW I N -W I L L I AMS

Vo l u m e 3 • I s s u e 1 • 2 0 0 6

C O N T E N T S

3 5 18

ON THE COVER NATURE KNOWSBEST

The science of biomimicry offerslessons from natureon how to adaptpatterns and colors toachieve design goals.

5

PALETTE

New Web serviceconnects homeown-ers with designersand contractors. How to talk to paintcontractors. Fun facts about color.What durabilitymeans when itcomes to paint.

2

COLOR TECH

An expanded paletteof paint colors forvinyl siding is now anoption thanks toadvanced coatingstechnology.

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WHAT COLOR ISYOUR POWERSUIT?

How workplaceapparel color choices influenceperceptions — and impactbusiness success.

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DAY BRIGHTENER

Geometric patternsand vivid colors onwalls and ceilingsbrighten up the interior of aMilwaukee home.

16

GOING GREEN

A Minneapolis loftproject demonstrates how easy it is to be green.

18

TECHNICOLORTRANSFORMATION

Faux painting techniques and over 1,100 colorstransform a KansasCity river boat casinointo a medievalMediterranean village.

20

COLOR SPY

Jazz composer MariaSchneider createsmusic in living color.

22

FINAL TOUCH

Red, white or rosé? Learn what color saysabout your wine.

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2 S H E R W I N - W I L L I A M S S t i r

C O L O R N E W S A N D S O L U T I O N S F R O M S H E R W I N - W I L L I A M S

PalettePaint the Town

Need leads? Connect with homeowners

in your area who are seeking design help

online through Sherwin-Williams Service

ConnectionTM, a new Web service bringing

homeowners, designers and painting

contractors together. As a designer, you can:

• Register online, free of charge.

• Post your business profile online.

• Get matched automatically to local

prospects looking for design help.

Beginning this spring, prospective

customers can view your detailed

business profile — which you create

and can update at any time. Plus, your

prospective clients will identify themselves

as interested in the types of services

you offer by submitting an inquiry

through the homeowner section of

the Sherwin-Williams Web site.

For more information or to register your

business for Sherwin-Williams Service

Connection, go to swserviceconnection.com. n

S H E R W I N - W I L L I A M S S t i r 3

Communication is key when working with paintcontractors. Minds, directions and budgets oftenchange — and a good relationship with your con-tractor helps keep your projects rolling smoothlyand ensures your vision is achieved.

1 See the painter’s perspective. In a paintcontractor’s world, time is money, and even

the shortest delay can affect the bottom line.Organization and communication are critical to keeping your paint contractor on schedule and on budget.

2Remember that color matters. Switchingcolor specs can affect the amount of paint

and time needed for a job — which impacts the contractor’s bottom line. Bold, bright colorsdo not cover as well as neutrals and require more coats or the use of a gray-shade primer.Adding new colors to a project also can meanadditional cleaning of equipment between color applications.

3Trust real-world experience. An experiencedpaint contractor knows which products work

best considering the environment, substrate andsurface condition. Be specific about your expecta-tions: the shade, sheen, finished appearance andperformance you’re looking for; or recommend aspecific product, if you have one in mind. Thenwork with your contractor to finalize which product will work best for you.

4 Share insights and information. Keep yourpaint contractor in the loop when it comes to

project details. Share what you know about theclient (“I’m not sure he’s sold on the color”) andexpect the communication to be reciprocated(“The drywaller did a poor job taping, and thispaint won’t hide the seams”).

5Watch your contractor sequence. Nothing can flatline productivity faster than a case

of hurry-up-and-wait. Schedule contractors in a logical sequence and stick to that schedule toavoid “stacked” contractors competing for timeand space to do their jobs. n

SHOP TALKFive tips for communicatingwith contractors

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Color Chips

Facts and trivia from across the spectrum

Tastes yellow. According to the U.S. Food and Drug

Administration, early civilizations such as the ancient

Romans recognized that people “eat with their eyes”

as well as their mouths. Saffron and other spices often

were used to provide a rich yellow color to foods.

Butter was colored yellow as far back as the 14th century.

Purple sludge. An 18-year-old British science student,

William Henry Perkin, created the first synthetic dye in

1856 while attempting to create artificial quinine. The

purplish residue of his experiments, which he called

mauve, was ridiculed by his colleagues until England’s

Queen Victoria and Empress Eugenie of France adopted the new color and

made it fashionable. Perkin was knighted in 1906.

Seeing gray. Does the color red really make bulls

behave aggressively? Not likely, say scientists, since

cattle don’t have color vision. The traditional red of

the matador’s cape calls to mind blood, virility and

power — but it’s that infernal flapping that really

gets the bull’s attention, causing him to charge the cape.

DURABILITY DEFINED

For high-traffic areas or surfaces exposed to the elements, durablecoatings are critical. Experts rate paint durability in large part by

its ability to resist burnishing. For interiors, burnish resistance pluswashability or scrubability is especially important.

As defined by Building Operating Management magazine, burnish-ing refers to the shine that can appear when a painted surface isscrubbed or scuffed, and is often tied closely to the type of paint finish.For example, the paint ingredients that produce a glossy finish create auniform, smooth surface. Stains can’t penetrate the surface, so theycan be wiped away without the scrubbing that leads to burnish marks.

As a result, gloss finishes tend to hold up better than flat finishes inareas that get a lot of traffic and require more-frequent cleaning. Flatfinishes are often better at hiding imperfections. A gloss surface makesflaws more noticeable, because it picks up light in the room. If you’reusing a high-gloss finish, be sure you apply it to a smooth, even surface.

However, recent paint technology innovations have produced more-durable flat paints, such as Sherwin-Williams Duration™ Home,Builders Solution and Color Accents flat, that resist burnishing betterthan lower-quality satin or semi-gloss paints. Look for products withburnish resistance that has been validated by an independent testingsource, such as ASTM International. n

“I try to apply colors like words that shape poems, like notes that shape music.” — Joan Miró (1893–1983)


B y A N D R E A G R A Z Z I N I W A L S T R O M

rom leather to sheepskin to grasscloth, design has always borrowed from nature. Patterns, textures and

colors adapted to ensure the survival of a species also add grace to bodies and buildings. When the

real thing isn’t affordable (or desirable), reasonable substitutes, such as Naugahyde® or nylon, can

be produced to mimic a coveted look from the wild kingdom.

The emerging design science of biomimicry, which goes beyond reproducing a natural aesthetic, is a

far cry from cheap imitations. Biomimicry probes beneath superficial first appearances, sometimes down

to the molecular level, to discover the design genius of biology itself — borrowing not just the looks of

nature, but the lessons.

NATURE knows best

BIOMIMICRY, a new and growing

science, urges designers to look

to the natural world for proven

solutions and fresh inspiration


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“You can study a design challenge and look to nature to learn how nature solves it,” explains John Mlade, a green-building researcher for Perkins + Will. “Or you can be walking through the woods and stumble over a solution to a problem you didn’tknow existed.”

In either case, with nearly 4 million years in research and develop-ment “nature knows what works, what’s appropriate and what lasts,”Mlade says.

Janine Benyus, credited with launching the movement with her1997 book, “Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature,” puts it instarker terms: “99 percent of all species are extinct. If something hassurvived, we should look at why it has. Natural selection works.”

For example, architects and engineers could learn something fromthe oak trees of New Orleans, says Benyus, who is co-director of theBiomimicry Guild. What is it about the design of those old trees thatkept them standing while buildings around them were obliterated lastyear by the wrath of Hurricane Katrina?

The much-maligned cockroach beetle might hold the secret to reducing mold in wetplaces such as New Orleans. One African cockroach beetle species even has an uncanny ability to pull moisture out of the dry desert air. The blue mussel’s astonishing ability to adhere to the ocean bottom has provided us with a blueprint for theproduction of industrial adhesives. The white lotus leaf stays cleaneven in the muddiest swamps — an inspiration for self-cleaning coatings that could be applied to cars and textiles.

Shade shiftersWhen it comes to color, Mother Nature is equally inventive. Textilemanufacturers currently are applying technology derived from theMorpho butterfly’s iridescent blue-green wings. The stunning colorscome in handy for attracting mates and perpetuating the species.

The Morpho butterfly changescolor with theflap of a wing...

But, in the South American rainforest where the butterflies can be found, their brilliant

color is also a handicap, making them more visible to prey. To avoid detection, the Morpho

butterfly changes color with the flap of a wing — from provocative blue to a drab brown that lets it conveniently

disappear against a backdrop of trees and foliage.Remarkably, the butterfly wing (like the peacock feather) has no

pigment. Rather, a complex structure with multiple layers interactswith light, producing only the appearance of color. The reflectiveeffects of such structural color, says Benyus, make it four timesbrighter than pigment.

Engelhard Corp. mimics this process with its Aurora® ShimmerSilk™thread used in fabrics, which, like the butterfly’s wings, pick up thecolor tones around them.

Such simple elegance inspired textile designer David Oakey to sendan entire design team into the woods. Consulting for Interface Inc.,

WHAT WOULD NATURE DO?To tap the infinite knowledge of Mother Nature, architects

and designers can soon access her solutions with the click of

a mouse. Part Google, part biology class, part nature

networking, the Biomimicry Database will provide

biomimetic solutions to design and engineering challenges,

contact information for experts and others interested in

similar challenges, as well as biomimetic models and detailed

information on biomimetic products available worldwide.

“It’s a catalog of nature solutions organized by architectural

and engineering principles,” says Janine Benyus, whose

Biomimicry Guild is developing the database with the Rocky

Mountain Institute. For example, type in “glue” and nearly

100 records will pop up, including challenges and strategies,

citations for scientific papers, a list of experts and products —

all directed toward biomimetic solutions for glue.

Though still in testing, the database may be available this

year. In the meantime, designers can bring their conundrums

to www.biomimicry.net.

Like the butterfly wing and the peacock feather, fabrics made

with Aurora® ShimmerSilkTM thread express different colors when

viewed from different angles.



the group left the design table to ponder the forest floor, looking forbiological clues for a better carpet design. What they discovered was“organized chaos” — a pleasing mosaic of textures, colors and shapes.The result of their field trip is Entropy, modular carpet tiles of which no two pieces are the same, just like the forest floor. With Entropy,everything from installation to repair is simplified, since there is no set pattern; would-be scraps are simply installed wherever they areneeded or saved for future repair.

But carpet design also needs to sell. Here, too, nature inspiredEntropy. “People feel good walking on a random pattern because that’swhat has been under us for millions of years,” says Mlade. The wisdomof biomimicry is enhanced by nature’s visceral effect on humans. “Ifyou ask people to describe where they would most like to be, mostsay ‘outside, in nature.’”

A savannah, suggests Mlade, makes a nice model for an officedesign. Like the savannah, office design can succeed by providing encompassing views of all the action as well as secure places to huddle.

Stephanie Watson Zollinger, a professor of interior design at theUniversity of Minnesota, says such proportion systems can make buildings more inviting. Watson Zollinger points out that mathematicalformulas, such as the Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Ratio, whichare ubiquitous in nature from flowers to seashells, have appeared insuch architectural landmarks as Stonehenge, the Great Pyramid, theParthenon and Hadrian’s Pantheon. Frank Lloyd Wright’s works includedthem, and they can be applied just as effectively in humbler interiors.

“Research has found that when we embody ourselves in spaces that utilize these systems, we just feel more comfortable,” says Watson Zollinger.

Inherently sustainableBiomimicry principles return the favor to nature through the sustainable designs they inspire. After all, nature itself, says Benyus, is inherently sustainable. The leaves on those oak trees in New Orleans are capturing solar energy while producing life-sustaining oxygen, or

Interface Inc.’s Entropy carpet tiles mimic the

random patterns of the forest floor.


People feel goodwalking on arandom patternbecause that’s what has beenunder us formillions of years.”


“

Concealment. Animals can avoid predators when theircoloration matches the natural background of their habitat, such as white species in arctic snow-covered environments, pale species in desert climates, red and grayspecies in rocky habitats, striped species in grasslands, anddark species in closed environments or dense forests.

Communication. Patches of color help animals maintain visual contact, such as that between mothers and young. Colored markings also may signal subordination,dominance, reproductive condition, health or even geneticquality to potential mates.

Regulation of physical processes. Color can help regulate body temperature by reflecting or absorbing radiation or by providing a surface that enhances or reducesevaporation. For example, white faces and rump patcheshelp reduce heat load in open desert or grassland habitats.

WILD-KINGDOM COLORAnimal coloration in nature generally evolves to fulfill one of several biological needs:

when they fall to the ground, nutrients for nearby organisms. “They’veoptimized survival while enhancing the place that is going to take care of their offspring,” she says.

Benyus believes that architecture and design are on the critical, cuttingedge of environmental sustainability. “When I look at where biomimicrycould make the most impact, the built world is it,” she says, pointing outthat the building industry is a leading producer of industrial waste. In fact,architects and designers, many of whom are interested in green design,were among the first nonscientists to grasp the vast possibilities of biomimicry. “They had a hunch, and I agree with them, that our buildingsshould be more life-like,” says Benyus. “At that point they had the imagination to say we need biologists sitting at the design table.”

The built environment, says Benyus, contributes our largest, and some ofour most important, human artifacts. “Nature will judge” our success, shesays, just as it has the Morpho butterfly and the Parthenon. “If we can makethese artifacts better adapted to life on Earth over the long haul, we willhopefully have a chance of squeezing through this evolutionary knothole.” n

The jewel chameleon is an expert at the

art of concealment.


hite. Tan. Taupe. Beige. In the vocabulary of exterior colors, the words “vinyl siding”

and “variety” have seldom shared the same sentence. That’s about to change.

In a move designed to expand residential design choices, Sherwin-Williams is launching new VinylSafe™ color technol-ogy that will allow homeown-ers who want to paint over their vinyl siding a more diverse and comprehensive palette from which to choose. The new Vinyl Siding Color Palette will include more than 100 Sherwin-Williams colors, says Steve Revnew, director of residential marketing for Sherwin-Williams’Architectural Coatings Division. And Sherwin-Williams’ SherColor™ Advanced Computer Color Technology color-matching soft-ware will allow even more choices.

In the past, a daring homeown-er could indeed paint over her vinyl siding. But the rule, generally, was to use the same color or lighter-colored paint. Why? Because a darker color would cause the siding to buckle.

Dark colors absorb more heat than pale hues, and that buildup of heat could make the vinyl — which is plastic — warp and buckle. So homeowners seeking to save a few dollars by painting rather than replacing their siding often had to replace it anyway when their darker-color dreams backfired.

Not now. When tinted using Sherwin-Williams SuperPaint® orDuration Exterior™ product lines, the darker colors in this VinylSafecolor palette will not absorb heat as in the past, Revnew says.

“When you look at vinyl siding, you don’t see too many deep tone

colors,” he says. “When people wantto change the color, their choices have been to go lighter or re-side

the house. With this color palette, they’ll be able to paint their house

just about any color. You could even paint a white house dark brown. And it’s more economical to

paint your house than to re-side it.”The 100 Sherwin-Williams Vinyl Siding Colors are “the most popular in the

industry today,” Revnew says. Darker colors will include Cold Spot, Ground

Hog and Green Mountain. Brighter colors include Spring Ahead,

Frilly and Nikko Blue.The change actually

began a few years ago, when Duration Exterior

and SuperPaint were formulated with just

this option in mind. Add new pigment technologies

to that reformulation and a whole new world of choices is now available to

owners of vinyl-sided homes, Revnew says.

Revnew predicts their numbers will grow as a result. Currently,

only about 4 percent of the residential marketrepresents painted vinyl siding. In 2006,

he says, “that’s going to get a boost.”In other words, bye-bye beige. n

B y J A M E S W A L S H

Vibrant vinylColor technology expands the palette for exterior vinyl siding

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It’s more economical to paint your house than to re-side it.”

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he art of making the deal is driven by color,” says Cathy Glosser, vice president of licensing for the TrumpSignature Collection, the Donald’s

line of business wear. If you think she’s over-stating the power of what you pull out of yourcloset in the morning, consider the following:

One recent study found that male job applicants wearing dark business suits wereperceived as more powerful and competentthan those who wore lighter suits. At WestChester University of Pennsylvania, researchersdiscovered that a woman pictured wearing a black dress was deemed more intelligent,powerful and attractive than the same womanseen wearing the same dress in any other color.

Croupiers at casinos wear red because thecolor has been demonstrated to elevate bloodpressure, quicken breathing and encourage risk-taking behavior in gamblers. And researchrepeatedly shows that wearing certain colors in the workplace (any workplace) can have atremendous psychological impact on how peo-ple respond to you — and to what you’re selling.

While these and other color studies suggestthat the darker your clothing, the more authorityyou project, don’t assume black is your best bet.

“Wearing black is the most common mistake people make in terms of professional

color,” says Catherine Frate Witt, a Marylandimage consultant and event planner. “It’s tooharsh on most people and can emphasize age.”It’s not off-limits to everyone, however. “Black is stunning on those with ‘winter’ coloring:dark hair and complexions with blue overtones,such as Demi Moore, ” she says.

Sandy Dumont, a consultant who helps individuals and corporations dress for success,also thinks black can easily detract from awinning image. “On most men, black lookstoo slick. Unless you’re in Hollywood or Vegas,you look untrustworthy, like a ‘player.’ On theother hand, a navy blue suit will still take youjust about anywhere.”

Color of aspirationGenuine power dressing, says Dumont, meansunderstanding the subtle variations in impactthat each color can have. “Blue and green arereally close on the color wheel, but you’ve neverseen a green power suit,” she explains. “That’sbecause the color evokes the earth; it’s grounded.Blue, on the other hand, reminds us of the skyand high aspirations, of infinite horizons.”

If you’re looking to connect instead of command, consider wearing brown. “Brownsays ‘Dad,’” according to Dumont. “It’s non-threatening, and great for people who have

B y C H A R L O T T E S T O U D T

What color is your

Clothing hue can have a subtle but significant impacton professional success

power suit?“T


er suit?


to engage others in difficult conversations.”She also cites the case of a psychiatrist whodiscovered his patients were more forthcom-ing when he wore brown instead of blue.

The ultimate goal of using color as partof your pitch? Leading another person’s eye to your face. “Think of yourself as a potential masterpiece,” advises Dumont. “A canvas masterpiece permits one focal point. Thesame rule applies to individuals. Your facemust be that lone focal point.” When yourface or hair blends into your clothes — say, for example, a pale blonde wearing a lightpink blouse, or a man with salt-and-pepperhair wearing gray — “you can look passive,”she observes. “That can be particularly undermining for women, who weren’t bornwith men’s deep voices and broad shoulders.”

But what women lack in physical scale, theymake up for in color options. “We’re lucky,” saysDumont. “We can wear magenta, fuchsia, evenyellow, as long as we look polished and classy.”Her secret weapon is red. “Red is life itself,blood coursing through the veins. When I walkinto a reception or a networking event wearingmy red suit, everyone, and I mean everyone,turns around to look. Try it sometime.”

Not quite ready to go head-to-toe in a

primary color? Try teal, which Angie Michaelof Image Resource Group in Falls Church, Va.,calls “the navy of the new millennium.”

As for the eternally vexing question of the power tie, Dumont offers a surprisingexample of a “don’t”: President Bush. Shethinks the 43rd president’s preference for pale,China blue ties sends a confusing message.“Where’s he going? To the country club? Outto dinner with his wife? A pastel doesn’tsuggest a powerful leader. Dick Cheney, on the other hand, tends to wear red ties withsmall patterns. He looks authoritative.”

Then again, the power-tie rules can be successfully broken by, well, the successful.“Palm Beach Pink is our key inspirational color,”says Glosser of the Trump Collection, referringto her boss’s penchant for rosy neckwear.

“Donald Trump has a home in Palm Beach, so in his case, wearing a pastel color is appropriate,” observes Dumont. “But he’salso saying, ‘I’m so powerful I don’t need towear a powerful tie.’”

Perhaps his preference is due to experience,not geography: “I used to wear red ties all the time, and I had a lot of good luck,”Trumprecently observed. Then a deal didn’t go his way.“After that, I don’t wear red ties anymore.” n

Creative advantage

Designers and other artistic professionals

have a lot of color leeway, much more so

than people working in more traditionally

buttoned-up industries, such as law or finance.

“If you’re in a creative field, it’s hard to make

a color mistake,” says image consultant

Catherine Frate Witt. A bold color choice can

be particularly effective for creative profes-

sionals who do a lot of presentation work.

“If you walk in wearing a bright orange scarf

because you love it, it doesn’t matter that bright

colors are sometimes considered inappropriate

in conservative settings. If it’s flattering and you

love it, you should wear orange,” she says.


All clothing provided by Marshall Field’s

Julie Karnes adores the unusual geometric painttreatment in the living and dining rooms of the1923 Prairie-style home she shares with her husband and children. But, she admits, “It’s pretty

crazy. It’s not for everyone.” Bohdan Gernaga, who created the design, doesn’t agree with Karnes aboutthe “crazy” part — he says it’s “quite tame” compared with some of his other work. But he heartily agrees it’snot for everyone — which, in his eyes, is a good thing.“All of my work is very personal,” says Gernaga, ownerof Chicago-based tymedesign (www.tymedesign.net). “I feel that my job as a designer is to go into a person’s psyche and bring their needsinto reality; each project is one-of-a-kind.”

Gernaga began by asking the Karnes family to describe the emotions they wanted to feel in the space. He paired that emotionalwish list — “vibrant,” “movement,” “soothing,” “cocoon-ish” — withwhat the home was “telling” him through its architecture to create the palette and patterns.

For the living room, he chose gold and taupe to instill the warmth of the sun and created a horizontal striped pattern featuring fourshades of light blue to suggest the ripples of Lake Michigan, which the home overlooks. “The striping is on an add-on where the original air-conditioning ducts were installed,” says Gernaga. “Sometimes people try to hide those things, but I say, ‘It’s there, why not make it work?’”

Bright rectanglesAfter concluding that the vaulted living-room ceiling was underservedby “developer white,” Gernaga designed a diamond pattern to bring the eye up and emphasize the craftsmanship. “Where the vaults cametogether it wasn’t a perfect point,” he says. “So I created the red-orangerectangles to compensate.”

The rectangles also link the living room with the adjoining diningroom, which features a Mondrian-inspired ceiling design that incorpo-rates the taupe and blue from the living room as well as several half-tonesof the vibrant red-orange.

As in many of his projects, Gernaga wrapped the wall colors at differentlengths in the dining room. “When people walk into a room, they see thecorners first and know the space,” he says. “With me taking that off, itgives the room a kinetic feel.”

Gernaga’s designs are often tricky to execute, and the Karnes residencewas particularly challenging, according to painting contractor ToddGrunert of TG Painting in Cudahy, Wis. “The three vaults in the living roomare handmade, and all are off-center,” he says. “You can’t use a laser level.You have to do it visually, make it all fit like a nice puzzle.”

Grunert chose SuperPaint® Interior for the ceilings because its flat finish keeps light from bouncing off the design. For the walls, Jason Abbot, market manager for the Sherwin-Williams store in Cudahy, recommended Cashmere® for its smooth velvety surface, which hidesimperfections and makes it easier to achieve a sharp line.

Speaking of lines, Julie Karnes thought Gernaga crossed a big onewhen he suggested the horizontal blue striping for her living room. “It took a lot of convincing,” she says. “And, ironically, it’s one of theparts I love the most. On the gray days, I just love the movement.” n

DaybrightenerVivid colors and dynamic patterns give this Milwaukee home warmth and energy during gray winter months

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I feel that my job as a designer isto go into a person’s psyche andbring their needs into reality; eachproject is one-of-a-kind.”

B y L A U R A W E X L E R

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX

• Identify the emotion you want to feel in a space before you begin

thinking about color, suggests Bohdan Gernaga, owner of tymedesign.

• Use color and pattern to highlight architectural details, but don’t be

constrained by them. In the Karnes residence, Gernaga painted over

the picture rails in order to bring the wall color up to the ceiling.

• Turn negatives — an air-conditioning duct, for example — into positives

by emphasizing rather than hiding them.

• “You, not the walls, make the space,” Gernaga says. Wrapping color

around the corners at different lengths creates movement and makes

a room feel larger.


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SW 6622 Hearty Orange

SW 6621 Emotional

SW 6620 Rejuvenate

SW 6379 Jersey Cream

SW 6742 Lighter Mint

SW 2829 Classic White

SW 6434 Spinach White

SW 6126 Navajo White

SW 6448 Greening

SW 6464 Aloe

SW 1449 Dinner Mint

SW 6463 Breaktime

SW 1363 Cellini Gold

SW 1362 Luminary Gold

SW 1646 Filtered Sun


Anatomy of a Palette


Not just a pretty spaceA Minneapolis loft project makes a design statement by being easy on the eyes as well as the environment

•Large low-e

windows.

Natural light reduces the

need for electric lights.

UV coating and argon-

filled double panes

increase efficiency,

especially when

augmented by energy-

efficient blinds.

•Bamboo flooring.

Bamboo grows 20 times

faster than oak and is

more durable.

reen is good. Green can also look good. That, in a nutshell, was the vision behindthe “green” loft, an environmentally friendly prototype created last year byLander Sherman Urban Development as part of its 72-unit Midtown Lofts project

in Minneapolis.“We originally talked about doing a green unit for research and development,” says

Wren Aigaki-Lander, marketing director for the Lander Group, which has a “green” mis-sion statement. The group aimed to take standard features and find new and innovativeways to make them as environmentally friendly as possible. “The purpose of the greenunit was to start that dialogue,” she says.

Lander Sherman loaded the unit with dozens of earth-friendly features, includingrecycled materials, energy-efficient appliances, and paints and finishes with low or zero volatile organic compounds (VOCs). But earth-friendly alone wasn’t enough, says Aigaki-Lander. “They also had to be great looking.”

To view more eco-friendly features of the Lander Sherman loft, go to swstir.com.

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•Low-flow faucets.

Low-flow faucet aerators

reduce home water

consumption and the

energy cost of heating

the water by as much

as 50 percent.

•Granite and steel

countertops.

Granite is natural and

durable. Steel is durable

and cleans easily. Neither

emits harmful gasses.

•Recycled cabinets

with sealed backs.

Behind the maple veneer,

all materials are recycled.

Sealed backs improve air

quality by reducing

formaldehyde emissions

from particle board.

•Eco-friendly

room divider.

3-Form Translucent

EcoResin™ wall separation

is made from 50 to

60 percent recycled

materials, including

actual grasses, and

can be recycled. n

Low- or zero-VOC

paints and finishes.

Harmony® from Sherwin-

Williams is a zero-VOC

paint, eliminating

emissions that can irritate

skin, eyes and lungs.

•

Recycled-content

sheetrock.

Both paper and content

include recycled materials.

•

Energy-efficient

lighting.

Fluorescents replace

incandescent bulbs.

Dimmers minimize use

and add ambience.

•

Interface Flor

carpet squares.

The backing is 100 percent

post-consumer recycled

content. The carpet

contains recycled content

and is recyclable through

Interface’s Carpet

Reclamation program.

Homeowners can replace

it square by square,

producing less waste than

installing new wall-to-

wall carpet. (Not shown)

Recycled-rubber

flooring.

Made from recycled

rubber tires, this flooring

material can also be

recycled post-consumer.

(Not shown)


he Argosy Gaming Company’s “theme team” did its modern corporate homework. But ultimately,the artistry that transformed a

Missouri riverboat casino into an ancientMediterranean village came down to an age-old collaboration between eye, hand and paint.

Now a 60,000-square-foot showcase offaux finishes, Argosy Casino Kansas City had tobe built anew, then made to appear centuriesold. Originally a land pavilion bridged to ariverboat, the casino’s recent renovation andexpansion upped the ante on its initial nod to the Mediterranean, creating a fantasylandreproduction of medieval Spain, Italy, Greece,Morocco and North Africa. It took a realignedlevee and 1,527 gallons of Sherwin-Williamsarchitectural coatings to make it happen.

“This is probably the largest transformationI’ve worked on, and I’ve worked for Disney!”says Randee Bach, director of design for thecasino’s parent company.

Visitors apparently like the change:Revenue jumped 50 percent in 2004, theremade casino’s first full year in operation.Argosy is betting the theme will have stayingpower, even in the hype-heavy world of casinos as alternative realities.

“Mediterranean isn’t based in a time; it’s a very classic style that everybody feelscomfortable in, whether you’re wearingevening clothes or cutoffs and sandals,”Bach says.

Color tricksTo evoke that feeling, project art director Lenzy Hendrix, at the time vice president of architecture and design at Designplan inIndianapolis, called on every trick in the faux and trompe l’oeil toolbox — aging, marbling, distressing, wood-graining, iron-rusting, patina-rendering, stenciling, gilding — plus more than 1,100 Sherwin-Williams colors, some used at dilutions of just 2 or 3 percent to achieve the exact cast of, say, shade or sunlightas it falls on an east-facing facade.

“The use of multiple colors allowed us tospend less on actual three-dimensionalfacades,” says Hendrix, now CEO of ThemedEnvironmental Design in Fortville, Ind.

As a four-year-old boy, Hendrix liked to pretend he was Walt Disney, and that childhoodambition resurfaced in the sweeping vision heassigned the paint crew: Paint a “sky” thatreflects the light traveling from dawn to dusk,when the appearance of stars signals nightfall’sarrival. Paint translucent “stained glass” filteringimaginary light into a mosque dome. Paint“stone” villa and “brick” portico facades liningthe streets of the Holy Roman Empire. In short,paint medieval character into Middle America.Oh, but remember to keep it bright and vibrant:It’s a casino, after all.

Dominick Armato, president of NortheastPainting in Kansas City, was Hendrix’s color co-author. Armato envisioned how directional light would have faded every wall, ceiling and column, and how moisture and mildew wouldhave weathered their surfaces. He blendedSherwin-Williams ColorAccents Interior Latex Flatinto such base coat colors as deep blue, dark redand majestic purple, and sealed in the patina ofhistory using Sher-Cryl™ industrial coatings.

“Armato would be on the job at 4 a.m.instructing everyone,” notes Sherwin-Williamsrepresentative Rick Jackson. “We had someoneat the store 24/7 to deliver product to him.”

Ironically, it took a lot of modern technologyto achieve the look of antiquity rendered so

naturally by time, wear and weather. With a project this massive, manyof the faux effects were created not with a hand-held brush, but withspray guns. “If you had to do this all by brush, labor costs would be $20 million instead of $2 million,” Armato says.

But it isn’t as simple as pulling the trigger. Only the base coats were full-on coverage. Thereafter, it was all technique, as the eyejudged where to put the glaze and at what density.

The illusion is seamless to casino patrons, however, who often reach out to touch wrought iron crusty with rust, or grapevines circlinga column, and are surprised to discover that they’re only paint. n

B y K I T T Y S H E A

Technicolor transformation

Trade secret

To “age” surfaces without rendering

them dank and dull, the Argosy Casino

team relied on “Disney dirt,” a tech-

nique that uses colors complementary

to the base color. The usual grays and

browns tend to drain the light out of

the colored surface. A percentage of

purple, however, can age a gold stucco

wall without making it drab.

Faux finishes and more than 1,100 colors combine to invoke a Mediterranean ambience in a Midwest riverboat casino.


T


In a scene straight out of an Italian

cathedral or palazzo, the illusion of

light filtering through stained glass

comes from subtle variations of

hundreds of colors of paint.

Talking jazz with composer Maria Schneider makes for a colorful

conversation, filled with vibrant, visual analogies about instru-

ment palettes, tone shadings and even the nature of plaid. “I see

music as a very visual thing,” she says. Her rich, layered composi-

tions have won worldwide acclaim, as well as many jazz critic and

reader poll accolades, and most recently a Grammy award in 2005

(Best Large Jazz Ensemble Recording) for “Concert in the Garden.”

The color of FUSIONJazz composer Maria Schneider riffs on her music and the hues it evokes

B y K I M PA L M E R

C O L O R S P Y




STIR: When you talk aboutyour music, you often speak

in terms of color. Why?

MS: Sound is vibration, and color is vibration. In themusic world, we always talkabout tone color, which I see

as a cross between color andtexture. Different instruments

have different brilliance, and when I do concerts, certain music seems

to inspire certain colors. I have a song“Greenpiece” that is very pastoral. When I was touring Europe, nobodyknew the name of what I was playing, but when I started that song, theybathed the band in green light. I have another song about sailing called“Coming About,” and invariably, they put us in a blue light for that one.There must besomething about the timbre of the instruments.

STIR: Which colors do you associate with which instruments?

MS: I see the trumpet as red, the trombone as yellow and the saxophone as blue.

STIR: How do you use those colors when composing?

MS: I like to mix sounds to create texture. When I was a kid, I wanted the big box of Crayolas with the pencil sharpener, the one with 72 colors.Mom made us get the small box because she wanted us to mix our own colors. I’m still doing that. I try to get the color of a bassoon, but ratherthan using a bassoon, I’ll do it by mixing other instruments and mutes.Like the French horn. The color of the French horn is a very beautiful,warm burnt orange. I don’t have that instrument in my band, but I canget that sound by mixing a bucket mute trombone with a clarinet.

STIR: You’ve talked about your “plaid-shirt theory” of composition.Tell us about that.

MS: When you look at a plaid shirt, you don’t notice where the colors intersect. You notice the orange and green stripes, not the greeny-brownin the middle. Music is about line, and in jazz composition, you’re con-cerned about vertical sound at any one moment. If twolines converge in an uncomfortable way, if it’s a littleoff, it’s good. It propels you to keep listening. Youwant that resolution.

STIR: How would you compare the impactof musical color with visual color?

MS: Color in a room makes you feel a certainway. It generates heat, cool, intensity. It makespeople feel emotion in certain ways. Colors inmusic do the same thing. There’s a hue to thesound that affects you the same way color affects

you in a room. If you see green leaves and a red flower, they’re vibratingwith contrast. One intense color against another can almost repel. Butyou’re also attracted. You can do the same thing musically.

STIR: What color do you like to be surrounded with when you compose?

MS: I sit at my piano, so it’s a brown floor and a black piano. But I have a lotof orange in my apartment. I love orange! When I was a kid we used to go to Mexico, and the color of the clay there is so vibrant against the blackwrought iron. The wall of my bedroom is red, the color of that natural clay. It was hard to find that color, and it was so important to me to get the rightshade, so I mixed it myself. People say it’s not good to have a red bedroombecause you can’t sleep, and I agree. It took so long to get the right color that I don’t want to get rid of it, but I don’t sleep well at all. Color really does things to your body.

STIR: I’ll name a color, and youtell me what music you thinkof first. How about blue?

MS: “Prelude to theAfternoon of a Faun”by Debussy.

STIR: White?

MS: Something by [Edgard]Varese, an electronic composer.

STIR: Orange?

MS: Flamenco music. Southern and warm.

STIR: How did you decide to become a composer?

MS: I started composing when I was a child. Growing up [in Windom,Minn.], I never really met any composers, and I didn’t presume that I couldbecome one. But I was gifted with a really good piano teacher. She was anamazing musician, and she had red hair — so did I. When she came to ourhouse and sat down and played, that’s when my life came into living color,just like in “The Wizard of Oz.” It was like color was flying above the piano

and floating. I was transfixed.

STIR: How did she influence you musically?

MS: Even from the first lesson, she wanted me to understand how tones are put together. She made me analyze every piece, every chord. I think that’s why I became a composer, and not a performer. I loved the architecture of music, what it was, not what I was giving it. Composing is like looking inside a musical hologram.

That’s why I do it. n

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For more information, visit www.mariaschneider.com.

Vintner’s Palette Whether red, white or rosé, the color in your glass offers many clues to a wine’s

character. Although all grape juice starts out clear (red wines get their color from the skin, which macerates

in the juice while the wine ferments), grape variety contributes subtle shade differences. Cabernet

grapes, for example, have darker skins that lend purple and black tones to the wine, compared with the

ruby shades associated with Pinot Noir. Some rosé wines get their blush color from limited

contact with grape skins, although more often a rosé is an already finished white

wine that has been tinted with a bit of red wine. And while white wines

grow darker and more golden as they age, red wines lighten,

gradually assuming a brick or amber color. n

F I N A L T O U C H

PRSTD STDUS Postage

PAIDCenveo

Sherwin-Williams400 1st Ave. N., Ste. 540Minneapolis, MN 55401

NURSES STATION

RECEPTION

IF THE COLOR’S OUT THERE, WE CAN HELP YOU BRING IT IN.

At Sherwin-Williams, we know color inspiration can be found anywhere. Which is why we developedour exclusive Sher-Color™ advanced computerized matching system. With Sher-Color we can quicklyduplicate virtually any hue in the world. Plus, with our online Color Visualizer and COLOR To Go™ paintsampling, we can help you see those colors firsthand, to be sure they’re truly the right ones. You see, atSherwin-Williams, we believe that if you’re going to search through a cluttered old garage to find theperfect color, we need to make sure your effort is worthwhile. To learn more, see your Sherwin-WilliamsArchitectural Account Executive or call our Architect & Designer Answerline at 1-800-321-8194.

sherwin-williams.com ©2005 The Sherwin-Williams Company

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