The Design District
Design Library: The Way We Live With Color
I’ve gotten some great books lately, and I’ve been meaning to give them the ink they deserve. So, Design Library posts will be all about great new design books.
First up, The Way We Live With Color by Stafford Cliff and photographed by Gilles de Chabaneix. (Rizzoli, $40)
This is one of many in the The Way We Live series by Stafford Cliff, who was formerly Creative Director of Design at the Conran Design Group in London. The photographer, Gilles de Chabaneix, is one of France’s most prominent photographers of design and lifestyle. Together, they create books that are not only informational, but beautifully photographed and styled.
The Way We Live With Color is divided into five sections: first features monochromes: white, black, and neutral shades of grey; second, blue and white reigns; third, reds and pinks are presented as examples of luxury and fine living; fourth, yellows and greens bring in sunshine and natural light; and finally, colors derived from natural materials like woodwork, stone, clay, and terra cotta round out the book.
“Certain colours seem to create specific sensations: blue is good for bedrooms (calming); yellow for bathrooms (wake-up), red for kitchens, and an entire rainbow for children’s rooms,” Cliff writes.
But, he takes these generic and tired rules and shows how they can be stretched. The book looks at nature, then shows examples of how to apply nature’s “rules” to our interiors. Beautiful European buildings (and did I mention the book is photographed entirely in Europe and Asia?) painted bright lime green, orange, yellow, and blue are inspiration for a brightly colored kitchen. The red in chilis and Povencal cherries are used as dashes of color in monochromatic rooms or as dramatic accent walls. Or, the yellow and green in citrus and flowers are painted on doorways and staircases.
It’s less about the color of paint on our walls and more about how color affects us and the way we live, from paint to metallic surfaces, brick to colored glass. Cliff writes, “And especially in interior design, colour had the most powerful, most affective, and perhaps the most mysterious influence.”
I’m a sucker for a book about color, and I find myself torn between the calming effect of an monochromatic room and the energy of bold swaths of color. Here, I can have it all. Enjoy!
