Dollhouse Decorating – Beige Is Beautiful, IF

You have more than one shade of beige in the room. That's one design concept when working with a neutral as your primary color. Go from light to dark hues on the walls, rug and large pieces furniture. The walls could be the lightest shade; curtains, a filmy darker hue; the rug a much darker shade. Be careful to keep these secondary colors compatible. Because of the compacted spaces, unfortunate choices in color are more obvious in a miniatures than a real dwelling. But it's a lot easier and cheaper to fix the mistake. 

Varying textures are important too. If your sofa is beige leather, the pillows and throw can add color and varied textures. Mix it up with velvet, burlap, long hair, rope or large weave fabric. The rug could be sisal or long shag.   

Since beige is so neutral, you could take any favorite color and use it for a color “pop” here and there. If blue is your favorite color use art on the walls with your favorite shade of blue, then make sure this accent color is the same shade wherever you use it. The blue in the art work should be exactly the same blue as in the vase on the side table, or the blue in the flower arrangement on the coffee table. 

Beige can be beautiful, if you give it some help.

Dollhouse Decorating – The Neutrals, Beige vs. Gray

Working With Beige 

As with any neutral color, I like to have more than one shade in dollhouse miniatures. Go from light to dark hues on the walls, rug and large pieces furniture. The walls could be the lightest shade; curtains, a filmy darker hue; the rug a much darker shade. Because of the compacted space, making an unfortunate choice in color in a miniature is more obvious than a real dwelling. But fixing is a lot cheaper. Remember those sample cans.

The room box in the Helena Rubinstein collection shows various shades which might be labeled a rich creamy-beige, with spots of darker color in the flooring, curtains and wall art.

Varying textures is important too. If your sofa is beige leather, the pillows and throw can add color and varied textures. Mix it up with velvet, burlap, long hair, rope or large weave fabric. The rug could be sisal or long shag.

Since beige is so neutral, you could take any favorite color and use it for a color “pop” here and there. If blue is your favorite color use art on the walls with your favorite shade of blue, then make sure this accent color the is same shade wherever you use it. The blue in the art work should be exactly the same blue as in the vase on the side table, or the blue in the flower arrangement on the coffee table.

Gray Is The New Beige

For dollhouse miniatures, beige or gray is strictly a personal choice. You still want to use more than one shade of the primary color in the room. Make sure your secondary and accent colors are compatible with that primary color.

Melanie Fletcher took a different approach in the Cape Cod salt box she made for her niece. All but one of the rooms has the same shade of gray on the walls, with a few strong accent colors. The overall effect shows a subtle unity rather than a kaleidoscope color leaping out at you.

I love working with this new-again neutral color because it seems so fresh, and because of the 

emotions it can evoke. Log onto the Benjamin Moore website an look for Shades of Gray. For a warm cozy feeling, you can't beat Cosmopolitan. Need a quick cool down? City Shadow is for you.

Of course you can have both gray and beige with a pop of gold leaf in the same frame, as in the Josie Bout selfie.

If you choose your accent colors carefully, you can do wonders with gray. How long before beige reappears as interior decorating's “exciting new thing?” Who knows, and who cares, really. In dollhouse decorating, the latest fad is irrelevant. We deal with decades and eras, right?

To know more about working with neutral colors, Renate Herring-Shepherd as a terrific e-Book you can download 

free. It contains a color wheel training video I like. And its free! Look for the Stylish Neutrals link at the top of the right sidebar.

http://www.dreamhomedecorating.com/.

Did I say, It'S Free?

Dollhouse Decorating - “Help Stamp Out Beige”

“Help Stamp Out Beige” was the tag line in a paint manufacture's advertisement in the '70s, touting a new line of vibrant colors. I guess that's what's put me on this Be Bold with color binge. 

Victorian dollhouse and miniatures are one of the most popular styles. So when it comes to color, be like the Atlanta residents in the 1870s. For those that could afford it, spectacular Victorian homes rose from the ashes of the Civil War.

By the 1880s, when the Queen Anne style became popular, synthetic pigments allowed for vivid blues, greens, purples, and yellows. Also common were multi-hue schemes that accentuated the style's diverse architectural details, such as turned porch spindles and fish-scale shingles under the eaves.

Victorian homes also have a long and illustrious tradition of whacky color. Different colors helped to highlight the incredible details on these homes. Multicolored palettes can still be found on beautifully detailed homes today.

You really can't go too far out with your next dollhouse, or one that needs a remodel. The Victorians believed that if one detail would do, two was better. Better yet was to paint them a different color, not necessarily compatible. They loved repetition, like putting enlarged porch spindles on the front gables.

Paint schemes with several colors and sharp contrasts play up these architectural features. The more detail, the bolder you can be. Extremely ornate corbels can have sharp contrast between light and dark colors, while the less detailed panels can be painted in two dark colors. 

Why not a red dollhouse, or one patterned after the wondrous orange Victorian decorated by Sue Pekaric. Click on the image for a link to Houseaboodle and check out some her wonderful color combinations to brighten-up an aging dollhouse. And don't forget about all the gorgeous “Painted Lady” around the country.

So fear not! Be as lavash as you want with color. Some might question your taste, but no one can accuse you of not being authentic.

What do you think? Can a Victorian dollhouse be too garish? 

Amazing Miniaturist – Henry Kupjack

The son of famed miniaturist, Eugene Kupjack, Henry Kupjack is a master artisan in his own right. 

Click on the image of the spiral staircase in Miniature Room No. 5 for a link to a video produced by Ileana Ottini. It shows many of Henry's miniatures. 

Also, here's a link to a show aired by WTTV Chicago station about Henry. In  one clip he tells how his father, Eugene Kupjack went to work on the Thorne Rooms:
  

http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2012/12/18/thorne-miniature-rooms

Susan Downing