Putting on a fresh coat of paint and waiting for the still-wet, glossy walls to dry is akin to coaxing a seedling to grow into a full-fledged plant. You’ve done the prep, the hard work, and now eagerly hope to be rewarded with a room or a garden that will bring you joy for many seasons to come.
One thing is a given: Color is a subjective subject. Just ask designers, and you’ll get a variety of perspectives. Carleton Varney (dubbed Mr. Color for his energetic use of brights) recommends painting deep tones in small spaces “to add the element of coziness,” he says. Alexa Hampton favors a softer side of the spectrum. Citing one of her favorite browns, Benjamin Moore’s Middlebury Brown HC-68, she says its cool tones “make it very livable and inviting.” But what designers seem to unanimously agree on is that carrying the outdoors right through the front door and to rooms beyond is natural instinct. Barry Dixon created his paint collection based on what he sees around his rural Virginia farm, plucking colors from the garden for walls. “At night, when the sun goes down and I lose the vista, I’m reminded of it all evening long. And then at daybreak, I’ll see that color liaison again—from living room to landscape,” he says. Dixon believes we’ll never be disappointed when we look through windows for inspiration. We concur, and we share some of our favorite shades taken from the pages of Mother Nature’s handbook.
Produced by Abby Braswell | Photography by Stephen DeVries