For the love of sage

If you’re from the Northeast, in particular, you’re quite possibly familiar with Vermont’s penultimate old-school, traditional glass and pottery maker and purveyor, Simon Pearce. Their trademark celadon crackle glaze was popular seemingly from the first moment of its inception and continues to garner such fervor and admiration even today, whether it’s on bowls, lamps, plates, or pitchers. There are collectors who quite simply cannot get enough of celadon crackle Simon Pearce pottery.

The color itself, however - that somewhat ineffable hybrid of sage, celery, mint, and pistachio - has waxed and waned in its popularity throughout the years in regards to interiors and design, tableware, tile, lighting, fashion, and furniture. Versions of it pop up in Saarinen and Eames furniture, Warhol’s soup can prints, and in Hitchcock’s “The Birds,” an “eau de nil” light green suit is worn by the Tippi Hedren as she flees the maniacal flocks. (You can read a fascinating piece on “eau de nil” and its omnipresence throughout the ages right here.)

Recently, we started a fantastic project in Malibu, a small but incredibly precious jewel of a spot by the sea (#projecttheskyismoreblueinmalibu on Instagram) and immediately noticed our client’s affinity for this sage-y/celadon-ish/eau de nil color - it’s on their living room, kitchen, and dining room walls (the collective space encompasses all three of these rooms, to be fair) and in some of their displayed ceramics, as well. The home is literally atop the Pacific Ocean, so the idea of putting any sort of blue on the walls seems redundant and destined for failure - I mean, how do you compete with the myriad versions of blue offered up by the Pacific Ocean? You don’t.

But we didn’t stay wholly committed to sage/celadon/mint-green, either. Ultimately, we went with our favorite “warm but fresh” white, Benjamin Moore’s Simply White, for the living room, kitchen, and dining room walls, but we wanted to give our fabulously ready-for-change client some sort of sage . . . somewhere. Especially because when you’re in the midst of a complete re-do remodel, you don’t want to ever feel like you’re pushing a client so far out of their comfort zone that they’re a stranger to themselves and the final reveal of the home feels like an unknowable environment they’re forced to reside within. It’s a balance of creating entirely new spaces with new elements, colors, energies, lighting, textiles, art, and furniture, and doing so with the clients’ truest natures being respected, revered, and reflected in the unexpected and wonderful newness.

And so, here we are, right now, with a Malibu bathroom fated-to-be-painted in Farrow and Ball’s Green Blue and we’re currently cooking up some ways we can bring some sage-y celadon into their kitchen cabinetry. We’re currently keeping it in our back pocket - because a bit of this pale green goes a long, long way, baby, whether it veers towards celery, serpentine, jade, or minty fresh.

Since we took a dive into the world of sage and found some amazing things while doing so (like incredible cement sinks , The Road to Todos Santos paint, and deliriously delicious settees, for example), we’re sharing some of this sage-y beauty with you! All for the love of sage. Enjoy!

Studio Ashby, London penthouse.

Jimi Sofa, made in Spain; 1stdibs

Designer Matilda Goad’s U.K. home

Carolina Mariana Rodriguez, Apartment Therapy

Thonet Targa 2-seat sofa by GamFraseti

ASKA’s Maria NIla Salon

Leo Bruno Todd painting

Concretti Designs concrete sink (in Pistachio)

Sandra Relagado’s Barcelona home, Apartment Therapy

Architects EAT, Melbourne, Australia

The Psychology of Color

If you’ve ever painted your home, you understand the anguish of getting the color just right. Only the most valiant of us go full steam ahead and buy several gallons of Petal Dust and slather the walls with it only to find you’ve turned your guest bathroom into a strange and fairly creepy accidental nursery. The most pragmatic of us buy color samples first (Benjamin Moore makes this ridiculously easy) and check out large swathes of hues before committing to several gallons’ worth. This is, by the way, because paint chips lie. They may not mean to, but they do.

Alternatively, you can upload a photo onto Sherwin Williams or Valspar Paint to see how the possible colors will look in your actual space. But I’ve often found there’s nothing like wholly experiencing the colors in the room itself – watching how the light changes throughout the day and how it affects the depth and profundity of the palette.

Rue Magazine recently published “13 Rooms That Prove Black is Back,” showing this “colorless” color in bedrooms, living rooms, bathrooms, and hallways. While black never really left, particularly in clothing, it does seem that deep, intense colors like dark charcoal or ebony can actually work magic in grounding a space, especially one with loads of natural light.

(image source: Rue Magazine)

Ruminating on my ever-enduring love of black (dresses, shoes, bags, et al), I began to think about the emotional meaning of colors. According to color consultants, the shades with which we decorate have the power to affect our moods and behavior. Even Picasso said that "colors, like features, follow the changes of emotion." While I personally LOVE white walls for uncomplicated art hanging (and trust me when I say there are literally thousands of versions of white paint in the world) I'm not opposed to using color in our clients' homes! That said, here are some fun Lily Spindle ideas, room by room, to maximize the potential of your space when picking out your paint colors.

LIVING ROOM - Warm, autumnal tones like brown, orange, red, yellow, and beige are fitting for your living room as they can encourage conversation, comfort, and connectivity. The warmth of the wall colors lends itself to the warmth of the room’s occupants, enhancing a natural camaraderie and rapport.

(image source: Desire to Inspire, Apartment Therapy, Interiorholic)

Home office: The best color for your home office may be contingent upon what kind of work you’re engaged in. Renowned color psychologist Angela Wright breaks it down like this – blue stimulates your mind and inspires productivity (suitable for say, an accountant); yellow stimulates your ego and optimism and bolsters creativity (suitable for say, a graphic designer); green provides balance and reassurance and is thusly ideal for conducting financial transactions.

(image source: Pinterest)

BEDROOM : Unless you’re into a quickened heart rate and increase in stress whilst trying to get some shut-eye or romantically woo your partner, skip the red walls in the boudoir. Instead, go for blue or green or gauzy, dreamy versions of grey and white – all colors that typically invite calm and peace.

(image source: Apartment Therapy, Design Sponge, Lonny)

DINING ROOM : If you’re a serious lover of scarlet, your place to do it is in the dining room. Red increases your appetite and stimulates activity, perhaps promising a more interesting dinner party than you might have anticipated, which is never a bad thing in my book.

        (image source: HGTV)

BATHROOM : What we consider to be fresh and clean colors like white, ivory, taupe, as well as hues evocative of the sea – turquoise, blues, and greens – are infallible in the bathroom. Using tile to add some texture, pattern, and pops of color is pretty ingenious and can be surprisingly sexy.

(image source: www.lovelylife.se/; Apartment Therapy) Source: The Influence of Color on Physiological Response.