I just hate beige. There, I've said it.
I know it has a place in this world, and that
brilliant decorators create masterful rooms in a neutral palette. But what
really floats my boat, quickens my pulse, sends me running down the hall to
share scouting pictures with Karen Carroll, our editor-in-chief, is a room
where someone has taken a flying leap into a daring palette. I waxed
histrionic about a black library in last month's column.
And now I want to celebrate this melon-colored living room in Joel
and Gloria Koenig's Washington, D.C., house. Loyal readers will
recognize the room from a '92 Southern Accents cover (Vol. 14, No.
10), when the house belonged to designer Anthony P. Browne. He has since
sold it to the Koenigs, providing Gloria with a backdrop for her bold mix
of art and antiques, most of which she bought in her native Buenos Aires.
Anthony mixed the "Venetian orange" color for the walls
himself. I love the way whites and creams gain crispness against the warm
hue. And I love the way it sets off black accents. As Anthony urged Gloria,
"Be brave with color!" (As if she needed encouragement.)
| If this room were ... |
It would be ... |
| A car |
An Aston Martin |
| An outfit |
A Dolce & Gabbana dress |
| A cocktail |
An Orange Thing |
SEE IT IN PRINT: "A Georgetown Classic,"
Southern Accents, September-October 2006, pages 212-219; interior design by
Anthony P. Browne, 202/333-1903; custom-mixed paint from Benjamin Moore,
800/344-0400, www.benjaminmoore.com; three-clove ottoman by Anthony P.
Browne; chair fabric by Robert Allen (T); chair, Chinese vase, and faux
ivory box from John Rosselli & Associates (T); 20th-century bronze
reclining nude from Gore Dean Antiques, 202/625-9199.
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