CW Interiors has been hit hard by the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. We’re willing to bet that this has at some point happened to you too! The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon is the fancy name for Frequency Bias, Frequency Illusion, Red Car Bias, Recency Illusion; all the same mind trick. The mental awareness of a new *something* that, once you start thinking about it, seems to exist everywhere.
Ever since diving into the world of the Color of the Year, the colors of 2022 are popping up everywhere! Our rewatching of Friends shows that Monica was decades ahead of her time with a Veri Peri apartment. The walls, chairs, doors of the apartment are a lovely shade of periwinkle. While watching Jeopardy!, we notice that the background is none other than a pleasing wave of blue to periwinkle. Take a glance around Target and you will find yoga mats, planners, water bottles and nail polish all in Veri Peri.
Maybe Veri Peri is not your cup of tea, thankfully, it doesn't need to be! There are plenty of options that are just as cutting edge! Just ask Ellen, who decided that the perfect color for her newly reclaimed office was the Sherwin-Williams color of the year, Evergreen Fog. All of the various colors of the year were clouding our color search, so much so that I recommended that we look to other options for the space. The Baader-Meinhof effect was on my mind, whether real or imagined, Evergreen Fog was popping up everywhere! Ellen was unafraid. She had found her match.
I have known Ellen for seven years, she was one of my first clients after I relocated to The Woodlands. I worked with her and her husband on making their new house feel like a home. Several years later, now with a child, they were ready to move into a larger house and upgrade their “starter” furniture to a more grown-up style. After 10 years of marriage, during which she often set aside her preferences and gave way to her husband’s headstrong choices, the relationship landed on hard times and they decided to separate. As part of the separation it was decided that Ellen would move back into the original home that we decorated together years before. This time, we updated the decor to make the home her own. We were on a new mission; remove everything that cast a shadow on her spirit and let in the light!
The front office was dark and weighty and brown, none of which were her choices at the start. Our goal was to have a beautiful, feminine space for Ellen to proudly call her own. A place of peace and levity to enjoy while working from home.
A fresh coat of paint was essential. Evergreen Fog was the path forward. Evergreen Fog has been described as a "calming and sophisticated green with greige (the lovechild of gray and beige) undertones".
Paint colors can be tricky. What looks good on a sample card can look completely different in a room. Anyone considering a color change should view the options at different times of day, in different kinds of light before committing to any color on the wall. Here are some comparison photos to demonstrate the many personalities of Evergreen Fog:
At 8:00 am, this lovely shade of green is a pale, peaceful tone, gently kissed by green. It is a beautiful choice for brightening this dark space. This particular angle and time of day accentuate this hue in the completed room.
3:00 pm comes along and the undertones have changed! It is still a great color, just a bit different than what you saw seven hours before. Is it gray now?? Is that still a good choice for you?
For Ellen, all signs point to yes! She wants the whole office changed from the dreary, thick brown to this serene versatile color.
I love being able to help people feel comfortable in their space, and the experiences driving a design change is crucial to presenting the right options to make the change a success.
There are so many options available when decorating, or redecorating a home. When I work with a client, I want to understand why they are looking for a change. This information motivates design boards, product suggestions and an overall theme to the project. With Ellen, we worked systematically throughout her home to make choices that reflect a strong, resilient woman who is firmly taking the reins of control to her life. This is perhaps best demonstrated in the light fixture we chose for the office. After the color refresh, we added a statement light fixture composed of dark iron and leather that gives off all the feels of a superhero. It was not love at first sight for Ellen, but through the trust that we built, she moved forward with the suggestion. Now it’s her favorite item in the home.
“This light fixture is the best example of why you need an interior decorator. I never would have chosen this for myself, but I love it, and I love how it maintains the flow of the rest of the house.” -Ellen, The Woodlands, TX
Starting over is hard. Starting over with a friend that has your best interest at heart makes it just that little bit easier - and maybe even a little exciting to see what lies ahead.
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