At High Point Market I had two very different experiences dining out. The restaurant below is in
The Proximity hotel where a
few of us had dinner the second night I arrived. We walked into this serene, beautiful space with fabric panels dividing the restaurant into sections, oval backed slipped chairs in green and white with the early evening light filtering into the room. Simple, elegant, divine. If I had heard angels singing I would not have been surprised.
Then I had the opposite experience in another restaurant when
Traci Zeller, Laura Casey and I arrived for the Editor at Large presentation at lunch.
I'm guessing whoever designed this space probably did it this way (below) intentionally. You might love it! I'm just not a big fan of Halloween or decor that reminds me of this day.
This empty full room shot was taken by
Eddie Ross right before his presentation the next day
In Vancouver we have a restaurant called Hell's Kitchen (below). The exterior is bright screaming yellow and black, and this one could very well have had the same name.
Image via Hell's Kitchen
This is such a perfect space to show you clean and dirty colours that I couldn't resist snapping photos as soon as I sat down. My biggest issue with the colours in this space was that there is zero relationship between the decor of the restaurant and the wall colour. And the chosen red and orange screamed way too primary and bright.
Since it actually was set underground with a huge skylight above us, it could have been called Hell's Kitchen and been totally perfect!
Personally, I felt disturbed sitting in this space, the right red (way more toned down and muted than this one) would have at least not clashed so badly with the chairs, stone wall and urns in the dining room. But then walking down the halls to the restroom was a whole other experience!
Now with the black concrete floors and the red walls there was no relief from the Halloween themed feeling!
Even the washroom was more red mixed with the orange from the dining area in stripes! I really couldn't wait to leave.
The biggest mistake designers and homeowners make with colour is in the
clean and dirty category (given that all colour is defined either,
cool or warm, clean or dirty, light or dark). When a reader emails me a photo because they have a room bothers them and they need to know why, simply understanding how to mix clean and dirty colours accurately is the fix in many cases. This doesn't mean you should not mix clean and dirty colours but it should never happen by accident because that's usually when it looks bad.
A good place to learn how to combine colours accurately is in my course (I know it's the perfect plug for my
True Colour Expert Workshops). But these kinds of colour mistakes are expensive!
Happy Halloween Everyone!
If you would like your home to fill you with happiness every time you walk in, contact me for on-line or in-person decorating and colour.
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This empty full room shot was taken by Eddie Ross right before his presentation the next day 
Image via Hell's Kitchen 
Even the washroom was more red mixed with the orange from the dining area in stripes! I really couldn't wait to leave.
Image via Simplified Bee 
Perfect Post!!!
Now how about color for a Food Truck?:)
I'm thinking pink.
The second restaurant could be absolutely stunning. Could see that done in nuetrals with different light. Hell's Kitchen is just that. That's all I can say about that.
Happy Halloween! Love your pumpkins.
Teresa
I have to say, being claustrophobic, I think I would have left that restaurant — the hall to the ladies room? — I would have had a panic attack
. I hope you found a way to leave them your card!! You are so good at demonstrating through pictures and words exactly what you mean.
Great illustration. Isn't funny how bad color will drive you out of a space?
very interesting post. You 're right about the biggest mistake
Like the last image! Happy Halloween!
That first restaurant I could eat at every day. How serene and welcoming. At least the restaurant got their name right, it would of been laughable if they had named it Heaven's kitchen right? I would not want to dine in that atmosphere.
The restaurant at the Proximity is amazing, so beautiful (my In Laws live near there and my High School is right around the corner down the road) we go there whenever we are in Greensboro. The second restaurant looks so familiar, but not painted like that when I was there. Was it in Market Square? Hmmmm…
OMG being that this is in High Point it needs an immediate design intervention. While my personal taste is all white and tan's and subtle soft tons – I love seeing color in other peoples spaces and this is one of those examples of color gone wild LOL! When you have color like this you need your furniture and art to compliment the bright color on the walls to tone it down. Scary! The first restaurant. Subtle and elegant.
The hallway was absolutely spooky … and not in a "how fun it's Halloween" way!!
Halloween is not my favorite holiday either..and those colors need to be used in small doses.
There was nothing serene about them or inviting!
Hope you didn't have to spend too much time in such an environment!
xo
Donna @ Comin' Home
Maria, So glad you did a post on this! It was even harder to be in the space! wonderful to meet you and I so enjoyed our time together.
Even the name of the restaurant is a turn off for me. But maybe they're going for a much hipper person than I am. I prefer beauty over scare tactics:)
http://thethoughtexperiment.wordpress.com/tag/red-room/
Beige or neutral rooms make me want to Screeeeeam! Intensely colored rooms (with zero neutral) just come alive! Jazz it up, I beg! Color is never a problem; restrictive views are the trouble. I'm about to go relax in my living room with red walls and ceiling, with a turquoise floor. Fun Stuff Swings, baby! Here's another room: http://www.curbly.com/users/diy-maven/posts/10026-boho-meets-indian-chic
P.S. I thought that first room with the green and white chairs and all neutral was a snoozer.