The Roanoker - Sept/October 2021 - 76

In Elaine Stephenson's and Seely Nicholson's mountain
home in North Carolina, Benjamin Moore Classic Gray was
their choice for a quiet cabinet color to coordinate with the
fossil-toned Pella windows.
ELAINE STEPHENSON +
SEELY STEPHENSON NICHOLSON
ELAINE STEPHENSON INTERIORS, INC.
This mom-and-daughter design duo didn't
have to think long about the paint color they'd
pick.
" We both agree it's Benjamin Moore Classic
Gray, " says Stephenson, who has owned her
own firm since 1998. " It's just the perfect
gray... It adapts well to any lighting. You can
use it for trim color, for wall color, for both. "
Nicholson recently had a client ask for a
light, bright, airy design, but with an important
caveat: " not just white, " she explains. Ultra-pale
Classic Gray was the perfect fit.
The two like the shade so much that they
used it extensively in their own mountain home
in North Carolina, and it's an easy solution
for anyone who suffers from paint-selection
anxiety.
" If you needed to give somebody a paint
color for any room - bedroom, living room,
kitchen, whatever - and you didn't know
anything else going in the room, you could
feel pretty confident that whatever you ended
up putting in there would look good with it, "
Nicholson says.
JIM HUDSON
THE TAUBMAN MUSEUM OF ART
When it comes to creating interior spaces
NICK GUACHETA
BLACK EYE INTERIORS
As a local artist, emerging designer and selfproclaimed
" art snob, " Guachetá can't help but
love color-blocked focal walls and spaces that
highlight great art. Maybe that's why, when
asked for a shade that would work anywhere,
he strays toward a gallery favorite.
" In any room? I'd have to say Swiss Coffee
by Benjamin Moore. It's a warm white, " he
says.
There's a reason why white works so well,
and so often, he explains:
" White is second-to-none as far as
adaptability ... It can make a wall look
sculptural and important, or it can be the
76 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021
specifically for fine art, few local design
professionals probably have as much niche
experience as Jim Hudson, the Taubman
Museum's exhibitions and galleries manager.
During his time there, the walls have been
painted a rich red to complement 17thcentury
Florentine paintings (that red is
Sherwin Williams' Show Stopper, in case you're
curious), and they've been bathed in the deepwater
blue currently in the museum's Outside
Eyes exhibition. But the shade Hudson uses
the most is solidly neutral:
" Our go-to color in this building is white, "
he says. " It's called Chantilly Lace by Benjamin
Moore. "
It's a clean, quiet color that doesn't attract a
lot of attention ... and that's the whole point.
" My goal as a designer? " he says. " I want
them to remember the art and not the color of
Chantilly Lace by Benjamin
Moore is Emily Mangus' top
pick for a warm white.
perfect canvas for adding the color or
character you want with additional elements
- scenic views, art, book spines, fabrics, " he
says. " And Swiss Coffee exists in an uncanny
valley between proper neutral white, and a
conversational warm white. Depending on
how you continue the décor, it can appear
clean and museum-like or it can blush red
with invitation. "
He's used this shade in living rooms and
bathrooms, he says, but he also thinks it would
make a clean, refreshing choice for a bedroom,
too.
the walls ... As long as [visitors] have a good
subliminal feeling about what they saw, that's
a home run for me. "
Homeowners can easily borrow that strategy
as they decorate around a diverse art collection.
" Most folks have very eclectic collections,
where you might have a landscape mixed with
something that's a little pop-art, " he says.
Selecting a shade that allows those pieces
to cohere can be challenging, but it's not
impossible.
" [In] my house, the great room where we
have most of the artwork [has] gray walls, " he
says. The shade was selected by Hudson's wife,
who is an interior designer herself. " If you're
matting artwork and you can't figure out the
color of the mat, either go with white or gray.
Gray's not going to detract from anything ...
Some people might consider that a cop-out,
but it works. "
EMILY MANGUS
EMILY MANGUS INTERIORS
Ask her for her go-to hues, and Emily
Mangus - whose high-end residential designs
feature harmonious color palettes that flow
from room to room - insists that she needs two
TheRoanoker.com
STEPHENSON & NICHOLSON PORTRAIT COURTESY OF KRISTOPHER ILICH / KITCHEN COURTESY OF ELAINE STEPHENSON INTERIORS / GUACHETA' PORTRAIT COURTESY OF NICK GUACHETA / HUDSON PORTRAIT COURTESY OF TAUBMAN MUSEUM OF ART / BATHROOM COURTESY OF EMILY MANGUS INTERIORS / MANGUS PORTRAIT COURTESY OF ABBEY DILLARD
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