Cloud Dancer

Cloud Dancer -- aka white -- The Pantone Color of the Year.

When I first read that Cloud Dancer (aka white) is the color of the year I thought are we shifting into neutrals? Will my colorful style be old news?

Then it hit me, white is the perfect color to be used as a canvas. Truthfully, the style of my home is neutral bones with colorful accents (fun bathroom wallpapers). Colors pop, patterns play and textures look alive when they live against Cloud Dancer.

White is also a nuanced color -- it can read pinky, beigey, yellowy, grayish -- there are so many shades of white sometimes it is hard to choose the right one. If you are looking to paint your home white, I think it is important to paint swatches in different rooms to see the way the light works with the shades of white. My personal white is a blend of a some different whites so it feels like there is sunshine starting to glow from within.

I stocked up on white ceramics with my favorite white only ceramic artist -- Stephanie Grace. Stephanie lives and works in Vermont, near my ski house. She glazes exclusively in white, with a few pieces onto which I convinced her to sprinkle/splatter some blue. Her signature white glaze has my favorite glow from within feeling. Stephanie took the winter off from creating so lucky me got to literally RAID her studio. I took loads of pieces which I am so excited to share with you. Here I am a few minutes ago drinking an oversized coffee in my favorite mug of all time. Stephanie's mugs are the best -- they fit perfectly in your hand because of their grooves (she makes the grooves with her fingers so it's sized for hands) -- and she made a soup mug which is also perfect for coffee. In fact, I could put loads of foods in it -- think coffee, soup (obvi), ice cream, pasta, oatmeal... The list goes on.... Me with the mug that is the size of my face!

I played around with white in the store the other day, setting a table with Stephanie's signature white, some vintage glassware and one of my favorite S&B tablecloths that literally uses white as the canvas for varying designs. The flowers pop against the white vases and food would pop if i used some! The sculptural nature of the pieces standout. The imperfections make the pieces perfect.