I’m crazy about plums; not just for their incredible sweetness but mostly for their vivid array of intense colors. Heart-shaped and encased in full, dark red to purple-blue skins, plums are the perfect muse of any designer… and baker.
For those of you who don’t know, my partner Eddie is what I call a dessertologist. As an evolving master in the art of desserts, when these plums arrived at our house via the farm, Eddie saw them as an ingredient. I saw them as inspiration.
Perfecting the creamiest plum sorbet or sugarless plum pudding is not my modus operandi but the idea of parlaying their rich, dark hues into a room design is ripe for the picking.
While Eddie canvasses his cookbooks in search of the perfect recipe, I whip out a paint deck to sync up the palette with the plum’s natural colors. Now typically I rely on my memory for this, but when you’re juggling multiple design projects, it’s much easier to create a palette pocket guide that you can print out and take with you when choosing paint colors, textiles and accessories. Here’s what I came up with.
The first thing you should notice is that none of the colors above are what you would typically call plum. This is why I seldom rely on using common color names in my work as everyone perceives color differently. For more on that, check out my previous post How to Pick a Paint Color.
With pocket guide in hand, I set out to acquire the perfect pieces. Grounding the space with clean-lined, rosewood veneered furniture and accenting it with leather-stemmed lamps and coral-striped shades; green became the obvious wall color choice to kick the plum in the pit and make it pop. Granny Smith green, grasshopper green, or my favorite, jade green. Given they are all food colors; they work.
Meanwhile back at the ranch, Eddie has narrowed down his search for plumtopia to Dorie Greenspan’s Dimply Plum Cake which serves 8 (or more accurately; Eddie and me 4 times).
A sucker for plums and dimples, turns out the cake was sinful. Equally as tasteful as my bedroom design, we both hit the sweet spot; turning plum into yum in both a kitchen and bedroom. And now, we’re plum tired.
Until next time…
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Mark (can share with Eddie) I have always like Fushia, purple plum colors for my clothing attire and after seeing the pic of the useof “plums” I am going to seek out “plum shade” pillows for my family room (FYI I love plums to eat as well, have to be careful pf prices here in NC!
225 days ago
I love that room design and the plum cake looks mighty fine too!
~shalom~ 225 days ago
How funny …. my paint deck(s) are never far from reach … you just never know when you’ll need to know what color will work with what!!
I am a cross between you and Eddie … I’m into design and dessert! That’s why I never bought the KitchenAid mixer for myself — I could never choose the perfect color! Fortunately, my husband purchased it for me in the perfect shade of graphite!
I love plums, too! Looking forward to trying that recipe! Thanks, Eddie! You know what they say, “Life is uncertain — eat dessert first!” Perhaps you should find a way to incorporate that credo into the kitchen!! 225 days ago
It looks like both you and Eddie are very talented! Love the room and the cake looks real good. 225 days ago
Wow! These colors look so inviting! Definitely inspiring for the Fall season! Plum is also the HOT color for the season in beauty and glamor looks too! 225 days ago
What is that green color called? It’s beautiful! 224 days ago
Love the color palette! As always a great room! 224 days ago
Will you guys adopt me? The food, the decor… My head may burst. I am waiting on my darling husband to paint one of our guest rooms a similar color… Called Sultans Palace from B Moore. Funny how inspiration comes from so many places. You’re an amazing talant, inspiring me to be inspired! Eddie has to be great too, as now I want to bake something!! 224 days ago
Mark,
Loved how you “Peared” it with green! I was looking for a fall/winter color to go with the green walls I have never thought of plum! It looks fabulous! thanks for sharing this! 224 days ago
I was looking for plum paint for my front door – the company that used to make it has gone out of business and it looks like it’s going to be hard to match. 224 days ago
I sure wish you’d come to my house and do the whole thing over; my husband painted the family room a horrible pistachio color; one coat; with spatters on the ceiling…my son Alex used a red crayon to draw a snowman on a white wall in our upstairs hallway (signed his name to it, but swears he didn’t do it!), my daughter Sam would write notes on her wall and use tape to hang pictures, my daughter Holly uses tape for her wall art as well, and my son James, well, James is a one man wrecking crew…and the rest of the house has the original white painted walls from 1997 when we first built the house……someday….*sigh* 224 days ago
OMG that bedroom is so gorgeous. I just love your work! The dessert looks yummy too.
222 days ago
Mark! You outdid yourself! That room makes me feel so happy and peaceful when I look at it! Ahhhh…
And I simply LOVE how you tied all if this together with Eddie’s sweet dessert! Yum! I have some plums in the fridge so I might just have to make a dimply cake myself! 222 days ago
Sigh…delicious room Mark! 221 days ago