Handpainted How It's Made: The Final Edit

Pattern shown: Diamond Contour from the Contemporary Collection

The final edit is a true team effort. Drawings and patterns, can live in a designers notebook for years, but as the final mock ups finally start arriving from the factory it's time for others to weigh in. The creative director starts pulling order from chaos. Colorways are tweaked and grouped, stories start emerging, light, neutral, dark, cool, warm, white. Practicality and viability start becoming  real considerations.

From mayhem the fresh collection becomes visible, but there are still other points of view to consider. The chemist may have an issue with two side by side glazes at odds with each other, the design itself may be take too long to paint making the price point unaffordable, there still might be a need to play with scale for the greatest impact. Comments, critics are solicited and welcome, new eyes are key in the editing process.

With a sample wall like this, editing color stories can be a major challenge. Our colors stimulate the senses, and are there to offer unique and personal expressions of taste, choice, and personality. 

Osbourne and Little wallpaper; Tile colors shown: Cyclone, Driftwood, and Oyster Shell

There are so many places to find the perfect palette. I find inspiration wandering through the archives of the great fabric and wallpaper houses.  Jack Lenor Larsen, Osbourne and Little, Cowtan Tout, Clarence House all serve up tried and true eye-pleasing color blends.

We use the design program, Sketch-Up to visualize scale.  In this drawing we took the Isosceles pattern and bumped it up for its final version.

Good call! We love our newer version of the pattern so much we installed it in our own office kitchen.

Kabuki Sphere, cool motif,   Kasbah Trellis, neutral motif,  Diamond Contour, dark motif,  Diamond Lattice, white motif

Once color choices are made final and scale is set, painters diagrams are made up and more samples are produced, which we then use for display boards, photography, and showroom installations.

Another crush is our Diamond Contour in the Dark Motif.  Installed it proved to be a magnificent and powerful statement wall.

Some patterns, like Elephant Star can carry loads of charisma and pop. These are the places we can run a little wild with our myriad of options from the color wall, and the result is, well, magic.

What a knock out floor this would make, warm, inviting, overflowing with charm.

Image: chest

Ready to explore Handpainted?  Shop the collections now.  Need some help?  Simply call, chat or fill out our Design Assistance Form and one of our talented Design Consultants will get back to you shortly.