Meet New Bohemia featuring Voice of Color Green Wave – a fresh aqua –  on the walls.  We shopped Anthropologie to find the fanciful teal, red and orange curtains, braided yarn bench and paisley reef rug to give us the bohemian, eclectic style we were looking for. PPG Pittsburgh Paints Hatbox Brown on the bookcase, and Purity on the trim pull together the eclectic mix of patterns, textures and colors in our newest trend, New Bohemia.  This trend is all about whimsy and a rebirth of craft, romantic, imaginative and poetic.  Check out the fireplace tile: Whimsical Forest Creatures, Trikeenan Tile Works, available at Ceramiche Tile & Stone, Pittsburgh PA. Choose fabrics with fauna, peacocks, sparrows, hand-painted canvases, yarn, macramé, and hand-stitched pillows.  The pillows in this photo were purchased from Hot Haute Hot, The Strip in Pittsburgh, PA.

Simmering with aromas, conversation and activity, the kitchen—or cocina—was the most inviting room in Mexican haciendas of days gone by.  The colonial hacienda and convent kitchens—often sites of meal preparation for 100s of people, were spacious, well-stocked and laden with cherished & well-worn implements.

Though the long hours spent grinding, chopping and rolling food ingredients are a fast-fading feature of Mexican kitchen life, the simple furnishings, colors, glazed tiles and old culinary implements remain popular in today’s hacienda style kitchens.  Homeowners are combining these old world elements with highly functional polished-concrete surfaces, modern fixtures and appliances.  Favored paint colors include creamy whites and warm, golden yellows, with rich blues or rusty reds as popular accent hues—for nichos, stove hoods or for use as door/window surrounds.Contemporary smooth concrete surfaces are paired with long, arcaded countertops and islands fronted with lustrous Talavera tile. Most often, tile styles are mixed for a modern display of color and pattern. Colored concrete tiles, widely used throughout colonial Mexican homes, are favored for flooring. Stove Hoods, inspired by the old colonial kitchen hoods, these dramatic, sculptural hoods are plastered and painted in rich, saturated colors—usually blue, yellow or red. Most often, the wall and stove hood colors are coordinated with tile colors. Stencil work also adds additional interest—used around doors/windows, counter fronts or stove hoods. Solid simplicity and furnishings have a pared-down beauty.

Key hacienda kitchen elements include rustic wooden prep tables & chairs, handcrafted pottery, stone culinary implements, hanging shelves and colorful trasteros (open cupboards) and space-saving alacenas (built in wall cabinets). Repisas (hanging shelves) are hung on colorful walls and old morteros once used for grinding coffee are pressed into service as containers for fruit or other implements. As the evolution of the Mexican kitchen picks up steam, authentic colors and hacienda elements continue to add perpetual appeal to newly built kitchens. Many of the old stencil patterns are now available through haciendastyle.com

“The mood today is one of triumph over adversity,” says Dee Schlotter, Brand Manager, The Voice of Color, PPG Pittsburgh Paints. “Despite the challenges that Americans have faced recently, our need to succeed prevails. It’s a triumph of the individual and of personal expression, and there’s no better way to express yourself than with the trans-formative power of color in your home.”

Two societal trends are driving these trends in color, says Schlotter. The first is a new level of consumer sophistication as design becomes democratized, aided by people’s ever-increasing ability to decipher and disseminate information in real-time.The second is the quest for authenticity in a world where knock-offs are pervasive and instantaneous.

“The home is becoming a lab for new technologies and new looks,” says Schlotter. “We keep what works, and start over when it doesn’t. But always, the search is on for what’s real and honest.”

Because a trend is never about just one color but rather about all the colors in a room or space, Schlotter notes, The Voice of Color creates signature five-color card that expresses the mood of each new palette and offers colors for paint, fabrics, flooring and accessories.

As neutrals are continually redefined, we find pale palettes enhanced with striking accents and complements. This is a cosmopolitan collection, the perfect blend for a social environment, especially for living or dining rooms.