Color Scheme

The newly built Fountain Green Elementary School in Harford will open to students tomorrow, but not without debate over the nontraditional color scheme used in the building.The window frames are teal, the cabinets are periwinkle blue. Chairs are grape, building supports are fire-alarm red. Outer walls are tiled in terra cotta, while the accent tiles are purple and black. And the grout in which the tiles are set is mustard yellow.The interior walls, of course, are white. After all, this is an educational institution.

For those of you anticipating the return of the "Maryland Pride" football uniforms, the wait appears to be over. Maryland is planning to wear the uniforms - yes, THOSE uniforms - for Saturday's game against Georgia Tech, according to multiple folks in the know. The school hasn't yet made an announcement. These uniforms will actually be a variation (different color scheme, I'm told) than the multi-colored Under Armour creations that debuted in last season's opener against Miami.

It was the first time a mayor asked Baltimoreans to vote on the color of a bridge, but Mayor Martin O'Malley's choice of Kelly green for the Howard Street Bridge lost yesterday. In a close vote, the 5,139 voters who used a City Hall Web site chose a rust red-brown favored by Baltimore artist Stan Edmister. The electorate gave 2,689 votes to Edmister, and 2,450 votes -- a 52 percent to 48 percent split -- to O'Malley's favorite. O'Malley has said he will abide by the plebiscite he called this week to resolve his pique over the rust color scheme, which he called "God-awful" when he saw it at a ribbon-cutting last summer.

For the most part, horrifying bridesmaid dresses are a thing of the past. It could be our over-exposure to them now (with Pinterest, Facebook, and the rest of the internet, we have more access to pictures of bridesmaid dresses, and statistically, the more we see, the more likely we'll come across acceptable fashion, right?) or it could be that because we're in a recession, people just can't afford all that magenta toile. I'm in a few weddings this year and am coming out relatively unscathed.

Toyson Burruss will tell you it's the details on a car that count. The polished trim, the right paint, the decorative touches ... even the license plates. Until recently, he didn't bother much about that last little item. Then, last August, Maryland issued its vibrant new orange and yellow vehicle tag. Never mind that it bears the image of a barn and silo and proclaims "Our Farms - Our Future." Nothing against farming - Burruss' grandparents were farmers - but that wasn't what drew him to the plates, says the 52-year-old Parkville resident born in Washington, raised in Baltimore and owner of a downtown auto detailing company.

For the most part, horrifying bridesmaid dresses are a thing of the past. It could be our over-exposure to them now (with Pinterest, Facebook, and the rest of the internet, we have more access to pictures of bridesmaid dresses, and statistically, the more we see, the more likely we'll come across acceptable fashion, right?) or it could be that because we're in a recession, people just can't afford all that magenta toile. I'm in a few weddings this year and am coming out relatively unscathed.

Old is better, as far as the Maryland State Police is concerned -- at least in the color scheme of patrol cars.Two-hundred cars have been put on the road since last month in the new olive drab with black-stripe colors used by state police from their first vehicles until 1972, when yellow became fashionable.Yellow was superseded in 1982-1983, when a sand coloring was adopted.Sand-colored cars are to be replaced at the rate of 200 to 400 a year, and by 1997-1998, all 900 marked state police cars should have the new-old color scheme, said Mike McKelvin, an agency spokesman.

Q: Please give me some guidelines for redesigning and refurnishing my living room in a contemporary style. At present, the room is a jumble of unrelated pieces. What do I need to consider in choosing a color scheme and furniture arrangement?A: The best advice I can offer is to keep things simple. Beginners are wise to be cautious in devising a color scheme and furniture plan. That said, I'll provide a few guidelines that should prove helpful:First, your room will look a lot more orderly and take on a clearer design direction if you select furniture predominantly of one style.

WEDDINGS RESOURCES l ehow.com: Suggestions on picking fabrics for outfits, choosing invitations,selecting entertainment and deciding on a menu. l worldweddingtraditions.com: Bridal customs from around the world, including traditions from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Caribbean. l jumpingbrooms.com: A place to get jumping brooms. Custom orders accepted. You can even get brooms decorated to match your color scheme. l blackbride.com: Find businesses that provide services to African-American couples who are planning to marry.

I'm puzzled about how to decide on a color scheme for the family room in our new home. Someone told me to start by choosing a work of art for the room and to base the color scheme on that. Is that a good idea? Do you have other suggestions for how I can move in the right direction? I'm familiar with the pick-a-picture approach to color scheme selection, and my advice is to forget it. Especially in today's family room, there's likely to be little wall space available for an important work of art, what with the flat-screen TV and the bookcases, mirrors and cabinets typically deployed in these spaces.

I'm puzzled about how to decide on a color scheme for the family room in our new home. Someone told me to start by choosing a work of art for the room and to base the color scheme on that. Is that a good idea? Do you have other suggestions for how I can move in the right direction? I'm familiar with the pick-a-picture approach to color scheme selection, and my advice is to forget it. Especially in today's family room, there's likely to be little wall space available for an important work of art, what with the flat-screen TV and the bookcases, mirrors and cabinets typically deployed in these spaces.

Stan Edmister was an artist of public works, filling Baltimore with a parrot-green bridge paint scheme and fanciful playground equipment. He was also well-known for feeding hungry crowds his grilled mushroom sandwiches at city farmers' markets. The former Woodberry resident died of cancer Sunday at his home in Warrenton, Va. He was 69. "For the past 36 years, Stan Edmister has been one of Baltimore's more quietly influential citizens," a 2004 Sun article said. "I've always been contrary, always been an outsider," he said.

I'm tired of looking at the floral-patterned rug and the damask silk-covered sofa and chairs in my living room. Its overall color scheme is gold, red and blue. How can I give the room a more contemporary look without getting rid of everything in it? I especially don't want to redo my dark wood floor. You probably won't need to toss the whole setup in order to achieve the effect you want. But you certainly should replace that rug and re-cover your furniture. Choose a neutral color scheme - possibly consisting of off-white, beige and camel - for the larger surfaces and for the covers of the sofa and chairs.

WEDDINGS RESOURCES l ehow.com: Suggestions on picking fabrics for outfits, choosing invitations,selecting entertainment and deciding on a menu. l worldweddingtraditions.com: Bridal customs from around the world, including traditions from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Caribbean. l jumpingbrooms.com: A place to get jumping brooms. Custom orders accepted. You can even get brooms decorated to match your color scheme. l blackbride.com: Find businesses that provide services to African-American couples who are planning to marry.

What's black and white with touches of red all over? First, it was your wardrobe. Next, it could be your living room, dining room or foyer. The look is so hot that Jade Jagger's home in London, featured in the April issue of House & Garden, has a red carpet, white slip-covered furniture and red and black pillows. Jagger, daughter of Mick and Bianca, calls it "my favorite color combination." The ingredients for the sophisticated trio of colors are popping up everywhere: Stein Mart, a hybrid department store/discount retailer known for spotting home design trends, recently featured black and white with a splash of lipstick red in its advertising.

Color of bridge isn't a matter for the mayor While I am generally a fan of the mayor, I have to confess to some irritation when I see him, or any other public official, use the power of his office to attempt to override decisions arrived at by individuals or bodies who are expert in a particular arena. We all seem to have visceral reactions to color and to "art," but when I read that the mayor thinks the colors on the Howard Street Bridge would be better decided by public opinion instead of art experts and "the artistic dictates of yesteryear," I am reminded of the abysmal job our schools (and our culture)

We're about to redecorate our summer cottage, which is located near the shore of a large lake. Blue would be our first choice as the color for the walls, but isn't it more suitable for an oceanside home than for a rustic hideaway?I guess we've all been saturated with themed interiors to the point where a blue-sand-and-green color scheme automatically signifies an oceanfront home. Tropical plants, seashells, louvered shutters and bamboo are other standard elements in this packaged design.But there's no good reason why blue should have this association exclusively.

Q: I am not in a position to consult with an interior designer, but I do need some help in selecting paint colors for my newly furnished bedroom and bath.The furniture is painted white, the carpeting in both areas is also white, and so are the draperies in the bedroom.Can you suggest some other colors that would look good in combination with all this white?I like sophisticated and ethnic-type settings.A: I don't want to sound like a scold, but I have to point out that color isn't something to be introduced into a room after all the other selections have been made.

It was the first time a mayor asked Baltimoreans to vote on the color of a bridge, but Mayor Martin O'Malley's choice of Kelly green for the Howard Street Bridge lost yesterday. In a close vote, the 5,139 voters who used a City Hall Web site chose a rust red-brown favored by Baltimore artist Stan Edmister. The electorate gave 2,689 votes to Edmister, and 2,450 votes -- a 52 percent to 48 percent split -- to O'Malley's favorite. O'Malley has said he will abide by the plebiscite he called this week to resolve his pique over the rust color scheme, which he called "God-awful" when he saw it at a ribbon-cutting last summer.

Most people know Gustav Stickley for his sturdy and straightforward furniture. But he was far more than a gifted woodworker whose creations fetch heady prices from collectors today. As one of the best-known spokesmen for the American Arts and Crafts movement a century ago, Stickley was a philosopher, publisher and social critic who championed a return to things simple -- what he called "a fine plainness" to the art of living. For Stickley fans -- and I'm one of them -- a visit to the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms in Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, N.J., is an imperative this year.