Pink Peonies & Benjamin Moore Paints: Blooming with Spring Color!
PINK PEONIES & BENJAMIN MOORE PAINTS: BLOOMING WITH SPRING COLOR! Although the blooming season for peonies is but a short one, we at Studio of Style anticipate their arrival with such excitement! These magnificent showy flowers with their very delicate (and to us, intoxicating!) fragrance make for the most luscious floral arrangement that is sure to impress anyone (and why not keep a picturesque bouquet on your nightstand??) -- and we love the amazing range of colors as well, from pure whites to the absolute palest of pinks to crimson, ruby and even chocolate (yes, it's true!). And you probably know that peonies are very symbolic in both Chinese and Japanese cultures -- in fact, peonies were known as far back as 1000 BC in China and were put under imperial protection, commanding such huge prices that they were often part of a dowry settlement. And when these flowers reached Japan around the 8th century AD, horticulturists there began experimenting with both the look of the petal arrangement and grafting techniques for tree peonies (they grow on bushes and trees). Interestingly the word peony is neither Chinese nor Japanese in origin, but derived from Paeon (or Paean) -- Paeon was a student of the Ancient Greek god of medicine and healing Asclepius. You see, Asclepius became jealous of Paeon -- but master god Zeus saved Paeon from the wrath of Asclepius by turning him into a peony! Oh, and did you know that there are more than 260 chemical compounds found in this species -- which explains why it has been used for medicinal and healing purposes by both Eastern and Western cultures. But even though we are sad when peony blooming season goes, there is something we all can do to enjoy the idea of peonies surrounding us all year long: color your world with beautiful shades of peonies and other flowers using Benjamin Moore paint -- how simple and fabulous is that? Studio of Style began delving into all the wonderful variations of pinks that Benjamin Moore currently offers and we wanted to bring you just some of them. The company has been bringing us color upon color since 1883 when Mr. Benjamin Moore (yes, he was an actual person) and his brother Robert opened their first shop in Brooklyn, New York. The two men began with $2,000 and a product called "Moore's Prepared Calsom Finish" and a vision of excellence and quality in manufacturing. Fast-forward to the 20th century when Benjamin Moore was the first company to introduce a computer color matching system in 1982 which was actually a milestone in the paint world that until that time relied on paint chips for matching color! Ok -- so here are the peony-inspired colors (among so many) that we picked from the current palette at Benjamin Moore: (A) Pink Peony; (B) Pink Begonia; (C) Twilight Magenta; (D) Lilac Pink; (E) Bunny Nose Pink; (F) Exotic Fuchsia; (G) Rhododendron; (H) Raspberry Mousse; and (I) Easter Pink. Great, huh? You can get a 16-ounce can of paint for sampling which is enough to cover approximately two 4-foot x 4-foot areas -- or eight 2-foot x 2-foot areas with two coats of paint -- which means that you can try out Bunny Nose Pink in one room and, of course, Pink Peony in another...and Twilight Magenta in another. With so many floral shades to choose from at Benjamin Moore, it will always be Spring in every room of your house!
