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Born and bred in the Midwest, ranging through the high buttes of Sedona and crossing the Mohave into California is a whole new decorating concept as wild, varied and beautiful as the creatures that inspired the motif.
The Argos Manor Equestrian Palette brand of wall colors, coverings and keys to interior décor is based on the colors patterns of horses. Each color and color combination recognized by the various American Horse Associations is represented in a palette. Currently there are Bay palettes, Chestnut palettes, Arabian gray palettes, Dun palettes, Piebald and Pinto palettes, Roan palettes and even Appaloosa palettes. On the drawing board are Smoky Cream and Silver Dapple palettes.
The key to the palette is the dominant color of the horse. A sorrel for example describes a horse with a copper red body color and a same or lighter colored mane and tail. The body color can actually range from a reddish-gold hue to a deep burgundy or chocolate shade. The mane and tail can be of the same shade or a much lighter shade ranging almost to a creamy white. All the tones accepted by horse breeders as “sorrel” make up the base colors of the palette and are so indicated. Complementary colors are then selected and added to the palette, as are accent colors and trim. Designs, and furniture patterns and colors can all be selected with reference to the palette.
A coppery red sorrel palette can transform an ordinary room into a Southwestern showpiece decked out in the red and yellow hues of the Sonora desert. Cactus green and lapis lazuli are all complementary to the Sorrel palette as accent colors. Saddle and bridle leather hues are also included in the palette to use as trim, as the main color or as the colors you use to select furniture. Metallic tones of bridle and saddle hardware are also represented.
Consider the Arabian gray palette. Washed over mudded walls the pale white standard of the Arab is the perfect backdrop to granite tiled floors and ebony accent tables. A vintage oriental area carpet adds a splash of vibrant color to the scene. Comfortable sofas and easy chairs in soft grays or bold black or red are possible selections. Brightly hued tasseled throw pillows complete the arrangement.
The palette is not for use simply in selecting wall paint colors. A leopard appaloosa wall of white background and helter-skelter black or brown spots might be too busy for some tastes. Area rugs can be selected that are woven from the colors represented in any of the Equestrian Palettes. Area rugs are the perfect accessory to keep a room from becoming overwhelmed with color on the walls. Keep the walls subtle and bring in a burst of equestrian color through a modern area rug.
Complementary shades would then be selected to grace the walls and guide the choice of bedding, rug and furniture selections. Consider a young girl’s bedroom painted in the palest beige/ochre tones of a leopard appaloosa’s muzzle and trimmed with white. On the bed, pink linen peeks from beneath a chocolate brown quilt would look exquisite. On the floor lies a free form area rug of white with brown spots made from fibers as ermine soft as the coat of new born foal. Highly varnished knotty pine furniture selected in a deep ochre hue completes the room.
