Our design team was inspired by a porcelain vase that I picked up on a trip to Hong Kong. I was on a product development trip for fashion, but would sneak out any chance I got to shop for Chinese Arts and Crafts.

This vase is a typical Chinese floral, but we love the bright, happy color combination and the way the reds, pinks and yellows in the flowers pop off the jade green vines and navy border. We designed our own floral pattern with chrysanthemums and butterflies, loved it on a wasabi ground color, then tried it on pewter, and loved it just as much!”

Valerie Surprenant, Brand Design Manager                           

Sara Joncas - Create Your Own Adventure

In January, we announced a Facebook contest asking you, our fans, to post a photo and short description illustrating what Colorful Living means to you. What a refreshing few weeks we’ve had here at Company C! Through reading your posts, we reaffirmed that we all share the same vision–to be inspired by the joys of Colorful Living every chance we can. Thank you for being so bold!

All that said, it was very difficult to choose a winner because there were so many uplifting responses. Not to mention that Colorful Living is meant to be personal; each one of us sees the world through a different lens and has a different outlook on life. Our focus was on the posts that embodied Colorful Living as a lifestyle. So, drum roll please…

Mary Kate Goodwin-Kelly - Go out on a Limb

The winner of the 6′ x 9′ rug of choice is Sara Joncas, who believes “Colorful living is… Creating your own adventure.”

And drum roll again…so many posts were so inspiring that we couldn’t help but choose runners up, who will receive a 2′ x 3′ accent rug of choice:

Mary Kate Goodwin-Kelly “Living colorfully entails going out on a limb every once in a while.”

Brenda - Energy for Creativity

Brenda “Every day, I have authentic color in my life. I am an art teacher of young children. Through their artwork and their energy for creativity, I am happily surrounded by color!”

Make Colorful Living your standard. We dare you.

Have ideas for future Facebook contests? Post your ideas on our wall at www.facebook.com/colorfulliving.

Newfound Lake, New Hampshire, October 09 (photo by G. Talbot)

So we designed our Limited Edition Give a Hoot rug! The rug was introduced this fall to commemorate our fifteenth anniversary. Company C donates 20% of every sale to the New Hampshire Audubon Society’s efforts. While Company C fans span across North America, New Hampshire will forever be home. We give a hoot…do you?

Give a Hoot rug, Fall 2009 Limited Edition

Tapestry: Go bold with Maple Leaf Red or keep things a bit more neutral by selecting Desert Tan.

Stepping Stones Spice: Keep the palette neutral with Peanut Shell or Adams Gold. Add a splash of color with Confederate Red or Stuart Gold.

Savoy: Select a soothing color such as Yarmouth Blue or be a little more daring with Summer Blue or Blue Lapis.

Kensington Yellow: A soft color such as Windham Cream will create a soothing effect or select from Northern Air or Hawthorne Yellow to add a bit more intensity.

Tamara: Select a strong color palette witih Dill Pickle or Suntan Yellow or something more subdued such as Shaker Beige.

Yuri: Try a strong shade such as Dill Pickle or Chili Pepper or a more calming color such as Desert Tan.

Vivaldi: Pearl Harbor is a nice, subtle choice while Jack O’Lantern and Chinaberry can really brighten up any space.

Kensington Cerulean: Putnam Ivory will help you to relax peacefully while Dolphin’s Cove or El Cajon Clay can add a bit of excitement to your room.

Hopefully, our suggestions will help get started down the right path! We used Benjamin Moore as our examples but there are a lot of good paint companies out there including C2 Paint, Pratt & Lambert and California Paints – just to name a few!

If you need addtional suggestions, please let us know and we’ll be happy to provide! Or if you have a color that worked well for you, please share with us.

Prescott Park rug in colorful bursts of warm autumn colors paired with Lucetta Marigold, Village Toile Wheat and a few Prescott Park pillows.

Mix a bit of southwest geometry and french country charm with our Terazzo hooked rug, Lucetta Pumpkin and Village Toile Lake fabrics and a double dose of Tournesol pillows. It has a very je ne sais quoi…southwest meets mediteranean, no?

Here are the comments that I received when asking why they’re so inspired by their dogs. We’d love to hear your feedback as well! Are you inspired by your pet? Tell us about it!

The newest addition is Lucky, a four-month old Golden Retriever.

Oscar loves trips to  the beach!

“One of the most wonderful aspects of living with a dog, is that no matter if you’re away for an hour or the whole day you’re dog welcomes you home, as if you’ve been gone a year. The joyful cries, the wiggling body, the jumping about and the expression of sheer joy just at seeing you again is heart-lifting.”

“The blind faith, trust and loyalty a dog gives its owner is inspiring.”

“Having a dog is like having a constant best friend with you all the time. They don’t care where they are or what they’re doing just as long as you’re there.”

“The enthusiasm a dog has for life and living it fully is wonderful. I watch how my dog approaches life, eagerly wanting to do new things, go new places and I hope to have that same drive in myself. Not to worry about the past or future, live in the moment and soak it all in.”

Ellie was rescued from a shelter in Mississippi.

Algebra made her debut in our Spring 2005 catalog!

To publicly show our support, our retail stores and showroom in High Point, NC will display an interactive message board during the month of October. The boards were unveiled today! We’re inviting everyone to share the passion of pink…our guests are encouraged to write on the wall: a tribute to a close friend or family member, your own personal story, a donation in your name to a terrific cause or what pink means to you. If you’re unable to make it to a Company C retail location or the High Point, simply respond to this blog post and we’ll write the message on your behalf.

We’ll also be promoting our Sachi Pink 2×3 accent rug. This rug is available year-round with 20% of the sale of each rug going to support breast cancer.

For those interested in learning more about breast cancer, please visit one of the following web sites. If there are additional sites that you’d like to share, please let us know.

http://www.komen.org/
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/CRI_2x.asp?sitearea=LRN&dt=5
http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/
http://www.nbcam.org/
http://www.breastcancerawareness.com/

Thank you for your support,
The team at Company C