Design Diary: Amy Krane, Color Consultant's Perfect Palette in Ghent
Krane's passion for color translated into an innovative career and she has used her country house to stage color palettes.
Greetings from the bright side of the Spring Equinox. Like you, Design Diary is slowly emerging from the region’s icy white/wintry mix and we have begun the joyful ritual of rejoining society, seeking company and culture beyond the sofa and a friendly fireside. Nature’s neutrals rule throughout most of March, but the promise of pastel petals and perfect spring greens still warms our chilly souls and invites us to stretch our legs again.
To experience the thaw first hand, we take a back road tour through the Ghent countryside, flanked by fallow fields and sleepy cows. Our drive brings us to northeastern Columbia County, to the private home of Amy Krane Color, Architectural Color Consultant. The home is sited beautifully on 2.8 acres, with panoramic views of nearby farmland, and is close enough to Hudson and Chatham for convenience, as well as accessible to the Berkshires and Albany. The 1,650-square-foot classic Colonial, originally built in 2002 for a member of a local farming family, sat vacant for years. After renting it for a while, through the lottery of luck, Amy was finally able to purchase the house that had felt like home from the start.
After decades as a successful television commercial producer in NYC, Krane was increasingly eager for a break from the relentless urban pace. Her first upstate purchase, in 2003, was a one-room schoolhouse in Taghkanic, which she happily restored and converted into a charming cottage with a fine garden. That renovation tapped her professional floral skills as well as her styling and production background. She was hooked. Her appetite for country life was now whetted, and although she enjoyed weekends in the country, she yearned for an occupation that would afford greater flexibility and allow her to live upstate full time.
Through a client who recognized her innate ability for adding color in unique ways, she was introduced to the world renowned International Association of Color Consultants/Designers. This prestigious European school, with branches in the US and Japan, boasted a curriculum with the potential to open new professional doors for Amy. It took several years to acquire accreditation and fully transition from her city-based occupation to founding Amy Krane Color in 2013. Her dream of establishing an office and residence far from the madding crowd could finally become a reality.
The house is blessed with great light and sits on a knoll, in a relatively remote location. The secluded setting, and accompanying quiet, were part of a pre-purchase pact Krane made with herself prior to moving upstate full time. After decades as an urban professional in Manhattan, the criteria for adjacent neighbors consisted of one simple goal: that they be visible only when the trees are bare and snow is on the ground. She enjoys the peaceful solitude along with her faithful four-legged companion Louie, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
Krane’s passion for color and design translated perfectly into this innovative new career and she quickly developed a following for her blog exploring the science and psychology of color. Elle Decor, Houzz, Domino, and Upstater.com, to mention just a few, have sought her expertise and knowledge on this fascinating and complex topic. Her company works closely, both virtually and in person, with design professionals and real estate developers, as well as home and business owners, to specify interior and exterior colors from Farrow & Ball, Benjamin Moore and others. Amy also advises clients navigating tough choices concerning home furnishings and interiors.
According to Krane, the traditional house is definitely not her dream property, but “it is the perfect size for a woman, her dog and lots of rotating guests,” and it serves as an ideal Arcadian retreat. It is also a perfect stage for Amy’s ongoing case study of color palettes, and allows her to indulge her enthusiasm for pattern with de Gournay and Gracie hand-painted Chinoiserie wallpaper experiments. As for her professional opinion on “color,” she’s quick to share that even she can occasionally see red when confronted with 50+ shades of gray. She doesn’t play favorites (although turquoise, pink and orange are personal picks, but more for punctuation than volume) nor is any color taboo.
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