Olive me: Loving the wood and the colour
Wide array of hues allows for versatility in decorating
Olive trees, native to the Mediterranean region, are among nature’s oldest trees, and they look it.
Gnarled, brawny trunks, a crown full of silvery leaves, and clusters of tiny green fruit give olives an interesting Old World look.
Designers have lately been warming to the tree, its wood and olive hues.
The trees
Outdoors, olives are hardy through zones 8 through 11, and zone 7 if you can protect them from wind. North of that, you’ll need to bring them in for the winter. In ideal conditions, they’ll grow over 30 feet tall.
Olives are fast growers and prolific fruitbearers outdoors, if given favourable conditions. Don’t overwater, prune the inside branches carefully so the whole tree gets lots of light, and increase the pot size after the first year. Dwarf varieties are easy to grow in a pot or basket, if given decent light and ample sunshine.
As an indoor tree, olives are less in-yourface than decor’s current darling, the fiddlehead fern. That makes them easy to place even in a small room.
Pottery Barn is offering dried lavender and fresh olive branches in a relaxed and aromatic wreath. The retailer also has San Francisco photographer Lupen Grainne’s soft-focused close-up of an olive branch as wall art — a spare, intimate portrait to complement any decor style. (www.potterybarn.com )
The wood
The wood’s distinctive characteristics — its smooth density and interesting grain pattern — have made olive furniture and accessories popular.
“There’s a great sculptural quality to olive wood — a simple bowl becomes an elegant art piece,” says New York City interior designer and artist Mike Harrison.
Homegoods is offering a sphere crafted from olive wood, as well as a curvy side table and various bowls. (www.homegoods.com )
Olive wood serveware can be especially nice; on a buffet, a platter laden with charcuterie, cheese and fruit is gastronomic art. A beautifully turned wooden spoon, with the grain curving about the form, is a sensuous tool. Williams-Sonoma has a collection of utensils and cutting boards, as well as pinch
bowls. (www.williams-sonoma.com )
The colours
Olive’s wide array of hues allows for versatility in decorating.
Its place in midcentury modern’s colour covenant has made it a popular paint hue the past few seasons. It pairs well with other toothsome colours like chocolate, orange, raspberry, cream and mustard.
“Olive tones are timeless, and green is an important colour in 2017,” says Sue Wadden, colour marketing director for Sherwin-Williams. The company’s Restless Olive packs all the punch of a zesty martini. (www.sherwin-williams.com )
Benjamin Moore’s Tate Olive, from its Historic palette, has a refined intensity. Spanish Olive dials the hue back to a more neutral position. (www.benjaminmoore.com )
Olive pairs successfully with many other woods, and with mid- and light-toned wood stains, where its organic appeal gives the colour greater depth, says Stephanie Pierce, of Masterbrand Cabinets.
Consider using the colour in family rooms, bedrooms and kitchens for a warm and welcoming vibe.
“I like seeing olive green tones used with dusty pinks and navy blue,” says Wadden. “Because olive is such a quintessential food colour, people enjoy a positive association with this colour, especially in the kitchen. Olive tones are great on cabinets and furniture. My own bedroom is a deep olive green, so I really do love this colour.”
At Article, a stunning chesterfield sofa is upholstered in rich, olive green velvet. (www.article.com )
Other touches
At Pottery Barn, vintage Turkish olive-gathering buckets, made of galvanized metal with symmetrical air vents, have a nice cottagey look and can hold herb plants or fragrant milled soaps.
And then there’s olive oil. There are hundreds of ways to enjoy its flavour, but there are other uses for it, too. The folks at marthastewart.com recommend olive oil as a natural furniture polish, and a combo of oil and vinegar as a cleaner.
A little oil on a clean rag will restore shine and protect your stainless steel and brass items from tarnishing.