Colors
Photos by Michael Hunter Bathroom at a Glance Who uses it: A retired couple Location: Richardson, Texas Size: 150 square feet (14 square meters) Designers: Dona Rosene (interior design) and Michael Lyons (architecture) Although this bathroom belongs to a couple, Rosene primarily worked with the wife on the finishes, while the husband was more involved with the layout and function. “My client really wanted this bathroom to be special and a little glamorous,” Rosene says. On an early shopping trip with the designer, the homeowner spied Sea Pearl quartzite, and that was it for her. Seen here on the shower wall, countertop and the wall above the vanity, the stunning natural stone inspired the color and material palette for the bathroom. Rosene also designed the bath in a way that makes the whole master suite cohesive — see before-and-after photos of the master bedroom. Wall paint: Revere Pewter, Benjamin Moore (cut 50% with white); Sea Pearl quartzite: Aria Stone Gallery Hire a local interior designer on Houzz
Bluish Interior for a beach house
Blue in the bathrooms for beach house.
Blue interior for beach house
6. Softly Colored Kitchens If there’s one word that describes the palette of many popular kitchens lately, it’s “soft.” This concept is clearly demonstrated in the Pittsburgh kitchen shown here, which is one of the most popular kitchens uploaded to Houzz recently. Designed by You-Neek Designs and built by Prime 1 Builders, the kitchen features two-tone cabinets in very soft colors (Jasper Stone for the lowers and Mindful Gray for the uppers, both by Sherwin-Williams), creating a calm, serene, approachable look.
3. A Sandy, Watery, Woody Color Palette Once you have your beach in mind, that should give you a color palette. Architect Michele Kolb of Rosenberg Kolb Architects suggests starting with the floor or walls to anchor the scheme. “I think of sand, beige and gray tones of sand, so I might do a tile floor in that color palette,” she says. She pulls from watery tones as well, like the crystal blue or light aqua of the Turks and Caicos’ water, where she’s had many clients. She also pulls color from driftwood, as seen here in a New York bathroom she designed. “It’s a wood color but with a grayer tone, just like wood left on the beach to gray naturally,” she says. The variegated glass tiles, meanwhile, feel like the “undulation of waves in water,” she says. Shop for bathroom vanities
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This pale aqua would look amazing on the floor of a beach house bedroom with white walls and airy white curtains.
A classic sandy neutral like Camouflage from Benjamin Moore won't steer you wrong.
When it comes to selecting paint colors, allow the landscape outside your windows inspire you. Sea Salt from Sherwin-Williams is a lovely pale blue-gray reminiscent of misty morning light at the beach.
It makes walls gleam. Why use gold — or any metallic — on a wall? It reflects and catches the light, which makes it perfect for a dim space. It can even make a small room feel larger. You needn’t commit to putting gold on an entire wall. Finding a painting flecked with gold, or simply framing a length of gold wallpaper or wrapping paper, can have a big effect.
It works like artificial light. Just as you might put concealed lighting into a shelving unit to show off your favorite finds, using gold will have a similar effect — during the day. Aim for a yellow-gold paint for a contemporary scheme or a gold leaf-style wallpaper for a more traditional room. Just ensure that the gold leaf doesn’t look brown against your wall, which it might if there’s little natural daylight.
It can be subtle and modern. Gold chandeliers needn’t be ornate, though those work brilliantly in traditional or vintage-style spaces. Contemporary or midcentury modern chandeliers like this one are perfect for a more minimalist design. Here, the touch of gold on the fixture adds just a hint of glamour that’s highlighted by the gold pillows and vase below.
Molding: You can't get much more high-contrast than black and white. I especially like how the dark (albeit light-filled) room leads into an all-white room. The walls, ceilings and trim appear to be painted all the same color in the adjacent room, making the black even more special and unexpected without being overwhelming.
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30. Ceiling, walls and trim the same color. Ott says accent walls are pretty much over. Instead, many homeowners are taking the now-popular moody colors and applying them to every available surface — walls, trim, ceiling — as shown here and in the previous photo. “The effect is a cozier feeling, and gives a more finished result rather than the more jolting effect of just one feature wall,” Ott says.
Paint. By painting your walls, baseboards and ceilings the same color, you blur the lines of where your walls end and where your ceilings begin. If you think your wall color is too dark for the ceiling, then dilute the wall color with 50 percent white and try that on the ceiling instead. Daybed: Holly Hunt
For a Well-Designed Look, Hire an Expert Designers have studied color and can offer invaluable guidance when you’re decorating or remodeling. You can hire one to take your project from start to finish, or simply as a consultant to troubleshoot a specific area like tweaking your home’s palette so that the colors flow well throughout your home. Porter, who does a lot of color consultations, says her clients tend to know what color they want to use but need validation that the shade they are considering will produce the desired effect. Recently, she did a long-distance consultation with a client who passionately loves orange. “The colors she was telling me about were very bright and childlike,” Porter says. The designer suggested a more adult rusty orange instead. “She tried it and loved it,” Porter says. Tell us: Have you achieved a great color flow in your house? What tricks did you or your designer use? Share in the Comments. More on Houzz Read more about color Find a pro Shop for products
8. Consider Using Color-Planning Tools Those who love delving deeper into design principles may want to read up a bit on color theory — or at least ask your interior designer about it. “One of the main things I explain to my client is the color wheel,” Wardlaw says. “To keep that cohesive feel throughout your home, one of the main things you can do is consult that.” A basic rule of thumb is that using analogous (or adjacent) colors on the wheel will create less contrast and a more calm feel, while choosing complementary colors (across from one another on the wheel) will create greater contrast and a higher-energy room. Understanding the relationships between colors will help you see why certain combinations have certain effects on you.
7. Use the 60-30-10 Formula Another way to create a cohesive flow from room to room is to think of the palette for your home as a math problem. “Use a base color that you really like as 60 to 70 percent of what you’re going to paint for your interior,” Wardlaw says. “Your next color needs to be 25 to 30 percent. Then you can do your accents of 5 to 10 percent.” In this photo, which shows one of Wardlaw’s designs, gray is the 60 percent color, blue the 25 percent, orange about 10 percent and brown maybe another 5 percent. “I really try to make people only go with about three colors, four at the max — at least on the interior,” Wardlaw says. “Otherwise it just feels chaotic.” To pull the colors throughout the home, you might use a variation on the scheme in an adjacent dining room. The walls might be painted blue, and perhaps gray could be used as an accent, with a few small orange accessories providing the 10 percent dose of color. “As long as you keep it cohesive throughout your entire home, it’s going to make more sense,” Wardlaw says.
The two rooms pictured in this photo and the previous one are from the same home and illustrate this principle. In the first photo green is the main wall color and tan is the accent wall color; in this photo the tan carries through to this upstairs bedroom. Instead of a green, the designer has chosen blue accents to go with the tan here. The effect is cohesive but not repetitious.
6. Tie Rooms Together With Accents Accent colors can change from room to room, but continuing one consistent color throughout the home can help create a sense of continuity. “Let’s say you have green and blue in your living room,” Porter says. “Perhaps for the dining room, you use one of those two colors, maybe just the blue. Or you could do blue and yellow. So the blue is what will tie those rooms together.”
Pick a Flow-Through Paint One simple way to create a cohesive feel is to use a consistent paint color on the walls of connecting spaces. “Particularly in homes that have more of an open floor plan, it’s best to choose one color that is going to serve as your main color or your neutral,” says Kelly Porter, an interior designer based in Washington, D.C. “That doesn’t mean it has to be beige or white or gray. But the foyer, the hallways and that main connector room should all be the same color because you want to have that dominant color in your space.”
Kitchen / dining area green - paint from Farrow and Ball, ‘Ball Green’, trim - Benjamin Moore Najavo White
Sky blue
Paint - light blue wall & white ceiling
Colors very similar to ours
White kitchen with beige walls
Mercer Island JM contemporary
Brown / beige vanity contrasting with white & gray tiles mixing warm & cool tones
Blue & white with gold hardware
White Dove by Benjamin Moore on Cabinets, trim & walls. Alaska White Granite Leathered finish.
Dark wood floor & dark cabinets, island granite?, walls green
Dark floor light walls
Green island, green walks in breakfast nook, greenish window trim above sink.
2020 trends Browns & terra cotta
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