I love color!  You will often find me day dreaming over paint swatches.  Day dreaming about all the amazing things I could paint! However, despite my intense love for color it seems inevitable that anytime I’m working in my own home or on my own projects, I’m usually the first person to reach for the white paint! While white is universal and matches everything I felt it necessary to highlight all of the beautiful pieces I have painted rad colors!  Its time to break free of this color block and look at alternatives to the typical neutral and choose those rich reds & deep blues!

Everyone has their opinions about mixing and matching vibrant colors. I don’t know a single person who would want any one of their rooms to look like the graphics on a box of lucky charms–so the most important part is choosing your color pallet. When doing this, there are many things to consider. First, how many pieces are you planning to painting and what are they?

Once this is decided upon, use my general rule of thumb–also remember rules are meant to be broken (laughs) there are always exceptions, but like I said this is generally what I do– If you want a vibrant wall choose a neutral (white, tan, beige) furniture add in additional pops of color through accent pieces and decor.  A rule breaker or an exception  would be (ex. paint a piece of furntiure light blue and then paint the wall the next shade or two up a darker blue.)

If you want vibrant furniture-do a neutral wall ( soft whites, beige, light blues & greens) keep the walls light so they don’t steal the attention from your amazing furniture! Choose solids for large furniture and prints for accent pieces such as an ottoman or sitting chair.

Now you’ve chosen one of those options and its time to pick a pallet. I usually have four colors in a pallet + one or two textures.  i am obsessed with texture– and always try to incorporate it into my designs.

So you’re going to pick 1. wall color 2. trim color. 3. furniture (if your painting furniture) color and 4. An accent color (for your decor and maybe if you’re distressing the furniture the underneath color)  Now, your going to choose a texture– something like (burlap, stone, metal,  wood, etc)

We love to combine a bright colors with wood. (I tend to teak oil stain a lot of my wood) and then add a bright color– it always works you really can’t screw it up! In the photo below, you will see the orange end table with a wooden top.

Blues tend to be very calming. If the reds, orange’s and pink’s are too much try something like this:

It just works!

Keep in mind to the style of your home ( modern/contemporary/farmhouse/colonial)  If you’re in a more traditional colonial farm-house, take a look at the historical color line from Benjamin Moore!

Historical Colors from Ben Moore!

The mustard yellows are hot right now; and can make any piece of furniture look fantastic! If your creative/crafty, try doing a stencil or rub-on/ decoupauge –it is a great way to add some color if you don’t want to do a solid paint color!

This is a great photo I found on Pinterest– and something I plan on doing extremely soon! ( Perhaps you remember the bird bench I did) I just can’t get enough of birds right now ( but I digress)

Fantastic Bird Dresser!

My advice for you if your room is dull and beige is try some color! You can always paint over it, remember nothing is permanent. You will be surprised how a little color will turn any room around.

For additional information about how to choose color  see my post Get Emotional When Choosing Color!