Name: Mina
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Type: 2-bedroom loft
Why I use color: I use color to create an envelope for my home. White walls just don’t contain and embrace space the way warm cream or taupe does. I keep the colors of my furniture pretty neutral, so I use layers of colors on accessories and fabrics to express my changing moods and the different seasons. I love the way the creamy walls instantly welcome me home from the fluorescent-lit white corridors outside, how the chocolate brown and robin’s egg blue patterns of the living room create a sense of serenity, the spicy saffrons and reds in the bedroom a feeling of warmth, and the Caribbean-inspired blues and greens in the bathrooms a whiff of calm waters. A splash of color, especially in a plant or flower, can add life to a dull space, instantly upgrade a home from ho-hum to fabulous. It’s all about finding the right color.
2 Good color tips:
Don’t be afraid of bright or dark colors. Just buy a sample size and brave it. If it’s too saturated, you can always use it for just one wall or even a stripe around the room.
Find a piece of fabric you love and pull out the colors from the room from its palette. Fabric designers come up with amazing designs and the paint store can match pretty much any color.
Favorite type and brand of paint:
I like Sherwin Williams flat interior paint, but I also like to play with glazes and metallic paints (in moderation).
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I love the kitchen/dining and what looks like a living room, but the rest doesn't seem to match that vibe. And where's that bathroom???
hm. browns and taupes are not very colorful. the outdoor area is quite lovely, though.
A little ho-hum for me, though the kitchen and the yard are gorgeous.
The art above the brown couch seems really disparate. It might look more cohesive if you used similar frames for each piece, or otherwise framed the pieces more similarly - matting all of them using the same color mats, for example.
Also, I feel like the art hung above the moss-green couch is competing with it (the couch, that is). In any case, that orange artwork is certainly not doing anything good for the color of the couch, though others may disagree.
is the wall concrete in your living room/piano room? that wall is my favorite-- love the art on it.
the framed pieces above the couch need to be hung closer together. there's too much space between them and they look like their floating. bringing them closer would make it seem like one solid display.
I don't understand how brown is "not very colorful"? This contest is about a bold use of color, NOT just bold colors.
I don't know why brown isn't colorful, but it isn't.
Brown is a color. Therefore, it is colorful. Brown is also neutral. It all depends on how it is used.
Brown is color! Brown work with so many shades and I really like the stripe combination in your kitchen. I really love your mixture of white and pine cabinetry in the kitchen, I always wanted to have that kind of combination in my own home. The concrete wall is my favorite too! Great job!!
This place looks cool, but I don't think the photos do it justice.
I'd like to see the vibe of the concrete wall with the Japanese-water art carried throughout.
How long have you lived with the stripes? It's something I've considered in the past, but always thought I'd get tired of it too quickly to make the effort worthwhile for me.
most people use brown as a neutral, but you've found the depth and richness that brown can be - congrats!
unfortunately the photographs don't do the spaces justice, I believe...
yeah, i think some of the photos don't show this space properly. a tripod and less flash would help.
TURN...OFF...THE...FLASH!
Brown isnt colorful in this case because all of the colors have been washed out by the flash. And it's also not very colorful because its heavy on the value end, and low on the chroma end. Some folks need to take a color theory class.
This could have been a very elegant, if safe, entry had the photos been properly taken. Still - not enough to win.
what happened!!! i thought we were in for a treat. maybe you should have waited to enter this contest. PS: throw another color with the vanilla and chocolate..perhaps strawberry