Name: Laura
Location: Dallas, Texas
Type: 1-bedroom condo, owned
Why I use color: I use color to bring energy and exuberance to my surroundings. When I entertain (note the disco ball), the furniture is moved out and the space needs to stand on its own – which it does, thanks to the bright hues! The wall colors were inspired by my eclectic collection of furniture and make an otherwise random assortment of odds and ends look cohesive.
The orange in the upholstery on the dining room chairs is found on the west wall. Orange is also sprinkled throughout the upholstery on the 1960s estate-sale loveseat, the inherited yellow Baker chairs and the blue club chairs as well as in the French painting of a woman. The grape wall was inspired by touches of purple found in those same two fabrics as well as photography on the walls. The unique loft-like architecture of the room allowed me to separate each saturated shade with a floor to ceiling window or patch of white wall, so the colors boldly stand alone, never touching one another.
Even though the warm colors of orange and golden yellow are prevalent, the blues and purples in the wall, upholstery, Moroccan rug and table cloth make the overall feel cool and soothing.
2 good color tips:
1.Use color to unify. It worked in my house, as you can see. Pull that tiny bit of color, like the bits of orange in two wildly different fabrics and the dining seat cushions, and put it on a whole wall. Suddenly everything looks a little more coordinated. Too scared to paint a wall orange? Then try orange throw pillows, throws or curtains to pull it all together. But don’t be afraid of orange. Orange is your friend.
2. Paint with passion! It’s just PAINT, people.
Imagine what it would be like to wake up every morning and just stare at your surroundings thinking, “I love this room – it’s so soothing/beautiful/happy/whatever!” This could be you.
But you must be brave and try. If you don’t get it exactly right the first time, it’s okay – you can repaint. It’s not like you’re gutting a whole kitchen or anything. Trust me, it’s worth it.
2 good color resources:
1.Interior Designers with a good eye for color. You don’t have to be redecorating a mansion and buying all new furniture to work with a designer. For just a small consulting fee, many interior designers will help you simply pick out colors for your room –they’ve got the experienced eye to help you make good paint and color decisions. Then, armed with a professional’s knowledge, you can paint it yourself or have someone else do it on your own schedule and budget.
2. Paint manufacturer’s websites –
Sherwin-Williams.com has great color trends information and a groovy magazine called “Stir” that you can pick up at the store or sign up for online.
BenjaminMoore.com also has great info about color trends and has recently partnered with Pottery Barn to create specific palettes that you can choose from!
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
The words Howard Johnson come to mind.
While I like the colours overall, something is not quite right. I'm thinking it's the couch's pattern. I'm not sure what it's supposed to go with (the purple wall perhaps) but it just seems out of place, especially since it's touching the blue carpet.
Interesting colors...
The funiture placement seems a bit odd to me... Other than eating at the dining table, I don't know what to do where....
The table cloth makes me think of a restaurant.
I don't know what you guys are seeing, but I like it. If the space is used more for entertaining, not a traditional tv-watching area, then the furniture placement works for get-togethers of large groups - plenty of seating!
I like it because its simply different, away from the post-modern cliche everyone is trying to accomplish nowadays. It's fun, colours bring joy and obviously the owner of this place is not afraid of showing her bold side. Just for that I give it a two thumbs up.
Congratulations, you did indeed use color. I think the contest is about skillfully using color, however. I know, I'm a meany, but being physically able to paint walls does not describe the skill this contest had in mind.
I like its originality. The bold colors seem to bring the room together - and in a world where there is a lot of pressure to make everything look like an ad from Dwell magazine - this is refreshing.
I love the way that the furniture arrangement and color choices really maximize the openness of the loft-style architecture. Well done!
i don't know if it is the furniture placement, or the color combinations, or both, but this room is deeply disturbing to me.
This is definitely very unique. It's Southern and "Ranchy" (is that a word?) which is appropriate because this is in Texas. It has some country warmth to it but the space also has a few loft-like details - in particular the spacious open feeling and the stair rail. While the furniture has a country feel to it, the way that the paint is used to define different areas is more modern.
Like Jerry said, not everything has to look like Dwell. Wouldn't it be boring if everybody's space looked the same?
Laura has incorporated the style of her home with her furnishings and regional sensibility. I bet when guests step inside they feel welcome and relaxed - and it looks like there is room for plenty of guests!
I like how she executed the color-scheme. The use of [what looks to be] tangerine, steel-blue, purple and mustard are what I imagine as energizing for the day and ingeniously refreshing at night. The 60's/70's furniture really works. All-in-all, this looks like a party pad that I would enjoy shuffling off to. Cheers!
Thank God someone is not afraid to put themselves and personal touches to a space. I am so sick of generic contempory design which is somehow being seen as "brillant" when in reality is boring and mindless -- just picking a page out of West Elm does not a good design make!
I concur with Amy
"love the way that the furniture arrangement and color choices really maximize the openness of the loft-style architecture. Well done!
Posted by Amy at 10/05/06 1:59 PM
I am not a opposed to the colors- but feel they don't give off the disco ball vibe when paired alone. BUT I am suprised at the fun energy the color's add to this space. Disco ball's forever!
I am not opposed to the colors- but at first, I didn't feel they gave that disco ball vibe. BUT! I am surprised at the fun energy the color's add to this space when all together. I embrace the unique character and rich distinction in this project. For me, this space comes together in the textiles. The grape and orange walls form a nice background for subtler colored upholsteries (whose patterns bring this project to fruition). All in all, the use of color here is unique and well placed.
Way Cool. Great mix. Amazingly, it works!!
Love the orange, and the big (mainly blue) rug in the foreground. Really hate everything else. It's so clashy.
The walls scream colour and yet are not overpowering. Personality and individuality as opposed to conformity are words that hit me when I see this picture. What a fun space for entertaining.
Karen
I love the orange and blue right up next to each other. Reminds me of the Arizona landscape and sky!
Love the coordinating bold colors.
I truly love the colors but one thing bothers me; the placement regarding the colors. The blue/purple furniture with the purple wall and the orange/yellow furniture with the orange wall. It gives the feeling that they are meant to be separate rooms, cool vs. warm.
Perhaps, it would look more cohesive to have the yellow sofa with the purple wall and the blue chairs with the orange wall, you know, use the fact that they are pairs of complementary colors instead of ignoring the fact. Everything would be more powerful.
Otherwise, I LOVE the patterns and the colors! I just think it could look better by rearranging it a bit.
I see your "roots" as well as your flowering individuality in this room! Lovely, fun, inviting, nostalgic....colors are fabulous!
Lisa from VA - I totally agree about moving the couch to the purple wall!! Yes, yes, that would make for a more cohesive integration of the colors and let your eye move easier through the areas. And the four club chairs in a row could be very cool and "cluby" - which might be great since she loves to entertain and has the disco ball ready to go. Also agree that the tablecloth MUST go... Overall, I like the space. It gives a sense of who she is and I would feel very welcome in her home. I drool over Dwell as well but still love a home more than a pretty house.
I dig it! Original and yes, Eclectic. Love the title of your entry BTW...perfect description of the space. Great colors, clean look but not to sterile...looks lived in. I really like the no touching of the colors thing.
I like it! I think it works, maybe not for myself personally but it's not bad in general.
so true about not just picking a random page from west elm and then having everyone oooh and aah. i like that we see laura's personality in this room and really love the orange wall. as others mentioned, i would also like to see the juxtaposition of the colors.
just because laura doesn't live in a stark white loft or have all stainless steel accents doesn't make this bad design. you people can be big snobs.
and laura, i commend you for putting your space out there. i don't think i'd ever expose my home to this bunch of sharks
I like this -- it has wonderful creative energy and spirit. But I also find it visually confusing, even somehow disconcerting. There's almost too much going on, color-wise. Each color is rich and seems to want to speak clearly but can't because of the other colors. In the back of my head I'm hearing Thoreau's dictum to "Simplify, simplify, simplify..."
The color behind the upholstery blends the furniture in this space. The use of white in the room keeps a clean contrast and lets the bright colors keep their impact. Sometimes owners of a smaller space use neutral shades in an effort to make the space appear larger but then lose an impact of designing.
All I can say is there is a huge lack of visual unity. There are several pieces in here that are nice, but all together and so many colors, it's really hard to figure out what is going on here.
i want to like this place (the vibe seems fun and i love the lines of the furniture and the overall aesthetic), but i'm having a hard time establishing what's really going on. that's partially because of the angle of the first photo, and also because there's just so. much. going. on here without anywhere for the eye to rest. all the patterns on the furniture compete with each other, and there are just too many different colors that don't seem to relate to each other at all. it probably isn't so jarring in person -- the second photo makes a lot more sense.
i think the room would come together a lot better if that purple behind the two blue chairs were a deep chocolatey brown, or maybe a very warm beige or taupe.
Pieces of the room are working well as individual groupings, but they don't work together as a whole--and since the room is viewable as a whole, that's key. It does show personality and is probably very inviting in person even though it's not picture-perfect. I commend the efforts made to customize this space. Eclectic is extremely difficult to pull off. If the owner enjoys the space, nuf said.
i didn't like this place at first but it's quite grown on me. that orange sofa ia lovely. that lamp between the chairs is absolutely killing me, though.
Hectic!
I don't care what anybody says, I like it!!!
What I love about Laura's apartment is the colour. Just as in clothing, it takes a lot of courage and skill to avoid neutrals and work only with colour. Which is the design ethic preached by every designer/professor/salesperson in the industry.
Personally, I'm tired of ooo-ing and ahhh-ing over white boxes with the same Mies chair and Corb sofas. Where's the imagination in that? Where's the challenge? Putting your grandmother's settee together with 60's mod chairs, a disco ball and tying it together with a secondary colour scheme? That's talent. Way to strike out on your own Laura. This is how Designers are born.
You weren't afraid to use color. Very unique.
ugly
I think these rooms are really interesting, and it's nice to see something different. However, maybe paint the white supports a neutral, they appear super white and just jump out. If they are white, I'd want to make them disapear, afterall, they're not an interesting architectual element really. Very unusual space, fer sure.
I love your stuff and your palette, but I think its just a little too much. I also don't get what's going on with the furniture arrangement so I don't know how to feel about the space.
I like the second photo better than the first. The first picture seems too confusing. While I think the colors are actually fine together...though not my style...I am just not crazy about the placement of the furniture. That to me, confuses the entire scheme. (Maybe it's the wrong upholstery against the wrong walls?? Not sure.) However, if you entertain alot, I can see where the layout might work.
maybe could have been resolved with better artwork. those frames are just ugly. maybe something larger too.