Q: Any idea how I can incorporate these colors into my living room without them looking like a disaster at Disneyland? I love the pink and the turquoise together against the gray walls but am having a hard time finding pieces that aren’t for kids’ rooms. I’d love to find that exact rug somewhere because I love the bright pink with the stripes of black. Thanks for any help you can provide!
Sent by Suzanne
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Howard Butcher Bloc...
Rather than getting too fixated on specific pieces, look at the room and objects as inspiration.
I frequently see overdyed oriental rugs and kilims on Gilt.com in fuschia and turquoise colorways that would look just as good if not better than the one here...
...and as far as pillows - try looking in local discount fabric shops where you can pick up some great deals on yardage that you can have made into pillows - or even on eBay, Flea Markets and vintage clothing stores for vintage scarves that can be sewn into pillows.
A friend just showed me this post...
http://decor8blog.com/2011/08/23/rice-for-autumn-2011/
urban outfitters uses a lot of jewel-tone colors like this. you might want to check them out!
Hm, if you look at the picture you see, that there are quite a few pieces that aren't crazy colours. The big couch in a neutral, the wooden & neutral fabric chairs, the white coffee table. The walls are neutral too. So I think that's important. Keep your base neutral and introduce the crazy colour scheme with accessoires, pillows, a rug ect. The lines of the furniture is simple& classic, but there is some variation. The couch and coffee table is very modern& simple, the chairs are more classic and could be old. In fact, I think you would do well to incorporate something older, wooden piece of funiture, that gives a little bit more depth to your room. If your funiture is of good quality and looks very grown up and expensive, the pillows can be from the kids departement. In fact, if you look at that room you will realize that without the accessoires the funiture would be too boring and grown up, while the accessoires alone would look childish. So spend your money on the base/funiture and buy cheap, funky accesoires which you can change out if you get tired of that look. The rug however could be a investment piece or a cheap diy.
My approach would be to think about how to use this color within a space, rather than to build a space around the color.
Look at the photo again… why does it work? The room works because it has a neutral backdrop, and the color is incorporated in relatively small doses… and less pink would be even better. With this color, a little goes a long way.
Trying to match everything is the wrong approach. Your room will look like you bought everything from Pottery Barn the same day. It’s just not interesting. This space would be so much better if they got rid of the juvenile pink floral pillows, and replaced them with covers made from rustic antique indigo fabric from Japan.
Or something similar. Rustic, masculine, dark. Pink is super feminine. You need to balance/contrast that with things that are more masculine. That tension is important.
Personally I'd say don't put the pink and black striped rug down. Maybe go for black and white if you like stripes and bring in pink with accessories. But if you have vision of what you want—trust it.
I like this pink Trina Turk Greek Key pattern rug (it's only 3' x 5' but you could buy two and put them together:
http://kristyleeinteriors.bigcartel.com/product/greek-key-hook-rug-pink
This has a geometric pattern with pink in it.
http://www.treadwaygallery.com/ONLINECATALOGS/MARCH2005/acimages/0073.jpg
Gan has some really nice rugs (I think) and some KILIM designs that incorporate pink.
http://www.gan-rugs.com/coleccion.php?f=24
ARKITEKTURA IN SITU SF is listed as dealer on their site.
This etsy store has some fun colorful pillows.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/MaterialRecovery?ref=seller_info
I love these flamingo pillows:
http://www.rockettstgeorge.co.uk/chloe-croft-cushions---flamingo--flowers-5533-p.asp
Also these pink thonet chairs from abc home:
http://www.abchome.com/store/store/pc/thonet-chair-hot-pink-276p7579.htm
Which could be an easy diy with some paint and a thrifted chair.
I agree with fulinlin. Start with a neutral base and add in the color with accessories. I recently saw a living room in Elle Decor that immediately reads pink and turquoise but the only thing pink is a pouf and the backs of the built-ins painted turquoise. I think you can def. make a space using the colors you love and not have it look at all Disney.
Just popping in to say that you shouldn't be discouraged if something you like is from a children's line. Our bedside lamps are from Land of Nod, and the Pottery Barn Teen line has lots of cool stuff that is not necessarily "teen". If you like it, get it.
The room would be complete with window treatments and a variance in color on the trim work at the top to draw the eye up and balance the room.
I have the same problem. I have 2 pink and 2 orange chairs in my office and it looks teen-ish. Looks like you could use a charcoal grey on the walls. I like the fushia and torquoise together.
Since you like pink, another space I would check out is from this episode of Home By Novogratz. I'm not a pink person, but the pink here does manage to be edgy. One of the lessons to take away from the space is to do it in bold and geometric ways.
Another thing to note is that much of the furniture, like in the picture you submitted, is neutral, while the paint, wallpaper, and accessories are where the pink is incorporated.
Also, I for one really like the look of antique furniture painted a bold solid color. Like this or this. Either type could be done in either pink or turquoise.
Look at images where bold colors are used successfully either alone, like this, this, this, this, or this. Also look at images where at least one of your colors are used well in combination with another bold color, like this, this, this, or this. Note what you like and what you don't like.
It works because there is a lot of natural wood, white/grey, and the sofa is a pale faded sage green. Think natural materials and neutrals as a base. I think an over-dyed old oriental rug would be great and not Disney. Then make a couple of pillows and a throw in the accent colors. You could also paint/ re-upholster a flea market find chair or a pouf.
Rug: if you can use FLOR tiles (which I love), they have an amazing pattern called Black & White & Bright Stripes, which you can design in multiple ways. Also, with the bold colors you like, I'd use some more black to ground the room - the chairs would be great painted black. And Missoni for Target will be coming out soon w/pillows, trays, etc., in the colors you like, particularly the fuschia.
I love bright pink as an accent in neutral spaces, and don't think it looks too teen if you just have a few pops of color. In the past, I have spray painted the wood frame of a 3 ft square Ikea mirror fluorescent pink and in a room of neutrals it looked fabulous.
Secondly, if you find a great piece that comes from a kid's store, who cares? Just like flea market finds, it's not where a piece came from, it's what you make of it!
The thing about a strong colour is that you don't need a lot of it to make an impact. A room done in blacks, greys and white would need only a couple of hot pink cushions (available pretty much anywhere) with a piece of pink glass like a vase and a pink china bowl to give the room as much pink as it needs. The same goes for turquoise.
If you can't find these things, paint your own lamp bases, or china animals sourced from the thrift store. If you're good at sewing, make your own cushions or lamp shades. Just remember to keep the injections of pink to a minimum - anything more than three or four pieces threatens to look kitschy.