apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I understand "coordinated" paint colours to be part of a single colour palette, so I found your question a little difficult to answer, given that in a) colours should be part of a palette, and b) they should coordinate but not be part of a single palette.

I thin it's okay to have different colors in different rooms as long as they compliment each other.

"Beg the question" does not mean "bring up a question that I hadn't thought of before". "Beg the question" means "talk about the question as if answering it, but not really answer it at all." Ok, with that off my mind, I can think about color.

Sorry to nitpick, but the phrase "beg the question" refers to a particular kind of logical fallacy (http://begthequestion.info/) - I think you probably mean "raises the question."

I think I'm in a midway position. Colors seen from another room should not clash in some horrible way, like a vision of Babylon in flames, but might not be exactly in the same palette.

I've been thinking about this exact question this weekend, as I've moved my soft sages & corals from the living room into the computer room, and jazzed up the living room palette quite a bit. So now what do I want to do? How many color can I add to the total palette of the house? How many rooms do I want any particular color to appear in?

It is a fun project.

Colors don't clash - Patterns and people do.

I have to agree I'm confused by the wording on this question also, if your colors are 'coordinated' isn't that a palette? I thought a color palette was just a group of colors that were used in a work of art (or a house). Monochromatic, complementary, triadic or open color palettes, were the ones my art teacher taught.
Regardless I feel like any of these are appropriate in a home. I try to keep my paint colors close to the same saturation to make it feel cohesive.

This is not even close to a dilemma - it's a preference. As in: some people want a dominant color, others want different colors - and maybe not even complimentary colors.

The real question should be: what do you prefer and why? And even then the answers are still a matter of personal preference and one shouldn't be considered "right" and the other "wrong".

I agree with Joanne. As long as the colors don't clash in an awful, shield-your-eyes way, I don't think they have to "coordinate" in any traditional sense of the word. Having different color schemes can be a nice way to distinguish the rooms and set them apart from each other.

Of course, if your friend wants to totally embrace the openness of her floor plan and make the separation between rooms minimally noticeable, then she'd probably do better to decorate adjoining rooms in the same (or similar) palette. It depends on her preference.

IMO, I think any walls you can see from the same vantage point should be part of some coordinated look (or color scheme). So this means you could have two color schemes going on (front of house vs back of house) but there may be an intermediate/transitional room with a color that is shared by both schemes. Anyway that's how we are hoping to do stuff in our house!

I agree with scottytown. I would also add something that is seldom noted in these posts--not to forget the "palette" of trees, sky, buildings, or whatever outside windows. In some cases it can really dominate, especially if there are a lot of windows in a room.

i prefer different values of the same hue. I don't think I could live in a home with different colors in different rooms, even if they did "coordinate". Can you imagine, you sit down with a book, have a glass of wine, or two, then walk through the house and are assaulted with a rainbow, that just doesn't work for me personally.

I like to have a blend of colors that work well together when rooms can be seen from one another, but I think you can be creative and think outside the box a bit ...I've worked slate grey, swiss coffee, fire engine red and bright lime green together in 4 seperate areas ( all visable from the sofa) and loved it.... especially at night with the right lighting.

That paint in those pics is great!! I love those together!

I have this same dilemma.....upstairs and down

So..

I'm currently painting my condo in an"80's thrift store" inspired pallet using colors that would be found in the mens section of a Salvation Army circa 1986 that would have come from top mens stores in 1966.....those great well made slim-fit suits, the short sleeve mock turtle-neck sweaters, the awesome windbreakers, and the cute shirts.

dark chocolate brown...glossy black....white....light blue....a bit of green....60's Barker Brothers royal blue vinyl chairs......dark wood furniture....a small bit of graphic wallpaper, thick 70's hotel curtains, only cute vintage lamps.

and either claret red, robins egg blue, or deep gold ( like an old itchy cardigan) in the small hallway to tie it all together.

I was very 60's mod in my youth.....and since I've loved the way these all looked in my closet together I figured It would be a good blend for the house.....and easy to match with both modern and vintage stuff.

It's not matchy-matchy....but it's working so far

It's very MAD MEN!

This was my problem--and those colors were MY solution! Sit on my family room couch & you can see 5 different rooms/spaces in my open, contemporary home with soaring walls & angles. One color or one color family=too much Plus I had to coordinate/not clash with blinds, cabinetry, counters, etc. So I, too, have walls of turquoise, red, pale green & pale yellow--with touches of red, turquoise & black in rugs, art, accessories in every room. It's not matchy-matchy but not random, either.

The rule I try to employ in my home is that all colors should work well together, and that the accessories that I buy should be able to work in any room the the house. At first this was a bit of a game for me, definitely challenging. For instance, I wanted to buy a vase for the coffee table and wouldn't stop until I found one that would look great no matter where it landed in my home.

After a year of this thinking, a funny thing happened. My chairs and accessories are nomadic. I am constantly moving things from room to room to freshen up the space. I love the resulting cohesiveness of the apartment, and I think I will decorate this way from now on.

The best advice I ever heard about choosing paint for your home is to go with the colors you usually pick to dress in. This way you have usually chosen colors that you already look good in (hey, home court advantage dictates you should look good in your own house!), and the colors are usually complimentary already.

If the colors are kind of brash, then use neutrals to dominate and do accents in color. I must admit I did it for my own house and it makes picking up accessories and fabrics so easy, since you are already very familiar with the colors you like.

Absolutely, colors should coordinate when looking from one room to another. That doesn't mean they need to blend or specifically be part of a scheme, but I like the idea that you know the feel of the home when you walk in, that there are no wild cards. In my home, everything is a similar intensity but in a crazy variety of colors.

If I went out of town and Trading Spaces painted my house like this, they'd have to bleep my reaction.

JulieLeanne and jgphotomom should go into business! These are both my favorite principles--pick colors that flatter you (not your couch) and all furniture/art/accessories should be able to serve in any room.

I love this space and the colors!

As a color consultant, I'm always curious as to what people really mean when they refer to colors that clash. Any combination of colors can go together, just as in nature.

I just worked with a client who selected a different color for every room in his entire home: ten rooms and the hallways. He chose a combination of gorgeous, bold hues such as emerald, terra cotta, deep purple, yellow, aqua and a few more. This was the client's 'color definition' of a happy home. Color is personal, so people should not be afraid to break the so-called color rules and do what makes them happy.

http://www.porterhousedesigns.com/colorsizzle