Name: Ruth
Location: Boulder, Co
Type: 3 bedroom house/Own
Why I use color: I use neutral colors for the walls and floors in my modern minimal space to offset the beautiful views outside. The large windows brings the outside in, so I picked bright splashes of color and shapes to "pop" off the neutral backgrounds. The tall ceilings feel palatial; The colored furnishings ground you, are inviting and add a feeling of warmth.
2 Good color tips:
1. Get sample bottles of paint and paint a 2 foot square area on your wall before you make your decision.
2. Mix and match colors that you think would never go together... they will!
2 Good color resources:
1. Benjamin Moore Color Samples come in small bottles so you can try any color you'd like. Buy a paint sample book to look at the colors.
2. Go look at towel sections in a bath department
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Oh my, what a view from the bedroom! I love the simplicity but not the Christmasy colours. You could do a lot more with colour that space.
Others will say "wrong contest - too much white" but this is one of the few instances where I actually get to appreciate the color. Well done.
What a breathtaking view you have from your bedroom! I love the spareness of it all.
What a view! The color gets maximum impact here.
I like it but I'd never be able to live in it myself. Like the true Californian that I am, all that white inside and snow outside would just make me feel cold and shivery all day long.
I would love to wake up in this bedroom, but there is no great use of color here.
Brilliant! Although I would like to see a photo of another room. I have high hopes for the rest of the place though.
finally an entry that's actually appealing, and it proves that if the architecture is right, not much else is needed to make a beautiful home. going thru the list of entries makes you realize how many ugly houses have been built.
glad you didn't smash color paint against those walls and ruined the beauty, so imho you deserve to win the color contest haha. you showed you saw what was needed there.
can i stay for a night now? what a lovely view from the bed... :-)
A beautiful space - if slightly misnamed. Here you have gorgeous architecture -but throw pillows and bright chairs arent enough to be considered "creative" use of color - which is one of the requisites of the contest. Love the space, still voted no.
Lovely! When the view is that beautiful it would be criminal to gunk the space up with Ringling Brothers colors and an abundance of furniture/junky accessories. Your restraint is admirable.
Some people may not find the white appealing, but outside of that, this is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! Simple yet tasteful. And the view makes it even more picturesque!
I like it, the architecture is great, it feels solemn, peaceful. But it is just missing one thing... a black wall behind the bed.
Not really partial to snow but man that is gorgeous! In some instances less is more and this is one of thse instances!
Great pictures, they should be in a magazine, love that snow outside. But sorry, I voted no. It's too bare for me and the only color I see is the bed and 2 chairs. You're using the white very well, it's just not my taste.
The architecture is great. The style is a bit too sparse for me .. but it still looks great. I cannot however, give you an insta as this is a BOLD use of COLOR contest.
The architecture is cool. The bedroom shot reminds me of the Farnsworth House. But the color use is nothing that made me jump out of my seat.
That being said though, your home is quite lovely! Thanks for sharing!!
Just goes to show how important balance is. There is red and green, but it doesn't say Christmas at all.
I would love to see more of this home.
I see this as elegant. It's refreshing to see good color balance, simplicity, serenity and guts. I don't think color always needs to shout. The variety of pillows is alluring and snappy.
Red and green are a natural pair.....flowers & foilage....I don't see Christmas here at all except the hint of the season in the view.
I agree with Ruth that the colors are grounding amongst all the white. And I've always found white to be luscious when used properly.
Good luck Ruth!
Love, love this entry!.Great use of color. Is the bed westelm?Would like to see more of the space
I love this space. I'm slightly annoyed that you're giving Benjamin Moore paint color advice.
I would have sworn that Boulder was closer to Chicago than LA, must be that moutain drive between LA and Denver that makes it seem so long.
I actually think the white makes the colors in the furniture stand out well. I bet the view is stunning straight on. Do you live by the canyon? I think you could easily invest in a very chic painting and this would be unbeatable.
this space is absolutely beautiful! (as is your dog!)it's too spare for my particular taste, but i still love it!!
OK, *that* is fabulous. How very serene and inviting!
HOUSE TOUR!
Simplicity is often the hardest thing to pull off. I look at this & want to curl up in the nice warm bed to look at the snow. Great!
Tara
who lives too far south for decent snowfalls...
Darn, I was wrong - a dog would work too. Oh well. Another very important item to the list of winner entries - good architecture; what was I thinking?
Well I'm adding these two other very important items to the list of those insta-finalist must haves. In order to win this contest you must have the following - please go to #43 Astrid's Colorful Beach House - scroll down to Jasmine's (that's me) comment. This message is for anyone, and I mean anyone thinking about joining this contest. By the way Ruth according to others; this is only an observation, you would lack color, warmth, or a lived in look to this very white, cold space. There are no items of personal interest here and that to me equals coldness. Throwing in the dog gives the impression of warmth I guess? Wish you the best regardless! And thanks for sharing your space!
I second the motion for you to give us a HOUSE TOUR! Yeah! Your place looks so cool.
HOUSE TOUR...Please!
One question:
Where is your alarm clock?
I just read Jasmine's comments and looked at Astrid's beach house. Well, well, Jasmine, you have such a good point. I happen to personally adore Ruth's house in Boulder and I hadn't seen Astrid's entry before.
I've made several posts during this contest about rules and sticking to the point and I see that Astrid's house is colorful because of the art. Well, I thought the contest was about using color, not being an artist and hanging your art on a pale or white wall. See, this would give advantage to few and disadvantage to many, so I have to ditto Jasmine on this one. I do like Ruth's place and feel she did well with the color because the color is in furnishings and acessories but there have been many entries here that have been "silly" (?) - like the striped wall that doesn't have a room to show.
I'll bow out of participating in any manner because it just seems "all over the place" with this contest. I know what I like but I'm not a designer and wouldn't pretend to be (although I am an artist and wouldn't send in photos of my place and say my art had anything to do with a decorating contest).
I think the dog is the alarm clock.
the BEST bed i have EVER seen!!!!!
where did u purchase it???
i LOVE love love minimalist apartments.....insta finalist in my opinion!
Love the minimalism, and the color is perfect! Finalist!
That first photo is great!
My favorite!!! I hope you win!!! This is using color AND negative space.
LOVE the house, love the dog. It would be a shame to paint those walls anything but white. But I'd really like to see some art hanging on those walls! The view is great, the colors, are great, but not every wall in the photo should be blank!
I think your tip aboout sample bottles of colors is great, but kinda ironic here!!
Jackie (too)--
I'm disappointed you don't consider your art to be part of what makes your home successfully "decorated."
I think art (or rather lack of it) is what makes this entry (otherwise gorgeous) fall short of the mark for me. Although I am sure those windows provide an ever-changing art show of a different kind!
Thanks for all of the comments. The bed frame is westelm and the red chairs are from target!
Ruth,
Great photos, love the white. Care to share exactly which white you chose?
Color doesn't have to be vivid orange, but color use IS what the contest is about. This is minimal color use, at best.
Lovely photographs, nice dog, wrong contest.
you people are weird...the color IS "WHITE"...they didnt say WHAT COLOR..they said...color...
this place is super nice! i would live in it anyday...just the way it is...:)
Absolutely breathtaking.
Color and decor that cycles automatically and autonomously, every hour of the day and every season of the year.
I can't believe people would vote 'no way' on this one, but it just goes to show how fixated people are on the idea that skillful use of color requires painting your walls bright colors and filling the room with loud curtains and rugs.
I disagree with the comments that insist that the room needs art on the walls, too. You'd have to have some pretty incredible art to share the stage with the room's current focal point. Besides, this room is already like one of James Turrell's skyscapes.
And what is all this hoo-hah about paint and furniture being a valid element in design, but not artwork, architecture, or a view? Seems awfully arbitrary to me.
Link to James Turrell's skyscapes:
http://www.hughpearman.com/2006/13.html
http://www.psych.nyu.edu/pelli/pubs/pelli2005turrell.pdf
Camellia,
Thanks for the links to Turrell. I think it's a great read for those arguing what constitutes "bold and colorful" and whether white is a legitimate use of color in this contest.
You know which camp I stand in if you've seen my wife and my entry, but Ruth has pulled it off much more powerfully in her place.
I have been in this house! I love this house! Ruth has the best taste out there. Check it out in DWELL in December!
heh heh. jenn beat me too it. i quickly flipped thru my recent DWELL magazine and... "hey! i've seen that picture before!" It's nice to see the whole plan of the house... very nice.