Name: Juliana6
Location: Huntington Beach, CA
Type: One bedroom condo, owned
Why I use color:
When buying my condo, what I obsessed most about was not percentage rates and down payments. I was compiling my folder of paint samples and color swatches. I had four rooms to play with and while creating my palette a theme emerged. I was recreating the colors of my first European vacation...
I saw white, blues and stainless in my Grecian kitchen. I wanted an intense French red in my jewel box of a bathroom. My bedroom became an English cottage in walls of Antique Sage, with pinks, reds and whites. Finally, my Tuscan living room with its Venetian plastered terracotta walls and black wrought iron completed my journey. I painted a small mural above the bar leading from the living room back to the kitchen; Italy to Greece. Using so many different colors, I wanted the transition from room to room to be smooth. I used green as a unifying color, to connect each room, while still accentuating a different feel and vibe in each. The best compliment I got while hosting my first party was, “I feel like I know you so much better now
that I’ve seen your home.” My home is an extension of me.
2 Good color tips:
1. Choose a unifying color to connect your rooms. It doesn’t need to be one unifying wall color, but an accent color can provide the same flow.
2. Get a dark base coat when painting a dark, yet translucent color. The red I choose was saturated with pigment. Unfortunately, my base coat was a bubble gum pink, which was really no help at all. It took 11 coats to finally get the red I wanted. Save yourself the time and use a deep primer first!
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Very nice!!
view DAVIDTHOMSEN's profile
Are those seat cushions as a headboard? Interesting...can't really tell how that would look in person. Love the blue in your kitchen!
view lililouise's profile
Thanks, David!
And yes, lililouise, those are chair cushions. More affordable than a headboard, since I haven't quite made up my mind about what I want. Plus, they turned out to be comfortable as well as cute :)
This is so much fun! I've loved seeing what everyone has done, and it is really fun to share. Thanks AT (and CB2)!
- juliana 6
view juge's profile
that's a great carpet in the 2nd photograph.
i also like the bright blue in the kitchen!
view olya's profile
I love your taste. You put all your rooms together beautifully.
view Arena's profile
I'm so impressed by how personal that mural becomes when done by yourself. Way cool. Don't ever sell that place until you've got a new owner who appreciates deeply personal artistic touches!
view Cate's profile
Looking at the pictures of your home, makes me want to rip my clothes off and eat mashed potatoes. Gravitas!
view Squatter's profile
i'm always a fan of those that looked like they're not staged but actually lived in!
view katishome's profile
While I think the place could use some editing, the colors are strong and vibrant, and used with confidence. I'd like to see professional photos of this space.
view Palmetto's profile
You did a great job with all those themes. I love your cozy living room.
view rorarora's profile
You have managed to incorperate the simple elegance of a european style into your small condominium. Bravisimo!
view Aura's profile
Thanks again...and OMG Squatter; I laughed for 5 minutes. I don't really know what that means, but I'm thinking it was a "feels like home" kind of reference? I'm still giggling.
- Feeling grateful for your kind words, and for my wee , yet safely out-of-the-line-of-fire little place (literally; as California is burning all around us). -sending hopeful thoughts for an end to the wind, heat, and fears - juliana6
view juge's profile
I have similar cushion covers (in your 2nd photo), got mine in Egypt. Did you get them abroad?
view Tiffany's profile
I REALLY enjoy how personal this is for you, and though I also like spartan, Mid-Century rooms very much, your unique style is a refreshing change!
view aweekinparis's profile
The color in the first 3 photos is to die for. The last 2 are too saturated for my taste. I think you deserve higher scores than you are getting but the MCM style is king on this site.
view LaDonnaNichole's profile
The cushion cover, Tiffany, I think was Pier One or World Market...not from abroad, but I glad it looks like it could be.
LaDonnaNichole, I kind of agree with you on the colors. The 1st two rooms are "live in" kind of rooms with lots of wall space, and I needed colors that relax, especially in the bedroom. The last 2 rooms (kitchen and bath) don't have a lot of wall space, so I felt safe using the bold saturated color.
I, too, like the MCM style, and wish I had another room to play with to try it out my way. :) make that 2 rooms...ok 4 rooms max...
view juge's profile
Cool...everything just "clicks" in your pad even though you have a lot of stuff. I love it. My pad, on the other hand....
view meltendo's profile
oh my gosh! I love the vibrant color and the warmth that you feel in these photos. Love Love Love it! Not wimpy at all!
view kpbrooks's profile
I wish the kitchen colour was more connected to the mural. The deep red in the bathroom is too strong with all the white fixtures while the green seems too pale in the bedroom. The first shot, though, is to die for. I love it!
view Alana in Canada's profile
Thanks meltendo and kpbrooks!
Alana, Thanks for your bluntness. I used the blue paint tinted with white in the mural. FYI; In the first shot, I used all four room colors in the medallion on the wall, which helps in the transition from living room to kitchen.
In the bathroom, the ratio of the cranberry red to white is fifty: fifty (with all the doors and the shower) which actually work perfectly together.
In the bedroom, you're right about the pictures' representation of the green. It has more depth in person.
That's my defense, your honor.
view juge's profile