Name: Heather Leise
Location: Richmond, Va
Type: One bedroom apartment rented
Why I use color:
I have always considered myself a lovable person and color feels like a hug to me. My husband and I live in 582 sq foot rented apartment; and each wonderful room has its own personality based on its color. When we moved in, my color blind husband insisted on color on the walls, wanting to make sure it felt like someone lived here...
Our friends scoffed at the idea of painting an apartment that is not ours. Our response: the 25 dollars it cost for each room was the easiest way to feel like this little love shack was ours. He is also a black and white photographer and some would say that the color detracts from the work. Not true, the color in each of the rooms hugs his prints and makes them pop. My husband and I and loving, warm people and the colors in our apartment speak to that, earth tones that warm the heart and eyes.
2 Good color tips:
1. Use the color of your clothes (what you like to wear will make you happy in your house)
2. Use your friends' houses as inspiration: what colors do you like anddislike in their homes, then take the ideas that you love and make them you own
2 good color resources:
1. Home Depot and Lowes: color matching and also color visualizers on their websites (love 'em).
2.If you fear color go to a store where they have bands of color from
light to dark. Start with the lightest shade of the color you like and then as you live in the color you can make it more saturated or darker by just going back to the initial strip.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
lovely!
the chandelier in the dining area is fabulous!
thank you for sharing your home.
Very nice, thanks for sharing! It looks like a cozy and livable place!
love the lamp on the buffet in the dining area - where's it from?
How did you hang the picture over top of the bamboo blinds?
really nice! You must have a very understanding landlord! Mine would flip if I painted the walls even the nice ecru color you used. I love the medium yellow-brown, too!
Good color choices! I love it. Your house looks like a retreat to happy ever after. Good call!
Heather - if you do get around to reading these comments, I would love to know where your dining room table and chairs are from.
Love the colors!
I'm curious too about the picture on the blinds, ambivalent about the color usage though, it seems like the color on your walls is the only color in the space, all furniture/objects are so neutral.
The dining room is wonderful.
Very nice dining room. Love those green globe things.
I hate that this entry bothers me since Heather seems to sweet and sincere. It somehow misses the mark--I think maybe the furniture is too big and dark, or the colors are too dark or the lighting is too dark. It also lacks variation with the frames and the chairs/table in the same wood tone, which I am sure contributes to the blocky feel of the space--it's just too matchy and overdecorated. It looks like a particularly good episode of Trading Spaces--too clunky to be called stylish. But I love the chandelier in the living room, and I think with more vibrant hues of the colors on the wall and smaller scaled or less dark furniture, and more organic eclectic touches of personality in the art and photos, it could be a great space. Heather seems to have the pulse of good design even if they didn't get it quite right yet.
I love the chandelier in the dining room too and I have the exact same bamboo blinds in my kitchen. I like this place even though it's not as bright as some of the other rooms entered. Good luck!!
Thanks for your comments tulip. I have used colours similiar to these in my home--but it doesn't look anything like this! If you're inclined, I'd love for you to have a look at my space on flickr and help me out. Click on my name. I haven't been able to match my woods and I like the cohesiveness of it. I do agree that it's a bit flat--though I can't put my finger on why. Gorgeous touches here.
The furniture's too chunky and those ball things might look classier if place closer together, more centered.
I don't like those twig things in the grey vase and the photos on the wall adn on the Crate and Barrel (I think) book stand are cluttery.
Nice colors but it doesn't really have style, sorry. Seems too garden variety catalogue shopping.
I like the colors and the way you pulled it all together. What neighborhood in Richmond do you live in?
Heather, what color/brand did you use in the dining room? I've been trying to find that color for a while. By the way, it looks like a yellow,green variation on my screen. Is that what it is? Thanks!
Wow, another Richmonder, hurrah!
I love that you went all-out with the paint. It does make a rental seem more personal and homey. I'm tempted but also having a hard time taking the first step. Good for you, great colors by the way.
Hello All, its Heather from "Heather's Rich Rental". Thanks for all the kind comments, I really appreciate them. We live in the Fan in Richmond and my husband and I are both are teachers but love design. So the apartment is filled with our wedding photos (sorry for the clutter) and my husbands art (black and white in living room and over the buffet). Some answer for you all: The lamp on the buffet is from Pier 1 and the dining table can be found at Macy(at one time). We hung my husband's print with fishing line over the buffet(which is from my great grandmother so the wood tones are by accident). The color in the living room is Mojave Gold from Behr. All of windows do face brick walls so sorry for the "darkness". Thanks for seeing that while I am not a desinger by trade I try to express my creativity in my living space. I teach high school history for gods sake:-) Take care and I look forward to more feed back!!
this apartment is gorgeous! the colors make it feel cozy, yet not too confined. the pictures of the apartment just dont do it justice!!
WHOOOOOO heather!
You have definitely achieved that warmth and homey feeling you want! Stepping into your home is like entering Willy Wonka's factory: it looks so tiny from the outside, but when you step in...WOW!
Love your dining room! That's a color I'd never consider at first glance, but it's so warm and friendly.
While I like the wall colors, the furniture and accessories seem a little generic, bland. Looks like the Pier 1 store. I'd like to see a nice mix of collected, vintage, acquired-while-traveling objects. The photos on the shelves would have a better impact grouped all together on a table. In the family room. Or hallway.
plum, khaki and patent leather. you win.
pbhonenix, YOU would like to see "collected, vintage, acquired-while-traveling" items? While I know nothing of this entrant, I do know that many people do not live in this way. They don't go poking around flea markets, they don't collect vintage whatevers, they don't travel. There are such biases behind the comments folks leave on these blogs, about how folks should/can live. Watch it.
heather, is the chandelier from west elm? if it is, how did you hardwire it (according to their web site, it only comes with a plug), and if not, source please?
Hi Curious, The chandelier is from West Elm, my handy dandy father cut the line and exposed the wires and connected it to the fixture that already existed. It took some work but I knew that I would always want to hang it without the plug. It was too good of a deal not to work with the existing hardware. I think when we buy a house, I will hang it in the bedroom.
Also, for pbphoenix, our pics are in the den because we don't have a hallway or a family room, other than the bedroom and our kitchen is actually a hallway. What you see in the pic is our only living space.