Name: Pen
Location: Cambridge, MA
Type: 1 bedroom, owned (mostly by the bank!)
Why I use color:
I use color because I have an immediate, both emotional and physical, reaction to it. In my first decorating experience, in my first non-roommate apartment (which I've lived in for six weeks--so please excuse the bareness), I find that if I go with whatever immediately attracts me, it all ends up making some sort of sense together.
I was surprised to find myself attracted to so many red things because I've always thought of red as a very loud color that should be used sparingly, but I find that the color helps me make a visual impact in my small apartment. As a graduate student who spends most of the day reading and writing, I need a living space that is both calming and has something going on, and so far the several different shades of red keep me awake but not distracted by my surroundings. In the bedroom, I wanted a soothing color and decided that a pale green would actually make the red cabinet pop, rather than clashing or looking like Christmas.
There's still a lot of work left to do (hanging pictures, for example), and I'm excited to see what kinds of colors show up
next.
2 Good color tips:
1. You don't necessarily need to have a planned color scheme. If you move bit by bit, going with your gut instinct, you can pick what you like and gradually shape a room with colors that may surprise you by looking great together.
2. If you have two shades of a color that clash, sometimes bringing in yet another shade (or more) can resolve the problem. I was worried
that my red chair and red lacquer cabinet would clash, and a red carpet seems to have made it all work together.
2 good color resources:
1. I have been fascinated by paint sample cards ever since I was a kid going to the hardware store with my father. They are a source of
inspiration and limitless possibility, and remain really fun to look at.
2. Shopping for furniture and accessories on craigslist can bring
colors into your home that you never would have thought about before. When a certain item is available in just one color instead of a dozen, you can become a lot more open to experimentation.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Ooh, pretty! But I would scoot that leaning shelf thingee away from that beautiful armoire.
Where did you get that beautiful Chinese dresser and armoire? Please move the clutter and the speakers away from the armoire. It is so beautiful you don't want to detract from it. That piece is lovely. You are so lucky to have it in your first place. Treat it as art.
These pics lack hmmmmmm...COLOR...
I would agree: Beautiful room - not a lot of color. Add some paint to the walls and you've got a good start. Right now it just looks a little plain.
There seems to be a viewer expectation in this contest that color has to be on the walls or really bold and strong to qualify for competition.
Color can be applied as a spot color through furniture choices and artwork or by comparison saturated on the walls or across the floors with paint and carpet.
I think this entry has a lot of color. The walls in the bedroom look to be a subtle mint green (on my monitor, anyway) with a strong red contrast in the chest. The red in the living dominates the room and works with the white of the walls and the blonde of the floors.
I loooove your chinese style furniture. But I'm sorry, the main reason I wouldn't vote for you would be the lack of color on the walls or anywhere else other then the dresser and armoire.
With some nice paint choices, the room would looke reaaallly nice, like other posters have said" Your so damn lucky to have furniture like that!
Love the bedroom wall color (It looks like a kind of seafoam, but it's difficult to tell). Could you disclose the color (paint brand, and/or name and number)?
Thanks for your comments. I just moved in six weeks ago, so of course there is a lot left to do, and these pictures only show the beginning of the process. I am eager for any more input about what the place needs, since I know there's plenty more to be done before it feels finished. What color would people suggest for the living room walls?
The Asian pieces are both fortuitous craigslist finds, and both cost a small fraction of what they would have cost at some of the Asian importing places I've visited. The paint in the bedroom is California Paints - Creamy Cucumber. I knew it was very pale, but I didn't expect most viewers to register it as white!
Not really my style. I don't feel that 2 pieces of red furniture and a chinese rug constitute great use of color.
WOW, nice to see there is a World Market in your city. How about a visit to a sherwin-williams to go with it.
In the living room, pale blue walls would be very trendy, and it looks like you have a blue in the rug.
How entertaining that one person snarking you for lack of taste mistakes a Bokhara rug for Chinese.
I adore the bedroom-- it's beautiful. The living room does need to have the armoire unfussily displayed. I'd agree with moving the shelving away from it and the speakers off the top (perhaps that room wasn't quite ready for this contest?) but I have still voted In Contention for that perfect bedroom.
I think if you'd bring the green onto the living room walls, with the red, you'd have a winner...sorry, I've been obsessed with my color wheel and theory, lately. Great pieces!