Name: Kim
Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Type: 3 bedroom townhouse, owned
Why I use color:
I use color mainly because I can. This is our first home so I didn't have to worry about what the landlords would say. I work in a bland boring cubicle all day so I really wanted to come home to something exactly the opposite of my office. And the winters are soooooo long/cold/bleak here that I wanted to have something warm and bright inside to mask the horror outside.
I inherited alot of neat retro pieces when my grandmother passed so I thought a couple of walls needed some fun color to show them off. (And if your significant other doesn't know much about decorating, they'll agree with all your choices!)
2 Good color tips:
1. Scope out your belongings and see what you can work with. I have alot of black/white furniture so I figured I could get away with bright bold colors because my furniture would work well with it. Then if I get tired of any of these accent color walls, I can change them and all my furniture will still work. I just might have to switch up some of my accessories.
2. I think when using bright colors, a little can go a long way. It can get to be too much very easily. So I didn't do a whole room in a bright color. Only one wall of the loving room is green, a partial wall in the dining room is aqua and half my front hallway is orange. The rest is white for some calmness and contrast.
2 good color resources:
1. Paint swatches. I didn't really know what colors I wanted until I was looking at paint swatches at Home Depot and this fantastic aqua color caught my eye. I found a green and orange that were perfect with it and that was it.
2. Decorating mags and apartmenttherapy.com! An entry from last year's fall colors contest was my inspiration for alot of what my paint/decor decisions.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
i like it A LOT!
I really, really, really wish we could see more of the second picture. I like it much more than the first room. I love that green--I think out of the million greens we have seen in this contest it may be my favorite (what is it?). I love the scale of the plant and the styling of the art. Is that the ikea loveseat? What a great example of modern pillows updating a drab piece of furniture. I think I would have voted Insta if we saw more that second room, but I definitely see great use of color and I vote in contention. Very nice!
The green is Behr's Appletini. Yep, that's the super cheap Ikea sofa. I liked it's somewhat retro look. I couldn't show more of the white wall in the second pic because I am looking to fill the wall with artwork and I'm having a hard time finding anything (shopping in Ottawa sucks). Thanks for the comments!
Your dining room is adorable!
I really like this. It's mostly hand-me-downs and IKEA, but you've pulled it together so well. I admit I'm partial to the bold wall colours also.
I love that second picture! This is a fantastic example of how a few IKEA pieces can be used in a way that still looks ultra-personal and not like you opened the catalogue and copied it like a paint-by-number. Love it - love the little side table, the art, the placement of the art, the pillows, everything. Very nice.
Please do share what kind of dining chairs are those. They look like West Elm or CB2?
The chairs are from neither because we don't have those stores up here (a shame, REALLY). I got them for $25 a piece at Loblaws, a really big supermarket.
That paint-by-numbers reference is hilarious because that's exactly what the picture hanging on the wall to the left in the second pic is. (I'll never try one of those again)
I think this is one of my favorite entries.
It's great to see an abode with a *liveable* personal style that's both unlikely to give visitors a headache and is accomplished within a realistic budget. Nice job, Kim!
Great job Kim
Nice but looks like a West Elm or CB2 catalog pic.
JC, I have never seen a West Elm or CB2 catalog. (Can't get 'em in Canada). :)
This is cracking me up because I also live in ottawa, and hate shopping for furniture here as well
(pottery barn and crate and barrel are a step up from the ugly sacks of leather monstro-furniture at the stores here...ikea is high style in comparison!)
This is not my style, but I really like it. My only niggling complaint is that I think the aqua should have gone up about a foot towards the ceiling - it cuts the room in half a little here...
Kim your pics are just FABULOUS and I'm not just saying that because you are my twin sister. You have a great eye for colour and did an awesome job with what you had. You can come and help me with colours and decorating when I move into my new house next April!!! Definitely the best entry in this competition!
So Tamaca feels my pain too!!! I see your point about the aqua, but there's a drop in the cieling there so i thought if I kept it low it would not draw attention to it.
Julia.....DUDE....so embarassing
This is so perfect. It is not overdone, nothing shouts at you; but it looks so clean and well planned as well as tasteful. I like both walls but the use of the blue as well as where you used it and pulling the red in is fantastic. I think most people me included would have tried to pound the red into the room but again you kept it so light/interesting.
awesome! love the pillows... did you make them?
can't take credit for the pillows - they're pier1 and danica.
Awsome Job Kim!! I love the colors and the retro look. That would definately brighten up my days in the winter!!
So very tastefully done. I love everything about it from the furniture to your colors. Great job!
(The paint by numbers pic looks awesome right in that spot.)
The dining area is lovely! when are you inviting us all over for a canadian feast ?! :)
i REALLY love this. i wish i could keep large plants alive! i have a black thumb.
I love it; great use of targeted color. Also
I just had to vote instant finalist for a person who would make this typo:
"Only one wall of the loving room is green."
Hi Kim,
I don't want to sound like a walking ad here, but in one of your replies you mentioned you were looking for more art for above your couch. I own a boutique/gallery in Montreal (not too far!), and we're having an affordable art exhibition in December to try to encourage people to buy art as christmas presents. All the art will be $100 or less. You should stop by our shop and see if there's anything you like. We work with small/new artists mostly, there's a lot of really fun art to choose from! Here's our site if you want to check it out: www.HQgalerieboutique.com
We're also having an exhibition this saturday if you're interested, works by Tyson Bodnarchuk and Aya Kakeda, they're great!!
Oh and great job on the room, I really like how you hung your art at 2 different levels (I never think of that, I always make things so symmetrical) but it really works in your room!
Wow! Someone from Ottawa! How absolutely fantastic. See? We're not all boring after all. I've been in townhomes just like this one a billion times and they have never looked this good. Great job!
Oh this is a lovely entry!!!
Go Ottawa!!! Nicely pulled together! I agree that the blue could go all the way up the wall though.
Thanks again for more nice comments. A special thanks to Angie. I am totally up for another shopping trip to Montreal and will for sure check out your gallery! ($100 or less sounds like my price range)
P.S. TOTALLY did not notice the "loving room" typo. OOPS
Hi Kim,I'm in Toronto! Thanks for representing Canada Eh!!
I really like it. I love green and that is a great shade. Love the pillows. I love Loblaws I'm a PC addict (lol)
I love the green but the aqua wall paired with the orange table legs really sends me. I'd love to see more photos. The white furniture does help to prevent the viewer from being over-whelmed by the color. The feeling is light and energetic.
I love love the dining room colors. You need a crazy retro pendant light to complete it.
I equally love the green in the living room. What if you painted the other side of that bump out (the ft of wall behind the plant facing the sofa) a lighter green, the same color as the lamp say? It would soften the transition and bring out the lovely muted greeens in your pillows which I love. Who makes that smaller one in front?
Love that second photo. I've been considering getting that exact same IKEA sofa. Had been worried that it was too blah, but you've made it look great. Do you find it comfortable?
Rebecca - Like your idea of a lighter green. The small pillow is made by danica (bought at a place called Blue Oasis here in Ottawa).
Tia - I wanted that couch because it was plain and i wanted to fill it with lots or colorful pillows. I find it to be quite comfortable because it's firm (for now anyway - only had it about 4 months). I hate couches you sink into.
Love the 2nd photo, the green wall is super! Very nice job. Looks like a fun, cozy, inviting place.
The way you use color reminds me of being in Northern Germany--they know exaclty how to use fun pops of color, like you did here.
Stunning and inspirational color choices. You created quite the escape!
kim..this is sooo awsome. i always knew you had talent for this,. but wow..this is really cool. what makes it so special is that i never seen anyone do this in ottawa( most people are conservative and plain). it is after all a government city. thanx for bringing some flawour. i love every single detail on these pics. really good job!!!!
GO Ottawa!
You've done a really nice job here. Good for you!
Hey... I'm from Ottawa too! I hear you on the long, bleak winter thing.... you did a totally awesome job. That would cure the February blahs in no time.
~Andrea
I really love you rooms! I would love to see more pictures. You don't happen to have a flickr account or anything do you?
thanks everybody! kaleena, click my name for pics on flickr